Charlie Jade

Still only halfway through the season as it airs on Sci-Fi. The first 8 or so episodes were really slow, and I understand why some people were turned off.

However, it is very different conceptually from any other sci-fi series I can think of, and it kept me intrigued. The writing staff was completely changed around episode 10 and things really started to come together and take off.

The acting is good, with some great performances by crazy 01 Boxer played by Michael Flippowich, as well as many in the supporting cast.

Filmed on location in South Africa, it does have definitely alien feel for those in the US. The culture is Western, but not American.

There's a lot unexpected in this show, in a good way, and it's hardly predictable. The 'hero' Charlie isn't trying to accomplish anything but getting home to his hot girlfriend. I'd recommend it for anyone who want's good sci-fi that's not in the action-adventure vein and requires a bit of intelligence on the part of the audience.

It seems as if there were only a handful of viewers watching this show in the U.S., but as one of them I'm sad to see it go, especially knowing that I'll likely never see another season-- or, for that matter, a Region 1 DVD. And even though it's been a bit tough following such a complex, and often brilliant, program with no one to discuss it with (none of my friends or family were interesting in keeping up on a show that airs at 1 AM on Monday morning here), I'm glad I did. It was a rewarding experience; and you don't get many of those from a TV show.

It has a remarkable visual style, excellent dialogue, an unapologetically complex (if sometimes confusing) plot line, a dense mythology, and some of the most fascinating character development I've ever seen (someone could write a thesis on 01 Boxer's behavior and motivations alone).

If you do get a chance to check the show out, stick with it. It can be difficult to follow at times, but it's worth it. I was a few episodes in before I had a good grasp of what was going on, and by then I was hooked, as I think most will be who give this series a proper chance.

It really is quite an amazing show, and I just think it's a shame that there's room enough on television for 3 incarnations of "CSI" but no audience for something as novel and thought-provoking as "Charlie Jade."

This is a tale, a mystery if you will, of 3 Universes. It rests lightly on popular theories from physics, so that its relationship to "SciFi" can be acknowledged. But any Science which, along with technology, it's often wayward daughter, is wielded by totally amoral handlers, ends up biting, and biting down hard within the human dimension of things. Still, it is by is the amazingly human characterizations in this epic that this tale will succeed in engaging and captivating you.

Charlie Jade: "...I thought it was cool," is his reply when asked why he chose "Jade" for a surname; is the confident metropolitan male of our own age: into appearances, the beautiful girlfriend, the car the clothes, the apartment, the slight stubble. Mildly hedonistic, he is yet the likable and sympathetic hero of this film, and although the style of narration is "limited omniscient," most of what the viewer is allowed to understand of the story, that process of discovery, comes from viewing events through his eyes. Still with all of that, Charlie is for the most part, a two-dimensional character. It's kind of like having a really good friend, then suddenly realizing he has this serious character defect. You still like him, but you wonder if he'll ever get it.

Then, there's "01 Boxer," (sounds like "Owen.") Something about the way the film introduces him, gave me the impression that the two men were siblings. (They aren't, but their fates are linked.) Without 01, the film would be a narrative about a reed (Charlie) tossed by the wind. This character, 01, is about motivation, and deep self-awareness, and actions which spring from these things. He is about knowing better, and still failing. He becomes more and more three dimensional as the movie unfolds; apparently totally depraved, he is both a catalyst, and a foil for the Charlie character. 01 is able to feel true remorse for his failures, Charlie, merely guilt. Amazingly acted this is the dilemma of the moral man released into a place of absolute power, and that without restraint.

Set in Capetown, the cinematography is a treat, would've been worth while to have seen this on a big screen. There are dark scenes that have a sense of brooding ambivalence to them, perhaps reflective of a very old city with lots of history. I am always amazed how differently people who've lived in other cultures, other places on this planet frame and compose shots. Unique ways of visualizing special places, that help to communicate that intangible sense of time and place. (Some violence, and scenes not suitable for the easily offended.)

This 21 episode television series, a joint South African and Candadian effort, is less like a traditional TV show (where episodes have a beginning, middle, and end) and plays more like a very long mini-series. Watch Charlie Jade like you are reading a book; each episode is a chapter. Influenced by Sci-fi noir films like Blade Runner, creator Robert Wertheimer was determined to make a science fiction series like nothing that has ever been made before, and he has. Throw away any preconceptions you might have, especially if you're an American. This is nothing like American TV programming. Shot in Cape Town, South Africa, the show, despite it's futuristic and science-fiction edge, is both stylish and surreal and yet also firmly rooted in reality, dealing with real issues like terrorism and the abuses of power by massive conglomerates. It is filled with real people, not pretty models of perfect people. It starts off with a slow, patient pace, which some might find frustrating or boring, but hang in there! By the end of the pilot and the start of the third episode you will be hooked and utterly captivated.

If you like the mainstream television sci fi series all with similar production styles and values then it is not likely that you will like this. I have watched many such series and films and enjoyed them as well as more unusual examples of the genre into which this falls. The unusual cinematography employing lots of hand held footage does start to jar after a while but the series is new and different and I really enjoyed it immensely. I recognised none of the actors but they all turned in believable performances and I would be happy to see them again in different roles. A good debut from a budding media industry and I look forward to more new projects from the region.