soapytiger

Just finished the second season, and thankfully, it was a vast improvement on the first. Of course Reacher exists to be implausibly over-the-top, but the setting and set-up for season two was far more fitting (or I wasn't yelling "oh, come on" back at the screen as much). The dialogue in the second season was more interesting and real, as were the characters and the multiple geographic locations.

Sure, it's a big dumb action series, but I appreciated that the second season wasn't simply all big set pieces and kill shots. (I wasn't thrilled that one of my favorite characters met his end.) It had its cliched moments for sure, but the improvements made on Reacher were very welcomed. Looking forward to season three.

What happened?! Gone are the clean and cool that made this show, replaced by a soap opera with jaunty one-at-time quick dialogue, exposition, and unrealistic actions/motivations from the characters.

This isn't episode isn't the worst of the series, but it does mark this season as a distinct change in tone. Feels like Miami Vice was a victim of its own success, with storylines straggling further out into generic tropes (same with the previous episode, "Amen...Send Money").

I was a big fan of the show when it first aired, but my viewing dropped after season 2 (life got busier in 1986). The MV in my mind retained that cool patina. Watching now, 35 years hence, it's a bit embarrassing and off-putting. No Michael Mann, no Dick Wolf.

I will muscle through til the finale, but if it keeps up like this, it will be a slough.

As a longtime fan of Adrian Dunbar, I was piqued by the opportunity to see him bowl a new role. He always seems to have a knack of letting his personage fill in slim details for the character.

The subplot for this first season stroked a sustained bass note, meeting our main character working to put the pieces together while in a state deep mourning.

The fact that he co-owned a jazz club was a nice touch, I thought, harkening back to Dunbar's role as night club impresario Mickey in the film Hear My Song (1991). My hope, throughout the series, was that his character might break out one of the numbers from that film (Nancy, Movin', Hear My Song, etc.), but alas, no.

Still, the little detail of the club (called Marling's instead of Heartly's) was a nice little career callback for Dunbar, a nice bit of character meld (copper / crooner).

I would advise anyone who hasn't seen Hear My Song to take a look, especially if your main reference to Dunbar is Line of Duty. Of course, he was fantastic there, but seeing this early '90's indie might help to help round out Dunbar's repertoire.