S1 Discussion

[paigow]

Complete 6 part season dropped today on CBS All Access.

Hope it gets renewed.

[UnknownK]

Wasn't it supposed to be 10 parts?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Even though technically, this isn't Vic Mackey, OF COURSE it was only a matter of time before there was some punching, some shooting, and some evidence planting.

[Christina]

The CBS All Access app sucks so bad that it locked up with each commercial break and I still have been unable to see the final minutes of episode six, because I have to fast forward through the entire episode, again, and hope it plays the final commercials so that I can see the conclusion. I've done in four times before deciding that I didn't care how it ended. I also had to stop streaming other episodes for the same reason, and it didn't matter what device I was watching on.

So, my comment on the series is that it was way too frustrating to watch, making me irritated when trying to get into it. Also, some of the Spanish on the screens did not sound like the words the actors were saying. I don't think it was that big of a deal at any time I thought it was off, it was just another distraction I'm blaming on CBS. 

For the most part, I think the story and acting was good, but the story felt rushed in places. It would make sense if it was originally ten episodes, though.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

"If you're just going to kill me, can we do it without all the hiking?"

[ElectricBoogaloo]

12 hours ago, Christina said:

some of the Spanish on the screens did not sound like the words the actors were saying. I don't think it was that big of a deal at any time I thought it was off, it was just another distraction I'm blaming on CBS. 

For the most part, I think the story and acting was good, but the story felt rushed in places. It would make sense if it was originally ten episodes, though.

I live in California but I took French in middle school/high school so the very little Spanish that I know is what I picked up colloquially, and even I could tell that the Spanish translations on the screen did not match what the actors were saying a lot of the time. I agree with you that it's not a huge deal but it is still distracting. If someone like me can tell the translations are very loose, I can only imagine how annoying it must have been for anyone who really knows Spanish to watch. I don't know whose decision that was, but it was not a great one. On a related note, I also noticed that in the trick or treating scene, the translation had "let's" (with an apostrophe) instead of "lets" so I don't know if their translator is just lazy or what.

The season was originally supposed to have ten episodes and at some point, it got cut down to six. They started filming in January 2020 so I'm guessing the shortened season was due to COVID shut down.

[dwmarch]

I liked this show overall. I found it to be tightly plotted although if it was cut from ten episodes down to six that would explain it. But despite that, I found the show gave us just enough to establish who the characters were and what was important to them with no lollygagging. The bad guys come across as somewhat sympathetic by which I mean the reasons why they are cartel thugs are clearly established as the best option among bad choices. 

The only thing that didn't quite work for me was how this tiny cartel (basically one family unless there are others we haven't seen yet) is omnipotent and omnipresent except for when the script calls for them not to be. What is the point of having a CBP agent on the take if they can cross the border at will? Despite the agents and patrols and sensors and whatnot, the border isn't much of an obstacle to anyone at any time.

Powerhouse acting from Michael Chiklis here. He's certainly not doing a retread of Vic Mackey and he does a good job of selling his pain and desperation.

I was happy to see Natalia Cordova-Buckley after her run on Agents of Shield but dismayed to see that she's playing the typecast role of Cartel Wife.

There has been some music on here that I'd like to find again (Tunefind link if anyone else is looking) and I love the title sequence. I'm looking forward to more.