S01.E01: The Equalizer

[MissLucas]

The trope I'm tired of is the agent who at 25 (30 when I'm generous) speaks Urdu, Mandarin, Arabic, French, Italian etc. knows several martial arts, is a weapon's expert, knows all there is to know about hacking and can play a Beethoven sonata without sheet music - and still has time to select a perfect wardrobe, do yoga and never leaves the house without Instagram worthy make-up. Robyn's skill set might still be on the side of tv fantasy but at least she had time to accumulate (some of) said skills plus a good amount of life experience.

Edited February 18, 2021 by MissLucas

[Netfoot]

24 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

The trope I'm tired of is the agent who at 25 (30 when I'm generous) speaks Urdu, Mandarin, Arabic, French, Italian etc. knows several martial arts, is a weapon's expert, knows all there is to know about hacking and can play a Beethoven sonata without sheet music - and still has time to select a perfect wardrobe, do yoga and never leaves the house without Instagram worthy make-up.

And is an expert helicopter pilot, a skilled driver of Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarines, can not only identify any glass of wine but can say which side of the hill the grapes were harvested from, can solder together a lunar-range, spread-spectrum radio transceiver on a circuit board the size of a postage stamp using parts found at Home Center or scavenged from a 1964 hair dryer, owns an all-original Jaguar C-Type and maintains it themself, can dial the 14th Dalai Lama's cellphone from memory, can hold their breath for 4¼ minutes while engaging in intense physical activity, is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, can find their way through the back-streets of the major capitals of Asia with their eyes closed, and is a better driver than Ayrton Senna.

And is well endowed.

 

[peacheslatour]

17 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Assume he has qualities that are not immediately obvious.

He can lick his eyebrows?

[Ubiquit0us]

Being a fan of the original show (where can watch it?), I had no intention of watching this version, but here I am... 😏

I have goodwill for QL, but there was no way I could believe she was a top-notch secret agent, due to the excessive jump cuts in the action scenes needed to compensate for her being obese and out-of-shape and everyone telling us how awesome she was. Then there was the poor writing and huge plot-holes that could not be overlooked, including, but not limited to

• The nearly instantaneous deep-faked security footage
• The waitress, who claimed to be living paycheck-to-paycheck, having the money to buy a fake passport
• The waitress disobeying orders to hide in the so-called safehouse
• The bad guys' lair contained a bomb that could be triggered by the sound of a iPhone camera but nothing louder
• Agent QL getting into a secret club by pretending to investigate a measles outbreak (how quaint!)
• Agent QL arriving at the police station, unannounced, pretending to be the waitress' lawyer
• Evil Elon Musk had people murdered b/c his driverless car had problems
• Agent QL posting an Internet wanted ad with no means to contact her

Then there's her team... I do not recall the original guy having a team, and speaking of which, the hacker being able to trap Evil Elon Musk in his car was as ridiculous as his arm tattoos and hipster style. 

OK, I did like Agent QL's comment on the slutty dress her daughter wanted to wear to her father's wedding reception, but how they hell did she manage to shoplift it from that expensive boutique? 

 

Yeah, I'm not watching this again...

 

 

 

[possibilities]

Shows like this are like superhero shows. It's not meant to be realistic. The heroes are supposed to be nearly super-human. James Bond, essentially. No one who likes a Bond movie thinks it's credible or realistic.

[Raja]

8 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Shows like this are like superhero shows. It's not meant to be realistic. The heroes are supposed to be nearly super-human. James Bond, essentially. No one who likes a Bond movie thinks it's credible or realistic.

I think that the post Taken Old Folk Action era is part of it. But especially nuMcGarret and to a lessor extent nuMagnum also had to pump up the "I can beat anyone, I'm a SEAL" action. I do think that this show is closer to the original than those two and the MacGyver reboots on CBS even with the nod to Denzel's old man action scenes when McCall ambushes those who underestimate her.

[MissLucas]

2 hours ago, Ubiquit0us said:

to the excessive jump cuts in the action scenes needed to compensate for her being obese and out-of-shape

Geez, she might be out of shape but she's not obese.

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

But especially nuMcGarret...

Oh wow, did you hit the nail on the head or what? I actually gave up on HI 50² several seasons ago because of that,

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

Geez, she might be out of shape but she's not obese.

She's just a big girl. I wouldn't mess with her.

[paigow]

5 hours ago, Ubiquit0us said:

I do not recall the original guy having a team,

He did. Usually Mickey did the heavy lifting - sniper, infiltration, breach, etc... - and his old handler Control provided intel and heavy tactical support. There were several ad hoc operatives utilized as well.

[Jeopardy15]

On 2/9/2021 at 10:11 AM, preeya said:

On 2/9/2021 at 10:11 AM, preeya said:

As I've seen these two guys in a gazillion recent shows, I'm going with either Harold Perrineau or Michael Beach

Michael Beech is good for playing the a-hole ex husband. 

[sue450]

On 2/8/2021 at 6:43 AM, Netfoot said:

I don't object to the blackwashing, which didn't actually happen here, but in the earlier DW movies that I loved (the first moreso than the second).

I don't object to the gender swap which I'm fine with.

I do object to the tame action sequences. Up-thread a poster suggested this might work best as a brains vs. brawn re-imagining, and I think that might work well, but if they are going to include action sequences and beat-'em-up footage, for goodness sake try to make it look like Robyn is actually kicking ass. If those sequences are expensive to make, have fewer of them.

I don't much like the Delilah character. I understand that it's an attempt to give some depth to Latifah's otherwise one dimensional character, but I always hate the rebellious/disobedient teenage character because in my culture such behaviour would have been eliminated years before by liberal application of the slipper at an early age. 

I'm hopeful for the character of Melody. I happen to like Liza Lapira as a rule, and hope, if used correctly, will add real substance to the show. We'll have to see how she is managed.

Annnnd... Harry the Hacker. <sigh> They just have to have one, don't they? Some guy who can hack his way into a wheel of cheese and come out with a toasted sandwich? Such a trope, and such bullshit. But I suppose that's easier than figuring out legitimate, believable ways to explain how the good guys come up with the information they need.

Plus, The Cop With the Heart of Gold. Who will, routinely, on a weekly basis, turn a blind eye to all the hi-jinks and sky-larking that is going on in his city.

Well, I guess I'm in. By which I mean, I'm theirs to lose.

 

But like me, you knew from the instant they told her not to go anywhere and not to use the phone, that that's exactly what she would do, right?

Much as I hate this, I prefer it to threatening someone with a 12 volt battery or battery charger. Which is as commonplace as it is laughable.

Speaking of cameos, it's a pity EW is dead. I suppose most viewers wouldn't notice, but there must be a couple of olde fartes watching. Apart from myself, that is.

 

I  remember the original series! es I am old!

[Medicine Crow]

If you think QL's character is hard to swallow, check out the new show, Rebel, with (67 yr. old) Katey Sagal ... GAWD.  I'm a died in the wool women's libber, but jeeeeez .....

[DearEvette]

11 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

If you think QL's character is hard to swallow, check out the new show, Rebel, with (67 yr. old) Katey Sagal ... GAWD.  I'm a died in the wool women's libber, but jeeeeez .....

Wait... isn't the Katy Sagal character loosely based on Erin Brockovitch?  A legal aid advocate without a law degree?  What am I missing?  How is KS not believable as a legal advocate?

[Medicine Crow]

51 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

Wait... isn't the Katy Sagal character loosely based on Erin Brockovitch?  A legal aid advocate without a law degree?  What am I missing?  How is KS not believable as a legal advocate?

She just doesn't work (for me) in that part.  Trust me, I'm not being mean, just not the vibe I'd be looking for in a non-lawyer.

[love2lovebadtv]

On 2/9/2021 at 10:11 AM, preeya said:

As I've seen these two guys in a gazillion recent shows, I'm going with either Harold Perrineau or Michael Beach

I would think they'd cast a Blasian actor for her ex-husband.

[Raja]

14 minutes ago, love2lovebadtv said:

I would think they'd cast a Blasian actor for her ex-husband.

If the goal is to match the actress playing  Delilah to her real life ethnicity then just flip the DNA contributors and make her dad a Filipino.

I don't think that they actually gave Melody a background to suddenly have her play Tita Melody.

Edited July 4, 2021 by Raja

[love2lovebadtv]

2 minutes ago, Raja said:

If the goal is to match the actress playing  Delilah match her real life ethnicity then just flip the DNA contributors and make her dad a Filipino.

I don't think that they actually gave Melody a background to suddenly have her play Tita Melody.

I don't know anything about the actress but I was just thinking in terms of physical appearance. A lot of actors would work, I guess, because genetics are funny that way.

[Raja]

Before we were talking about Common, before they used his song or LL Cool J as a stunt cast. Maybe they can get Dave Bautista back on TV. I  would think Robin  would go for a big man.