Ridley - General Discussion

[Rickster]

I don’t find his singing as annoying this season. Maybe he took some lessons.

[possibilities]

I thought this week's episode was better. I am interested in the current case they're working.

[Rickster]

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

I thought this week's episode was better. I am interested in the current case they're working.

We watched this on DVR last night and were intrigued enough to finish the next episode on Passport. I thought probably the best Ridley two parter so far.

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, possibilities said:

I thought this week's episode was better. I am interested in the current case they're working.

The case is interesting, which is why the other stuff bothers me so much.  If everything was lousy, I wouldn't care.

15 hours ago, Rickster said:

I don’t find his singing as annoying this season. Maybe he took some lessons.

Maybe.  I just hate jazz to begin with so there's really no appeal for me on that front.

[possibilities]

I like jazz, but this show seems to me to be more in the neighborhood of "lounge singer" than actual jazz performance, and it seems totally irrelevant to the show, like they inserted it to fill time or something.

[dleighg]

Can someone remind me what happened to Ridley's daughter? Did he lose a wife at the same time?

It kind of drives me mad when we are supposed to remember details from a season we saw a LONG time ago. Maybe I just have a bad memory. I know it's awkward to explicitly tell us, so I don't really know what the solution is. 

And I thought he had sort of started a relationship with his partner in the bar business. Did that definitively end somehow?

[possibilities]

The wife and daughter died in a house fire, IIRC. 

Edited October 1 by possibilities

[proserpina65]

21 hours ago, possibilities said:

I like jazz, but this show seems to me to be more in the neighborhood of "lounge singer" than actual jazz performance, and it seems totally irrelevant to the show, like they inserted it to fill time or something.

I agree with your interpretation.  I think it's in there only because it's in Adrian Dunbar's contract that he has to sing on the show and this was the writers' extremely awkward way of making that happen.

21 hours ago, dleighg said:

Can someone remind me what happened to Ridley's daughter? Did he lose a wife at the same time?

They died in a fire set by the brother of a guy whom Ridley had used as an unofficial informant and who took the blame for his brother.  The fire was aimed at Ridley himself but he wasn't home that night.

 

[dleighg]

36 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

They died in a fire set by the brother of a guy whom Ridley had used as an unofficial informant and who took the blame for his brother.  The fire was aimed at Ridley himself but he wasn't home that night

Oh yeah, now I remember. Thanks.

[sempervivum]

I was fairly entertained by the 2 parter, and no singing! I felt like Adrian Dunbar was actually using some of his acting chops for this one.

However, I eyerolled at the police woman (don't recall her name) wearing leather pants, although I suppose they could be useful if she wiped out while in pursuit of a criminal.

Also annoyed at the conversation with her partner about how getting married was a big deal that they had to think about-apparently HAVING A BABY TOGETHER was not so much??

[possibilities]

If they think their son is having trouble because their attentioin is now divided between him and the baby, how in the hell does that translate to "he needs a man in his life"? Also, in my experience, teenagers want a lot less focus on them by their parents than younger kids do, so I doubt this is a case of him being jealous of the baby getting all the focus. I think  it's more likely that he's a teenager and is acting like a teenager. And also, it's not like they can't afford a babysitter, with that shockingly fancy estate they live in, so why are they trying to make him their on call nanny in the first place? He's not the one who had a baby.

I am usually very happy for any lesbian representation, but I find this part of the show actually insulting to me as a lesbian. The stay at home mom partner is constantly on the verge of tears and has no personality other than The Wife Who Is Constantly On The Verge Of Tears And Feeling Stressed By Lack Of Childcare, when they clearly could fucking hire helpo, and also should have thouhg to fthat before they decided to have a baby. They do realize that babies need to be taken care of? And you can't just draft your teenager to  be an on-call babysitter and not expect anyone's life to be disrupted when you add a baby. Everything about this part of the show strikes me as steretypical, shallow, insulting, stupid, and bullshit. It's also as tacked on as the lounge singer/club part of the show.

I was okay with the case of the week. But I do think that the show relies far too much on confessions to resolve cases. I highly doubt that people are going to fully confess so easily, and that their lawyers, sitting right next to them, won't tell them to shut up and stop answering questions and solving the case for the detectives who have nothing but speculation and hearsay. Though, I honestly don't know what the rules are there. I notice the warning they give at the time of arrest is very different than the Miranda warnings in the USA, so maybe the system just works differently and there's an advantage I don't know about to confessing.

Had the show changed a lot since season 1? I recall that I liked it last year but this year I'm super-annnoyed by a lot of it. In addition to what I've alreaedy complained about, the lead detective is not only useless in her personal life, but basically Ridley solves everything with his mysterious contacts, and she just tags along. It's insulting. 

[proserpina65]

11 minutes ago, possibilities said:

If they think their son is having trouble because their attentioin is now divided between him and the baby, how in the hell does that translate to "he needs a man in his life"? Also, in my experience, teenagers want a lot less focus on them by their parents than younger kids do, so I doubt this is a case of him being jealous of the baby getting all the focus. I think  it's more likely that he's a teenager and is acting like a teenager. And also, it's not like they can't afford a babysitter, with that shockingly fancy estate they live in, so why are they trying to make him their on call nanny in the first place? He's not the one who had a baby.

I definitely think the problem is them expecting him to help out with the baby.  They're the parents, they should be taking care of it and making arrangements when they aren't available, not shifting the work onto an existing child.  I don't blame him one bit for resenting it.

14 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Had the show changed a lot since season 1? I recall that I liked it last year but this year I'm super-annnoyed by a lot of it.

I like the mysteries more this season but yeah, the lead detective has become useless.

[dleighg]

57 minutes ago, possibilities said:

But I do think that the show relies far too much on confessions to resolve cases. I highly doubt that people are going to fully confess so easily, and that their lawyers, sitting right next to them, won't tell them to shut up and stop answering questions and solving the case for the detectives who have nothing but speculation and hearsay.

Exactly! I don't think that EVER happens in real life. (It's also like the bad guy confessing everything to James Bond just before he tortures him to death LOL. It's just not believable!)

[alias1]

Gosh, I liked Ridley's singing in this one.  I hated the Jack storyline.  Apparently there is another two-parter.  I thought the season was over. 

[12catcrazy]

2 hours ago, alias1 said:

Gosh, I liked Ridley's singing in this one.  I hated the Jack storyline.  Apparently there is another two-parter.  I thought the season was over. 

I have to agree with the Jack storyline; this kid had it so bad at home and he was "so" neglected, that even though his mother is a cop, he wound up amongst a bunch of people selling drugs?   And was so stupid to stash a gun on a police consultant's boat that he had been working on?   

The season isn't over?  Head slapping myself here.  I figured that the "cliffhanger" was Ridley brooding about the bar and Annie's new boyfriend.   My guess is that the guy is still either going to turn out to be a bad guy or he'll be bumped off in some way.  

And alias1, we'll have to agree to disagree on Ridley's singing.  I love the song and hated his rendition.  Jerry Orbach he ain't.   I also roll my eyes as he's supposed to be singing with a jazz trio on a tiny stage as all these syrupy strings and other instruments soar in the background.  It would work better (and be more believable) if they just had him singing with the trio and kept it simple.  

[dleighg]

Those instrumentalists doing his backup must work REALLY cheap LOL.

[proserpina65]

Well, the case in this latest episode looks interesting, but I really have had it up to here already with all the DRAH-MAH about the stupid jazz club.  Lady, if what you were doing had been working, you wouldn't have needed the boyfriend's money to keep the club open, so maybe at least consider a few of his ideas?  He's probably cheating with that singer, but still, I don't think she should dismiss his ideas out of hand.  And I'd also think softer/dimmer lighting would be a plus for a music venue.

[12catcrazy]

I could do without the jazz club crap also, but I think the show is setting up Ridley and Annie getting (back?) together.  

Even if the boyfriend's ideas for the club are on the money, if he and Annie were in a real partnership, he would actually be discussing these ideas with her and not just cutting her out of the decision making.  He's showing himself to be a controlling jerk (and probably an unfaithful one at that) and that he doesn't view Annie as being equal in their relationship or club ownership.   I predicted that he was going to be shown to be a rotter or get bumped off (maybe both), but the end game here (because this show is another filled with cliches) is Ridley and Annie being a couple.  

[proserpina65]

On 10/29/2024 at 10:38 AM, 12catcrazy said:

I could do without the jazz club crap also, but I think the show is setting up Ridley and Annie getting (back?) together.  

Even if the boyfriend's ideas for the club are on the money, if he and Annie were in a real partnership, he would actually be discussing these ideas with her and not just cutting her out of the decision making.  He's showing himself to be a controlling jerk (and probably an unfaithful one at that) and that he doesn't view Annie as being equal in their relationship or club ownership.   I predicted that he was going to be shown to be a rotter or get bumped off (maybe both), but the end game here (because this show is another filled with cliches) is Ridley and Annie being a couple.  

I don't actually disagree, but it annoyed me that she dismissed out of hand something as simple as adjusting the lighting with a "that's how we've always done it" when it clearly isn't working anymore.

But yeah, the boyfriend is absolutely going to be up to no good, whether it's something illegal or just cheating on her, and they definitely are trying to push Ridley and Annie together.

[Dowel Jones]

I remember (fondly) the story arc in Homicide where the three detectives bought a bar and were discussing how to run it.  One of them insisted that they had to have blues music on the jukebox, for the simple reason that people would buy more drinks.

[sempervivum]

I can't even remember what the plot was for the latest episode, as I was traumatized by that horrific song Ridley sang at the end. Good Lord.

So now he's back with Annie and they're going to buy out the sleazy partner 'somehow', even though he just handed 5K over to *schlubby cop* (can't remember his name)? 

[alias1]

I thought this story line was pretty interesting and tragic.  A lot of red herrings.  That woman was a piece of work.  Although her therapist really took advantage of her.  The poor husband.  And I wonder what will happen to her baby now that she's going to jail.  The father doesn't want it.  Maybe he will be made to pay, though.  Would the husband take it?  I'm overthinking it, of course.

Yes, I did wonder how Ridley could afford to give Darren cash (for his gambling addiction?) and he didn't have enough money to bail out the club.       

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, sempervivum said:

I can't even remember what the plot was for the latest episode, as I was traumatized by that horrific song Ridley sang at the end. Good Lord.

I wonder where the horn section was.  Offstage?😆

[12catcrazy]

The season finale - a pretty good case with alot of twists and turns, and as I predicted, Ridley and Annie.  But you know that we haven't not seen the last of her now-ex boyfriend, because the guy is a rotter.   Wanna bet next season will have an episode where Annie is in danger and it will probably be via the ex. 

On 11/4/2024 at 12:34 PM, sempervivum said:

I can't even remember what the plot was for the latest episode, as I was traumatized by that horrific song Ridley sang at the end. Good Lord.

So now he's back with Annie and they're going to buy out the sleazy partner 'somehow', even though he just handed 5K over to *schlubby cop* (can't remember his name)? 

Gosh, and I thought the song was merely bad - I think "horrific" is even better!  It sounded like something that Petula Clark would've sung circa 1965, except that she would have made it listenable.  I'll duck when the tomatoes are thrown at me by his fans,  but I still dislike this actor's singing.  

[sempervivum]

1 hour ago, 12catcrazy said:

but I still dislike this actor's singing.  

It's not that he's a terrible singer, he's just completely mediocre.

I wonder if he wrote that song; he was really hamming it up with his performance.

[Rickster]

I liked the last few episodes, but the twist of the older woman almost keeping Tara a prisoner seemed out of left field.

 

[AZChristian]

I sometimes didn't mind Adrian Dunbar's singing.  Haven't finished the season yet, but one of the songs he sang WAS horrendous - fast forwarded to the end.

But - in my opinion - the female singer who massacred "You Made Me Love You" should serve jail time.

[proserpina65]

On 11/4/2024 at 3:22 PM, alias1 said:

I thought this story line was pretty interesting and tragic.  A lot of red herrings.  That woman was a piece of work.  Although her therapist really took advantage of her.  The poor husband.

The actual mystery was good, although I did figure that it was the missing woman behind it all when she showed back up.  Too bad the story had to be encased in the crap that is everything to do with the jazz club and Ridley's personal life.

21 hours ago, 12catcrazy said:

I'll duck when the tomatoes are thrown at me by his fans,  but I still dislike this actor's singing.  

Adrian Dunbar is an excellent actor but a mediocre singer at best.  With crap taste in music, apparently, if he has any hand in song selection for the show.  Whatever one thinks about jazz in general, I can't imagine anyone thinks these songs are good.

 

[12catcrazy]

On 11/6/2024 at 1:25 PM, proserpina65 said:

The actual mystery was good, although I did figure that it was the missing woman behind it all when she showed back up.  Too bad the story had to be encased in the crap that is everything to do with the jazz club and Ridley's personal life.

Adrian Dunbar is an excellent actor but a mediocre singer at best.  With crap taste in music, apparently, if he has any hand in song selection for the show.  Whatever one thinks about jazz in general, I can't imagine anyone thinks these songs are good.

 

I'm a big jazz fan and these songs aren't jazz.  And Adrian Dunbar sure as hell isn't a jazz singer.  

[possibilities]

I pegged the woman who ran the cafe as a culprit of one kind or another, right away. I think they were trying to surprise us, since "little old ladies" are supposedly so innocent, but the actross was hamming it up and acting totally suspicious, I thought. 

I didn't like that they undercut her villainy by saying she was just lonely. Way to go, show! Try to undercut a stereotype and then veer hard back into the same one. <insert eyerolling here>

I find the romantic life of Ridley and his bar business astoundingly dull. It's not that I think it's offensive or terrible; I just think it's not interesting. 

 

Edited November 8 by possibilities