S01.E01: Pilot

[saber5055]

 

Agree with others that State Of Blacklist Affairs is the next evolutionary step- Red feeds Charleston the #1 threat each day and does not have to drop anvillized clues every 5 minutes. Gratuitous Heigl lingerie shots > Boone lingerie shots.

Now THAT is Must.See.TV. As long as a few gratuitous Ressler shots are tossed in the mix.

[Shriekingeel]

Heigl's character is really unpleasant.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Shriekingeel

[shapeshifter]

I finally watched most of the rerun of this last night. Since I was multi-tasking, I noticed how oddly similar KH's voice is to Claire Danes' of Homeland.

[saber5055]

I saw the end of the pilot rerun. In the closing scene, the flashback Heigl is repressing, the boyfriend aims a gun at her while he's lying on the floor, shot, then the screen goes black as we hear the gun fire. Who knows if he's shooting at her or saves her life by killing someone behind her. We're suppose to stay tuned, I guess.

 

I noticed how oddly similar KH's voice is to Claire Danes' of Homeland.

And maybe the scripts of these two shows as well?

[Notwisconsin]

No disrespect to Afre Woodward, she's a brilliant actress, but what's she doing playing the president without any flying cars or holographic phones? If you're going to have a TV show set in the far future, then at least show it being in the far future.

 

Also, there's the nepotism thing. A president hiring a Daughter-in-law-elect as a top aide? LBJ made damn sure that a "Bobby Kennedy situation would NEVER occur again.

[saber5055]

 

LBJ made damn sure that a "Bobby Kennedy situation would NEVER occur again.

And you, Katherine Heigl, are no Bobby Kennedy.

[Notwisconsin]

I realize that this is a radical feminist fantasy and all, but having the MALE head of the CIA being such a bloody idiot to have an enemy general not being strip searched before getting into Langley and trying to arrest a top aide to the President is almost beyond belief.

[Guest Accused Dingo]

I didn't think this was awful. My bar was set so low that i wasn't expecting much so i was pleasantly surpised. I don't need reality in my scripted television. Pilots are there for showing what the shows reality is.   I don't need it to or particulatly want it to Coinside with mine.

I may stick with the show for another couple of episodes before i make my finsl decision.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Accused Dingo

[mojito]

 

First, when I started to hear about this, I rolled my eyes when I saw they decided to make the President an African-American woman. Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of Hollywood sticking minorities in positions of power so that they can claim that they're "inclusive" ....

After so many years of being non-inclusive, it's nice that Hollywood is giving a few women parts. It's a nice break from what they've been giving us for 80+ years.

 

Less Heigl, more Alfre.

[izabella]

I also agree with the above poster that it's too damn bad that we have to have two strong female characters who are motivated by the death of a man, rather than just by justice, or duty, or national security. But, both Heigl and Woodard are up to the material, so I am very interested to see where this goes.

 

I would have liked the show a lot better if it weren't for that.  I hate that this is a big part of the main premise of the show.  Why such an incestuous link?  It's not necessary and weakens the story instead of adding an interesting layer to it.

[Danielg342]

After so many years of being non-inclusive, it's nice that Hollywood is giving a few women parts. It's a nice break from what they've been giving us for 80+ years.

Less Heigl, more Alfre.

I think you've missed my point- I don't cringe at the thought of having a woman in power on a TV show. What bothers me is when a show creates a character who is a minority and is supposed to be the protagonist's boss but does nothing but shove them into the background, occasionally trotting them out just to bark some orders at the protagonist. That's what bothers me- the character is there just to fill some "token" minority but is pretty much useless as a character, which begs the question of why that character is there in the first place.

With regards to this show, I also mentioned I'm glad that Alfre Woodard is going to get a role to play and that she won't just be in the background. My only issue is that Woodard's and Heigl's characters are only sprung into action because they both lost the same man they loved, which follows another unfortunate Hollywood trend where a female character has to have some strong ties to a male to have any value in the story. I find the premise to be pretty weak, but it's not the end of the world if it's executed right.

[Netfoot]

My only issue is that Woodard's and Heigl's characters are only sprung into action because they both lost the same man they loved, which follows another unfortunate Hollywood trend where a female character has to have some strong ties to a male to have any value in the story.

 

Well, they could have made Chartreuse gay, and about to marry the president's daughter.  Think how many tokens that would have filled!  It would have changed the way Chartreuse goes cruising for action, tho.  And I hesitate to predict what the ratings would be like.  

[Danielg342]

Well, they could have made Chartreuse gay, and about to marry the president's daughter. Think how many tokens that would have filled! It would have changed the way Chartreuse goes cruising for action, tho. And I hesitate to predict what the ratings would be like.

True...though there aren't a lot of lesbian/bisexual heroines on TV (at least not right off the bat- shows tend to make them “shocking reveals” years later), and very few that lead “normal” lives. So it may also be tokenism but it'd be novel at the same time...though you are right to wonder about the ratings.

[mojito]

 

I think you've missed my point

I can't miss a point that you never made...until now. That said, trotting out a boss to bark out orders is done all the time, especially on cop-type shows. Usually, that boss is a white male. So it's just more of the same, just with a different-looking character.

 

I'm a major AW fan, but this show turned me off so much in the first episode that I haven't returned. (I'm only here because I received a notification.) I just can't buy the Heigl role. She's like a modern-day Clark Kent. Cartoonish, what with all her skills, knowledge, and power.

 

 

True...though there aren't a lot of lesbian/bisexual heroines on TV (at least not right off the bat- shows tend to make them “shocking reveals” years later), and very few that lead “normal” lives. So it may also be tokenism but it'd be novel at the same time...though you are right to wonder about the ratings.

I so agree with you. TV has a hard time mainstreaming characters who are slightly different. It always has to make a "thing" of it. One of the granddaughters on Parenthood came out in one episode. There was barely a hiccup. Just a kind of being taken aback and then an "Oh". Quick mental shift. "Okay." No drama. (Happened that way in my own family. No behind-his-back discussions. We processed the information and moved on.) I wish more shows would go the route that Parenthood did.

 

Hopefully, we're over those "shocking reveals" because they're just not shocking anymore. And if TV isn't over those reveals, hopefully, we, the viewers, are no longer shocked by them.

[Netfoot]

That said, trotting out a boss to bark out orders is done all the time, especially on cop-type shows. Usually, that boss is a white male. So it's just more of the same, just with a different-looking character.

 

I'm trying to think of a cop show that the lieutenant isn't black..... and failing.  But in this show at least, the boss (POTUS) has a bit more to do than bark the occasional order and sit around in her office.

[mojito]

L&O SVU.

[Danielg342]

I can't miss a point that you never made...until now. That said, trotting out a boss to bark out orders is done all the time, especially on cop-type shows. Usually, that boss is a white male. So it's just more of the same, just with a different-looking character.

Maybe in the '80s and early '90s it was like that but most of the shows I see nowadays have a minority filling that role. Just off the top of my head we have:

-Boston Public (“The Dragon Lady” school superintendent, who was a black woman)

-Criminal Minds (Erin Strauss, until she was killed in Season 8, and she did have some actual character development)

-Sleepy Hollow (whose police department captain is a black woman)

-The Blacklist (Diane Cooper was the FBI Director before she was killed halfway through Season 1, only to be replaced by a black woman, with the leader of the taskforce being a black man, who talks tough but rarely delivers)

-Gotham (Sarah Essen, a black woman, is the captain of James Gordon's precinct)

-House (Lisa Cuddy, though she eventually became a character in her own right)

-Brooklyn 9-9 (captain is a black male)

-The Mentalist (had Madeline Hightower and Teresa Lisbon, who despite being a regular character whose actress, Robin Tunney, made her strong, was written to be essentially ineffectual)

Granted I may have just “lucked out” and found the shows that don't have a male leader, but that's some kind of streak. I also grant that a lot of shows eventually replace the token with a white male, but it doesn't change the fact they started with a token. TVTropes, on their page for “Da Chief” (which documents this trope) also notes that nowadays the role is filled by a minority.

It's one of the few takeaways I appreciate about State of Affairs- that Constance Payton will actually be a character. It'll remain to be seen if she'll be effective, but based on the pilot I do have my hopes up.

I so agree with you. TV has a hard time mainstreaming characters who are slightly different. It always has to make a "thing" of it. One of the granddaughters on Parenthood came out in one episode. There was barely a hiccup. Just a kind of being taken aback and then an "Oh". Quick mental shift. "Okay." No drama. (Happened that way in my own family. No behind-his-back discussions. We processed the information and moved on.) I wish more shows would go the route that Parenthood did.

Hopefully, we're over those "shocking reveals" because they're just not shocking anymore. And if TV isn't over those reveals, hopefully, we, the viewers, are no longer shocked by them.

Word. Maybe the show should have made Charlie- or, better yet, the President- lesbian. That'd be different.

[Hanahope]

Just got around to watching this on my DVR.  Not sure if I'll stick with it or not, but will give it another episode or two. 

 

One question  I have.  When does Heigl's character sleep?  She's "up" at 1:00 am to go to the CIA for the debriefing book preparation, and this is after we see her in a bar at night, then having sex with some stranger. And then she's out and about all day long doing various things with her job.  Then back at the bar that night to hook up with another stranger.  Is she at the bar at maybe 6-7:00 p.m. having sex by 7-8 and then sleeping what 3-4 hours, at most?

[LeGrandElephant]

When they kept saying "wow that guy looks just like Aaron", I thought it was going to turn out that Aaron wasn't dead after all but had been captive for the last year (or long lost twin). But... I guess the show isn't going that way?

Edited December 21, 2014 by LeGrandElephant