Game Of Silence - General Discussion

[Lisin]

Discuss Game of Silence here.

[formerlyfreedom]

Game of Silence Promises Season 1 Payoff, 'Shocking' Set-Up for Future

 

Though NBC’s upcoming Game of Silence revolves around one central mystery, its freshman run will offer resolution — while also setting the stage for any possible second season.

[formerlyfreedom]

A preview is up from Game of Silence on NBC, and TVLine.com has some more info about the premise. Also, David Lyons accent? R-owr! Just a bummer he doesn't keep it for the show...

 

Adapted by exec producer David Hudgins (from the Turkish series Suskunlar) and debuting Thursday, April 7 at 10/9c, Game of Silence stars David Lyons (Revolution) as Jackson Brooks, a rising star attorney whose perfect life is at risk of being upended when two childhood pals, Gil and Shawn (played by Once Upon a Time‘s Michael Raymond-James and Rescue Me‘s Larenz Tate), resurface with a powder keg of a problem that threatens to dredge back up a very tragic part of their past.

[Primetimer]

Childhood friends team up to avenge long-ago abuse in an adaptation of a well-regarded Turkish series. Should you join them?

Read the story

[patty1h]

Judging from the commercials I've seen, this reminds me of the Brad Pitt movie "Sleepers", which was about three friends who band together to punish the guards that abused them in the juvenile correction facility they were in as young teens.

[wanderingstar]

I liked it. It held my attention for the entire running time. But damn, those scenes flashing back to Quitman might be the end of me.

 

Loved seeing Larenz Tate again.

[Syndicate]

I liked the pilot well enough. Not sure how long this premise can last as a weekly series though. The leading lawyer character is evil from the get go. How can he be seen as law-abiding when he's willing to go to such extremes to avenge the past? I certainly wouldn't want him to be my lawyer for any reason.

[rollerblade]

I didn't see any previews until tonight during The Voice, it reminded of The Sleepers. I was intrigued, didn't turn off TV after Voice and watched the pilot.

 

But is this supposed to be a multi-season show? Seems like it would have been better as a 10-15 episode miniseries. Otherwise, I can already feel the onslaught of convoluted triple-crossing back-stabbing plots that will just make me tune out.

 

Why are the boys in juvi dressed in different colored uniforms? Age group? Severity of crime?

[candall]

I just watched Sleepers this weekend and it's a tidy twisty little two-hour package of stunning brutality and bittersweet revenge. 

 

I'm not sure I want to stretch all that brutality and vengeance--especially the former--out for hours and hours.

 

Plus, I have to go check the recap because I couldn't tell WHAT was going in the rainy night scene--what time frame we were in, what was happening to whom, by whom--only that this is "the girl's" part of the secret, somehow.  Is it tied into what happened to the boys in juvie or a whole different story?

 

Also, not sure I'm on board with all the skullduggery and murder that seems to be coming up just because Mr. Hothead "doesn't want anyone to know what happened to me in there" and therefore a basic expose' is out of the question.

 

They should keep this on Tuesday nights, which are kind of slow.  : )

[Artsda]

I really liked it, it held my interest for the entire show with the flashbacks of the past. It also reminded me a lot of Sleepers. 

 

Loved seeing David Lyons aka President Monroe from Revolution. He plays a bad guy so well.

 

They sure killed Boots ( Billy Riggins ) off pretty fast, I guess they needed to move the plot along fast to push Jackson off the edge to be angry enough for revenge but that was good casting for Boots. Hopefully he gets to show up in adult flashbacks. 

 

I know the girl in the middle is going to annoy me. Especially when she got mad at the guy she hasn't seen in 20 some odd years for lying to her and not her actual boyfriend.

 

I didn't get why they all got sentenced to the same time in juvenile detention. Shouldn't  Jackson driving should have gotten more time than the kids in the back seat. 

Edited April 13, 2016 by Artsda

[biakbiak]

Billy Riggins and Michael Raymond-James, I guess I am in for however long it lasts.

[candall]

No details in the recap. Can someone tell me who was getting his face smooshed in the mud in the rainy night scene and who was there that we knew?

 

I'm guessing lawyer guy killed someone while Cassie(?) shrieked?  Abusive spouse?  Or was that something to do with where the bullies frog-marched young lawyer boy out the gates?  Hello?

 

(My tv is showing everything too dark these days, no matter how much I adjust the options.  Sigh.  Tv shopping.)

[Bwill3133]

No details in the recap. Can someone tell me who was getting his face smooshed in the mud in the rainy night scene and who was there that we knew?

 

I'm guessing lawyer guy killed someone while Cassie(?) shrieked?  Abusive spouse?  Or was that something to do with where the bullies frog-marched young lawyer boy out the gates?  Hello?

 

(My tv is showing everything too dark these days, no matter how much I adjust the options.  Sigh.  Tv shopping.)

That scene was so quick and dark it was hard to tell what was going on. I imagine we will get more details on what happened there in the next episode. It seems that Jackson killed some man and buried him and Jessie was a witness. From their conversation after that is when he left for Houston? 

[Syndicate]

I didn't see any previews until tonight during The Voice, it reminded of The Sleepers. I was intrigued, didn't turn off TV after Voice and watched the pilot.

But is this supposed to be a multi-season show? Seems like it would have been better as a 10-15 episode miniseries. Otherwise, I can already feel the onslaught of convoluted triple-crossing back-stabbing plots that will just make me tune out.

Why are the boys in juvi dressed in different colored uniforms? Age group? Severity of crime?

This is indeed supposed to be a multi-season show. I've read that they actually have a wrap-up ending in the first season with a plan already in place for a second season. I'm already curious as to what that plan is. Edited April 13, 2016 by Syndicate

[Skyfall]

Liked it, held my attention, and it gave off sort of a The Black Donnellys (NBC would've killed for those type of ratings now) vibe to me. And early numbers before official fast nationals shows a decent enough rating too.

[candall]

Liked it, held my attention, and it gave off sort of a The Black Donnellys (NBC would've killed for those type of ratings now) vibe to me. And early numbers before official fast nationals shows a decent enough rating too.

Ooh, I loved The Black Donnellys.  And you're right--that would stand out as some top quality network programming these days.  Hope someone's looking back with regret.

[Boofish]

Lorenz Tate has aged 5 minutes in the last 20 years

[sarkygal]

It did remind me of Sleepers and I don't know if I have the stomach to watch another iteration of that in weekly segments.

 

Larenz Tate really has barely aged and I don't recognize any of the other actors. The Jessie actress looks like a poor man's Brooke Shields, with a normal mouth.

[Primetimer]

Playing House: The Texaning, anyone?

Read the story

[numbnut]

This is totally Sleepers. Some Turkish show can't hide that source material. Is this the latest trend, making a TV series from an '80s movie? (Animal Kingdom is basically At Close Range.) If so, I want to see a show based on The Breakfast Club.

 

Larenz Tate! Love Jones. Still a classic. Don't know any of the other actors. The lawyer guy looks like Jason O'Mara.

 

I know the girl in the middle is going to annoy me. Especially when she got mad at the guy she hasn't seen in 20 some odd years for lying to her and not her actual boyfriend.

 

Amen.

 

I can already feel the onslaught of convoluted triple-crossing back-stabbing plots that will just make me tune out.

 

I have to go check the recap because I couldn't tell WHAT was going in the rainy night scene--what time frame we were in, what was happening to whom, by whom--only that this is "the girl's" part of the secret, somehow.  Is it tied into what happened to the boys in juvie or a whole different story?

 

The pilot was a mess, another case of cramming two hours of drama into 47 minutes. If they spent a solid 15 or 20 minutes on the foundation of the story (the juvie drama) I would feel something for these characters.

Edited April 15, 2016 by numbnut

[Artsda]

This show goes by really fast. I like that. 

 

Was the guy in the flashbacks of Jackson putting the body in the grave, the guard? 

 

Jackson's fiancee is really clueless to what he's doing. 

[Jeebus Cripes]

This is totally Sleepers. Some Turkish show can't hide that source material. Is this the latest trend, making a TV series from an '80s movie? (Animal Kingdom is basically At Close Range.) If so, I want to see a show based on The Breakfast Club.

 

I'm amazed that this isn't based on Sleepers! Is the Turkish show based on Sleepers? I mean, the horrible shit in juvi; one dude is a lawyer; two of them are loose cannons; there's a girl in the mix... how is this NOT based on Sleepers??? 

[numbnut]

I'm amazed that this isn't based on Sleepers! Is the Turkish show based on Sleepers? I mean, the horrible shit in juvi; one dude is a lawyer; two of them are loose cannons; there's a girl in the mix... how is this NOT based on Sleepers??? 

 

I haven't seen the Turkish series but read that it was based on Sleepers, just like the Danish show Forbrydelsen (which begat The Killing) was based on Twin Peaks.

[rollerblade]

The pilot was a mess, another case of cramming two hours of drama into 47 minutes. If they spent a solid 15 or 20 minutes on the foundation of the story (the juvie drama) I would feel something for these characters.

 

The foundation of the story is really bad shit happened in the juvie back in the days that changed the boys (+ Jessie) lives forever. The guys surpressed those memories and moved on with their lives.... until the recent events bring it all back to the surface. One dead friend set the motion for the remaining 3 into revenge mode. Anyone who watched Sleepers already know the premise. We know how it started, and we have an idea how it will end. 

 

Details of the the bad shit that happened in juvie will be revealed, a little at a time, over the episodes. I suspect they will continue with the back and forth past+present storytelling. We aren't supposed to know who the guy in the woods was for now, just that Jackson killed someone and Jessie was a witness/accomplice. Whether or not that's the right strategy to hook viewers ..... we'll find out soon enough.

[rollerblade]

The double-triple-quad crossing has begun. I wonder which team Bobby is on. He was lying to both sides.

 

Jackson's fiancee is really clueless to what he's doing. 

 

I hope she's not pristine clean like they want us to believe.

[Dowel Jones]

Gil is a ticking time bomb.  One wonders how he survived this long.

 

Wouldn't some of the ex-juvie kids have spoken up over the past 25 years about their treatment?  All an attorney or investigator would need to do is persuade one of the guards to finger the others, and it would become a snowball.

[Maurina]

Well okay, but shouldn't this be titled "Games of Silence we'd rather watch" instead of "Game of Silences we'd rather watch"? Like it's 'culs-de-sac" and not "cul-de-sacs" (no matter what Lorelai says)?

[Sarah D. Bunting]

No. The title is a noun unit.

[numbnut]

The foundation of the story is really bad shit happened in the juvie back in the days that changed the boys (+ Jessie) lives forever. The guys surpressed those memories and moved on with their lives.... until the recent events bring it all back to the surface. One dead friend set the motion for the remaining 3 into revenge mode. Anyone who watched Sleepers already know the premise. We know how it started, and we have an idea how it will end. 

 

Details of the the bad shit that happened in juvie will be revealed, a little at a time, over the episodes. I suspect they will continue with the back and forth past+present storytelling. We aren't supposed to know who the guy in the woods was for now, just that Jackson killed someone and Jessie was a witness/accomplice. Whether or not that's the right strategy to hook viewers ..... we'll find out soon enough.

 

I understand how the story is being structured. I also know what happened in juvie on an intellectual level, but to bond with these specific characters (not the characters in Sleepers) on an emotional level, it would help to share their formative experiences. They can hook viewers by creating a mystery around the murder in the woods. Continually flashing back to various events in different time periods makes the storytelling convoluted. Sleepers had too much narration but the foundation of the story wasn't rushed. GOS isn't using the best strategy. If it was, every TV drama would start off with a rushed and convoluted narrative.

Edited April 15, 2016 by numbnut

[Bwill3133]

This show goes by really fast. I like that. 

 

Was the guy in the flashbacks of Jackson putting the body in the grave, the guard? 

 

Jackson's fiancee is really clueless to what he's doing. 

I like the pace too. It looked like the guard to me. So Jessie has an idea of what happened in juvie but doesn't have the details? 

[Maurina]

 

Wouldn't some of the ex-juvie kids have spoken up over the past 25 years about their treatment?

 

That bothered me too, I couldn't just accept that nobody ever said anything in all that time.  But then again, it's easy to believe someone DID speak up and was ignored or silenced.  I'm thinking of the real life Jimmy Savile for example, who got away with abusing children for years and years...

 

 

No. The title is a noun unit.

 

D'oh, of course!  I have been duly schooled.

[ShowsILoveToHate]

I'm watching the pilot right now OnDemand and the rainy night Jackson killing just happened.  The guy he killed was the prison guard with the mustache. They showed his face while he laying on the ground, and also for an instant Jackson flashed back to when the guard was beating him when he was in juvie.

 

Apparently the Turkish show was based on a true story that happened in 1997.

Edited April 16, 2016 by ShowsILoveToHate

[numbnut]

Apparently the Turkish show was based on a true story that happened in 1997.

 

IMO it's pretty obvious that the creators used Sleepers (either the novel or film) as a cinematic source when writing the script around the true event, just like Animal Kingdom used At Close Range from an artistic standpoint (sometimes shot for shot) even though both were based on different true events. Some creators will craft their stories from established material with similar premises, true story or not. Writers can do this because they're lazy; because they're inspired by a particular film (or they're being pressured by "inspired" producers); or because they're insecure about their abilities while trying to finding their own voice.

Edited April 16, 2016 by numbnut

[Mondrianyone]

Just watched the first episode last night.  I don't know any of the actors' names.  But why does the one who plays Gil sound like he's from Flatbush when they're all supposed to be from Texas?  Which none of them sound like anyway, but he seems particularly ridiculous.

[represent]

 

This is totally Sleepers.

That's the name of the movie I was trying to remember. As soon as I saw this advertised I said, they got this idea from that movie. It was with Minnie Driver, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, I remember he was the neighborhood priest, Kevin Bacon, he was one of the abusers. I remember there were four boys and Minnie Driver's character was the only girl/childhood friend of the bunch. I can't remember the names of the other three actors though. Brad Pitt's character was a lawyer and had also been one of the four boys who had been abused.  I think one or two of them killed Bacon's character for repeatedly raping them in juvenile jail for a number years. Brad Pitt's character got them off of the murder charges with the help of De Niro's character. He really cared about those boys and ended up lying for them on the stand to help get them off.  That was a good movie. 

 

Oh, it's good to see Larenz Tate, I can't count how many times I've watched Love Jones.

Edited April 20, 2016 by represent

[Dowel Jones]

Reason #1 why you should know how your house functions, and not leave it up to the plumber, the carpenter, the landscaper/bad guy.

[Raja]

Gil is a ticking time bomb.  One wonders how he survived this long.

 

Wouldn't some of the ex-juvie kids have spoken up over the past 25 years about their treatment?  All an attorney or investigator would need to do is persuade one of the guards to finger the others, and it would become a snowball.

The way I saw it one was ready to commit suicide rather than admit to being raped in prison. The shame at being victimized left them with nobody to report to since once something gets out the string would be pulled until the secret came out

[misstwpherecool]

So 1980s stalker in the house stuff. Great, Now they have TWO murders to cover up...

 

The religious guy is going to crack, he might die but he is going to crack.

[Bwill3133]

Gil is crazy but I like him for some reason. Glad we got a little insight on Shawn. Did she get a card or anything from old dude trying to work on the sprinkler? Bad move.

[Happytobehere]

The show reminds me of this movie, I think Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, Kevin Bacon, Ron Eldard, and Deniro were in it about some poor boys from Hell's Kitchen, who go to juvie and get abused and one of them kills the primary abuser (Bacon) when they see him. One of them is now a lawyer whom they guilt into defending his former friend. As can be expected, the boys grew up to be messes as adults and very few had a happy ending. Yes, there was the girl in the mix as well.

Just remembered the name of the film was Sleepers. Show is based on that film, I fell no sympathy for anyone other than the kids. I don't care what they do to those who abused them. At least they go at their abusers man to man and not man to boy.

Having said that, I like it and will at least watch the first three episodes.

Had I read all the posts, I would have seen that pretty much everyone else connected this show to that film. That's what happens when you come late to the party and just jump in the conversation..

Edited April 26, 2016 by Happytobehere

[Happytobehere]

Gil is definitely the Ron Eldard character from Sleepers. However, unlike the movie, I doubt Gil is going to be a clearly guilt as Eldard's character, if he is guilty, the show is literally following the complete playbook from the movie.

I read the Wikipedia and I don't care wha they say, this is clearly the story from Sleepers, which was based on a book. Bothe the movie and the book predate the European series and the alleged event that series claims to be based on. If I were the author of Sleepers (is he still alive), I'd be calling my lawyer.

With the exception of Larenz Tate, the only person I recognize is the black actor who plays the former kid prison tormentor and current day murderous drug dealer. I don't know his name, but I do recognize his face.

Nurse Amy will definitely wind up dying a horrible death based on her conversation and her intense fear. Didn't it occur to Mr. Lawyer to follow up on what is still going on that she is terrified all these years later.

Speculation, Petey is going to play a part in this whole thing. He will turn out not to be dead and somehow involved.

Wonder if the gun the wife passed off to Jesse will play into the murder. Did the wife kill Derrell, the gun was surrounded by letters, were those letters related to the time in juvie, and did she read them and go to defend her now dead husband?

[Anela]

I'm watching the first episode, and I keep thinking about the movie Sleepers. I only see two episode threads here, so I guess it isn't doing so well?

[Trace]

I love Michael Raymond-James (Gil) because he has starred in two of my favorite shows - True Blood (which he was awesome in - he sounded like a true cajun), and Once Upon a Time.  I just wanted to hug him when he asked Jenny if she was going to leave him.  He's such a great actor. And the bed scene last night??  Hubba hubba

[Artsda]

I liked Gil at the party pointing out "nice tent." LOL I said the same. Glad we're now going to see the guys more united and taking on the revenge together.

[Happytobehere]

It just hit me that the actor who plays Terry (I think that's his name) is the same actor who played the black deputy who was killed by the Neo-Nazis on Banshee.  

The warden/Childmolester/Wannabe Governor needs to be exposed and publicly destroyed and then die by season's end.  He is simply the worst.

I remain on the fence its this show in the sense that I can see it falling into the trap,of shows that should have been one-offs, you know shows that should have wrapped in a single season and maybe continue on as an anthology.  However, they continue going with the same cast and story and drive viewers away.  

My sense of uneasiness with this show is also rooted in not wanting to commit to a show that will likely be cancelled. I've had that experience once too often, my last being Almost Human.  IMO, networks are creating their own little vicious cycle; they cancel a show because the ratings aren't blockbuster right out the gate.  However, viewers are now less likely to commit because of cancellation concerns.  NBC needs to remember what built it up as a viable network back in the day.  Shows like a Cheers, Seifeld, St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, etc. we're not instant hits.  Sticking with them helped build an audience.

[LakeGal]

I finally gave up on this show.  I wanted to like it.  But I was just bored and annoyed. 

[heyitsme87]

Looks like the warden knows about Red's death from Jessie? Was she going to work for his campaign to gather information or because she's playing all of them?

I liked Gil more this episode than the past ones. 

[rollerblade]

I wonder how Jessie even got involved in the first place, unless she was with Jackson on the night he decided to drive by Quitman. Unless it really wasn't a drive-by, but rather a planned assault/murder because Jackson knew Red's schedule/habits.

Jackson was wrong when he claimed the warden doesn't know who Jessie is. Ray definitely knows she is involved with the boys.

Not sure what to make of that focus on security camera at the end... was it the same cameras Jackson had installed? I have a feeling Terry and/or Ray is watching them via those tampered spycams.

Edited May 7, 2016 by rollerblade

[waving feather]

I'm only watching this for Michael Raymond-James (Gil), to be honest. He's a great actor - adored him in Terriers (which is a awesome show, btw). I love his relationship with Jessie. Hope they don't do a love triangle with Jackson, because Jessie has better chemistry with Gil than Jackson. Poor Gil, seems he had it the worst at Quitman out of his friends.

Edited May 8, 2016 by waving feather

[luckyroll3]

I just watched the pilot, not knowing anything about the show other than it was based on some Turkish show.  As soon as the boys all jumped in the car, I said, "so this is Sleepers"

On 4/14/2016 at 6:48 PM, sarkygal said:

It did remind me of Sleepers and I don't know if I have the stomach to watch another iteration of that in weekly segments.

 

Larenz Tate really has barely aged and I don't recognize any of the other actors. The Jessie actress looks like a poor man's Brooke Shields, with a normal mouth.

My sentiment exactly.  Sleepers is one of my favorite movies, and even so, I can only watch it once every year or so because it rips me to shreds every time I see it.  I don't know that I could take that kind of turmoil on a weekly basis.  

And yes, Larenz Tate bathes in the blood of newborns and virgins to stay looking that great.  I've heard/read that over the past decade or so, he's refused to confirm his age, so he might actually be a vampire.