Chance - General Discussion

[Tara Ariano]

Discuss Chance here!

[Primetimer]

It's more Vertigo and Bosch than House...but is that a good thing?

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[cpierce]

My dad and I LOVED 'Prime Suspect'.

[mrsdalgliesh]

I liked the American "Prime Suspect" once I divorced it from the original British show, I really like Bosch, and I think Vertigo is overrated -- so now I know exactly how I'd feel about this. Time saver! Thanks!

[Muffyn]

I live in SF, they did some filming near my house and, most importantly, a friend is in one episode. So I'll be watching that one at least. Also, she said Hugh Laurie was excellent to work with so another reason to watch.

[zxy556575]

I'm enjoying it so far, although there's a definite sense of dread watching as Eldon's life spins away from him.

I really don't like the low-pitched raspy tone Laurie has decided to use for Eldon. The guy's feeling burned out and ineffective at work and beat down in his personal life -- I GET IT. Doesn't mean he can't speak normally.

Edited October 20, 2016 by lordonia

[Margherita Erdman]

Put me in the U.S. Prime Suspect fan club (I think it helped that I saw it before being therefore inspired to binge the original on Netflix afterward, and could separate the two). Also I like Vertigo very much (though I loathe and question the sanity of the idea that it is a grand love story — but then, look at all those who think Trump is just a boy being a boy). Haven't seen Bosch, though I have read most of the novels and am hugely partial to LA noir in fiction and California noir more generally in film.

That said — I have found the first two episodes (watched together) a little disappointing. From @Sarah D. Bunting's review:

Quote

Laurie is not always convincing to me in a gentler, less-than-super-competent role like this one

^ Yeah, this, unfortunately, for me. It's as if Gregory House has changed specialties, lost his faith in medicine, and become a hopelessly sentimental, unfocused drunk given to mooning after unavailable, boringly enigmatic blondes rather than unavailable, sharp, put-together brunettes. Gretchen Mol still isn't happening for me, and D seems like a purely literary construct rather than a human being. It is all so very, very, precious.

The cast, Gretchen Mol aside, is so very, very good though (Lisa Gay Hamilton!), and San Francisco so very, very beautiful, and the genre so very much my thing, that I'm sure I will see it through.

Edited October 20, 2016 by Margherita Erdman
I am autocorrect's bitch, and forget to proofread before I post

[Margherita Erdman]

Is anyone else watching this? Is anyone else mystified by the total absence of chemistry, any kind of chemistry, between Hugh Laurie or Gretchen Mol, or between Hugh Laurie and Diane Farr, and how that takes all the air out of what should be central tensions in the plot?

Also, I am all for puncturing stereotypes, especially sex-based stereotypes, but I have been around a fair number of mathematicians and math-adjacent types, of both genders (mother was a math professor), and I have never known one to be so vague and — floaty — or reticent about boring one's companions with the details of a complex (to the layperson) axiom, or theorem, or concept.

[molshoop]

I've only seen the first episode, but I'm hooked already. I've loved Hugh Laurie since Black Adder.

It seems to be getting a lot of bad reviews. I hope that doesn't keep people from giving it a chance.

[Desperately Random]

5 hours ago, molshoop said:

I've only seen the first episode, but I'm hooked already. I've loved Hugh Laurie since Black Adder.

It seems to be getting a lot of bad reviews. I hope that doesn't keep people from giving it a chance.

I just heard about this show yesterday and decided to give it a try. I wasn't that impressed at the end of the first episode but by the end of the second, I was hooked. I haven't checked out any sites or other message boards so I don't know what kind of reviews it's getting but I hope it's also getting some good reviews as well. I think it's a different kind of show and I'm interested in seeing where they go with this storyline of Chance and his "sidekick" D helping out Jaclyn. I find it interesting that I'm not sure what to make of her. It's not clear if she is using Chance in some way that he hasn't figured out yet and I like that she is not that typical TV trope "damsel in distress" that we've all seen a hundred times before. I do believe that her husband is an abusive asshole but I'm also pretty sure that there is something more going on with Jaclyn that we will be finding out in future episodes and that's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to seeing how this all works out.

[Margherita Erdman]

Wow, judging from this forum (and my own struggle to stay awake when watching it), the show has aimed for noir and landed on soporific.

I like Chance's grad student assistant. I wish she'd been brought to the foreground before this episode because she, along with Lisa Gay Hamilton, bring the show alive. Everyone else is such a drag, living, as Eldon himself describes, in places of existential dreeeaaad.

Beckett this ain't.

[zxy556575]

3 hours ago, Margherita Erdman said:

Wow, judging from this forum (and my own struggle to stay awake when watching it), the show has aimed for noir and landed on soporific.

I got partway through this episode and nodded off, so yeah.

I simply don't like Eldon the tormented sap or his poor decision-making, is what it's boiling down to for me. And now he's got some kind of severe mental illness in his past that I'm going to need to hand-wave away?

[Margherita Erdman]

7 hours ago, lordonia said:

And now he's got some kind of severe mental illness in his past

Not just any mental illness! The blah-de-blah erotomania blah-de-blah De Clérembault's syndrome boils down to our hero was a delusional stalker. Because that seems highly sympathetic and curable! I think it's supposed to make the character more complex and his motivations more ambiguous but for me all it does is make him even more repellent and the last thing this show needs is more ambiguity.

[kieyra]

Kind of torn. Made it through the pilot. I'm having the "Dr House" cognitive dissonance problem, and I'm so over Gretchen Mol as "femme fatale". 

On the other hand, we have Randy from My Name is Earl as one seriously scary BAMF. Also Lester from The Wire (and many other things), playing a role other than the one he is usually typecast into.

Opening with the case files was also a weird choice, as it telegraphed "procedural". But then they ended with his own self-analysis. All the other patients ended up in very bad situations, so I guess that's what it was actually telegraphing.

Found some of the writing to be a bit pretentious.

Edited October 30, 2016 by kieyra

[Margherita Erdman]

Gracious! This show is boring. Even @saoirse knows it isn't worth the effort to post the episode summary ;)

I also hate riddles.

Usually a compulsive completist, I may have to go with assistant Christine on this one and take my leave early.

The Palais des Beaux Arts was shot beautifully though.

[zxy556575]

I might have watched if the entire series had been released at once but I can't be bothered to remember when a new episode comes on. I've never noticed the show promoted on the Hulu home page, either. (Because, Mindy Project in constant rotation.)

I'll probably watch the finale just to find out who died. Fingers crossed it's that nitwit Eldon!

Edited November 3, 2016 by lordonia

[Margherita Erdman]

@lordonia, I only remembered to watch it yesterday because it popped on my home page as it has every Wednesday. Must have to do with my viewing choices. [Mindy has never shown up on my home page I don't think except maybe in a slide show spotlighting Hulu originals.]

And did I miss something (nodded off maybe)? Was there a preview somewhere that there would be a death in the finale? Does it have to be only one? IMO they're all nitwits, ciphers, or paper-thin stereotypes (the abusive husband/dirty cop, the tough guy whose enigmatic is waaay too try-hard) —

— except for the daughter, the therapist, and the assistant. They can stay. Wouldn't that be some kind of show? A middle-aged African-American therapist becomes guardian to a young teenaged girl after the tragic loss of the girl's parents. They are joined by a pregnant Asian-American graduate student in neuropsychology and have interesting adventures in forensic detective work.

[zxy556575]

10 minutes ago, Margherita Erdman said:

And did I miss something (nodded off maybe)? Was there a preview somewhere that there would be a death in the finale?

It's an "edgy" and "gritty" show. Somebody's gotta die, right?

[kieyra]

On 10/20/2016 at 9:35 PM, Margherita Erdman said:

Is anyone else watching this? Is anyone else mystified by the total absence of chemistry, any kind of chemistry, between Hugh Laurie or Gretchen Mol, or between Hugh Laurie and Diane Farr, and how that takes all the air out of what should be central tensions in the plot?

Also, I am all for puncturing stereotypes, especially sex-based stereotypes, but I have been around a fair number of mathematicians and math-adjacent types, of both genders (mother was a math professor), and I have never known one to be so vague and — floaty — or reticent about boring one's companions with the details of a complex (to the layperson) axiom, or theorem, or concept.

Bizarrely, I'm finding there IS chemistry between Dr. House and Randy from My Name Is Earl, and even though they're usually speaking total gibberish to each other, their scenes are somehow continuing to pull me through episodes. 

It's probably just Randy.

Okay, I've looked up the actor's name, Ethan Suplee. I wish they would have cast him in True Detective S2; he's doing better with this style of dialogue than those poor bastards did.

I should mention I have no clue what's going on and don't care enough to guess. I FF through the Gretchen Mol scenes. (Sorry Gretchen Mol. You take some thankless roles.)

[millennium]

I have chemistry with Gretchen Mol, so it's all good.

I don't feel like being too hard on this show.  I'm grateful to have something new to watch that doesn't seem tailor-made for idiots (as most stuff released on Hulu and Netflix is these days).

It struggles to be Hitchcock in the way Brian de Palma struggled to be Hitchcock, with about as much success.

Still, it's okay.

[kieyra]

I guess everyone's still not watching this? I've got episode five or six or something going on in the background. The Randy/House chemistry still continues to be good. Everything else including their dialogue is gibberish. Randy just constantly explains illegal shit to House, in his profane/verbose True Detective S2 style, and House asks dumb questions.

Wish they could lift these two out of this show and plop them into something more coherent. For example, they'd make a great cop team. House could be the dry, analytical type, and Randy could be the cheerful smartass who is also an ex-military sniper. They'd solve murders in ... I'm going to say Miami. Yeah, Miami. 

[zxy556575]

14 minutes ago, kieyra said:

I guess everyone's still not watching this?

Yep, still.

I have it in my queue for later; maybe bingeing will make it flow a little better for me.

Does Chance continue acting like a besotted idiot?

[kieyra]

15 minutes ago, lordonia said:

Yep, still.

I have it in my queue for later; maybe bingeing will make it flow a little better for me.

Does Chance continue acting like a besotted idiot?

Yes, so far he does not seem to deviate from the "sucker for a femme fatale" playbook. 

Randy is explaining another 'op' to House as I type. You may want to consider prepping for a possible drinking game. (Randy uses military/black ops/breaking-and-entering jargon: drink!)

(Sorry, I know it's Chance and ... Dee. It's just a situation where I've seen Ethan Suplee in nothing but My Name is Earl, and Hugh Laurie in very nearly nothing but House. And Hugh Laurie is *doing* his House stuff, and Ethan Suplee is surprisingly effective in this weird-ass role, but I still see "Randy, after they sent him to Afghanistan".)

Edited November 29, 2016 by kieyra

[millennium]

I'm caught up on episodes, still blissfully uncritical and enjoying the show for what it is.  Gretchen in Fredericks of Hollywood doesn't hurt either.

[Colorado David]

Agreed, enjoying this show. It doesn't need to be deep or anything, the tension and HL's acting are good enough for me.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Phrase of the episode: "to be fair".

[millennium]

Just finished up Season 1 and I have no complaints.   I love the team of Chance and D.   D is a great character.

"Welcome to the neighborhood." 

[eXiled]

I was really hoping that House Chance would wind up in prison or dead (despite my affection for Hugh Laurie). He made so many silly mistakes between that film noir headcase and the enforcer headcase that I figured he'd not be able to survive all that . . . headcasery.

Color me shocked that he made it. I doubt I'll watch a second season should one appear.

[millennium]

Season Two anybody?

I'm three or four episodes in and enjoying it.   Let's face it, this is a character-driven show and the plot is hardly watertight.  But so what?  Hugh Laurie and Ethan Suplee keep it interesting.   The addition of a serial killer as the Big Bad is trite.   I find I'm more interested in the story arc about Chance's disturbed daughter.

[HollyG]

Yes, I'm watching. Love the relationship between Chance & D. I'm finding this years subject very chilling. The killer is a complete psychopath. I'm frightened for Chance and the people he cares about.

[Colorado David]

Yeah this Ryan Winters is really creepy. And rich on top of it, which never helps.

 

Chance has such a hard time dealing with his daughter, maybe her mother could reach her?

[HollyG]

Episode 2.6 ending. I didn't see that coming. 

Spoiler

I expected something was going to happen when Det. Hynes went to Winter's house, but I thought he'd find the D.A. dead or Chance being held hostage. It never occurred to me that it was a set up to kill the Det. What will Chance do now? He & D need to just take him out!  

[Colorado David]

what???? no way, did not see this twist. 

[Colorado David]

Oh no! I hope D will be ok. 

[HollyG]

I just watched the latest episode 2.10. It was a really good finish to season 2. 

Spoiler

It seemed like Chance found peace and it looks like his daughter will be ok now too. It's nice to see D with a love interest and I'm happy Lorena wants him to be the daddy. I'm glad that D has the money to start a new life and is going to help Carl as well. Everyone gets a fresh start. But I hope D doesn't have his new life corrupted too badly by 'Caesar'. 

It was wrapped up so nicely that It really did seem like the end of the series as well. I haven't heard anything about a 3rd season and I would love to see it return. But I understand it hasn't done well in the ratings so I won't be surprised to hear it's canceled in the coming weeks. It was a really good series IMO. If this is the series finale, it ended well...very satisfying. So thank you for the series Hulu and thank you Dr. Chance. I hope to see Hugh Laurie and Ethan Suplee in something new very soon.

Edited November 29, 2017 by HollyG

[Colorado David]

Nice finish. Glad Lambert got taken care of, so disliked him. I kept waiting for the FBI guys to show up that Lambert called for, I'm guessing that will be in next season (is there a next season?)

[millennium]

On 11/29/2017 at 0:05 PM, Colorado David said:

Nice finish. Glad Lambert got taken care of, so disliked him. I kept waiting for the FBI guys to show up that Lambert called for, I'm guessing that will be in next season (is there a next season?)

still up in the air from what I read, but the show has received positive reviews and good ratings, so there's a, um, chance it will be back.

Awesome.