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Shetland - General Discussion

whatsatool

By whatsatool
in Shetland

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krankydoodle

krankydoodle

It doesn't seem to get the attention that similar shows get, but Shetland is near the top of my list of British crime dramas and I really liked season 4. I was happy to read that they've already started filming the next season.

I just read my first of the Ann Cleeves novels and, while I enjoyed it, I much prefer the relationship between Jimmy and Duncan on the show.

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LisaM
LisaM

BBC announces renewal for two more years!  Shetland Renewals

mledawn
mledawn
Enigma X
Enigma X

The Duncan and Jimmy relationship is by far my favorite platonic nonblood-related male relationship that I have ever witnessed on a serial.

Irlandesa

Irlandesa

14 hours ago, Rickster said:

I was bothered though by the out of left field plot twist for one of the characters in the last five minutes of the series, which cast a bit of a pall over my enjoyment of the rest of the season.

Wait--what was revealed in the last five minutes?  I just watched and I can't remember.  You can spoiler it if you'd like for those whose PBS stations haven't shown it or who have to wait until Netflix.

10 hours ago, krankydoodle said:

It doesn't seem to get the attention that similar shows get, but Shetland is near the top of my list of British crime dramas and I really liked season 4.

This is the one I wait for.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to wait to binge it (which is what I did for the first three seasons on Netflix once I discovered it.)

I loved this season too--I especially liked the finale because it all made sense and yet I didn't really figure it out, so to speak.  As always, I loved the scenery and I especially want the lake house in Norway.

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Rickster

Rickster

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Wait--what was revealed in the last five minutes?  I just watched and I can't remember.  You can spoiler it if you'd like for those whose PBS stations haven't shown it or who have to wait until Netflix.

Spoiler

Thomas Malone's fatal heart attack. A very strange and troubled man, but I expected to see some vindication following his treatment by the community and police for so many years. But then he randomly drops dead on the floor for no plot driven reason at all.

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enoughcats

enoughcats

We got the DVDs for Season 4 from our library. (the queue was a several month's wait.) Six plus hours of one story.  Addictive last scenes.  So addictive that we binge watched it and really didn't intend to.

Really like the acting and story line for Tosh. Perez is getting older and his face is older, as well.

And I'd like to talk about it, but I'll wait. But you really want to see this when you have the time to immerse yourself in it.

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Bridget

Bridget

(edited)

For those of you who are waiting for Season 4 of Shetland to stream on Netflix, you can sign up for a free 7 day trial period of BritBoxTV via Amazon. It’s streaming on that channel, along with the new-to-the-States season (#5) of Doctor Blake Mysteries. 

I have both a DVD & streaming plan with Netflix, so I already watched it on DVD. I don’t have the patience to watch one episode each week OR wait six weeks and binge it in one day. 

 

I should have posted this earlier, but I didn’t and I feel so awful for those of you who might have access to a similar PBS schedule as mine. I have been so busy during the last month that I didn’t even think to share that Season 4 has been airing on PBS on Thurs nights (I live in San Diego County) for the last four weeks.

Edited by Bridget
It’s BritBox, not BritBix.
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NJRadioGuy

NJRadioGuy

Just finished Season 4 tonight and it was every bit as compelling, powerful, and twisty as I'd expected and hoped for. First-rate performances by everybody, but Stephen Walters playing Malone was an absolute tour de force. Same actor that owned the role of Angus in the first two seasons of Outlander. My only wish is that there were more than six episodes per season. But at least we know for sure there will be a Season 5 next year!

Cass and Duncan (and their respective actors, Erin Armstrong and Mark Bonnar) are positively brilliant this season as well. 

One more thought concerning one person, continued from Season 3 that maybe I should put in spoiler space, although it's not central to the new season's plot.

Spoiler

I was pleasantly surprised to see Tosh back, or at least back so soon. I absolutely love Ms. O'Donnell in the role, and her Season 3 story continued where it left off. Her emotional scars from S3 have most certainly not healed...which is a good thing in terms of developing her character, albeit it painful to watch as a viewer.

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Emily Thrace

Emily Thrace

On 2/23/2019 at 11:35 PM, hoodooznoodooz said:

I’m confused by Season 3.

  Hide contents

Was Leeanne/Lena pretending to be worried about Robbie? It was all a charade to throw heat on Mick Thompson?

Spoiler

She never meant to actually kill him. She though he would just be missing and she could blame Mick. i don't think her whole plan there was well thought out. I think Robbie led her to the car deck to hook up and she thought it was an opportunity

. 

hoodooznoodooz

hoodooznoodooz

10 hours ago, Emily Thrace said:
  Hide contents

She never meant to actually kill him. She though he would just be missing and she could blame Mick. i don't think her whole plan there was well thought out. I think Robbie led her to the car deck to hook up and she thought it was an opportunity

. 

Thank you for helping me out.

I guess I thought it was odd that she spent so much time looking for him & lingering on the ship, long after everyone else had left, appearing worried and/or confused. As if she actually had no idea where he was. Was she performing for the CCTV? When he was still missing, many days later, you’d think she would tell someone that they had spent time on the car deck and that she had closed the door of the shipping crate. 

Well, I guess her mother’s death really damaged her. But I think you’re right. She never meant to kill him. 

dgpolo

dgpolo

On 2/23/2019 at 11:35 PM, hoodooznoodooz said:

I’m confused by Season 3.

I was too, but not only about Lena who really should have/could have said something but because I had a hard time keeping all the characters straight. I binge watched the first 3 seasons on Netflix, when I do that there isn't enough time between each episode for everything to sink in (you should have seen me after bingeing Battlestar Galactica or 24) so when I got to season three there were just too many female character with longish dark hair for me to keep straight. Including his daughter! who I really should have known. It took me a second watch through to keep everyone straight. Of course it doesn't help that I am usually doing something else while watching, reading, on computer, crocheting, so I also really hate it when there are long silences with maybe dramatic music, if I don't look up at the right time I miss something important.

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hoodooznoodooz

hoodooznoodooz

5 hours ago, dgpolo said:

I was too, but not only about Lena who really should have/could have said something but because I had a hard time keeping all the characters straight. I binge watched the first 3 seasons on Netflix, when I do that there isn't enough time between each episode for everything to sink in (you should have seen me after bingeing Battlestar Galactica or 24) so when I got to season three there were just too many female character with longish dark hair for me to keep straight. Including his daughter! who I really should have known. It took me a second watch through to keep everyone straight. Of course it doesn't help that I am usually doing something else while watching, reading, on computer, crocheting, so I also really hate it when there are long silences with maybe dramatic music, if I don't look up at the right time I miss something important.

My problem, too!!

Emily Thrace

Emily Thrace

14 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

Thank you for helping me out.

I guess I thought it was odd that she spent so much time looking for him & lingering on the ship, long after everyone else had left, appearing worried and/or confused. As if she actually had no idea where he was. Was she performing for the CCTV? When he was still missing, many days later, you’d think she would tell someone that they had spent time on the car deck and that she had closed the door of the shipping crate. 

Well, I guess her mother’s death really damaged her. But I think you’re right. She never meant to kill him. 

I realized on re watch that she wasn't looking for Robbie she was looking for Michael.

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krankydoodle

krankydoodle

(edited)

I subscribed to BritBox just so I could watch the latest season. I'm 2 episodes in and liking it as always, though not as much as last season because it feels a bit scattered to me at the moment. I'm disappointed that they seem to have dropped the thread from season 4

Spoiler

of Duncan's newfound son and the effect that had on Cassie, but it's fun to see more of Duncan and Jimmy's odd couple relationship now that they're housemates.

I really appreciate that this show has managed to keep its core cast (minus the dog from earlier seasons ☹️), and that there's no sexual tension or contrived frictions between the members of the team.  

ETA (season 4 spoiler):

Spoiler

I spoke too soon about Duncan's son who I was glad to see mentioned in Episode 3. Things have picked up and I'm much more invested now. I still find Zezi's mom Olivia tiresome, so it was satisfying to see Jimmy unload on her after she went on about how Cassie wasn't really his daughter.

Edited by krankydoodle
Added spoiler tags
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Captanne

Captanne

I am delighted with the series this time around.  Like others, I had a hard time keeping the female characters straight.  Not this time!  I love it.  I do like Duncan's "odd couple" relationship with the hero (tm, someone smart) because I didn't like his demonization in the beach-murdery one.  Honestly, this is the first time I've found the hero sexy although I think he's supposed to have been sexy all along -- with the up-turned collar on the pea coat and the wistful all-things-Scottish and broody bits.  Meh.  But, he's a good kisser as an actor which is always fun!  The other standout to me is the young actor playing Zezi -- she is marvelous.    

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krankydoodle

krankydoodle

(edited)

Having just watched the 5th episode, I feel bad about being down on this season early on because it's shaping up to be another excellent outing. I was happy to see

Spoiler

more from Olivia than the frantic mother scenes we got earlier on. While her reaction was understandable given her circumstances, that got repetitive (although that might also be a result of my watching the first 3 episodes back-to-back). I was surprised that Jimmy has the authority to decide whether or not to charge her for abduction.

I wish we got to see more of Sandy. While there've been a few scenes of Tosh's personal life, I can't even remember what Sandy's home situation is. Especially now that he's in crisis, it seems like it would be a good opportunity to spend a little more time on him.

Poor Duncan. The scenes with him and Jimmy this episode were great. I hope his downward spiral doesn't mean they're going to kill him off.

Edited by krankydoodle
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Captanne

Captanne

Honest to God, I thought Duncan was going to "walk into the sea" forever.  I said out loud to the cats, "No!  Not Duncan!  He's a hot mess but NOT DUNCAN!"

I loved the way the two men devolved into thick Scottish accents complete with dropped syllables when they were confronting each other on the beach.  

This cast seems well-equipped to go into genuine emotional states so I really wonder if that accent shift was intentional from the director or something the actors did organically.  I wonder that because Duncan's last scene waking up from a drunk is so well done.  It's so, so "from the gut" that I could identify.  (Yes, TMI, from personal experience.  I've been sober for 12 years going on 13.)  Getting that kind of feeling-so-fucking-sick remorse across on a television screen and into my living room is no small feat.

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enoughcats

enoughcats

One long range problem is going to be that only so many books are in the Shetland series on which this is bsed.  The final book was good,but I got the sads because I knew it was the last and the author has moved on. (OTOH the Shetland Islands aren't that large and they can't murder too many people; it's not Cabot Cove, after all.)

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Door County Cherry

Door County Cherry

1 hour ago, enoughcats said:

One long range problem is going to be that only so many books are in the Shetland series on which this is bsed.  The final book was good,but I got the sads because I knew it was the last and the author has moved on. (OTOH the Shetland Islands aren't that large and they can't murder too many people; it's not Cabot Cove, after all.)

The series hasn't followed the books since maybe season 2.

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dgpolo

dgpolo

1 hour ago, Door County Cherry said:
3 hours ago, enoughcats said:

One long range problem is going to be that only so many books are in the Shetland series on which this is bsed.  The final book was good,but I got the sads because I knew it was the last and the author has moved on. (OTOH the Shetland Islands aren't that large and they can't murder too many people; it's not Cabot Cove, after all.)

The series hasn't followed the books since maybe season 2.

Plus this from the internet: As the makers of the series put Cabot Cove's population at only 3,560--- and from the Wikipedia article on the Shetland Islands: The total area is 1,466 km2 (566 sq mi),[1] and the population totalled 23,210 in 2011.

So Shetland has a lot more people to work with.

Plus one mystery in Season 3 lasted 6 episodes as opposed to a new one every week for MSW.

New storylines are usually no problem for writers, Maureen Jennings only wrote about 8 Murdoch books and they are on their 12 season? And the Caroline Graham Barnaby series is on season 20? what is a problem are actors choosing to move on, apathetic audiences etc

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dubbel zout

dubbel zout

The scenery on this show is simply stunning. I can forgive a lot because of it.

I can't forgive how soapy season 4 became.

Duncan has an out-of-wedlock child? Thomas dies of a heart attack after being finally exonerated?

Oh, Show. 

I did like how the Glasgow team basically got served. Small town doesn't always equal incompetent rubes. Why is it Glasgow, and not, say, Edinburgh or Inverness, which is a lot closer? Or Aberdeen?

I'm watching this on DVD, so I'm sure I'll have an endless wait for seasons 5 and 6 to be available.

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Capricasix

Capricasix

I just started the series on Netflix; after bingeing Bodyguard (twice) and Line of Duty in the last month, I’m addicted to British police dramas! I am really enjoying the series so far - the scenery reminds me of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.

Douglas Henshall was in an episode of Inspector Lewis a few years ago, and Mark Bonnar (Duncan) was in the second season of Line of Duty.

dleighg

dleighg

4 hours ago, Capricasix said:

I just started the series on Netflix; after bingeing Bodyguard (twice) and Line of Duty in the last month, I’m addicted to British police dramas! I am really enjoying the series so far - the scenery reminds me of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.

what is it about British police dramas? They are just so appealing (at least to a bunch of us apparently). I don't watch any of the US versions; just never got into them. I admit I'm a sucker for the British/Scottish landscape, so that helps.

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Captanne

Captanne

The best adaptation from the UK to the US (I think) was Broadchurch.  Part of the success was that David Tenant was able to star in both.  Interestingly the UK version itself was an adaptation of a European/US original/homage trope of the murdered child -- Forbrydelsen which morphed into The Killing.  I loved them all (except I'm not that much of a fan of the US Broadchurch.)

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Capricasix

Capricasix

(edited)

Broadchurch is when I first fell in love with Olivia Colman (and Jodie Whittaker, if I’m honest!).

19 hours ago, dleighg said:

what is it about British police dramas? They are just so appealing (at least to a bunch of us apparently). I don't watch any of the US versions; just never got into them. I admit I'm a sucker for the British/Scottish landscape, so that helps.

The accents, the hot British cops...I mean, Richard Madden in Bodyguard? LAWDY

(edited to make “accent” plural, because there are so many lovely accents in the UK!)

Edited by Capricasix
Capricasix

Capricasix

11 minutes ago, Captanne said:

They knocked that out of the park, didn't they?  Wonderful scene.

So I just finished the last episode, and now I’m bereft 😄 That last scene with them, when Duncan called Jimmy “Mary”...I am verklempt. BBC better order a new season is all I can say!

Now I need another moody, scenic British/European detective series. Anyone have recommendations? 

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