P_o_p_i_n_j_a_y Reviews

Raines (2007)

Raines is a very unusual and reflective detective series, strong on character.

[8/10 · 19 August 2006]

This series has a great deal of potential. When Detective Raines (goldbloom) begins working on a case to solve the death of a young woman he starts having hallucinations. The victim of the murder appears perfectly real to him, and throughout the episode he continues to carry on conversations with her.

Now here is what makes this premise and this series interesting:

1.There is nothing at all supernatural about his hallucinations. In fact they only know what he knows. By talking to these hallucinations he is really reasoning through the crime.

2. In the process this makes the victims of the crime very real to the viewer. Most crime dramas begin by finding a dead body and the rest is a chase to catch the killer, and none of the characters become fully developed. By the end of Raines however, the victim of the murder is a dynamic and unique individual.

3. Because Raines' hallucinations only know what he does, the character of the victim shifts through the episode. This is a very useful tool. Unlike most series that only focus outside events, these hallucinations give the viewer a window into Raines' own mind.

4. The fact that Raines' visions are only hallucinations and that he is aware of that fact makes this show much more interesting a series like Medium, which Raines has unfairly been compared to.

5. The absence of supernatural elements makes the series science-friendly. This is not to say I don't like shows or movies about the supernatural, but there are very few series or movies consider supernaturalism and reject it directly.

This quick comment is based on the first episode only.

I hope the quality of writing and the premise of the series continue to play out along this course. The quickest way to ruin what has all the earmarks of a very good series would be to hint that there may really be something supernatural going on, to move away from character development, or to bring in God, angels, or psychics as explanatory tools.

My vote would have been a 9 or a 10 for this series, but currently it is 8 because only one episode has been broadcast and it is therefore difficult to determine if the quality will remain high from the pilot episode. I have great hopes for this series, but many times series go in a different direction than the pilot episode would suggest, and so I am tempering my response.

At the moment I highly recommend the series---especially for those viewers who have grown tired to typical television clichés.

This could very well be the thinking person's crime drama.

Justice League (2001–2004)

A questions for the experts out there

[21 February 2006]

I started watching this show at the second season (though I saw some more recent episodes first).

Anyway, the second season ends with hawkgirl leaving the team and the fate of the team sort of up in the air.

Then, all of a sudden, in the first episode of the third season hawkgirl is back, the lantern still seems to like her but is with somebody else(vixen? I don't really know who she is or what she can do yet) and there are tons of other heroes in the league never before introduced or mentioned.

What the heck happened? I'd appreciate it if anybody can fill me in. Did the first season explain this somehow? Does the third season pretend that the first second doesn't exist?

Ghost Whisperer (2005–2010)

Wow, how many ways can a television show go wrong?

[24 September 2005]

Let me count the ways.

1. Welcome to the land of beautiful people. JLH evidently sleeps with mascara, lipstick, and, well, a complete regiment of perfectly applied makeup actually. This first time I saw her get up I couldn't believe how obvious this was---she was supposedly scared out of her sleep by a nightmare, and she didn't have a single hair out of place, and had so much mascara on that her eyes resembled Venus fly traps. This first time this happened I said to myself "Well, maybe they did this on purpose---maybe it was because of her wedding night and she went right to bed and woke up with the makeup on, but this happened consistently every time she went to sleep.

2. If you are looking for anything at all spooky in this show, forget about it. In fact the "suspense" music the director put in the background stands out as out of place. The music lets you know they are trying to set up a creepy scene, but they never quite get there. The scariest thing in the movie was JLH's skeletal frame and the way that makeup was applied to make her even look skinner---in places her face looked almost skull-like. Any horror elements also clash with the rich OC/90210ish atmosphere.

3. Speaking of which, why are they obviously so prosperous. They never say what she does---but her husband is a paramedic that is new on the job. He's not a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon.

4. Of course, somebody may say this wasn't meant to be a creepy show---it's more of a drama. A fine argument, but the show doesn't work on the level of a drama either. Firstly, the creepy music would be even more out of place. Secondly the characters are far too shallow. We are supposed to care for the ghosts JLH is trying to help, but their characters never take on any dimension at all. Including JLH's character. Also if this was supposed to be a drama what was with the weird upside down dream sequences. That didn't even make sense from the horror/suspense point of view.

5. JLH is the executive producer of this stinker, and boy does it show. There is no way every scene would be lighted perfectly to her features (and not anybody else's) or that there would be so many close up on her face if she wasn't putting up the bucks for this flop.

6. In fact there were no unattractive people in the entire episode. Even the older actors looked liked they popped right out of a life insurance commercial. JLH is (supposed to be) attractive, her husband is attractive, the primary ghost character (the soldier) was attractive, the soldier's son is also attractive, his pregnant wife is attractive, JLH's best friend is attractive…anybody with a speaking part pretty much. And most of the extras to boot. The same thing is true with the perfectly shiny sets----heck, even the house that was still being built didn't have the messy or dirty look of a construction site, and the inside of the house looked just fine. The people and the sets and the clothing alone were enough to keep one from taking the show seriously.

7. I didn't have any real opinion of JLH's acting abilities before seeing the pilot episode of Ghost Whisperer. I don't think I ever carefully watched anything she was in. But I have an opinion now, and it isn't good. It has been a long time since I have seen worse acting. I mean, it didn't even look like she was trying. If I was the director I would have been begging her to put some kind, any kind, of inflection in her voice. And maybe even coax a facial expression out of her or two. But even when makeup put fake tear-drops in her eyes she looked expressionless. Then again maybe this wasn't her fault. Maybe the layers of makeup just kept her face immobile.

8. Everybody takes JLH's "gift" casually. Her token black friend knows about it. Her husband knows about it. Even the ghosts who, in some of the circumstances, supposedly do not know where they are or what is going on until JLH's tells them express no real disbelief, nor does it seem to shake anybody's metaphysical or religious beliefs to discover this amazing fact about the afterlife.

9. JLH's character doesn't really seem to take the problems of the struggling spirits seriously, yet she does not convey the impression of being driven to disinterest because of continuous demands. She doesn't look like she has been frayed down to the last nerve by the responsibility her gift gives her, nor does she seem to take any kind of duty to these people seriously. She treats them like an acquaintance she wants to avoid, usually pretending not to see them. What kind of motivation does she have for helping them? She doesn't seem to want to, but she doesn't seem forced to either. Hell, it doesn't even appear as if she is struggling with her conscience.

As it is, this show can't be canceled fast enough. It is so amazingly shallow that it seemed an insult to even be on the air. I stop writing now only because I am afraid of going over the the 1,000 word limit (10 was deleted because it ran over), not because I am running out of fault in this series. But something would be amiss if I didn't at least point out that the series title is beyond stupid. Why would a show like this want to make a reference to the movie horse whisperer? She doesn't whisper to the ghosts. She doesn't charm them or train them. The reference to a movie would be no problem if it meant something, but this reference signifies nothing. They might as well have called it "Ghosts with Wolves".

Medium (2005–2011)

I am getting so sick of...

[25 January 2005]

While I actually like supernatural thrillers and fantasy movies, I have to admit that I am getting sick of how "psychics" are so often portrayed in movies and TV, as if they are anything but frauds and self-deluded people who need to believe they are "magical".

I know this particular show could not work any other way, and often such movies/shows are good. But it would be nice if once in a while the idea of calling in a psychic is laughed at, or they are shown to be a useless drain on resource, or (as is often the case) even damaging in the very rare cases they are used in investigation.

Yet name a show and you know that when they call in a psychic or run into a psychic, or have dealings with a psychic they are going to portray it as a real phenomena. I CAN think of one or two exceptions to this, but they are few and far between.

Poppinjay