One-note performances, rushed pacing and pat timing give this series an unreal air from start to finish.
I wanted to like The Suspect. The actors are working very hard here, and the production itself is more than competent. The music is good too. But the script betrays all, and maybe even the directors, who feel compelled to save it by galloping us through the plot points with barely time to catch our breath.
I think Hitchcock is an influence (note the several visual quotes for Vertigo and Psycho). The "wrong man" scenario is obvious. But Hitch always gives his characters time to quip and comb their hair.
There's none of that in The Suspect. Utterly clueless cops leap to collisions and barely leave enough gaps in the interrogations to THINK about the answers they're getting. They just bellow their suspicions at the suspect, eyes popping with indignation.
The suspect in this case, a psychologist, is either a victim caught in a diabolical web, or he's a victim of his own psychosis. I'll give no spoilers here, but it's no secret from the beginning that this supposedly educated man is an absolute dullard. He screws up everything, including his relationship with his wife and child and clumsily gives the police numerous reasons to suspect him. He really makes it easy for whatever force is trying to destroy him.
And this is a cheat, in my opinion. The psychologist's behavior MUST be problematic because the plot falls apart without it. Reality plays no part in this yarn. Credible police work and proper psychoanalysis be darned.
The trite homage to psychology at the end doesn't help, either.
I wanted to like The Suspect. The actors are working very hard here, and the production itself is more than competent. The music is good too. But the script betrays all, and maybe even the directors, who feel compelled to save it by galloping us through the plot points with barely time to catch our breath.
I think Hitchcock is an influence (note the several visual quotes for Vertigo and Psycho). The "wrong man" scenario is obvious. But Hitch always gives his characters time to quip and comb their hair.
There's none of that in The Suspect. Utterly clueless cops leap to collisions and barely leave enough gaps in the interrogations to THINK about the answers they're getting. They just bellow their suspicions at the suspect, eyes popping with indignation.
The suspect in this case, a psychologist, is either a victim caught in a diabolical web, or he's a victim of his own psychosis. I'll give no spoilers here, but it's no secret from the beginning that this supposedly educated man is an absolute dullard. He screws up everything, including his relationship with his wife and child and clumsily gives the police numerous reasons to suspect him. He really makes it easy for whatever force is trying to destroy him.
And this is a cheat, in my opinion. The psychologist's behavior MUST be problematic because the plot falls apart without it. Reality plays no part in this yarn. Credible police work and proper psychoanalysis be darned.
The trite homage to psychology at the end doesn't help, either.