Recent comments in /f/television

Ghost_Keep t1_jdy1ex7 wrote

Reply to comment by steeeeeeee24 in Has anyone watched Night Agent TV series? by Ecstatic-Mongoose454

It started off strong. I liked the lead guy and the snarly side kick. But it went off the rails a bit and lost me when the secret agent made the VPs daughter literally walk with a bullet hole in her leg. And when Peter was waving his gun at the corrupt Chief of Staff. The scene where Peter and his cop friend swat the house with the bad guys. Like the cops wouldn’t have called the swat team. I could go on. I get that most of these shows are fantasy. But they are somewhat based on realistic procedures. This one was just comedic at times. The sniper part in the ship yard. Uh. Just stay behind the cargo containers and wait for backup. I could barely get through the last two episodes.

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AnotherHiggins t1_jdy0jjs wrote

Reply to 'Rabbit Hole' Review – Kiefer Sutherland’s fun new thriller is like 24 … but even wilder by Neo2199

When I look back on enjoying 24 back in the day I feel guilty. All that, "but I've gotta torture this guy, y'all. I. Just. GOTTA." felt silly and over-the-top at first. But then it came out that the US was actually torturing people. And grown-ass politicians pointed to the scripted drama as an excuse for why we just HAD to do it. It would feel icky to go back and watch 24 now.

But a 24-like show that didn't take itself too seriously? That might provide enough distance to be able to enjoy it. I'll check it out.

Thanks, OP.

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Neo2199 OP t1_jdxxw63 wrote

Reply to 'Rabbit Hole' Review – Kiefer Sutherland’s fun new thriller is like 24 … but even wilder by Neo2199

> The good news about this new thriller, Rabbit Hole, is that it isn’t a million miles away from 24. Kiefer Sutherland plays John Weir, a corporate espionage expert who finds himself neck-deep in an enormous conspiracy. There are shadowy figures. There are characters guided through high-tension situations while wearing earpieces. There are moments where Kiefer Sutherland sees something catastrophic about to happen, but is too far away to stop it, so he just shouts “NO!”, and then it happens anyway. This is well-worn territory but, God, I want it fed to me like peeled grapes to a Roman emperor.

> And there’s a version of Rabbit Hole where this is all that happens. It’s Kiefer Sutherland granite-jawed, lurching from crisis to crisis, singlehandedly trying to stave off disaster. The first episode certainly comes close to achieving that. Weir is essentially a paranoid spy who knows that someone is on to him, and he spends much of the episode shooting concerned glances into his rearview mirror. As it unfolds, you can feel yourself relaxing into it, the same way you’d relax into any old-fashioned network drama about a tough yet compromised protagonist. However – and I’m going to try my best to avoid spoilers – Rabbit Hole then turns on a dime and becomes completely and irreparably loopy.

> Sutherland finishes the first episode pinballing between so many absurd cataclysms that it starts to feel like a prestige drama version of Mr Bean. There had been hints at this from the start – the cold open ends with Sutherland in confession, barking: “God? Maybe he can tell me WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!!” at what must presumably be a particularly disconcerted priest – but this is the point where the loopiness ramps up beyond all comprehension. And you know what? It’s great.

> This is largely because – unlike 24, where all the stupid stuff happened because that show chewed up ideas like a threshing machine – Rabbit Hole seems to be doing all this purely for fun. There is an unmistakeable lightness here amid all the disaster. Sutherland’s Weir isn’t a fully fledged hero. He’s too frustrated and befuddled for that. He bickers. He wisecracks. He loses fights with teenage skateboarders. As such, Sutherland appears to be enjoying himself. And when, aside from that video of him flinging himself into a Christmas tree, has anyone ever been able to say that?

> It helps that he’s surrounded by an incredibly game cast. Charles Dance (playing a character you’ll quickly be able to figure out thanks to some impressive flashback prosthetic work) is just as up for having fun as Sutherland. But what really supercharges the show is Meta Golding, an actor so far best known for a very small role in the Hunger Games films. Golding is astonishing here. Her character falls somewhere between “hostage” and “love interest”, which sounds wildly problematic on paper. But she plays it with such motormouthed ferocity that she pretty much walks away with every scene she’s in. Neither Sutherland nor Dance have ever had this much chemistry with another actor. She’s a real discovery.

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