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emailshenjun
Reviews
Human Target (2010)
It's getting ridiculous
In short, season 1 is entertaining. Season 2 is just getting ridiculous. A former assassin changed his side and decided to save people instead of killing them, which is OK. Season 1 actually has exemplified this idea pretty well.
Now I don't know what the producers and writers were thinking to introduce two regular female characters. Just to satisfy people's desire to see some pretty faces talking about how they feel and what is right or wrong in the middle of life and death business? Congratulations! You just kill the spirit of the show. In Chance's business you have to stay focused to stay alive and keep "the target" alive. Any mistake or hesitation will surely cause severe consequences. If you don't get lucky every time in reality then you shouldn't in a TV show! Bring some sense of reality. A show is entertaining only if it feels real. This isn't about Equal Rights. We have three male characters, so we have to throw in two females, a billionaire widow and a pretty thief? I would say they will just get Chance killed faster. Two former assassins and ex-police officer, that's the right skill set you are looking for to run the business. Maybe another former female assassin? The widow is just ridiculous. Just because she funds the operation so she has to be involved in each step? Come on, this is not sight-seeing tour. People can get killed. And the thief, I don't see her value either.
And please don't do the last minute saving cliché again. Don't let the bad guys talk too much to get themselves killed. Finally, as I said we don't get lucky every time in reality and they shouldn't either in a TV show.
No Ordinary Family (2010)
Annoying show
First, what is the entertaining point of this show? The family with superpowers? Then what? Use them to do something good? You don't need superpower to do something good. Second, the show introduced too many superheroes and supervillains. The drama tension was relaxed to be a superpower show rather than something that we can really care.
And it's really annoying to have someone who can read your mind. No matter what she/he intends to do, the problem is the capability. Not even mention that good intention does not always produce good results because many times you just don't know what you are getting into. The show itself has shown it in one of the episodes. Just because you can pick up a few ideas from other people doesn't mean you know what's really going on. I am kind of fed up with "I can help other people with my power". Well, the truth is I don't appreciate such help :(
Fringe (2008)
It is disappointing
The show started off with a quite interesting idea that someone is experimenting with the world. However the idea is not well delineated through the plot. Neither is it believable nor exciting. The episodes become a collection of fragmented avant-garde scientific hypotheses. Just throwing a bunch of terminology doesn't make a science fiction. Be honest, I am a fan of these theories. As a matter of fact since time traveling was theoretically demonstrated feasible by the physicists in CalTech I have truly believed it will become reality. So will other crazy ideas! Some of the stuff aren't fictions anymore.
I am just tired to watch 45 minute TV starting with a crazy idea leading to a criminal case always solved with a sleazy answer, which is always from the same crazy scientist. How much different research one person can do? From inventing a teleportation device to breeding transgenic animals? Even 100 Einsteins can't do that! The writers obviously have no idea about research. It is not uncommon to take years just to make a cell-culture based experiment work. It doesn't have to be real but at least make it believable! (Drilling a hole on the skull and inserting an electrode (rusty usually) then you can expect to access a living/dead mind? Come on, don't insult our intelligence!) Nonetheless I admire the Hollywood spirit of interrogating government. But don't you think this government or "super-government" conspiracy is a little cliché?
The characters are stereotyped and boring. A smart "bad" boy (seems dispensable), a clever "good" girl. What makes Olivia special? Just to put a woman in the "Tripod"? She can be totally replaced with anyone else from FBI. I can't say her moral values are wrong but boring. She always looks self-righteous. It seems "Save someone" is always the top priority. What makes you think what you believe is always right. Do you give a second thought to what other people believe (even your enemy)? With such a bigoted mind, how could she ever understand what is really going on in these "crazy" cases??? In a sci-fi show I expect to see different and disputable values given the extreme situations.
The performance is not impressed at all.
The show needs to focus to develop the core idea. You don't need too many "cool" ideas! A fictional idea should always be brought up in a "realistic environment" and let the plot and characters develop by themselves. During the process the values are clashing and leave something for audience to ponder. Well, don't overdo it. In this regard, this show is no match to 4400. Currently it is just procrastinating to cover some time. The characters need to be much more convincing and with some CHARACTER!!!