PICARD Engages

Article first published as TV Review: STAR TREK: PICARD on Seat42F.

I am a huge STAR TREK fan from way back. Even when I didn’t watch much television, I watched STAR TREK (admittedly, mostly the films and spin-offs; I was an 80s kid). I mourned it when it went away, and forced myself to be excited by the movie reboots of the last decade, even though I now admit that only one of the three is any good. (It’s Star Trek: Beyond, for the record, despite a few flaws.)

So when CBS All Access started bringing STAR TREK back, I was super excited. I mean, not about All Access, which is an overpriced gouging of Trek fans. But about the content. Star Trek: Discovery is amazing, a fitting evolution of the franchise that honors the legacy. The Short Treks series are more of a departure, sometimes experimental, but also very good on the whole.

And now, we have STAR  TREK: PICARD. Jean-Luc Picard is one of my favorite characters, and Patrick Stewart is a fine actor inside and outside of Trek. It’s a tall order to continue his story, and the modernization of Star Trek as evidenced by Discovery and Short Treks, not to mention Stewart’s own standards, demanded it be more than just a continuation of The Next Generation.

Three episodes in, it is succeeding admirably by just about every measure. Stewart is delivering a mesmerizing performance that imagines a future very different for Jean-Luc than where we left him, but in line with The Next Generation series finale, “All Good Things,” and the Romulan and Starfleet developments we know about in the intervening years. It’s a slow burn mystery, perfect for Picard the Dixon Hill fan. It embraces the aging themes of the excellent Kirk-led motion pictures, and also tells us something completely new. It’s a character study of a man who has been disillusioned and dissatisfied, but is determined to restore himself to someone he can live with before he dies. Yet, desperation is not present, instead showing his core personality tempted by discovery.

If that were all STAR TREK: PICARD was, it would be enough. And yet, it’s not. It’s a truly interesting story of Romulan politics and lore, a feat because I never found the species all that intriguing. It brings in lots of hanging plot threads from The Next Generation that I wish had been explored in a more serial nature and now they get to be. Data (Brent Spiner) is dead, but his presence haunts Picard and informs the current story, with dream sequence cameos feeling meaningful and necessary, not gratuitous, especially that perfect opening of the show with the Enterprise-D rendered more beautiful than it ever has been before. We hear again about Dr. Maddox (he’s got to be coming back, right?), Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco), the Borg, and so much more. Thank goodness, they left B4 in a drawer, right where he deserves to be.

The new characters are as equally fascinating as the lead. Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd, Blindspot) and Chris Rios (Santiago Cabrera, Big Little Lies) are new versions of Starfleet officers, those no longer with the service for traumatic reasons, a character type hinted at in Deep Space 9 and echoing Picard’s current status. Soji (Isa Briones, Takers) is deliciously unpredictable and hard to define yet. Narek (Harry Treadaway, Penny Dreadful), Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita, The Good Doctor), and Lt. Rizzo (Peyton List, Mad Men) are a cadre of magnetic villains. Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill, The Newsroom) is terrific heart and comic relief. I love Zhaban (Jamie McShane, Bloodline), and Laris (Orla Brady, Fringe) has quickly become one of my favorite Trek characters of all time. I will be heartbroken if we don’t check back in with those latter two in the vineyard as the season progresses. Also, Voyager’s Seven (Jeri Ryan) hasn’t even made her much-anticipated return yet, which will surely be great.

By finding the most promising bits of TNG to continue and letting the story and situations evolve as circumstances and modernity demand, STAR TREK: PICARD is a triumph and perfect example of how to do a continuation decades after the original. It has something new to say, but is very much rooted in the existing mythology. It makes us rethink the TNG episodes as we realize the idyllic future we all admired from that show existed on the Enterprise, but not everywhere else (as DS9 also pointed out). It’s truly an amazing series that I am totally hooked on because of strong writing, direction, acting, and perspective.

Like I said before, All Access sucks in its pricing and depth of offerings. But you can’t miss this show, so I recommend you do as I have done, suck it up, and just give CBS your money. STAR TREK: PICARD deserves to be seen.

New episodes currently release Thursdays on the streaming service.

Watch Out For MR. MERCEDES

Article first published as TV Review: MR. MERCEDES on Seat42F.

Coming to AUDIENCE Network, AT&T presents MR. MERCEDES. You might already know this is the title of a book by Stephen King, the first of a trilogy, in fact. But if you don’t know what it’s about, I’ll tell you. Detective Bill Hodges, recently retired, cannot let go of a serial killer case he never solved. Though, admittedly, it’s probably harder to let go when the murderer is stalking and taunting you, as is happening to poor Bill. Thus begins our cat and mouse game.

I went in cold, knowing nothing about this show, and that was apparently a mistake. The opening sequence is interesting, introducing a couple of sympathetic, engaging characters, and it’s easy to get drawn into their story. Except, their story is short-lived because of a horrific event, one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen on television, and it makes it very hard to get back into the series as we move past the beginning.

Get drawn back in, you will, though. Brendan Gleeson (Braveheart, Edge of Tomorrow) is terrific as Bill, a grumpy old man who want the kids (‘ tennis balls) to stay off his lawn. The source material is well reviewed, and the great David E. Kelley (The Practice, Boston Legal) serves as showrunner and frequent writer. The supporting cast is, across-the-board, fantastic, the direction is great, the pacing is swell, and the villain gets quite a bit of screen-time, too. So it’s nearly impossible, if you don’t turn the show off five minutes in, to not want to watch more.

Does this mean the beginning was a mistake? No, not exactly. Yes, MR. MERCEDES did not have to make us care about its victims right off the bat, nor make the attack itself so damn gory. However, I think by doing it the way the show does, it effectively communicates the brutality of this killer, the randomness of his targets, the danger present, and the stakes of the tale. So as much as I did not like what happened and have no desire to see it again, I can’t be upset at the choices the series makes for pure quality of storytelling. It’s not gratuitous, it’s purposeful, and that’s the bar by which I measure whether violence is acceptable.

The heart of the piece is the contest between Bill and Brady Hartsfield (Harry Treadaway, Penny Dreadful). Both men are explored pretty in-depth, Bill through his interactions with neighbor Ida (Holland Taylor, The Practice), lawn mower Jerome (Jharrel Jerome, Moonlight), and former partner Dixon (Scott Lawrence, JAG), and Brady’s with his mother Deborah (Kelly Lynch, Magic City), coworker Lou (Breeda Wool, UnREAL), and boss Robi (Robert Stanton, Jason Bourne). Each of these supporting players makes an impression with how they interact with the leads, but also stand out themselves as well-developed individuals, which is quite a feat for an hour-long pilot. Somehow they simultaneously exist as the stars of their own worlds, and support that central dynamic.

And we haven’t even gotten to the introduction of Janey, another lead not in the pilot, played by the always-magnetic Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds).

Sadly, Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) was slated to play Brady before he died. I could totally see him in that role, and I think he would have been great. But Treadaway is a fine replacement, and I don’t think anyone will remember that he wasn’t first choice. Ditto Taylor as Ida, as Ann-Margaret previously had that role before illness forced her to step aside.

King’s adaptations are hit or miss, and usually have what I think of as a very specific, not super high quality, tone. But like the best screen work that’s come from him, like Kubrick’s The Shining, MR. MERCEDES doesn’t feel like it fits that mold. Instead, it’s an intense psychological drama that stands apart as its own thing. I think this could be a really strong series to watch, though unfortunately it’s not on a network most people get, viewership confined only to DirecTV and AT&T U-verse subscribers. I wish it had broader reach.

MR. MERCEDES premieres this Wednesday.

"Fresh Hell" For Some In PENNY DREADFUL Premiere

Article originally written for Seat42F.

Showtime’s PENNY DREADFUL returns for a second season this weekend with “Fresh Hell.” Picking up shortly after season one ended, many of our characters try to continue the paths they are on, whether that means raising a bride from the dead, or leaving England for good. A new villain arises, though, that may change their plans.

WARNING: The following contains light spoilers, but is mostly just a preview of the sophomore premiere.

It’s extremely interesting that the Big Bad of season two is a human, a fact well-publicized, so I don’t feel bad about revealing it here. Madame Kali (Helen McCrory), introduced in the first year, now has witches at her command and bathes in blood. She is the same woman viewers have met, yet different, with a lot more power at her command. We don’t get her origin, at least not right away, so I’m curious to see how she became this new person. But in a show full of the supernatural, seeing someone who is a human being as the threat is pretty cool.

Kali’s first attack is sent against Vanessa (Eva Green), an obvious target since she’s the one Kali has seen in action, and may just simultaneously be the most powerful and the most vulnerable of the group. The two women are similar in some ways, although Vanessa is on the side of good, for the most part, anyway. As Kali prays to a demon, Vanessa puts her faith in Jesus Christ. It seems a no-brainer that God will defeat Satan, but the battle is only beginning, and already seems quite exciting! There could definitely be casualties along the way.

Vanessa is less vulnerable than she was, though, because she has a bit of a family around her. From Ethan (Josh Hartnett), who changes his plans when Vanessa’s life is threatened, to Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), who views her as a daughter, to Sembene (Danny Sapani), the protector, to Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), perhaps the least enthusiastic member of the band, but willing to serve when called upon. They have formed a sort of club against the dark forces, and PENNY DREADFUL is fast making them a real team.

The characters in PENNY DREADFUL do not make the most obvious family. They are, for the most part, antisocial and fairly concerned with their own affairs, which happens when people are going through what they are going through. Yet, somehow it makes a certain amount of sense for this particular set to stick together, and it makes the show more satisfying  and easier to invest in when they do.

The person most involved in outside work in “Fresh Hell” is Dr. Frankenstein, as he helps The Creature (Rory Kinnear) raise the lady he loves, Brona Croft (Billie Piper), from the dead. The Creature is supremely lonely, and he hopes that Brona going through what he did will give them a sort of connection that will draw her closer to him. It seems dubious to me that it will work, but “Fresh Hell” gets that story arc going pretty quickly.

Thankfully, PENNY DREADFUL doesn’t tie all The Creature’s hopes at social interaction up in this particular plot, giving a possible alternate life for him should Brona not be happy to be his bride. He finds a job in the season premiere that allows for his appearance. It’s hard to tell if the people The Creature gets involved with are trustworthy or not; attitudes seem mostly positive and good-natured, but like any person who would hire him, they want something from him. Since The Creature is not part of the central unit of the show, he has no one to rely on should things go south, always a strong possibility.

And that’s how PENNY DREADFUL begins, with “Fresh Hell” for a number of players, especially Malcolm, who I didn’t really discuss, but possible paths forward for a few. It’s a dark enough show that I don’t see any happy endings working out for anyone in the near future, but any bit of time that can be enjoyed is welcome, relieving a bit of the misery. Though, their misery does make for compelling narrative, too.

PENNY DREADFUL airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.

A PENNY For Your Thoughts

Article originally written for Seat42F.

Showtime’s latest effort is PENNY DREADFUL. Set in a fictional version of 1890s London, we meet a cast of odd characters drawn together by the supernatural. Threats loom below the surface of the thriving city, and only these people are aware of what’s going on and have the ability to do something about it.

PENNY DREADFUL is stylistically an idealized version of Victorian England just before the turn of the nineteenth century into the twentieth. The setting is what people like to romantically think back about the city being like, probably not how it actually was. This series is more concerned with building a Sherlock Holmes-era tone than faithfully following history.

This is clear very quickly in the characters introduced. Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett, Black Hawk Down) is a formerly wealthy American now performing in a traveling Wild West show. He’s recruited by the severe Miss Vanessa Ives (Eva Green, Casino Royale), a medium, to assist her and Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton, Licence to Kill, Chuck), a rich explorer of Africa, to hunt down a missing girl that means a lot to both of them. These are all interesting, outsize personalities that feel quite familiar to the type of story in this time and place, rather than being like someone that actually existed.

To make PENNY DREADFUL even more fantastic, the trio soon go to Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway, The Lone Renger) – yes, that Dr. Victor Frankenstein – for help. Frankenstein is researching electricity and the human body as he builds his creature (Rory Kinnear, Skyfall), and Malcolm and company need him to examine a corpse of something vaguely vampiric and definitely not human.

What this makes for is sort of a Once Upon a Time-like series, twisting and combining tales we already know into something new, though the tone is completely different. PENNY DREADFUL is so faithful to the fictional Victorian England that it feels very much like it is based on a book written within that genre. It’s a very slow moving piece, conveying horror more through the moods of the characters and their reaction to discoveries than by action-packed sequences, but is extremely effective in doing so.

Now, this is 2014, and viewers demand that pacing not drag on too much. To satisfy those urges, there are a couple of sequences in the first episode where fighting is had and blood is spilled. I would not call PENNY DREADFUL boring; instead, it’s a slight update on a popular period that never existed, but feels like it did. Still, there’s definitely commitment to the style, such as the way Vanessa slowly spreads out a stack of cards, that show just how deliberate the production is with its choices and committed to the path its on.

The plot is chock full of mystery. We don’t know the backgrounds of any of the characters right away, and none are exactly forthcoming about themselves. In fact, when Ethan first asks Vanessa if she has a name, she simply replies “Yes” as she walks away. The teases are tantalizing, but this is one show that will be holding its cards very, very close to its vest, doling out little bits at a time.

To illustrate just how little PENNY DREADFUL gives us at once one only needs to look at how it brings the main characters in very slowly, one at a time. Three of the publicized main cast, Irish immigrant Brona Croft (Billie Piper, Doctor Who), manservant Sembene (Danny Sapani, Trance), and the infamous ever-youthful Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney, The Tempest), don’t even appear in the pilot screened for critics. I’m also looking forward to Helen McCrory’s (Harry Potter) Madame Kali, whom isn’t glimpsed. This show is going to build tension and story arcs, not just give them to you.

All of which is why I very much enjoyed PENNY DREADFUL. Full on intense, compelling performances from the likes of Dalton, Green, and Hartnett, masters all, there’s something that just draws you into the telling and will not let you go. You are transported to this world that actually feels real because of the level of detail and development, even though you know no place like it ever existed. It’s dangerous and sexy and full of fascinating secrets. Who wouldn’t want to go on an adventure there? It’s built for exactly that.

PENNY DREADFUL premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.