I felt like 3 was very disappointing, with absolutely zero stakes.
One girl, possibly missing, two clueless detectives, and the kicker at the end is that nothing they did mattered. They had absolutely no impact on the case they were investigating, and only found out what actually happened when a guy was like "OK, it's been so many years, let me tell you exactly what happened..."
I did not enjoy that experience, even though I've been told repeatedly that this was exactly the point. It may be clever and wise, but it made for very lackluster TV.
It had it's limits but Mahershala Ali and his dynamic with his wife and family; and his pursuit for the truth, and him going too far for the truth and only stopping due to his family I found interesting. Plus the time elements were also intriguing and how that one case defined his whole life, his wife's book, and his world lens.
You're right, it still left a lot to be desired, the pacing was off, it didn't come close to good TV or season 1 levels, but I still felt mesmerized by the production value, by Ali, and by a detective mystery.
I could not say the same of season 2, that had virtually nothing going for it.
For me, the fact that the entire case would have been exactly the same if the two main characters just slacked off and did nothing made me just hate it. The guy telling them what happened in the end felt like an NPC the GM put in at a D&D session after the players fucked around for a few hours and he wanted to wrap up the story quick before everyone went home. Just straight up "here's all the details about everything that I've known all this time, and all you had to do was ask".
Season 1 had effort and accomplishment on behalf of the detectives. They cared, worked their ass off, and earned the victory in the end. Season 3 ended with the detectives not even realizing how the case ended, and nothing they did had an effect on the girl who was alive and well the whole time.
I can look at the other elements like the fucking shootout out of nowhere that just felt like the writers were trying to copy that part from season 1, or the family lives, etc, but in the end, I feel like the detective show should revolve around the case. The rest are side-plots and the main plot was a let-dowb for me.
That’s a great point. It did have a feel of not being essential in the end. If they had done a meta narrative of that fact that could have been more interesting, but you’re right, a sense of agency or consequence from the protagonists would have been significant in helping out with the plot and engagement.
20
u/Disastrous-Resident5 6d ago
Season 2 was such a fumble. Season 3 wasn’t bad. Haven’t watched all of Season 4