Saturday, November 14, 2015

Dark Affairs

showtime

We're about half way through season 1 of Showtime's The Affair, starring McNulty (Dominic West) and that lady from Luther (Ruth Wilson). It turns out the show is not just a Bridges of Madison County type of romanticizing of infidelity. There's a mystery involved and the structure of the show is pretty interesting in a Rashomon sort of way. It's pretty twisty and focuses on complex human relationships. Still. . . .

I guess I'm more of a prude than I thought. Or, I don't know, I value loyalty and trust. The idea of an affair, especially under the circumstances presented on the show make the characters immediately unlikeable to me. Not that liking the characters is a requirement of a good story, but in this case, where we're sort of trying to piece together who the reliable narrator is, if any, I think it puts the whole story in an odd place for me. I just don't believe either of them. And maybe I shouldn't. I'm only half way through the first season, so I might be jumping the gun. We shall see.

syfy

Speaking of trust, SyFy Channel's Dark Matter is a fun show. It's the kind of show I used to find by accident while channel surfing, but as a semi-cordcutter (I technically still have basic cable, but never watch it), I now have the luxury of complete control over what I watch and when. Anyway, Dark Matter opens up with the crew of a spaceship waking up from stasis with no memory of who they are. It then unfolds over the season like an onion with layers of complexity and surprising depth. It's never AMAZING, but it is pretty damned entertaining and the characters really grow on you quickly. Looking forward to the second season next year.

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