Oh Crap

[przed]

I've just seen an episode of The Chief that I adored. Rats. I wasn't supposed to start actually liking the show. I was supposed to burn through the episodes and get them off the PVR.

Anyway, it's the episode where Cade brings in the Italian judge to speak at a law enforcement conference. The ep's got all the usual flaws of the show (shoddy production values, a lousy musical score, heavy-handed moralizing) but the character stuff was lovely.

The friendship between Cade and the judge is nicely played by both actors, not to mention there's a h/c factor, always a good thing in my books. (Cade is shot while trying to protect his friend from an assassination attempt.) And there's some nicely mysterious stuff with Cade trying to figure out why he intimately knows the location of the conference when he can't remember having been there before. It also doesn't hurt that Martin is utterly gorgeous in this one, being all broody and guilt-stricken. (You Pros fans out there, does that remind you of anyone?)

All in all, a most satisfying ep.

Now I'm going to have to start taping the darn things again.

ETA: Almost forgot to mention that the Cade icon from the lovely agentxpndble.

Comments

[phantomas.livejournal.com]

I love LOVE LOVE The Chief :)
The episode you mention in particular. I'd kill (not really) for a clear DVD copy of those eps.

I think I read somewhere that Martin did conceive the Chief as an older Doyle, and that episode seems to confirm it. An older Doyle that has learnt to to tame is wilder instincts, but they are still there.
As far as production values go, I honestly don't think the series is so poor. It has a typical Brit feel to it, it's all shot on location, which adds a gritty realism to it (and i helps me the fact that it0s been shot where I (and Martin, too)live, Norfolk and Norwich, so those locations are very much real to me.
The climate conditions seen in the series are exactly what they are, gloomy ;) there's a certain starkness that's 'real', to me, in the colors of the places, because it is real and not studio reproduced.
I't s not glossy or polished, but somehow that makes it a positive quality for me.
/blabbering about The Chief :D
(besides, it was as far as I know, the only locally produced TV series by Anglia television, which of course does mean that there was very little money involved)
Someone should make a The Chief songvid. Possibly a Doyle and Older Doyle/Cade songvid....*bats eyelashes*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Too much film school has spoiled me on what I'll accept in production values, though I was pretty picky even before I studied production. (Just the fact that it's shot on video puts my teeth on edge, let alone the dodgy shot composition, but I realize that's not going to detract from the show for everyone.) Weirdly, they must have had a some money, because they do a lot of helicopter and stunt stuff that I know isn't cheap. I just wish they'd spent the dosh on recording on film instead of tape.

I know there are those who consider Cade an older Doyle, but for me Deed fits that better. In Cade, Doyle's fire seems to far dampened, but Deed has the maturity but still has the ability to get nicely riled up. (I love the episode where the man he put away is threatening his daughter and he goes ballistic.)