Category Archives: Short-lived suspenseful episodes

Manifest (2020)

From Netflix:

When a plane mysteriously lands years after takeoff, the people onboard return to a world that has moved on without them and face strange, new realities.

From Netflix you can stream two seasons of this fairly awful series. Season 1 has 16 episodes and season 2 has 13 episodes.  Every single episode lasts exactly 42 minutes, which may have been the only technical achievement of the series.

Holy Maudlin!  There were enough tears shed during this slop opera to irrigate California.

Holy Unbelievable! Find yourself in a tight spot?  Just invent some miraculous paranormal intervention.

Holy Gullible! How on earth could I watch all 29 episodes expecting to be satisfied with the ending.  Perhaps it is because I LOVE TRASH.

MISS!

Thou Shalt Not Kill (2015)

From IMDB:

Detective Valeria Ferro investigates crimes motivated by jealousy, vendettas and repressed anger to seek the truth and justice.

From PBS Passport you can stream two seasons of this Italian detective series.  Each season offers 12 episodes. Each episode lasts between 45 and 50 minutes.  Spoken Italian with English subtitles.

At the very start of the series Valeria’s mother Lucia is released from prison after 17 years. Lucia supposedly killed Valeria’s father.  Throughout the entire two seasons the continuing theme is what really happened 17 years ago.  For the most part Valeria is estranged from, angry at, and suspicious of her mother.  Valeria’s brother Giacomo takes the mother into his home.

Valeria is unmarried and is undecided about where to live, whom to love, and what the future holds.  Valeria’s lover is her current police boss Giorgio  whose orders she repeatedly countermands because of her stubborn nature.  Meanwhile her co-worker Andrea is in love with Valeria.

Every two episodes tell one complete crime story while the above mentioned themes continue.

Both Kathy and I found the plots confusing with too many characters. Additionally we did not find  the conclusion in episode 24 to be in any way satisfying.  It would seem that the producers intend further seasons.

Notice how at the end of each pair of episodes the guilty party simply confesses (often with indifference) with no attempt to cover up.  That is just plain too easy a conclusion.

Still,  the 24 episodes were not bad at all.

Tatort: Lindholm (2020)

From MHz Choice:

Lone wolf detective Charlotte Lindholm has an uncanny talent for solving crimes and fumbling all personal relationships.

From MHz Choice you can stream the 12 episodes of the only season available in this German series. Each episode is about an hour and a half.

“Tatort”  is German for “scene of the crime.”  MHz Choice offers 4 different series entitled “Tatort:” followed by either the name of a detective or of a German city.

Beware: Episode 8, “The Disposable Girl”,  is harrowing and ends with all the corruption revolving around sex trafficking winning the battle. Because I did not understand that the story continues into episode 9, I was really depressed.  Do not watch such stories at bedtime. However,  as in most fairy tales, the good guys win and the bad guys lose in episode 9.  As usual Charlotte in episode 9 loses yet another love interest.

As in many less-than-perfect such presentations, the solutions are often just too easy. Somehow the Lone Ranger always shows up at just the right time.  But that is just fine with me, I gladly trade some realism for some release in the story tension.

Charlotte is a beautiful young unmarried mother with a very young son. She keeps searching for that one true love. Sadly that is not in the cards for our Charlotte.  Just enjoy her in-your-face, determined fight for justice in the face of bureaucratic or corrupt opposition.

At least it is not boring and, in fact, not bad at all.

Beauty and the Beast (2016)

From IMDB

A beautiful detective falls in love with an ex-soldier who goes into hiding from the secret government organization that turned him into a mechanically charged beast.

From Netflix you can stream 4 seasons of this romantic, sci-fi piece of fluff.  But before you start, at least realize that there are 70 episodes, each episode more corny than the previous episode. Seasons 1 and 2 consist of 22 episodes each. Seasons 3 and 4 consist of 13 episodes each.

And no, I have not seen all 70 episodes. Surely, I thought, if I waded through 22 episodes the story would end. Alas, episode 22 at the very end makes it quite clear that this is the series that never ends.

With each episode there is enough repetitious romantic palaver to fill a shelf in the congressional library.  However, this series also counts as genuine escape from every day reality.  For the sake of history, future readers (if any still exist) should realize that we are now in April 2020 confronting the coronavirus and are forced to stay indoors.  Maybe 70 episodes are not so  bad after all.

As with many B+ so-called “thrillers” the stress level is kept to a minimum. No sooner have our hero and heroine been confronted with a threat, then in a mere 15 microseconds the problem is solved, usually by having our all-powerful hero turn into the “monster” and saving his damsel in distress.

At least give credit to the inventiveness:  many episodes introduce some new character with his or her own secret agenda. These days you never know what normal looking person is really a monster in disguise.

Be patient because after quite a few episodes our love duet lovers finally have sex without him turning into a monster.

And still I persist in following the nonsense. Possibly better than sitting around fretting. Am I harsh in calling this series “acceptable trash?”