Show Review – The Creative Life of Liz

Thanks to real world shenanigans, I had to pause watching One Chicago a while ago. It wasn’t planned, but something had to give.

It’s been about four months or so. I’m finally back at it! And last night, I reached the major crossover in the 2016-2017 season. So let’s talk about it!

(For anyone who remembers, I will be doing a full season wrap up post once I finish the season. But I wanted to focus specifically on this one topic, to save me from complaining for paragraphs in that wrap up.)

The Lead Up

Towards the end of the previous season of Chicago PD (3×21), there was a backdoor pilot for Chicago Justice. I wasn’t very impressed, but that was fine, I’m allowed to have a different opinion.

During the beginning of Season Four, Detective Antonio Dawson, one of the major members of the Intelligence Unit, is offered a role as an investigator for the State Attorney’s office. In episode eight, he accepts that role and leaves the unit. This sets him up to help start on Chicago Justice, which started airing later in the season.

The Crossover Event

One Chicago is pretty known for characters making appearances on the different shows in the franchise. Most of the time, it’s limited to a brief appearance, a scene or two at most. However, usually once or twice a season there’s a crossover “event”, which has a singular storyline stretch across two or three shows.

In the 2016-17 season, there were two. The first was a two episode arc which isn’t relevant to this discussion. The second, however, features all four shows across three episodes and serves as the season opener to the latest Chicago series.

This crossover event deals with a tragedy that effects one of the major character, and has ramifications across all of the shows during the event. It was largely successful!

The first part of the crossover is handled by Chicago Fire and deals with Firehouse 51 being called to a fire at a former factory turned illegal housing for artists and the like. While they are able to gets exits open and save a majority of the residents (and partiers, as there was a party also going on), the death toll rises throughout the episode. And to the horror of all the characters, Detective Alvin Olinsky’s daughter Lexi was inside and she’s grievously injured.

Moving into the second part, Chicago PD takes over, looking for the person that set the fire and have killed so many young people. While the majority of the unit is interviewing and searching, Olinsky says at Chicago Med and is there when Lexi succumbs to her injuries. Using some actual police work, the Intelligence Unit is able to identify a potential subject and arrest him.

From here we finish with the first episode of Chicago Justice. And here is when things take a turn.

About Justice…

So, I don’t exactly know how the convict the killer. Or exactly what happens in the trial. Or really anything after about the… fifteen minute or so mark of Chicago Justice.

Why? Because I just turned it off.

Here’s the thing. While I enjoy a good drama, courtroom dramas are hard to sell me on, because I get board with them. I was pretty sure that Justice was going to be along the lines of Law and Order. I was hopeful that something would catch me (like Antonio’s acting with other characters) and I’d get hooked, the same way I did with Fire and PD.

That didn’t happen. The first fifteen minutes was basically conversation. People making statements, people retracting statements, people just… talking. There was no action, no real moment of surprise or twists or turns. Just the same thing for fifteen minutes.

Right at that fifteen minute mark, I just gave up.

Here’s the problem with this. “Fake” was the third episode, the finale, of the major four series, three episode crossover, as well as the first episode of a new show and was meant to sell the show! The complete tone shift from action and tension and tragedy to… mundane just did not work. It slowed everything down and did not fit in with what the first two episodes had set up.

And here’s the thing…

I was warned about this.

When I was first getting into One Chicago, I went to the One Chicago subreddit to get an idea of what type of insanity I was about to undertake. One of the first posts I saw was someone asking if Justice was necessary to watch. That was a resounding “NO.”

Heck, anywhere and everywhere I’ve looked, the cons have far outweighed the pros. So many people flat out said it’s not worth it. To just read episode summaries if I absolutely had to. To just ignore it entirely (except for the first episode, since it is the finale of the crossover).

I spent 15 dollars on the DVDs. Worst purchase of the year thus far.

Wrap-up

Basically, If you’re planning on watching One Chicago, just ignore the existence of Justice if you can. It there but it’s not worth it. None of the plotlines have any real weight on the series going forth (according to my quick research).

During the rest of my watch, I will be skipping it (no great loss, just effecting this one season). I’ll briefly mention it in my season breakdown when I get to that (hopefully some time next week? Maybe even this weekend? Depends on how the rest of tonight goes.

Until next time!

Actually that should say, I tried to watch Into the Badlands.

I made it through two and a half episodes.

According to my discord friends, that’s about how far they all made it too.

So, what is Into the Badlands and why did we all watch it? Let’s talk about it.

Into the Badlands is a show on AMC. Basically it’s a martial arts series taking place in a post-apocalyptic world. The world has survived a massive war that left civilization in ruins. Some things have survived (electricity and cars, but only to a point), but most things have been shunned, such as firearms and the like. It’s presumed to take place in the middle of America, but not confirmed.

The show revolves around a feudal system, where seven barons hold total control over the territories. For the most part, at least the first few episodes follow two barons and their compounds. I assume more are shown, but I didn’t get that far, nor will I be trying to (I’ll explain soon).

The main baron followed is Quinn, who holds control over opium poppies, which is harvested for opium. He has a contentious relationship with his son Ryder, who feels that his father has become weak (which he has, because Quinn has a brain tumor). Their soldiers are called clippers, and one of the strongest to follow Quinn is Sunny, who has killed over 400 people on Quinn’s orders.

On the other side is The Widow, who assumed the baroness position upon the death of her husband. She leads a clan of assassin women and controls the oil. Her teenage daughter (adopted?) Tilda, is one of the strongest fighters in the world.

There are other characters as well that appear, but I’m not going to go into them. Within just the first two episodes, there were so many names being thrown around it was hard to keep up with everyone.

What was the problem?

Basically, pretty much everything.

The biggest issue with starting a show, especially with a sci-fi or fantasy show, is that you have to sell the entire world in one episode. If you can’t hook your audience in one show, you’re done. This show… well, it didn’t catch me, but it sure tried. The problem is there was too much world building for 45 minutes. A chunk of history, a massive introduction of characters, a slew of terminology… it felt stuffed. And plot was happening and moving along.

One issue for me is that in two episodes, most characters have changed their loyalties or motivations. Two. Episodes. Almost. Every. Character. It’s a problem. Over the course of the six episode season, I could understand evolving motivations. But most of the characters completely changed sides or loyalties by the end of the first episode, then turned around and did it again. For example, Sunny is introduced as being entirely loyal to Quinn. Within an episode, he’s shown wanting to leave the Badlands (to parts unknown), privately turns his back on the baron, and then publicly questions him. He then backtracks in such a way that Ryder almost gets killed, and then does another about face. In two episodes.

Then you have Ryder, who is played by Oliver Stark and is literally the only reason I picked up this show in the first place. Ryder is not a likable character. He is immediately presented as a character without a path. He has an unlikable attitude, and he’s also stubborn. He goes to a “doll” house (literally a brothel) and gets tricked into an ambush that nearly kills him. It knocks him down a peg, but he still has that same elitist attitude. The big thing is that he isn’t nearly as strong as his father (pre sickness), but he wants to be. It doesn’t really… work, not with the established world rules.

Another issue I have is that the writing is pretty basic. There’s nothing new or revolutionary. If you take every word that isn’t part of a normal vernacular and use the more “modern” word, it would be stale and boring. I’m not asking for Shakespeare, but I am asking for… variety.

Actually, the biggest issue is the random fantasy element involving the character MK. Apparently, he can go berserker and blast people psychically when he gets angry and bleeds? It doesn’t fit the rules of the universe. Everyone is after this kid.

The only redeeming quality I saw was the martial arts. Characters use their bodies, swords, knives, other bladed objects, and basically any melee weapon to fight. The choreography is done very well, though several things I saw just didn’t really work. I was able to suspend my disbelief.

But unfortunately, one good thing does not make a good series. I wanted to watch the show because I love watching my favorite characters and actors get whumped (yes, Oliver, you do hurt so good). Unfortunately, it was so dreadfully boring and poorly done, I just can’t.

I tried. I really did. But I kept just checking the clock or skimming the wiki summary. I didn’t care about what I was watching. And that’s really sad, because it could have been so good. I’m probably going to skip through the show to see the end of Ryder’s storyline (which I won’t reveal here because spoilers) but that’s about it.

And I was just so excited for it too.

Oh well, who knows what might come next.

Until next time!