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TV REVIEWS
The Wire
Series Review (Crime Dama) - Adam Scullin
Set in Baltimore, this show centers around the city's inner-city drug scene. It starts as mid-level drug dealer, D'Angelo Barksdale beats a murder rap. After a conversation with a judge, Det. James McNulty has been assigned to lead a joint homicide and narcotics team, in order to bring down drug kingpin Avon Barksdale. Avon Barksdale, accompanied by his right-hand man Stringer Bell, enforcer Wee-Bey and many lieutenants (including his own nephew, D'Angelo Barksdale), has to deal with law enforcement, informants in his own camp, and competition with a local rival, Omar, who's been robbing Barksdale's dealers and reselling the drugs. The supervisor of the investigation, Lt. Cedric Daniels, has to deal with his own problems, such as a corrupt bureaucracy, some of his detectives beating suspects, hard-headed but determined Det. McNulty, and a blackmailing deputy. The show depicts the lives of every part of the drug "food chain", from junkies to dealers, and from cops to politicians.
The West Wing
Season 1 Review (Political Drama) - Adam Scullin
The first season, which begins in the middle of Bartlet's first year in office, is loaded with images of a West Wing "stuck in neutral" and powerless to govern. Several episodes (notably "Five Votes Down" and "Mr. Willis of Ohio") feature the White House desperately digging for a backdoor through which to pass a particular piece of legislation. This powerlessness ends in "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" when Leo and the president finally agree to fight any battle they believe to be important, even if they are not sure they can win. The season ends with a cliffhanger assassination attempt with an ominous call over a Secret Service radio: "Who's been hit?! Who's been hit?!"
Gotham
Series Premiere review (Drama) - Adam Scullin
The origin story behind Commissioner James Gordon's rise to prominence in Gotham City in the years before Batman's arrival. Adam was just a little bith underwhelmed and disappointed with the series premiere, but it's not without its merits. Read the review to see what he had to say!
THE MISSING
Season 1 Review (Mystery Thriller) - Adam Scullin
"The Missing" follows Tony, played by James Nesbitt, as a man devastated by the abduction of his young son, Oliver, during a family vacation in France. He becomes a man obsessed, unable to accept that his child may be dead and spends years searching for him. Tony's exhaustive search fractures his marriage to Emily, played by Frances O' Connor and threatens to destroy his life. Tcheky Karyo plays Julien, the French police detective who launched the initial search for the child. Even though he is retired in present day, he too cannot shake the small belief that the child may still be alive. Told using a fascinating narrative puzzle, "The Missing" explores the impact of a child's abduction, the emotional cost of obsession, hope and finding when to let go. This gripping thriller is told simultaneously over multiple time frames and set in France and London.
House of Cards
Season 1 Review (Political Drama) - Adam Scullin
Majority House Whip Francis Underwood takes you on a long journey as he exacts his vengeance on those he feels wronged him - that is, his own cabinet members including the President of the United States himself. Dashing, cunning, methodical and vicious, Frank Underwood along with his equally manipulative yet ambiguous wife, Claire take Washington by storm through climbing the hierarchical ladder to power in this Americanized recreation of the BBC series of the same name.
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