Bodyguard

[jobotic]

Anyone been watching this? Pretty much government propaganda, with left-wing terrorists (when was there last a left-wing terror attack in Britain?) and BBC self-congratulating but it passes the time. Keeley Hawes is really good in it as a Tory arsehole. Totally unnecessary love/sex interest though.

[Bogbrainedmurphy]

I really enjoyed the first episode. I also really enjoyed the action sequences in the second episode especially the gun attack on the car.

But the love interest and sex scenes, as you say, are unnecessary. I feel like it's taken it down too well trodden a path, when keeping them apart might have been a bit more interesting.

But then again it's still hard to tell whether his real motivation is to give her a good hosing, or hose her down. We'll see.

[Alberon]

She also seems to be playing a more palatable Boris Johnson populist type using (or perhaps even behind) the attacks for personal gain, so I wouldn't write this one off as government propaganda just yet.

[Phil_A]

I don't think it is aiming to be right wing, that's not Jed Mercurio's M.O. at all. One of the underlying plots of Line Of Duty is basically an attack on institutionalised paedophilia in government, he's not a writer who's likely to turn around and suddenly start parroting a party line. The main character in this seems to have more sympathy with the terrorists than the security forces, hence his effort to stop the woman bomber getting shot in the head, even though that would've been the easiest outcome.

His mate wasn't specifically identified as being a lefty either, he was just an angry ex-soldier. I daresay the series is asking to sympathise with their point of view to a certain extent, if not actually condoning the attempted murder of politicians.

What is really absurd is that apparently the most criticisms the show has received so far is that it's "too PC" because it features women in prominent positions of authority. I mean, fucking seriously?

[jobotic]

Yeah true. I've blurted out a post without thinking really. Should probably wait to see where it goes.

That criticism is funny/shitty. Too many of the anti-terrorist police weren't white either. I think we know where that criticism is coming from.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Pretty much government propaganda

Have you just been half-watching this programme in the background? It's a blatantly anti-war, anti-establishment 'piece'.

[jobotic]

Really? With the guy who says all the antiwar stuff over and over again shooting politicians?

I've already admitted I went at this half-cocked.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Apologies, I should've read your subsequent post.

[jobotic]

It's the programme they're all watching and talking about according to The Guardian. The biggest new TV drama of the decade.

[BlodwynPig]

It's the programme they're all watching and talking about according to The Guardian. The biggest new TV drama of the decade.

Squeeeee

[BlodwynPig]

Are the middle-classes still titillated by shadowy sex?

[jobotic]

I think it's the programme they're all watching and talking about at The Guardian.

[BlodwynPig]

I think it's the programme they're all watching and talking about at The Guardian.

Bunch of hush-puppy wearing, latte drinking cunts.

[rasta-spouse]

^^it's pumpkin spiced lattes, mate

this is quite good. it's got that grim claustrophobic feeling that Line of Duty has, and what's more it's gripping (unlike JRyan).

[jobotic]

Blimey

[jobotic]

Cobblers but Lord this is tense.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Well, that was bollocks.

[Gradual Decline]

...and they all lived happily ever after.

[Utter Shit]

Fuck me that was stressful. I was happy enough with the cheesy ending, don't think I could have coped with some shady security guy putting a bullet in him in front of his kids.

[Phil_A]

Oof, that bit with Nadia the eeeevil suicide bomber was uncomfortable. I don't know what Mercurio was thinking there, seemed to be sending completely the opposite message to what the rest of the series was leading us to believe. The conspiracy stuff also felt very thin and non-committal. Having Budd's boss explain the entire plot was a huge cop-out.

Apart from that, ehh, it was alright.

Fucking roll on Line Of Duty, please.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Only watched today's episode but does it always have the characters explaining the plot and potential permutations in the dialogue? Seemed like patronisingly unnecessary levels of exposition, not to mention it making for quite stilted interchanges - and I hadn't even watched it before now,

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

That was the final episode, Shoulders. Yes, it was very exposition-heavy - Mercurio had six hours to play with, he should've seeded most of that information towards the last half of the series - but why did you tune into part six of a six-part drama you'd never watched before? It wouldn't have made much sense in terms of twists, escalating tension, background detail and character interaction.

Whether any of that stuff worked for viewers who followed the series from the start is up for debate, but dipping in at this final stage seems pointless.

[gib]

I started watching this when it started and enjoyed the first 5 episodes. Then i was told to go and watch Line of Duty which i never watched before. I splurged the whole lot in the last few days and it was fucking ace. The finale to Bodyguard was really weak by comparison.

I hope you all enjoyed my review.

[gib]

Oof, that bit with Nadia the eeeevil suicide bomber was uncomfortable. I don't know what Mercurio was thinking there, seemed to be sending completely the opposite message to what the rest of the series was leading us to believe. The conspiracy stuff also felt very thin and non-committal. Having Budd's boss explain the entire plot was a huge cop-out.

Apart from that, ehh, it was alright.

Fucking roll on Line Of Duty, please.

Ooh look at you, posting what i was thinking before i got here and then saying it 10 times better than i did, you make me sick Phil_A, if that's even your real name.

[Rev+]

He just can't write dialogue can he?  Line of Duty's the same, it's robots imitating human interactions.

The whole thing was so clearly written around that park scene in the final episode.  You know that was the idea - that one moment - with the rest of the story constructed around it.  Nothing wrong with that, of course, but the story itself felt like a bit of a jumble.

It was alright, just not much of anything.

[buzby]

The scenes with the bomb vest in the park and at his flat had me shouting at the TV I'm afraid. The 'sophisticated' vest had the detonators clearly sticking out of the plastic explosive that could have easily just been pulled out, and no tamper switch on the lid of the control box (despite supposedly having other booby traps elsewhere). The EOD guy dressed in a bulletproof vest and regular SWAT-type helmet was pretty funny too (the bloke on the right in this picture is an actual Met SO15 EOD officer, and it's not like there wasn't an Oscar winning film about an EOD officer dealing with bomb vests a few years ago either). Mercurio needs to learn how battery-powered circuits work as well - cutting one lead breaks the circuit, so the big suspense moment of him cutting the second was a bit pointless.

I do wonder if the original script had the secret services actually behind it all but Mercurio was asked to change it to a more conventional 'evil Muslim bomber' during the commissioning process as the BBC can't cast aspersions on 'them'. Is Budd now going to be some kind of British answer to Jack Bauer for the next series?

[JesusAndYourBush]

I was expecting the car to explode right at the end just before the credits rolled.  The Beeb like to drop that kind of "what the fuck" ending on the viewers.  Glad they didn't on this occasion.

[phes]

The Beeb like to drop that kind of "what the fuck" ending on the viewers.  Glad they didn't on this occasion.

Cue clips of people on Gogglebox screaming and covering their eyes

What's up with the BBC. Has their drama always been largely unimaginitive sub-par shit or is it a recent phenomenon? Tried watching that Killing Eve also and bailed at the brain-meltingly rubbish episode 4.

[Utter Shit]

The scenes with the bomb vest in the park and at his flat had me shouting at the TV I'm afraid. The 'sophisticated' vest had the detonators clearly sticking out of the plastic explosive that could have easily just been pulled out, and no tamper switch on the lid of the control box (despite supposedly having other booby traps elsewhere). The EOD guy dressed in a bulletproof vest and regular SWAT-type helmet was pretty funny too (the bloke on the right in this picture is an actual Met SO15 EOD officer, and it's not like there wasn't an Oscar winning film about an EOD officer dealing with bomb vests a few years ago either). Mercurio needs to learn how battery-powered circuits work as well - cutting one lead breaks the circuit, so the big suspense moment of him cutting the second was a bit pointless.

To be fair, that seems like an awful lot of time, money and effort to cater towards a handful of people who are familiar enough with how bombs work to recognise that it's too simplistic. A more detailed, accurate scene might have lost its pace and drama a bit. That scene was incredibly tense and powerful IMO.

That said I had the same thought when the Muslim woman twist was revealed, thinking it seemed like a slightly more nuanced 24.

Richard Madden was great, I'd never heard of him prior to this.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

That was the final episode, Shoulders. Yes, it was very exposition-heavy - Mercurio had six hours to play with, he should've seeded most of that information towards the last half of the series - but why did you tune into part six of a six-part drama you'd never watched before? It wouldn't have made much sense in terms of twists, escalating tension, background detail and character interaction.

I understood what was going on because it was being described in artificial detail by all the protagonists. In fairness, bomb strapped to me, how do I get out of bomb then nail person who framed me is hardly the most difficult storyline to dip into. I hadn't planned on watching it but it was just on.

I would agree about the dialogue. Decent actors but the interactions were oddly stilted. Not in an enigmatic Shadow Line type way but in a bit of a robotic way.

It was really tense for a while though, although that itself got a bit monotonous. Cut price Rami Malek seemed good.