cactuswatcher (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cactuswatcher) wrote2009-01-22 08:29 am
cactuswatcher) wrote2009-01-22 08:29 am
Lie To Me
Not the Buffy episode, but the new series on FOX.
The premise is that a small group of people based in Washington, solve crimes by being human lie detectors. The boss, played by Tim Roth, is naturally the best at detecting lies and truth for that matter. His beautiful second-in-command does pretty well on her own. Their mandatory quirky assistant is a tall handsome, if-a-tad-scruffy guy, who insists on not merely telling the truth, but telling people what he's thinking. The new kid on the block, also a beautiful woman, is about as good at detecting truth (a 'natural' as the show says) as the boss , but she has to learn the mores of telling or not telling people she knows they are lying or being lied to.
Perhaps I missed it, but it was a tad unclear, who or what was paying these people to do their jobs. Considering how they come by their new member, I assume they are employees of the Federal Government, and they are allowed to get involved in local crime cases, because they are based in DC. Speaking of the new employee, she's taken from a job she's extremely good at where she could save many lives, and prevent many far-reaching crimes down the road to work with this group solving local.cases which have already occurred. Promoting her in place seems like a far better option. But as this seems to be the government at work, perhaps it's not surprising she gets transferred.
As in Numb3rs there is a good bit of fact mixed with mumbo-jumbo in the series. Clearly the producers are aiming at something similar with more emphasis on questions of psychology and morality, and less on humanities-egg-heads' fantasies about liberal science-egg-heads. Unlike Numb3rs, there is a lot that is distinctly creepy about the show. Tim Roth's character is not only weasely-looking he has resigned himself to the fact that everybody lies not just occasionally, but constantly (which I doubt seriously) and that it is perfectly okay for him to both hold the keys to the truth and tell horrendous lies to others to fit his investigation. I think the tension between what he knows and how he manipulates the truth is 100% intentional, but I'm not sure that it's the kind of thing people would want to watch week after week. Certainly I don't. The subtle clues the show is already pointing out as signs of lying, may well give some impressionable viewers the idea they can easily judge when someone is lying themselves, which could cause untold real-life damage. Also the writers need to be a tad less careless. The moment the new employee arrives she's given adequate grounds for a sexual-harassment suit. That's not only careless, but stupid writing.
The premise is that a small group of people based in Washington, solve crimes by being human lie detectors. The boss, played by Tim Roth, is naturally the best at detecting lies and truth for that matter. His beautiful second-in-command does pretty well on her own. Their mandatory quirky assistant is a tall handsome, if-a-tad-scruffy guy, who insists on not merely telling the truth, but telling people what he's thinking. The new kid on the block, also a beautiful woman, is about as good at detecting truth (a 'natural' as the show says) as the boss , but she has to learn the mores of telling or not telling people she knows they are lying or being lied to.
Perhaps I missed it, but it was a tad unclear, who or what was paying these people to do their jobs. Considering how they come by their new member, I assume they are employees of the Federal Government, and they are allowed to get involved in local crime cases, because they are based in DC. Speaking of the new employee, she's taken from a job she's extremely good at where she could save many lives, and prevent many far-reaching crimes down the road to work with this group solving local.cases which have already occurred. Promoting her in place seems like a far better option. But as this seems to be the government at work, perhaps it's not surprising she gets transferred.
As in Numb3rs there is a good bit of fact mixed with mumbo-jumbo in the series. Clearly the producers are aiming at something similar with more emphasis on questions of psychology and morality, and less on humanities-egg-heads' fantasies about liberal science-egg-heads. Unlike Numb3rs, there is a lot that is distinctly creepy about the show. Tim Roth's character is not only weasely-looking he has resigned himself to the fact that everybody lies not just occasionally, but constantly (which I doubt seriously) and that it is perfectly okay for him to both hold the keys to the truth and tell horrendous lies to others to fit his investigation. I think the tension between what he knows and how he manipulates the truth is 100% intentional, but I'm not sure that it's the kind of thing people would want to watch week after week. Certainly I don't. The subtle clues the show is already pointing out as signs of lying, may well give some impressionable viewers the idea they can easily judge when someone is lying themselves, which could cause untold real-life damage. Also the writers need to be a tad less careless. The moment the new employee arrives she's given adequate grounds for a sexual-harassment suit. That's not only careless, but stupid writing.
no subject
Ah, but that is a way of dealing with the now essential need for a new show to unsubtly signal the viewers who to ship.
True, though...