A FUNNY THING happened to me while watching the first episode of The Guard, Global's new action drama which premiered last night.
For the first half I was very restless. The camera work, action, underwater visuals were fine. But the histrionics seemed over-amped to me. I felt like I was watching something by the numbers. It was dire. I said as much to a couple people.
Then I had to go out.
When I returned a few hours later, I watched the second half. And got sucked in. By the end of the ep, I actually found myself invested in at least two of the characters' stories. Jeremy Guilbaut's rescue specialist, obviously suffering PTSD, started to grow on me. The disorienting lurches of innocent moments -- a daughter shrieking in play, a slam -- that flashed to the horror of the opening rescue started to get to me. I felt tense for him. And Zoie Palmer's Carly, who earlier in the episode went for easy sex to de-stress -- a move I ho-hummed, suddenly seemed....compelling. By the end, and the second action sequence, I found myself....yeah...I actually cared what happened to these characters next.
So am I starved for drama in the wake of the WGA strike? I don't know. The buy in is such a strange thing. Unpredictable sometimes. Was my later mood simply more condusive to what The Guard was selling?
I don't know. But I'll be tuning in again.
Yet there's another concern lurking just around the corner. Shooting on the water is horribly expensive. And The Guard had to shut down production when the weather got too bad. Part of me worries what happens to this show if they can't go out on the water as much. Clearly that's what they'll try to cut down on when money gets tight. I'm not sure I want to see a Coast Guard drama without the water scenes. Who am I kidding? I definitely don't want to see it without the water scenes.
It's an ambitious show. Very ambitious. And a surprising pilot. Not perfect, certainly, but meaty enough to make me want more-- I just hope it can sustain.
4 comments:
I quite enjoyed The Guard. I may not have the fancy experience with tv production you have to express why I was happier at the end than I thought I would be after the first break but I'll take your word for it.
I too cared about the characters by the end of the episode. I'll be back for more.
If shooting on the water is so expensive, how did the Beachcombers manage to do it for all those years? Was it cheaper in those days?
Really? You can't parse this one for yourself?
Basicaly, you're comparing Oranges and O.J. Simpson, here. I don't know how long it's been since you've seen The Beachcombers -- but if you were to watch it today, you'd probably have a hint as to your answer: which is, everything is different.
You can't compare a slice of life easy 70s cheesy character show like Beachcombers to a 21st century action based drama with underwater photography.
The pacing..the amount of film shot...The cost of equipment...The cost of union crews, actors, designers, construction, writers, directors...location fees. The audience simply demands a slicker product today.
The process of making the show isn't even the same.
Believe me, all of this you could intuit if you watched an entire ep of The Beachcombers today.
It's simply not a useful comparison.
Zoie Palmer (who plays Carly) is an amazing actress. She played a drug-and-alcohol-addicted goth rock singer named Patsy in Instant Star for two seasons who died tragically in the end. It would have been a tough role to play but Zoie pulled it off really well. If anyone wants to check out the episode (Episode 304 - Helter Skelter) go to the following link. There's also a short interview with Zoie at the end.
http://broadband.ctv.ca/primetime/?vid=9961
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