I’ve been on a true TV series kick lately. Ever since I came back from vacation, I’ve been watching fewer Youtube videos and I’ve gone back to watching some more actual TV series. I watched seasons of some of my all time favorites, but I also watched some new stuff and there is one series I never even told you about, but that I did really enjoy.
True Detective Season 2
After really liking season 1 of True Detective I really got my hopes up high for season 2. However interesting the premise might have been in the beginning, this series felt a bit lackluster and less exciting compared to season 1. Set in Vinci City, a team of investigators is brought together to unravel the corrupt government of this lawlessness city near Los Angeles. The team consists of 3 cops who are all brought into the investigation for different, yet very volatile reason and one crook who ends up becoming twisted into the plot.
Where the trailer and story line promise a dark and epic tale, the series itself mostly suffers from some severe overacting, unbelievable characters, actions and alliances and strange turns of events. It’s like whoever wrote this took everything that was good about season 1 of True Detective and then tried blowing it up to bigger proportions, but sometimes bigger just isn’t better. I did watch all 8 episodes, but in the end this isn’t something I’d recommend watching.
The Fall
Something I would recommend watching is The Fall. This Irish TV series set in Northern Ireland where serial killer Paul Walker (played by Jamie Dornan aka Christian Grey in 50 Shades) is on the loose. With the police at their wits end they bring in Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson aka Scully from X-Files) who is set to catch the bad guy. The seasons are short, but the perspective change between cold hearted killer to family man and then the self destructive workaholic police woman works. The acting is off the chain, the story arch is phenomenal and intensity only rises with each episode. With season 3 still on its way, this series is on for a winning streak and I can’t wait to hear more news on when the new episodes are released.
CSI Season 15
One of my favorite series is CSI and over summer I watched the final season ever created. There is a final episode coming up. It should air later this month with some of the old cast making its return. In season 15 DB Russell is haunted by an old case from his Seattle days. The Gig Harbor killer is back and bolder than ever. His specialty? Leaving the crime scene behind, processed and all. Shame that the actor portraying the double role of the Gig Harbor Killer (oh wait! They were a team of twin brothers!), was in fact that guy from Saved By The Bell. That made it a little less believable, but hey, I never watched CSI for its credibility. All in all, it was an enjoyable season and I can’t wait to see what the 2 hour final will bring.
CSI Cyber
But since the CSI franchise seemed to be coming to an end, when I found that the first season of CSI Cyber, the latest franchise spinoff, had been released, I decided to watch that too. It’s only 13 episodes and I feel this series is not yet as strong as the originals. They would have also been better of with a new name, rather than attaching it to the CSI franchise. CSI: Cyber has less to do with forensics and more so with the Cyber part. The main idea is that a team of analysts tries to stop crimes in the real world that have started online. There is a lot of talk of the ‘deep web’, hackers and illegal weapons trading, but every episode will link the cyber attacks to a real person with a real home. That makes the plot lines sometimes seem forced and it is entirely laughable how easily some of the bad guys are caught. The switch between the two worlds isn’t always believable and the cast still has to grow into their roles. I’m hoping season 2 will be better.
Criminal Minds
Last but not least, the series I have been binge watching for the past two weeks. Once I had watched all of the series above, I decided to get back on the Criminal Minds tracks. I had initially lost interest when Mandy Patkin, who played Gideon, left the show. But when I was in the US I saw a few of the newer episodes and I liked what I saw and so I decided to watch some of the later seasons. I started with season 7 and now I am almost finished with season 10. In fact, I think I may finish that series today. And then I will be on the look out for a new series to watch. So my question for you is:
What should I watch next?
Pictures at the top are not my own. Each picture has therefore been linked to its original source.