BODYGUARD

After ensuring that suicide bomber Nadia (Anjli Mohindra) doesn’t blow a train up, David Budd (Richard Madden) is hired as the bodyguard of Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes), a politician being the centre of attraction for hate and negativity. Both of them, too smart for their own good, begin manipulating each other and testing each other’s patience and self-control.

Their attraction towards each other doesn’t affect Budd’s wife Vicky (Sophie Rundle), instead it aids a purpose. Of course it’s a little cliché, their sudden appeal to each other, but it’s just a puzzle for the viewers to solve, just like everything else in the show. I think that is what makes Bodyguard so likeable and watchable.

Not only that, but I admire the fact that it gives women a commonplace and respect, but not shoving their impactful images down everyone’s throat. Rather, they’ve been made heads of important subjects which requires them being respected. The show is politically aware as well, and binds together personalities efficiently, in a way that does not seem abrupt. The action packed scenes also compliment each other in some way. There’s no exaggeration there, which I’m thankful for. You see, even though there’s so much going on in one scene, the show handles it so well and impeccably that you just can’t get enough of it.

The mysteries are definitely interesting and as much as I want to fill up five long pages about how amazing this show is even with how over-the-top it gets sometimes, I cannot spoil it for you. A bummer. What I can say is that it’ll definitely have you biting your nails and gripping the edge of your seat.

Rating: 4 Stars

TIDELANDS

Orphelin Bay, a fishing village, is inhabited by not only humans but sea creatures/hybrids which call themselves Tidelanders. A woman of many talents, Adrielle (Elsa Pataky) stands as a leader to them all, her leading abilities showing in the way wisdom peaks into even the simplest of sentences she speaks. Ex-prisoner Cal McTeer (Charlotte Best) returns back to town after being released from jail, hiding one too many secrets behind her impassive face. Upon her return, it only takes her a short while to find out that her brother Augie (Aaron Jakubenko), had been transporting drugs through the family boat – something upon which almost the entirety of the show was based on.

Tidelands leans towords the mystery genre more but needs a much better build up than what its weak pilot had portrayed. A disappointment, really, because this is the first time Netflix is investing into an Aussie show, so viewers shouldn’t really be let down like that. The show does have a lot of surprises, but none of them are really that impressive. What’s worse is that it wants to add a much larger number of enigmatic turns and swerves when it hasn’t even figured out its storyline yet. There’s so much going on at the same time and such little tying it together, it’s hard to register what is exactly going on.

There’s also a handsome amount of nudity in the series, which I believe is the only thing that’s keeping it going.

There is no actual entertainment in Tidelands, it’s just a bunch of hot people (or sea creatures) stripped of majority of their clothing and thrown together in a town after being handed over a poorly written script and told to act. I rule it out as boring.

Rating: 1 Stars

THE ROOKIE

The premise revolves around the aging John Nolan (The Castle’s Nathan Fillion), a divorcee endeavoring to find himself and his path. He soon realizes what he wants to do with his future when he experiences a bank robbery which changes his perspective on life; he decides to enter the police force. It’s certainly srange and uncalled for. I mean, seeing a forty-five year old working as a rookie, surrounded by young men having higher posts than him, isn’t exactly something you’d see every day. And of course people don’t like something out of the ordinary, which is exactly why John’s seniors take to bullying him and belittling him terribly. However, fellow new recruits Jackson (Titus Makin Jr.) and Lucy (Melissa O’Neil) are always there to enliven him.

The main problem is that there have been many shows and movies with the same scenario where an old guy is discriminated against for being old, or whatever, so it’s only natural for The Rookie to get sucked up into that tornado. The outdated jokes (like telling John that he was “pushing the expiration date”) don’t help the show’s situation either. Yeah, writers use such jeers for character development and comic relief, but they’re of no use when they’re tasteless.

What the show was actually trying to show was the struggle of Nolan in how he tried to become a better version of himself. What is actually shown was the bullying he faced, simply for being old. This shapes the generation to be people against the elderly trying to pursue their dreams. So, to pair this with the lame jokes we’ve been served with, is to kill the intention and essence of the show completely.

Rating: 2Stars