Monday, July 15, 2013

Come Monday...The Bridge on FX

“Come Monday…” is a weekly series that will involve a review of, or commentary about,  websites, movies, documentaries, television shows, sports, music, and whatever else may tickle my fancy at the time.  Be assured that these reviews will be generally positive, as in accordance to the Jimmy Buffett song “Come Monday.”  This is subject to change, however.  In fact, I would be most derelict in my duties to neglect going on a rant every once in a while.  For rants promote change, and change can be good—right?  Therefore, since good is generally considered as being a positive force in 99.3% of the parallel universes that I am aware of, even a rant could be considered as being something positive, and a genuine hissy-fit would be even better (so I’m told).


Arlynda and I finally took the time to watch the first episode of [The Bridge] on FX yesterday afternoon, and it left us rather frustrated.  For there were several elements to the show that has us quite intrigued, but there is one glaring error in judgment that made us both want to never see another episode.

Yeah, I am about to upset a fair amount of people.  For what we considered to be a glaring error in judgment about The Bridge has to do with them having one of the lead characters (arguably THE lead character) be a not all that high-functioning (in our opinion) autistic lady.

The character I speak of is the lead detective on the American side, Sonya Cross, who has [Asperger Syndrome], which makes much about the show all the more edgier.  For she has absolutely no empathy for victims, nor time for anything other than what she is focused upon.

No, I am not one who would have such people locked away in institutions, but there are all sorts of important stuff they could be doing without having to interact all that much with others.  In a real-life situation, a Det. Sonya Cross would better serve as a valued member of the forensics team.  For one of the basic skills to being a good detective in the field is knowing how to interact with people, and a detective with a cold demeanor can make an adversary out of someone who would be very cooperative with someone much more likable.

Alas, methinks what is going on with Det. Cross may harken back to the attitude of a former police chief in Los Angeles.  For when confronted during a press conference with a question about why so many police officers under his command are so rude in the execution of their duties, he explained that a police officer is on the street to keep the peace—not make friends.  By the way, this was around the same time as the [Rodney King riots].  Pure coincidence—right?

Okay, maybe some filler on The Bridge may now be in order.  For it is basically about the tensions between America and Mexico at the border crossing between [El Paso, Texas] and [Ciudad Juarez,Chihuahua].

It is an area that I am personally very familiar with.  In fact, my dad even worked out of El Paso for a little while during the middle 60s, but it is mostly from my trucking days that I remember the most about the El Paso side of the border.

Nonetheless, there are a couple of distinct memories from around 50 years ago that are worth noting.  For it was on the trip to El Paso from wherever we had been before that I learned that it is not wise to go kicking around on fire ant hills while wearing sandals.  Later on, I learned that a bowl of something that looked like sweet relish may actually be really hot/spicy on the Mexican side of the border.

Be assured that there is a lot of spice on both sides of the border on The Bridge.  For the very first scene involved a body dump on the bridge over the Rio Grande, and it was later revealed that it was actually the dumping of two half-bodies, made to look like a whole person.

Liberally stirred into the mix are the side-stories to Det. Cross and her Mexican counterpart, Det. Marco Ruiz.  Along with stabs at Mexican corruption, American indifference, international politics, inter-agency dysfunctions, marital infidelity, journalistic fraud and longsuffering Lt. Hank Wade, played by [Ted Levine], who must have proven something to the producers of The Bridge on [Monk].

Now, Arlynda has announced that we will be watching the second episode, which will first air at 9:00 pm on Wednesday, July 17, 2013.  For she wants to find out what is in that locked room, but that’s as far as is it going with us.  For she already has enough that she can swear that she was having a bad dream about when she starts beating me about the head and the shoulders in the middle of the night.


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12 comments:

  1. We've not crossed that bridge yet down here. The show hasn't been aired as yet; nor have there been any ads to say it's on its way to us.

    Diane Kruger who plays Det. Sonya Cross is an actress of some note. More and more big screen actors are taking to the TV series nowadays. Once upon a time they turned their noses up at such a thought, but no longer.

    Apparently, this US version is taken from what was originally a Danish-Swedish production - similar to the TV series "The Killing"; it too originally was a Danish series.

    It was interesting to read your opinion, Jerry. Now you've stirred my interest about the show!! ;)

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  2. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Lee!!! Arlynda and I are both big fans of The Killing. Well, at least the Americanize version of it that has been airing on A&E here, and we both noticed the The Bridge had a distinct "The Killing" feel to it. If you can find a way to watch The Bridge, I hope it does not prove to be a waste of your time.

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  3. "The Killing" that we got here was the US version; and the Danish version was on our SBS channel at one stage, but I failed to catch it, only noticing at the very tail end that it had been on.

    I liked the US version it very much. It's finished now, of course.

    I'll keep an eye out (or both) for "The Bridge"...it sounds interesting.

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  4. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Lee!!! Hey, they've started a new investigation on The Killing! We have not watched any of the new episodes yet on account of wanting to watch the entire season at one time. Okay, it will probably take us several sessions, but that would still be better for us than having to wait a week between episodes. New episodes are airing Sunday nights on A&E here now.

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  5. I recall seeing previews for this one but haven't seen the show

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  6. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Ann!!! It might make you a lot more appreciative of the Canadians...maybe not.

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  7. That's great news re "The Killing". I did read somewhere not long ago that another season was under way. I'll certainly be a constant viewer again when it arrives here!

    It's a quality show.

    I noticed the other day when I saw a trailer of Brad Pitt's "World War Z" that Mireille Enos, the actress who plays Sarah in "The Killing" is in the above movie.

    Just a bit of trivia...I'm good at trivial trivia! ;)

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  8. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Lee!!! I hope they start airing the new season of The Killing there soon. I don't know why there would be any delay. I hope Nirelle did well in World War Z, but I cannot imagine why we would ever want to see it, nor any of the other zombie flicks. Although, Zombieland, which came out with Woody Harrelson and a minor role for Bill Murray in 2009, was really funny.

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  9. I'm not into zombie movies either, and I've not even seen Zombieland. I might catch up with it one day. Woody Harrelson is great...I've liked him since his "Cheers" days. What a great show that was. Murray rarely lets anyone down, either.

    I'm a fan of Pitt's, though. I thought he was particularly good in "Moneyball". He's become a very good actor as he's grown older.

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  10. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Lee!!! If you have never seen Seven Monkeys, it might prove to be quite a treat when you do. It is a futuristic flick that actually stars Bruce Willis, but Brad Pitt has a very prominent role as the crazed leader of a gang that Willis' character has to outsmart in order to accomplish his mission and save the world (or something like that). Anyway, Pitt has a freak out scene that left me very impressed with his acting skills.

    By the way, if you did not already know, Brad is from right here in Springfield, and his family (or at least his brother) still lives here. Oh yes, they call on us to come over and let them enjoy our company all of the time.

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  11. Yes...I remember seeing "Seven Monkeys" years ago, Jerry. Pitt doesn't really get the acting creds that he fully deserves, in my humble opinion, anyway. He exploded onto the screen at the "pretty boy with the great body" in "Thelma & Louise" and it took a while I think for that to leave him. I think he's matured into an elder statesman of the silver screen. I like him.

    I didn't know he was from your area. When you next having him for a few beers, say "G'day!" from me! ;)

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  12. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Lee!!! Methinks he could follow much more closely in the footsteps of Robert Redford if he can resist scripts for movies like Inglorious Bastards and World War Z. Of course, hanging around Clooney can't be helpful. Yeah, it must be great fun, but I don't recall any highly-respected actors, like Gregory Peck, being known for being all that much of a practical joker. (LOL?)

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