Both of these shows have familiar premises with a twist. A Gifted Man is a medical show and Prime Suspect is a cop show. The twists, respectively, are that a neurosurgeon is being haunted by his ex-wife and a detective is a strong woman in a boys’ club at work.
We didn’t expect to love either of these shows, but we ended up liking them. They probably won’t be must-watches that generate many water-cooler moments, but they both entertained us. Procedurals have a hard road with us, especially medical and cop ones. It’s just been done before.
A Gifted Man - We chuckled at the shaman on this show, because one of us has met shamans, and this show was right-on as to what their practice actually looks like. What was interesting was that the show seems to paint its shaman as credible, rather than mocking him outright. Patrick Wilson is very appealing in this role and this show had its sweet moments. We also like Jennifer Ehle.
Prime Suspect - We loved the main character’s marriage and the way she handles tough situations. The case of the week was boring, but this was good introduction to the characters. The only thing we weren’t digging about Maria Bello (a real woman if there ever was one) was her fedora. You really can’t bring those back at this point. Maybe someday. But she’s a cool cat, and this was a decent cop show pilot. This is much better than Unforgettable.
Even though we are pretty sure these won’t reach our list of top 30 shows, we will be watching both a second time. They were entertaining enough, especially since A Gifted Man is on Fridays.
Prime Suspect Grade: B-
A Gifted Man Grade: B
I liked 'Prime Suspect' quite a bit. I thought it was going to feel more like a CBS procedural, but it was so much better than that, and I think Maria Bello did enough to distinguish not only her character, but the show from the Helen Mirren vehicle. The creators have also said that they're going to tone down the feminist hero vs male chauvinism thing (the only part of it that feels dated to me) *a lot* in a few weeks. Promising start!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Helen Mirren one was 20 years ago where the feminist thing actually mattered.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree on the Prime Suspect review. I thought I wouldn't like it but I did. And it IS better than Unforgettable, even if the lead actress here doesn't have a "superpower" ;) I haven't seen A Gifted Man yet.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible that it's mostly because Maria Bello is awesome.
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