The fall television season is upon us, which means the return of familiar shows and the debut of new ones. It also means TV reviews, to see which one are worth watching.
Or not, if you read both local dailies.
Case in point: the ABC’s new drama series Last Resort.
The Boston Globe’s Matthew Gilbert likes it, he really likes it:
‘Last Resort’: Paranoia below the sea
There’s no question in my mind that most TV sci-fi dramas have some precedent in “The Twilight Zone.” Rod Serling’s stark, brilliant anthology series, which ran from 1959-63, messed with all kinds of cosmic possibilities – about existence, about childhood, about time and space, about good and evil, about politics, technology, and the future. There were humans, aliens, robots, mutants, dreams, and apocalypses, the last of which are particularly popular these days in primetime. From “Lost,” “FlashForward,” and “Fringe” to “Revolution” and ABC’s fascinating new “Last Resort,” TV is still toying with the what-ifs and watch-outs explored in TV’s great uber-ancestor.
But the Herald’s Mark Perigard? Not so much.
‘Last Resort’ aptly named
Nuke-happy network drama’s a bust
An anti-Muslim video created by an idiot and posted to YouTube has provoked violence worldwide.
Tonight, a commercial network releases an expensive-looking drama that casually drops two nuclear bombs on Pakistan and obliterates millions — off-screen, thankfully.
It gets better.
Our “hero,” late in the hour, detonates a nuclear bomb on American soil — just to prove a point.
To be fair, “Last Resort” does not insult ideology — it merely knocks your intelligence.
Anybody got a coin we can flip?
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OK, reviewers disagreed–so what’s your point?
BTW, the Globe’s review, based on what you excerpted above, is semi-comprehensible. Sounds like the author (Gilbert) was trying to impress by using convoluted sentences and fancy phrases, more than actually convey his opinion cleanly and crisply. That’s a common situation with many Globe columnists, too–their writing is like spaghetti in terms of actually making a point or laying out a coherent case. But they are oh-so-very pleased with themselves.
No point, Bill. Just trying to provide a public service.