Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Collision
An excellent, compelling British drama about what-ifs: what if I had left the restaurant two minutes earlier…what if I had taken a different road…what if I had gone slower. All of the what-ifs here pertain to a car crash on a motorway, as the British call them, and the people who were all involved in it. Told in flashbacks all stemming from the present where a senior and very troubled police detective is investigating the crash…its origins, its causes, its motives. One of the drivers fled the crash scene and there is an abundance of confusing evidence of why and how the crash began, so the detective has a lot to sort through. And, as he does, he “imagines” or flashes back to what might have been going on at different points, with the passengers of the different cars of the crash. These flashbacks really do the job of immersing the audience into the lives of each of the drivers and passengers. We get attached to these people. We want them to be good. We want them to survive…both figuratively and literally. Excellently acted, this is one of the strongest television dramas I’ve seen in a while. A must see!
Queer as Folk
Once you start watching, chances are you won’t be able to stop! I mean, this show is truly addictive. Basically, it revolves around four gay friends in Pittsburgh… “friends” being the key word since, aside from the occasional experiment, they remain platonic. I would say the main character of the three is Brian Kinney, the self-obsessed ad exec who comes across as narcissistic but really will go to any lengths to help his friends. Aside from Brian, there is Michael—the most middle-of-the-road, Emmett—the most flamboyant, Ted—the most uptight, and Justin—the most innocent. They all go in and out of relationships together, talk about one-night-stands together, go through life crises together, drink together, workout together, etc. Also mixed in are Debbie, Michael’s wild and outspoken mother, and Mel and Linz, two lesbians who have a child fathered by Brian (and another one later on fathered by Michael). Debbie adds quite a lot of spice to the show, with her opinions on everything. But, the show is definitely spicy on its own with its graphic content. Leave it to cable (Showtime) to come up with something this controversial and ultra-contemporary.
Coupling
Before you assume that this review is about that silly American television show that came and went in 2003, think again. This is the British BBC show that gave us silly Americans the idea for our paltry version. My guess on the reason the American version didn’t fly (aside from the fact that it just was not good): prime time network television. Like HBO’s raunchy and sexual Sex and the City, Coupling revolves around what 30-somethings do or don’t do in the bedroom. American TV is not ready for something like this to be shown on a major network in prime time. Thankfully, Americans now have the chance to see the BBC comedy on DVD. Coupling is a smart, risqué, show that challenges any viewer to think about her or his own relationship(s). There are six major players, all of whom deal with their own battles of lack of sex, volume of sex, fears of commitment, worries about never finding their soul mate…etc. The men have one view and, of course, the women another. Together, they clash sometimes and get it right others. Unlike Sex and the City, this show is more about talking about sex, rather than showing it. But, the conversations alone, given how sharp and witty the dialogue is, provide for enough humor to go around…with some left over to spare.
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