Caporegime
Writing aside; the show gets far too much wrong in my opinion. Part of what made the first season so successful was; the tone, the atmosphere, the location, the foreboding sense of doom, streamlined cast and supporting cast...
This is all missing from season two
. The characters are good, if a little clichéd, but they are good and they are well cast (in my opinion), the supporting cast is too good.
The cinematography is not quite up to the standards of the first, nor is the quality of the direction at times.
However, what really lets this down is the writing. Yes it makes sense, and after watching the most recent episode, I re-watched the season so far in one long sitting and things make much more sense. However, it is writing that is trying too hard to be complicated, we have been given all the answers but haven't figured out what the questions are. All the pieces are there for the audience but they have not been able to show the bigger picture.
It (in my opinion) is hubris writing, it is overly complicated. The first season had a tight central plot with sub arks from that, red herrings but it followed an investigation and was a character study of the central two characters. This season is a character study (The Oedipus tragedy is so blindingly obvious, as is whom is going to survive) but with the central plot lost along the ruins of the corruption story.
It's writing, the substandard (compared to the first season) production just makes the entire show feel very 'meh', after the quite excellent first season.
This is all missing from season two
. The characters are good, if a little clichéd, but they are good and they are well cast (in my opinion), the supporting cast is too good.The cinematography is not quite up to the standards of the first, nor is the quality of the direction at times.
However, what really lets this down is the writing. Yes it makes sense, and after watching the most recent episode, I re-watched the season so far in one long sitting and things make much more sense. However, it is writing that is trying too hard to be complicated, we have been given all the answers but haven't figured out what the questions are. All the pieces are there for the audience but they have not been able to show the bigger picture.
It (in my opinion) is hubris writing, it is overly complicated. The first season had a tight central plot with sub arks from that, red herrings but it followed an investigation and was a character study of the central two characters. This season is a character study (The Oedipus tragedy is so blindingly obvious, as is whom is going to survive) but with the central plot lost along the ruins of the corruption story.
It's writing, the substandard (compared to the first season) production just makes the entire show feel very 'meh', after the quite excellent first season.
.