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schneefinkI finally agreed to watch some due South with DD. (I had agreed a while ago, but the fact that I just reread Chicago's Most Wanted, which is a lot of fun even without knowing canon (42k, Ben Fraser/Ray Kowalski, amnesiac!Fraser as criminal mastermind) might have helped.) Even though I know many people I share(d) fandoms with love(d) it, I was very skeptical if I would enjoy a cop show from the 90s.
The pilot made me feel justified in my concerns. I don't generally enjoy cop shows – I enjoyed some of the comedy clips from Brooklyn 99 out of context but that's it (off the top of my head.) I find it hard to enjoy shows where I dislike the main characters, I find it hard to like main characters who are assholes, and even more so when they are in positions of power. We literally meet Ray Vecchio almost being caught by Internal Affairs for doing something illegal, and only shortly afterwards we see him illegally entering a woman's house to intimidate her. It'd be one thing if the show seemed to recognize this as bad or even questionable, but nope, that's just how cops operate. At most it's impolite. (I was amused by the disclaimer at the end that this pilot does not accurately depict of the RCMP operates – apparently Chicago cops just are like that.) And at the very end Fraser is told that it might be hard for him among the other members of the RCMP because he "turned on one of their own" - that guy was corrupt and a murderer! Yet apparently Fraser being ostracized for bringing him to justice is, what, expected? Okay?
DD told me that both Rays start out further down on the asshole scale and get a lot of character development later on, but that the policing style mostly stays like that throughout. I know it was the 90s and it was probably normal etc. etc., but I don't enjoy watching it. Even if it's just an occasional thing, it's a sensitive topic. Cops overreaching their authority, and getting away with it, are scary. Those cops then still being portrayed as the good guys who are justified in their behavior is scary too.
(Just recently in Vienna there was a case where police officers beat up a a guy for no reason while several others watched without interfering, then when he told the hospital what had happened the police lied about it and sued him for defamation; if a video of the incident hadn't appeared he probably would have been convicted, and yet when the officers were convicted none of them got more than 12 months which means they can all keep their jobs. Wtf.)
There was a lot about the pilot I appreciated, for example a lot about Benton Fraser (though his naivete at times was so bad it's frustrating), and the caribou drowned by the ghost ocean and the whole storyline with Fraser's dad. (Was his plan stupid, yes, but he was in understandable emotional turmoil.) I can easily see how people who don't mind/can ignore certain parts would enjoy this show a lot.
DD also plans to show me 3x01, to introduce me to the other Ray, and I am planning to watch it, but I'd say the odds that I'll enjoy the characters and relationships so much that I'll be able to overlook the scary cops aspects are low.
The pilot made me feel justified in my concerns. I don't generally enjoy cop shows – I enjoyed some of the comedy clips from Brooklyn 99 out of context but that's it (off the top of my head.) I find it hard to enjoy shows where I dislike the main characters, I find it hard to like main characters who are assholes, and even more so when they are in positions of power. We literally meet Ray Vecchio almost being caught by Internal Affairs for doing something illegal, and only shortly afterwards we see him illegally entering a woman's house to intimidate her. It'd be one thing if the show seemed to recognize this as bad or even questionable, but nope, that's just how cops operate. At most it's impolite. (I was amused by the disclaimer at the end that this pilot does not accurately depict of the RCMP operates – apparently Chicago cops just are like that.) And at the very end Fraser is told that it might be hard for him among the other members of the RCMP because he "turned on one of their own" - that guy was corrupt and a murderer! Yet apparently Fraser being ostracized for bringing him to justice is, what, expected? Okay?
DD told me that both Rays start out further down on the asshole scale and get a lot of character development later on, but that the policing style mostly stays like that throughout. I know it was the 90s and it was probably normal etc. etc., but I don't enjoy watching it. Even if it's just an occasional thing, it's a sensitive topic. Cops overreaching their authority, and getting away with it, are scary. Those cops then still being portrayed as the good guys who are justified in their behavior is scary too.
(Just recently in Vienna there was a case where police officers beat up a a guy for no reason while several others watched without interfering, then when he told the hospital what had happened the police lied about it and sued him for defamation; if a video of the incident hadn't appeared he probably would have been convicted, and yet when the officers were convicted none of them got more than 12 months which means they can all keep their jobs. Wtf.)
There was a lot about the pilot I appreciated, for example a lot about Benton Fraser (though his naivete at times was so bad it's frustrating), and the caribou drowned by the ghost ocean and the whole storyline with Fraser's dad. (Was his plan stupid, yes, but he was in understandable emotional turmoil.) I can easily see how people who don't mind/can ignore certain parts would enjoy this show a lot.
DD also plans to show me 3x01, to introduce me to the other Ray, and I am planning to watch it, but I'd say the odds that I'll enjoy the characters and relationships so much that I'll be able to overlook the scary cops aspects are low.
