Skiffy.ca

I am willing to grant Lost Girl a Mulligan. A good ol’ fashioned reset has happened before now. An actor changed. A premise shifted. Hell, entire seasons have been explained away as a dream. Lost Girl still has a chance to redeem itself and several options to choose from.

The first time I saw the trailer, I was so excited. Here was a science fiction / fantasy genre with – wait for it – a female lead! Strong female leads are still not that common in the genre and any show that has one has my immediate support. I want to see myself on screen. I want to project myself into the life of a strong, competent heroine. I want the glory that is watching a great character vanquish all foes. I want the fantasy of a really great love story – filled with all the will-they-won’t-they that fuels fanfiction and daydreams everywhere.

I have seen two episodes so far of Lost Girl – the pilot and episode two. Each one is an amalgam of good and bad on several levels – and – because I can appreciate how bloody hard it must be to get a show on the air, I am – as I said – willing to float them a Mulligan. Let’s get some re-tooling done on the show, pull things in tightly and pretend some of this never existed. Some of it works. Some of it doesn’t make sense. Some of it is awful.

First the awful so we can end this on a high note…

To start, the show is called “Lost Girl” but the main character Bo has got to be in her thirties if she is a day. It may well be that thirty is the new twenty but no where does it say that thirty is the new “girl”. I thought for a while the sidekick Kenzie was the main character. It’s a Xena / Gabrielle set up and – because there is death by kissing – the subtext is rife with all kinds of sexual overtone combinations. Still – the age difference is so huge that it feels almost like Bo is contributing to the corruption of a minor.

The “Lost Girl” Bo is much like Harry Potter. She grows up not knowing her lineage and is now confronted with a world she never knew existed. She has lived – as she says – the life of a homicidal maniac and a drifter. If she’s thirty, then she has killed about a hundred and fifty people, assuming she needs to feed every month. From the first two shows, it appears this need is more frequent than that. Following along with that concept, killing that many people and remaining undetected is not easy. Police are not that stupid. Someone somewhere would have connected the dots. I realize I am supposed to suspend my belief because – well – the other characters tell me to. So let’s say she killed that many. The way Bo is written (and acted), she come across as unremorseful about her crimes as … well … Dexter. Worse. At least Dexter is played as a soulless creature. Bo has a remarkable lack of remorse and this is critical because it makes the lead completely unsympathetic. She comes across as a cold, bitchy brat. And I don’t think that was the intent. The character, (writing and acting) is uncredible, shrill, goofy and just plain unlikable.

Here’s another part of the premise that isn’t working well – the kissy-faced killing of humans. Bo kills her human victims with a kiss. If she kisses a Fae, she can draw in power to heal or top up her power stores without killing the Fae. I think it was intended to be sexy, adult and provocative. It ends up being silly and – like all things in over-abundance – is diminished to commodity status. This is also contrary to Rule #17A about creating a love interest. Unresolved Sexual Tension is a massive attention sustainer and a friction to make fiction. By episode two, the two lead male and female characters are screwing each other. Great. Now what? I can get this crap on soap operas, I don’t need it in my science fiction too.

I confess this next echoes sentiments written elsewhere on this subject – the central writing rule of “show, don’t tell” is completely ignored. Both episodes were full of exposition and great whacking passages of explanation. Characters just stood around and explained History of the Fae. Blah Blah Blah. No slow tease and much like the kissy face sex, the interest just bleeds away. There is a lot of thought that has gone into the creation of this Fae world and it feels rushed as if someone is afraid that enough information has to come out before it gets cancelled.

Asking for a Mulligan, though, means that there’s lots of good in the show and enough good that it’s worth saving.

As I said, there’s lots of thought that has gone into creating the world of Fae. The creatures of the world are fun and the play at explaining Headless Horsemen, sprites and signs of the Zodiac are great.

There’s some great lines … most of them given to the sidekick Kenzie. One is given to a Fae with classic office décor. Bo asks, “Early Tolkien?” He answers, “Where do you think he got the idea?”

Two gold stars go to the actors who play Kenzie and Dyson.

Certainly Kenzi (Ksenia Solo) dominates every scene she is in. She gets and executes almost all the best lines. She is tweaky, honest and completely believable and is the obligatory “human” that is the viewer’s access the world. Her reactions (again a combination of writing and actor) really get at the core of the discovery of someone who is not one of us.

Dyson (Kristen Holden-Reid) – a detective and the love interest – is kick ass at brooding and ironic. His character is wonderfully oblique and subtle. Because there is so little disclosed about him, I pay attention to every look, every move, every word. I want to know more. He is soft spoken but there’s a hard edge to him that suggests a back story that is bound to be rivetting.

So … from me, a vote for a Mulligan. Lots busted but salvageable.

Ok, folks. We’ve just finished episode 5 of a possible 8. Things are getting down to the crunch. See the end of this review if you are outraged and want to lobby to keep the show on the air. With that out of the way, time for love notes and spitballs.

LOVE NOTES – The Plots

The plot was terrific. By terrific I mean detailed and tightly woven. As ever – there’s the three stories going on – the Police Show, The Sitcom and The Soap Opera. This episode went gratefully easy on the laughs. The Sitcom label doesn’t really apply here and I’m tempted to rename it Historical Drama.

The Police Show plot was nicely done with lots of inter-connectivity of people, events and motives. That – to me – gives a sensation of tightness. There are no random walk-ons. Every speaking part is relevant. This is best illustrated with the British photographer. We first meet him and don’t see his connection but later he re-appears.

The Sitcom became the Historical Drama and that was a terrific improvement. Not only did they pick an accessible and cool time frame (1964) but also used this show to reveal one of the significant events in John’s recent life – that is his coming out to Omar (his son) as an immortal. The how and why this came about was really delicious and could have almost stood on its own.

LOVE NOTES – The Theme of “Confession”

Last week it was reincarnation, this week it was confession. The writer did wonders with the notion of confession. All three plots had confessions and some story lines, most notably the Police plot, had several. Naturally, a homicide plot has at least one confession – the Who Did It. Oddly, this was the most ambiguous of all the confessions and I liked that contrast.

Confessions were also a central mechanism for the Alcoholics Anonymous “setting” for the episode. For those unfamiliar with AA, Step 4 relates to the alcoholic doing a moral inventory of themselves and then “confessing” these to another for a kind of spiritual cleansing. Three of the guest characters plus John Amsterdam himself are recovering addicts and Step 4 is used to both reveal character and drive plot. It’s really sweet when items can serve more than one purpose … again … we get that sense of tightness.

LOVE NOTES – Oh what a tangled plot we edit …

One of the top three things I love about this show is how they edit the story lines with fast cuts to another story line where the connection is the theme. Mirroring is used extensively – similar but different stories unfold back to back. Each one seems to highlight details of the other. The varied length of the edits is wonderful, too. A short snappy clip followed by a mirrored scene that – at length – plays out a different part of the story. Each complements the other. It’s really quite wonderful.

LOVE NOTES – 1964 …

They passed on the flower children and focused on the Rat Pack. Thin ties, good suits, hair slicked back, and a jazz band. Cigarette in one hand and a neat drink in the other. The filming captured a coolness of the time that we have long since lost. Back then, when you were cool, you really were cool, sleek … one hep cat.

In the ’64 flashbacks, everyone has a smoke going. Seeing cigarettes on every hand, you realize how far we’ve come as a society. It’s shocking to see that habit in full swing. I can’t help but stop and stare … it’s illicit and wicked and very, very cool. I remember when Miami Vice came out I thought the same thing. Hey! These guys are smoking! Wow!

LOVE NOTES – Best Line of the Show to date

It takes a great deal to make me laugh out loud. It’s just the way I am. This episode had a line that actually made throw back my head and roar.

The set up … a homeless guy (drunk) walks into the Police Dept is assigned to Detective Santori who is an uber-stereotype cop and greatly annoyed at the pairing. They begin an exchange that becomes heated and escalates to this bit.

Santori: “You’re drunk!”

Homeless Guy: “And you smell of mangos!”

I nearly fell off the couch. That line … “and you smell of mangos” goes beyond its Pythonesque roots to a whole new level. The accusation is sophisticated and unexpected. You don’t normally consider homeless people to have an experience that makes mango scent part of their vocabulary. And moreover, that accusation made Santori – the Italian macho cop – sound overwhelmingly effeminate. Dowright metrosexual. No wonder he tased him.

SPITBALLS

Before I get going on the spitballs, an observation. This is episode five and already we’ve had four different writers / writing teams. For a show this new, I can’ t help but think that this has got to harm the overall vision and story arc. Plots – I think – stand on their own and don’t really require continuity. A 100 writers, a 100 plots. Should be ok with some basic Show Bible references.

But characters?

This show is creating characters by committee. Where’s the vision? Where’s the continuity? Where’s the “watch 10 episodes to get a flavour for what we’ve established” before going off half-cocked?

Because – frankly – there’s a lot of half-cocks going off.
SPITBALLS – Dillane is a Pain Part I … Google me softly

After some rousing boinking, Dillane pulls away dramatically from John. Why? Because she’s googled John and can’t see anything older than 5 years. This is put forth as a conclusive assumption that he is hiding something. Of course he is! The Internet doesn’t lie! Everyone’s entire life is on the Internet. My buddy’s sister’s best friend’s boyfriend said so. And HE works at Best Buy so he should know …

As much as we all want to think otherwise, you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet. The corollary is also true. Just because it ISN’T on the Internet doesn’t mean people are hiding something. And the notion of “public” databases? Um … yeah … We have gobs of legislation that protects an individual’s right to privacy in the event the person they are sleeping with is a nutter.

This came across as just plain silly. As with the nun in the last episode, dying for the convenience of a different plot point, this google bit comes over as an unbelievable excuse to get to the actual fight and breakup.

If the writer wants to have a fight, have a fight! Don’t make up something daffy to justify it. Let the characters drive the action.

SPITBALLS – Dillane is a Pain Redux …

God help me.

Someone kill her.

Run her over with a bus.

Something. Just. Get. Rid. Of. Her.

Now that she has been actively boinking this guy for a couple episodes, she suddenly has some moral, ethical, personal safety issue with a sex partner that keeps perceived secrets? Um. From where I stand a Very Smart Doctor Who Can Google – as the character herself relates – should be street-wise enough not to jump the bones of the first guy who pulls up to emerge in a horse-drawn carriage.

Sheesh.

SPITBALLS – Taze me baby one more time

Not only does Detective Santori smell of mangos, he also has a fondness for tasing anyone who twitches. What the heck?

He was in a roomful of veteran police officers with an unarmed but boisterous drunk. Surely … SURELY … he had some other less ridiculous method of getting the drunk under control than escalating the situation straight to tasing.

The cops I know would be in serious trouble if they pulled a stunt like that. They would also be totally and completely and absolutely embarrassed that they didn’t have some other method of subduing a chirpy inebriated homeless guy.

This scene didn’t even have some higher point that moved the plot along. It was just stupid.

SPITBALLS – Girls just wanna have bonding …

In other wacky character news, we have a new character in Detective Sergeant Callie Burnett. Another nut fallen from the coconut tree. Her central part in this episode seemed to be to establish that she and Eve are the only women and women need to stick together … to “bond” (her words, I swear to God, not mine!).

For a few moments, I thought John was having another sixties flashback. Then I realized Sarge was serious. She actually tells Eve outright that they are the only two women in the department. Then she complements Eve on her shoes. I was embarrassed for the actresses, for the writer, for everyone associated with that scene …

A great big love note goes out to the actress who plays Eve. She dealt with the insipid exchanges and did her very best to keep her reaction grounded in the year 2008. Bless her heart.

SPITBALLS – Come out come out whenever you are …

This episode had a huge reveal. This was John’s coming out as an immortal to both his son and Dillane the Pain.

Three spitballs in rapid succession … big juicy ones that blow out of the straw like a bullet and splat on the teachers face …
1) John had to write about 325 years of history and filled a banker’s box full of copy books. It took him less than a single day to read it all to Omar. Try reading Gone With The Wind out loud. See how long it takes you …
2) There is NO time spent on Omar’s reaction. What? All that build up and all we get is a sagging head? What a complete and wasted build up … I felt cheated.
3) Dillane the Pain didn’t believe him when he told her the god’s honest truth about his past. My issue for once is not with Dillane but with John … what on earth has he learned in the last 350 years that would make him tell her about immortality that way and expect her to believe him?

CONCLUSION

Agree? Disagree? Vent thy spleen in comments.

AFTERWORD

See this TV Guide Update on the show as at Oct 16 2007. They only made 8 episodes before putting the show on hold. There are 3 shows left to air. If you are interested in saving the show, check out this site for details.

This episode was the police show; the sitcom and the soap opera all rolled into one. That’s not an indictment but not a complement, either. These three genre story lines contained all that was just right and just plain wrong.

Just Right – The Police Show

The police show plot was interesting from a writer’s point of view. A mystery writer once classified “method testing” as a motive for murder; that is – you’re not sure X method will kill someone so you try it out first. This writer also defined the unintended victim – someone who wanders into the action and is accidentally killed. This NA episode leaves us with another “reason” for murder … a dramatic device to engineer a set of circumstances. In this episode, the nun died purely to serve the story line. Her death set up the social and moral pressures of the second victim. This first unsolved murder provided Amartya enough compelling reason to overcome her and her family’s rigid insistence to keep quiet about her attack. Without the first murder, Amartya’s circumstances would have prevailed and she would not have cooperated with police to find her attacker. Watching the episode, I gave a silent nod to the writers as I finally figured out WHY they fast forwarded over the nun’s death.

The crime is resolved – not by evidence-based procedures – but by using human nature to get at the truth. John’s visit to Amartya’s sister is threatening in an understated way. When she is unwilling to tell the truth to John, he simply reminds her of her sister’s love and all she had done to support her family. That sets in motion a chain of events that eventually see Amartya’s father questionned. There – John does not accuse him of any crime at all but presents the one fundamental outcome that Samar cannot bear. It was not enough that the father committed the crime. It was very important that OTHERS know that he committed the crime since honor was the primary motivation.

The three story lines were well-braided - each of the three stories informed another at some point. Amartya speaks about the notion of reincarnation which is a complete reflection of John’s experiences as an immortal. He is - in some ways - experiencing “reincarnation” since he lives long enough to face same dilemmas as in the past and yet be able to make a different choice. The history storyline is an echo of the current crime and John takes this opportunity to atone for his poor choices in the past.

Just Not Right – The Sitcom and the Soap Opera

There is tremendous scope for comedy when the central character is over three hundred years old. He can say lines that the audience hears as truth and watch the other characters assume he is just being funny. Judiciously used, this is a lovely comedic thread that can balance the seriousness of homicide.

Such an old character is bound to have an encyclopaedic wealth of knowledge. As my eighty-five year old mother says having blistering through another Jeopardy history category, “It’s easy to remember if you lived through it”. And so our hero, John has lived through much. He can comment on the world and it is amusing. That he has something to say on every topic can get tedious quickly. It’s like hanging around that one Party Geek who is a little strange, a little off centre and the only foray he makes into conversation is to expound irrelevant, uninteresting minutiae because that’s all he knows. It is irritating at a party and last night, I found myself wishing John would just stop being a know-it-all. Yes – he’s old. Seen and done everything. We get it. Move on. Episode Four is too early to be cliché.

As for the soap opera, I did not expect to develop such strong opinions so early. Sara Dillane is a pain. It’s not her fault. She was written that way. One minute she is rigorously refusing John’s invitation to dinner because she never mixes her personal and professional life. The next minute, she and John are having sex. I was hoping for at least a couple more episodes before dwindling into stupidity. There was absolutely no rational given for her sudden change of world view and there reasonably could have been at least one: that – being separated from her husband – she was lonely and just wanted sex. This is the twenty first century. Some people sleep around for no particular reason. Being separated is almost like being single, isn’t it? This character development did not ring true, had almost no explanation and ruined all the suspense.

This “screw’em early” development also flies in the face of an established form with romantic story arcs – and that is – keeping the lovers apart is infinitely more interesting than watching them boink in Episode Four.

Sara’s primary interest as a character revolves around the question is she The One. For my part, I certainly hope not and I am rooting for an early, catastrophic end to her. John has correlated his almost-fatal heart attack with her as The Sign that she is his true love. There are plenty of other explanations (and choices for The One since it happened in a busy subway) and we can only hope he leapt to this conclusion because of his desperation at finding his true love. With any luck, the writers have someone much better in store for John!

AFTERWORD

See this TV Guide Update on the show. They only made 8 episodes before putting the show on hold. So all this investment? It may be for naught. This update is as at Oct 16 2007. My local TV guide didn’t mention a THING about this on March 8 2008 when “launching” the new show. If you are interested in saving the show, check out this site for details.

Drive a stake through my heart. Blood Ties has been cancelled.

For those of you who have missed the 21 episodes, Blood Ties is the TV show based on Tanya Huff’s successful series of books. Huff’s books have been printed in seven languages and available the world over. All seven books have had multiple runs and the first – Blood Price – is now in its 17^th printing. Clearly – her characters have a strong international following.

The show’s story lines are an updated and mature take the much-loved Buffy The Vampire Slayer series. In both cases, we get equal measures of terrific monsters, tight dialogue and character conflict arcs. There’s story mythology, great fight scenes, obligatory vampings and black magic on vellum pages bound in fat leather tomes. In the case of Blood Ties, the story is all for grown ups.

Hess’ central three characters are Vicki, Mike and the Vampire Henry Fitzroy – the illegitimate son of Henry VIII – are well-developed, interesting, flawed and wildly entangled with each other.

Vicki Nelson’s relationships with the two are complex. Mike is her ex partner and ex lover but neither Mike nor Vicki seem completely content with the separation. He has what she hasn’t got – a career as a homicide cop. (hers was ended by the onset of a progressive illness – Retinitis Pigmentosa). She has what he hasn’t got – great intellect and profound instincts for crime-solving. They are at once attracted and repelled by each other – the blissful torment of familiarity.

Her relationship with Henry is briefer but equally intense. Vicki saved Henry’s life by literally letting him drink her blood – which has created a physical bond between them. She is immune to Henry’s suggestive hypnosis – what the show calls “vamping”. His attraction to her is immediate. That Henry also happens to be a sophisticated vampire who thrives in the one place Vicki can’t – the dark. This is one of the many “opposites” – a recurring theme of the show – she lives in daylight and he in the dark.

Naturally, Mike and Henry have met and predictably, they complete the triangle. They develop a territorial relationship defined in large part by Vicki, but also as two characters each used to their own version of power over others.

But now … all that? All that is gone. 21 episodes and it’s over. One season, a wow cliffhanger and it’s straight onto the “save the show” campaign. In some corners, there is talk about having aired a “second” season but that is just marketing around how the 21 episodes were aired. The is one full season. That’s it.

But I want more!

So why save the show? Here are my top eight reasons:

Reason #1: There’s lots left in the story engine.

The end of Episode 21 had the Vampire leaving town and Mike devastated at being thrown out of the police force. Vicki is forced to chose between the two men in her life and is left with neither. She also has that progressive blindness that will eventually make her dependent. How will her independent nature reconcile with her illness? Then there’s those nasty black magic tattoos Vicki now bears on her wrists and a blood contract she made with mystical baddies. Henry is her best chance at surviving whatever revenge they have in store for her.

Any one of those story arcs could take seasons to resolve!

Reason #2: Vicki Nelson – Private Investigator

Vicki Nelson – both in the books and TV Series – presents as a smart, self-sufficient woman. And that – dear readers – is wonderful. How often do we see the female lead function as the reason for the rescue? Or as the secondary characters after the men?

Vicki is the central character of the show and it is around her that all the action is centred. While there are two other male characters – they are part of her world and not the other way around. That’s an important distinction and makes all the difference.

Competent female characters are rare. Keeping Vicki as part of the viewing landscape broadens the genre and attracts that large segment that wants to “see themselves” portrayed in a central fashion.

Reason #3: Henry Fitzroy – The Vampire

Bram Stoker started it.

A vampire is a wanting whisper of desire.

He is a brush of open lips and hard incisors teasing a bare carotid artery.

A vampire is that erotic mix of irresistible power, bestial impulses, and personally imposed self-denial. Vampires represent a basic human torment we all share – that of competing desires. At once we both want and deny ourselves – choices we have to submit or resist our desire for any of human vices. A vampire is also that illicit love that is bound to go wrong but we are compelled to go fall headlong nonetheless.

Henry Fitzroy is impossibly handsome; a favoured son of royalty. He has chivalrous manners, and is cultured, artistic, and aloof. It is just too soon to say good-bye to this fascinating vampire.

Reason #4: Mike Celluci – Homicide Cop

Mike Celluci may be – for a viewer – the most pivotal character. He is the character the most rooted in our reality. It is with Mike, we get a chance to reconcile the fantasmagoric and mythical world of the show with our own world. Without Mike, we cannot fully appreciate the wonder of Vampires, of magic, of monsters and Things not of this World.

Mike struggles to navigate through this newly emerging world and in many ways – his struggles make us comfortable because we too share scepticism and need the help of both Vicki and the Vampire. Mike is Us.

Mike also works as the perfect foil for both Vicki and Henry. He is the third part of a terrifically complex triangle.

Reason #5: The Production Values Part I

The show is filmed in Canada and is accompanied by the very high standards we’ve come to expect from film crews north of the 49^th. This includes the lighting, costumes, make up, directing, and acting. There is a richness and warmth that has been captured on film that makes this a visually attractive show to watch. In particular – there is a “golden” look to parts of the show – as if scenes have been filmed with a hint of sunlight. The sun is a vampire’s enemy but visually adds tremendous richness. That pervasive warm glow is a nice juxtaposition.

For those who are familiar with Canadian television, it’s always a treat to see favourite local actors appear. One of my favourites was seeing Fred Ewanuick (of Corner Gas fame) have a lead role in the episode “Wrapped”.

Reason #6: The Production Values Part II – The Writing

I’m showing my bias here and I firmly believe that writing is one of two fundamental success factors of a show (the other is electric acting). Blood Ties has its pacing down and is just the right mix of camp, humour and seriousness. If anyone longs for snappy lines and zippy exchanges, Blood Ties is a tonic. Yet the writers always ground us in reality just before things get out of hand.

The writers have also done a great job at mixing the “stand alone” episode with the overall story arcs – the developing / deteriorating relationships among all three characters. Every show is a perfect serving of meat and potatoes.

Reason #7: The Fan Base Continues to Grow

According to the fine folks at Kyle Schmid’s Fan Website, the show has continued to attract new fans. Most of this new viewership is reported to be from the most powerful form of fandom – word of mouth.

Think about this for a minute. If you are a Big Decision-Maker and looking for a show to put on your network, wouldn’t you want to find just such a hidden gem of a show? One where the viewers themselves are selling the merits of the show? Certainly there are few types of people more passionate than an enthusiastic SF fan.

Reason #8: The international appeal of the books and the show

At the end of the day, the driving factor for any show’s survival is viewers. Can a studio bank on the investment it makes in the show?

These books and the show are popular the world over. They have never been out of print. The 21-show season is getting aired in various corners of the globe and a solid fan base continues to grow.

What better reason to invest in a show that having a ready-made, international viewing audience that is clamouring for more?

Show your support!

There are a few places where you can sign on-line petitions. Check out this at Kyle Schmid’s Fan Site for complete details on how to help get the show back. It lists both internet-based petitions as well as a convenient summary of addresses for postcards.

New Amsterdam is a new Sci Fi show with an immortal as its central character – a homicide detective who is fascinated by death.

In this version, immortality was granted for saving a native girl’s life. As with everything, it’s both a blessing and a curse. Coming back to life is fine at the time but 366 years later … well … a lot has happened.

New Amsterdam writers have chosen to stick very close to our current reality and to blend in with prevailing prime time choices. Apart for the “live forever” bit, this could be any one of a number of popular detective dramas. The focus is heavily on the police procedure. Everything is firmly planted in reality. No special effects. No magic or super skills. No sword fights, spiffy costumes or romantic frisson. No special vernacular or internal-to-the-show logic beyond how the curse is broken.

There is nothing in New Amsterdam that would distinguish it from any number of currently airing police procedurals. For some, this will be a huge plus; for others, a great disappointment.

Having said that, there are a couple of story lines emerging that make it more than just a cop show. Two important story arcs are apparent. The first one is working out who his true love will turn out to be and how they get together (or not, as the writers see fit). Frisson may follow but it will need to be developed and at some point, some of the finer points of reality may be abandoned. The curse – as part of the overall show concept – will be broken when John finds his true love. Only then will he age naturally and the curse will be broken. One assumes that true love is worth giving up immortality for and the treatment of this important question can make or break the show. Do you get tired of being old? Is true love really that great? What about a terrific true like and the chance to go on? Watching the characters reveal the answers is – with any good show – one of the central fascinations.

Second is discovering who WAS John Amsterdam. Part of the fun of having a character over the age of 350 is the flashbacks, the costumes, and the amusing Forrest Gump bits where we insert character into history and relive moments in time – the famous and not so famous. Seeing the present through the past provides writers lots of scope for telling good stories. In this episode, the Civil War is highlighted and discover John’s past at the battle of Antietam.

The characters all play it straight. Even John Amsterdam does nothing in particular to hide his real age. He tosses around the allusions to history and speaks the truth when asked questions. Part of the enjoyment is watching the characters react to his truth as comedic hyperbole. John Amsterdam does nothing in particular to hide the fact that he is old. He is just surrounded by real people who know that immortality is impossible – and that is a perfect cover. Why hide it? No one would believe him anyway – except for Omar who shares John’s secret.

This episode is centred around memory and the mind. It calls into question what is real memory and what is invented memory. Paraphrased from the episode, there are memories that never happened and those you can’t forget. There are even physical memories and phantoms. This theme wraps itself neatly around the additional (and one imagines) obligatory historical flashbacks – more memories that we assume are true.

The relationship with John’s possible true love is also developed. Without disclosing too much, she is a physician who pronounced John dead – only to find him alive and well. The final scene is a great hook to keep watching.

For anyone looking for the zip of the X-Files – the uber-cool characters, great villains, monsters and chilling paranoia – or the zing of Buffy – the great lines, a whole “buffyspeak” language, meticulously created mythology, and more great villains – this show might disappoint. New Amsterdam is ordinary by comparison. Here the focus is on maintaining our reality and not the beauty of creating stylized science fiction that is often a central attraction.

New Amsterdam plays out the simple, unvarnished question … “if a man were immortal and lived in 2008, what would happen?” Stripped down, it is still enough and stays true to its concept. We still want to know who he is, who he was and who will be his true love.

Stay tuned.