George Gently

George Gently (the charismatic Martin Shaw with his wonderfully ironic "Really?") is a dapper, mature man. The perfect embodiment of a trustworthy detective. Apart from the fact that “still waters run deep". His dogged partner (and unadmitted main character of the series), John Bacchus (the fantastic Lee Ingleby; it seems like he was born for the role of a talented and able, ambitious cop with a complex) could have been his grandson. A hotblooded grandson who hits first and asks questions later (figuratively and literally), which costs his dear not just in professional life. Basically he is the type of person about whom at first glance you would say that he became a policeman to cure his complexes, but the very opposite happened. The variability of the separate cases is huge no repetition; everything is a loose adaptation of a series of books by Alan Hunter (46 novels). Oh and I forgot about the most important thing; it takes place in the nineteen-sixties in the beautiful county of Northumberland and in clouds of cigarette smoke. But these aren’t chic and classy nostalgic sixties, but the raw, crude and dirty sixties. And this is one of its main advantages; forensic science was still in its infancy, so mainly they work on the old premise of “investigation-question asking-fisticuffs-interrogations-admissions". And it is the interrogations that are the piece de la resistance here; you don’t often hear such great dialogs. And if you add the fact that, in addition to the cases, considerable time is spent looking at the “sociological" implications of each case on those involved and private life another of the focuses. A series that is not just another crime story from the BBC’s wave of phenomenal crime series, but one of the best. 1x00 George Gently 3/5 Pilot. 1x01 The Burning Man 5/5 A dead body, burned to a crisp as the entrance to a world of Patriot Games; it works both as a detective series and a spy thriller. 1x02 Bomber's Moon 4/5 Almost twenty years after the end of the war, but, as the murder of a German citizen in a seaside town shows, cruel resentment is still deeply engrained in people. No New Testament type “Forgive and you will be forgiven", but good old Old Testament “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". 2x01 Gently with the Innocents 5/5 Season two brings a whole load of changes. The theme music, adding the word Inspector to the title, markedly more extravagant production and much, MUCH better, more refined and more ambitious writing; it turns from a crime story in a probe into delicate topics. The same topics could be presented like a classic Gothic horror about an old house in an area where it seems everybody has something to hide. 2x02 Gently in the Night 4/5 Harry Potter - Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley and a murder that begins to uncover hypocrisy in all forms. 2x03 Gently in the Blood 5/5 The punchline was good, but relatively transparent. Luckily it doesn’t matter, it does nothing to reduce its emotional impact. This time, Gently and Bacchus take a closer look at everyday racism and xenophobia. 2x04 Gently Through the Mill 4/5 Bribery, blackmail, suicides, murders, lies behind each smarmy smile... Yes, you guessed right - welcome to the world of politics. And “Mrs. Colombo" comes onto the scene. 3x01 Gently Evil ?/5 3x02 Peace and Love 4/5 Student protests, the shadow of the Cold War, rioting hippies/communists at universities and a murder to boot. The Dalziel versus Gently scenes were particularly good. 4x01 Gently Upside Down 5/5 The climax of the series. The most heart-felt and artiest episode. It’s not so important who and why, this is about emotions. When you see the parents arrive before it’s announced that their daughter has been found, think back to me. And the creators play wonderful games with viewer expectation; the opening ten minutes is a director’s and viewer’s gourmet treat. Like the entire episode, in fact. One of the very best things that the BBC has brought to us in recent years. 4x02 Goodbye China 4/5 This time it’s personal. Doubly so, and unfortunately you can here the paper shuffling. At the end you want to punch Gently in the mouth with his “duty over greater good". 5x01 Gently Northern Soul 4/5 Small town xenophobia escalated by the mysterious murder of a black girl. It’s excellent, but the whole thing seems like a variation on the episode called Gently in the Blood. 5x02 Gently with Class 5/5 Gently meets Downton Abbey. 5x03 The Lost Child 4/5 The first hour temps you to follow the story/case with its quality and themes, but then the story doesn’t have a real ending. In any case, what the central duo does on all fronts to the Groves you don’t often see in detective shows and again we see that Gently is in fact a terribly uptight wimp. 5x04 Gently in the Cathedral 3/5 A strange episode. In the past, the creators play here and there with genres, but were always remembered that they weren’t filming a solid genre, but “something extra". Not this time. This variation follows an innocent man on the run from everybody/everything, but the choice of man was so senseless that the whole thing falls flat. Maybe if they had taken a directly opposite approach, it could have worked and it would have more or less made sense. It is not without suspense and even the breakup of the always strained Gently-Bacchus relationship is presented will, but this time that’s about the only good thing about it. (2012.01.21) (kevesebbet) (több)