First off, a confession: I love BBC programming. In particular, I love BBC dramas. I'm not as gaga over their sitcoms as many Americans (apologies to those of you who fawn over the original The Office, Fawlty Towers, and AbFab), but I believe many of their dramas incorporate something that most American network programs intentionally ignore - namely: complexity and subtlety.
As a specific example, I recently watched the 2006 BBC series The State Within. A 7 episode mini, this series examines a potential terrorist plot within the United States, seen from the perspective of the British Ambassador to the US, admirably played by the British actor Jason Isaacs. The show takes place primarily in Washington, D.C. and involves eminent characters like the US Secretary of Defense, the Governor of Florida (briefly), and other Washington insiders. At its heart, this is a show about a conspiracy that, drawing on its obvious 24 inspiration, reaches the highest echelons of government.
Unlike 24, however, The State Within relies not on action and suspense, it instead uses a well-crafted story and a coherent sense of character motivation to draw in the viewer. Of course it has a few great explosions, including an airplane crashing on the I-95 in the first episode, a few gunfights, and even the shocking and bloody execution of a prostitute. All good conspiracy stories should, after all, incorporate the use or threat of violence. Yet The State Within uses these devices judiciously and as a furtherance of the plot. It's also possible that the BBC just doesn't have the funds to stage dozens of military-style scraps in one program, but if that's the case I think the shoestring budgets are helping, not hindering the BBC.
24 seems to have stopped caring about details like story, character motivation, and frankly the eventual fatigue an audience experiences after watching the 97th torture scene, the 48th car chase, or the utterly predictable 123rd cliffhanger where Jack Bauer is on the verge of death. I watched 24 through the end of the 7th season, but I realized towards the end that I was watching it only because I felt invested, not because I was enjoying it anymore. Episodes were piling up in my Tivo unwatched, and it took me months to get through them all - forcing myself to dedicate an hour here and there to wade through the backlog. I think I watched the finale in September. Honestly, I got bored of the repetitive sequence of episodes: resolution of previous cliffhanger; clue revealed; frantic search; major action sequence; cliffhanger. When character motivation is sprinkled into the show, it often doesn't make sense or is so contrived as to be laughable. Further, when the underlying conspiracy of the current season is developed, the writers seem to be force-feeding it to the audience with no subtlety at all. That's probably why the reins of the conspiracy shift so often in a season of 24. They have to keep the suspense alive somehow, and the story is never complex enough to keep one thread going for long in a season. Thus, you end up with one villain after another, usually creeping your way up the hierarchy of the conspiracy until you reach some bigwig in [insert name of government or corporation here].
This is where the BBC gets it right. The BBC writers seem to understand that audience confusion during a suspenseful story is not a bad thing. Keep the audience guessing, and as long as the story flows well, the payoff is much better. I feel obligated to point out that the BBC is not invincible on this point. If you start watching another of the great BBC suspense dramas, MI-5, stop after the 3rd season (or series as the Brits would say). The 4th season of this great show jumped the 24 shark, sacrificing story for action and pounding music. Don't bother.
For those of you who prefer the intellectual treading of water that is 24, I don't judge. TV is escapism, after all, and if you prefer to check out while you veg out, then 24 serves that purpose well. If you want more crank in your melon like I do, then Netflix The State Within.
PS -
Erica Durance, I love you.
I think it's safe to say Brits favor subtlety in all things- Sacha Baron Cohen and Benny Hill excluded. Even an action movie like Snatch relied on implied rather than actual violence. You know those blokes are ultra-violent gangbangers; you don't need everything played out in 360 degree bullet-time.
ReplyDeleteOn the other 'and, if The State Within were on Italian TV, there would have been boobs. I'm just sayin'.
Oh, there's boobs. Well ... boob.
ReplyDelete