Law & Order: Organised Crime 2x01+The Teacher (2022) 1x01+ 4 more
The Man With No Identity
The baddie walks. Stabler is undercover looking like rough trade. Wouldn't bad guys know Stabler? I've no idea what is happening here.
Best Lines:
“Rolling with no Albanians!”
“Street war.”
~
The Teacher (2022) 1x01
This Channel 5 drama stars Sheridan Smith. Is that Dean Gaffney? Jenna Garvey is a teacher with a bad habit of getting blackout drunk and having one night stands. Someone emails the school about Jenna's goings on. She is told to apply for head of English. Her father is a big cheese. But he is awful to her. Jenna gets drunk at a low rent club with students. As a result she is accused, barred from her job and becomes a pariah. Jenna's arrested. Her father could care less. She is accused of having sex with a student in the toilets.This was okay. I'm sure she's had some searing loss that explains all this.
Best Lines:
“Dense carbon lunchtime.”
“Fell asleep watching one of the Marvels.”
“Bad old days.”
“Get away from him you dirty old bitch!”
~
Undercurrent: The Disappearance Of Kim Wall (2022) 1x01
Part One: The Crime
This 2 part documentary series deals with the 2017 submarine murder case. A Danish inventor killed a journalist. Kim Wall had gone to Colombia j-school. Why did Peter Madsen do this? In retrospect, people admit they saw red flags for dire times that may be coming. But how did it go so wrong so fast? People thought he was incapable of doing any wrong.
Wall was Swedish. There is footage of rough seas and talking heads. People were sure early on that something nefarious had happened. Wall's body was found in pieces. People dwell on the tragic obviously premediated murder.
Best Lines:
“Only one of them returned.”
“Deeply shocking and mysterious.”
“Welfare countries.”
“Privately made submarine.”
“Richer and better and easier.”
“Love of the words.”
“Motivated by the weirdness.”
“Viable independent business.”
“A minor celebrity in Denmark.”
“Submerged operation.”
“Wacky genius.”
“Very much alone.”
“Make people dream.”
“Great years.”
“Doesn't happen by accident.”
“Only have a bad end.”
“So horrible and awful.”
“As he expressed it.”
“He could have saved it.”
“Something wrong here.”
“Big words.”
“Some shady places.”
“Shield relatives from emerging details.”
“Thought I knew pretty good.”
“Cruel and vicious person.”
“Not a very pleasant experience.”
“Cannot hold true.”
“Tragic and awful case.”
“Charge the explanation to his benefit.”
“Constructed explanation.”
~
Living Without Water (2016)
This is a short documentary about Lima, Peru. Some houses in Peru have their own water tanks that can last a family for 2 weeks. There are untenable water issues in Peru. Untreated water makes people ill. There is talk of strategic interests and TPTB being worse than useless. There is social dialogue and conundrums and unnecessary and unaffordable promises. The disaffected talk about essential objectives.
People are hindered. Is this a forewarning? Water is scarce. There is talk of inadequacy and this is a chaotic, daunting and scary issue. There is talk of sanctions and tense and anxious people. This was sad. An asparagas farm is seen in this evocative tale. Things get deadenining. There are weary sighs and contentious claims.
There are jolting assertions and malaise and absurdly nasty TPTB. They disappoint so much. The wholly virtuous suffer due to institutional torpor. There are chilling levels of disinterest. This is the grim reality. This is an okay tale of poverty and the never ending unstable aftermath.
Best Lines:
“1 bucket will wash all the childrens hands.”
“The water crisis.”
“Herders.”
“That risk is already a reality.”
“Nowhere near enough for a city of 9 million.”
“Private water trucks.”
“Fog nets.”
“8 dry months of the year.”
“Claims to be drinkable.”
“Illegally dug secret wells.”
“Continue as normally as possible.”
“There's even wifi.”
“Has running water for half an hour a week.”
“Intimidate their neighbours into not offering help.”
“Harvest day.”
“Sucking the land dry.”
“Water intensive farming.”
Centuries old way of life.”
“Go down the hill with their buckets and beg for water.”
~
Dress Gray (1986) 1x02
Tim Van Patten guest stars in this final part. A man rants about Vietnam and how man is a vicious and predatory creature. Then he shows cadets footage of napalm attacks in nam. Ry does not look happy to see footage of the bomb wrecked villages in Nam. We see a woman in uniform. There is mumbling. This was pretentious. The violent incident has been covered up. Men are sullen and there are cold stares and morbid fascination.
Ry Slaight (Alec Baldwin) pokes and prys. A man sleeps with his eyes open. David Hand's father wants an investigatin. Ry will end up under a bus. A village voice reporter who wants peace in nam shows up briefly. Elizabeth Hand has her own botique. Ry learns David was a real and persistent threat and a predator who saw USG as a hunting ground. This does not present things dramatically.
Nobody is shiningly honest. David was a real and persistent threat. He was unpleasant. Ry faces deliberate sabotage. Why is Ry so concerned about David? There are is no caution. There is surveillance. Ry is charged by the honour court. There is discriminatory talk. This part is a failure. It is not inventive and there is no tension. This was not in earnest. Is Ry ever in class? Ry faces retribution. David was human malignance. There is more mumbling and division and social inequality. There is servility. Race is ignored. Ry faces accusations of lying. People are denounced as vectors of misinformation. Ry sees David's creepy toy solider collection. A Black servant is ignored.
There is vile slander and blame games. There is disheartening pettiness. This was very stupid. This was an appalling, destructive, catastrophe. There are monstrous acts and flashbacks and grief and destruction.
There are blame games, self-righteous bile, vilification and persecuton. The narrative is grimly maintained. People are cold hearted lairs. There are no proprietors of morality just shills. There is a criminal cover up and sinister stupid people who are dodgy types. There is causal glee at tossing Ry under a bus. There is unhelpful complicity. There is an audacious speech and Ry faces a negative experience. This was uneventful and terrible.
Ry gets suspicious and makes a critique. He wants absolute clarity. There is a rapid descent. There are nasty comments and Ry is irritated by dead eyed characters with no discernible characteristics. There is no strength or cleverness. There is no empathy or purpose. Ry is in harm's way. Old white men are terrified of and hate the modern world with its feminism and civil rights. Their time will pass.
David Hand's dad acts weird. Ry rants about the honour code, the honour court, nam and illegal actions. This has deteriorated significantly from part 1. There is agitation and grave concern and misfortune. This earns no admiration. Things are exacerbated. The sexual violence is ignored. The fabricated charges thrown out. There are murmurings and Baldwin does speeches. This was entirely irrelevant and there are trivial explanations. Ry graduates. His fate unrevealed, a sequel novel revealed he became a big cheese in the military.
There was so much fuss about collar insignia. There are despicable people. Where is the doctor? There is shame and outings. There are negative feelings and part 2 is an hinderance to joy. There is a resignation. There are low levels of trust and Ry did not to be shipped to Nam as an infantry private. Part 1 was so much better.
Best Lines:
“She always did like you.”
“Most women do.”
“Free this weekend for adventure?”
“Only war we've got.”
“Commitment to duty! Honour! Valor!”
“Hang up my jock.”
“What are they looking for?”
“Trouble.”
“Unnatural alliance.”
“Depraved Manhatten.”
“A troublemaker on our hands.”
“Pathological rage.”
“Commie weirdo.”
“What he wanted he got.”
“Dangerous kick.”
“Real hero type.”
“Big macho trip.”
“They are not happy.”
“Recruiting at high schools.”
“A radical leftwing newspaper.”
“War he'll get.”
“Us poor guys.”
“In the south, ladies always go upstairs for handkerchiefs.”
“Justice, which is in heaven.”
“You are depraved.”
“His speciality is tactics.”
“How he saw us.”
“Toys he could play with.”
“You witless rackhound!”
“Feeling you up in public.”
“A world as foul as this!”
“You are not mediocre.”
“Bleed real blood.”
“Resign, honourably.”
“Awful old meanies.”
“Damn liar.”
“My mother's trust fund.”
“Highly uncoperative.”
“I was nothing, he was everything.”
“You are not my father, you never were!”
“Overburdned you.”
“National emergency.”
“You lack personal honour.”
“Lied.”
“Who to? And what about?”
~
An American Murder Mystery: The Staircase (2018) 1x01&1x02
I Whispered Her Name
Another retelling of the death of Michael Peterson's wife Kathleen who 'fell down the stairs' in 2001. This is a 3 part documentary. This case has been featured on 'Dr Phil', Netflix and in a Colin Firth film. In Durham, North Carolina the Petersons were married 7 years and were a blended family that had 5 adult children.
There are talking heads and we see pictures of the death scene. There was so much blood. The fancy house had 2 staircases. There are claims Kathleen was on booze and valium. One of Kathleen's sisters tried to clean the blood but couldn't. One wonders cui bono? Lawyers are hired. The blood was dried by the time police came. Blood flew 9 1/2 feet to the ceiling. Kathleen had brutal head wounds. Was she beaten and murdered?
Peterson was a pipe smoking prat. Did he kill her with a blowpoke? There is no intense engagement. The police found his stash of porn and emails to hookers. They found deleted images. The family turned out to be broke. Kathleen was supporting 7 moochers.
Best Lines:
“A family divided.”
“A second death.”
“Media were riveted.”
“Bloody from head to toe.”
“Horrible, horrible scene.”
“Been done by owls.”
“Cheating on my sister with men?”
“Every crevice.”
“Directed to stop that.”
“Riveted by this case.”
“Next Tom Clancy.”
“Intellectuals at heart.”
“Move up in Durham society.”
“Another cheque coming his way.”
“Had any plausibility.”
“Pretty tough to look at.”
“A rift emerges.”
“Swing and hit.”
“Seemingly wealthy.”
“How are they supporting themselves?”
Lightning Strikes Twice
At the trial, a hooker who looks like Natan from 'Teen Mom 2'. The police learn Peterson's friend Liz died 17 years ago from a fall down a staircase. Peterson faces life with no parole. Liz died and he took in her 2 daughters and got all their military benefits. What does catty corner mean? Liz was found at the bottom of her stairs and Peterson instructed the German police as to what happened. Liz was found in her own blood in 1985.
Were she and Kathleen murdered with some force by Peterson? Liz left her estate and children to him. He didn't actually adopt them because that would have stopped their benefits. He divorced his 1st wife and married Kathleen. The children all chose to live with him. The staircase deaths were not a once in a generation event. The police want Liz exhumed. Liz had identical wounds to Kathleen. There are manufactured issues.
Things get febrile. The trial was held in 2003. The escort Brent talks. He's this case's Kato Kaelin. We hear tales of bloody shoes and Peterson's defence is crazy nonsense. This was okay.
Best Lines:
“Sought his advice.”
“Justice was lost.”
“Looked away in horror.”
“Done by a bird.”
“Very well thought of.”
“Gains national attention.”
“No way this is a coincidence!”
“Raised from the ground.”
“Homicidal beating.”
“Debris field.”
“Mansions, money.”
“Covered with dead bugs and cobwebs.”
“Confounding.”
“That was a sight alright.”
“Pages of testimonals.”
“The blood makes the case.”
“Keep her down.”
“An owl attack.”
“Not having an answer always makes you look bad.”