02
03
A day in the life...: Power-Series One. An American Gangster series on Netflix. A One-Off Review on episodes One and Two. Some notes and dialogue on episodes One and Two with review at the end. Minor spoilers only. On in the UK on Netflix.
04
05
15
16
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
31
32
33
34
Power.
2015. Nearly Five stars. 2 Seasons/ Series.
Netflix Description:
"In this absorbing crime drama, a successful and well liked nightclub owner moonlight as a drug dealer to New York City's A-list users". 2015. Nearly Five stars. 2 Seasons/ Series. * Power Series One. Episode One.
Some notes and dialogue on first watching.
R'n'B/ Rhythm and Blues music plays and keeps playing.
Now rap, keeps playing.
I like this one.
Does he, the hero really say :"The boss is here!" as he comes into the club. He does.
So he is the boss of the club. And it's looking like the drama is about to get horribly violent.
So he, the hero is proper stony faced. He really does not crack his face much.
So it's all a bit daft to be honest.
But guess what Marco is in it (from the series Bloodline) as an evil cartel Kingpin.
The FBI:
"He's a highly organised individual.."
So its getting a bit more interesting. Even though the acting is patchy. Tommy, Ghost's right hand man and business partner is lively compared to the hero and pretty much everybody else.
***
Episode Two.
Some notes and dialogue on first watching.
Did I mention there is something of a nineties/ 90's movie about this series.
So I think the hero will grow on me. I am liking his story arc. His story is the classic one of the criminal who wants to get out of the life. Go straight. But everybody around him wants to keep him in that life.
Uh oh. I think they might be the plant.
I keep expecting something to happen to Tommy.
Or some more shit..
Oh no, not the car scene again..
Its' a bit like a 90's film. Earlier it was reminding me of Jack City.
***
Review.
Well well. Deep subject. A well that is. Deep being the absolute opposite description of this drama. Which is unfortunately superficial and horribly cliche ridden. Plus somewhat lamentably dated in flavour somehow.
However I did watch several episodes. I didn't ditch. I wanted to like this drama-so I gave it a chance. Quite a long chance really. In terms of time and patience. And episodes.
There was enough of a story there (in the drama) to keep me interested. There was just enough good acting to keep the drama afloat. Just about.
I just found the intermittent gory violence and goings on hard to countenance. Whilst I was taking the drama not entirely seriously. It seems I can't do both.
What I mean is that I'm happy to watch something, a drama, that I see as a little bit daft but enjoyable. But if it starts to get too damn serious (or it becomes apparent that it is certainly meant to be taken seriously) then I'm out.
I guess I must like my gore a bit polished is all. The drama has to be really good to counteneance the gore.
So in spite of having grown kind of fond of wooden-face himself. Our hero. Who unfortunately we are stuck gazing at most of the time, including when he changes shirts in silence: Beats me. We gaze at his revolving watches on their stand. In his dressing room- wow. That sort of thing.
Yes in spite of probably forever wondering (well for a while) whether I was right in my prediction that things will get more interesting and the hero may well become more crumpled and less expressionless as his life officially goes to hell-just guessing- I think I will ditch.
Since I also predict some truly terrible forthcoming gore.
This violent sort of Goodfellas side of the drama is more Goodfellas-lite. Or bargain basement Goodfellas. Yet the drama thinks that it's Goodfellas. When it's not. So far it's a strange amalgam of R n' B/ Rhythm and Blues and rap tracks, accompanying the James Bondish style hero-wherever he goes.
Plus an ongoing sort of soap-opera containing Ghost's personal life. This side of the story is semi-operatic yet dull. It's almost like it's all in Spanish-and everyone is dubbed. The believability level in this side of the story is that low. Lower than the ground.
Yeah, lower than the ground. Like down in the basement. Where in between cruising/ cruisin' and schmoozing the guests: our mostly glum faced hero Ghost who is chivalrous with women (hence my James Bondish description) pops down for a visit. Through a door into deeper, darker things..
Where things are about to get dirty. Low down and dirty.
Can Ghost escape his past, his criminal life and a wife who prefers then both as Bonnie and Clyde? What will happen with the Saintly Velasquez, secretly investigating a cartel. I think we can guess where this side of the story is going down..
Me I prefer to think of one OK maybe more than one, particular scene as a minor hallucination. In that I was wishing that this was so for that character.
Because if it wasn't then that scene was really real. Cringeworthy grew a new name and became a whole new cringeworthy city. In which I was momentarily (metaphorically trapped).
Power is a bit like Jack City. But Jack City was better.
***
Postcript.
For me, watching Ghost, handsome as he is, with a touch of Arnie-the Terminator style, with R n' B/ Rhythm and Blue music playing does not necessarily make everything cool. In that scene.
I mean the hero, the vibe, everything. No more than playing Jazz makes everything cool in dramas. In my opinion. Now Motown soul-maybe. Now you're talking.
But equally could the hero not like classical music? Or have it in the soundtrack. Maybe the hero could collect stamps. Be a real nerd about something. OK he could eponymously jog, in the morning. That will do.
Point is-does everything have to be so eponymous. Maybe he went to private school. (or got a Scholarship) I dunno. Plays the drums in a band. With his old college buddies. Wait that was actually a real series.