NBC's The Slap — Page 3

Whizzer said: "Eric, you're right- I haven't watched Broadchurch, and perhaps that was how I was able to enjoy Gracepoint. Still, I found it engrossing and well-acted all around. "

Yeah, it's not really fair for me to say--since like I said, I gave up early on. I had just finished the UK one, and it was just so frustratingly similar... For the record, a friend thought it was very strong too (and he had seen both.)

As well, I only saw one Rake. It sounds like the US version was actually maybe campier and lighter than the Australian one.

Yeah I was VERY surprised to see Extant picked up for a second season (I admit, it was a guilty pleasure I followed through to the end...) I did almost "hate watch" (I hate that term,) Under the Dome because I read the AVClub reviews each week and it just sounded nearly delightfully awful. Funny, since Stephen King had more story involvement this year--then again, he hasn't had much luck with tv shows and movies he's been involved personally with.

Auggie, I agree about the cast. Another reason networks suddenly seem to be trying these "event series" is because they can hire actors who probably wouldn't do a longer series. (Of course if they do somehow want to continue it, that can be a problem.)

Updated On: 2/11/15 at 09:08 PM

Well, for what it's worth, AVClub gave it a B+ and said, while it apparently still follows the Australian series (and its format of each week focusing on a different character,) often scene by scene, due to the casting it may be one of the few TV remakes that at least almost has a similar impact to the original.

Just caught the opener and overall I thought it was somewhat lifeless, Sarsgaard indeed looked too sour. Hope the next episode improves.

I found it compelling from the start. Notable for its carefully understated tone and avoidance of excessive style. A bit of "American Beauty," a dash of a Noah Birnbaum film (maybe two dashes) and superlative performances from everyone. A domestic drama without a boilerplate police procedural paradigm or a sci-fi log line twist at 8 p.m.? Revolutionary. Good start, a breath of fresh air after reality TV and every overworked sub-genre. Storytelling, and a genuine glimpse of America in 2015, if admittedly among a particular somewhat rarefied demographic.

---

Updated On: 2/12/15 at 10:36 PM

I did not, but I don't watch that much television. This pulled me in, and delivered. I'm not the target demographic, or even close, so I'll be curious to see how it did in the ratings, particularly the younger demographic.

---

I wanted to slap the kid too.

---

It brings me no joy to write this, but I completely agree with Goth.

---

The ratings were, to be kind, (to quote) "soft."

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/02/13/tv-ratings-thursday-the-blacklist-sinks-backstrom-rises-the-slap-opens-soft/362895/

The 1.1 in 18-49 is not promising. The interest wasn't there. Without that investment in the launch, one must wonder how it will do later. This looked like a cable show, and it performed like a cable show.

---

Baitz is not a good writer and here's why. After Episode 1, you shouldn't be taking sides. "The kid deserved the slap." Did he? Maybe the parents deserved the slap. Maybe the slapper has some issues. The problem is that Baitz didn't write the characters strong enough for there to be doubts in your mind.

I realize that over the next 7 weeks, we're supposed to examine our thinking. Was the slap justified? Who's the villain in this piece? But Baitz didn't give us strong enough characterizations to want to continue the journey and the actors aren't compelling enough to keep us watching. For example, after Episode 1 of Broadchurch, I just wanted to keep watching because I thought David Tennant and Olivia Colman were just interesting people.

And on a side note, nobody could see the open flirting under the deck between the husband and the young girl? The circumstances of the show are stretching the boundaries of plausibility.

---

God, that was awful! Some of the worst characters I've ever seen. They are all such cliches, and not even good cliches. The marriage between Peter Sarsgaard and Thandie Newton (when was the last time she did anything remotely worth watching?) makes no sense. I hate it when writers introduce us to a marriage and there's no reason why these people would ever even speak to each other, let alone be married to each other. She's awful, her reaction to the Greece trip was the reaction of a 15 year old, not a grown up woman. He is the biggest cliche of all making a series of deliberate decisions that again make him look like he is 30 years younger. The parents of the "victim" (aka the devil incarnate) are the worst people who have ever existed, but so is everyone else on the show! The only moments that worked involved with Uma Thurman who gives everyone a lesson on how to act and own the screen, but of course her character is pretty tangential because she's actually interesting and not the worst human being on earth.

---

"Funny, I found her reaction to the Greece trip spot-on."

Maybe I didn't find it real because I don't know anyone like that. Someone who would ruin their husband's birthday party with their boorish behavior. Not that she wouldn't be thinking it, but that she would have the maturity to say "Let's talk about this later after everyone's gone home and we're not under a lot of stress."

---

^^^ She might not have made such an issue of the tickets if she hadn't already been angry that her husband allowed his mother to "cater" the party she (the wife) was hosting.

***

Goth, the father of the kid who got slapped is the husband of Peter Skarsgaard's sister. Zachary Quinto is his cousin-by-marriage, but more like another sibling. They obviously have very different ideas on politics and child-rearing, and a history of animosity.

***

Eric, I did not see the Australian series. I wouldn't go into mourning if THE SLAP were cancelled suddenly, but barring that, I will continue to watch.

SPOILER ALERT:

Since I had read the OP's concerns, I kept count: only two people actually defend the slap: Peter Skarsgaard's Greek mother, who says that if parents won't discipline their children, then somebody else has to do so. And the slapper himself defends his actions on the ground that the kid was out of control and endangering other children with the baseball bat.

Everyone else, including the wife of the slapper, seemed shocked and horrified by the slap. The only exception was the patriarch, who didn't reply to his wife's argument that SOMEbody needed to do something with the tantrum-throwing boy.

If there's a choosing of sides to be done, the coming attractions suggest it has to do with the proper response/punishment to the event. They make it clear that the child suffered no permanent injury; but there is a history of animosity between the two fathers.

I am not defending the striking of children and have never done so myself; but I do understand that in the heat of the moment, especially when the child him/herself is out of control, an adult may react in a manner s/he would not do after careful consideration.

Of course, the issue here is complicated because the slapper is not the parent of the slappee.

Updated On: 2/14/15 at 09:06 PM

In the grand scheme of things, who cares.

It is a friggin tv show - nothing more or less.

---