NBC's The Slap- Page 3

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/11/15 at 9:08pm

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

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 2/11/15 at 11:35pm

This thread will become more interesting when soemone who has actually seen the show has something to say about it.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 5:48am

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.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 12:44pm

THE SLAP: "HECTOR" REVIEW

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 9:55pm

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

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 10:29pm

Slow start and sometimes difficult to follow and sort out all the characters.Finally picked up steam after the slap. Since only 7 more episodes will probably watch the whole thing.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 10:36pm

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

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 12:40am

Auggie, I don't disagree. But, I'm just curious from your perspective, because you didn't say above. Did you see the Australian version?

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 6:22am

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.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 9:56am

Tedious first episode with unlikable characters. And too much going on with no backstory.

I understand that the slapper was the cousin of the birthday guy, but what was the relationship of the guy whose child got slapped? Why were they so nasty to each other moments before the slap? What did I miss?

And what was Uma Thurman's relationship? Was she a sister or a cousin? And who was the Asian woman?? I'm so confused.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 10:09am

I wanted to slap the kid too.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 10:55am

The slap was worth waiting for.He should have used the bat on the kid instead of his hand.

Updated On: 2/13/15 at 10:55 AM

[madbrian]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 2:04pm

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

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 7:26pm

What edgy programming.

Every time I see an article about the show I hear "You Just Got Slapped" from How I Met Your Mother in my head. And it won't go away. Dammit.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 8:28pm

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.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 2/14/15 at 4:32am

Just watched the pilot episode and was pulled in. Yes, we enter into a party where relationships are already set in stone but we have no back story, perhaps that is what the future episodes will unravel? Was the slap justified? In my opinion, yes. The only time corporal punishment is acceptable is when the child puts himself, or others in harms way.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/14/15 at 11:47am

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.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/14/15 at 12:38pm

Well, for what it's worth, though I agree that the flirtation was pointlessly in plain sight (and in general the acting-out component in the relationship overplayed in the hour), I had no problem seeing multiple points of view about the slap. I'm a big soft gooey liberal, to the left of most of the target audience, but found myself completely icked out by whiny Sadoski and his still-nursing wife. They are theoretically my team/side of the aisle, and I was put off by their smug narcissism. It made the show far more compelling, the same way a similar couple impacted OLIVE KITTRIDGE (same director, interestingly enough). But then I love the way Baitz takes on internecine warfare with liberals in general.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/14/15 at 1:06pm

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.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/14/15 at 1:17pm

Funny, I found her reaction to the Greece trip spot-on. Real, not romanticized. Rather than adolescent, more like a frustrated, invested grown-up trapped in a no-win situation. We all have different ideas of maturity. I was taken with the flawed aspect of just about everyone. It's 8 weeks, not open-ended, and no one begged for audience symp/empathy the way they'd be forced to in a series. But, different reactions are clearly in the offing here. Many strong ones are above. It will be gone by mid-April, and we talk about whether the 8 episodes deepened the characters or merely annoyed us. For now, I'm willing to be annoyed (per my post above).

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/14/15 at 2:42pm

"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."

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/14/15 at 5:09pm

Ha! And I found her the opposite of boorish. I thought the parents were narcissistic control freaks who used the occasion to further their own agenda, i.e. to to impose a family-of-origin exploration without any consideration to the busy lives of others. To me, it was outrageous, booking a trip without checking its impact on their daughter-in-law's life? She's a doctor who runs a clinic. But if she was a stay-at-home mom it would still be presumptuous. I thought the mother and father (brilliantly played) were pushy and rude, and their annotating of the conversation in Greek was hardly considerate. But that's me. To me the episode made a good case for the real world ways families are disrespectful of one another's needs. Let's see if it holds those of us who are held so far. Mr. Baitz might say this discussion is exactly the one he wanted. Of course, with better ratings.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/14/15 at 9:06pm

^^^ 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

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/15/15 at 1:24pm

"Goth, the father of the kid who got slapped is the husband of Peter Skarsgaard's sister."

Did this get changed when it was brought to tv? I looked at Wikipedia and for the book, they say that Rosie, the mother of the boy who gets slapped, is a childhood friend of the wife of the guy who is having the birthday.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/15/15 at 1:31pm

In the grand scheme of things, who cares.

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