Jack Trudel said:

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As a writer (as yet unpublished – possibly the worst kind) and a big fan of Nathan Fillion, Joss Whedon, and the old Firefly series, and let me add not a big fan of sci-fi, I probably have too much to say, but here goes.

Cinematography – 3 out of 10 stars, looked like it had been shot from a closet with a Sony camcorder; musical score – 1 out of 10, dull, canned, and emotionally unconnected; supporting cast – stilted, wooden, overacting or not acting at all, mostly window dressing – I won't break it down as to who did what, 3 of 10; Fillion. 6 of 10 – he worked with what he'd been given; writing, eek. One of my former professors would describe it by saying instead of a story it's a sequence of events, and OMG the deus ex machina reasoning and the weak rabbit out of the magician's hat ending, 3 of 10.  

If you want to see how good cinematography and a riveting yet simple musical score can be woven together to tell a story using a couple of booms and dolleys, rent the movie The Fugitive.

There was no tension – no sexual tension between the detective and the writer with the exception of a little near the end, and no tension building to find the killer. The conflict between them should have been more pronounced, and she should have been unequivocal in her rejection of him for it to be an ongoing theme. Making him out as a player in the beginning took away from his integrity as both a writer who understands people and the psychology in human interaction, and as a legitimate suitor for her.

Can it be salvaged? Yeah, but there's so much to fix, and who'll fix it? Start with a crucible of complex emotionally charged people working at cross purposes and turn up the heat, then stand back and let the actors act.

Jack,

I think you've got some great points here. I really look forward to you posting a critique after a couple more episodes have been aired.

utahgirl

Question..

I was wondering what the behind the scenes info is on ex-wife #2, it seems as if the character of Gina was supposed to play more like one of the leads in the series. Just based on the promo photos and the pilot description originally put out to the media. My guess is that when they focus grouped the pilot the reaction to the role didn't play well, nor did he one cop who was trimmed in the 2nd episode. I'm glad they cut the role, I think it would have been way to distracting in the intial stages of the series, it would have taken from castle with his mom & dauther and then the crew at the police station.

Of course I'm not in the know, so I'm just wondering what the offical or the behinds the scenes info about the role was.