ZOMG I love this show.
On the surface, just your run of the mill procedural crime drama... and not that original in basic execution, either. Headfakes, false trails, Over-the-top neurotic main investigator who pulls the Columbo routine to get the truth even while using techniques that would get him thrown out of any court in the land. Complex team of investigators around him whose relationships define the season arc around a series of one off Crime investigations. Even their archetypes are formulaic... the warm-hearted mother figure, the snarky rookie, the crazy.
The devil with this show, however, is in the details. The primary approach to detection used by the characters is the reading of tiny facial expressions, which they take pains to explain and then exhibit both in those involved in the crime and the members of the team themselves. For this show to work at all, its actors needed to be extremely well-coached, and the editing needed to be top notch. They were, and it was.
The absolutely meticulous approach to every slightest visual detail in the show means that every episode has been loved and carefully tended, and it shows. The script writing, the relationships of the characters, each show that the producers were aware that their approach was going to put a spotlight on minutia and rose to the challenge.
I have read some complaints that the science behind the show is fake, or at least wildly disputed, and I frankly don't care any more than I did when someone pointed out that dreams do not work the way they are portrayed in Inception. What matters is that the "science" of microexpressions is sold by the scripts, the editing, and the acting of everyone from the main cast to minor 15 second characters, to the point where I found myself pausing the show to try to read the expressions of the characters in the same way the characters do. And why not? That is how they have taught me to read people, and the logic, however internal, remains consistent. No gesture, no expression, not a single beat of this show was ever taken for granted, and the result was something absolutely brilliant.
If you haven't already, check Lie to Me out. It's free on Netflix, and I really cannot recommend it enough.
On the surface, just your run of the mill procedural crime drama... and not that original in basic execution, either. Headfakes, false trails, Over-the-top neurotic main investigator who pulls the Columbo routine to get the truth even while using techniques that would get him thrown out of any court in the land. Complex team of investigators around him whose relationships define the season arc around a series of one off Crime investigations. Even their archetypes are formulaic... the warm-hearted mother figure, the snarky rookie, the crazy.
The devil with this show, however, is in the details. The primary approach to detection used by the characters is the reading of tiny facial expressions, which they take pains to explain and then exhibit both in those involved in the crime and the members of the team themselves. For this show to work at all, its actors needed to be extremely well-coached, and the editing needed to be top notch. They were, and it was.
The absolutely meticulous approach to every slightest visual detail in the show means that every episode has been loved and carefully tended, and it shows. The script writing, the relationships of the characters, each show that the producers were aware that their approach was going to put a spotlight on minutia and rose to the challenge.
I have read some complaints that the science behind the show is fake, or at least wildly disputed, and I frankly don't care any more than I did when someone pointed out that dreams do not work the way they are portrayed in Inception. What matters is that the "science" of microexpressions is sold by the scripts, the editing, and the acting of everyone from the main cast to minor 15 second characters, to the point where I found myself pausing the show to try to read the expressions of the characters in the same way the characters do. And why not? That is how they have taught me to read people, and the logic, however internal, remains consistent. No gesture, no expression, not a single beat of this show was ever taken for granted, and the result was something absolutely brilliant.
If you haven't already, check Lie to Me out. It's free on Netflix, and I really cannot recommend it enough.
Eschew Verbosity
So I just got into Lie to Me via Netflix.
- 12/03/2012 04:23:00 AM
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