Tru Calling: First Season thoughts (Spoilers)

Crothian · Apr 30, 2004

Well, the season finale was last night. 2 hours of predictibility. It wasn't bad, but the show just seems so formula driven, especially these last few episodes. I do hope it gets picked up for a second season. I think the show has promise and it has not lived up to its full potential.

takyris · Apr 30, 2004

So spoil it for me. I watched another episode (bringing my total up to 3, I think) a few weeks ago and saw where things were headed with (as people here refer to him) Evil Leaper Priestley (it was the one with the dead actress with the sister that we weren't supposed to immediately realize was actually her daughter). It's nice to see that the theme graduated at least a little bit -- the coroner and her brother now know about her abilities -- but it still didn't wow me. I was curious as to how much Evil Leaper has been mucking around with Tru's brother, and at what point Tru notices ("Hey, weren't you NOT dead-drunk lying in the gutter at this time yesterday?").

How'd the big finale go?

Mort · Apr 30, 2004

Crothian said:
Well, the season finale was last night. 2 hours of predictibility. It wasn't bad, but the show just seems so formula driven, especially these last few episodes. I do hope it gets picked up for a second season. I think the show has promise and it has not lived up to its full potential.

I like the concept of the show, but I hate what they've done with it. As you said, it was incredibally predictable. Also (and I'll put this in spoilers even though anyone reading this shouldn't need it)

Jack really bugs me, and not in a good way. Maybe it's that they really have put in an evil leaper that gets me - I find the concept silly. But also the execution - "I'm not a bad guy" - as he directly causes the death of one of her closest friends.
Also the ex-husband was clearly 100% mentally ill - why didn't Dru get him commited, or at least put the police onto him for carying around a gun?

You know what I think would be cool? If at some point Dru finds out that she was actually being manipulated by a malignant force, and all the people she's saved actually ARE contributing to an imbalance which could cause something really bad to occur - won't happen though.

Crothian · Apr 30, 2004

okay, I placed spoilers in the title so no need for the spoilers tag.

I hate how they did the Jack character,. Way to smooth and confident for no reason. They leave way too much unanswered like how he found Tru and other stuff they I guess they can leave for next season assuming there is one.

And Tru is just an idiot. When talking to Jack about what's ruight you would have think she'd use the arguement "well if these people are supposed to die, why are they asking for help and why am I going back in time to be in a position to help them?" Seemed like an obvious counterpoint to me.

I would have perfered they hadn't made Jack evil. It would have been cool if he had saved someones life and then a year later learned that the person he saved turned out to be a mass killer or something. That could destroy a persons faith in saving people. Instead he just doesn't and the shoe doesn't seem to care for anything indepth.

And then there's the end of the show, the part I really hated. Tru's father was the Evil Leaper for Tru's Mother. WTF??? And of course he knows who Jack is and all that. Maybe it'll turn out Jack is really Tru's half brother or something stupid like that.

Crothian · May 1, 2004

wow, not that many people ended up watching the show it seems.....

Umbran · May 1, 2004

Correct, Crothian. Not many watched it.

I saw a few episodes, but the formulaic and repetetive nature failed to grab me. I stopped before the "evil leaper" thing came up, but I'm not too surpriosed.

The formulaic approach doesn't surprise me. formula tends to sell well to the mass audience.

Crothian · May 1, 2004

It wasn't terrible, and it was much better then friends or survivor (both in the same timeslot). I'm really suprised since oit went up against those two heavy weights that it lasted.

Umbran · May 1, 2004

Crothian said:
I'm really suprised since oit went up against those two heavy weights that it lasted.

I'm not all that surprised. My guess is that the show was pretty darned cheap. No special effects to speak of, really. Other than Ms. Dushku, not much in the way of star anme power either.

Plus, whether or not a thing lasts strongly depends upon executive expectations. Against piowerhouses, a cheap show with lower ratings expectations can still live. After all, they have to have something on in the slot, right? Can't just have dead air in primetime.

Crothian · May 1, 2004

ya, but whatever the put in that slot has either been reality based or canned pretty fast

Steverooo · May 3, 2004

There are renewal rumours, but no confirmations. I wouldn't be surprised, either way. Tru Calling is the best thing on, on Thursday nights... but then, that's not saying much...