I've seen three Amazon pilots this last week and can recommend two.
The one I liked most was the one I almost didn't watch, "Mozart in the
Jungle." I know little about classical music even though I do listen to
some (Alison Balsom due to her Letterman appearance, some others). Mainly I
think I watched it because Jason Schwartzman has such a good track record.
There's much to recommend about it. It's smart and it's funny. It's the new
"30 Rock" set among the oboes and stand up basses. A nice smattering of sex
from hot babes doesn't hurt, either. The basic plot is that one conductor,
played by Malcolm McDowell, is leaving while a new conductor, with ideas
like playing certain songs in a darkened concert hall, is taking over.
Characters play a drinking game where they spin the bottle and where it
points dictates how many shots they drink and what music theme they play.
It's a half hour long and it flew by. I'm looking forward to the next
episode.
A second pilot that seems promising but didn't deliver quite as much is
"Bosch." It is about a Los Angeles detective, a play-by-his-own-rules kind
of guy. The plot has two threads. Harry Bosch is in a federal civil trial
for a wrongful death lawsuit. And he is keeps his hands dirty with real
detective cases. I like the way they are telling the story. There's enough
ambiguity to keep it interesting, rather than the typical broadcast network
strategy of wrapping everything up in a tidy bow by the end of the hour. I
liked the first episode, but it didn't wow me. There seems to be promise
here, so I'm willing to follow it.
The third episode is "The After" by Chris Carter. It's "X Files" meets
"Lost." A group of people end up together in a post-Apocalyptic Los
Angeles. The nature of the Apocalypse is vague. I think Chris Carter is a
talented guy. I started watching "X Files" just before it jumped the shark
and continued through all those years where he or the show's writers were
just pulling stuff out of their butts and the plot made no sense. It was
because of my experience with "X Files" I refused to watch "Lost." I was
vaguely familiar with the plot and watched the "Lost" finale and I think I
made the right decision.
About three quarters of the way through "The After" I had enough and was
ready to stop. But I knew I was writing reviews about "Mozart in the
Jungle" and "Bosch" and decided to stick it out to the end. I have a friend
who is really into survivalist stuff and "The After" seems to be tapping
that vein of fantasy. It shows a city where even police have lost
authority. Electricity doesn't work. Water doesn't flow. The pilot uses
basic horror movie clichés. Just a tired script. There was one interesting
CGI scene but the final scene seemed low budget CGI. If people like it
after the first season of episodes airs, I'll watch it. To quote Chekov
("Star Trek," not the playwright) "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me
twice, shame on me." Actually, I guess Chekov just acknowledges that quote
and doesn't say it.
One side note: These groups of shows have advertisements at the beginning,
something I hadn't noticed before on Amazon streaming movies. They're all
Geico ads and they're Geico ads from a year or two ago. They're not the
annoying Geico ads showing up now on Hulu and the Comedy Central streaming
shows.
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