The linguistic choices and tone seems quite condescending and cynical at first,
"brash low budget...", "Britain's lowest rating former terrestrial station" ...
but becomes more admiring towards the end.
Two factual errors leap out at me immediately.
1. The misspelling of Damien's name This is a published book. Editors - pleeeease!
2. "The plots of Suspects eschew the murder mystery format as victims are still alive when the narrative begins."
Is this really the case in (pun not intended) in Suspects?
Series 5 begins with a tragic murder that has already happened? This book was published in 2018, series 5 aired August 2016, so no excuses.
Also I disagree with this statement.
"short choppy scenes create a fast-moving narrative at the expense of psychological depth."
People get really snotty when they are not spoon fed a cosy, traditional procedural with all the trimmings and fluff - like going home with the characters. I feel this is where the above statement comes from. In my experience of Suspects the pace and flow of each episode is nothing short of immersive, deeply gripping and engaging and pulls you right into the heart of the investigation. There is never time to comfortably sit back and just cruise through it, it's edge of the seat, in the moment, locked in viewing. Also, the unfolding investigation is so layered, the suspects and victims never obvious, the case never a simplistic process. In terms of the lead characters, there is greater intrigue, more suspense, endless potential. The team dynamics are fully weighty - not just in what is said but what is unsaid. On every level, more is 'unknown'. In that sense there is endless 'psychological depth'.
This later statement I do like.
"In Suspects there is no simple Manichean polarity between monstrous perpetrator and perfect victim and blame is never simple...... so complicating the moral order"
I think "Suspects" comes out of this really well. As someone who watched only one episode of " True Detective" because I couldn't make out much of the dialogue without subtitles, I actually found the premise of "Suspects" more intriguing. Going by the synopsis, I would rather watch "Suspecrs".
Ugh why can nobody spell Damien's name right?!? How hard is it? The author must have watched the show where Damien's name is listed in the credits!
I love that Suspects is being written up in university text books. This is the sort of stuff I studied at uni so I'll give this a proper read before I share my views. It does make me want to watch Suspects again immediately!
This is a published book. Editors - pleeeease!
