As a huge fan of the first season of GFE, I anxiously awaited season 2 and the new stories. "Leverage" was the first of the 2 episodes and the one written and directed by Lodge Kerrigan. Last season Kerrigan shot occasional scenes with a wide lens so that the viewer sometimes watched the scene from a distance. It gave the series a different feel as though we were there but not directly with the characters we were watching. In "Leverage," Kerrigan takes this approach to an absurd and very annoying level. It seems about 90% of the scenes were shot this way. And from greater distances than last year. The result is a seemingly endless series of scenes in which the actors are so far away we can barely see them. Last year we were well acquainted with Christine and her associates so when an occasional scene was shot this way, we were already buying into the characters and their dialogue and it was just a different way of viewing them. But "Leverage" uses this method extensively before we know who is who and what their issues are. They always seem so far away that it becomes difficult to care who they are or what they are talking about. Kerrigan, who was so skillful with last year's GFE, now seems more interested in directing technique than in introducing characters and developing a story. If subsequent episodes are to be shot in this manner this often, I will quickly tune out.
2 Reviews
I bit distant and dull
sage46768 November 2017
The previous review I read is very accurate for many of the scenes. It goes even further with the austerity of props and set decor that at times, it is a bit like THX-1138. Much of this episode is very stark, and dull with just a few moments of interest, and I am not referring to just sexual moments. The second 1/2 of this episode is a bit better but if the series doesn't improve, it will be a tune out for me too
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