Reviews

I like this show, it was better than I thought it would be, but it's hard to believe the science part in all of the storytelling. I know it's based on actual events, but I just can't imagine in 1994 she's allowed to walk right up to bodies smoking cigarettes with no gloves on. Not to mention, we get it, she smokes, but it doesn't need to be a thing every 5 minutes of every episode. BY the end of the season, they've literally wasted a half episode worth of time focussing on her smoking. She's also constantly handling evidence and moving in crime scenes smoking. It just doesn't make any sense, and I can't believe that's how the handled crime scenes in the mid to late 90s in South Africa. But she's good, the cast is solid, the stories are compelling, its beautifully shot, so it was a solid watch.

I think it would have really helped if part of the plot was Samuel Jackson covering for his son, who we come to find out is just not a good cop ( and not the sharpest tool in the shed). Where Rock ends up a detective because first his Dad and then the captain just cover for his incompetence.. That would help erase so many of problems the movie has where Rock's character just skips over basic common sense time after time after time.

That wouldn't fix everything, obviously. Like on what planet does a shots fired call equal a dozen cop cars and SWAT rolling out to the scene. Just poor writing from start to finish.

I had high hopes for this, but unfortunately it's just not very good. It's always frustrating when you have a good cast, good premise and setup and then the whole thing gets let down with shoddy writing. Did they not do table reads? Or have police advisors on set? As an example, there's not a police officer on the planet that would tell an undercover to be careful and to have a backstory in case they are spotted exiting a building, and then proceed to walk the undercover out the door. That sort of stuff happens the entire series, so sloppy, such a giant waste.

I enjoyed seasons 1 and 2, and even when I heard they were recasting the lead, I still had high hopes for season 3. I've liked Marsha Thomason in other series and thought she would be a good fit. But I was wrong. Not her as an actress, but the character they decided to create for her. Season 3 is just a total mess. She's not good at her job, not good with her kids, and not good with her partner and partner's daughter. As an example ( there are dozens). In one scene, she gets her nose bloodied, and instead of cleaning up her face, and changing her shirt to protect her kids and new family from seeing her like that, she just rolls into dinner late bleeding and with blood on her clothes. It's all so "look at me". In another scene, after complaining she can't connect with her partners' kid, the kid tries to engage her in a conversation, for the first time, and she just runs her off and then sighs as if she is bothered. It just goes on and on at home and work. She's not good at anything, including simple things like talking to people.

Watch seasons 1 and 2, and pretend the series ends there.