There was a time when Ptv used to telecast foreign shows.Who can forget shows such as Knight Rider,Air Wolf,Murder She Wrote,MCGuyver etc.With the gradual decline of Ptv and advent of private satellite TV channels,this culture of showing foreign programming as an effort towards catering towards diverse programming needs of the audiences died down.
However,the foreign shows still entered into our lives via DVDs sold in many DVD stores across the country,torrents and streaming websites on internet.These shows provide us a change and respite from family entertainment and family centric issues that our TV Channels regularly churn out and hence a sizeable chunk of people watch them.Some of them could be seen regularly visiting DVD stores and asking for seasons of their favourite shows.I am going to cover some of the shows that I have watched via DVDs.
Lost
Who could forget the legendary show Lost.It’s about some plane crash survivors who happen to land on a mysterious island and then the forces and characters from the island seem to battle them.One of the important concepts of the show is time travel.It has wonderful characters like Kate,Jack,Sawyer,Hurley etc and tons of mystery in the form of The Others,Dharma Initiative,Black Smoke etc.I saw first three seasons in one go and then waited for every season eagerly.However,the end left me high and dry and I really felt annoyed just like hundreds of other Lost fans out there but till the time it lasted it was a wonderful joyride.
Prison Break
It is as much about prison break as it is about brotherly love.Michael Scofield,a structural engineer gets into Fox River Penitentiary (prison) just to help his brother Lincoln Burrows escape from the prison since he’s being tried for a crime he did not commit while effort is also on to uncover the frameup of Lincoln.The entire map of the prison in the form of tattoo on Michael’s chest was a really interesting plot point.The first season saw the prison break while the second season saw them running from police,Lincoln’s name is eventually cleared here but these people end up in a prison in Panama.I tried watching third season but somehow lost interest and could not make it through third and final seasons.
The Killing
The Killing is based on a Danish Series.It revolves around the killing of a teenage girl Rosie Larsen,police investigation into it by an obsessed single parent detective Sarah Linden and her partner Stephen Holder who incidentally was to replace Sarah as she had decided to leave her profession and concentrate on raising her son.It also shows Rosie Larsen’s family trying to cope with the death of their daughter and a political campaign.The killer was revealed in Season 2 but in an effort to be different from the original series the whole scenario leading upto the killing was as ridiculous as it could have gotten.I felt really cheated and did not follow the third and fourth seasons showcasing murder of some girls and the investigation into it.
The Bridge
The Bridge is again based on a Danish Series and and starts with the body of Judge Lorraine Gates found on Mexican-US border.Detective Sonya Cross of US and Marco Ruiz of Mexico are assigned to the case which has multiple bodies and killings.It also reflect upon the unlikely partners Sonya Cross who has difficulty communicating with people having Asperger syndrome and Marco Ruiz deals with a corrupt system and worries about his family.There are other tracks also but these did not interest me.The eventual resolution of the murders once again left me dissatisfied. It had a second season also but I did not bother to watch it.
Revenge
David Clarke was wrongly framed for a crime he did not commit and then murdered in prison resulting his daughter Amanda Clarke being put in foster homes and having a rough childhood.She comes back to the Hamptons as Emily Thorne determined to destroy the Grayson family who’s responsible for her father’s death and the miseries in her life.She romances Danielle Grayson and makes way into the Grayson Manor challenging Victoria Grayson who’s always the woman in her dead father’s life who betrayed him.How Emily goes about taking revenge and how her own emotions get entangled form the story.It’s first season was really good,season season lost the streak and third season was full of surprizes but the eventual resurfacing of David Clarke a the end of third season destroyed the show’s foundation according to me and I could not watch the fourth ongoing season of the show.It had interesting characters in Emily,Victoria,David,Nolan,Jack etc.
Elementary
Elementary is a modern day adaptation of the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes.It shows Sherlock Holmes recovering from drug addiction and based in New York with Joan Watson being his sober companion initially helping him remain sober and later on taking on the profession of detective work herself.Both of them work as consultants for NYPD.It’s weekly case wise format plus the chemistry between the two lead characters make it for a compelling watch.
The Good Wife
Alicia Florrick has to utilize her law degree and to work at a law firm Stern,Lockhart & Gardner after her State Attorney husband Peter Florrick is sent to prison for being involved with prostitutes and running a corrupt State Attorney’s Office.At the law firm she has to initially compete with Cary Agos an associate just like her and manage her work and family lives plus the humiliation of being Peter’s wife.She’s attracted to her boss and ex-law school classmate Will Gardner but manages to battle her attraction for him.Besides her family life there is a case to represent every week which adds to the interest of the show.There are many likeable characters on the show like Diane Lockhart,the mysterious detective Kalinda Sharma,Cary Agos,Will Gardner,David Lee,the strange but wonderful Elsbeth Tasioni,Louis Canning,Jackie Florrick etc.Despite in its sixth season it still holds my attention and makes for a wonderful watch,it’s recommended for everyone.
Besides these shows I tried watching a few others like The Mentalist but i was bored by the almost magician like abilities of the lead character Patrick Jane who was fake psychic till the time his wife and daughter was murdered by Red John as he wrongfully mentioned him on his fake show.Now Patrick helps the police department solve crimes yet he reads the minds of people he comes across and reveals so much that it becomes hard to digest.On similar lines we have Castle where a writer Rick Castle teams up with a detective Kate Beckett to solve crimes.The characters are good but somehow to me the cases of seasons 1 and 2 which i watched are not good enough.
I tried watching Fargo and The Americans too but somehow i could not make past a few episodes of both these shows.Have you ever followed any of these shows? Do you agree or disagree with me regarding how these shows turned up? Any other shows which you watched and want to mention,do tell.
Haseeb Ahmed
