I really like this show a lot so far... but Patrick Swayze's Romanian accent is HILARIOUS! No way would a Romanian person (or ANYONE ELSE for that matter) believe that he was Romanian....
I've got an appetite for destruction but I scrape the plate.
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Yeah. I know he's supposed to be this super undercover guy and all, but he chooses to play a Romanian? I mean, sure, there are some things you can fake, but native fluency in a foreign language? Not possible. Insider knowledge of Romanian prisons? Also, not possible. Intimate knowledge of a foreign culture? Nope, still now possible. And having that knowledge is the only only way he could have approached a Romanian as another newly transplanted Romanian. Even the diplomat's son who grew up in the US would have certain intimate and native knowledge that he couldn't learn just "in preparation" for the cover.
This was the first cover I found completely implausible even with suspension of disbelief.
"Professionals built the Titanic. Amateurs built the Ark."
Helen Hannah
I think in later episodes, they reveal that Barker was dispatched as a soldier to
the Eastern European sector, which might make that more plausible.
For somebody who just got off the boat, his English was very good! That in itself should have been a tell.
shareI think in later episodes, they reveal that Barker was dispatched as a soldier to the Eastern European sector, which might make that more plausible.
So some of you missed the end of the episode......?????
Rachel
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I saw the end. The dispute isn't over Barker's ability to speak Romanian. It's the plausibility of his being able to pretend to be Romanian with another Romanian.
"Professionals built the Titanic. Amateurs built the Ark."
Helen Hannah
Did you pay attention at the end of the episode when Travis Fimmel downloads the DVD the FBI gave him with documents on Swayze's character onto his laptop computer, there is an instance when he looks at one document which is heavily censored and blacked-out with marker...I had taped the episode and paused the image and zoomed-in, that document mentions that Barker had been on missions in Eastern Europe, especially the former Yugoslavia and had something to do with the US Ambassador there and his daughter, something that happened to them.
Besides at the very end of the episode, he clearly calls somebody he knows or knew in Romania, who owed him some favour or something, and gets that person to kill Roman, so that must mean that he had ties to Eastern Europe in some way. The former Yugoslavia, actually now Serbia, shares a border with Romania by the way. Languages are different, but the episode clearly infers that he knew enough about Romania...perhaps he had been there on a mission also...who knows...
"The Beast" has turned out to be way more complex and intelligent a show than I would have believed, and that is good, because ever since "The Shield" and "The Wire" ended there hasn't been anything on TV as those shows.
"Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday"--Anthony Hopkins
I thought he was terrific. I live in area with a lot of accents like that - it's not easy to imitate. The point wasn't for "real" Romanians to believe him - the point was entertainment for the large majority of non-Romanians watching.
Rachel
Perhaps but at leat he tried. Accentul lui este mai bun decit alti actori care au jucat personaje romane in alte filme si serii de televiziune.
I think it was actually a very good episode in a series that is growing on me more and more. Believe me his accent was fine for what it was meant to be.
One thing though there is a moment when Patrick Swayze's character swears at the guy Petru Roman, he tells him "Te fut in git", the English subtitles showed "Screw your family" or something like that...I was laughing my ass off because actually "Te fut in git" would translate rather as "F **k you", but I guess that one got past the censors...yay the first time I'm hearing the word "F **k" on cable TV, even though it is in another language!!!!
"Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday"--Anthony Hopkins
I'm Romanian, and honestly I was pretty impressed with his Romanian. Sure the accent wasn't perfect, and a lil hokey, but I got some cousins who just came from Romania; who coincidentally live in Chicago now, who sound a lot like that. I laugh when I hear em talk sometimes, cuz it sounds like such a typical accent. Even more impressive I thought though, was when he really spoke Romanian, his pronunciation was pretty darn good. He sounded like my Romanian relatives who were born in America, but still speak Romanian. Not all Romanians sound like that, most don't sound quite so Russian, but the ones closer to the Ukranian border and such do sound more like that.
sharecome one man he's a Texas born man, its gotta be hard going from a Texas accent to a Romanian one, there both heavy on constants I...think, I'm just saying he did ok to get the point across right?
shareYou guys have all made me feel bad for starting this thread.... :( lol.
but seriously, i like the show a lot so far and think swayze is doing an awesome job - i just didn't find that part believable.
today's episode was great though.
I've got an appetite for destruction but I scrape the plate.
he's a Texas born man, its gotta be hard going from a Texas accent to a Romanian one....