Just watched episode 1 of new season 8
Thought it was really good; seems like it will be an interesting plot/season. Although I miss Douglas Henshall, Ashley Jensen is a great addition. I LOVED her in Extras.
shareI'm enjoying the mystery in season 8. It's been a much more seamless transition than I thought because Ruth Calder has already settled in like she's been there forever. I am running in my mind how each scene would be with Jimmy Perez though. He is missed, but the show seems to be able to stand without him.
I think bringing on Phyllis Logan from Downton Abbey was a bit of insurance that would bring people in. For the record, I think her character is involved in the mystery, but I've only finished episode 2.
I think it's been something of an improvement having Perez out of the show. It seems to bring the supporting cast forward a bit. And I don't miss the sideshow of Perez's family situation, either. I was really glad that they didn't turn Tosh's family life into a side plot, either. It took me half the season to recognize that the Bain matriarch was Phyllis Logan, which is either an example of my lack of insight or the quality of her acting to inhabit the character.
My biggest gripe is that they need to make the procedural scenes in the police station/offices more interesting than predictably telling Billy to pull CCTV footage and phone records, sending Sandy off on a trivial errand and having "fiscal" come in and act anxious. They also need to figure out how to enhance Sandy's character and engage it more in the narrative -- he was mostly a beta background character this season.
While it's great that each series has a new seasonal narrative and broad supporting cast, it'd be kind of interesting to add in some unrelated regulars (not main cast family or police) in Lerwick who persisted from season to season.
It's a good point you make that Perez kind of sucked all of the oxygen out of the series away from other characters. I found the story line with his daughter to never really make much sense plot wise. She was kind of just there I guess to prove he had a loving marriage and family life before his wife died.
I have always joked that the British detective series would end full stop if they couldn't pull the CCTV footage to solve cases. Of course anything set prior to CCTV is exempt. I think always relying on the CCTV can stifle creativity in the characterization and plot.
I agree about Sandy. I think he's underutilized. I thought they were going in a better direction with him a few seasons ago when he didn't seem as much the squeaky clean cop who always makes the perfect choices.
Yes, saying he sucked the oxygen out is a good way of putting it. I don't know UK's actorsphere well enough to know if he's a big deal or not, but I'm guessing he was positioned to be the "big star" of Shetland and sort of expected to carry the series, although it always seemed structured more as an ensemble, especially relative to the anthology/guest star element.
I don't mind the trope of CCTV (though in Shetland it seldom seems to actually contribute to cracking the case), it's the weak writing around police station activities. It's only point seems to be summarizing the plot up to that point and then issuing some predictable instructions to NPCs like Billy and Sandy and having an NPC interaction with fiscal. Maybe its a necessary narrative exercise, but c'mon, give it a bit more interest. Advance some in-house narrative, especially if it elevates Billy and Sandy beyond 2-D cutouts.
He did have that "blue wall of silence" moment a season or two ago, but I think he's too established as a beta character to evolve a whole lot without retconning a new past or something. I think the actor is fine, but they probably need to bring in a new character to supplement or replace him who could have a bit more substance. Or maybe the fix is developing a Billy/Sandy relationship external to the case or policing. Give Sandy a part time job as a bartender, and Billy a job as a bouncer in the same place.