MovieChat Forums > Proof (2015) Discussion > Just As I Predicted

Just As I Predicted

posted 9 years ago by peggygeordie
18 replies | jump to latest

I bet last week that Carolyn wouldn't get through the next episode without acting upset and running out of a room. And I was right. Any bets whether she will get through ANY episode in this season without turning tail when she doesn't like something?

She also once again deflected an attempt by her daughter to actually TALK with some triviality about dinner. Someone should make her watch "Ordinary People."

She really is an emotional mess. And she actually said another surgeon shouldn't operate on her father because that person was going through a difficult separation? Wow.

I am increasingly puzzled whether the series is actually about the search for proof of the afterlife - or just the resolving of Carolyn's emotional issues.

[–] Zaxzar 9 years ago

This was, in my opinion, the worst episode so far. I doubt I can put myself through this anymore. The show is one big cliche. I think I'm out.

Mr. Grady, you were the caretaker here.

[–] peggygeordie 9 years ago

You and my fiancé. He said he feels like it's seven hours of his life he can't get back.

Not to mention the show is about 20 years behind the curve on afterlife research.

[–] Zaxzar 9 years ago

And TNT is apparently behind the curve in putting decent shows out.

Mr. Grady, you were the caretaker here.

[–] Good-Will 9 years ago

I'll watch in the hope that it gets better, since it's unlikely that it can get any worse than this last episode which was a fetid piece of tripe.

If the opposite of Love is indifference, what's the opposite of Hate?

[–] rickathedj 9 years ago

I bet last week that Carolyn wouldn't get through the next episode without acting upset and running out of a room. And I was right. Any bets whether she will get through ANY episode in this season without turning tail when she doesn't like something?

I would think that is to be expected. It seems like all too often they just use a different background, in this case life after death, to portray the same old stories of personal crisis.

The saga of getting my first novel on Kindle
http://ricksmidnightquill.blogspot.com/

[–] stacy0912 9 years ago

I am increasingly puzzled whether the series is actually about the search for proof of the afterlife - or just the resolving of Carolyn's emotional issues.

I think it's both. She's been asked to 'research' (and I use that term loosely) these cases, and to give her opinion on it because of her history with an NDE, and her unwillingness to accept it. There will always be a direct impact on the outcome of the cases in comparison to her ever changing emotional state as she grows in each episode.

As time goes on, we'll see a stronger Carolyn emerge, one that doesn't need to run from a room any longer. Right now she's too afraid to face and embrace the truth according to her own experience, so anything that resembles it has her cowarding in fear. Her defense mechanisms are hiding her fragility in no longer feeling absolute in what she used to believe in.

Look at this way, she's no longer rolling her eyes and laughing sarcastically at each case. That's a little bit of an improvement. Hell, she even lit a candle last episode.

~Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable~

[–] peggygeordie 9 years ago

There are only two or three episodes left in the season and likely the series, so her emotional learning curve needs to get a bit steeper.

The final episode could end with Turing crossing over with "Oh, wow!" on his lips.

[–] rickathedj 9 years ago

Not sure that's a good idea, and it would probably be too late anyway to deviate from what's already been shot. To increase her learning curve, to me anyway, would be risky should the show actually get renewed.

I liken this show to Saving Grace a few years ago. Grace was a hard boiled cop that had no use for religion, as she had been molested as a child by a priest. She was given a "second chance angel" to redeem her. Once she was redeemed, there wasn't much place for the show to go. She had in fact been saved.

While I admit the "inner drama" is not what draws me to this show, I suspect its the attraction for many. Remove it, and risk losing viewers.

The saga of getting my first novel on Kindle
http://ricksmidnightquill.blogspot.com/

[–] peggygeordie 9 years ago

The problem is that they are losing viewers who tuned in for the afterlife exploration, and who have been steadily turned off by Carolyn's emotional issues.

[–] rickathedj 9 years ago

I'm sure they are losing viewers. I haven't looked at the ratings because quite honestly, they don't interest me that much. But it seems like many shows will lose viewers they progress. People will tune in at first just to see what its about, and gradually lose interest. But there is no way of knowing why. Some may have stopped because of the treatment of the life after death study, and others because they just don't like the main character; she's not exactly a lovable little fluff ball. But my main point was that its too late for them to change anything at this stage of the game.

The saga of getting my first novel on Kindle
http://ricksmidnightquill.blogspot.com/

[–] peggygeordie 9 years ago

I'm sure all the episodes are all in the can so my suggestion that Turing could die having a great moment like Steve Jobs was somewhat facetious.

As for why people might be tuning out, me evidence is all anecdotal from people who tuned in because I told them the subject matter sounded interesting, after seeing a paragraph about the show in the LA Times. First reactions were that the lead was beyond obnoxious. And subsequent episodes made it clear that the writing would fall back on stock emotional issues, played out on a soap opera-ish level, with very little focus on the very premise of the show.

Really, I would have liked to see this work. But they needed a strong team with better chemistry (what most successful tekevision is all about), working together, getting out in the field to find the truly interesting evidence... Exactly what the show has not done. They've mired Zed
(probably the most likable character) in pointless angst about his fiancé when they could have used his African background as a way to comment more about other cultures views' of life and death. The other assistant has no discernible personality beyond chipper.

It all just feels like they threw a bunch of things at the screen to see if anything would stick - all concept and no originality in execution.

[–] rickathedj 9 years ago

Having Turing die (eventually) as you suggested is not out of the question should they get renewed. But as Stacy said, what will happen to the show when and if he is gone. Will it lose enough of its premise to fail? What if they have Carolyn get her head straight and actually become pleasant? All they will have left is the life after death research, and I'm not sure that will carry the show. I know some would love it, but it would definitely be a niche show. Not sure that niche market is big enough to do it.

The saga of getting my first novel on Kindle
http://ricksmidnightquill.blogspot.com/

[–] peggygeordie 9 years ago

Almost ANY premise can carry a show with great chemistry and snappy writing. When you think back about most shows you've loved, isn't it because you wanted to spend time with the characters week after week? And they've already lost
that by making Carolyn alternately arrogant and needy (two sides of the same coin, but is THAT what we want to explore?), and rarely even pairing her with her fellow researchers - and certainly not on an equal basis - so there is no "team" playing off each other's strengths and weaknesses. Just a lot of scattered subplots.

[–] rickathedj 9 years ago

Almost ANY premise can carry a show with great chemistry and snappy writing. When you think back about most shows you've loved, isn't it because you wanted to spend time with the characters week after week? And they've already lost

You said it yourself: great chemistry and snappy writing will carry any show. But we haven't yet seen that. Unfortunately its been my experience that when a series starts off with such weaknesses, it usually doesn't get better in later seasons (if it gets them.) They tend to continue to plod along for a season or two more, then go away. Its a shame because it could have been better.

The saga of getting my first novel on Kindle
http://ricksmidnightquill.blogspot.com/

[–] lamont-hard 9 years ago

I can't tell my husband or daughter.... They should have included them in some parts of finding answers

[–] stacy0912 9 years ago

Even though he's not on that much, Turing is a big draw for me. If they kill him off, I hope it's only because the show's not getting renewed. Because if it comes back without him, that would be some serious royal suckage. As of right now, Zed is my second favorite. He's quite adorable.

~Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable~

[–] lamont-hard 9 years ago

I keep wondering why no one is suggesting therapy. She obviously needs it.

[–] peggygeordie 9 years ago

She does. And I wonder if Turing had known what an emotional mess she is whether he'd have picked her for the job.

Also, I thought he was intrigued by her combination of NDE and honest skepticism, yet she has been so DISHONEST with herself and others in show after show: lying, denying, and finally - in a moment doubly shocking because the lie involved both her ethics as a surgeon and an afterlife researcher - lying about what she discovered during the boy's heart surgery.

Basically, she was Gaslighting the mother by telling her that HER truth was based on a false premise, when she knew that she had confirmation that it wasn't. Way NOT to help another person in emotional distress. Was she going to tell the truth when she wrote up her research on this case - or go on lying? Others were present, including her husband (and by the way, wasn't he a brain surgeon?), and there would be permanent records showing what they found.