Tin Star features excellent acting with the 3 Worth family members portrayed by, Tim Roth - Jim, Genevieve O'Reilly - Angela and. Abigail Lawrence as Anna, just outstanding. The show has faultless technical production standards and is filmed in some truly panoramic locations. So why do I feel that it's extremely lucky to be rated 6/10.
Well like many others in this forum, I'm, even after 2 seasons, just non - plussed by the storyline and ongoing narrative, which continually stretches the bounds of credibility to ridiculous lengths. Some examples over the first 2 seasons to follow.
Little Big Bear seems and looks to be a decent sized town/small city with lots of criminal activity. Yet we only ever see 3, yes, 3 cops, on the beat. In the second season Denise and Nick have so little to do, it's almost embarrassing. Their character developments come to a complete standstill.
Lamely, the big, bad, North Stream mining company is just immediately written up as a villainous corporation, without any backgrounding whatsoever. It's like we are expected to assume they have bad intentions, just because they drill for oil or whatever.
The gang of 4 from Liverpool, who "work" for North Stream are never, ever, seen to work, despite anyone with half a brain, knowing that these people in these sort of jobs are expected to work long shifts 6 or 7 days per week.
How does Chief Jim Worth get away with what he does in both seasons and not be held to the slightest account? It's quite bizarre. He is seen to shoot and assault people including fellow officers, steal police equipment on multiple occasions as well as cars (including police vehicles), caravans, burn down buildings and nothing whatsoever happens?? And the Popeye thing where he gets drunk and then kind of turns into a anti - superhero is just ludicrous. Seriously, how did this English migrant become appointed a Chief of Police? Of course he naturally gets shot, stabbed, beaten up over the course of the 2 seasons, yet never appears physically impaired for too long. It must reflect the restorative properties of whisky.
Just an aside! Although second - billed after Roth, Christina Hendricks as Elizabeth Bradshaw is really only a minor character in the second season and is it ever explained how she gets to live/squat in a North Stream mansion, after she's been well and truly fired from the firm?
It may be poor editing, but it's never explained in Season 2 how it seems to go from mid - winter to mid - summer overnight. One scene everyone is in their winter woollies and the next scene with no explanation, or anything making the slightest bit of sense, we have characters running around in teeshirts, heaps of sun and no snow. And while we're on strange lapses in continuity, how did the Worths know to "tool up" and face the hit squad on that particular morning? They'd been hanging around that Ammonite community for days and then magically seem to know they were coming on that day. BTW, just to illustrate how confusingly inexact the exposition is, read a cross - section of external reviewers' pieces. No one maddingly seems to be able to agree where the hit men come from. Some say it is "The Cartel", while others state that they come from Liverpool. Ah, the absurd deficiencies highlighted of running multiple vague storylines!
But a confession dear reader! I'll likely go and watch the final 6 episode third series of the show. For despite all its plentiful story weaknesses, there is something addictive about Tin Star. I think its probably tied up with the terrific acting of the above - mentioned cast, combined with the slightly surrealistic, comic flourishers, such as Roth's constant stream of one - liners, interwoven with out there concepts like an Ammonite girls' vigilante squad, who hone their deadly skills with paint ball guns.
Yes, it really is that sort of TV series; frustratingly rewarding in a certain, qualified manner.
*Addendum. I've now seen Season 3 and all I can say is its dreadful. At least the first 2 series had the benefit of Canadian scenery. Again I have to say, it's been a very long time since I've seen such an amazingly incoherent screenplay. Most of the list characters are given no back story, so we don't really know first hand, why the Worth characters need to kill them. Yet over and over we get the same sort of Worth family bonding episodes. It makes for rather frustrating viewing.
Well like many others in this forum, I'm, even after 2 seasons, just non - plussed by the storyline and ongoing narrative, which continually stretches the bounds of credibility to ridiculous lengths. Some examples over the first 2 seasons to follow.
Little Big Bear seems and looks to be a decent sized town/small city with lots of criminal activity. Yet we only ever see 3, yes, 3 cops, on the beat. In the second season Denise and Nick have so little to do, it's almost embarrassing. Their character developments come to a complete standstill.
Lamely, the big, bad, North Stream mining company is just immediately written up as a villainous corporation, without any backgrounding whatsoever. It's like we are expected to assume they have bad intentions, just because they drill for oil or whatever.
The gang of 4 from Liverpool, who "work" for North Stream are never, ever, seen to work, despite anyone with half a brain, knowing that these people in these sort of jobs are expected to work long shifts 6 or 7 days per week.
How does Chief Jim Worth get away with what he does in both seasons and not be held to the slightest account? It's quite bizarre. He is seen to shoot and assault people including fellow officers, steal police equipment on multiple occasions as well as cars (including police vehicles), caravans, burn down buildings and nothing whatsoever happens?? And the Popeye thing where he gets drunk and then kind of turns into a anti - superhero is just ludicrous. Seriously, how did this English migrant become appointed a Chief of Police? Of course he naturally gets shot, stabbed, beaten up over the course of the 2 seasons, yet never appears physically impaired for too long. It must reflect the restorative properties of whisky.
Just an aside! Although second - billed after Roth, Christina Hendricks as Elizabeth Bradshaw is really only a minor character in the second season and is it ever explained how she gets to live/squat in a North Stream mansion, after she's been well and truly fired from the firm?
It may be poor editing, but it's never explained in Season 2 how it seems to go from mid - winter to mid - summer overnight. One scene everyone is in their winter woollies and the next scene with no explanation, or anything making the slightest bit of sense, we have characters running around in teeshirts, heaps of sun and no snow. And while we're on strange lapses in continuity, how did the Worths know to "tool up" and face the hit squad on that particular morning? They'd been hanging around that Ammonite community for days and then magically seem to know they were coming on that day. BTW, just to illustrate how confusingly inexact the exposition is, read a cross - section of external reviewers' pieces. No one maddingly seems to be able to agree where the hit men come from. Some say it is "The Cartel", while others state that they come from Liverpool. Ah, the absurd deficiencies highlighted of running multiple vague storylines!
But a confession dear reader! I'll likely go and watch the final 6 episode third series of the show. For despite all its plentiful story weaknesses, there is something addictive about Tin Star. I think its probably tied up with the terrific acting of the above - mentioned cast, combined with the slightly surrealistic, comic flourishers, such as Roth's constant stream of one - liners, interwoven with out there concepts like an Ammonite girls' vigilante squad, who hone their deadly skills with paint ball guns.
Yes, it really is that sort of TV series; frustratingly rewarding in a certain, qualified manner.
*Addendum. I've now seen Season 3 and all I can say is its dreadful. At least the first 2 series had the benefit of Canadian scenery. Again I have to say, it's been a very long time since I've seen such an amazingly incoherent screenplay. Most of the list characters are given no back story, so we don't really know first hand, why the Worth characters need to kill them. Yet over and over we get the same sort of Worth family bonding episodes. It makes for rather frustrating viewing.