Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Based on the popular and critically acclaimed novels by Kate Atkinson, this mini-series was shot on location in Edinburgh and was quickly followed by a second season.

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Angel Tavington
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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by Angel Tavington » Wed May 22, 2013 7:26 pm

I re-watched it this morning, and spotted Char and LadyLucius.
wait, you ladies worked as extras for CH? I'm sure it was a surreal and amazing experience :hands


~me

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by CaseHistories » Wed May 22, 2013 8:03 pm

To Char and LadyLucius: How did you end up as extras on the show? Did they pay you, or maybe you paid them? :yip
And you were in the same shot as JI! I just find this utterly fascinating.

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by Chari910 » Wed May 22, 2013 11:02 pm

Angel and CaseHistories, if you scroll down this forum you will see a thread called 'CH2 Set Visit', that was when it happened.

We weren't paid. Jason was worried that we would get bored just watching him (He had no idea it was impossible to be BORED, we were thrilled beyond words!) so he suggested we did a walk-on. :oops:

He was teasing us the whole time and said that we stole his scene LOL.
He was like this naughty boy between takes who mimed in slow motion, etc. We could tell he was happy on this set.

There were paid extras who even got dressed up as hospital patients but were never needed. And yes,we would gladly PAY to be extras again if opportunity arises. Wouldn't we all?

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by thunder » Sat May 25, 2013 4:31 am

Here's a review from the second episode:
http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/wtjj9 ... ys-darling

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by laurielove » Sun May 26, 2013 4:38 pm

The second episode was great. My husband, who is the hardest man to please in the history of hard men to please, sat through the entire thing, made sympathetic faces at the appropriate places, laughed a considerable amount (not sarcastically) and, at the end, declared, 'That was a lot better than last week's,' which, trust me, means he thought it was great.

I, a woman, thought it was fantastic. And, yes, I'm almost loathe to say it, but the clarity of sequencing was so much smoother without the need to adapt a dense book into a 90 minute television drama. No problems at all this week. Good story, plot well-driven, interesting characters, and some great acting, particularly from Siobhan Redmond, whom I have long admired, Millie Innes and ... yup, Jason Whatsisface. God, he just makes Jackson so friggin' human and so damn empathetic I want to jump into the screen and give him ... whatever (normally a hug, I hasten to add ... but not always ...) He is just so, so, so ... LOVELY.

And ... (drumroll, please) ... there was a Shirtless Moment. Huzzah! :woot All too brief. :tchuh: But plenty of time for screen caps. :brows

If last week's episode was about lost daughters, this one was about lost mothers. We discover more about Jackson's mother. There were some beautiful scenes with Marlee which really made me (as a parent of a daughter of very similar age) question my attitude and changing role as she grows older and, essentially, it was all very watchable and thought-provoking and beautifully executed all-round. And the music was great. Nice touch with some Taylor Swift which Marlee listens to - the next generation of country singers.

Bravo, Jason et al - great stuff.
Last edited by laurielove on Mon May 27, 2013 6:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

ln419

Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by ln419 » Sun May 26, 2013 10:32 pm

Nice job LL, your writing makes me :D . Adolescent daughters are a challenge in the very BEST of times to say the least, easy they're not, whether in single or 2 parent families. See ya in the funny papers! Can't wait to get the DVD! LN

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by laurielove » Mon May 27, 2013 5:31 am

Viewing figures down to 3.47 million, which is a bit of a bummer, but hardly surprising as it was up against Britain's Got Talent this week.

The comment on Twitter has been largely very positive. Far fewer comments about the complexity of the plot. Some issues with the music - people are split on that. I loved the music and I'm hardly a country fan, although I do like the voices and style. I think it works so well in the series.

And, yes, there are a lot of comments on Jason's pulchritudinous qualities. :mrgreen: A lot.

The one thing I will be a little picky on is ... eek ... diction. I know it's all about the gruff, softly spoken Yorkshireman, but there's a limit to what the human ear can detect at low frequencies. I am in constant awe of this man's ability to vary his voice, not only through accent but also timbre, tone and pitch - it's amazing - but we still need to be able to hear what is being said. I admit to struggling at times to pick up Jackson's dialogue. Rarely, but I did notice it and worried about it. But then, it's part of my job to get people to enunciate, maybe I'm just super-sensitive.

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by servalan » Mon May 27, 2013 6:11 am

You are right about the lack of clear enunciation, Laurielove. I needed subtitles from the word go - and like Jackson, I am from Yorkshire and live in Scotland, so no accent problems.

I enjoyed it because it was Jason and Edinburgh (and environs), and I was interested to see the way they worked into the story things from Kate's books that were missed out in series 1 - and the same will happen next week too, according to the inevitable trailer interrupting the credits (I hate that). But I felt the lack of Kate's compexity and quirkiness. It was easier to follow maybe, but something was missing for me.

One problem for me is that they always seem to be cramming too much into too short a time, in the last series and this one. Some events in this series have been resolved by someone telling a story about something that happened off screen, both last week and this week, even though this time they had no complicated plot to adapt.

It was interesting to see Jackson's new love interest was Dawn Steele, who played Lexie in Monarch of the Glen. I loved the scenes with Marlee, she's an excellent actress, and should go far if she wants to keep it up.

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by laurielove » Mon May 27, 2013 6:35 am

I know what you mean, although I think that too much has been made from the beginning about comparisons with the books, and the entire concept of adapting Case Histories for TV has suffered as a result. I've read the books, and enjoyed them as books, and I have tried to separate off my perception of them when watching a story told in a very different medium. I felt this week's episode probably worked the best as a Sunday night television drama out of any of the episodes from either series so far. Yes, there was not the biting human insight and observations of the books and some of the quirkiness was gone, but that did not detract from an hour and a half good quality story telling with interesting characters and a plot which kept you glued.

The entire production falls entirely on Jackson as a character and, as much as we love the guy, we're probably also Mr I's harshest critics, even if we don't voice it very openly on here. I'll be as picky as anyone with what he does, and, in this, I cannot fault his portrayal of Jackson. By that, I mean I believe in him completely and I ache for him and I am utterly entranced every time he's on screen. I just wish he'd speak up a bit occasionally! But then, that defines his character too. Jackson would be a mumbler and women everywhere would revel in the opportunity to berate him for it.

And, yes, agreed on the trailer for next week crashing into the credits. Grr. And, as much as I love the idea of Jackson's women descending on him, my heart sank a bit to see Natasha Little's character making a return. I find her and her blearily vacant but oddly calculating smile supremely annoying.

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by thunder » Mon May 27, 2013 1:16 pm

I thought this episode was easier to follow, because they didn't have to mix in all the story lines from the different books. This worked better for the TV format. I'm not sure I would have noticed it was written by someone else than Kate Atkinson if I hadn't known already. I liked the rest of it too. Interesting characters and great performances. :hands

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by crawfoc99 » Mon May 27, 2013 5:07 pm

I really enjoyed the second episode of series two. Even though it wasn't based on one of Kate Atkinson's novels, there was enough knowledge of Jackson Brodie and all the main characters to write an interesting story, which Emily Ballou did. There was still the same feeling to the episode, loss, relationships, etc. There was also more focus on Jackson I found, with a particular thread just for him.

I found the interaction between Jackson and Marlee particularly moving. Millie is superb as Marlee. She has grown into the role and Marlee is just so touching, trying to be independent, sassy and "grown up" causing no end of mystification for poor Jackson. Then the meeting at the bus station between them just broke my heart. I also particularly liked it that Marlee made him try Vegemite on toast (an Aussie/Kiwi tradition). I'm in complete agreement with Jackson. It's awful. I've never been a Vegemite person. Although we do keep a small jar of it in the cupboard for those who do (just in case).

It was wonderful to see Diana Quick and especially Mark Bonnar in this episode. Diana Quick always adds class to any role she takes and Mark Bonnar is a wonderful, very underrated Scottish actor. I'd love to see him on screen more. His character was very touching. I loved the interaction between Louise and Jackson at the drinks party at Louise and Patrick's. Jackson was suave, charming and extremely efficient. So totally not him. No wonder poor Louise didn't know what to do, whether to snog him or slap him LOL.

I didn't have many problems with the dialogue, I think I'm used to Jackson's low gruff speaking tones by now. I'll watch again tonight and see if there's anything in particular I couldn't understand.

BTW, loved Jackson's impersonation of a Scottish police superintendent. Very good way to get what he wanted from a green DS. ;-)

That's all from me, for now.

Hooroo,
Carole

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by LadySekhmet » Mon May 27, 2013 11:56 pm

Yay! I just watched it. Yes, that was an excellent episode. I'm in complete agreement about the feel and the writing. I was worried about how the 2nd episode would turn out, since it wasn't based on a book and that Jackson might not be Jackson anymore. It was very Atkinson-esque, and I'm glad that they reinserted more of Jackson's background back into the show. I did appreciate Jackson's complete mystification about (by?) his daughter. There are still topics my dad won't touch with a 10 foot pole (in fact, to this day, he hands off the phone to my step-mom for those moments). Good luck, Jackson, Marlee is going to run you ragged. lol. And it was very weird to watch an episode and be able to see Jackson's face bruise-free for 99.9% of the time (although we did have the requisite blood). Strangely, I was just involved in a detailed discussion concerning vegemite, marmite, and Bovril...weird.

I am also able to separate the books from the tv episodes, so things that are missing or changed really do not bother me because they seem to be able to do it well. And it's really hard to take a book with several complicated plot lines and turn it into a 90 minute show (just look at GoT and how much they have to chop for each season), so, for me, the tv adapations have been handled quite well- because -most importantly - I still like both the books and the shows.

Like Carole, I didn't have a problem with Jackson's dialect, and that's not because I'm curled up on my laptop keyboard to watch the show, but some of the other actor's accents slow me down occasionally (but I didn't have to use the subtitles thingie this week for them).

Although, it has been sort of refreshing to see Jackson become a bit of a...erm...butthead to Louise (because Jackson knows he screwed up big time and so he's being just human enough to blame the unblameable rather than place it where it truly belongs: himself), and to have her set him straight. (Go Louise!) While some ladies might not appreciate him being slightly more real life and slightly less pedestal perfect, it is nice to have to do some minor readjustments in viewing Jackson's character. For me, it makes him more rounded and real. Bravo, Jason and crew!

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by thunder » Tue May 28, 2013 3:09 am

laurielove wrote: And ... (drumroll, please) ... there was a Shirtless Moment. Huzzah! :woot All too brief. :tchuh: But plenty of time for screen caps. :brows
:lol I loved Louise's reaction when he opened the door. :shock: :oops: And it was kind of an awkward moment with Charlotte there as well. :bag:

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by catloveyes » Tue May 28, 2013 9:57 am

So lovely for you dear ladies to have made it into a wonderful scene in "Case Histories!!" FANTASTIC!!! :woot

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Re: Case Histories 2 reviews - SPOILERS!!!

Post by fruitbat » Tue May 28, 2013 11:10 am

Here is another review from The Guardian, Andrew Collins' video review.

It also includes reviews of last week's Mad Men, Treme and Game of Thrones. In order to avoid spoilers for those shows, begin watching the CH review at minute 4. It lasts until 7:07.

(He liked it.)

click

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