Customer Reviews

Profiler - Season 3

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

BACKGROUND: Dr. Samantha ("Sam") Waters (played by Ally Walker) used to be a forensic psychologist/profiler for the FBI until a serial killer obsessed with her, called "Jack-of-all Trades" ("Jack"), killed her husband. She quit the Bureau & went into hiding. Sam & her daughter, Chloe (played by Caitlin Wachs), had been living with Angel (Sam's best friend; played by Erica Gimpel), an artist. Sam made ends meet as a photographer until her mentor & friend, Bailey Malone (played by Robert Davi), asked her to help the FBI solve a series of murders at the same time when "Jack" resurfaces. After the suspect of the murders had been caught, Bailey asked Sam to rejoin the FBI on a full-time basis. Sam agreed but she set certain conditions. The new FBI unit, headed by Bailey Malone, was called the Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF). The VCTF was in charge of investigating & solving violent crimes all over the US - this included tracking down the elusive "Jack" who continually taunted Sam.

SESASON 3 (some spoilers): In the end of Season 2, the audience was left with a cliffhanger - in the jail where Sam eventually kills Jill (played by Traci Lords). The third season picks up from where Season 2 ended but it takes on a different route (which was weak compared to the previous two seasons). The storylines were not very interesting especially that "Jack" was caught in the first episode of Season 3.

Furthermore, there were a number of major inconsistencies: (1) Marcus Payton (played by Shiek Mahmud-Bey), who had a significant part in the final episodes of Season 2, was nonexistent (the character's departure was never explained), (2) Chloe's age was moved up 3 years (from 8 years old to 11 years old) even though in the timeline of the show, there was no 3-year interval (the season begins right where Season 2 ended), & (3) Sam's religion was suddenly changed from Catholic (emphasized in Season 1 - the episodes "Unholy Alliance" & "I'll Be Watching You") to Baptist (shown in the first episode of Season 3 - "Coronation").

Since "Jack" was caught, Sam, Chloe, & Angel moved out of the safe house. Sam bought a house where she & Chloe lived while Angel moved someplace else. Hence, there were only a few episodes that included Angel (compared to the first two seasons).

Sam had a love interest (with someone from the District Attorney's office prosecuting "Jack's" case) in Season 3 but the chemistry just wasn't there (not like in Season 1 - with Sam & Coop (played by A Martinez)).

In my opinion, the two good episodes in Season 3 were "Otis, California" (where there is a "surprise" involving "Jack") & "Burnt Offerings".

Season 3 ended with Sam being kidnapped by "Jack" & Bailey being shot by "Jack".

The 3rd Season was a disappointment especially if you had watched the first two seasons. A great show became an average show - a show that one would watch because of being a fan from the start of the series &/or in the hope that the storyline would improve.

OTHER COMMENTS: In the beginning, "Profiler" was an exceptional series. It had a female lead: an FBI agent working as a profiler that was BRILLIANTLY played by Ally Walker. Ms. Walker was able to portray Samantha Waters as a strong & intelligent woman without sacrificing the character's femininity. She convincingly played a mother (to Chloe) & friend (to those around her). Samantha Waters was one of the best female characters that have ever appeared on TV. I loved the fact that "Sam", with all her problems, still had a good sense of humor (especially around Bailey). While watching the series, one could really feel for what "Sam" was going through. As for the other characters in the show, a viewer could sense that the core VCTF team (Sam, Bailey, Grace, John, & George) was like family. This could only happen with a great supporting cast. The series was very successful in integrating a short plot (good for a 1 hour show) & a long sub-plot (the "Jack" storyline). I don't know why so many changes were made during Season 3.

The show lasted for 4 seasons on NBC but Ally Walker only stayed on until the 1st 2 episodes of the 4th Season. The new profiler for the remainder of the 4th Season was played by Jamie Luner. With all due respect to Ms. Luner, in my opinion, Ally Walker was the one & only profiler.

Even if Season 3 is weaker than Seasons 1 & 2, I'm happy that "Profiler" Season 3 is now available to pre-order on DVD. I hope that the last season of the show will also be made available in DVD format so I can complete my collection.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this show.... it's amazing. However, it turned in the season. Instead of the dark lighting, wardrobe, and intriguing way we were seeing things as they developed in the first two seasons.... now we're stuck with the "lightened" version, and now we know who the killer is in the first 10 minutes. We see much less of Sam and the VCTF agents, and much more of the killer and their lives.... it takes the fun out of it. We used to be kept in suspense until the last moments of the show, as we figured things out as Sam was.... not only that, but she lost some of her brilliance and perceptiveness, and falls for alot of things that season 1 and 2 sam wouldn't have.. ****SPOILER**** i.e. in Otis, California when we meet the sherriff, and it's blatantly obvious that his voice is the same as Jack's..... Sam would've known his voice the second she heard it... but anyway, yeah it lost its appeal, but I still love it because Ally Walker is amazing in this show.

I ordered this DVD set with great excitement. I waited VERY impatiently for it to arrive. When it finally did I tore open the box and happily placed the first disc into my DVD player. That's when my emotions hit rock bottom. None of the episodes are captioned, that's bad news to a deaf t.v. junkie. The fact had not even entered my mind that they wouldn't be captioned so it was a great shock to me. The television shows are all captioned, all the several t.v. shows I own on DVD are all captioned. Why would such a well know distributor of fine shows like A&E release a show without captioning it? They are the final losers though. Take a look at the percentage of deaf and hearing impaired in our nation. A&E are shooting themselves in the foot by not making it available to those hundreds of thousands. Yes, not just a few, a multitude.

SPOILER ALERT:

Season 3 of Profiler immediately started out as a terrible disappointment because of the "capture" of Jack-of-all-Trades, an integral character to the series. I lost interest once Jack was arrested, but not for just the obvious reason that many of the first two seasons' shows centered on him, but because it was clear that the Jack who was caught was not the same Jack we had been treated to from the beginning of the series. I was upset that TPTB in this show thought we as viewers to were too dim to realize that whoever that guy was, he was not Jack. Moreover, the delightful little girl who played Chloe was recast an older, less interesting actress with no explanation given, we also saw the essential elimination of the character of Angel, Sam's best friend from childhood, and the person who had been living with her since the death of Sam's husband. Although the writers corrected the Jack problem towards the end of the season, IMHO, it was too little too late, because the faux capture wound up making Sam and the rest of her team look like fools for not realizing what we the audience knew -- that whoever they had caughat, it was not Jack. While I don't know if this change in story was a result of a dispute with the actor who played Jack, the dawning that the audience was not fooled, or the realization that Ally was leaving and a possbile long-term plan had to be altered, the show was effectively done in with the first few episodes of the season.

This show is the reason that Criminal Minds is so good now. I love the Jack 'o' all trades character and how that has spanned 3 seasons. I love the characters, most of all Samantha.

This Profiler series is well worth the money spent. I enjoyed the weekly program when it was on t.v. and was pleased to find the season on dvd. Two to three times a month I will pull out the collection and watch at least one of the titles on the dvd series. It never gets old to me.

Chloe ages with no explanation. Angel all but disappears. They out right copy "Silence of the Lambs" after "Jack s captured, even to the point of stealing a line right from the movie. Sam remians insecure and unable to carry on an adult conversation. Malone's daughter disappers after we have watched two seasons of family struggles.

Arrived very, very early and it was brand-spanking new as indicated by the seller and I was extremely happy...I will use this seller again and again."You go boy/girl"

Much darker than almost any series you'll ever watch and Ally walker, robert davi, and the rest of the cast are perfectly cast. I just wish it would have stayed on longer than it did.