Customer Reviews

Trial and Retribution: Set 2

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

 

 

Loved season one and found the police procedural part compelling but frankly got more interested in the relationship between chain smoking Mike and lanky Pat....fascinated by how she could stand the guy!!! Anyway, this is a first rate mystery, procedural, character series. Each part is well done whether its the who done it, how are they found out and who's involved. The characters are well drawn and richly fleshed out. Mike is a bit of an enigma and that just makes the show more engaging. The second set is every bit as exciting as the first.

Season Two is not as good as season one but hold on, as this show is just hitting its stride so that by season three it is terrific. This season presents a very good serial murder story but it doesn't do anything gound breaking yet. The serial murderer is very clever. He has his wife cover for him, his girlfriend, his child, a retarded man and two brothers. Our detectives are able to press his prosecution after he mistakenly leaves one victim alive. However with all the covering up by all of these other people it is an up hill battle. There is more courtroom aspect to this one than any of the others and some are going to find that a little tedious after awhile. There is a dynamite resolution, however, so hang in there.

Each and every Trial & Retribution is a classic, a masterpiece. I am anxiously awaiting the upcoming latest set being released June 15 on Amazon. I love the character studies, the twists, the turns, the personalities. Once you start watching, you will be hooked. I am.

This is not a mere sedate version of "Law and Order" or "CSI," although the general tenor is similar.

From Britain comes this saga of crime investigation and court trial of prime suspects. The stories open after discovery of a body or its member part. Slow, tedious and, at times fruitless, investigation follows. Forensics weigh in as also plain gum shoe grunt work. The lawyers take over once a case is brought in to the courts. While all this seems familiar to us, fed on years of Law & Order or CSI, "Trial & Retribution" is much more than just a stretched out transatlantic version. There is ample time for development of suspicions, hints, misdirected leads, disappointments and victories.

The pace is slow enough to taste the nuances, learn to love or hate the personalities, test our own theories and simply enjoy the conversational subtleties. Access to the latest high-tech equipment is neither assured nor easy, civility calls for a soft touch during questioning, and love and hatred are not compressed into 30 second snippets. Their courtroom dramatics are not temper tantrums but a delightful coda that mixes rapier thrusts of wit and gracious concessions.

Lt. Columbo and Ben Matlock would be our closest counterparts who will match the leading characters from "Trial & Retribution." The crimes are the same -murder, distortion, lust and greed, its perpetrators are just as pathological as ours, and the consequences are also similar. The face of deviancy is no different across the pond. We hear the Brits tell their tales in a voice that is some times a refreshing contrast to what Hollywood has habituated us. Familiarity with the actors or British penal system is not at all a requirement to enjoy this series. I must hurry to mention that I have not watched the other sets than this one; therefore immunity against ennui is not a guarantee.

Each episode is almost 3 hours long. Abandon your hurries and allow the drama, words and actions take you on a less traveled journey