Both the offerings in this week’s Yesflix/Noflix are being taken from the ‘L’ category of TV shows. You might wonder why ‘L’, why not ‘B’, or ‘F’? This week ‘L’ is representing the present source of happiness and pain in my life; namely, laughter and lumbar!
I’ll give you a second to figure out which one is the good one and which one is the bad while I adjust my back support.
The problem with some shows is that they may start off interesting enough but over the course of time the repetition and glaring issues become impossible to ignore. Like back pain that starts as a manageable ache you think you can work through, only to slowly become unbearable. Some things are just best avoided lest you end up with a pain in your ass. Thankfully, we at The Arcade subject ourselves to these things so you don’t have to.
Noflix – Lie To Me
Initially, my interest was tweaked by the premise of the show. In it you follow Cal Lightman (Tim Roth), a specialist when it comes to reading people’s expressions and body language, and he’s looking to catch out a few liars and solve a few crimes with his team all the while dragging his daughter in tow. 
On paper it has all the potential of any decent script driven drama but it just falls flat on its face more times than not with an incredibly poor, directionless execution. The episodes begin and end in a similar format with little deviation; a crime is committed, someone questioned and then they seem to spend an ungodly time explaining the facial twitches over and over, before finally pointing a finger at the culprit. Over time the episodes start blurring together with the perpetual sense of “I’m sure I’ve watched this episode already”. To make the boring matters infinitely more intolerable the secondary characters are blander than snow flavored ice-cream and most of the time I question myself as to whether they can actually act or I’m hallucinating them entirely.
The story arcs are two-dimensional with the full hefty weight of the shows draw landing squarely on the shoulders of the lead Tim Roth. Bless him he does try with this character. He has all the best lines and most of the interesting interactions but unfortunately, that’s not enough to build a whole show on and it falters as a result of him dragging the rest of the cast along behind him as dead weight. Throw in some lack-lustre writing and a script so awkward at times I cringe and you’ll easily see why the show got cancelled. I’d avoid this one. At best it’s just mediocre and when you’ve the likes of Bones, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and classics like House on TV, what’s the point of wasting time better spent?
Fans of House, Bones and CSI: Las Vegas will HATE this!
YesFlix – Lilyhammer
“Didn’t you see the Olympics of ’94?“
The premise of this show couldn’t get any more bizarre and my viewing life is the better for it. Lilyhammer is a sharp black comedy about gangster turned informant Frank Tagliano (Steven Van Zandt – yes, of the E Street Band), who when offered a choice of cities to start his new life in witness protection, chooses Lillehammer in Norway. Why would an American mobster want to go to Norway, you might ask? Well, as Frank explains he saw it during the televised Winter Olympics in 1994 and thought it looked like the place for him. Unfortunately, his old school gangster ways are more difficult to leave behind and his troubles in America soon catch up to the quiet inhabitants of the town.
Lilyhammer is more than the culture clash spectacle it appears at a glance. As I sit here writing this piece I recall some little in-house jokes I’d forgotten and suddenly realize the writers were laughing at the audience, while we were laughing at the characters. The story is beyond incredible without feeling convoluted and the dialogue and interactions on screen are brilliant despite the fact that you’re switching back and forth from English to Norwegian. Frank is a dry, funny character that I love, hate and love-to-hate and as the show progresses you begin to realize that maybe he’s more Norwegian at heart than we would have ever assumed at the beginning.
Lilyhammer is as edgy and dark as it is funny, while being socially and culturally relevant with its subtle satirical roots. It’s a show with wit and humor and an on the nose understanding of the funnier sides of culture.
Fans of Fargo and The Sopranos will LOVE this!
