Year: 2006

Tricky one this. Not just because I keep wanting to write “Sixth-episode verdict: The Three Degrees”. No, the trouble is I’ve been sucked in now.

It’s not a terribly exciting show. The freaky coincidences are dying down and the implied pairings-off that looked inevitable have now gone into remission, making the possibly supernatural aspects of the show less of a draw.

It’s really the characters and the actors that are the draw. The writing’s good and manages to avoid most clichés, although the characters themselves are somewhat clichéd in concept. The ensemble cast is a whole lot better than on some shows I could mention (eg Jericho). And you do actually want to find out what happens to everyone.

If you want to avoid being sucked in, don’t watch. I don’t want to watch, but now I have to.

Shark, the legal version of House (I’m not saying that House is illegal, only that Shark is about lawyers), has continued from weakness to weakness over the past few episodes. James Woods, who has been the show’s only real acting asset since the first episode, is still the only thing really worth watching about the show.

The producers have done their best to liven things up, with a new office and the introduction of a new investigator to the team, but the second and third episodes left me in a state of extreme torpor. The plots are dull, the legal sneakery just isn’t as good as Justice‘s and the characters are uninvolving.

I might still watch further episodes, simply to watch James Woods, but if you don’t like him, I’d say there’s nothing for you in this show worth watching. Sorry.