Ask Matt: Lamenting a TV Hero’s Fate on ‘FBI: Most Wanted’
Welcome to the Q&A with TV critic — also known to some TV fans as their “TV therapist” — Matt Roush, who’ll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today’s vast TV landscape. (We know background music is too loud, but there’s always closed-captioning.)
One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won’t be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it’s already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected] (or use the form at the end of the column) and follow me on Twitter (@TVGMMattRoush). Look for Ask Matt columns on many Tuesdays and Fridays.
Most Wanted: A Happier Ending
Question: [Spoiler Alert] It’s one thing for an actor to want to leave a show for a number of reasons, but why did FBI: Most Wanted have to kill off Julian McMahon’s character of Jess LaCroix? Why couldn’t he just retire and go “free birding” with his lady love, Sarah? I’m also not happy about Dylan McDermott taking over as leader of the team. — Phyllis L
Matt Roush: Let’s wait to judge Dylan McDermott until he actually joins the show next month. They could do far worse. But I’m not sure the show could have chosen a way to write out McMahon from Most Wanted — which was his choice to leave — that would be more guaranteed to upset fans, at least judging from the volume of outraged e-mails I’ve received since Jess’s fatal shooting in the March 8 episode. I typically defend producers’ right to kill off characters, however prominent, if the decision has dramatic impact, and this surely will. But for CBS to announce the actor’s departure so publicly and they deny his character a hero’s happy ending just comes off as cruel. I much prefer this sort of twist to come as a surprise, which would have meant shrouding the star’s exit until it happened.
But as someone who has previously championed shows like the UK’s MI-5, which never hesitated about putting major characters in harm’s way — often terminally — I’ll share part of TV Insider’s interview with showrunner and executive producer David Hudgins, who defended the move as befitting the show’s premise: “We chase the worst of the worst, the most dangerous of the dangerous, and one of the risks of that job is getting hurt or killed in the line of duty. We felt that (Jess’s death) was something that was emotional, something that was dramatic and shocking and, in a way, also honorable.” It might have been even more so if they hadn’t telegraphed Jess leaving before delivering the fatal blow.
Joe, We Hardly Knew Ya
Commentary: I think I’m getting near the end of watching network TV as yet another series is canceled without letting the audience that followed it have an end to its storyline. I’m speaking this time of NBC’s Ordinary Joe, which followed the story of a guy whose life could have gone one of three ways. Now that the series has been canceled, yet again we’ll never know what the writers had in mind had it continued. This to me shows disrespect for those who spent their time watching (no matter how few episodes there may have been) and invested a following throughout. The least the network could do is give some closure so we at least could have treated it as a miniseries and not wasted our time following the story with no ending. Ugh! And they wonder why we wait and see it via streaming when we know how many seasons there were before investing! — Lee F, Norristown, Pa.
Matt Roush: Cuing my broken record: Yes, it’s a shame that broadcast networks seem unable to support shows that try something as different as Ordinary Joe, but to turn away from network TV as if they’re the only ones that ever cancel shows can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy that will result in the networks never trying anything new. (This won’t be a problem if your ambitions never rise above all-franchise nights like FBI Tuesdays and Chicago Wednesdays.)
While far from perfect, Ordinary Joe at least attempted to tell an emotional life story from multiple angles. I’m not entirely shocked at its early demise, because much of the feedback I got indicated many viewers found the parallel universes hard to follow (even with the color-coding), and because there was no indication that any one of Joe’s paths was going to be declared the “right” one, the stakes were somewhat muddled. But as long as I’ve been watching TV, there has always been the inherent risk that unless a new favorite show breaks through — which is even harder in today’s fragmented market — it will live on a bubble that’s all too easily burst.
Question: I was shocked to learn that Ordinary Joe has been canceled. I was engrossed in the storyline and then show went off for some weeks. The next thing I know is the show has been canceled. What happened? –Jim
Matt Roush: As usual, low ratings doomed Ordinary Joe, but to NBC’s credit, all 13 episodes originally ordered were aired in the same Monday time period. (ABC’s Promised Land wasn’t so lucky, with the remainder of its first and only season shuffled off to Hulu.) Joe’s season ended in January, and when there was no word about an additional episode order, let alone renewal, its fate was pretty much sealed.
Don’t Bail on The Dropout
Comment: I am trying to get through The Dropout on Hulu, but finding it difficult through the first two episodes. This despite the generally excellent performances and compelling storytelling. The problem I’m having, oddly enough, is with Amanda Seyfried‘s performance, as good as it is. Maybe it’s the way the character is written, rather than her performance, but there is a puppy-like innocence in the character as Seyfried plays her. I’m hoping that this is just to more deeply highlight the transformation into the con artist she turned out to be. But through the first episode and a half, this is NOT the Elizabeth Holmes we met in HBO’s The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley. — Rick C
Matt Roush: I hope you’ve stuck with it, because Amanda Seyfried’s transformation into the Elizabeth Holmes the public came to know is very much the point of dramatizing this story. What would be the purpose if she just copied what we’ve already seen? The first episodes are meant to portray Holmes’ almost demonic drive to become someone, and the mix of naivety with arrogance makes what comes later more credible. The Dropout attempts to walk that fine line of humanizing someone without appearing to sympathize with the traits that ultimately made her a notorious symbol of scientific fraud.
Giving the New Guy a Chance
Question: What are you hearing from viewers about the big changes on the original NCIS? I’m enjoying the show more than I have in a long time. Gibbs’ “Gloomy Gus” carrying-on was dragging the whole show down. I think that the writers ran out of storylines for the character. Trying to keep his emotionally constipated persona engaged would challenge anyone. I hope viewers give Gary Cole a chance. In real life, people leave jobs, the other workers adapt, and the world continues to turn. Seeing that on a long-running show just makes sense. — Clare P
Matt Roush: One constant when it comes to long-running TV shows is that fans tend to resist change, and when a character is as iconic as Mark Harmon’s Jethro Gibbs, that feeling grows exponentially. Which is a way of saying that I admire your bravery in suggesting that NCIS may even have benefited from the change in leadership, in freshening up the franchise. Of course, there was pushback and backlash at the start of the season — look at the abuse Dylan McDermott is already getting, and he hasn’t even joined FBI: Most Wanted ye t —but Gary Cole was an inspired choice to fill Gibbs’ shoes. This actor is adept at drama and comedy and has been a familiar and welcome presence on TV for decades. From what I can glean from my mailbag and reaction from people I know who are still devoted to NCIS, most seem to have accepted the change and recognize that with the exception of a very few original characters, the series has evolved into an entirely new ensemble. It’s not the same as the NCIS millions embraced back in 2003, but what show is in its 19th season?
When TV Plays Ball Against Baseball
Comment: Your recent comment about how perhaps someday the networks will run new episodes of its expensive series against the Winter Olympics because it’s no longer a colossal Super Bowl-sized audience draw made me reflect about the World Series. Over a decade ago, all the networks would immediately program a rerun-filled week against the World Series. But that practice has stopped, perhaps because the World Series has also drifted into November sweeps whereas it used to be exclusively an October phenomenon. — Rob R
Matt Roush: Yes, much as we can applaud Major League Baseball for finally getting its season up and running, it’s hard to remember when this was still the Greatest TV Pastime, and with the TV audience so much more fragmented than in baseball’s glory days, it makes no sense for the other networks to suspend episodes so early in the season on behalf of the playoffs and World Series. That could always change should the teams and players once again turn the Series into a phenomenon, which would be cool. But given the length of the baseball season, and the ever-churning state of TV, this seems unlikely.
And Finally …
Question: The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards was listed under Prime Video as a live special on Monday, March 7 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Why was it not shown on regular TV? And will it be shown in the near future? –Marion
Matt Roush: I hate to break it to you, but streaming is now “regular TV” where much of the industry is concerned, though it’s undeniable that moving a country-music awards show off of CBS (where it had aired since 1998) to exclusively streaming on a major platform is one of the more visible signs of our changing times. This was something of a historic sea change, being the first major awards show to make such a move, which happened because of slipping ratings in recent years — the overabundance of country awards shows could be a contributing factor — and because deep-pocketed Amazon ponied up for the license fee, as it is doing for other live events including sports programming. This probably won’t be the last awards show to migrate to the streaming world. And as far as I can tell, this is only available to watch on Prime Video and is not scheduled to air on a “regular” network.
That’s all for now. We can’t do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected] or shoot me a line on Twitter (@TVGMMattRoush), and you can also submit questions via the handy form below. (Please include a first name with your question.)
FBI: Most Wanted where to stream
