'Chance' has a great plot concept. A respected shrink - Hugh Laurie - falls for a female patient with multiple personalities - Grechen Mol - and falls so hard that he inserts himself between her and her abusive husband (who happens to be a cop). Added to this is that the shrink hires a crazed army veteran and all-around-killer to (a) protect him from the abusive cop and (b) help him free the abused wife from her situation. Now add that the shrink clearly has emotional problems himself. And has a teenage daughter whose problems mirror those of her shrink father.
Not bad. Right?
Except, it is. Oh not at first. But as the ten episodes progress we find that the plot seems to loosen, become flabby. There are red-herrings / blind alleys. There are events that take place off-screen that, were they seen by the viewer, might have added to the suspense. There is a hint that the story-line might have changed during production and so rather than seeing events, the viewer is simply told that they occurred.
The multiple personality angle does not work; perhaps it was Ms. Mol's inability to pull it off, but her character's personalities were far too similar to one another. Characters do 'the stupid'; make the wrong choices. Not once, not twice, but again and again. And as result instead of caring about the character(s), we shake our heads in frustration. Even worse, disbelief.
And finally, the ending. Bad, bad, bad. Yes there are revelations. Yes. But they make no more sense than the terrible plot-devices that led to the conclusion.
I watched the first Season knowing of it's poor ratings (by many). I thought it might be so cheesy that it'd be worth a laugh; worth the watching.
It wasn't.
It isn't.
Not bad. Right?
Except, it is. Oh not at first. But as the ten episodes progress we find that the plot seems to loosen, become flabby. There are red-herrings / blind alleys. There are events that take place off-screen that, were they seen by the viewer, might have added to the suspense. There is a hint that the story-line might have changed during production and so rather than seeing events, the viewer is simply told that they occurred.
The multiple personality angle does not work; perhaps it was Ms. Mol's inability to pull it off, but her character's personalities were far too similar to one another. Characters do 'the stupid'; make the wrong choices. Not once, not twice, but again and again. And as result instead of caring about the character(s), we shake our heads in frustration. Even worse, disbelief.
And finally, the ending. Bad, bad, bad. Yes there are revelations. Yes. But they make no more sense than the terrible plot-devices that led to the conclusion.
I watched the first Season knowing of it's poor ratings (by many). I thought it might be so cheesy that it'd be worth a laugh; worth the watching.
It wasn't.
It isn't.