MattPeddlesden
Kent, UK
Different Crime Thriller
Short: Based in the 112 Emergency Call Center this one has a bit of a different premise which starts to look like a really interesting incident-per-episode but after a couple, it becomes a fairly standard police crime thriller where the team leader of the call center is going out in the field to chase bad guys... It's fun, the bad guy is ruthless, but there's a ton of inconsistencies. Recommended but don't expect a flawless story. Cast are on point.
Detail:
I had expectations of this one being different and for the first two or three episodes it really starts to deliver, they create this high energy moment when she presses the button and announces "Code Zero!" and everyone shifts gear, with the call center suddenly becoming the HQ coordination point for a remote team of police officers out aiming to resolve whatever the issue is within the "Golden Time" (the time that means highest success for saving lives). However, there's a back story of the male leads wife being murdered, and the female leads father being murdered - and this fairly rapidly takes over the story, leaving the Emergency Center concept for dust (mostly).
Overall, I want to say that I have really quite enjoyed it so I'll say that now just to put everything that follows in to some perspective. Definitely worth a watch if you're interested in the crime thriller genre, and particularly if you like really well depicted psycho bad guys (which this one really is). The story takes a few twists and misdirects you into who the bad guy is and a couple of other things, so it keeps you guessing. It's not the most complex of stories, but I felt it was highly entertaining.
Ok, so the flaws.
What the heck is the team leader for the 112 Emergency Center doing going out in the field ALL THE TIME ? She abandons her post frequently! It's as ludicrous as on Star Trek when the captain keeps going off on away missions, it just wouldn't happen, you're the boss, you're quite important, sit down and trust your team :)
She wants to hire two specific people when she forms the Golden Time team. One of them a former white hat hacker, he accepts and his value and contribution is totally clear throughout. He's the guy who can instantly access anything anywhere even if in reality such things just aren't online, but, let's not worry about that, it's "magic" and he's awesome :) It keeps the plot moving at a good pace. However, the other one initially says no and goes back to the Airport Police she was based at - during one of the 112 incidents however something happens and it makes her realise that joining the Golden Time team is where she really wants to be, brilliant moment, love it... but... I don't think she actually brought anything new to the team at all when she joined. She's supposed to be this great officer with multi lingual skills but she contributes nothing unique to the team in the slightest so I was left wondering why the female lead was so bothered about getting her on the team.
Last one - she has this unique ability with fantastic hearing, she can hear things nobody else can to the point that she has padded her room out with sound proofing (well, in reality it's actually echo proofing not sound proofing but... we'll let that slide) and sometimes she can tell the most amazing unrealistic things like listening through a mobile phone speaker she can tell if the ML needs to go left or right to navigate! Other times, it seems like her hearing is less good when that good hearing would be inconvenient to the story.
I'm of mixed opinion as to how I think it should have gone. On the one hand, I now *really* want a weekly procedural drama based around the call center (someone tell me if it exists :) ) but on the other I do quite like the overall plotline of this one and how it developed. As silly as it is for the call center team leader to keep going out in the field it did move things along nicely.
As I say, overall I enjoyed it. It's not without its flaws but it was entertaining and I am definitely looking forward to starting Season 2. This story *does* fully conclude, don't be concerned about the presence of subsequent seasons, Season 1 is properly finished. I have no idea if that holds true for future seasons but for this one, we're all good. :)
Detail:
I had expectations of this one being different and for the first two or three episodes it really starts to deliver, they create this high energy moment when she presses the button and announces "Code Zero!" and everyone shifts gear, with the call center suddenly becoming the HQ coordination point for a remote team of police officers out aiming to resolve whatever the issue is within the "Golden Time" (the time that means highest success for saving lives). However, there's a back story of the male leads wife being murdered, and the female leads father being murdered - and this fairly rapidly takes over the story, leaving the Emergency Center concept for dust (mostly).
Overall, I want to say that I have really quite enjoyed it so I'll say that now just to put everything that follows in to some perspective. Definitely worth a watch if you're interested in the crime thriller genre, and particularly if you like really well depicted psycho bad guys (which this one really is). The story takes a few twists and misdirects you into who the bad guy is and a couple of other things, so it keeps you guessing. It's not the most complex of stories, but I felt it was highly entertaining.
Ok, so the flaws.
What the heck is the team leader for the 112 Emergency Center doing going out in the field ALL THE TIME ? She abandons her post frequently! It's as ludicrous as on Star Trek when the captain keeps going off on away missions, it just wouldn't happen, you're the boss, you're quite important, sit down and trust your team :)
She wants to hire two specific people when she forms the Golden Time team. One of them a former white hat hacker, he accepts and his value and contribution is totally clear throughout. He's the guy who can instantly access anything anywhere even if in reality such things just aren't online, but, let's not worry about that, it's "magic" and he's awesome :) It keeps the plot moving at a good pace. However, the other one initially says no and goes back to the Airport Police she was based at - during one of the 112 incidents however something happens and it makes her realise that joining the Golden Time team is where she really wants to be, brilliant moment, love it... but... I don't think she actually brought anything new to the team at all when she joined. She's supposed to be this great officer with multi lingual skills but she contributes nothing unique to the team in the slightest so I was left wondering why the female lead was so bothered about getting her on the team.
Last one - she has this unique ability with fantastic hearing, she can hear things nobody else can to the point that she has padded her room out with sound proofing (well, in reality it's actually echo proofing not sound proofing but... we'll let that slide) and sometimes she can tell the most amazing unrealistic things like listening through a mobile phone speaker she can tell if the ML needs to go left or right to navigate! Other times, it seems like her hearing is less good when that good hearing would be inconvenient to the story.
I'm of mixed opinion as to how I think it should have gone. On the one hand, I now *really* want a weekly procedural drama based around the call center (someone tell me if it exists :) ) but on the other I do quite like the overall plotline of this one and how it developed. As silly as it is for the call center team leader to keep going out in the field it did move things along nicely.
As I say, overall I enjoyed it. It's not without its flaws but it was entertaining and I am definitely looking forward to starting Season 2. This story *does* fully conclude, don't be concerned about the presence of subsequent seasons, Season 1 is properly finished. I have no idea if that holds true for future seasons but for this one, we're all good. :)
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