XxSlayerxX
The News Reporter
With elements borrowed liberally from Groundhog Day and Quantum Leap, a dash of Run, Lola, Run, and a sprinkling of The Sixth Sense thrown in for good measure, Tru Calling debuted in October 2003, offering a starring role to one-time bad girl slayer Eliza Dushku. Coming off a recurring role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Faith, Dushku squashed the rumors of a "Faith the slayer" television series (something I was secretly wishing for at the time, and still do) by stepping into the role of Tru Davies, a med school student who takes a gig on the midnight shift at the city morgue. It is here in what is lovingly referred to as The Crypt"”a holding place for "every unnatural death in the city""”that Tru discovers that sometimes the dead talk back, and it seems that she's the only one that can hear them.
But naturally that's not the half of it.
It is usually an impassioned and whispered "Help me!" from one of the stiffs"”generally delivered by a corpse (or in some cases plural) that suddenly pops its eyes open"”that inexplicably propels Tru back in time to relive the same day all over again, giving her the opportunity to try and prevent that particular unnatural death or deaths from occurring. So instead of kicking undead ass like Faith would have done, Dushku's Tru provides a reluctant service to certain newly departed, and in the process gets to change a rerun of the present day in order to impact the future by preventing an unnatural death.
While a sometimes logically spotty concept if you really were to think about it, I imagine that considering it is not exactly time travel that the usual rules of engagement (such as the time-honored chestnut that changing one thing in the past will affect all manner of future events) don't always have to apply, except of course when it is convenient for the storytelling. But as a regular one-hour series, the inconsistencies are largely glossed over in favor of Tru having to play amateur detective to try and save a life by piecing together vague clues, or poking her pretty nose into the lives of others.
The pilot episode was directed by feature film vet Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, The Bone Collector, Rabbit-Proof Fence), and quickly sets up the premise of Tru's unwelcome gift by introducing the recurring backstory of her dead mother, who was murdered in front of her when Tru was only 12. It is also here that we first meet the siblings"”Harrison (Shawn Reaves), a cocky, street-smart type, and Meredith (Jessica Collins), Tru's coke-addicted lawyer sis, who each are struggling with their set of issues; there is also the quasi-tragicomic relief role of Davis (Zach Galifianakis), Tru's boss at the morgue who alternates between bouts of frustrated puppy-eyed woo and dry, sardonic wit. It's an interesting mix of supporting players for Tru to interact with, and though the show has the added plus of introducing a whole round of new characters each week, the strongest moments are between the regulars, with Zach Galifianakis, he of the bitterly sarcastic wit, the one I enjoy seeing the most. Plus, after seeing Jessica Collins free-flowing nudity in The Ranch, I now have a difficult time focusing on what's coming out of her mouth. But that's my problem.
I can tolerate intermittent structural flaws and logic gaffes"”I did regularly watch Buffy for seven seasons, after all"”and series television is generally ripe with it. Sometimes it smacks of simply shoddy writing, and sometimes it is probably just easier to more or less ignore the obvious for the sake of keeping the show buoyant, and hoping that no one notices. Such is the case with Tru Calling, where a few of the weaker episodes tend to highlight some of the looser story elements (why don't all unnatural deaths call out to her?) that just don't seem as glaring during some of the stronger installments, like those that come in the tail end of the 20-episode run on this first season set.
Most of the "mysteries" that Tru encounters along the way are not especially difficult to figure out before she does, and the red herrings that pop up are usually quite apparent as such. But believe it or not, that doesn't diminish the enjoyment of Tru Calling, and as long as we all know that this is empty calorie entertainment about a woman who can relive a day to save a dead person, then there's no harm in it.
The series is fun in that mindless kind of way that network television can sometimes deliver when it wants to, and as much as I generally detest any show that tries to work a main character's name in as some kind of clever play on words in the title, I do happen to really like this show.
It's far from perfect, but when it's good, it's very good.
Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: B
Source: http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=6702
But naturally that's not the half of it.
It is usually an impassioned and whispered "Help me!" from one of the stiffs"”generally delivered by a corpse (or in some cases plural) that suddenly pops its eyes open"”that inexplicably propels Tru back in time to relive the same day all over again, giving her the opportunity to try and prevent that particular unnatural death or deaths from occurring. So instead of kicking undead ass like Faith would have done, Dushku's Tru provides a reluctant service to certain newly departed, and in the process gets to change a rerun of the present day in order to impact the future by preventing an unnatural death.
While a sometimes logically spotty concept if you really were to think about it, I imagine that considering it is not exactly time travel that the usual rules of engagement (such as the time-honored chestnut that changing one thing in the past will affect all manner of future events) don't always have to apply, except of course when it is convenient for the storytelling. But as a regular one-hour series, the inconsistencies are largely glossed over in favor of Tru having to play amateur detective to try and save a life by piecing together vague clues, or poking her pretty nose into the lives of others.
The pilot episode was directed by feature film vet Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, The Bone Collector, Rabbit-Proof Fence), and quickly sets up the premise of Tru's unwelcome gift by introducing the recurring backstory of her dead mother, who was murdered in front of her when Tru was only 12. It is also here that we first meet the siblings"”Harrison (Shawn Reaves), a cocky, street-smart type, and Meredith (Jessica Collins), Tru's coke-addicted lawyer sis, who each are struggling with their set of issues; there is also the quasi-tragicomic relief role of Davis (Zach Galifianakis), Tru's boss at the morgue who alternates between bouts of frustrated puppy-eyed woo and dry, sardonic wit. It's an interesting mix of supporting players for Tru to interact with, and though the show has the added plus of introducing a whole round of new characters each week, the strongest moments are between the regulars, with Zach Galifianakis, he of the bitterly sarcastic wit, the one I enjoy seeing the most. Plus, after seeing Jessica Collins free-flowing nudity in The Ranch, I now have a difficult time focusing on what's coming out of her mouth. But that's my problem.
I can tolerate intermittent structural flaws and logic gaffes"”I did regularly watch Buffy for seven seasons, after all"”and series television is generally ripe with it. Sometimes it smacks of simply shoddy writing, and sometimes it is probably just easier to more or less ignore the obvious for the sake of keeping the show buoyant, and hoping that no one notices. Such is the case with Tru Calling, where a few of the weaker episodes tend to highlight some of the looser story elements (why don't all unnatural deaths call out to her?) that just don't seem as glaring during some of the stronger installments, like those that come in the tail end of the 20-episode run on this first season set.
Most of the "mysteries" that Tru encounters along the way are not especially difficult to figure out before she does, and the red herrings that pop up are usually quite apparent as such. But believe it or not, that doesn't diminish the enjoyment of Tru Calling, and as long as we all know that this is empty calorie entertainment about a woman who can relive a day to save a dead person, then there's no harm in it.
The series is fun in that mindless kind of way that network television can sometimes deliver when it wants to, and as much as I generally detest any show that tries to work a main character's name in as some kind of clever play on words in the title, I do happen to really like this show.
It's far from perfect, but when it's good, it's very good.
Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: B
Source: http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=6702