{"id":5701,"date":"2016-07-13T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5701"},"modified":"2016-06-22T18:25:52","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T01:25:52","slug":"mark-watches-terriers-episode-1-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/07\/mark-watches-terriers-episode-1-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Terriers’: Episode 1 – Pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first episode of\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>, I thought this was a show about dogs and technically, it kind of is. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Hello, friends! I am glad I had no idea what I was in for because WHAT THE HELL.<\/p>\n

If this is your first time here at Mark Watches, hello! Take some time to read these basic rules first before participating, and enjoy the experience.<\/p>\n

1) Spoilers are not allowed in any form on Mark Watches<\/b>. Please refrain from ever posting (in normal text) any sort of spoiler or reference to future storylines or developments while commenting on this site. This rule is probably a lot more strict than you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re used to, so if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re warned about spoilers or if your comment is edited because of it, trust me. This is for a reason. Please visit the\u00c2\u00a0Spoiler Policy<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0for guidance.<\/p>\n

2) You may, however, post spoilers in rot13.\u00c2\u00a0<\/b>You will inevitably see what looks like gibberish in the comments. We use\u00c2\u00a0rot13<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0to cipher all possible spoilers so that y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0still have a conversation about each episode if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen the entire show. Please cipher all spoilers.<\/p>\n

3) Please read the Site Rules before commenting<\/b>. My group of moderators and I try to make Mark Watches an exception to the rule when it comes to online conversations. This means that moderation is more evident here than other places. Please review the rules, as this is your only warning.<\/p>\n

4) Mark Watches videos are attached as a link at the end of the post.<\/b>\u00c2\u00a0They are $0.99 each, and you can download each video 15 times, meaning you can send them to friends or anyone else for free. The system is built to handle free downloads, so download away. The lovely folks over at Mark Spoils run a place called the\u00c2\u00a0Black Market<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0where you can find extra downloads of videos in case you cannot afford them or don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to pay for them. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s totally sanctioned (and adored!) by me, so go ahead! Test them out. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s basically me sitting and yelling at my TV, and I cry a lot because reasons.<\/p>\n

As far as I can tell, this is the first non-genre show I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve watched for quite some time. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s refreshing, and the pilot for\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is an odd beast because of it. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a criticism, either. I remarked on video that in the span of forty-odd minutes, this story oscillated between wacky humor, emotional heartbreak, and suspense, and it never made it feel like I was watching anything but the same show. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a comedy as much as it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a drama, and I think the writers achieve that by grounding the comedy in characters who are real, not caricatures.<\/p>\n

Which doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that Hank and Britt don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do ridiculous, hilarious things. The cold open in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pilot\u00e2\u20ac\u009d establishes them as desperate, but for different reasons. Hank is divorced; he struggles to make alimony payments; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no longer working for the police; he used to be an alcoholic. He is, in many senses, a mess. Britt is a mess, too, but in an entirely different way that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s slightly more charming. Both of them, as partners in an unnamed private investigator scheme, take whatever jobs they can get, even if the payment is free dry cleaning for two weeks.<\/p>\n

That job? Stealing an adorable dog away from the ex of the person who runs the dry cleaning.<\/p>\n

So there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the humor and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the tone, all in one scene. Or at least I\u00c2\u00a0thought<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that was the case. As silly as the opening scene was, I was even more amused by the pair using Winston to gain entrance to Robert Lindus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s property to investigate the missing daughter of Hank\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s old drinking buddy. I figured\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0was the show I was getting: two friends exploiting awkward social situations in order to solve mysteries. And you know, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still\u00c2\u00a0probably<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0what\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is. But as Hank and Britt delved deeper in Eleanor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disappearance, things got\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 decidedly less funny? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a humorous vibe to the show, often in the form of Michale Raymond-James\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comic timing, but divorce? Losing the house you had with your wife? FINDING A DEAD PRO-GOLFER IN A LIFEGUARD SHACK ON THE BEACH?<\/p>\n

For every joke the show tells, it also piles on the intrigue and the tragedy. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great bit of material for Donal Logue, who I always recognized as a more of a comedic actor, but NOPE. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s incredibly versatile here, able to convey sadness and joy in the span of seconds. And his character is already shown to be flawed rather than merely an underdog. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brash and impulsive, which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly helped by Britt, since Britt is pretty damn impulsive himself. They make\u00c2\u00a0bad<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0decisions here, like not calling the police after finding a dead body. Or not calling the police after Eleanor shows up at Hank\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s house. Or not calling the police when\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

I think you get the point. I found myself oddly compelled with\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0because about halfway through the pilot, literally nothing went as I thought it would. As soon as Hank, Britt, and Eleanor were attacked by Lundus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s henchmen, I felt like the show had become something else entirely. That was no laughing matter; the threat to their lives was\u00c2\u00a0real<\/i>. (Except I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lie: Britt backing into one of those dudes was funny.) Sending Eleanor off to a safe house on Catalina seemed like a good idea, but I started to get a strange suspicion: where was this show heading? Was this show highly serialized or episodic in nature? I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell, which kept me guessing. Where would this\u00c2\u00a0specific<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0plot end?<\/p>\n

Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I could not fucking believe the last fifteen minutes or so of this episode. Look, I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know all that much about the show or what kind of stories they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to tell, but the double whammy of Mickie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death and Hank\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shocking threat to Lindus (AT HIS OFFICE, OH MY GOD) jettisoned\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0into a whole new ball park. I had been wondering if this show was about corruption, both political and the personal, and then Hank is swearing to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153destroy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lindus, and then THEY LITERALLY DO SO IN FIVE MINUTES. IN FIVE MINUTES WORTH OF SCREENTIME, THEY RUIN HIS LIFE. Impulsive doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even cover this, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d already lied to Hank\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s old partner, Mark, and they were in way over the heads with the whole development fraud, and these two goofballs give not a single fuck. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re like a sloppier, more petty version of the\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0team, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<\/p>\n

Is\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the show? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is. I want to see more of Katie and Gretchen and Mark, and I completely dig the San Diego\/Ocean Beach setting. But I feel like this episode threw me in the deep end, and that is pretty exhilarating thing to feel.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pilot\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b>
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0 Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"