I've never been a fan of self-consciously 'nerdy' characters, and the Lone Gunmen are the kind of co-stars that feel a little on-the-nose even in their brief appearances every once in a while. Unusual Suspects, the pre-cursor to this belated sequel, worked in spite of my personal ambivilance towards them, but Three of a Kind struggles to find any kind of identity, resting on the few set pieces that it has.The show's highlight is probably Gillian Anderson's portrayal of a doped-up Scully. It's pretty funny, I guess, but feels a little strung together. Still, it's a showcase for Anderson's comedy chops, proving that she has a better comedic range than simply pulling 'pissed off' facial expressions.
Also of interest are a couple of other set pieces. The teaser sequence is visually impressive, and the assassin-Langly scene had enough Manchurian Candidate allusions to be reliably tense and entertaining. But in general I couldn't get a handle on Three of a Kind. It's a lightweight comedy episode that plays like a pilot for the eventual Lone Gunmen spin-off, but personally didn't work for me in any other form. Worst of all, it's painfully boring. C-
Credits
Guest stars Signy Coleman (Susanne Modeski); Charles Rocket (Grant Ellis); John Billingsley (Timmy); Jim Fyfe (James Belmont); George Sharperson (Security Guard); Michael McKean (Morris Fletcher); Tom Braidwood (Melvin Frohike); Dean Haglund (Ringo Langly); Bruce Harwood (John Fitzgerald Byers)
Writers Vince Gilligan, John Shiban Director Bryan Spicer
No comments:
Post a Comment