MovieChat Forums > Counterpart (2017) Discussion > Great premise ruined by lazy writing

Great premise ruined by lazy writing


The premise of this show is great and could have made an extraordinary series. But the lazy writing has made the show laughable. There are so many things that could have been considerably improved if the writers actually thought harder. Look for instance at the incredible conversation between Nadia and Howard in the bar. Howard's whole plan is based on the barman not speaking a word of English. How did he know that, in Berlin of all places, a barman won't speak English? Who would open up to a complete stranger as Nadia does? Or think about the lie detection test. The operator asks Howard not to move during the test but the other guy offers him cookies and is surprised that Howard rejects his offer! Or when he finally gets the address for Potsdam, he has to shout it to everyone in the room that "We are going to Potsdam"! These are supposed to be highly professional security operators but they don't follow the basic rules of clandestine operations and share everything with everyone even if they don't need to know about it. All this is just to justify how the plan was spoiled by Pope's spy (the lie detector operator). Or again think of the cigars giving away George’s knowledge of Clair’s identity. Is it even probable that the father-in-law would give back a cigar to smoke it the next time or George being so stupid as to leave the cigars in the drawer for his wife to discover? Didn’t Howard ask why his wife is out? Couldn’t he at least know that they must cover their tracks better? All these scenes could have been considerably improved only if the writers put in some time to come up with better ways of moving the story forward. But no, they have to do it fast and easy! Two other things that make me laugh every time: 1) They have picked a skinny short woman to play the part of a highly professional assassin! Couldn't have they found a more sturdy sexy actress to play the part? We believe Rambo's unbelievable stunts because he looks the part. Nadia seems to be ready to break in half in every scene but she manages to shoot up a whole group of trained bulky men like it's nothing! And I shake my head in every scene when she starts to remove her shirt to show her breasts! Once for adding some sex to the show, OK. But you can't repeat the same thing over and over without it looking stupid. In every other scene, she displays her breasts as eye candy for the viewers. 2) Why do they have to mix German and English all the time! Stick to a language, and believe me these horrible accents don't make your show more believable. All in all, a great premise spoiled by the producers.

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Great series. Sorry you couldn't enjoy it.

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