This is a prime example of a show that probably should have been kept to single season doing the best it can developing into a longer run. It felt overdone to keep going over the same murder into a second series, but at least they retain a lot of the same well-written character dynamics and development.
There are some questionable inclusions that felt odd all the way through. Namely, the Sandbrook mystery really didn't end up being engaging enough to justify the runtime it was given. Claire is also such a grating character that I never empathized with so having to deal with her so often (in conjunction with Lee) was a bit of a bore. Additionally, the way Bishop is written is flatly disappointing. There's little opportunity for her to be anything other than a caricature--so overwhelming frustrating as a lawyer that I wondered if legal systems actually work that way. This is the biggest shame of the first season, because what motivation we are given to understand her is so basic that it essentially doesn't work at all. Just because the legal system failed her son doesn't mean someone would really consider pushing it to fail even further.
But even still, for a series that drew out the same mystery from the debut series I was pleasantly surprised by how engaged I was. It didn't have the same drive to it, but I loved seeing Hardy and Miller's methods constantly brought back to bite them because it could push them to be better detectives.
Review by filmboicoleBlockedParentSpoilers2021-10-15T15:05:42Z
This is a prime example of a show that probably should have been kept to single season doing the best it can developing into a longer run. It felt overdone to keep going over the same murder into a second series, but at least they retain a lot of the same well-written character dynamics and development.
There are some questionable inclusions that felt odd all the way through. Namely, the Sandbrook mystery really didn't end up being engaging enough to justify the runtime it was given. Claire is also such a grating character that I never empathized with so having to deal with her so often (in conjunction with Lee) was a bit of a bore. Additionally, the way Bishop is written is flatly disappointing. There's little opportunity for her to be anything other than a caricature--so overwhelming frustrating as a lawyer that I wondered if legal systems actually work that way. This is the biggest shame of the first season, because what motivation we are given to understand her is so basic that it essentially doesn't work at all. Just because the legal system failed her son doesn't mean someone would really consider pushing it to fail even further.
But even still, for a series that drew out the same mystery from the debut series I was pleasantly surprised by how engaged I was. It didn't have the same drive to it, but I loved seeing Hardy and Miller's methods constantly brought back to bite them because it could push them to be better detectives.