Complete_Entry t1_j637zbq wrote on January 27, 2023 at 11:53 AM

They took the perfect "plot of the week" show and ruined it with a monomyth.

DonutHoles5 OP t1_j638fjn wrote on January 27, 2023 at 11:58 AM

What do you mean?

Complete_Entry t1_j639yde wrote on January 27, 2023 at 12:14 PM

They overly focused on the centre and the conspiracies.

Jared could slot into essentially any role, his only limit was that he eventually had to move on.

The initial premise was the best one, a Genius child is kidnapped by criminals who rent out his skills until he is strong enough to escape.

Burn Notice made a lot of the same mistakes The Pretender did. And Jeffrey Donovan was in both!

SugarPlumCherry t1_j6hnleb wrote on January 30, 2023 at 11:55 AM

I disagree with you. The Centre mysteries is what kept it going for me. Because at the end it is Jarod's character journey after he escaped a hellhole and how he regains his humanity and how he relates to the world that is important. There also needs to be some resolution to his inner life and turmoil.

You see that also in modern procedurals like Gray's anatomy or NCIS. Yes characters are in their job setting and are resolving those mysteries, but there is also plot B with an even more important task that is their personal problems that they are trying to resolve.

How many copy pasted aimless episodes would the show last if Jarod only did random pretends and not look for his family or work on cases where Centre destroyed someone's life because of his invention?

Complete_Entry t1_j6homg2 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 12:07 PM

I like the last part, him fixing things he unintentionally damaged.