Critic’s Ranking: 3.1 / 5.0
3.1
With the season’s penultimate installment, Accused Season 2 continues its trajectory of going out with a whimper.
Is anybody else having a troublesome time connecting with most circumstances this season?
Right here, Ken Jeong does some strong dramatic work, on condition that most individuals are accustomed to him in a comedic vogue. But it surely isn’t sufficient to make a compelling or fascinating episode.
However that’s been the sample this season, hasn’t it? I’ve famous earlier than that it looks like each different installment has sparks of what made Accused Season 1 so intriguing to viewers and luring us again for extra.
After which the opposite episodes fall so flat that, at finest, you undergo the motions of watching dutifully, and at worst, you don’t care.
I don’t know the cope with the sequence or the way it may have improved or achieved something in another way to maintain viewers captivated. I solely know that it’s been one of the vital inconsistent seasons of tv I’ve witnessed in a while.
“Eugene’s Story” was okay. It was largely boring, with a skinny script that didn’t encourage a lot curiosity or present any twists or turns to hook us at any level within the hour.
It was nice to see Jamie Chung, who is often a enjoyment of most of her works, however right here, she merely couldn’t carry Grace to life onscreen, maybe due to how thinly the character was written.
And sadly, I discovered Chung’s efficiency uncharacteristically wood and underwhelming. We needn’t get into the dearth of chemistry between Chung and Jeong right here.
I can solely think about that the problem of portraying Grace as a reformed, damaged soul wracked with guilt a lot that it interfered together with her glad life and marriage doesn’t translate properly in any respect.
As a substitute, this ends in a seemingly imbalanced relationship the place Eugene appears dedicated to Grace, however Grace is such a flat character that nothing is convincing about her life, motivations, or no matter emotions she reveals.
The troublesome Rex with a laughable marker tattoo of Texas sketched throughout his neck is so one-note that there’s nothing to know onto, good, unhealthy, ugly, or advanced.
He’s simply there, filling within the slot of a villain and nothing extra. And it’s unhappy as a result of one in every of Accused‘s best successes was its capacity to have a set of essentially the most surprising and proficient actors portraying these intriguing characters who can inform a full-faceted and charming story in 45 minutes or much less.
Once more, I don’t know the place Accused goes fallacious this season, because the actors are definitely there. The season bolstered Felicity Huffman and Cobie Smulders. We’ve had stage, theater legends, and comedians sinking their tooth into dramatic roles and pulling it off.
The solid and expertise are there, however every little thing else has been so hit and miss this season that you simply don’t know what you’re even getting from one installment to the subsequent.
Within the phrases of my splendidly precocious, round-eyed, and earnest toddler nephew, “Wha occur?”
Sure, Accused, what occurred?! Inquiring minds need to know? What’s not clicking, and is that this merely a type of byproducts of the strikes and quick turnaround with manufacturing?
I don’t actually know. It’s a pity, although, as the very last thing I need to do is closely criticize one of the vital pleasant anthological sequence I’ve skilled. However right here we’re.
Again to Eugene. What can we are saying about him? He was a religious Christian who discovered which means and goal in his church group and his life-style as a jeweler working alongside his father-in-law.
Eugene thought he had an ideal life and was doing every little thing in his energy to reside as God supposed, as a superb one who conveniently swindled folks into buying engagement rings past their means, however extra so did it as a result of he believed in love and all that great things.
He was a person who tried to reside by turning the opposite cheek, which frequently had him showing weak to the obnoxious and racist canine walker who didn’t clear up his canine’s poop and made enjoyable of Eugene’s eyes.
Eugene was dedicated to Grace, who appeared to be his whole world. And, yeah, we all know there was some darkness in him, as he implied that he, too, had a previous.
We additionally noticed how his first flashes of anger appeared harmful. Carrying round his father-in-law’s gun in his again pocket was a bit off, contemplating he didn’t at all times have a sound motive.
It genuinely did seem to be he contemplated threatening that jerk earlier than “main with kindness.” However that’s the factor about being human; it’s not about your first ideas and instincts however extra so your precise actions in the long run.
Eugene largely had himself collectively; his weak spot was Grace.
Suspecting that she was dishonest on him was a giant turning level for him, however after confronting her and listening to about her previous with Rex, he realized he was the actual villain and the one inflicting hurt.
Then, he devoted his consideration to creating Rex pay to avoid wasting Grace as a result of Eugene was intensely glad, devoted, steady, and seemingly good.
For somebody as flawed as Grace, together with her previous, it’s comprehensible that she concluded that possibly she wasn’t worthy of Eugene or that if he knew all of the deep, darkish particulars about her previous, he wouldn’t love her anymore.
Rex was a horrible a part of her previous that she may put away for some time, however as soon as Rex received out of jail, all of it got here dashing again.
Eugene’s idealism and positivity established excessive requirements and expectations, whether or not he supposed them or not, which was on the core of this installment and Eugene’s relationship with Grace.
In that sense, they touched on lots of the notes you’d anticipate from an hour with a heavy sufficient theme on faith and Christianity: Sinners will be redeemed, God and Jesus forgive.
Grace was a flawed girl with a previous, however she was worthy of forgiveness and love, and Eugene may give that to her.
However he couldn’t prolong forgiveness to Rex. As a substitute, he was dominated by vengeance and different human instincts that make us flawed and consistently on the mercy of in search of prayer and forgiveness for the Large Man.
In some ways, I want they’d delved a bit extra into the non secular side as a substitute of frivolously referring to issues as a backdrop. It felt compelled and underbaked, perfunctory, if you’ll.
However then a lot of this installment had that general vibe, as, apart from Jeong’s intriguing sufficient break from comedy, little or no was participating in regards to the hour.
The second season additionally spends a substantial amount of time with these on trial for some type of loss of life, and I want they’d switched issues up a bit extra.
Eugene goes away for felony homicide, his actions ensuing within the loss of life of the girl he beloved, and whereas tragic due to the result and his love for her, little or no about how issues performed out made me ponder a lot of something in regards to the justice system and the complexities of humanity or care.
And I hate that.
However these are my ideas on the matter, and possibly I’m too pessimistic in regards to the hour, so I’d love to show issues over to you.
Accused Fanatics, what have been your ideas on this case and the general season up to now?
Pontificate beneath.
Watch Accused On-line
