Amber [RTE] [** Spoilers **]

dee_mc

teddyhead wrote: »

I would agree about the latter two but after rewatching it and seeing that the dad is the perpetrator(its obvious after 15 minutes of episode 1) , his weird behavior is appropriate. He is acting badly or weird because that is what a murderer might be likely to do.The actor has been directed to act badly I think. We see from the first minute that he has a bit of a temper and may be a control freak,yes its just bickering , but in a totally inappropriate place(lazerquest). Later of course , he seeks to control the investigation as much as possible and frequently shows his temper. I believe he killed Amber ,having followed her,perhaps angered by her sneaking off and lying to him.

That argument makes no sense taking into account his later online search for Amber, and the abrupt end to his relationship with the prostitute when he thought Amber was coming home.

teddyhead

dee_mc wrote: »

That argument makes no sense taking into account his later online search for Amber, and the abrupt end to his relationship with the prostitute when he thought Amber was coming home.

The theme of 'Red herrings' is big in the show. I think Ben set up a few of his own. It would be in his interest to act a bit 'mad' in the aftermath of his 'tragedy'.Like stalking people , orchestrating a crazy investigation into trafficking/child pornography and other mad things.

Mr.McLovin

“If you watch the series closely enough, there are enough clues in there as to her fate, and it’s there,

- Co-producer on the show, Paul Duane

Really?


I enjoyed the show and I suspected from episode 1 the type of ending we got but there were just too many loose ends left. The phone down the drained annoyed me most, nobody thought of asking the staff did they see a phone?

I would of went with a day 1 ending and a glimpse of a body under water...

The prison guy story was confusing but not in a good way and got far fetched to keep with the 'realism' of never being found.

The series had potential and maybe another episode in it. It seemed dragged out at times but yet felt rushed when things really mattered got interesting.

I've seen worst on tv but it was an opportunity wasted for a great drama set in Dublin

teddyhead

bottlebrush wrote: »

who dunnit?

The Da did it 100%. The clues are certainly there. Its just tough going sitting through the mass of filler, soapy stuff and rubber characters.

Mr.McLovin

bottlebrush wrote: »

Yes, would have thought so, but the producer has confirmed that the killer was not in the drama.

I don't think they know who done it themselves :pac:

lukin

It's funny 'cause I was watching that film Prisoners recently which had a similar storyline. Warning, spoiler to follow;

the ending was wrapped up quite neatly in it as there was a definitive answer to what happened to the missing children.
I was actually p****d off at that and said to myself "Typical Hollywood, it would have been more interesting if they were killed or never found".

So in that respect I agree with those who said it was quite daring of the writer(s) to end Amber the way they did.

AnonoBoy

lukin wrote: »

It's funny 'cause I was watching that film Prisoners recently which had a similar storyline. Warning, spoiler to follow;

the ending was wrapped up quite neatly in it as there was a definitive answer to what happened to the missing children.
I was actually p****d off at that and said to myself "Typical Hollywood, it would have been more interesting if they were killed or never found".

So in that respect I agree with those who said it was quite daring of the writer(s) to end Amber the way they did.

I agree with you about the end to Prisoners somewhat.

However the writing in Prisoners is far, far better than Amber

Mardy Bum

Happyman42 wrote: »

Like you it indulged in patronising the audience, 'if you are not 'clever' or 'artsy' enough to get it...f*** off'.
Pathetic actually.

Quite an ironic statement considering your contribution to the forum.

I judge TV against other TV shows. This was no world beater but it at least attempted something different. You seem to judge tv against theatre without any of the considerations that goes into making a prime time drama. Public funded broadcasting is not HBO. It never will be. David Lynch David Chase and David Simon are rarities like Shakespeare and Joyce.

Happyman42

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Quite an ironic statement considering your contribution to the forum.

I judge TV against other TV shows.

You shouldn't, you should judge it as a piece of drama.

This was no world beater but it at least attempted something different.

No it didn't, there was nothing unique or different about it as plenty of others have pointed out.

You seem to judge tv against theatre without any of the considerations that goes into making a prime time drama.

No I don't, I merely point to the processes involved in getting a piece to stage and the differences between that and the way RTE in particular seem to operate, leading to flawed drama's. In that sense the process is exactly the same, interrogate the writing until it is right.

Public funded broadcasting is not HBO. It never will be. David Lynch David Chase and David Simon are rarities like Shakespeare and Joyce.

Pathetic excuse, top dramas have been produced for a lot less than this.

AnonoBoy

Happyman42 - if you'd liked this show I would have had to eat my head.

But I'm with you - poor writing let it down, whatever the intentions of the makers was the scripts just did not cut it at all.

Mardy Bum

Happyman42 wrote: »

You shouldn't, you should judge it as a piece of drama.
No it didn't, there was nothing unique or different about it as plenty of others have pointed out.
No I don't, I merely point to the processes involved in getting a piece to stage and the differences between that and the way RTE in particular seem to operate, leading to flawed drama's. In that sense the process is exactly the same, interrogate the writing until it is right.

Pathetic excuse, top dramas have been produced for a lot less than this.

I think we will have to agree to disagree regarding how TV drama should be judged. Theatre is so fundamentally different from a tv show that I'm not even going to bother getting into it.
Name these dramas that are produced on very limited budgets and are made for a prime time audience?

Nice to see Tubridy get a taste of his own medicine.

cursai

Who has GPS enabled on their phone the whole time....NOBODY thats who.

teddyhead

bottlebrush wrote: »

Yes, would have thought so, but the producer has confirmed that the killer was not in the drama.

I would take that with a pinch of salt. I wonder would the writer agree?
Or some of the actors? Im pretty sure there is a killer there somewhere.
There has to be , for the credibility of all involved.
Because if this was an attempt at mundane, experimental, 'realism' , it really is an insulting,somewhat indulgent, failure.
You simply cannot have characters like 'Charlie' or 'Terrence' or a couple of cardboard cops and claim to be depicting 'reality'.
Very few of the performances were realistic in any way. Except possibly the wife and the kid with the bad haircut.
And of course Ben(David Murray) , who was actually plausible,imo, as a wrong'un but certainly not as a realistic 'everyman',victim of circumstance, type character.

Happyman42

Mardy Bum wrote: »

I think we will have to agree to disagree regarding how TV drama should be judged. Theatre is so fundamentally different from a tv show that I'm not even going to bother getting into it.
Name these dramas that are produced on very limited budgets and are made for a prime time audience?

I'm not judging it against a stage drama, what I am saying is that the same rigour has to be applied to the writing and it is not being done in recent RTE output. Not that hard a concept to grasp.

And I am not going to start naming other dramas because then we get into a whole thread diverting argument about their merits, but money and production should never starve the writing process.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

I really don't agree that this was a 'brave' programme. A bit arrogant and cheeky in the way it treated the viewers, but not brave. If it was truly brave it would have stayed away from the normal whodunnit format from the beginning and used strong writing and character development to engage the audience and keep them watching. Amber didn't do that. It went along well trodden, safe grounds and then tacked on a vague, open ended final scene and basically told the viewers this was subtle and cutting edge and they were trying something 'brave' - and all those idiots out there going WTF?? are just not arty, quirky or edgy enough to appreciate it.

Mardy Bum

Happyman42 wrote: »

I'm not judging it against a stage drama, what I am saying is that the same rigour has to be applied to the writing and it is not being done in recent RTE output. Not that hard a concept to grasp.

And I am not going to start naming other dramas because then we get into a whole thread diverting argument about their merits, but money and production should never starve the writing process.

Not a whole pile of substance there if you are unable to name a much better prime time drama on a very limited budget.

amdublin

So I don't think I was helped by

• Stupid promos from RTE
• The ending being revealed by poster here :mad:

But aside from that there was so much stuff that just happened randomly or with no explanation or just plain stupid or not enough time

The detective fellas promotion - what was the point
• Stupid woman working in office supposed to be opening post, I assume for leads, and
• somehow thinks a phone posted in is not important/somebody else's.
• Who takes a "lost" phone home and gives it to a kid?
• Poor old deported Charlie...only found the phone, yet we get a whole episode about him :rolleyes:
• Manga boy - actually met Amber and we get nothing on him (compared to Charlie)
• Journalist and bus. partner. Seriously, what was the problem with people finding out they were together....they brother and sister or something
• Phone crook looks at photos and watches videos on phones he's stolen AND remembers off by heart what he sees to pass on to another prisoner...sure....I can barely remember what I see on my own phone let alone a random 20 stolen phones
• The mother's new live in boyfriend...where the frick did he come from?
  
• A very unlikeable "Amber"...seriously I could not care less about her with everything that was shown
• Man on the beach...seriously...wtf
  I could go on...

Mardy Bum I get what you are saying about the premise of the show, and I seriously think RTE did us all a dis-service by presenting it as a whodunnit when actually it was a drama about the fallout after an incident. Why did they do that??? Just present and let us come to our own conclusions rather than having an idea imprinted in your brain from the very start :mad:

Additionally it was very scrappy and all over the place with the likes of the above stupid sub plots and plot holes.
And finally I didn't connect with the parents at all (and definitely not Amber) except for the scene where they cried together. But I don't think they should have ended up in bed together. I think it was enough that they both showed their soul by breaking down and crying (particularly the dad).

c68zapdsm5i1ru

The Irish Times have slated it today.

BuilderPlumber

I think the series was excellent overall. Very engaging and unfortunately what was covered is very true to life. It works well as a standalone 4 part series (unfortunately, never resolving disappeared loved ones is the most common outcome) it also leaves room for a sequel too.You could well go down the Joseph Frizsel? or whatever he's called road with this.

The production had the feel of Love/Hate and Raw, which shows the calibre of Irish drama when done right is very high. It would have been nice though to have Amber done across 4 weeks, and it would be the perfect replacement for Nidge and co for this period. In fact, Sundays should feature a good drama at 9.30-10.30 or so every week if possible.

We will have 3 upcoming dramas sometime over the next year. Love/Hate series 5 of course as well as next week's Quirke and the upcoming Haughey drama. Such writers as Stuart Carolan (Love/Hate) and Rob Cawley (Amber) have shown how good Irish drama can get when done right. A long long way from 'well holy god', 'are there anything stirring' and 'The Big Bow Wow'.

amdublin

Calliope Chubby Larvae wrote: »

The Irish Times have slated it today.

Any link bella?

Tisserand

Didn't see the show but i take it from all the outrage that amber turned up safe and well then?

Mardy Bum

amdublin wrote: »

Any link bella?

Coronation Street gets a glowing review in the same article. It's on the website.

DeepBlue

amdublin wrote: »

Any link bella?

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/media/television-amber-alert-high-expectations-plus-low-tension-equals-mediocre-drama-1.1666891

Tasden

cursai wrote: »

Who has GPS enabled on their phone the whole time....NOBODY thats who.

Me
Anything on this thread that people say "who does that?" the answer appears to be me every time :pac:
If you want findmymobile or whatever its called to work it needs to be enabled afaik

I really enjoyed it. I knew that the ending would be a let down (all Irish dramas seem to have a "wtf, I just wasted a few hours of my life" endings) so didn't feel as...duped.. as most people I suppose. A lot of loose ends not tied up but I think that's what they were going for- somewhat similar to the Madeleine McCann case- leads that end up going nowhere, the smith sighting, the Murat fella, the unanswered interview questions by the mother, the dogs indicating blood, etc. Etc. If it was a movie you'd be thinking why the hell did all that happen if it wasn't relevant- truth is false leads happen and are sometimes unexplained. Doesn't make for good viewing but its true to life. Although A LOT of "convenient" things happened as well- the baby throwing the phone directly into the drain, the guy being deported so quick, stuff like that just wasn't realistic.

Dozen Wicked Words

Tasden wrote: »

Me
Anything on this thread that people say "who does that?" the answer appears to be me every time :pac:
If you want findmymobile or whatever its called to work it needs to be enabled afaik

Android phones don't have to have gps always on, you can remotely turn it on with numerous apps. /off topic


Edit: should have written rooted phones, my mistake.

Tasden

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Android phones don't have to have gps always on, you can remotely turn it on with numerous apps. /off topic

What you mean? Like it will update GPS location intermittently without it being on permanently?

Dozen Wicked Words

Tasden wrote: »

What you mean? Like it will update GPS location intermittently without it being on permanently?

Sorry, only rooted phones can do this, or older versions of Android. Fed you duff info.

BuilderPlumber

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/tubridy-on-controversial-amber-ending-i-told-the-tv-to-fk-off-29946620.html
http://www.rsvpmagazine.ie/tubridy-told-tv-fk/

So, the presenter of possibly the worst show on RTE at present takes a swipe at the ending of Amber ....

Now, I found Amber an entertaining and engaging 4 nights viewing and a welcome relief from the usual politics, Trojan donkeys and films we have seen millions of times before that usually are on in its place.

Series end in different ways for different reasons. Regarding Amber, the relatives of Jo Jo Dollard or Madeleine McCann will very much understand how and why it ended the way it did. As well as being realistic, it (like the ending of Love/Hate series 4) also of course leaves the door open for a sequel (unlike Love/Hate, which is back for series 5, I have not heard about a second series of Amber but I would like to see it and there is certainly material for one: I would not be surprised if one is developed).

If Amber and Love/Hate are what is right about Irish TV, then Tubridy's show, on the other hand, is what is wrong about it. Tubridy's show is overlong, he is a poor interviewer and there are too much boybands/here today gone tomorrow type celebs on that only pique the interest of .01% of the Irish population (who are not watching). Tubridy is about the last person who can criticise anything. He presides over the poorest show (along with The Week in Politics) in any format on RTE at present (Trojan Donkey is masterpiece in comparison!!). The exception of Matt Cooper's excellent North Korean experiences interview aside, Tubridy's show offered nothing so far this year.

I also thought that Tubridy was a nice guy overall (I knew he is poor at his job and his show is awful 99% of the time) but now he shows he is a nasty piece of work, uses foul language and thinks he is superior. Any respect I have had for Tubridy as person outside of his 'work' is totally gone ...

CountyHurler

Tubridy: “I Told The TV To F**K Off”

It's a good job he's never home on a Friday night to see his own show.. He'd feel like grabbing the TV and throwing it down the garbage chute, same as the rest of us.