Amber [RTE] [** Spoilers **]

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Mardy Bum wrote: »

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

It was a euthanasia storyline, beautifully acted, that got a glowing review. Just because something's on Coronation Street doesn't automatically make it crap; in the same way that just because a drama tries to be 'brave' doesn't automatically mean it's good or worthwhile.

WayneScott

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

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 ...

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/cwojgbeymhoj/rss2/

CountyHurler

Just listened to Paul Duane interview with Tubridy from Wednesday morning..

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_tubridy.xml

I found him smug and condescending tbh.. Basically anybody who didnt realise that Amber had drowned was either stupid or too busy using social media.. His remark about "the truth is that none of these women will ever be found unless there is some sort of Joseph Fritzel or something" was flippant and disrespectful..

He says he was in the State meeting with "high level" producers talking about a remake of Amber for the US screen.. He should think about remaking the Irish one first before he does anything... Even if you forget about the ending, the program suffer huge problems with pace, very little character development, some really poor supporting actors, and sub plots that went off on complete nonsensical tangents.. It's really not as good as Paul Duane seems to think it is..

BuilderPlumber

CountyHurler wrote: »

Just listened to Paul Duane interview with Tubridy from Wednesday morning..

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_tubridy.xml

I found him smug and condescending tbh.. Basically anybody who didnt realise that Amber had drowned was either stupid or too busy using social media.. His remark about "the truth is that none of these women will ever be found unless there is some sort of Joseph Fritzel or something" was flippant and disrespectful..

He says he was in the State meeting with "high level" producers talking about a remake of Amber for the US screen.. He should think about remaking the Irish one first before he does anything... Even if you forget about the ending, the program suffer huge problems with pace, very little character development, some really poor supporting actors, and sub plots that went off on complete nonsensical tangents.. It's really not as good as Paul Duane seems to think it is..

Unfortunately, this statement is true. Generally, the women who disappear are raped, murdered and buried most of the time. The women captured by the likes of Joseph Fritzel and Wolfgang Priklopil are the so-called lucky ones and were rescued. A second series of Amber could well focus on this side of things?

Mardy Bum

Calliope Chubby Larvae wrote: »

It was a euthanasia storyline, beautifully acted, that got a glowing review. Just because something's on Coronation Street doesn't automatically make it crap; in the same way that just because a drama tries to be 'brave' doesn't automatically mean it's good or worthwhile.

It was well acted and that was about it. It was fodder.

mikom

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

Unfortunately, this statement is true. Generally, the women who disappear are raped, murdered and buried most of the time. The women captured by the likes of Joseph Fritzel and Wolfgang Priklopil are the so-called lucky ones and were rescued. A second series of Amber could well focus on this side of things?

A second series of Amber.......... lol

Amber 2 : Hide harder.

kunst nugget

Mardy Bum wrote: »

It was well acted and that was about it. It was fodder.

Amber wasn't even well acted.

grey_so_what

I see TV3 have waded into the "Amber Minefield".....

http://thedailyedge.thejournal.ie/tv3-epic-burn-rte-1282869-Jan2014/

dubdaymo

There were so many ridiculous things that the various characters did and some have already been mentioned throughout this discussion. One that I haven't seen mentioned before is that the driver of the white van pulls his vehicle into the side, gets out, opens the back door, grabs hold of a parcel and a clipboard as if he is going to make a delivery. However, he just gets straight back into the van and drives off.

Now, if you watch carefully, what happened next is clear. We are aware that the producer has said that the murder was committed by a person not in the series. As the van pulls away and drives past the girl we see, in the far background, a car stopped just on the other side of the Luas line. The final shot is taken from that position. It is just an opportunistic moment. Nobody has planned anything. A Luas passes by, the driver of the car has seen both the girl walking from the station and the white van drive off. The lonely road is now deserted and, on the spur of the moment, as we see the lights turn green, he drives after her. He either offers her a lift or takes her forcibly, does what he wants to do and when it is all over he drives off, dumps the bag with the ornament in the water under the Luas bridge and later disposes of the body, probably in a remote part of the mountains.

amdublin

dubdaymo wrote: »

The lonely road is now deserted and, on the spur of the moment, as we see the lights turn green, he drives after her. He either offers her a lift or takes her forcibly, does what he wants to do and when it is all over he drives off, dumps the bag with the ornament in the water under the Luas bridge and later disposes of the body, probably in a remote part of the mountains.

Seriously I really could not care what happened her at this point. It either finished on tuesday night or not...and it didn't...let's leave it there!!We could all make up a theory but no one will ever know. Anyhoo it's all fiction!!!!!

amdublin

Indo seemed to like it
http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/thoughtful-wellmade-modern-unlike-anything-else-on-rte-29950810.html

But also seemed to not like it :rolleyes:

twowheelsgood

dubdaymo wrote: »

There were so many ridiculous things that the various characters did and some have already been mentioned throughout this discussion. One that I haven't seen mentioned before is that the driver of the white van pulls his vehicle into the side, gets out, opens the back door, grabs hold of a parcel and a clipboard as if he is going to make a delivery. However, he just gets straight back into the van and drives off.

I am not sure why people get irked about such things, even if they are as you say unrealistic. This is common enough in drama.

A frequently such example is the family meal scene where an extensive part of the scene is concerned with the preparation of the meal but the consumption of said meal might take all of 10 seconds and untouched plates are carried to the sink!

I have even seen this in Breaking Bad, which many of us think is rather good and not greatly (or at all!) diminished by minor deviances from realism.

There was one question about the drama which struck me. Though it was not about the drama itself but RTE’s continuity announcer who invited us before the last episode to “watch the dramatic conclusion” (or words to that effect). Now my expectation from the outset was that there was going to be no definitive conclusion but what the announcer said did influence the way I watched the final episode.

It made me wonder what control, if any, the makers of such dramas have in how their work is described or advertised by third parties. It does have an impact on your viewing experience.

HelpImAlive

I'm not from Dublin, so I'm not sure of the exact logistics. But Amber got off the Luas stop in Laughlinstown or whatever with her bag, with the light in it? Then this bag was found in the lake which looked like it was nowhere near the Luas stop she got off at? I get this gives the idea of the drowning that the producer was hinting at but it makes zero sense

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Mardy Bum wrote: »

It was well acted and that was about it. It was fodder.

I have to say, I thought it was very well written and managed to show both sides of the argument without the viewer losing sympathy for either character. They also didn't go down an oversentimentalised route but managed to show the euthanasia scene against a background of ordinary everyday life going on all around, which really emphasised the sadness and pathos of the whole thing. I think the writers of Amber could have learnt a lot from it.

gerbilgranny

Calliope Chubby Larvae wrote: »

I have to say, I thought it was very well written and managed to show both sides of the argument without the viewer losing sympathy for either character. They also didn't go down an oversentimentalised route but managed to show the euthanasia scene against a background of ordinary everyday life going on all around, which really emphasised the sadness and pathos of the whole thing. I think the writers of Amber could have learnt a lot from it.

I started reading your post, and got very confused....I was wondering where the euthanasia had featured in Amber!

As regards the character of Amber herself, I thought she seemed quite realistic. She seemed very typical of 'young ones' I see on the DART etc. And the actress did her job well, in my opinion.

walshb

A really pointless and pathetic end to a show. Throw in red herring after red herring. For what? Simple: Person goes missing and is never found. End of.

walshb

Can anyone explain the Charlie scenes. The guy is a key witness in a missing persons case and is deported in what, a few hrs? Since when was our deportation system that efficient? I can't recall the time lines but it seemed like he was deported in a few hrs or days?

amdublin

walshb wrote: »

Can anyone explain

Sorry no

1966

walshb wrote: »

Can anyone explain the Charlie scenes. The guy is a key witness in a missing persons case and is deported in what, a few hrs? Since when was our deportation system that efficient? I can't recall the time lines but it seemed like he was deported in a few hrs or days?

Well where do I begin........took up a full episode & basically, there is no logical explanation. End.

Happyman42

The only explanation I can come up with is that they came up with the start and ending first and then had to pad out the middle.

It's the only explanation that makes sense to me. We actually didn't move very far in character development from the outset.

walshb

Tasden wrote: »

I got the impression he believed it was her. And he just used the journo as an opportunity to get money to give back to them before admitting it. But maybe you're right and he knew.

He had to know it wasn't Amber. He was in prison reading an article about Amber's disappearance. He crashed a couple of years previous. Unless the article mentioned nothing about dates and locations then he had to know that Amber was not the girl in his car.

Flippyfloppy

walshb wrote: »

He had to know it wasn't Amber. He was in prison reading an article about Amber's disappearance. He crashed a couple of years previous. Unless the article mentioned nothing about dates and locations then he had to know that Amber was not the girl in his car.

That other mother on the radio hah a daughter who'd been missing for two years....I kinda thought it might be her.

ziedth

Flippyfloppy wrote: »

That other mother on the radio hah a daughter who'd been missing for two years....I kinda thought it might be her.

That would have actually been a good twist if it showed him listening to the interview and we were made think that it was his guilt over Amber's parents but it was actually the monther on the phone that made him come forward and she was the girl in the car.

NormanNicetouch

walshb wrote: »

Can anyone explain the Charlie scenes. The guy is a key witness in a missing persons case and is deported in what, a few hrs? Since when was our deportation system that efficient? I can't recall the time lines but it seemed like he was deported in a few hrs or days?

Only thing I can think of is that there was already a deportation order out on him and he had gone missing before it could be enforced. If not, then he probably would have put in an asylum application which would have taken years to process if he went through the entire appeals system. Even then the chances of deportation are pretty low.

coolhull

But if he was a material witness in a missing person case, then he wouldn't be deported at least until the case is solved one way or the other.
But then, I honestly don't know why we are still trying to work out the plot nearlya week after the programme finished. Surely that was the job of the writers. . . .

Tigger

walshb wrote: »

Can anyone explain the Charlie scenes. The guy is a key witness in a missing persons case and is deported in what, a few hrs? Since when was our deportation system that efficient? I can't recall the time lines but it seemed like he was deported in a few hrs or days?

i just checked it and charlie was deported on day 171 ater being arrested on day 80 its clear

ps i thought the show was soo bad it was good

Lukehandypants

Amazingfun wrote: »

This. How did he know?

I think he knew about it from that fella that robbed ambers phone off her on the street and sold it too charlies boss.
He would have looked at before giving it into charlies boss, but he would have no idea what the daughters of the air related to and would he have known it was ambers?

mrsdewinter

amdublin wrote: »

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).

Thank you! Street scum bag steals phone, recalls so much of the pics it contains that he's able to pass it all on in detail to another scum bag after he lands in prison... Yeah, right...

Mousewar

Only just caught up with this show after hearing a fair bit about it.

Overall I liked it and I thought it got better as it went on. The first episode was quite poor I thought, with some horrible writing. The opening scene in the Quasar place was cringeworthy.
(paraphrased from memory)
Father to Mother: You're shot. You have to go back to base to start your life over.
Mother: If only it were that easy.

Someone should be shot for that line.


However, it got better after that and I thought it was a fairly 'realistic' depiction. [I put that in quotation marks as I've never actually had a daughter kidnapped]. I would imagine all the red herrings are a likely scenario as you grasp for anything that might give you hope. And the ending was the only fitting one possible, or at least the only appropriate one. The viewer gets left in limbo just like the parents. The frustration you feel as the credits roll is a microcosm of the frustration felt by the real parents throughout the world.

amdublin

Re. pantigate


A thought struck me today.
Do you reckon RTE paid the €85k to get the focus off the Amber sh1te?!


:pac: