Professionals | Episode 9-10, “Deep Fake” & “Swan Song”

Multi-billionaire Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser) is starting a satellite-supported project that aims to detect disease outbreaks at an early stage in order to be able to intervene more quickly. But the rocket that is supposed to take the satellite into space explodes shortly after it has been launched. His fiancée, doctor Grace Davila (Elena Anaya), then persuades him to hire security professional Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling) to investigate the incident.

S1, Episode 9 (Deep Fake): Peter is ready to take over his business again, but back in Dublin he is met with accusations that can cost him everything. Neuman finally gets hold of Vincent and confronts him.

S1, Episode 10 (Swan Song): Vincent and his team get an unexpected ally, but can they trust him? Zora learns of a family secret that threatens her plans and leads her to take desperate action.

[previous recaps here]

I was supposed to rewatch this before I wrote a recap, but in all honesty, I don’t care anymore. I am posting this for the sake of completeness, lol. Tom Welling said this show was like an A-Team/Ocean’s Eleven-inspired thing which makes a lot of sense. I still have no idea how it ever got into the production stage (I’ll never accept this medical satellite storyline EVER!).

Professionals | Episode 8 “The Alamo”

Multi-billionaire Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser) is starting a satellite-supported project that aims to detect disease outbreaks at an early stage in order to be able to intervene more quickly. But the rocket that is supposed to take the satellite into space explodes shortly after it has been launched. His fiancée, doctor Grace Davila (Elena Anaya), then persuades him to hire security professional Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling) to investigate the incident.

Season 1, Episode 8

[previous recaps here]

Zora takes advantage of Peter’s absence and goes ahead with her plans, regardless of what it will cost her family.Meanwhile, Peter’s daughter Jane begins a dangerous affair with Vincent’s brother Danny.

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First of all, the summary doesn’t match the episode? Weird. The episode goes off the rails quite quickly, and watching it on its own really highlights that. I was also liquored up the first time and watched the next two right after which helped immensely.

There was also a horrible wig, but we’ll get to that.

We begin with the newly arrested Agent Neumann screaming that he’s from Europol and demanding someone free him. In the middle of the Congo? He’s lucky he’s a fictional character, lol. Somehow there’s a news reporter outside the police station and cameras catch the whole thing.

Cobra Kai: Season 3, Episode 1 “Aftermath”

Last season: Kreese came back and inexplicably took over Johnny’s dojo and nobody found it weird. Both, Johnny and Daniel used a bunch of kids to hash out their personal differences. There was some high school drama that led to an all out brawl leaving Johnny’s protégé, Miguel, in a coma. Daniel’s daughter was left with injuries the pointy end of the love triangle she was in with Robbie, who is Johnny’s son/the reason why Miguel is in a coma.

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Aftermath

I didn’t care for this episode. Something was off. It held my interest, but it seemed like a rehash of what we’ve seen before. Johnny drinking and getting into fights. Daniel feeling maudlin about how everything has gone wrong. John Kreese rubbing his hands in all his villain glory and basically spelling out the season for us.

There was a glimmer of hope at the end when Daniel and Johnny are hopefully about to team up to find Robbie, but I found it annoying they had Johnny go out of his way to sneak into see Miguel meanwhile Daniel is trying to find his son. Has the character regressed that badly?

Miguel is still in the episode via a mixture of dream and flashback sequences where he’s doing karate and it got extremely cheesy after the first two times. By the time he woke up I could only release a suffering sigh.

Rating: 2/5.

24 (Season 1)

I have seen the first season of 24 before, but I don’t remember anything except a certain death. I think it holds up well enough… the only problem is that after a while the format holds the plot progression back. For instance, I had to watch more Misha Collins scenes than I’d like.

There are a lot of repetitive scenes (Senator Palmer and his wife). There’s a lot of Jack Bauer angrily yelling, ‘THIS IS AGENT JACK BAUER!’ down his 2001 era flip phone. There’s a lot of shifty eyes, as the show tries to keep us on our toes about the CTU mole.

Professionals | Episode 7 “The Hunted”

Multi-billionaire Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser) is starting a satellite-supported project that aims to detect disease outbreaks at an early stage in order to be able to intervene more quickly. But the rocket that is supposed to take the satellite into space explodes shortly after it has been launched. His fiancée, doctor Grace Davila (Elena Anaya), then persuades him to hire security professional Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling) to investigate the incident.

S1, Episode 7: The Hunted

Previous recaps here.

In an attempt to escape, Vincent and Peter find themselves in an explosive situation and Peter’s life ends up in Vincent’s hands once again.

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Points:

• I think this episode has my all-time favourite scenes of the show.
• I am now fully convinced this show is a spoof and will accept this from all involved if they at some point claim it was intended to be one.

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We pick up where we left off, with Vincent not yet at the rendezvous point and Peter running off to find him sans weaponry. The chopper circles around briefly to see if it can pick them up. Unfortunately, Vincent finds himself caught by Saif and just as he’s about to surrender, Peter conks Saif on the head and knocks him out.

They run off and in the direction of the chopper, but Saif’s men catch up and try to shoot it down leaving them stuck. They manage to escape a gunfight, although Peter gets shot without realising.

Meanwhile, Grace is back in the village and demanding the pilot take them back. He’s rightly just like, “Uh, Ma’am there are fifty bullet holes in my chopper, it can’t take you anywhere!”

The entitlement.

Professionals | Episode 6 “Hot Zone”

Multi-billionaire Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser) is starting a satellite-supported project that aims to detect disease outbreaks at an early stage in order to be able to intervene more quickly. But the rocket that is supposed to take the satellite into space explodes shortly after it has been launched. His fiancée, doctor Grace Davila (Elena Anaya), then persuades him to hire security professional Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling) to investigate the incident.

S1, Episode 6: Hot Zone

[All previous recaps here]

Vincent and Peter arrive in Congo but Grace is missing. They make a plan to save her while Agent Kurt Neumann reaches Africa, obsessed with the idea of confronting Vincent.

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Last time, Vincent and Peter were on their way to the Congo to rescue Grace, who thought it would be wise to travel to country all by herself, knowing fully well the entire world knows she’s dating a billionaire.

Now, they arrive and find out Grace was taken by a man called Sayf who has an army of mercenaries. We cut to Neumann (Europol agent who is now after Vincent) getting his jabs because he’s also flying out to Africa to… confront Vincent. Really? He really flew all this way to confront Vincent?

He couldn’t wait until he was back home…?

Professionals | Episode 4 “Vectors”

Multi-billionaire Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser) is starting a satellite-supported project that aims to detect disease outbreaks at an early stage in order to be able to intervene more quickly. But the rocket that is supposed to take the satellite into space explodes shortly after it has been launched. His fiancée, doctor Grace Davila (Elena Anaya), then persuades him to hire security professional Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling) to investigate the incident.

I think I need to start a new blog series – Bad TV-athon and this show will be numero uno. Yet, I’m still watching it (of course I am, Supernatural trained me for this!).

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S1, Episode 4: Vectors

During a charity gala for the Panacea project, Peter confronts his sister. Vincent is put under pressure, and Grace is called out on a dangerous mission before the gala ends in disaster.

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Main points:

– Brendan Fraser is the only saving grace of this show
– Tom Welling looks like he’s questioning his life choices as each scene progresses.
– It’s so bad it’s… watchable, but only to see if the outdo themselves (and they often do).

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I think this was the best episode so far in terms of mind boggling entertainment and the worst for everything else. There was so much happening that I had to watch it twice and I will probably still forget things.

Once again, the writing leaves a lot to be desired. It’s poor to average and completely uninspiring for the most part, but out of nowhere they will throw in a corny or completely ridiculous line that throws me out of the show entirely, lol

Professionals | Episode 3 “The Knives Of Friends”

Multi-billionaire Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser) is starting a satellite-supported project that aims to detect disease outbreaks at an early stage in order to be able to intervene more quickly. But the rocket that is supposed to take the satellite into space explodes shortly after it has been launched. His fiancée, doctor Grace Davila (Elena Anaya), then persuades him to hire security professional Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling) to investigate the incident.

S1, Episode 3: The Knives of Friends

Previous episodes here.

I’m still watching this show, just extremely slowly. 🤓

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Zora goes behind her brother’s back, while Peter and Grace announce a new launch day for the next satellite. The attacks continue and Vincent is overtaken by the past.

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Line(s) of the episode:

“What’s an astronaut’s favourite meal?”

“Launch”

You know me, I love a good joke.

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I like this episode title less and this episode less. It had some good moments, but it felt like a filler episode despite being central to the main plot. Once again, the editing was not great. We have three or four plot points, some of which converge while the others do not. At any single point.

First, we start with a little vignette. A man on a bicycle pulls up outside a house in Dublin and seconds later, he’s flying out of a window with Vincent. They tussle. Vincent throws a plant pot at him (this is not relevant, but I did spend a good two minutes laughing afterward). Somehow, they end up in the middle of the road and there’s a crash.

*opening credits*

The opening credits are the most generic opening credits you’ll ever see, by the way. It’s mostly just a hundred names and clips of the show. The theme sounds like what you’d hear in the end credits which doesn’t bode well.

After the credits, there’s a scene where Zora, Dr. Swann’s sister, is trying to get a board member to back the purchase of her boo thang’s (I haven’t learnt his name yet, sorry) company. As she puts it, “why pay them, when we can pay ourselves?” I’m not a business expert, but that doesn’t sound right to me. Also, why is this scene here, please? We cut to Boo Thang flashbacks several times over the course of the episode and it’s incredibly unsatisfying. Basically, he’s a poacher. I guess we’ll figure out why that’s relevant later. Or maybe it’s there to show that his company is a fraud. I don’t know.

Next, we have a ‘risk assessment’ of Vincent’s team sans Vincent. Or, what I like to call ‘How To Include The Supporting Cast In The Episode’. There’s a montage of drills and extreme exercise. I don’t understand why they’d do a risk assessment after they’ve already completed a job, but apparently it’s a prerequisite for the shiny contracts they sign. I don’t understand why they are even focusing on that. Killing screen time? Plot point later?

Professionals | Episode 2 “Entanglements”

Multi-billionaire Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser) is starting a satellite-supported project that aims to detect disease outbreaks at an early stage in order to be able to intervene more quickly. But the rocket that is supposed to take the satellite into space explodes shortly after it has been launched. His fiancée, doctor Grace Davila (Elena Anaya), then persuades him to hire security professional Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling) to investigate the incident.

S1, Episode 2: Entanglements

Previous episodes here.

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Peter hires Vincent and his team as bodyguards while they investigate who is behind the attacks. When they discover that his daughter Jane is missing, they are forced to come up with a risky plan.

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First of all, I like the title. It’s very Jada Pinkett-Smith-y. Secondly, this episode was all over the place… but it made me laugh. These days, that can only be a plus. Sometimes, TV needs to be an escape and not an emotional journey.

My biggest issue remains the dialogue, but this episode was tighter than the first. The editing is a bit whiplashy (we jump from London, to Dublin, to Cape Town, to… Iraq and at one point, Somalia) but it’s not overly distracting.

This episode features a ‘white boy rapper’ called Vial, which was all kinds of hilarious. They literally unleash him on us within the first five minutes. I was… part amused, part terrified. It got kind of serious when we see he’s an abusive jerk.

We also see how Vincent Corbo put his team together and how he met Grace. There’s some rocket related plot, but it’s mostly sly looks and unanswered phone calls.

Professionals (2020) | Episode 1 “Snipe Hunt”

Multi-billionaire Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser) is starting a satellite-supported project that aims to detect disease outbreaks at an early stage in order to be able to intervene more quickly. But the rocket that is supposed to take the satellite into space explodes shortly after it has been launched. His fiancée, doctor Grace Davila (Elena Anaya), then persuades him to hire security professional Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling) to investigate the incident.

First of all, the plot of this show is all sorts of wait, what? The reviews on IMDB are not kind – hence why I watched it. IMDB reviews are a HOT MESS. There are the 10/10 reviews that read like Amazon held a gun to the users head and forced them to write it (looking at you, The Boys), and the 10/10 reviews written to counteract the 1/10 reviews. And then there are the 1/10 reviews written to counteract the obviously fake 10/10 reviews. I tend to read between the 3/10 – 6/10 reviews for my own sanity.

Anyway, back to the plot of the show.

A satellite tracking the spread of diseases? What happens if the satellite breaks down? And what would the satellite do that a database on a reliable server couldn’t? Why not invest the money into curing said diseases? I have so many questions.

Also, why are we only hiring a security expert, what about a detective? The police? The federal authorities? It’s not like a car was blown up, it was a rocket! (Apparently Vincent is a former counterintelligence office, but my point still counts!)

Secondly, I like Tom Welling and Brendon Fraser (I used to love The Mummy!), and I thought they had good chemistry together, along with Elena Anaya, but the whole setup was just off. I’d take the three main characters as different professionals in a different setting. Like maybe a mystical library. Or a regular library.

The explosions and chase scenes were fine and all, but it just screamed low budget European action flick. I was exhausted for them. Tom Welling breaks out an English accent in what has to be one of the most bizarre scenes I’ve ever seen. These two English police officers (detectives?) are transporting ALL THE EVIDENCE they have on some shady criminal and they’re robbed by Vincent and someone called Danny. Justifiably because their dialogue was absolute nonsense. Actually the dialogue in this episode is not great, but as it’s a pilot, I’ll give them a pass.

The general gist of this episode was that the rocket is blown up, and they hire Vincent to investigate. They investigate in the country where the rocket launched, invite a local policeman to tag along. Vincent plants a fake bullet to fool said policeman and then at the end, they’re being chased by the policeman and his cronies. I was sitting there like, ‘but… was it necessary to invite this guy along at all?’. It didn’t make much sense to me, but hey, action!

That being said, for the first episode, it wasn’t half bad? I didn’t hate it, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything amazing. It’s just a cheesy, action series. I feel like they’re going for a slapstick Eighties/A-Team vibe and they’re hitting the mark. I’m not even a big enough Tom Welling or Fraser fan to be biased but I did enjoy it. Sure, at times it seemed like the actors were reading from five different scripts and the show has an alarming number of executive producers, but it’s easy viewing and shot on location. Hello, pretty sights!

I’ll be back with a longer review when I’ve seen all the episodes (maybe). Or maybe I’ll do it episode by episode. We shall seeeeee.

Rating (so far): 5/10