(S01E01) Suspect to Angela: You've been watching too much bad TV, honey.
FBI agent Angela Henson can pinpoint a liar at twenty paces. She does this by using her keen sense of observation to watch people and their mannerisms: eye movements, voice inflections, the tightening of their trigger fingers while they point a gun at her head. She's one mean crime-fighting machine.
She's also the main character in the new Lifetime series Angela's Eyes, which combines a little bit of Alias, The Closer and Psych into one 60-minute show. And, while the concept is interesting there is one minor problem with the program. Mainly, the star, her co-stars, the dialogue and the direction. Okay, maybe a couple of minor problems.
It all stems from Abagail Spencer, the former All My Children star, and Ally Sheedy lookalike, who plays Angela. She's just wrong for the part. There was not one scene during the entire episode that I believed that she was a FBI agent. She was too irresponsible, too messed up, to be an efficient federal agent. In some scenes she would just drop the investigation, and leave her partners behind in the dust, while she took care of the personal business. This is not good practice while you are investigating the alleged murder of the wife of a prominent businessman.
This flagrant disregard for protocol was clearly shown in one particular scene. After attaching a radio transmitter to her boyfriend's cell phone (because she didn't trust him), she raced back to her apartment in the middle of the investigation when she realized that he found out about it and was heading to her apartment as well. Not professional at all.
This brings up another point: Angela's boyfriend. The man is justifiably pissed that Angela would try to track his movements. However, after she explains to him about her traitor parents who stole U.S. secrets, sold them, and are now paying the price in federal prison, he just tosses it aside and says everything is okay. Man, if a girlfriend did that to me, regardless of being a FBI agent, I would have brought her on up on charges. Yet, this is the Lifetime network, where the motto is 'Women are Strong, Men are Weak and Stupid'. So, I guess it's okay.
I don't understand how Cathy Schulman and Tom Nunan, producers of the critically acclaimed movie Crash, could be attached to this clunky, poorly acted show. The pilot contains way too much material (criminal investigations, espionage, missing documents) for the viewer to concentrate on, which confuses everything. Writer Dan McDermott (The Omen) provides poor dialogue and stereotypical characterization to everyone on the show. The supporting cast members, including Lyriq Bent, Joe Cobden, and Rick Roberts as members of the FBI task force, basically just kowtow to Angela's commands and whims. But, this is Lifetime network, so I guess it's okay.
So, if you want to watch a show about someone who can tell if a person is lying, watch TNT's The Closer. If you want to watch a show about someone who has a keen sense of observation watch USA's Psych. If you want to see Boyd Gaines, who portrayed Mark Royer on One Day at a Time, then tune into Angela's Eyes.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-17-2006 @ 2:08AM
Sandy said...
Just the Title of the Show kept me from watching..Previews were even worse! TPTB had too much suntea already this summer to lay this before the viewers~ I, personally, will have a nice day..somewhere else! I will even give them a Going Away Party..but first, they have to do their part!
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7-17-2006 @ 5:11AM
Thomas said...
This begs the question of why someone hasn't cast Ally Sheedy in a TV series?
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7-17-2006 @ 10:20AM
Evadne said...
I think the person who comes out badly isn't Angela's boyfriend, but Angela herself. She still looks silly an irrational. As the audience, we're supposed to smile indulgently and think, "That crazy Lucy; good thing she has a man to pick up the pieces."
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7-17-2006 @ 4:05PM
Carissa said...
I didn't watch this, and now I'm glad.
My sister was a personally messed up FBI agent, and at the time, I wondered what the qualifications were because I just didn't trust that she had what it took for the job. From what I knew of her and her fellow agents, the ones we see on TV are in no way like the real thing. This Angela, however, seems like she'd have the job in real life. Yep, the real bureau folks are really that scary. And our lives can be in their hands. Go figure.
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7-17-2006 @ 4:55PM
Margaret said...
I watched this show. I enjoyed it, but was just looking at it as a light, quick way to pass an hour of TV last night -- that and some curiosity. I don't tend to get real technical or delve too deeply
into things like this. It's just entertainment. It was okay, but not great. If Lifetime is trying to copy The Closer formula in the hopes of having a hit on their hands -- ha ha, they have another thing coming to them. The Closer and it's cast and its writing are light years ahead of something like Angela's Eyes. Trying to copy or clone something like The Closer is a loser's game. The TV goose doesn't lay an over abundance of golden shows as unique and successful as The Closer. I never "got into" Alias, so will have to leave those observations/comparisons to others.
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7-22-2006 @ 11:32PM
David said...
I quite enjoyed Angela's Eyes. Its a refreshing show with a refreshing personality and situation for Angela. This summer I am enjoying The Closer, Psyche, Kyle XY, and Numbers. I was a big fan of the first two seasons of Alias. My current favorite TV show is House. I think adhering to proper police procedure in Angela's Eyes would simply be boring. I look forward to future episodes of Angela's Eyes. Lets see something original and different such as Angela's Eyes.
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7-27-2006 @ 10:10PM
Lance said...
"Lets see something original and different such as Angela's Eyes."
What's so "original and different" about it?
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8-13-2006 @ 10:28PM
Kelly said...
Angela is from my home town, and although bias, we are proud. She is beatiful and a strong willed women. She has been acting for all of five years and already has her own show. I think she's maybe 25 or 26. Not many people her age have her kind of success and she has it all because of her own drive and ambition. Don't like it? Don't watch it. But jeezzzzz...give the girl some props. Atleast she's not home saying crap about others over the internet, she actually has made a life for herself!
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8-19-2006 @ 2:01AM
Joyce said...
I like Angela's Eyes, although I have yet to figure out just why it is called that? Does anyone else notice how much she looks like actress Holly Marie Combs that was on Picket Fences and then played Piper on the series Charmed? So many of thei facial features and mannerisms seem to match, are they sisters?
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