Sinchronicity

[matt]

(I've just copied and pasted my thoughts from another forum on this. Aired last night...)

A:1 Episode 1

Being a moderator on a Hex board - this was something that was known to me because it stars Jemima Rooper. It's a drama about a group of three friends, Nathan, Fi and Jase - told via the POV of Nathan.

Nathan (Paul Chequer) works for a porn web-site; and his boss is played by Camille Coduri who sends him out to get stories about women who have two girl thingys and says stuff like: "If I had two cl*ts; I'd never leave the house!"

A ladies man - things take a strange turn when he sees a woman called Fi (Rooper) and it's a case of love on first sight. Things get complicated when his mate Jase (Daniel Percival) reverses the wind mirror of his truck into her face and Jase and Fi start going out. A series of events lead to Nathan, Jase and Fi running from a bouncer after Nathan chats up the bouncer's girlfriend...losing Jase - Nathan and Fi end up sleeping together. Then Jase turns up, really distressed - but Nathan gets him out before he notices Fi.

The series is based on a kind of similar style that Sugar Rush sometimes uses, with a kind of non-linear flashback structure as gaps of the story come flooding back. And the reasons for Jase's drunkern appearance at Nathan's flat when Fi was there comes clear - he had a...not a fling - more he was otehrwise 'engaged' with a gay drug dealer called Mani (the ever reliable Navin Chowdhry). And he confesses this to Nathan...but doesn't want him to tell Fi.

The series is based on the idea that there's two sides to every story; a similar style to channel 4's NY-LON without the boring staring into space to fill time. Chequer and Rooper have worked together before (they were Alex and Nikki in As If) and have a great chemistry; and Chequer appears comfortable in speaking in asides to the audience (something used As If).

I liked it, with good performances and some funny moments. If you ever wanted to know what Jackie Tyler would be like running a porn web-site (or "erotica for couples") or stare in amazement to see how director Brian Grant (from 'Hex' - Johnny Caps is also a producer) manages to have cameras moving in a quite visual sex scene without showing any...parts of Jemima Rooper...or just like a show where friends hold secrets from each other...it's worth a look. 8.

[louie]

Taped it last night and watched it this morning
Only watched it or Miss Rooper

This is a great show. So much happened in the pilot

I had a feeling jase had been up to something. Especially when fi was crying and he thought she had saw him and he kept saying im sorry for what i have done or something like that. I guessed that he slept with a man before we found out as if he slept with a woman, then it would not a original and the needed to spice things up. The sex scenes...........whoa

Roll on next week.

I agree with Matt. I give it an 8

[kittygobonkers]

how can someone be so naked and yet we hardly see anything??? now thats clever camera work hehehehe.

[Fassbender Fan]

Watched a little bit, was alright nothing special. Don't think I'll be watching it next week but yay for Jemima - she was fab

I know certain members aren't too pleased with her choice of tattoo however. hehe you know who you are...

[fenris]

I think the series is off to a good start. The first episode hits the ground running, not only introducing the characters and establishing the complex (and twisted) web of relationships between them with impressive ease, but also containing a surprising amount of activity that sows the seeds for plenty of further development and plotlines.

Full marks to the main actors as well, for convincingly portraying the wide gauntlet of emotions that the characters underwent. The sight of Fi tearfully hiding in the toilet was almost heartbreaking, which is remarkable when you consider that this was a character we've only known for barely half an hour.

But (and I'm afraid there is a 'but') one thing I've noticed about recent Shine productions is that they seem to want to pride themselves on their frank and supposedly daring attitude to sex. It's a shame then, that their approach is often ultimately at the same level as schoolboy sniggering.
For example, in Sugar Rush, Saint works in a sex shop. This has no great bearing or impact on the storyline - she could just as easily work in a bakery, florists or newsagents, and the series would be practically unchanged. However, because it's a sex shop the producers are able to include lots of visual gags involving people waving dildos and vibrators about. Gosh, how naughty!

Likewise, in Sinchronicity Nathan works for a porn website, for seemingly no other reason that it allows scenes in which he accidentally walks into the middle of fetish photoshoots, or gets involved in unnecessary and supposedly amusing subplots, such as the first episode's quest to track down a glamour model who reportedly has two vaginas.

Sinchronicity also has a cheerful and talkative pre-operative transsexual as a supporting character. It's too early to say how (or even if) this character is going to be developed beyond being a stereotype, but the early signs aren't good. Based on the evidence so far, it seems likely that she will end up as little more than a cross between Greek chorus and a running joke.

I'm no prude, and would love to see more frank and unashamed adult drama on TV, but having an admittedly explicit (by mainstream BBC standards) sex scene and some nudge-nudge humour isn't it. Come on Shine, you can do better than this.

[matt]

fenris said:

For example, in Sugar Rush, Saint works in a sex shop. This has no great bearing or impact on the storyline - she could just as easily work in a bakery, florists or newsagents, and the series would be practically unchanged. However, because it's a sex shop the producers are able to include lots of visual gags involving people waving dildos and vibrators about. Gosh, how naughty!

In Sugar Rush's defense - there's actually a lot more to Saint's occupation to the story than the producers sniggering at visiual gags. (Heh - they make me laugh.)

Saint's in her mid-twenties and a lot older. The series is about Kim exploring her sexual identity and confidence and Saint is actually very sexually confident woman. Open about a lot of things and possibly had more experience in the world of sex; and the sex-toy thing has actually been used as a plot point when Kim was paranoid she still liked men. (It still was a plot point in episode five where Saint was off 'on business' - to which Kim was wondering what 'on business' was about).

I doubt that it would've had the same impact if Saint worked in a Bakery.

As for Sinchronicity - Nathan's 'job' is also a secret from his friends (I think, anyway). Something which will affect Fi's opinion of him if she found out.

[louie]

I think when Jase had that one night with that guy, i think he did it intentionally. I doubt it was the drugs

[fenris]

xandmatt said:

In Sugar Rush's defense - there's actually a lot more to Saint's occupation to the story than the producers sniggering at visual gags. (Heh - they make me laugh.)

Saint's in her mid-twenties and a lot older. The series is about Kim exploring her sexual identity and confidence and Saint is actually very sexually confident woman. Open about a lot of things and possibly had more experience in the world of sex; and the sex-toy thing has actually been used as a plot point when Kim was paranoid she still liked men. (It still was a plot point in episode five where Saint was off 'on business' - to which Kim was wondering what 'on business' was about).

I doubt that it would've had the same impact if Saint worked in a Bakery.

You make your point well matt, but I think we're going to have to agree to disagree.

In Sugar Rush, Kim is going through the problem that most of us face when we're young and falling in love for the first time - namely, cripplingly low self-esteem. Kim has fallen for Saint and thinks that she is amazing - and therefore is having trouble believing that this incredible person could possibly want to be with someone as ordinary and messed up as her. Its just too good to be true. What's the catch?

So Kim is looking for cracks in the relationship that don't exist, and over-analyzing everything that Saint says or does. One bitchy remark by Anna instantly convinces her that Saint secretly prefers men and still sees boyfriends, while a business trip away has Kim imagining Saint being unfaithful as soon as she leaves Brighton.

I would argue that Saint's possession is secondary or even non-essential in all this. Kim would get paranoid no matter what Saint did for a living.

[matt]

fenris said:

So Kim is looking for cracks in the relationship that don't exist, and over-analyzing everything that Saint says or does. One bitchy remark by Anna instantly convinces her that Saint secretly prefers men and still sees boyfriends, while a business trip away has Kim imagining Saint being unfaithful as soon as she leaves Brighton.

I would argue that Saint's possession is secondary or even non-essential in all this. Kim would get paranoid no matter what Saint did for a living.

But what other occupation would have Kim completely paranoid that she might be unfaithful to the largest extreme?

Saint goes off to a meeting where bakers gather and talk about the latest break-throughs in sliced bread. Or she goes to a convention that consists of owners of sex-shops discussing new sex-toys that generally consist of a similar shape of male anatomy that Kim's paranoid Saint misses.

Kim's a paranoid character, definitely. However to get the most out of one of the character's main personality traits you need to be able to push it to the extreme - and having her love interest being involved in the sex business is really going to boost that paranoia to further extremes.

[Death]

sambola86 said:

I know certain members aren't too pleased with her choice of tattoo however. hehe you know who you are...

Sheep,thats all i have to say lol

[DreamDangerously]

lol. I thought the same.


On a different note, was I the only one who thought it was a bit iffy. Well acted but the script was pretty predictable and very much in the tried and tested shine formula (nothing we haven't seen in As If or Sugar Rush to be honest). I just really thought it wasn't breaking any new ground at all and the only bonus is screen time for Jemima. The only time I laughed was Nathan's reaction to Jace telling him about his encounter.

Not deeply impressed.

[louie]

Nathan's boss is quite funny. The things she comes out with.
LOL

[nikki77]

here are some screencaps for those who haven't seen it yet:

www.jemimarooper.org/sinchro.htm

I thought the show was good, entertaining.... but nothing special really...

[louie]

The scene where the two guys were getting it on
That's the first male to male sex scene i have ever seen

[DreamDangerously]

then you've never watched Queer as Folk...lol