Spooks, Smith and Shark...

along with JERICHO and the new Showtime series DEXTER were on my plate today for a nice Sunday of catching my breath and just lying back and being entertained.

SPOOKS has taken a flashier, less realistic turn this season and I'm not amused by it. It's trying to be 24 which it isn't, nor should it try to be. I can't imagine Harry not ordering the elimination of all of the conspirators involved once they had the meeting about taking over the government. I don't like Ros, but I'll wait until the end of the season.

SMITH - was indeed a love letter to Michael Mann's brilliant HEAT. I'm eager to see the characters again, and see some multi-episode stories instead of the self-contained hour I've just viewed. I think the editing is a bit skewed on this as well as clues are paid off before they are dropped (the exploding van should have been held as a surprise). This is a show that needs to find its characters and make them more "real" than they are.

SHARK - was predictable. I actually like JUSTICE better as it has the visual hooks a series like this requires. I also think they could have had Stark fight to keep his daughter somehow - show her he had changed...

JERICHO - was okay, not spectacular which is what I wanted. It's a bit soft in the belly and I want to see some hard decisions from these survivors. I also want some reality to this in regards to radiation fallout, water poisoning, rationing, potential fascism (you know there's some supremacist groups out there in Kansas along with a bunch of meth-heads).

DEXTER - is brilliant. A serial killer of serial killers. Disturbingly funny and unique.