Tripping Over: Episode 4
Last night’s episode of Tripping Over was a bit weaker than those that have preceded it, although the second half was an improvement on the first. Once again, predictability was mostly to blame.
Ned (Daniel MacPherson) was once again quite amusing and made for good comic relief. He is so pretentious about his craft, but now he is finally coming to realise that perhaps he isn’t that skilled at it. I really liked the scene where they killed off his soap character and how seriously he took it. What I didn’t like was Network Ten’s promotion of the episode, where they flat-out said that Ned would die. A good programme teaser should tantalise, but it shouldn’t mislead. Networks are a business out to serve their customers, thus they should learn in marketing – don’t over-promise, because when you don’t deliver it just irritates the audience.
I have to say that I find the character of Nic (Abe Forsythe) refreshing. He is a very ‘blokey’ character, yet he is extremely intelligent – a combination that is usually absent from the screen. The storyline of Nic and Flic (Brooke Satchwell) didn’t particularly interest me, but I did enjoy Nic’s mad rush and meeting with Richard Branson.
Tamsin (Alexandra Moen) as a character is still not grabbing me. However, I will have to shamefully admit to being a tad over-competitive like her, and the swimming scene was somewhat amusing. I didn’t much care for the immigration storyline. I’m not a particular fan of morality being shoved down my throat; I prefer subtlety in those sorts of messages.
Callum (Leon Ockenden), however, is fairly likeable, despite his shortcomings. The plotline with him falling for the lawyer was rather predictable, but it would be nice to see him have some kind of normalcy.
Lizzie’s (Kathryn Drysdale) plotline was also quite predictable. The fact that Dave’s brother was introduced in the first place indicated that he would feature prominently. I found it intriguing that she was attracted to him though. She didn’t like his brother from the outset, even before she found out he was sleeping with her boyfriend. He has the same face as the man she witnessed dying; a man whose face haunted her. It’s no wonder that she freaked out afterwards. It will be interesting to see if Robbie (Ramon Tikaram) wants to continue the relationship, now that he knows she hid Dave’s fate.
I found that the plotlines of the older characters were not as engaging this week. The confrontation between James (Nicholas Bell) and Jeremy (Paul McGann) uncle was not particularly climatic, but at least it did have an element of reality. Lydia’s (Rebecca Gibney) storyline also seemed a bit tacked on, once again falling into predictability with Magnus (Jacek Koman) telling her his feelings. Her reaction to the news was quite cute, though.
It’s been announced that a second series of Tripping Over will go into production and air in 2007. There’s no word as of yet as to the format that the season will take. If it does end up with a full season order, I hope it doesn’t suffer the same fate as The Alice and lose the appeal that it has.
*Image courtesy of WIkipedia
Opening of Tripping Over*
I have to say that I find the character of Nic (Abe Forsythe) refreshing. He is a very ‘blokey’ character, yet he is extremely intelligent – a combination that is usually absent from the screen. The storyline of Nic and Flic (Brooke Satchwell) didn’t particularly interest me, but I did enjoy Nic’s mad rush and meeting with Richard Branson.
Tamsin (Alexandra Moen) as a character is still not grabbing me. However, I will have to shamefully admit to being a tad over-competitive like her, and the swimming scene was somewhat amusing. I didn’t much care for the immigration storyline. I’m not a particular fan of morality being shoved down my throat; I prefer subtlety in those sorts of messages.
Callum (Leon Ockenden), however, is fairly likeable, despite his shortcomings. The plotline with him falling for the lawyer was rather predictable, but it would be nice to see him have some kind of normalcy.
Lizzie’s (Kathryn Drysdale) plotline was also quite predictable. The fact that Dave’s brother was introduced in the first place indicated that he would feature prominently. I found it intriguing that she was attracted to him though. She didn’t like his brother from the outset, even before she found out he was sleeping with her boyfriend. He has the same face as the man she witnessed dying; a man whose face haunted her. It’s no wonder that she freaked out afterwards. It will be interesting to see if Robbie (Ramon Tikaram) wants to continue the relationship, now that he knows she hid Dave’s fate.
I found that the plotlines of the older characters were not as engaging this week. The confrontation between James (Nicholas Bell) and Jeremy (Paul McGann) uncle was not particularly climatic, but at least it did have an element of reality. Lydia’s (Rebecca Gibney) storyline also seemed a bit tacked on, once again falling into predictability with Magnus (Jacek Koman) telling her his feelings. Her reaction to the news was quite cute, though.
Overall Rating
It’s been announced that a second series of Tripping Over will go into production and air in 2007. There’s no word as of yet as to the format that the season will take. If it does end up with a full season order, I hope it doesn’t suffer the same fate as The Alice and lose the appeal that it has.
*Image courtesy of WIkipedia
"What I didn’t like was Network Ten’s promotion of the episode, where they flat-out said that Ned would die."
This got me to but it was more of an ah-ha moment because what Channel 10 actually said was "Ned will lose his life" with a image of a life support machine flat lining.
I didn't even think about his character and instead jumped to the "how can Ned possibly die in the 3rd of six episodes?" due to the "Marissa will die - find out how in 2 weeks" ads for the OC and I've never watched an episode of the OC yet.
So when I saw his character flatlining it was an Ah-ha, that's what they meant moment.
But perhaps I'm just bitter and twisted