blog of kaiyen

One of the new shows this fall that has at least piqued my interest, if not actually capturing it, is Eleventh Hour, starring Rufus Sewell (of Dark City fame) and Marley Shelton (of cute blonde-in-Pleasantville fame and apparently cute-blonde in general fame).  I’m not sure yet if I like the show, but one thing the did appreciate in the beginning was that Shelton played this tough, serious FBI agent.  Admittedly, she was too tough.  Too “I always do my job because I’m bad-ass” throughout the pilot.  I am presuming they were juxtaposing that seriousness with her hotness (she is pretty hot, and there is one “running around in her bra and her FBI dress shirt scene” so it’s kind of obvious). She is also clearly merely tolerant of Sewell’s character Dr. Jacob Hood, who is eccentric but a genius.

However, in the second episode has her as a much, much softer character, and even warning Hood, at one point, to be more sensitive in a particular situation where he’d be working with parents who had recently lost children.  They made her less serious and hardcore, in other words.

A few years ago, I was reading about the rise of the strong female lead in television shows.  I believe Kathryn Morris Cold Case, Marge Helgenberger in CSI, Jill Hennesey in Crossing Jordan and a few others were mentioned.  I would add a few others, such as almost any of the characters in The Womens Murder Club.  Yet here we are, with a show where the female character has been softened up.

The show isn’t that good to be honest, so it’s not a big deal, but it’s kind of sad, too.  Shows go back to being formulaic…