Once again, JW has returned to Central (& South) America. This time, though, he wasn't chasing a catfish or a piranha, this time he was chasing something else.
Let's be honest here. "Killer Torpedo" was a typical RM episode: it focused on JW and his fishing - this made it different from, say, "Atomic Assassin", where JW talked more about Chernobyl and its effect on the wild life than about fish. No conflict of interest here, it is fish ahoy all the way.
But there are similarities to "Atomic Assassin" as well - namely the decrease of the folk/folklore element in the ep. In previous seasons, JW often approached local holy men or shamans or similar people for spiritual guidance in order to catch this fish, and he usually talked about the local fish- or water-related legends as well. Here, in "Killer Torpedo", this didn't happen - almost.
Yes, JW mentioned that the locals talked about some sort of a local 'mermaid' that may drag anglers to their doom, but it was very brief, and he practically didn't develop this angle at all. Moreover, instead of a shaman, he talked to a local professional angler (White Boy) and received advice that was much more practical than spiritual. This indicates a clear break from the previous seasons and shows that the S5 of RM will definitely be different from the previous ones. Not better or worse, but different.
The other difference in "Killer Torpedo" is the use of flashbacks...or not. It is the "Columbian Slasher" episode that had an overwhelming amount of flashbacks; this one - not so much. What it had an overwhelming amount of were...the black vultures, birds similar to the turkey vulture, but more drab in color. WTF? Basically every 10-15 minutes the episode produced one or more black vultures doing something that was completely irrelevant to the show. Were they supposed to serve as ethnic color for the episode? I honestly don't know.
But black vultures aside, "Killer Torpedo" was still an impressive episode, centered on JW's struggle with the fish - the Atlantic tarpon in this case. It was a straightforward struggle of man vs. giant fish and JW delivered by catching his fish. Too simple? Perhaps, but RM is a fishing show and catching fish is what it is about. By catching his fish (the tarpon in this case) JW has fulfilled the premise of this episode, as he usually done. My respect goes out to him as usual too.
So: a straightforward fish-catching episode that nevertheless indicates a break with the tradition established in the previous seasons. I give it four out of five stars.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
RM - Atomic Assassin
This week River Monsters presented "Atomic Assassin", where JW went to Chernobyl to catch a giant mutant fish known as {som}, only to discover that it was his old friend the wels catfish... but it isn't that simple.
For a start, I believe that RM and JW had to do some re-writing of the episode's script: the first 5-10 minutes or so appeared to follow JW's usual monster-hunting schitck that included going into the local folklore (this time, the Ukrainian/Slavic folklore) to find more info about the monster and to get some sort of a spiritual (real or not) guidance to catch it. Not this time, though - this time the folklore angle had been completely abandoned. Why? Because of Chernobyl.
I do not want to discuss as to whether or not Chernobyl was the worst nuclear disaster ever - the States had their own problems with Long Island, and Japan's disaster in the 21st century was at least as bad Chernobyl. Period. That said, the report that JW - intentionally or not - has presented via AA was very impressive, many media sources, both Russian/Ukrainian and Western seem to believe that the life in the locale of Chernobyl explosion is recovering from the blast - JW showed that that wasn't the case both with fish and with a bird (I believe that it was a so-called marsh tit). I, for one, certainly didn't know that wildlife was struggling so badly in the locale of the explosion, you know?..
On the other hand, I have to confess that the fish caught by JW, starting with the pike and perch and ending with the catfish looked certainly hale and hearty enough, if I were to come across them in a fish stall or somewhere else, I certainly wouldn't recognize them as radioactive mutants. On one hand this shows the danger of radiation poisoning: you may not know that you ate contaminated food. On the other, this shows the tenacity of life: the fish may not be flourishing as it may appear at a first glance, but they still survive, they still endure..as do the birds, the plants and other creatures in the locale, as shown by the RM.
Also, on a less serious note, this episode has practically shown all of the large carnivorous fish of Europe, short of the turbot. But the turbot is basically a fresh-water cod and Ukraine is too warm for it. Period. Speaking of fish...
The other main difference between this episode and previous ones, such as "Asian Slayer", when JW went to Asia to catch the Golden Mahseer (another giant catfish) is that JW actually delivered in this episode, he caught his fish. Don't forget - RM is first and foremost a fishing show, and so some fishing, and preferably successful fishing must be seen. When that doesn't happen, the episode is usually a flop, when it does, the episode's a success.
(Another thing that made this episode a success is a small number of flashbacks, unlike the "Colombian Ripper" episode, for example - these flashbacks are only counterproductive and annoying).
The only negative aspect of this episode was the 'som' shtick - it could be spun only so many times before the viewers, even those who didn't know any Russian/Ukrainian at all, realized that it was a wels catfish that JW's interlocutors were talking about, you know? JW didn't need to spend that much time playing his audience. That aside, though, this episode was very enjoyable, for me at least.
So: many interesting facts, both about fish and other topics, a successful fishing excursion and overall a dramatic and exciting ep. I give 4.5 out of 5 stars at least.
For a start, I believe that RM and JW had to do some re-writing of the episode's script: the first 5-10 minutes or so appeared to follow JW's usual monster-hunting schitck that included going into the local folklore (this time, the Ukrainian/Slavic folklore) to find more info about the monster and to get some sort of a spiritual (real or not) guidance to catch it. Not this time, though - this time the folklore angle had been completely abandoned. Why? Because of Chernobyl.
I do not want to discuss as to whether or not Chernobyl was the worst nuclear disaster ever - the States had their own problems with Long Island, and Japan's disaster in the 21st century was at least as bad Chernobyl. Period. That said, the report that JW - intentionally or not - has presented via AA was very impressive, many media sources, both Russian/Ukrainian and Western seem to believe that the life in the locale of Chernobyl explosion is recovering from the blast - JW showed that that wasn't the case both with fish and with a bird (I believe that it was a so-called marsh tit). I, for one, certainly didn't know that wildlife was struggling so badly in the locale of the explosion, you know?..
On the other hand, I have to confess that the fish caught by JW, starting with the pike and perch and ending with the catfish looked certainly hale and hearty enough, if I were to come across them in a fish stall or somewhere else, I certainly wouldn't recognize them as radioactive mutants. On one hand this shows the danger of radiation poisoning: you may not know that you ate contaminated food. On the other, this shows the tenacity of life: the fish may not be flourishing as it may appear at a first glance, but they still survive, they still endure..as do the birds, the plants and other creatures in the locale, as shown by the RM.
Also, on a less serious note, this episode has practically shown all of the large carnivorous fish of Europe, short of the turbot. But the turbot is basically a fresh-water cod and Ukraine is too warm for it. Period. Speaking of fish...
The other main difference between this episode and previous ones, such as "Asian Slayer", when JW went to Asia to catch the Golden Mahseer (another giant catfish) is that JW actually delivered in this episode, he caught his fish. Don't forget - RM is first and foremost a fishing show, and so some fishing, and preferably successful fishing must be seen. When that doesn't happen, the episode is usually a flop, when it does, the episode's a success.
(Another thing that made this episode a success is a small number of flashbacks, unlike the "Colombian Ripper" episode, for example - these flashbacks are only counterproductive and annoying).
The only negative aspect of this episode was the 'som' shtick - it could be spun only so many times before the viewers, even those who didn't know any Russian/Ukrainian at all, realized that it was a wels catfish that JW's interlocutors were talking about, you know? JW didn't need to spend that much time playing his audience. That aside, though, this episode was very enjoyable, for me at least.
So: many interesting facts, both about fish and other topics, a successful fishing excursion and overall a dramatic and exciting ep. I give 4.5 out of 5 stars at least.
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
RM - Colombian Slasher
And so, RM returned for the 5th season, bringing JW along with it. Yay! (Mind you, it was already around in the States, so here I'm talking only about Canada.) That said, well...
Canada decided to open RM with the episode "Colombian Slasher", as JW tried to solve the mystery of what's behind the drowning of a bride, and while this episode wasn't specifically bad, it was rather lukewarm; it almost had a tired feel behind it, as if JW just couldn't muster excitement behind it. Yes, he wasn't in Columbia before, but the various flashbacks of the other SA fish from the previous seasons took most of the excitement out of the new locale, and there wasn't any particular 'ethnic flavor' behind this episode either. Rather, I was reminded (by the show itself) of such episodes as "Piranha" (about the piranha) and "Amazon Flesheaters" (about various catfish species of the Amazon). Why?
The problem that lies behind that question is that there was no real need to show flashbacks - the viewers either knew already what JW was talking about and didn't need to see the flashbacks, or they didn't, in which case the flashbacks didn't show anything important either; in both cases they were more annoying than helpful.
As for the fish themselves... yes, the various stingrays were cool, but seeing how JW 'reminded' everyone of his previous run-ins with this family ("Silent Assassin" for example) - it took the wind out of everyone's sales, JW's included: he just didn't appear to have any real excitement behind his capture of this episode's Big Fish, but some really good acting. That is a close second, but just isn't the same...
Of course, the problem might be mine, not the episode's - I only saw it in bits and pieces, but what I saw... as I said before, the spark was missing, the 'ethnic flavor' was greatly reduced, and JW appeared to be mostly play-acting for the camera, not the 'real deal' as before. Oh well, maybe he is just having a rocky start and will improve as time goes by. We'll see.
Canada decided to open RM with the episode "Colombian Slasher", as JW tried to solve the mystery of what's behind the drowning of a bride, and while this episode wasn't specifically bad, it was rather lukewarm; it almost had a tired feel behind it, as if JW just couldn't muster excitement behind it. Yes, he wasn't in Columbia before, but the various flashbacks of the other SA fish from the previous seasons took most of the excitement out of the new locale, and there wasn't any particular 'ethnic flavor' behind this episode either. Rather, I was reminded (by the show itself) of such episodes as "Piranha" (about the piranha) and "Amazon Flesheaters" (about various catfish species of the Amazon). Why?
The problem that lies behind that question is that there was no real need to show flashbacks - the viewers either knew already what JW was talking about and didn't need to see the flashbacks, or they didn't, in which case the flashbacks didn't show anything important either; in both cases they were more annoying than helpful.
As for the fish themselves... yes, the various stingrays were cool, but seeing how JW 'reminded' everyone of his previous run-ins with this family ("Silent Assassin" for example) - it took the wind out of everyone's sales, JW's included: he just didn't appear to have any real excitement behind his capture of this episode's Big Fish, but some really good acting. That is a close second, but just isn't the same...
Of course, the problem might be mine, not the episode's - I only saw it in bits and pieces, but what I saw... as I said before, the spark was missing, the 'ethnic flavor' was greatly reduced, and JW appeared to be mostly play-acting for the camera, not the 'real deal' as before. Oh well, maybe he is just having a rocky start and will improve as time goes by. We'll see.
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