There's nothing wrong being emotional. Some people are like that, but yeah, he seems a bit weak for a cop.

@Ditendra said:

There's nothing wrong being emotional. Some people are like that, but yeah, he seems a bit weak for a cop.

Yes, you are right. It isn't just that he shows emotion. I mean, really, all characters show emotions of some sort and to some degree. I guess what I really noticed was how much this character seems to be overcome with sadness to the point of crying. He cries a LOT. And not just the kind of crying where it's like your eyes are sweating and tears escape down your cheek. He gets choked up and sobs. Again, nothing inherently wrong with that, for a man or a woman or a child. It happens to us all.

But with James it happens a lot. I am wondering whether they wrote the character that way, or if the actor chose to play it that way. It is something to be able to pull that off, to cry realistically like that on cue. I don't think I could do that, no matter how many dead puppies I imagined.

I know that scenes call for a strong emotional response sometimes, as when James knew he had to let Kate go and tearfully told her he didn't know how to do that. I have cried after breaking up. That was realistic.

But, whether the writers made the character this way or whether the actor played him that way, I think they made him too emotional and too weak. Look at his impotent response to Dr. Heysen when she wanted to take the dead (or apparently dead) body of Phil. James presumably wanted to handle the dead body according to the law, but he seemed frightened when Heysen suggested that she take the body. James had the authority to say how the body would be handled, but he sort of melted and capitulated to Heysen.

I know that writers these days want to present strong, independent women to serve as role models for young girls watching the shows. I have read about this. And they similarly want to present men who show their emotions and their 'softer' side. So I understand why a writer may have made James this way. But there is such a thing as lacking realism. And I think they took it too far with James.

@write2topcat said:

@Ditendra said:

There's nothing wrong being emotional. Some people are like that, but yeah, he seems a bit weak for a cop.

Yes, you are right. It isn't just that he shows emotion. I mean, really, all characters show emotions of some sort and to some degree. I guess what I really noticed was how much this character seems to be overcome with sadness to the point of crying. He cries a LOT. And not just the kind of crying where it's like your eyes are sweating and tears escape down your cheek. He gets choked up and sobs. Again, nothing inherently wrong with that, for a man or a woman or a child. It happens to us all.

But with James it happens a lot. I am wondering whether they wrote the character that way, or if the actor chose to play it that way. It is something to be able to pull that off, to cry realistically like that on cue. I don't think I could do that, no matter how many dead puppies I imagined.

I know that scenes call for a strong emotional response sometimes, as when James knew he had to let Kate go and tearfully told her he didn't know how to do that. I have cried after breaking up. That was realistic.

But, whether the writers made the character this way or whether the actor played him that way, I think they made him too emotional and too weak. Look at his impotent response to Dr. Heysen when she wanted to take the dead (or apparently dead) body of Phil. James presumably wanted to handle the dead body according to the law, but he seemed frightened when Heysen suggested that she take the body. James had the authority to say how the body would be handled, but he sort of melted and capitulated to Heysen.

I know that writers these days want to present strong, independent women to serve as role models for young girls watching the shows. I have read about this. And they similarly want to present men who show their emotions and their 'softer' side. So I understand why a writer may have made James this way. But there is such a thing as lacking realism. And I think they took it too far with James.

I agree with you. I didn't pay much attention to this part of James and watched it few months ago, but yeah, he seemed quite weak cop. And generally cops in this TV show seem a bit different from cops in American shows. I don't know if cops in Australia are all like that or it's just in this TV show. He seemed more oriented on personal things than on law. And I also remember that scene how some other characters ignored him.

Yeah, I actually kind of laughed when I watched that scene. It was almost like they didn't notice or pay attention to what he said. And he came off as someone trying to sound authoritative, but lacks the gravitas and respect needed to be viewed that way. I don't think they meant it to be like that, or if it seemed that way to others, but I sort of shook my head and laughed about that scene.

It doesn't bother me or take away from the show. I just comment on stuff I notice. I really like this show and hope we will see the next season soon. I read there is one more season coming. I think the article implied there was only one more season planned. I don't know how far they could take this story. It would seem a bit weird if more and more people started popping up out of the ground everywhere. We have not heard why Elisa came back, why John Doe (forgot his former names) came back once before or how that happened. So I think this next season should explain things, tell us the driving force behind the resurrections, and maybe allow these souls to achieve their goals and find peace. Like Patrick Fitzgerald, they could try to right old wrongs, help heal emotionally wounded people, or something.

If more and more people began popping up all over the place, it would seem a bit too much like a zombie trope, and that would be bad, in my opinion. This show is good in part because it is novel, fresh. I think we may have to wait until next January or so before the next season comes to Netflix. The Aussies want to air it first on their network TV in the fall, when they can make the most money from it.

By the way Ditendra, I hope that thing over on Peaky Blinders doesn't turn you off from this site. Mostly I've talked with friendly people here. I was a bit surprised to see what Couch wrote. I never read anything like that from that person before. I really couldn't see what you had said to set him or her off that way. It didn't make sense. Anyway, as far as I am concerned, you're welcome to make whatever observations or share any opinion you feel like.

@write2topcat said:

Yeah, I actually kind of laughed when I watched that scene. It was almost like they didn't notice or pay attention to what he said. And he came off as someone trying to sound authoritative, but lacks the gravitas and respect needed to be viewed that way. I don't think they meant it to be like that, or if it seemed that way to others, but I sort of shook my head and laughed about that scene.

It doesn't bother me or take away from the show. I just comment on stuff I notice. I really like this show and hope we will see the next season soon. I read there is one more season coming. I think the article implied there was only one more season planned. I don't know how far they could take this story. It would seem a bit weird if more and more people started popping up out of the ground everywhere. We have not heard why Elisa came back, why John Doe (forgot his former names) came back once before or how that happened. So I think this next season should explain things, tell us the driving force behind the resurrections, and maybe allow these souls to achieve their goals and find peace. Like Patrick Fitzgerald, they could try to right old wrongs, help heal emotionally wounded people, or something.

If more and more people began popping up all over the place, it would seem a bit too much like a zombie trope, and that would be bad, in my opinion. This show is good in part because it is novel, fresh. I think we may have to wait until next January or so before the next season comes to Netflix. The Aussies want to air it first on their network TV in the fall, when they can make the most money from it.

By the way Ditendra, I hope that thing over on Peaky Blinders doesn't turn you off from this site. Mostly I've talked with friendly people here. I was a bit surprised to see what Couch wrote. I never read anything like that from that person before. I really couldn't see what you had said to set him or her off that way. It didn't make sense. Anyway, as far as I am concerned, you're welcome to make whatever observations or share any opinion you feel like.

Hi, new season is out and today I started watching it, saw the first episode. You were so right about James. He's very emotional and prone to cry. He again cried in the cafe when he was talking to his dad and before that when he was at home talking to his mother, being mad at her why she contacted Sarah even though he warned her not to do it. I think this was another example how people don't respect him & don't care what he says. But now he died in the restroom and resurrected into a different person, so I'm thinking we won't be seeing him crying anymore, lol.

I binged through the final season. I won't spoil anything for you. You're already watched the first one though so I can comment on it. I don't know if they wrote his part this way. I think some directors give actors a lot of leeway to develop the character on their own, and some of them even allow them to ad lib their dialogue I have heard. So I don't know if the actor decided to play James this way or if it was in the script. I think some actors want to play their parts with as much emotion as possible. That seems to be a trend. Maybe they think it engages the viewer's emotions and invests them more in the story. Whatever.

Anyway, I think that aspect of the James character is well overdone. When he flipped out in his parents' house and got angry at him mom, yelling at her and seeming almost at the point of melting down into one of his histrionic fits, I thought "Whoa there buddy! That is your MOM. Show some respect!"

Not only that, but he asked them to take care of the baby for him. He ought to show some gratitude, but he doesn't. He is wound too tight. I think that is actually a good thing that his parents are raising the child. You wouldn't want a child growing up watching James blubbering all the time, freaking out, getting upset and fussy like he does. They might grow up thinking that is normal. Strange how his parents are both normal and he turned out the way he did. His dad stepped in and quickly got him out of the house to go have a beer at that place where he slipped in the bathroom and smacked his head on the sink. (I would have thought he might get a concussion from that hit, but I wouldn't have thought a young, healthy man would die from it.) So now he still has his memories but he has been imbued with a mission to correct the unnatural events, i.e. the risen dead. This season their presence causes big issues, which I don't think you have seen yet. We never heard about them in the first two seasons.

Whatever that professor did in the graveyard seems to have really pushed those boundaries away. Funny how they just assume the boundaries are now gone, instead of thinking perhaps they have only been pushed back. Jumping in a car and speeding out of town seems like a big risk. They could suddenly dissolve into dust if the boundaries are still out there somewhere.