The first episode of a TV series is usually the hardest - both for the viewer and the writer.
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It's a new show, with new characters and so the writer needs to spend much of that first episode explaining just who they all are, how they know each other, what they do, etc etc.
And the writer needs to do it in such a way that it doesn't come across as great wads of exposition which slows down the narrative flow of the story.
The viewer has to remember that they need to devote a bit of time to digesting all this before the story will really flow.
That's why I've always tried to watch two episodes of a show before I decide whether I like it or not, because things could pick up once all the groundwork of the first episode has been laid down
But after those two episodes, if it's not working I tend to forget about it - because it's not my job as a viewer to persist for a lot of episodes before the show gets interesting.
That said, I did make an exception with the TV series Bosch, based on the crime novels by Michael Connelly.
I'm a fan of those books so I picked up the first two seasons of the series
That was a big mistake.
I struggled through the first four episodes where the plotline dragged. It felt like they really only had enough material for six or seven episodes but decided to pad things out to make it into double figures.
Something exciting happens at the end of the fourth episode, but by then it was too late. I can't say I'm very interested in seeing what happens after that because I'm afraid of the possibility the plot will slow down again for an episode or two.
The key problem with the dull and boring nature of those episodes lays with the lead character of police detective Harry Bosch.
Titus Welliver plays the character as he appears in the books - a grumpy throwback lawman with a dislike for authority and who figures his way is the right way.
Onscreen, that character comes across really dour and gloomy. Welliver spends most of the episodes with a scowl on his face, effectively justifying why so many people don't like him.
I may have liked the books, but I don't want to spend much more time with the TV series.