Terminal City (2005) is so much better than most television shows, one of those mini-series for channels far beyond the basic cable package. Even the plot idea is unique: A woman diagnosed with breast cancer stumbles into hosting a reality television show. Maria Del Mar does a wonderful job of portraying the torrent of emotions running through this upper-middle-class woman. She won an ACTRA award for Outstanding Performance (Female). The series itself was nominated for a Gemini Award as Best Dramatic Series. So you’re watching pretty high quality television.
But are you watching a good movie? While most movies have 1.5 or 2 hours to get the job done, Terminal City has about 10 hours. This gave the production team a wonderful opportunity to develop the characters, to show how each member of the family dealt with the situation, to make even minor characters such as the reality TV crew more than stereotypes. Didn’t happen. The family did not feel like a real family. You know how in Juno when she sits down to talk with her dad, you just know he’s her dad. Not here. When the family sits at the dinner table, the kids don’t feel integral, almost as if they could be moved lock, stock, and bedroom to another show. This is ironically unfortunate because screen writer Angus Fraser has said the family dinner table is were all the turmoil of the day comes together.
I didn’t like the characters enough to want to watch the second five hours. Just because the teenager Sarah has the hots for her teacher does not mean that I find her disgusting. She is often charming and full of quick energy. But where is she coming from? Why this romantic attraction? Also, what do I know about her that makes me care about her even when she swears at her brother, is nasty to her mother, and generally misbehaves? The same kind of questions for her druggie brother. You could even ask the same questions of her little brother except that he is 7 and cute and walks into a Roman Catholic funeral service and then wants to join the church. But accepting those predictable stereotypes lets the program off the hook when it could have developed him as a unique and captivating character.
Since I stopped watching the original CSI two years ago, I watch no television program regularly. Except last month I started watching another Canadian mini-series (I suppose it could turn into a regular show if its first half season is a big hit). Becoming Erica, like Terminal City, has a catchy plot idea: A 30-year old, well-educated woman has made a mess of her life and, through a most unusual psychologist, she gets to travel back in time and maybe make things turn out better. Unlike with Terminal City, I look forward to spending time with Erica and her troubled family. Erica is charming and well-meaning, struggling mightily with stuff that I can identify with. The eccentric shrink is great—he spouts not wisdom but quotations from everyone from Leonard Cohen to people I’ve never heard of. But he doesn’t let a show close without Erica learning something. And sometimes those little lessons are profound.