Control : Mid Season Thoughts

Since I have time on my hands this winter vacation, I saw that I had one drama I didn’t finish from earlier this year that I thought I should just kill time and watch. Control is definitely a drama that you only want to watch when you’re bored and have nothing else to do.

I’m currently on episode 6 so I thought I should share my “mid season” thoughts on this drama. This is usually the do or die part for me; do I drop this and save me the hassle or keep going? And while this drama has a lot of pit holes and other obstacles that make it hard to enjoy, it’s interesting enough that I’m willing to ride this one out. I don’t know, maybe I’m a person who’s into cruel and unusual punishment.

That two parter episode was probably the only exciting episode so far

Anyway, if you’re not familiar with this drama, Control is about the partnership between a female detective, Segawa, and a myopic university professor, Nagumo. Down on her luck, she ends up working with this professor who’s specialty is in the sudden quirks humans posses, whether it be lying or telling the truth. When a case reaches a dead end, its up to Segawa and Nagumo to dig through the barrier and find the true killer. Eventually, the criminal is found (usually ends up dead for some reason) and the day is saved.

This drama… is… I am trying to find some reason to continue watch it and the only thing that keeps me watching is anticipating that Yokoyama Yuu or Matsushita Nao will be capable of some other facial reaction other than stoned and anxious. There’s practically no story to this drama; its an episodic hot mess evidence gathering, case mulling, criminal catching mundane redundancy that pretty much will put you to sleep by the time they catch the villain. There’s really no character interaction to look forward too and any underlying continuing story does not exist… and if it does the writing is poor in conveying that story.

REALLY? LIKE, NO COP IN THE ROOM COULD HAVE AT LEAST TACKLED HER?

Speaking of writing, some situations in this show are so over the top ridiculous that it makes me wonder how this police department manages to function day to day. Between the wife that blew away her husband with a shotgun in a room full of cops or the father that was vomiting blood in between Teranishi screaming, ” Are you okay?! “, I find it hard to take anything seriously with this drama. If it was supposed to be a comedy, they surely missed labeling it that in the guides, because a lot of these situations leave me just thinking, ” Really? This can’t be happening. Unbelievable. ”

As for the acting, its a mixed back. Naohito Fujiki owns his character as the myopic Nagumo Jun, but everyone else is either playing a character they’ve played so many times before (Sato Jiro) or are completely overacting it, in the case of Matsushita Nao’s Segawa. I just don’t like her in this role, I don’t believe her to be a detective. She’s not a detective. Maybe if it was Kanno Miho in this role, I probably would have believed it more… because Kanno Miho is one hell of an actress. There’s just this tense, anxious, annoying face Matsushita constantly has on her face that makes me wonder why she hasn’t busted a vein yet. Then we have Yokoyama Yuu constantly riding the jaded, slow talking = serious role character that he’s been using Yuukan Club that I’m getting tired of watching.

This represents the extent of Matsushita and Yokoyama's acting range in this drama.

I think I’m going to make a video just to prove how Yokoyama does not know any other emotion but the ” slow… talking.. cool… face… character…. ”

And it makes me angry because I know Yokoyama is capable of range. He has acted several different characters before Kanjani8 blew up popularity in such dramas like Mitsuo, My Lonely Room, Haikei Chichiue Sama, and so on. So what the flying fuck, Yoko? Get off of auto-pilot.

I’m starting episode 7, so that means there’s another four more episodes left in this drama. I pray something picks up or some story or conflict happens with these characters… because if not.. I don’t know how I’m gonna feel. Though, with my luck, there’ll probably won’t be any change in this drama and it’ll be the same crap until the end and I will probably flip a table for wasting 11 hours of my life on this drama.

I'll say it again, the only reason why you're here is to only look pretty, Yoko.