Charlie Jade

[zenophite]

I just came across this series by chance and am really impressed with it. I know it is a Canadian and South-Afican co-production - does anyone know if any progress has been made for a season 2?

I recommend this series to anyone who likes a complex story with interesting characters that have some depth.

Honestly, I don't understand why sci-fi couldn't pick this up especially considering they are ready to blow money on stuff like nuWho and Torchwood.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I believe it was cancelled after the first season.
Kegek will probably tell you more, he seems to be the local big Charlie Jade fan. I've seen the first episode, and thought it was an interesting concept, but I don't have the channel it was broadcast on, here in the UK. And I don't fancy paying £1 an episode to download-to-rent it.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I've seen the first 6 episodes and it took e a while to warm yup top Charlie because they were trying to express how confused he was by being world lost... Though the villians are damn fun.

 

[Kegek]

Bob the Skutter said:
I believe it was cancelled after the first season.
Kegek will probably tell you more, he seems to be the local big Charlie Jade fan.

Bingo. Charlie Jade has been shown since October here on UK TV on the FX channel, and I've been following it since then. The show was produced in 2005 and only one season of 21 episodes were made. I've read that scripts were written for a second season; but that never went through and the show is currently being marketed as a 'limited' TV show. I've also read that the show nonetheless has a satisfying but open-ended conclusion; but I can't tell you for sure until I've finished watching. I'm up to the seventeenth episode. A DVD release of the first half of the season in Region 2 came out in Christmas and another one is slated, IIRC, for May.

So far as I know, Charlie Jade has never aired in the United States. This is definitely a shame, it's a very enjoyable show. Should it ever reach US airwaves; I'd recommend it. Opinion seems to be divided about the overall quality of the show - some say the first few episodes are poor and you should wait for it to improve - but in my opinion, most of the appealing aspects of the show are right there in the pilot: The atmosphere, the strange, elliptical plotting, and so on. Things make more sense as time goes on but the show still feels the same. The only big, positive difference is that the shakycam becomes less shaky as the show goes on.

Charlie Jade is a very odd. It has a very dense arc, in which Vexcor, a company that exists in a dystopian universe called Alphaverse; is trying to cross into universes such as Betaverse (our own) and Gammaverse (an ecological utopia). Jade, our eponymous antihero, finds himself trapped in Betaverse, and soon is working with a local conspiracy theorist, Karl Lubinsky (one of my favourite characters). And there's an eco-terrorist from Gammaverse named Reena, then there's the sociopathic son of Vexcor's founder, 01 Boxer; and other Vexcor characters - including Brian Boxer's mistress and the de facto head of Vexcor, Essa Rompkin.

It uses colour-coding as a shorthand to indicate what universe one is in - Alphaverse is shot with dark green colours; Betaverse with a cold blue; and Gammaverse with warm earth tones. Everything takes place in South Africa - of Alphaverse we only see 'Cape City'; a smog-laden alternate universe version of Cape Town in Betaverse. This gives the show a decidedly different feel from any other sci-fi show I've seen - and it sometimes interweaves South African political and ethical concerns into the show's plot.

So, Charlie Jade consistently ambituous, weird, and entertaining. It can misfire badly and it does have serious flaws; but it also has much to commend itself. Maybe not for everyone, but I sure as well love it.

 

[Vendikarr]

Kegek said:

Bob the Skutter said:
I believe it was cancelled after the first season.
Kegek will probably tell you more, he seems to be the local big Charlie Jade fan.

Bingo. Charlie Jade has been shown since October here on UK TV on the FX channel, and I've been following it since then. A DVD release of the first half of the season in Region 2 came out in Christmas and another one is slated, IIRC, for May. The show was produced in 2005 and only one season of 21 episodes were made. I've read that scripts were written for a second season; but that never went through and the show is currently being marketed as a 'limited' TV show. I've also read that the show nonetheless has a satisfying but open-ended conclusion; but I can't tell you for sure until I've finished watching. I'm up to the seventeenth episode.

So far as I know, the show has never aired in the United States. This is definitely a shame, it's a very enjoyable show. Should it ever reach US airwaves; I'd recommend it. Opinion seems to be divided about the overall quality of the show - some say the first few episodes are poor and you should wait for it to improve - but in my opinion, most of the appealing aspects of the show are right there in the pilot: The atmosphere, the strange, elliptical plotting, and so on. Things make more sense as time goes on but the show still feels the same.

Charlie Jade is a very odd show. It has a very dense arc, in which Vexcor, a company that exists in a dystopian universe called Alphaverse; is trying to cross into universes such as Betaverse (our own) and Gammaverse (an ecological utopia). Jade, our eponymous antihero, finds himself trapped in Betaverse, and soon finds himself working with a local conspiracy theorist, Karl Lubinsky. And there's an eco-terrorist from Gammaverse named Reena, then there's the sociopathic son of Vexcor's founder, 01 Boxer; and other Vexcor characters - including Brian Boxer's mistress and the de facto head of Vexcor, Essa Rumpkin.

It uses colour-coding as a shorthand to indicate what universe one is in - Alphaverse is shot with dark green colours; Betaverse with a cold blue; and Gammaverse with warm earth tones. Everything takes place in South Africa - of Alphaverse we only see 'Cape City'; a smog-laden alternate universe version of Cape Town in Betaverse. This gives the show a decidedly different feel from any other sci-fi show I've seen - and it sometimes interweaves South African political and ethical concerns into the show's plot.

So, Charlie Jade consistently ambituous, weird, and entertaining. It can misfire badly and it does have serious flaws; but it also has much to commend itself. Maybe not for everyone, but I sure as well love it.

Charlie Jade is one of those shows that requires attention in the early episodes while we deal with Charlie's feelings of being lost. That kind of attention is given to shows by a rare few in the U.S., and it would never find a home on U.S. television.

Which is a shame, because I found it quite engaging and enjoyable. And yes, the the ending is as Kegen describes, satisfying, and open-ended.

 

[zenophite]

Agreed wholeheartedly!
I just finished watching the last two episodes today and boy do i wish they would do a series 2...

This show really did alot with not very much in comparison to many other high production value shows - especially in the US. Many pay lip service to 'character' and 'story' but this one really did an amazing job and delivered throughout. I know its probably not everyone's cup of tea and I would have to agree that this is probably a little too much for the generally simple tastes of US audiences as a whole.

I found the music and cinematic choices to be particularly well though out with few exceptions. I just can't say enough good things about it - the last time I felt like this was when I first encountered Farscape which also had that feeling of being something different but really good.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Yeah "simple tastes" is why Lost is a big hit in America.

I'd check out Charlie Jade if it ever came my way. But it would have to knock me on my ass a la Lost for me to stick with it. I don't have the patience for shows that don't get their shit together from the start. There's really no excuse not to, and too much competition for anyone to suffer thru garbage. Even with the WGA strike, I've got enough Netflix stuff to keep me occupied - The Wire and Deadwood alone will take me well into summer.

Maybe JJ Abrams can do a remake of this show someday. Sounds like his kind of thing.

 

[firehawk12]

The showrunner has said that he tried to sell it to every network in the US and was turned down because it was too "smart".

I understand ReGenesis had the same trouble finding an American network... and, well, the last season was dumbed down slightly, I'm sure in part to help facilitate a deal.

It's quite strange for me to defend Canadian drama. I feel a bit dirty.

 

[Kegek]

zenophite said:
I just finished watching the last two episodes today and boy do i wish they would do a series 2...

Well, like I said, it's been closed down for a few years. I doubt a second season is in the cards, as much as I'm a fan.

I found the music and cinematic choices to be particularly well though out with few exceptions.

I'd also agree with this. The show's music is largely summed up as a couple of different music cues. I don't like some of them (the 'romantic' music) but there's a nice toughtful synth piece that sometimes plays when something interesting happening that works.

As far as cinematography goes, I'm not the biggest fan of shakycam; but the colour-coding for the universes is inspired. The show also makes very effective use of this SFX - Alphaverse? That's just Cape Town with CGIed smog and additional buildings such as the Vexcor Tower. And the series feels gritty and urban in Alpha and Beta just as strongly as it feels like an idyll in Gamma.

the last time I felt like this was when I first encountered Farscape which also had that feeling of being something different but really good.

I made the same connection; I really like Jade for a lot of the reasons I like Farscape; and even some of my criticisms are similar. (Both shows can be a little indulgent.) Watching Charlie Jade is a lot like Farscape. They're very strange, unique shows. And both of them have very serious flaws; the kind of flaws that, if other aspects of the show weren't so brilliant, it'd put me off watching. Which is my way of saying Jade is far from perfect, but it is good.

And like I said earlier, there's something about the on-location South African shooting that adds a whole extra flair. Cape Town is an interesting looking location, and a very atypical setting for sci-fi.

Temis the Vorta said:
Maybe JJ Abrams can do a remake of this show someday. Sounds like his kind of thing.

It's bad enough he's remaking Star Trek. I'm not going to claim it's better than Lost - that show never interested me enough to stick with it. But I liked Charlie Jade right from the very evocative first few minutes of the pilot, and even though that episode had some stuff I really didn't like (and many episodes since then), there's always been enough interesting, compelling material to keep me watching, unlike Lost. Just IMHO, anyway.

firehawk12 said:
The showrunner has said that he tried to sell it to every network in the US and was turned down because it was too "smart".

Man, that's depressing. Isn't FX a US channel? For that matter, FX UK shows Dexter here (which is how I first heard of Charlie Jade - they ran these tantilisingly brief ads mere seconds long). While it's a full season, I'm sure Jade would do well on a cable channel, where there are plenty of smart shows.

 

[zenophite]

Temis the Vorta said:
Yeah "simple tastes" is why Lost is a big hit in America.

Truthfully, I think Lost is a fluke in terms of its popularity. As such I think that, while I also enjoy watching Lost, I find that IMO they really don't give you a satisfying payoff in terms of giving you solid answers about what's going on. I guess its a good model to keep people watching but the problem I think is that I don't think it will be soon repeated.

That said, in Charlie jade there are some almost offhand things that come back later in the series to have some importance - I love little touches like that. It has its own flaws I guess but I think they are small.

It's bad enough he's remaking Star Trek. I'm not going to claim it's better than Lost - that show never interested me enough to stick with it. But I liked Charlie Jade right from the very evocative first few minutes of the pilot, and even though that episode had some stuff I really didn't like (and many episodes since then), there's always been enough interesting, compelling material to keep me watching, unlike Lost. Just IMHO, anyway.

Again Agreed. There's always something to keep the story going even in the slower episodes. The thing about it is that you never really know where the characters are going to end up - as the series progresses they develop in unexpected ways. I won't spoil anything for those who haven't yet had the chance to catch it.

 

[Kegek]

zenophite said:
That said, in Charlie jade there are some almost offhand things that come back later in the series to have some importance - I love little touches like that.

And it has payoffs. Big ones. Very satisfactory ones. I'm not saying any more than that.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Lost works because they won't give you answers. They're stringing us along.

 

[firehawk12]

Kegek said:

Man, that's depressing. Isn't FX a US channel? For that matter, FX UK shows Dexter here (which is how I first heard of Charlie Jade - they ran these tantilisingly brief ads mere seconds long). While it's a full season, I'm sure Jade would do well on a cable channel, where there are plenty of smart shows.

If people aren't fucking or swearing, it won't play on FX US.

 

[zenophite]

And it has payoffs. Big ones. Very satisfactory ones. I'm not saying any more than that.

And its hard to zip my lip because I have so much enthusiasm for it

 

[Pingfah]

I have this whole series in divx format. I watched the first episode, it seems to be pretty imaginative actually, but I have not gotten round to watching any more yet.

 

[Kegek]

On the odd chance this might interest someone other than me, Amazon has an exclusive - the entire series of Charlie Jade in one Region 2 DVD box set, due out in March. Otherwise you'd have to buy two seperate volumes of the series, one which is already available, the second set also due on March 3rd.

 

[zenophite]

nice find Kegek I'd like to get that does amazon UK ship overseas?

 

[Kegek]

Well, it's shipped to Ireland before. And sometimes I've ordered from amazon.com and they've shipped from the US. So I'd hazard a guess and say yes. You would need an R2 (or regionless) DVD player, though.

 

[firehawk12]

Yeah, I think they ship international.
Still strange that no one in Canada is putting it out. Oh well.

 

[zenophite]

Yeah, I had heard it opened fairly big in Canada didn't it?