FOR ONCE I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU BOB!

My wife and I love Connelly and Bosch, and positivelty adore the audiobooks with Titus voice acting as Bosch. The ones that have Ballard have Christine Lakin doing the part of Renée and she IS the character, brought to life in full audio color. Ms Q is totally wrong for the part, not to mention the writing and production.  You nailed it!

Louis Judson

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Ballard merely a longform Law and Order. Predictable and dull. Wish more Titus Welliver. Commercials on Prime insulting. At least we get free shipping.

Oedipus

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I’m laughing. I watched 1 1/2 episodes and said, “this sucks.”

Was hoping for a “Bosch.” Not even f*cjing close!

John Hummer

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I was hoping this was going to be good. So disappointed. Couldn’t watch more than 2 episodes.

Loren Parkins

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I agree…give me Bosch

Jeff Laufer

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We enjoyed Ballard, flaws and all. For us, it was the writing. Bosch Legacy from the get go was so obviously underfunded. If you hadn’t watched either series and then watched any episode of Bosch and then an episode of Legacy,  you could see the difference in almost every aspect of the show. Just my opinion.

Bruce Greenberg

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Right on all accounts.

bepn

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Yeah but we got a cameo by J Edgar!

Tag Gross

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Bless you for going deep in this show. You’re a mensch. I watched 20 minutes and switched to something better. Ballard is Drivel.

Garrett Waltzer

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Nailed it!  I watched it all (mostly in the hope that some of the Bosch characters  would appear) but can’t really even remember whodunit.  Didn’t care.  Network cop show with wooden characters not even up to the level of The Rookie.  Sad, but maybe redeemable with a mostly new cast.  Sadly, most likely one and done.

Peter Burnside

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Ballard was a slog.

Josie Moore

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Wow.

Totally agree with you 100%.

Tom Cartwright

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Spot on

Doug Coleman

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But there WAS a J Edgar appearance! I think we loved Bosch so much that we like Ballard enough to keep watching it. But I really miss Bosch too.

Kevin Twit

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This show! I was so disappointed and like you, had to finish to see how it ended out of principal.

1. Knock off memes – the basement. Maggie Q is NOT Dept. Q.

2. The f*cjing car, seriously, another cop driving a vintage car???

3. The trailer at the beach. Okay, Bosch consulted on a film and made the big bucks to buy that mid century gem up in the canyon, but what is her backstory that her family has hung onto this million dollar park spot?

4. Wardrobe – former Hollywood Stylist here. First, those cut up t-shirts she’s wearing in her shed while she makes the surfboard…as carefree and independent as she attempts to be, these t-shirts were not aged at all. They look brand new. As for her trousers, well a little bit tight. The blouses are too high quality and custom fit for someone who lives in a trailer and drives a vintage car.

5. Rebecca Fields, the volunteer side kick. Sigh. I am tired of the chubby okay “fat girl” with the pretty face being the quirky, goofy side-kick. Such a trope.

And sneaking Bosch in for such a few moments, we never really get to remember what the issues were with them I barely recall the episode in Bosch where they meet and or clash. But his hair! That hair parted on the side…so odd.

Everyone I talk to about this is stunned. Yet we watched and are continuing to talk about it.

Thanks for always showing up and pulling back the curtain, Bob

Cheers,

Linda Zrroz

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I watched Ballard for the same reason as you, because I wanted to see the level in which Titus was involved.  The show was just ok.  There is too much available to spend time with “just ok.”

Clyde Bass

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I don’t pretend to have a critic’s skill or experience such as yours but perhaps sometimes it’s a blessing. In the case of the show “Ballard” I understand (I think) some of your issues with the series but I also think you are way off base with Maggie Q’s role. I have read every Michael Connelly book including all the Renee Ballard books. It is not clear from your review that you have. Renee Ballard, like Harry Bosch, is a very complex character with a lot of issues – and she is definitely NOT a warm and fuzzy person. Yes, I am a Maggie Q fan and I’m not sure how you think Ballard should be portrayed but I think she is spot on for the character. The fact that she has essentially the same ethnicity as the character is just a part of the deal and makes it that much more believable.

I agree that this series, so far, is no Harry Bosch but then what is? It may or may not go as many seasons but I think you need to just either give it a little more time or simply let it go.

Thanks for your newsletter – it always  invites a response!

D Roger Pederson

Mpls, MN

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Agreed: Ballard is awful. I couldn’t finish the first episode. But I think you’re too hard on Maggie Q. The problem is the terrible writing. I don’t think any actor can fix it.

Robert Saenz

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The very first time that Ballard appeared in a Connelly Ballard was at Green Lake in Seattle, I read a bunch of it and I swore even if Bosch appeared it couldn’t be held together. I have never have or or will read or watch that again.

Pat Mallahan

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I have to say, a big letdown from Bosch. As you say, formulaic and very ‘Mannix’-ish. I don’t dislike Maggie Q as much as you do, but it’s a far cry from Welliver in a leading role

bfletcher28

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You nailed it. Something is way wrong with Maggie Q on this show. She is so self-conscious.  Hair always perfect. Never a convincing moment in that role. Not for one second. They need to dump her. Then again, there is little else to care about in that basement. Hard pass for me.

“The Day of The Jackal” and “The Recruit” are so much better in every way:  casting, script, acting, action. They would both be huge if they had that kind of push “Ballard” is all hype. Nothing more.

Susan Levy Rash

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Thanks for warning me. I also started watching because of the connection to Bosch, but I just can’t even get through the first episode… 🙁

– Roy Liu

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Couldn’t even get through the first episode. 20 minutes in I was out.

Kelly Gross

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My wife and I gave up after the first episode, but part of it was also the partner. Having two big-nothings as the heart of a show signals failure on all fronts.

Christopher Hall

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As a big BOSCH fan and shows of that nature, I was pleased to watch this new show.
As I began watching it,I didn’t even realize that Bosch and company would even be involved.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the new series.

Rita Gentry

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stop Asian hate

Borsch

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Sadly, gotta agree. Her character in the books is better drawn – with an actual inner life – and not totally devoid of humor

Steve Dougherty

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Well, you totally got this one right?.. we were sucked in waiting for something to happen.. we have no idea how this actress Maggie Q got the gig.. it was like watching a wet noodle.. and now there’s gonna be a season two… yikes

Peace,Jason Miles

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Hi Bob, I couldn’t agree more with your scathing review of Ballard.  It deserved it. I remember reading after Bosch Legacy was over that they  planned to do 2 shows. One was Ballard and the other one was the great J.Edgar. Two spin offs. We all know and love J.Edgar….aka Jamie Hector aka Marlo Stanfield and so many others. And then they pulled the J. Edgar show. Big mistake. Who knows why but whoever makes those decisions made the wrong one.  I desperately missed the Bosch supporting cast as well.  Ballard stinks.  For J. Edgar, I would have been counting the days for it to start.

Janice Rosen

Toronto

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I must disagree.

Maggie Q is good actress with martial arts skill. Your guy Titus is habitually self-conscious and although he’s improved over the years, he has trouble walking, never mind acting.

But the star of Bosch, Ballard and the Lincoln Lawyer is Michael Connelly and the key supporting actor in all three shows is Los Angeles.

Ballard is already a hit and its very strong female cast is a big part of the reason.

Keith Brown

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Sadisticly cruel and un-called for. Go ahead and criticize pointedly but leave the personal knife-twisting out, after  you’ve made your point. (Repeatedly). What did she ever do to you? So unnecessarily cruel.

I’m starting to worry about you, Bob.

Rosalie Howarth

1

Don’t watch this if you’re not a fan of Billy Joel.

This isn’t quite hagiography, there are negative aspects of Joel that are talked about, however there’s a desire to turn Billy Joel into something he is not, a credible rocker along the lines of Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne, both of whom testify about the Long Island musician here.

Billy Joel stands apart. He is sui generis. And either you like him or you don’t.

And a lot of the dyed-in-the-wool rockers do not.

It’s not that he’s from Long Island, after all Blue Oyster Cult and the Rascals started there, along with many more, but the fact is that his music derives not from the street, but Broadway. Joel is a piano player in a world dominated by the guitar. He may wear a leather jacket, but he’s never dangerous. He may be angry, but you don’t think he’s going to punch you in the face. He’s a suburbanite. And traditionally rock has been an inner city medium, or from hicksville, not Joel’s hometown, but the boonies.

So you’ve got a lot of people who hate Billy Joel on principle. They believe he’s not one of them. He may be alienated, but he isn’t working a job on the line, he may have been influenced by the Beatles, but he put in years of dues practicing piano. Billy Joel was the guy who lived down the street in a broken home who you knew from school, but you never hung out with him, you never went over to his house, he didn’t seem to be part of any group, but he was there. He didn’t get called in to the principal’s office. He was just there. If you grew up with Billy you were probably stunned that he became so big. Sure, you might have known he was in bands, but superstardom is not what is expected of Long Islanders, rather you stay with the tribe, fit in, get a job, get married, buy a house like…

The kids in “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.”

2

This is not an Alex Gibney documentary, there’s no viewpoint, it’s just an endless smorgasbord of what happened. No rock is left unturned. It’s like there was only going to be one shot at the story of Billy’s life and this was it. If you knew absolutely nothing about Billy Joel going in, you’d come out quite educated.

In ninety minutes, even two hours, great documentaries have an angle, a thread, they want to say something about the subject that has never been previously revealed. The makers sit separate from the subject. They’re not intertwined. But “And So It Goes” resembles nothing so much as a PBS “American Masters,” which Susan Lacy made before this. You’re not going to watch it and get pissed off. This is not the Eagles doc with an exploration of the battles between Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner. Billy is an old man looking back on what once was. The emotions are absent. He even laughs at his old band Attila. Saying everybody was getting a record deal back then. NO, it was nearly impossible to get signed fifty-odd years ago. And although he makes fun of Attila’s music today, you know he took it damn seriously back then, everybody did, it was life or death, either you made it or you didn’t, nothing was done on a whim, sans success you starved.

Which Billy did. He was all in. Either this music thing was going to work or it wasn’t.

You can learn some lessons from this doc.

Hard work and dedication. Billy was anxious about marrying Elizabeth not because he didn’t love her, but because he could foresee stardom with endless time on the road and was that what a good husband did, leave their wife for the road?

Eventually Billy had children, but not until after his first wave of stardom. It would have interfered with the mission. And nothing could interfere with the mission. This is what almost no one gets. The one-mindedness. Nothing matters other than the career, NOTHING! And the constant chipping away, improving your chops, trying to figure out what will break you.

And then there’s the issue of inspiration and songwriting. Billy comes up with the idea for “New York State of Mind” on a bus ride, and when he gets home he doesn’t hang with Elizabeth like a good husband, doesn’t sit on the couch and talk about his day, he immediately goes upstairs and channels the song. That’s how it works. And it works for very few people.

3

There is very little here that students of Billy Joel’s game won’t know.

There is a full delineation of his relationship with Elizabeth. And that’s great. Especially when she becomes his manager.

And there’s Artie Ripp and the mastering error…

Like I said, the filmmakers wanted to include EVERYTHING! Whereas it might have been more interesting to dig deeper on a few things.

We get the story of each and every album. And they get it right, the turning point being “Just the Way You Are.” And Billy had it right, he didn’t want to put it on the album because it was schmaltzy and would define him, negatively to the rock crowd. It ultimately did. No one saw Billy as a rocker after that song.

But Billy’s instincts are right throughout. After getting f*cked by doing it the man’s way, he refuses to play the game and only does it his way. Won’t make an album with George Martin without his band. Punts after recording with James William Guercio. If you can’t say no… That’s a problem with today’s artists, they think they control their careers but they’re constantly compromising, business people tell them they have to. It’s subtle, but it’s there. Are you willing to put it all on the line, with the chance of going into free fall and ending up out of the game? If not, you are not an artist, you are not for the ages.

One of the highlights of the doc is when Billy says he can’t be too angry at Artie Ripp, because he gave him a chance when no one else would. Ripp got his foot in the door.

However, what really happened with the Family Productions legal situation… Rumor was always that Billy signed with Columbia and they didn’t know he was already under contract. This could be untrue, but I would have liked to have heard more about the nitty-gritty of the ultimate settlement.

I also would have liked to have seen more about Billy’s history, growing up. At first you think they miss it, but it comes back in the middle, which is contrary to typical, linear construction, and antithetical to the linearity of this film, but it is there. But I would have liked to know more about the dad. They didn’t mention his retreat back to the old country. And we don’t really get an investigation of what’s going through Billy’s head. Oh sure, he whips off some comments, but if I was talking to Billy I wouldn’t go back over the well-trodden history of the albums, but try to get further into his state of mind. Whether he felt separate from society. How he handled failure. Who Billy Joel is.

Bob Dylan obfuscates, because he doesn’t want you to know who he really is. Dylan has also gone on record that he does not reveal his hopes and dreams because people won’t take them seriously, they’ll laugh at them.

Bruce Springsteen had an intense father and dedicated himself to playing in unsigned bands on the Jersey Shore. 

Jackson Browne had success as a songwriter before he was twenty, with “These Days.”

Billy was professional early. The Hassles had albums. NO ONE had albums back then. Certainly not Bruce Springsteen, nor even Jackson Browne.

As for Paul McCartney saying the song he wished he’d written most was “Just the Way You Are”…

Give me a break. If I was with McCartney right now and I asked him what songs he’d wished he had written he might mention “Just the Way You Are,” but he’d probably come up with a slew of numbers. Maybe Gilbert & Sullivan, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Little Richard… I’m sure McCartney likes the Joel tune, but it is moments like this that make you wince, that are completely superfluous. Why has this become a feature of music documentaries. If the subject is great they don’t need people testifying, certainly not those who are not in his musical wheelhouse, like Jackson and the Boss here.

4

Billy Joel is New York.

Leslie West was New York. Felix Cavaliere too.

But Billy sang about his environs. He evidenced his environment. You could not take the east coast out of Billy. If you grew up there, you understand. And if you grew up on the east coast, where everything is so close together, you see your stars differently. They’re accessible, reachable, they’re more like you, you can identify. They might be heroes, but you can see their roots, their connection to you.

Billy was MUCH bigger on the east coast until “Glass Houses.” Just like Meat Loaf. They never even played “Paradise by the Dashboard Light’ in Los Angeles, NEVER EVER!

No one in the west cared about Oyster Bay, hadn’t even heard of it.

The west is all about freedom, room to move. Nobody’s in your face like back east. And this is touched upon in the doc. How everybody is friendly in L.A. but they’re not really your friend. How in New York you punch your friends in the shoulder to say hi, put them down as a sign of affection. The east is rough and tumble, nothing is held back, you’re constantly in the maelstrom. Whereas the west is more about the environment, laid back.

So what is it like to live in your head and live in the east? That should have been explored more.

Now I didn’t even like “Piano Man.” It was an endless number on AM radio. Some unknown guy singing this waltz, an inferior “Taxi.” Yes, Billy could be seen as a wannabe Harry Chapin, whom nobody saw as rock and roll. A story song guy.

And the follow-up “The Entertainer”? From the outside it looked like Billy was repeating the formula, singing about being a performer. No wonder it didn’t succeed.

And then Billy was in the wilderness, until “The Stranger.” Which still didn’t get a ton of FM play in L.A.

Nor did 52nd Street.” I’m not saying no one owned them, but if you didn’t, you could be completely unfamiliar with them, other than the aforementioned “Just the Way You Are,” that was EVERYWHERE!

However, contradicting the above paragraph just a little bit…”My Life,” which was never even mentioned in the doc, did get some FM play and penetrated the public consciousness in a way what had come before had not. “My Life” may not have sounded like classic rock and roll, but the message was:

“I don’t care anymore this is my life

Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone”

This is the ESSENCE of rock and roll. The alienated other on his or her own path. Beneath the patina of entertainment, the jaunty melody, there’s encouragement to the rest of us who don’t fit in and are going our own way, if Billy can succeed, we can too.

Yes, us.

Not those working in the factory. Not those working on their cars. Not the blue collar, but the alienated middle class boomers who rebelled against their parents in the sixties and went their own way.

“My Life” probably inspired me to buy “Glass Houses.”

And “Glass Houses” inspired me to see Billy at the Forum, but even more it inspired me to buy the next album, “Songs In the Attic,” upon release.

5

“I’ve seen the lights go down on Broadway

I saw the Empire State laid low

And life went on beyond the Palisades

They all bought Cadillacs and left there long ago

They held a concert out in Brooklyn

To watch the Island bridges blow

They turned our power down

And drove us underground

But we went right on with the show”

All you had to do was drop the needle. There was crowd noise, a synthesizer note, a whoop up and down the scale on said synthesizer and then Billy started to tinkle the ivories and sing…

This was positively rock and roll. This was the power of a live show. This was everything the previous Billy Joel albums were not.

“Miami 2017” was unknown to almost everybody. Only the hardest of hard core Billy Joel fans were aware of it, from Billy’s self-produced album “Turnstiles.”

That’s the one with “New York State of Mind.” But that number did not become a classic until YEARS later. Kind of like the Eagles’ “Desperado.” Neither were Top 40 hits, they percolated in the marketplace and their presence and impact grew and grew…

“Miami 2017″… Not only is it intense, there are all the city references, the east coast references.

Cadillacs were an east coast thing, foreign automobiles ruled on the west coast, in L.A. you drove a Mercedes.

This was when Brooklyn was still a place you wanted to get out of.

The Palisades? Other than Freddy Cannon’s “Palisades Park,” most of the country knew nothing about the New Jersey side of the Hudson.

The Island? Which Island? LONG ISLAND! Today the Hamptons are hip, they were still country outposts back then, not the glamorous hotbeds of today.

And then straight into “Summer Highland Falls,” which sounded like summer in the Catskills, if you’ve ever been there. A respite from the city. The sun, the air, the water…

But you knew this album was something different when the record inched into “Streetlife Serenader.” This was nothing like the somewhat lame studio recording, this version was all-out, it had gravitas.

This is when I realized Billy Joel was the real deal.

6

Billy ultimately went on tour with Elton John. Which I never got. Because I always saw Elton as being the bigger star. Elton was iconic. Billy Joel was just another guy from Long Island. Elton was larger than life, Billy was little different from you and me. And Elton had a string of hits in different genres with absolute classics.

But today they’re seen as equal.

How did that happen?

Well, Elton burned out in the seventies, “Blue Moves” was the last hurrah, and it took him a while to find himself again.

Whereas Billy continued to have hits and figured out MTV. Once he gained traction, Billy’s career was never soft. He continued motoring, put out albums with peak after peak, he was aging but he was right there alongside the youngsters on music television, not compromising himself to make it. He didn’t get plastic surgery. He didn’t act like a young ‘un, he didn’t let the images overwhelm him, it was just him, and it worked.

Eventually it dried up. In the nineties Billy said he would write songs no more. There’d be news, but Billy was not front of mind.

But then we hit this century and as Billy eased himself back in, with college speaking appearances, not needing the adulation of the crowd, he ultimately became the last man standing. Not only did he have this songbook, HE COULD STILL SING IT!

Go to a Billy Joel show today and it’s not radically different from the seventies. His voice is still intact. He doesn’t sing every night, to save it, but when he opens his mouth, it’s there.

And almost no one else’s pipes are still the same.

Furthermore, Billy let himself age. Is fine with going bald. And makes fun of himself. By not needing to keep up the image, the image has only grown. It’s about Billy and his songs. Not only has he survived, he’s TRIUMPHED!

Now one thing Felice pointed out about the difference between Billy and Elton is that Billy wrote those words. Kudos.

But the bottom line is if you live long enough, public opinion comes around. It’s the work that remains and sustains. Or doesn’t.

Most boomer acts, even household names, are playing to dwindling audiences. But Billy? He still sells out every gig.

And people are not going for nostalgia, to close their eyes and think of where they were when this song was a hit, they go for the SONGS!

And Billy can still sing the songs straight. He might be wealthy, but he’s still the same guy inside. Just a guy from Hicksville.

And he says this in the doc, how he does not feel like a star.

But this still might not endear him to you. You still might not be open to Billy Joel.

However if you are…

I advise watching this documentary. It’s far from the best one about a musician ever made. But, once again, Billy is not exotic. Not a guy beaten by his dad who lived in poverty and built a guitar in the garage. No, Billy is a suburbanite. As for poverty… You couldn’t be that poor and live in Hicksville and have a home, and it was much easier to make it back then on a limited income, albeit not easy.

Billy is one of us.  And when we go to see him it feels like that.

And some of the tracks are dated, but so are we. If you’re a boomer you can’t be an angry young man. As for being an angry old man, sure, they exist, but even gang members go straight. If you live long enough, the rough edges get shorn away. You realize we’re more similar than dissimilar.

But that does not mean the system isn’t stacked against you. That does not mean you feel you fit in. Somewhere deep inside you still have hopes and dreams, optimism, and these are kindled into a fire when you hear the right songs. Billy Joel’s songs turn up the heat. They don’t set your mind free like life in Los Angeles, rather your eyes are wide open walking the street of Manhattan.

Or maybe Long Island.

Captain Jack may not get you high anymore. You may not go to your special island. But you remember those days. Of behavior and choices. Not life or death, but low-paying work or a career. Of deciding to get married or not. Of realizing you’ve become your parents…

There are stories in Billy Joel’s music, but it’s the melodies that put them over the top, the energy in the production.

You hear Billy talk in this documentary…

We’re used to old rockers, oftentimes still with long hair, barely getting it out with soft slow voices. Billy is still alive, if not presently exactly well. He’s the kind of grandpa you look up to. He may not get you high, but he’ll tell you all about it, give your underaged ass a swig from the bottle as he talks about the potential downsides.

You see Billy aged but never really grew up. He’s got all the success, but he can see he’s not really a big shot. That’s an act and it didn’t work.

He’s just William Martin Joel from the Island.

Like Jenny from the block if she never went on TV, got plastic surgery and focused so much on how she looked, and if she still lived in the Bronx.

There is nothing exotic about Billy Joel. And he won over Christie Brinkley on his personality, not his looks. He’s everyman, if everyman is a white guy from the suburbs.

Many of us are.

Some are still trying to act dangerous.

Others have come down off our thrones and realized our roots are who we are, public school and single family dwellings on a plot of land.

But it’s still rock and roll to us.

And always will be.

Amazon Prime trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nKRJGXgK0Q

This is not a good show.

And the problem is its star, Maggie Q. She’s a cold character with no charisma, the kind of good-looking person in your office who gets the job done but you don’t want to hang with after hours. One whose affect is almost always downbeat. Is looking to be offended. Who takes her job too seriously. You just can’t warm up to her.

Which is a far cry from Titus Welliver as Bosch. Leave him out of the equation and you’ve got something barely a notch above network television. As a matter of fact, I had to convince Felice to continue. I guess I just wanted to see Titus/Bosch reappear, which had been promoted in the press, and he does come on, but very briefly.

But it’s worse than Maggie Q. The supporting cast is not in the league of Crate and Barrel, who lift the show at the funeral, and Mo Bossi, who also appears here, however briefly. The supporting cast in the original “Bosch” was outstanding. Now you’ve got the B-team.

What we’ve got here is a ragtag bunch of losers in the basement trying to solve cold cases. Sound like “Dept. Q”? Well not only is Maggie Q no Matthew Goode, who is capable of showing his emotions and being 3-D, “Dept. Q” proves how much better foreign TV is than domestic. I laughed at the Emmy nominations. All that American dreck. And then there was that article that said “Adolescence” should immediately be given all the awards, which I agree with, it is the best show of the year BY FAR! Then again, America doesn’t do well with the nitty-gritty, they see TV and movies as escape, whereas I prefer to see life reflected back upon me, I want to be made to contemplate and think. And then there are those saying they’ve stopped in the middle of “Adolescence.” But you must continue, every episode raises new questions.

I would have been happy if they’d made Titus/Bosch shows ad infinitum, forever. His attitude. His prickliness. His occasional warmth and protectiveness. His evidencing humanity when you least expect it. But Amazon said NO MAS! They killed off the original “Bosch” and we got “Bosch: Legacy,” but now Titus has ridden into the sunset.

As for the supporting cast…

We’ve got Michael Mosley as Ted Rawls, who was absolutely phenomenal as the preacher in “Ozark,” but here he is two-dimensional, his character is not fleshed out. Why is he so prickly? Why is he there to begin with, since his private security business is doing so well?

Rebecca Field as the volunteer ultimately shines. At first she seems one note, but unlike Maggie Q she can show emotion, she’s a lot more alive and fun.

I could list the rest of the characters, but I’d rather just focus on one, John Carroll Lynch as Thomas Laffont. Lynch evidences a warmth and humanity that he normally doesn’t show in roles. I liked him, whereas usually his characters are off-putting.

As for the plotting…

It’s traditional Connelly. In that you know the original suspects won’t prove to be the culprits. There are ten episodes, and you’ve got to live through the twists and turns. Which is ultimately the only reason I stayed with the series, purely for plot.

But all the bells and whistles, the zings of the Welliver shows, are absent. The cop captain is so forgettable I can’t even remember his name. Cardboard.

Remember the early “Bosch”? With police chief Irving? Unfortunately Lance Reddick has passed, but so has the intensity, the sense of danger and risk, you just can’t get as involved with “Ballard.”

They got a new Darren in “Bewitched,” can they please get a new Renée Ballard?

This has got nothing to do with sexism. We’ve already had successful female cop shows. Both Cagney AND Lacey were warmer and more fleshed-out than Maggie Q’s Ballard here. How about someone feisty. There are numerous actresses who could do well with this role. Why in the hell did they employ Maggie Q?

And while I’m at it, the writing is definitely from the B-team but what was most offensive was the cuts. Now that Amazon Prime is all about advertising the show fades to black constantly, one time literally in the middle of a scene! Got to make holes for those commercials. We paid the $2.99 to get rid of them, but still…the cuts were jarring.

“Ballard” is a formulaic product made for TV. This is what “The Sopranos,” et al, were a rebellion against. Reinvent the formula and apply the art and techniques of film. “Ballard” just fills space. Couldn’t anybody blow the whistle and get rid of Maggie Q? They do this in film, not regularly, but when an actor doesn’t work out, they fire them. Maggie Q should be fired immediately, before the next season is shot. And can they get a showrunner who cares?

I doubt it.

“Notes to John”: https://shorturl.at/PJFLg

1

This is an utterly astounding book that should be read by everybody.

I must admit, I am not a huge Joan Didion fan. I loved “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” but found “Play It As It Lays” flat. As for the vaunted books thereafter, I found them dense and mannered and thought I was the only one until I found out my college buddy John agreed, he couldn’t read them either.

Then I got hooked on the books about Eve Babitz, wherein Didion was excoriated. Seen as someone at remove, who was so quiet she made you talk and then used your words against you. Furthermore, it was stated that Joan used her short stature to portray innocence when this was far from accurate.

I was surprised that “Notes to John” doubles down on this. Didion reveals all these character flaws. She’s SO F*CKED UP!

Then again, maybe you are too.

In truth, we’re all screwed up. The only question is whether we try to untie the knot and advance ourselves. Most people do not. And neither did Joan Didion until her daughter Quintana got caught up in the throes of alcoholism and was seen as suicidal. Quintana saw a psychiatrist who suggested that Joan see a psychiatrist too, to help her deal with what was going on with Quintana. But ultimately this Dr. MacKinnon focuses on Joan herself, and what a tale it is to tell.

Joan never would have allowed these diaries to be published if she were still alive. They’re from the turn of the century and she didn’t die until 2021 so she seemed to want to keep them private. But the estate assembled these notes and…

These are diary entries that she gives to her husband John Gregory Dunne so he will be informed as to what is going on. I don’t know how long it took her to write them, but I do admire the skill with which Didion puts words together. Having said that, the diaries can at times be confusing. You’re not exactly sure who she’s talking about. I advise you to just go with the flow. Once again, these were not written for public consumption, never mind edited by Joan.

2

So Joan is clueless as to her behavior. Why she acts the way she does and how it impacts those around her.

On some level she’s living the life of a literary star. There are enough names dropped here to make you feel inadequate. And, once again, since these missives were not written for public consumption, you know they are real. Also, Joan is always bitching about money, but they spend Thanksgiving in St. Bart’s and go to Paris for Christmas and…this is a jet set lifestyle only a tiny elite partake in. Not that Joan came from money, but maybe hanging with the rich and famous and trying to keep up with the Joneses she lost all perspective. A little budgeting would have gone a long way. Ironically, this is a complaint she has about her daughter, not being able to see the same quality in herself.

Another theme is Joan and John’s wish to give up writing movies because it’s so unfulfilling. Dealing with young know-it-alls. Totally frustrating. But can they pay the bills doing what they want to? Ultimately they take this path, the shrink helps her do this. This is a quandary for so many. You end up making a living doing something you fell into, can you put it aside?

So Quintana was adopted and Joan is always anxious that she’s working too much and therefore is not paying enough attention to her daughter. The shrink says just the opposite is true, that Joan thinks about Quintana all the time and won’t let go.

The relationship between mothers and daughters, fathers and daughters, is analyzed deeply and everyone will gain insight from reading this book.

These words from Dr. MacKinnon struck me:

“‘People learn to negotiate as infants. Tiny children. Or they don’t. They learn to negotiate by negotiating with their parents. Or, they accept their parents as unnegotiable, all-powerful. They acquiesce. They may resent it, but they do what their parents want them to do without questioning it. They even anticipate what their parents want.'”

This is something that comes up in couples therapy all the time. When I hear no, why do I not ask again? And I tell the doctor in my family if you asked again YOU GOT HIT!

Furthermore, I had to do so much I didn’t want to as a child that I don’t want to make ANYBODY do ANYTHING they don’t want to. I don’t want to push them. But the end result is I hear no and accept it and become resentful.

Continuing with MacKinnon’s words:

“‘Children get angry with their parents. If they don’t grow up, they stay angry.”

I hear it in my family… What my mother would think. But she’s been DEAD for nearly five years!

But I get the point. This was a huge breakthrough for me. I went to the psychiatrist who got me to stand up to my mother and she went INSANE! Asked me when I was going to stop seeing that doctor. We argued for months. But it was very freeing. I was willing to sacrifice everything to become an adult.

This is a huge issue delineated in the book. People trying to please their parents. Having guilt about it. God, to break through from my parents’ wishes… Even though obeying them would be crippling to the point of being paralyzed.

While I’m quoting the book…

“You have trouble engaging.”

Funny, because Joan was always present, she was anything but a hermit. But she kept herself apart, aloof. She knew she never felt a member of the group. Whether it be her family or the college sorority she painfully extricated herself from. But she had no idea that people PERCEIVED HER THIS WAY!

This is what blows my mind constantly. People who have no idea how others see them. They’re blind and it costs them. This is something we focused on in therapy. I get to manage interactions. First I must assess my personality and then decide upon my goal. If I want to be a member of the group, to get along, I let inaccuracies slide, I watch my tone. Then again, sometimes you’re confronted with bullies and you should bring out the hammer. I’ve historically been afraid to do this. That’s another thing I’ve addressed with the shrink. Famous names piling upon me…me trying to negotiate peace, which involves enduring the abuse until they hopefully flame out. Better to walk away or stand up to them.

Back to negotiation…

I HATE IT!

That’s the essence of being a successful business person. You have to negotiate. It’s a game. I’d rather get right to the nitty-gritty. This is the deal, are we doing it or not? But really, you have to be nice, establish a relationship, do some back and forth… Joan says she’s bad at it, so she has lawyers and agents do this work. In most cases I do this now too. But some deals in everyday life you just have to do on your own. Maybe as simple as buying a car.

3

The insights in this book are so brilliant that you’re constantly employing them to analyze your own life. Sure, you wince at famous Joan’s lack of insight into herself, but that just proves the point. We’re putting up a front, faking it until we make it, and we don’t even recognize this is a burden, never mind the fallout. And then there are those who decline help, they say they can figure things out themselves, or their friends can help them. Not only is this wrong, usually they’re afraid of going to therapy, for fear they’ll appear inadequate. And then there are those who balk at the cost. Believe me, to afford someone as good as Dr. MacKinnon you either have to be rich or sacrifice.

When many people would rather buy a car, or go on vacation. Not realizing that therapy will probably allow them to earn even more money.

4

Now I’m pretty f*cked up too. But unlike Joan Didion and most of the population I’ve benefited from years of psychotherapy.

However, I still have my issues, believe me I have my issues.

This truly resonated with me:

“Working was how I filled the hole. I reminded her that you and I always worked on weekends. I said we hadn’t always done so. But at some point we had discovered that working through the weekend could allay what we had always called the Sunday jits.”

BINGO!

There comes a point on Sunday where I’m losing it and the only way to get back on track is to work.

I marvel at the Jerry Maguire types who can be with people 24/7. I need my alone time, to think. People are great, then again…

The book addresses aging. How you don’t want to hang with marginal friends anymore. Instinctively you feel you only have a certain amount of time left, and you don’t want to waste it. When you’re younger you’re hanging on to these friendships for what they might lead to. When you’re old, you are where you are.

Ditto, you see less of a need to throw and go to parties. You want to expend your energy on that which will fulfill you.

Now I know most people will never read this book.

And I know many will dismiss it as psychobabble.

And although not difficult to read, “Notes to John” does not cut like butter. But you get addicted and you’re in this private space contemplating your own issues and…

I’ve never read a book that made me think about myself this much. NEVER!