ACROSS
1 Early Welsh
6 Subpar
performance ...
or not
11 School sweater
letters
14 Wedding, e.g.
15 All small, say
17 As
19 Ancient
communication
medium
20 Modern
communication
medium
21 Parts to put
together
22 Memphis-to-
Nashville dir.
23 Washington
portraitist
27 Bocelli album
that includes
“Bésame
Mucho”
32 A’s
38 __ work: menial
labor
39 Venerate
40 1992 opponent
of Bill and
George
41 As
44 What a bump
may affect
45 Sources of
peeps
46 Nation with a
pyramid on its
currency: Abbr.
49 Title for actor
Gielgud
51 Channeled, as
water
55 Most trusted
60 A’s
62 Real bargain
63 Quarters in the
wild
64 CIA predecessor
65 __ bird
66 Not worth it,
perhaps

DOWN
1 Point of
imminence
2 Musician from
County Donegal

3 Sagging
4 Keith of country
5 Underwater aid
6 Leg up
7 On vacation
8 Lose it
9 “The Smartest
Guys in the
Room” subject
10 Sighed
agreement
11 1493 Lisbon
arrival
12 Israeli weapons
13 Mennonites, e.g.
16 “Just a __!”
18 Heathrow : his ::
Orly : à __
23 Vermin
24 Serpico, for one
25 Severe
26 River in Hades
28 Toon with a blue
do
29 Trails for
bloodhounds
30 Go back to zero
31 Swiss borders?
33 __ Palmas: Gran
Canaria capital
34 Author LeShan
35 __ de famille

36 Otto minus
cinque
37 H.S. equivalency
test
42 Inform
43 Registers
47 “Never __ boy 
to ... ”
48 Dangerous biter
49 Like 48-Down
50 Unlikely to be
chipper

51 Acceptable
52 They’re often
broken
53 Luau
entertainment
54 Suffix with
percent
56 “Get lost!”
57 Nobelist Wiesel
58 “Glad to help”
59 Kitchen meas.
61 Acct. entry

By Jeffrey Wechsler
©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/10/17

03/10/17

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Friday, March 10, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

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NBC

‘Taken’ a stale outing

Remember 
the 
2008 
film 

“Taken?” Given that the movie 
grossed over $200 million and 
spawned a cult around Liam 
Neeson (“Schindler’s List”) as 
an unstoppable action force, the 
chance that you remember it is 
high. However, the average movie-
goer likely doesn’t recall — or 
chooses to forget — 
the 2012 and 2014 
sequels, 
“Taken 

2” and “Taken 3,” 
respectively. 
While 

these films generated 
solid 
box-office 

figures, they were 
replete 
with 
trite 

dialogue, 
rushed 

storylines and a generic brand of 
supporting cast.

Unfortunately, NBC’s television 

adaptation of the film trio, the 
unoriginally-dubbed 
“Taken,” 

reeks entirely of the latter two 
movies. 
As 
the 
series’ 
title 

indicates, the show attempts to ride 
off the coattails of the first movie, 
while simultaneously paying little 
attention to the qualities of the film 
that made it successful. This lack of 
awareness dooms the show, with 
“Taken” offering nothing in the 
way of a compelling storyline or 
decent cast, along with containing 
some of television’s most bland 
writing.

From the series’ first scenes, 

“Taken” gives off the impression of 
lazy production. The show opens 
with Clive Standen’s (“Vikings”) 
character, Bryan Mills, aboard a 
train with his sister Cali, forgettably 

played 
by 
Celeste 
Desjardins 

(“Lost & Found”). The entire 
setup doesn’t attempt to hide the 
obvious: their lives are in danger, 
evidently being pursued by men 
donning trench coats and refusing 
to remove their hands from their 
pockets. Such suspicious-looking 
attire immediately sticks out to any 
audience member as a poor excuse 
for a criminal’s garb. It’s the type 
of outfit that is so stereotypically 
and classically linked with shady 

activity 
that 
it 

leaves 
viewers 

wondering 
just how much 
effort the show’s 
creators put into 
“Taken.” 
While 

some programs do 
have 
predictable 

elements, the fact 

that it was clearly apparent from 
this scene that Cali was going to 
be murdered by these assassins 
is a sign of sloppiness — the sort 
of which prevents “Taken” from 
gaining any momentum.

The show’s overall lack of care 

and creativity extends into its 
writing, which is plagued by a 
continuous stream of unoriginal 
and banal lines. Outside of a solid 
speech by Romano Orzari (“White 
House Down”) as the series’ central 
antagonist, 
“Taken” 
has 
only 

generically-written conversations 
that sound as if they are ripped 
straight from any terrible action 
movie of the past 20 years. Even the 
briefest, simplest scenes contain 
vague, nonspecific language that 
does little to entertain viewers or 
present “Taken” ’s plotline in an 
interesting or exciting way, with 
Standen describing his late-sister 

by saying: “She was something, 
let me tell you. Beautiful. Kind. 
Smart.” With such general lines 
filling the show, it’s no wonder 
none of the characters display any 
depth.

To make matters worse for 

“Taken,” it is composed of an 
unconvincing cast that lacks any 
semblance of chemistry. Playing 
the show’s star, Standen brings 
little emotion or intrigue to his 
part, claiming extreme remorse 
over his sister’s death yet never 
showing any. As an intelligence 
officer, Jennifer Beals (“The Book 
of Eli”) is also content to read 
monotonously from the series’ 
generic script. Despite possessing 
terrifying roles on the surface as 
characters with cartel connections, 
Gaius 
Charles 
(“Friday 
Night 

Lights”) and Monique Gabriela 
Curnen 
(“The 
Dark 
Knight”) 

inspire zero fear in either viewers 
or Mills himself. For the cast of 
“Taken,” its only redeeming quality 
is Kris Holden-Ried (“Lost Girl”), 
who delivers a quality performance 
as a corrupt DEA agent driven by a 
sincere emotional desire to protect 
his family, unlike Standen.

Though Holden-Ried is solid in 

his part, his role is far too minor and 
his performance not memorable 
enough to fix the inherent flaws 
of “Taken,” which are extreme. 
The series’ lazy production value 
extends to nearly every aspect of 
the show, begging the question 
as to why NBC elected to market 
it so heavily and with such high 
expectations. As a television show, 
“Taken” bears nothing in common 
with the successful film beyond 
the names of its characters, and it 
should be avoided like the plague. 

CONNOR GRADY

Daily Arts Writer

“Taken”

Series Premiere

NBC

Mondays at 10:00 

p.m

CBS

‘The Good Fight’ laudable

I’ll admit, when I first heard 

about CBS’s plan to make one 
of its first series for its new 
online portal, CBS All Access, 
a spinoff of “The Good Wife” 
(after “Star Trek Discovery” 
was 
delayed), 
my 
reaction 

was an eyeroll. At its peak, 
“The Good Wife” was one of 
the best shows 
on 
television. 

However, by the 
end of its run, it 
was 
struggling. 

Its finale ended 
on such an angry 
and bitter note 
that I didn’t know if I wanted 
to ever spend more time in 
the universe and with these 
characters. Still, my love for 
the majority of “The Good 
Wife” ’s run piqued my interest 
just enough to get me to tune 
into “The Good Fight,” and 
I’m so glad I did. With the new 
series, Robert and Michelle 
King’s (“BrainDead”) writing 
feels reinvigorated and fresh 
as they somehow make old 
characters more compelling 
than before.

“The Good Fight” follows 

Diane 
Lockhart 
(Christine 

Baranski, “Into the Woods”) 
who, as she’s about to retire, 
loses her life savings when 
a ponzi scheme run by her 
investor, Henry Rindell (Paul 
Guilfoyle, “CSI”) is exposed. 
She’s forced to postpone her 
retirement and go to work for 
the firm Reddick, Boseman, & 

Kolstad. Lucca Quinn (Cush 
Jumbo, “Vera”) works there as 
well, and Diane brings along 
Maya Rindell (Rose Leslie, 
“Game of Thrones”), a new 
associate who is also Henry’s 
daughter.

“The Good Fight” continues 

what 
“The 
Good 
Wife” 

started in terms of letting a 
great ensemble of New York 
City actors work with strong 
material. 
Something 
“The 

Good Wife” did 
so very well was 
build out a deep 
cast 
of 
strong 

actors, from the 
regulars to the 
guest 
stars. 
It 

all 
starts 
with 

Baranski, 
who 
provides 
a 

compelling center for the show. 
She portrays layers of Diane 
that we haven’t seen before. 
She’s clearly hurt after her 
husband cheated on her and 
Alicia 
(Julianna 
Margulies, 

“ER”) exposed it publicly in the 
“Good Wife” ’s finale. As she 
works her way through losing 
her life savings and starting a 
new job, Baranski brings these 
emotions to life. Jumbo also 
does excellent work as Lucca, 
as we see her take the lead 
on cases and become a more 
relevant character.

Being on CBS All Access 

means “The Good Fight” can 
do more in terms of language 
and sexual content than “The 
Good Wife” ever could. As 
Diane finds out about the 
Rindell’s ponzi scheme, the 
show cuts to commercial, but 
not before she can exclaim, 
“Fuck!” It sounds jarring at 
first, but the show takes its 
extra abilities and runs with 
them, and the language is now 
a part of the fabric of the show.

It’s through the story where 

“The Good Fight” truly stands 
out on its own. The case-of-
the-week format remains from 
“Wife,” but fewer episodes 
seems to allow for them to 
come up with cases are more 
interesting than later seasons 
of “Wife.” This year, we’ve seen 
a surgeon fight for the right to 
assist a surgery in Syria over 

Skype and a woman try and 
regain the rights to her eggs in 
order to have a child, running 
into twisty legal hurdles along 
the way. The show’s also found 
a more natural way to integrate 
politics into the show. The 
first episode opens with Diane 
watching 
President 
Donald 

Trump’s inauguration with a 
shocked look on her face, and 
the show had a story in its third 
episode where the lawyers at 
Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad 
struggle to keep a client who 
wants to go to a firm where the 
leaders are close with Trump. 
Throughout “Wife,” the Kings 
showed an interest in keeping 
up with current affairs, but on 
“Fight,” they have found a way 
to be relevant without forcing 
it.

“The Good Fight” reminds 

me of exactly what I missed 
about “The Good Wife” in the 
first place. It has a similar 
cast 
of 
extremely 
talented 

actors 
with 
a 
compelling 

central character in Diane. 
It’s surprising how well the 
pieces of this show fit together, 
and I’m excited to see where 
they take these stories and 
characters.

ALEX INTNER
Daily Arts Writer

“The Good Fight”

Series Premiere

CBS All Access

Sundays

Being on CBS All 

Access means 

“The Good Fight” 

can do more in 

terms of language 

and sexual 

content than “The 
Good Wife” ever 

could

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INTERESTED IN 
WRITING FOR 

ARTS?

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arts@michigandaily.com 

for an application. 

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Don’t hesitate to reach 

out.

TV REVIEW
TV REVIEW

6 — Friday, March 10, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com