The Bridge

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What did all of you think of the new FX crime drama series "The Bridge"? Did anyone watch the premiere episode on Wed. night? What were your thoughts of Diane Kruger's aspie police detective character Sonya Cross? Did she give a fair and accurate portrayal of an adult with autism on the show? I'm really liking the show so far and Diane's Sonya character is a pretty good portrayal of an aspie!

I only got to watch the first 45 minutes of it before a thunderstorm came in and blocked our satellite signal, but what I saw of it was good. Funny, I actually wasn't planning on watching it until I got that Wrong Planet email that went out about it.

I like that they didn't advertise the protagonist having Asperger's. It wasn't publicized in any of the commercials I saw for the show, and unless they said something about it after my satellite signal went kaput, I don't think they specifically said it in the show. That makes her more like a real person to me. I feel like autism is becoming a bit of a pop-culture phenomena with all the TV shows with autistic characters recently, but for real people with autism, it is not nearly that flashy; it's just a normal, everyday thing. I like that the mainstream viewers are get to see her first as just Detective Sonya Cross before she becomes "Autistic Detective Sonya Cross."

Cross's character reminds me of a woman I know from GRASP who has undxd Asperger's, although I think the woman I know is slightly more "fluid" than the TV character. I could certainly relate to her frustration about strict procedures not being followed!

All in all I am interested in watching more. I would like to see what kind of effect the pairing has on the two detectives, if and how much their personalities manage rub off on each other. I preferred that her diagnosis wasn't announced, because that's not how real life is. And if people get irked by her mannerisms on the show, it will teach the viewers something about themselves when they eventually do find out.

Actually, Diane Kruger confirmed the AS dx in a video before the show aired. See here.

If they can keep the label out of the show I'll be happy - that's more about my take on the difference in storytelling sensibilities between US and European shows.

I generally liked it. Seems to have kept the main touchstones of the original with the plot and so forth.

I kind of like the concept, but I think it's a bit heavy handed. The main character is in her 30s, and still has the significant problems that she does? Especially considering she's a cop, and a detective at that. For instance, the beginning with the ambulance, I understand why she'd react that way, but I would probably let it through. And the stilted conversation with the widower, and especially the interrogating phone call near the end. She seems pretty ill-adjusted for an aspie of her age and occupation.

I really like some of the small touches though. I like how she constantly has the earbuds in, how she wears the horse jacket, little stuff like that showing that looking professional doesn't come naturally to her. Also, how when she's driving, her hands never leave 10 and 2 position.

I also like how she clearly has an understanding boss who is willing to accommodate her.

So there are little things I like, but the big picture seems a bit over-the-top to be realistic.

I didn't have any issue with the ambulance situation. If they follow the original (Saga was also quite blunt) you'll see she has a thing for rules.

What's GRASP?

www.grasp.org
It's a support group/resource for autism/asperger's folks

Watched about 75% of it will watch the rest later. I thought Cross' AS was spot on.

I am dissapointed that they did not say She has AS. Why do people here think telling the audence she has AS is a bad thing? IMO its a positive character with AS.

So they don't come out and say she has AS here, they don't come out and say Sheldon has AS on that show. In the movie "Extremly loud and incredibly close" they hint Oskar has AS but don't confirm it.

These are positive portarials of people with AS, why not say they have it? It can show people with AS are good and decent. Otherwise everytime a quiet loner goes on a shooting spree, the media will say "Aspergers"

I also think it's a pretty good portrayal in general. But is it realistic that someone of her age and status as a police officer wouldn't have learned to cope better by that point? I mean, would they really allow a homicide detective who was so poor at dealing with victims families?

I thought her character was a bit of a caricature. I also think most of us who get along in the NT world well enough to be a police detective have learned a bit more than she has about certain things. I do realize that this was just the first episode, however, and the rest of the season will probably make her a fuller character and not rely on her social impediments for comic relief to such an extent.

Honestly, there were a few moments when I felt bad for her. The actress did a very good job expressing that moment where it registers that you've just said the exact wrong thing and hurt somebody, or that somebody was just laughing at you, or that your difference has become the elephant in the room. That feeling can be so sad.

I get where you're coming from, but personally, I think it's less heavy handed when they don't come out and say "Character X has Aspergers" in a show. They've confirmed in interviews and on the website for FX that Sonya has Aspergers. I think that's good enough for me. They aren't afraid to say that she has it, I just don't think they want to compromise the show by mentioning it. By which I mean that if they mention that Sonya has Aspergers, I think it's much easier for her character to be defined as nothing more than "an autistic detective" rather than a fully-realized character who has Aspergers and thus has a lot of difficulty with socialization.

Thanks mikassyna!

In the original, the character's clearly a bit odd and her mannerisms, etc fit the condition and baffle some of her colleagues.

The difficulty I have with some US TV shows is that they hit the audience over the head with narrative choices, plot details, character quirks, or diagnoses. Sometimes I find it lazy. The writing and charactisation should be strong enough to stand on its own without necessarily giving the label. I did like how she wasn't devoid of emotion such as the scene with her boss - when he said he was going to retire, and also that she has some self-awareness as to how her oddness can affect people. The supporting characters should be able to just go 'that's Sonya, she's a bit odd, but we work around that and with her', rather than 'yo, man, Sonya has Asperger's ergo, XYZ'.

PresidentPorpoise summed it up better than I have.

Great news everyone! According to EW.com, "The Bridge" attracted great ratings with 3 million viewers for the show's pilot episode, with an additional 1 million viewers for the show's repeat episode of the pilot episode the same night to bring the total of 4 million viewers to the show!

I thought it was fine except for the apparent format. I thought that the acting and portrayals were fine.

It took me a few minutes to recognize the voice of her boss in the show -- the police captain from the series Monk.

I prefer a tv show to be self contained instead of dragging issues over to the next show. That the one woman went down into the cellar but no more is shown about what she found or what happened in that cellar leaving a mystery to be cleared up in a later episode is something that I find very off-putting. The reason is that I rarely watch shows in the same sequence. If for one reason or another I should miss the next two episodes, then I will likely be lost as to what is happening with them. I quickly lose interest in watching such series.

I'm not that fond of stories in series that take two weeks to show them, but at least those two shows are self contained within the two of them and don't bleed over the rest of the season. If you miss the first and then watch the second, you might be lost about that particular episode but the rest of the series is still not confused by the double episode.

I would likely enjoy the show far better if she solved one crime a week. If it takes the entire season to solve this crime, I will surely have lost interest completely by then. Any series that I have to watch in sequence to understand the series presents a problem for those of us who don't typically watch tv in sequence.

It seems to be a modern affliction that tv shows have season long or series long issues. Dr Who handles these better than any others I've seen. Monk was not real bad, either: there was the issue of who killed his wife, Trudy, but that wasn't really a major focus of the show -- I just ignored that them. In one of the Law and Order series, one character was seeing a psychologist for a while and each show would contain a few minutes of his discussions with the psychologist -- the fast forward control handled that okay but it was still a bit aggravating.

So what was in the cellar?