4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Lesson learned: Globe readers want to know when a show is based on something else
I decided the sheer volume of emails merited a public response: I would watch 'Astrid,' and provide the comparison readers clearly thought was lacking in my 'Patience' review. I searched for the show on my Roku, found a streaming service that had it, and began watching. The episode opened with a jewel heist. 'How glamorous and French!' I thought. 'So different from the grim and violent murder in a parking garage that opens 'Patience.'' Then the episode cut to the two main characters. 'Ah ha,' I thought. 'Let's see how they compare to the British version.'
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About 45 seconds later, I realized the two characters were already friends, and I was watching the fourth season premiere of the French version. The streaming service I'd found did not have Season 1. I decided to try PBS, which seemed to have it on their Passport app. Several failed attempts to activate a PBS account later, I gave up and watched an episode of '
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What have we learned here? One: always reference the source material; readers clearly want to know. And two: sometimes even a person who writes TV criticism for a living can't get their streaming apps to work for them. I promise, someday I'll watch 'Astrid' from the beginning. I hear it's pretty good.
Lisa Weidenfeld is an arts editor for the Globe.
Lisa Weidenfeld can be reached at