Mallard wrote:Regarding Cooper, and speaking as someone who hasn't been disappointed with the series, I do really miss that character. Looking back for the last 9 episodes, it really does seem a shame that we couldn't have gotten some "damn good" Coop a bit earlier than it appears we are going to.
Having said that, I also wonder if that was ever even really possible. In fact, I worried before the season even started that having the old Coop back in action might end up being a bust. Could an older Maclachlan still pull that character off in a satisfying way? (I hope we still get to find out.).
Honestly, Kyle's performance felt off even in FWWM -- as did Ferrer's and Lynch's. All three feel less quirky and more like traditional FBI agents in the film, with their eccentricities far less pronounced than on the series. For Gordon and Albert, this progression has continued on TP:TR -- while it's great seeing Ferrer and DKL back in these roles, Albert is grim and dedicated to work with his insults seeming far more resigned/half-hearted than in the old show, whereas Gordon alternates between also being grim/dedicated, and being a charming/joyful caricature of DKL (but lacking Gordon's distinctive wide-eyed goofiness from the old show). I'm still a tad mixed on Albert, probably moreso than any other returning character....while Ferrer did great work, and I can accept this interpretation as a run-down version of the character a quarter-century on, part of me wishes he were given more witty/biting dialogue, even if the delivery remained the same (Gordon's repeated apologies in advance feel like hyperbole because Albert is never particularly insulting).
I guess this is all a long-winded way of saying I agree with you.
Even in 1992, it seems either Kyle was unable to recapture Coop's persona precisely, or Lynch & Kyle simply weren't interested in doing so, and this seems to extend to all of the FBI characters.
I do think it's unfair to view the Dougie material as some sort of insult to Kyle: everything he's said indicates that he loved playing it, and this stuff is really a gift to an actor. He's doing incredible, subtle work, selling comedy and pathos with the smallest twitch of the corners or his mouth or flicker of his eyes. You can find it conceptually pretenious or boring or tedious; you can argue that this sort of thing should be left in acting class and not aired on prestige cable for hours on end; you can say it's an insult to the audience...but not to the actor. The mastery of craft Kyle is displaying is incredible, and I would bet that he LOVED the challenge, as any serious actor would.