I’ve been really enjoying the new series of Knight Rider so far. While the first couple of episodes were perhaps a bit formulaic, over the last two or three, it really seems to have found its footing, and they’ve been really solid, enjoyable stories. Granted, last week’s Halloween episode could’ve done with a bit more KITT-action, but the teases about KARR were more than enough to make up for that.
However, the big news this week is the leak of cast changes, following a two-part story over episodes 10 and 11. This is interesting, as previously it looked like episodes 12 and 13 would be the KARR 2-parter. I wonder if those plans have changed, or if its just a mistake in the story.
However, the affected characters are Graiman, Carrie and Torres. To be honest, I’ve felt Graiman and Carrie have struggled so far int he series, and haven’t had an awful lot to do. Torres has received more focus, but then he basically nicked Carrie’s role as the FBI liason. I’ll be sorry to lose Graiman though. I like Bruce Davidson as an actor, and he filled the older, mentor slot in the show’s cast nicely (Devon for the new series if you like). Its telling that both FBI characters are leaving, and with the show being said to be getting away from the terrorist-of-the-week formula, and focusing more on Mike and KITT helping the everyman (more in line with the original show), it seems obvious that the fallout from the KARR storyline will have Knight Research severing its official ties with the Government.
I can’t help but think this may be a good thing though. If only because there has been the danger of the episodes becoming a bit formulaic over the start of the season. There seems to have been an awful lot of state-of-the-art weapons smuggling going on that the FBI were powerless to do anything about for some reason.
I am sorry to lose Graiman though. It does slant the cast younger, and I presume this is to appeal more to their target demographic. And of course, while I do like the idea of the character, as I say, it doesn’t feel like he’s had a lot to do this season so far. I do hope that in amongst these changes though, they address some of the forced humour between Zoey and Billy. While I wouldn’t necessarily want to lose either character, giving them a bit more depth wouldn’t hurt either.
Regarding KARR, well going from the revelations in Knight of the Living Dead, I’m still waiting to see how this plays out. Its not been explicitly said that this new KARR doesn’t use the original’s CPU, although it is looking like a new prototype borrowing the name of the original. Of course, given that Graiman was supposed to have been key to the original KITT’s development (and so you presume the original KARR’s as well), it does leave him looking like a bit of an idiot that he gave both prototypes not only the same name, but also the same dodgy programming that resulted in them going a bit evil.
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