Listonixio
Fresh and Exciting
Teringer
An Exercise In Nonsense
Aubrey Hackett
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
marilynneX
Major spoiler - if you haven't seen this program, don't read!I too was hoping that in the end we would find out what really happened to Amber. The ending was a huge letdown, that's true, but I think that's the whole point of the series. In reality, so many of these missing children are never found, and I think the purpose of the ending was to make us feel just a little of that bitter, frustrated feeling that the parents must live with every day of their lives. We are so used to movies and TV shows that solve mysteries in tidy little half- hours or two hours, when in reality too many cases are like Amber's. It kept me on the edge of my seat.
trepessa
I gave "Amber" a higher score than some. I have watched this twice and from what I can tell, someone snatched her between where she got off the train to where she was walking to catch the other one going back because she missed her stop. There is no way to know who but the last scene made it evident she had died. The fact that her light was found in the river only reinforced the idea she had been murdered. No young girl should go by herself anywhere in any country these days.The acting was very good and the idea of the story good but the use of the flashbacks is getting tiresome to most people these days like found footage. I believe the intention was to write more episodes so they left everyone with the semblance of an ending left to one's own imagination. The father character was the only one I didn't like. He was a bit over the top and totally unlikeable. Therefore, he was a character that didn't arouse sympathy for his reaction to his daughter's disappearance. The actor was good but I didn't like the father characterized as a totally self absorbed bad person. He did with his zealousness, help find other girls who were still alive by what he did but he was far too impulsive; over the top for my tastes. This show should have been continued and time and time again I see networks in various countries making a mistake by not continuing a story and this is one that falls under that category. I don't think it is a waste of time watching the show because I believe they didn't necessarily write it about the missing girl but how her being missing impacted those related to the issue. It's not that long and not a waste of time. Dramatically I thought it superb but frustrating because of too many flashbacks and no real conclusion since it was not continued. If you can live with these things it is worth watching.
aharmas
"Amber" pulls it from under our feet and shocks us because it doesn't give easy answers, and it's relentless. As I read previous entries here, I sense a wave of disappointment after disappointment because we always want to know everything, expect clean, tidy resolutions. There are tons of TV shows delivering that already. "Amber" takes some daring steps and ruffles a few feathers.The story might not be anything new. A young teen disappears, and the clues are pointing to an early discovery. After all, there's no real big mystery when we start. Friends are interrogated, technology seems to be providing information very quickly, but luck soon interferes. Then the trail grows cold, and lives are permanently altered.Set in Ireland, things could look a bit different, but they are similar to anything you'd expect in other parts of the world, and by the end of the series, we can see that "Amber" has grown into something more complex, and the mystery remains, maybe even more puzzling than ever. Through the four episodes, we met plenty of possible suspects, and this what irks many. Some are cleared, other remain question marks. It looks like the writers have done this intentionally, so there shouldn't be that much ill will for the resolution. Not sure if this is the true conclusion of the series, or if we will be treated to another season. It is set up to go either way. Sometimes we don't get all the answers, but sometimes we get writing that challenges us and takes into a powerful ride.
mel-pliedes
Started with 6/10 from me in episode 1, then went to went up to 7 then crashed. I agree with Cipherz' comment - if you don't want to waste 4 hours of your life - don't bother watching this. Though it had great potential, it went nowhere! BBC drama is normally very good but this was the most disappointing new programme I've seen for a long time. This show was developing some interesting themes, but the annoying production technique of dipping back into the past did not really work, as they never showed enough of another point of view of the story to add anything significant to the present situation. Very disappointing. Evidence that the the BBC is still on a very downward spiral.
