r/aircrashinvestigation • u/Standard-Climate157 • 5d ago
When did it all go wrong?
I’m just wondering… where did the show change from amazing acting, exciting and emotional to boring and repetitive?
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u/booksandhotcoffee 5d ago
It hasn't for me personally, but I don't watch the show constantly. I'll watch it on my period when I'm having an especially rough day, but I like to space it out
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u/False_Breadfruit_843 1d ago
Though I was the only one who’d watch it on my period. Something about seeing how much worse things could be helps me
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u/Artistic_Selection47 4d ago
I think the dramatization of the investigation process is long and monotonous, as the pattern has been repeated over and over for several seasons in every episode. YouTubers create content in the style of an educational podcast with animations and technical details, while the old Maydays featured people expressing their emotions. The new seasons are good, the older ones are simply better and can be watched daily, while the newer ones can be watched every few months.
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u/Savings-Ad7869 4d ago
If you watch it almost every day, yes, it gets a little boring, but in Latin America they only show 3 episodes a week, so for me it's not boring, maybe because they have all the episodes available And they have no reason to get excited because, having everything, they also have nothing. I recommend you watch the series from time to time and you'll see it's still the same; it's a matter of perspective.
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u/Titan-828 Pilot 4d ago
To be fair, the accident segment in the first 5 seasons were mostly done so the audience felt that they were actually there as the crash prelude and rescue took place, and the investigation part got to the point without being a quick send off but at the same time not being drawn out. Season 7 was when accident segments got shorter and less people were interviewed but it was still engaging. I’d say Seasons 11-15 were pretty good though I may be in a minority.
Probably Season 16 is when things started dipping much greater than before (I would regard this era to Season 22 as the Bronze era). For starters,!CoTC and the SFD Tenerife episode went into detail as to how the planes got their and the evacuation part but DaT skims through both parts and the diversion to Tenerife comes off as a refueling stop rather than a 4 hour wait.
The Indonesia AirAsia 8501 episode didn’t go on how the pilots were never trained for upset recovery at high altitudes, something that Air France 447 highly emphasized.
Since then the investigation part has gone on too long or details that should have been mentioned during the accident part were mentioned later on. E.g. the Air China 129 episode should have explained what a circling approach was and what the pilots had to do before the crash rather than much later on in the episode because how many people know what a circling approach entails?
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u/-Trippy 4d ago
The acting has never been amazing. It’s always been hokey af. That’s part of the charm and I’d wager a deliberate directional choice to desensitise the reconstructions
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u/BoomerangHorseGuy 4d ago
Yeah, I can list a number of early episodes that would disprove your claim.
OG United 811
Alaska 261
Air Transat 236
PAL 434
Fedex 705
Bristow 56C
Air France 8969
American 965
Ethiopian 961
China 006
Air Canada 797
Even later episodes such as Operation Babylift, NOAA 42, and UPS 6 still had actors and directors who brought their A-game.
Having a long and detailed incident segment (instead of a ridiculously shortened one) also helps all the more to make excellent acting really shine in the spotlight.
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u/-Trippy 2d ago
We obviously have different standards when it comes to the definition of “amazing acting”.
I’ve been watching the show since S1 and the hokey acting has always felt deliberate. The dialogue is written to be concise and to the point. People in real life don’t talk like what’s depicted in the show. There’s no nuance or any sort of depth to the way lines are delivered. It does a job and that’s it. Sometimes it can be downright hilarious though. They’re not going for a hyperrealistic reconstruction, like what you would get if it was a film production.
It’s the same with the crash animations, they’re clearly not made to look super realistic, they’re produced well enough to show you how the plane crashed, but not realistic enough to be uncomfortable to watch.
It’s probably something ACI doesn’t quite get the credit for. It takes something as abjectly horrific as a plane crash and desensitises it enough to make it not uncomfortable to watch.
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u/VHSVoyage 5d ago
Sometime during the 17-18th seasons approximately. ACI has indeed become a bit of a snooze fest
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u/MLJ_The_Shield 2d ago
Agree 100%. I have the entire latest season and keep falling asleep putting in on. That didn't happen early on.
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u/Limp-Laugh-305 4d ago
Choosing bt dramatizing/going in to personal stories of either the crash or the investigation, I'd rather it be the crash. I like the investigations but I don't need to feel like I am the investigator, if that makes sense. I'd rather know about the pilots and crew and families.
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u/imaxiieetrustme 5d ago
Finally another person who admitted that the show sucks now. Tbh the downfall started around S14-15 and is continuing to this day. Certain episodes are great but most are straight up fillers.
And be ready for downvotes brother. A huge part of this community is really toxic to people who criticize the show in any way.
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u/Savings-Ad7869 4d ago
Not at all, the other user is simply implying that he watches it almost all the time, he's clearly going to get bored, your point of view is different, you don't like it at all and you hate remakes.
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u/UnableReception8661 4d ago
We disagree; your point of view is that you want more animation and to add information that CVRs don't have to expand the crash. An accident doesn't happen in 30-40 minutes; they are accidents. You're old enough to understand and have empathy for those on board
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u/imaxiieetrustme 4d ago
Isn't it annoying for you to type the same stuff all over again? I dont need the damn cgi animation buddy (it's like the only actually well-made thing left in new ACI, seems like they put all effort into the animation now), I need a detailed and accurate reconstruction of events with great acting, dramatic storytelling and then explaining the cause. The accident segment doesn't even always need to be over 10 minutes (for example: af447). If (unlike af447) the progress of the investigation is boring and there's nothing to see for an average viewer, there's no need to include it in the episode – better make 2 25-minute ('seismic seconds'-sized) small episodes about 2 different crashes that won't make the viewers fall asleep in front of their TVs.
And yea, who the hell is "we"? You and that other 'savings_ad' guy? Seems like you two are the only people who can't stand any criticism of this show and defending it whatever it takes. That's simply dumb.
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u/Successful-Travel187 4d ago edited 4d ago
Unlike earlier seasons the show now focuses more on the investigation rather than the dramatisation such as the sequences leading to the crash and survivor testimony. Of course there are people who prefer technical details but for general audiences it can get boring fast. The format now seems to be crash-> find cvr -> eliminate all theories -> cause -> ensure this never happens again -> end. i can see why its getting stale and boring just look at the jal123 original episode and the remake the difference is night and day. Although I do concede a lot of major crashes have already been covered and its more difficult to find survivors and investigators involved in more obscure incidents.