There are an awful lot of scenes in The Guard of Carly sitting on the couch whining to her ex-soldier, ex-addict, current annoying boyfriend about her trailer-trash childhood and the scenes from episode four are virtually identical to the scenes in episode one.
Laura is bitter at being passed over for the promotion given to Miro, but that conflict isn't as dramatic as the show thinks it is — not enough to sustain the drama over four (and counting) episodes. She's also coping with boyfriend David's deteriorating multiple sclerosis and his terribly teenaged daughter, which thankfully makes her more sympathetic than the focus on her jealousy would otherwise allow.
David James Elliot as that boyfriend is criminally underused, even considering he's a recurring supporting character rather than a regular member of the ensemble. So far, there's not much more to him than the MS, though in this episode David finally shows flashes of charm and chemistry with Laura.
Barry (Gordon Woolvett) seems like the only character who has any spark of fun in him. Of course that means he has barely any screen time except to answer the radio at the base or be a sounding board to others. So far, then, there's not much more to him than the wheelchair.
I'm not ready to give up on the escapism of The Guard, since it still has those pretty people in pretty scenery proving their bravery at work and their vulnerability at home. But so far, I'm only sticking with it in the hopes that it won't keep relying on the pretty, and will move on from circling the same waters of these early episodes and get into soapy, action-filled stories we can sink our teeth into.
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