Pretty Poison

Still catching up...

( The Days )

( Day 22 - Favorite series finale )

( Day 23 - Most annoying character )

( Day 24 - Best quote )

( The Days )

Day 18 - Favourite title sequence

I have to cheat on this one and pick two, because I just couldn't choose between them. Sometimes titles can be really irritating. Back when I used to tape every show I liked, I would routinely edit out the opening titles because I knew that when I re-watched them, it would swiftly become really irritating. Especially the opening titles with some kind of voiceover. As much as I got a kick out of something like "...a word in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena..." the kick fades on the twentieth repetition, you know?

But I've found a new appreciation for these things, ironically, since so many shows seem to have dispensed with them altogether. And these two (which don't include voiceovers!), I never get tired of. Or...not yet.

The first is the title sequence from Alias Season Four. They only ran it for that one season.

( Clip under the cut )

I just love the rapid flashes of all Syd's disguises over the years. Back when the series was airing, I tried every darn week to count them. I could never do it - not without cheating with freeze-frame :) This does what a title sequence should do: it sets up what the show is about. You see Syd not just in every possible alias, but in every facet of her personality. And how is it that one person can look so different in each alias, and be hot in every single one of 'em?

My second choice is probably more predictable: True Blood. Not only is it a great song, again it's the imagery I love, and the way it sets up the show.

( Clip under the cut )

In many ways, the imagery has little to do with the show: I mean, very little that you see in the opening titles actually appears in the episodes. But in another way, it's perfect, because what it does is put the episodes into a context. The sequence shows you the world True Blood exists in, a real world as well as a fictional one. It sets the scene, creates the mood. Just perfect for this show.

[And how cool are these twisty cut-tags on Dreamwidth? Finally a cut does useful stuff!]

( The Days )

Day 15 - Favorite female character

When I started this meme, I thought this should be an easy question. But the more I think about it, the harder it is to choose a favourite female character. There are so many to choose from. I love women who can kick ass: Xena, Buffy, Sidney Bristow, Sarah Connor, Aeryn Sun. I love women who are smart: Sam Carter, Willow, Lois Lane, Dana Scully, Wendy Watson. I love women who have the self-confidence to insist the world take them as they are: Inara Serra, Sookie Stackhouse, Starbuck, Cordelia Chase, Delenn. I love women who are strong because they are women and that's awesome: Mary Winchester, Ellen Harvelle, Joyce Summers, Kaylee Fry, Precious Ramotswe, Laura Roslin.

How do I choose a favourite from among all of them?

But I did come up with one. Not so much a favourite as a character who embodies all the qualities I'm talking about above: Highlander's Amanda.

( Read more... )

( The Days )

Day 13 - Favorite childhood show

Dick Turpin was written by the same man responsible for Robin of Sherwood: Richard carpenter. IMDB says it began in 1979 and other sources agree, but that doesn't match my memory. I remember watching this show with my Dad and he died in April '79. Even if it aired in January '79, he would surely have been too sick by then to watch it with me.

But, memory issues aside, this was a really great television drama. First thing to note is that it's more a re-imagining of the legend than historically accurate. The real Dick Turpin was not a nice person, he didn't ride a horse called Black Bess and he certainly didn't ride from London to York in a night (that was someone else). He was hanged in 1739, in York.

This series begins a year later, 1740, with the premise that the man hanged in York was an imposter using Turpin's name and reputation. The "real" Dick Turpin returns to his old haunt in the south. He's a good guy who was forced into military service as a young man and who found on his return that the unscrupulous local landowner (with the Dickensian name Sir John Glutton) has stolen the land he should have inherited from his father. This forces him into highway robbery, but he has a bit of Robin Hood about him. In the first episode, he gets involved with an attempt to rescue a young lad who bungles a robbery in an attempt to steal money to save his mother's home, and winds up with an unwanted "apprentice". And that's your setup for three seasons of great, family entertainment.

I loved this show. I still do - they finally released the DVDs a few years back and it stands up remarkably well. Oh, you can see it was filmed on a low budget and the film isn't exactly up to DVD quality. The choreography of the fight and chase scenes looks forced to an eye accustomed to modern stunts and hand-held camera techniques. But the writing and the performances are still good.

( The Characters )

( The Days )

Day 11 - A show that disappointed you

I hate to say it, but what other show can I choose here? Supernatural.

There are other shows I could say disappointed me. Shows that started off promising and just lost me somewhere along the way. But none of them have I loved as much as I did Supernatural in the beginning, and "disappointed" hardly seems an adequate word for the way I feel about the show now. Yet I'm still watching. I don't know if I'll watch next season...I'm not sure I can bear to get hopeful and be stomped on again.

I didn't watch the first season of Supernatural until after the finale. So I knew a little about what was to come, and I surely knew that the fandom was, shall we say, a little obsessive about slashing these two brothers. That's partly why I didn't watch earlier - not the incest thing (I cut my genre teeth on Robert Heinlein) - but the obsessive part. I didn't want to be stuck in another fandom with Danielites.

Anyhow, watch I did and I instantly fell in love with the show. Okay, it was a bit too testosterone-fuelled for my usual taste and I'm not a big fan of "kill it" being the solution to every problem. But still...I loved it. The show supplied a horror movie every week, it had an ongoing plot with actual layers and complexity, the characters too were many-layered and sure, the onscreen chemistry between the leads didn't hurt. I could certainly see where the incest was coming from in a way I never could in, say, Heroes.

I could go on for a long time about my love affair with Supernatural, but it's all there in my fanfic. I adored Sam. I liked Dean a lot. It took me a while to get a handle on John, but once it clicked, I was completely in love with him. So much so, that it didn't bother me when he died; the character may not have been present but he was still so essential to the story that for me he was still there.

I don't mean to say that the first two seasons were perfect - far from it. But the imperfections didn't matter to me because the stuff I loved was so much more present.

When did it change? ( Cut because this got long. )

Wow, that was cathartic. I feel better now :)

You know, doing this meme is really making me realise how many of my favourite shows are missing from my icon collection. I really must fix that. But, on with today's entry...

( The Days )

Day 09 - Best scene ever

This was an easy one. Although I'm not sure the sheer power of it will come across viewing the scene out of context, the absolute best scene in all of television (that I'm aware of) is the climactic scene of Babylon 5's mid-point episode, Severed Dreams. Even typing this now, I get a shiver just remembering it. Watching the scene never fails to make my breath catch. The thing is, so much builds into this moment, the context is everything. It's both a coming together of plot threads that had been building for more than 50 episodes, and a massive turning point for both the overall plot arc and many of the characters.

( More explanation and clip under the cut )

Babylon 5 had its faults as a TV show, not least some seriously awful dialogue. But on one thing I can't fault it: this show always, always delivered on it's climactic moments. So many shows go for the big build-up and when the moment finally arrives, it is ultimately unsatisfying. Babylon 5 always delivered in spades. From this scene the stakes got higher, the shocks deeper, the climactic scenes bigger. But this is the one that I find most memorable. Nothing else, in any other series I've seen, comes close to the power of those two minutes of TV.

( The Days )

Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite t.v show

Still going with Hamish MacBeth as my favourite TV show, at first I thought it would be impossible to pick a "least favourite" because all 20 episodes are awesome. Do I pick the one with the shinty match, since the whole football allegory turns me off (and I still don't understand the significance of knitted ties - can anyone explain that joke, or am I not supposed to get it?)? But the ending of that one is so fantastic, with the chopper and Wee Jock doing the dog on the pitch thing. How about the one where Hamish takes a holiday - that's probably the least show-like of the episodes because none of the action takes place in Lochdubh. But it's still such a good ep, with Hamish pretending to be Jewish (because that's the only way to avoid picking sides in the Catholic vs Protestant debate at the dinner table) and bungling it massively. Or maybe the one with the religious fanatics declaring Hamish to be the Devil? The whole religious theme in that is irritating and the plot is confusing...but again, the ending, with the whole thing revealed as a scam to cover up the minister's gay love affair (with Zoot! And which ends well!) is just precious.

But when I reviewed my episode list, I realised I do have a least favourite, because I'd completely forgotten it. It's not a bad episode (although it does have faults), it's just...not memorable. That is the third season episode The Trouble With Rory. ( Read more... )

ION - yesterday was a better day. It's still too hot! But I found Magnums on sale in Tesco (3 for 99p!!!) so I bought a bunch and they didn't melt while I got them home. Sis and the Useless Fiance were staying the night elsewhere, so I had a nice relaxing evening. I even wrote fic! I need the weather to cool off a bit so I can stand to sit at the computer long enough to finish some artwork for Geonn (see, I haven't forgotten you!) and type up the fic I wrote.

And there's a circus in town! They're building the big top in the park opposite my office building as I type. I may have to go tomorrow evening - it's the first night so tickets will be cheapest. I can't resist a circus :)

( The Days )

Day 05 - A show you hate

This is an easy one, although I can't narrow it down to a specific title because they all blur together as one big ball of toxic evil. A show I hate? Reality TV. Specifically, reality TV that exploits ordinary people.

I'm fine with something like Celebrity Big Brother or I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here! Uh...when I say 'fine' I mean I'd rather have experiemental anal surgery than actually watch them, but I'm okay with them polluting the airwaves as long as I don't have to be in the vicinity. The 'celebrities' involved in those shows by definition already know what it's like to be the focus of media attention. They know what they're getting into and they do it to further their careers. Fair enough.

But there are a bunch of popular reality shows that rely on taking (for want of a better term) civilians off the street and making entertainment out of their humiliation. This I find utterly reprehensible.

If I ruled the world for a day, getting rid of those shows and throwing the people who profit from them into a fiery pit would be pretty darn high on my agenda. (You know, after world peace and cleaning up the environment. And waterboarding George Bush.)

I mean, I get that The X-Factor and its ilk are giving talented people a shot at fame...although from what I've seen of them I'd question the 'talented' part. But why show the auditions? There's only one reason to do that: it's mockery of those people who took a shot and failed. And sure, some people go to the auditions fully aware that their only talent is to look like a tosser. I imagine a few people run a betting pool on how many notes they'll get to sing before being kicked out. But there are also people who believe in themselves and want the dream they're being sold so badly...and the show makes entertainment out of crushing them. The indescribably evil bastards behind the production make money by destroying people.

Big Brother started out as a potentially interesting concept. I still wanted to buy the Channel 4 head a copy of The Running Man with instructions to read, learn and inwardly digest, but what it became as the franchise went on was utterly indefensible. From an interesting, if exploitative, social experiment, it became a ratings-hungry monster, designing a 'house' with maximum mental (and physical) torture in mind, intentionally selecting contestants with diagnosed mental illnesses with an agenda to provoke mockery and hate, not understanding. They threw racial minorities in with racists, knowing full well what would happen. They ran a tick-box exercise to 'prove' they were taking care of people inside the 'house' while intentionally doing everything possible to make life horrible for them. And then they top it off by throwing them into a baying mob.

Why do I watch, if I hate them so much? I don't. Unfortunately, my family members do so I catch snatches of these things as I pass through the room, or when I'm trying to have a conversation. Hell, I've even tried to bring to their attention how wholly toxic this crap is, but I don't seem to have much success.

So yeah. A show I hate: Reality TV. We really haven't come very far since throwing slaves to the lions, have we?

(I will take a break from the meme over the weekend; back with day 6 on Monday.)

( The Days )

Day 03 - Your favorite new show ( aired this t.v season)

I tend to avoid new shows, at least until I hear they've been renewed. I just can't bear falling in love with a show only to have it taken away again.

But I did take a chance on the re-imagined series V. And I really do like it.

The original V is one of my all-time favourites. Aliens with remarkably human appearance come to earth offering advanced technology and miraculous medicines in return for "a chemical" which they claim they desperately need to save their planet. Amazingly quickly, and in a heavy Nazi allegory, they take over. It turns out the chemical is a smokescreen: they don't look human at all, but are reptilian and they've come to earth to steal our natural resources, primarily the water and food (in the form of humans). It was a mini-series followed by another mini-series followed by a single season of regular eps. And it's still well worth a watch. The effects don't really stand up, but the story sure does.

With the 2009 remake, the Nazi allegory has been ditched in favour of the more topical terrorism. The true purpose of the "Visitors" has yet to be revealed, though it's evidently Not Good, and other aspects of the story have been updated and reworked. The characters are all different. But it's recognisably derivative of the original.

In this story, the "Visitors" have been on Earth for a long time, establishing sleeper cells and infiltrating, before the bulk of them showed up in huge spaceships. This makes for a different kind of tension: in the early episodes you don't know who's human and who isn't, who is good or who is bad. The takeover is more about marketing than about paranoia and power (much more suited to the culture of today).

What's to love about this show?

The lead hero and the lead villain are both women. The main hero character is Erica, an FBI agent whose anti-terrorism work leads her to uncover the truth about the Visitors shortly after they arrive. Assigned to a team dedicated to protecting the Visitors, she uses her position to gather intelligence for the resistance: in effect becoming leader of a terrorist cell herself. The irony of her position is not lost on her and we see her struggle with some aspects of what she has to do. This is a strong woman who follows her own convictions. The main villain is the Visitor leader, Anna. She's a less layered character - "evil" pretty well sums her up - but she's very mysterious. We don't really know who she is or what she wants from Earth. She's cruel and manipulative...in some ways a more stereotypical "bitch", but she's also undeniably in control.

The show doesn't pretend 'morally grey' is okay. One of the things I've come to loathe in SPN is the way horrible things are presented as okay if the heroes do it for the greater good. V doesn't do that. When Erica has to kill someone, she damn well feels it. Not over-the-top angst, just the awareness that she's taken a life. When she has to team up with a terrorist, her discomfort is clear, and he doesn't suddenly become a hero: he's still a terrorist. He's just on the heroes' side. Another main character is a priest and a lot of the core morality comes from him. The characters cross lines, but crossing the lines isn't presented as heroic, just as necessary.

Relationships are at the core of it...but not romantic relationships. Erica's complicated relationship with her son, who falls for one of the Visitors. Anna's relationship with her daughter. Rebel visitor Ryan's relationship with his human girlfriend (okay, that one's romantic, but it's also kinda not). Feelings and emotions play are at the heart of this story: according to Anna, the Vistors aren't supposed to have them. Feelings, that is. Yet they clearly do. If the series goes on, it could have some serious commentary on what it really means to be human.

Mystery abounds What do the Visitors really want? That question really isn't answered. Their duplicity implies they don't have humans' best interests at heart, but there's actually little evidence either way. At times, the viewer feels a little paranoid for assuming the worst. At others, that unknown is truly terrifying.

And it looks like the show will get a second season! So there's a plus, too.

In an effort to start posting a little more frequently, I thought I'd try a meme (from birggitt).

( The Days )

Day 01 - A show that should have never been canceled

There are so many! But the absolute top of my list has to be Firefly. Fabulous cast, brilliant concept, great characters and plots...wtf happened? Oh, yeah. Fox happened.

The original Star Trek was described as "wagon train to the stars" so perhaps it's not true to say that the traditional Western in space hasn't been done before. Hell, there are nods to the Western in most popular sci-fi, but rarely has it been done as literally as Firefly with its cowboy-like costumes, space-whores, horses and cattle, outlaws and sheriffs, pioneers and wagons and pretty pink bonnets. Even the music follows the Western theme, but at the same time it's firmly set in a fully-realised future sci-fi world. There wasn't a single major character I disliked - though I could have done without one or two of the recurring characters - and the mystery of River provides an ongoing story arc that keeps me watching.

It's been a while since I've re-watched the series, but it's striking how strong that first-and-only half a season is. Most shows with this format (stand-alone episodes with maybe some kind of continuing arc), the first four to eight episodes are really ropey. Firefly was engaging from episode one...or would have been if Fox had actually screened episode one first. Only one episode of the thirteen is truly weak, and even that one might not have been if they'd been allowed to make the full season that would have put it into context.

Fox, what were you thinking?