Homecoming Outlaws
Mar. 11th, 2005 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fan_eluneI realised I still hadn't shared my thoughts on Lost 1x15 and 1x16.
Drew rocks!!! Long lives the Ultimate One!
That being said. 1x15, Homecoming. Well, people, I was actually disappointed. That episode was so very worthy of a JJ Abrams show, and not in a good way. Rather in a "we'll keep having plot twists that will teach you nothing at all! Teasers rule! Mwa-ha-ha! Look how good we are, getting you hanging on to the edge of your seats and giving away nothing!"
Yeah, ok, hopefully JJ never actually laughs like that.
But still! I hate it that they keep doing that, should it be in Alias or Lost. It's cheap. Very cheap. Teasers are of the good, when they're followed by something. Teasing for the sake of teasing is pointless. And Claire's amnesia is so very cheap.
Also, I hope the main character death we'll be getting won't be hers. That would be far too obvious.
That being said, about Charlie himself... I'm sorry, but I just don't see it. The whole thing in the flashbacks, sure. That was brilliant, and so very Chaz. But the killing of Ethan? CHEAP. Did I mention I thought it was all very cheap? Because it's so effin' CHEAP!
It's not just me venting my frustration here (though it partly is, granted). As a writer myself, I think it's just, yes, cheap, to dangle possible breakthrough in front of the viewers and then snatch it away with whatever more-or-less plausible plot twists come in handy.
I'm sorry, but I don't believe Charlie would just kill Ethan. Shoot him in the kneecap, sure. Make him hurt, hell yeah. But kill him straight off? No way. Because there might be others, and to take care of Claire Charlie would need to get info out of Ethan. I just don't think Chaz is that stupid. Anyway. I'm gonna be moving on and accepting that he did, simply because I'm not writing the show (thank Joss, they do it better than I would) and it might actually become very interesting for Charlie's character, if they don't just forget he killed someone after a couple more episodes...
Hell, it gave us Sayid having sexual chemistry with Charlie this time around, so I'm all for it! Sayid having sexual chemistry with anything on the island will give me a happy. He can do it with tree bark, polar bears, compasses, or oh yeah, the bed he's tied to or the sand he's lying on. I'm not picky.
So, let's move on to Outlaws in just a sec. First, I wanna send kudos to Dominic. I've finally seen the end of 1x12, when Charlie finally cries about Claire. I still can't believe how well that guy can act. He had that tendency to overact in the LotR trilogy, especially when compared to Billy Boyd, but he just keeps blowing me away here. Dom is an excellent actor. Kudos to you, mate. (And the DriveSHAFT fansite rocks. It's an excellent character study and it's just brilliant. They must have put so much work into it. I hope they'll make references to Chaz's tech in the show.)
Now, Outlaws. I have to say, I think Drew was realising his greatest potential on Buffy. His Angel eps were... well, they were the best of the lot if you ask me, on average, no doubt. But they weren't as good as his Buffy stuff. His Alias should have been longer for it to have a better structure and not be so completely unbalanced at the end with the lightning-quick resolution (it was like something I could have written, only better - too much character-based development, not enough actual plot, so that the ending felt rushed and too easy). And his Lost now... it wasn't bad, don't get me wrong. It was so very far from bad. It was a very good ep (and it starred Robert Patrick, how could I not love it?). But... it lacked that certain something that usually makes me adore Drew's work almost unconditionally.
The "I never" scene was absolutely brilliant. That was Sawyer/Kate at its best, really. His Hurley moments were so very Hurley (I can't wait for his episode), his Locke-ness was wonderful Locke, his Jack's-dad-ness was brilliantly written... Sawyer was just as interesting as ever, the ultimate jackass who's playing at being a badass and miserably failing, most of the time... and when he isn't failing, he's killing the wrong guy. How excellent was that? And he let the boar go. Magnificent.
But... I'm not as thrilled by this episode as I should be. I don't know why. There is every reason why I should love it. Just have a look at the previous paragraph here, and add to it that, hel-lo, it's Drew writing! But I'm just not that thrilled. It's great writing, but it's not thrilling writing.
Come to think of it, I haven't been thrilled by Lost since 1x12, Whatever the case may be. Maybe it's because after that it was Boone and Shannon and I had to face the fact that Lost was an ABC show, not HBO. I had to face the fact that they would probably never reach certain heights that shows like Carnivàle or Nip/Tuck have got me to expect. And while I can still enjoy Lost, I can't be thrilled by it... precisely because of this sense of loss. I feel robbed of an excellent show, as if I'd just been handed "good" instead. As if Lost were second hand.
I don't want it to be. Those characters, those writers... they can do such great work. I know they can. Now I want them to actually do it, to screw political correctness and do their damned best.
But yeah. It's an ABC show.
And I could have kept the thrills on if I hadn't expected more out of it. Bloody stupid me...
That being said, as for RL... Things are still good, though not so much for far too many people around me. I wish I could ease their troubles somehow...
Tonight is one of the teachers' housewarming party, that should be good. I might go to Manchester on Saturday, not sure yet. And in one week and one day, I'm in Paris (and Les Miroirs Obscurs has been released)! It's a measure of how much I love![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
greenie_breizh that I'm still happy and excited about going back, because the sense of impending doom in the form of having soon to leave England and my assistant's life behind has not diminished any. But I can't wait to be with her again.
I'm very slowly writing the Sarkney fic. I'm putting the final touches to the new versions of Rien N'est Eternel and Nothing Lasts Forever, which I'll update over break. I'm also nearing the end of Vice Versa, one of my most challenging and thought-provoking readings ever, I believe. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in (bi)sexuality.
Now have a nice weekend, everyone! I'll be reading you in a matter of days.
Drew rocks!!! Long lives the Ultimate One!
That being said. 1x15, Homecoming. Well, people, I was actually disappointed. That episode was so very worthy of a JJ Abrams show, and not in a good way. Rather in a "we'll keep having plot twists that will teach you nothing at all! Teasers rule! Mwa-ha-ha! Look how good we are, getting you hanging on to the edge of your seats and giving away nothing!"
Yeah, ok, hopefully JJ never actually laughs like that.
But still! I hate it that they keep doing that, should it be in Alias or Lost. It's cheap. Very cheap. Teasers are of the good, when they're followed by something. Teasing for the sake of teasing is pointless. And Claire's amnesia is so very cheap.
Also, I hope the main character death we'll be getting won't be hers. That would be far too obvious.
That being said, about Charlie himself... I'm sorry, but I just don't see it. The whole thing in the flashbacks, sure. That was brilliant, and so very Chaz. But the killing of Ethan? CHEAP. Did I mention I thought it was all very cheap? Because it's so effin' CHEAP!
It's not just me venting my frustration here (though it partly is, granted). As a writer myself, I think it's just, yes, cheap, to dangle possible breakthrough in front of the viewers and then snatch it away with whatever more-or-less plausible plot twists come in handy.
I'm sorry, but I don't believe Charlie would just kill Ethan. Shoot him in the kneecap, sure. Make him hurt, hell yeah. But kill him straight off? No way. Because there might be others, and to take care of Claire Charlie would need to get info out of Ethan. I just don't think Chaz is that stupid. Anyway. I'm gonna be moving on and accepting that he did, simply because I'm not writing the show (thank Joss, they do it better than I would) and it might actually become very interesting for Charlie's character, if they don't just forget he killed someone after a couple more episodes...
Hell, it gave us Sayid having sexual chemistry with Charlie this time around, so I'm all for it! Sayid having sexual chemistry with anything on the island will give me a happy. He can do it with tree bark, polar bears, compasses, or oh yeah, the bed he's tied to or the sand he's lying on. I'm not picky.
So, let's move on to Outlaws in just a sec. First, I wanna send kudos to Dominic. I've finally seen the end of 1x12, when Charlie finally cries about Claire. I still can't believe how well that guy can act. He had that tendency to overact in the LotR trilogy, especially when compared to Billy Boyd, but he just keeps blowing me away here. Dom is an excellent actor. Kudos to you, mate. (And the DriveSHAFT fansite rocks. It's an excellent character study and it's just brilliant. They must have put so much work into it. I hope they'll make references to Chaz's tech in the show.)
Now, Outlaws. I have to say, I think Drew was realising his greatest potential on Buffy. His Angel eps were... well, they were the best of the lot if you ask me, on average, no doubt. But they weren't as good as his Buffy stuff. His Alias should have been longer for it to have a better structure and not be so completely unbalanced at the end with the lightning-quick resolution (it was like something I could have written, only better - too much character-based development, not enough actual plot, so that the ending felt rushed and too easy). And his Lost now... it wasn't bad, don't get me wrong. It was so very far from bad. It was a very good ep (and it starred Robert Patrick, how could I not love it?). But... it lacked that certain something that usually makes me adore Drew's work almost unconditionally.
The "I never" scene was absolutely brilliant. That was Sawyer/Kate at its best, really. His Hurley moments were so very Hurley (I can't wait for his episode), his Locke-ness was wonderful Locke, his Jack's-dad-ness was brilliantly written... Sawyer was just as interesting as ever, the ultimate jackass who's playing at being a badass and miserably failing, most of the time... and when he isn't failing, he's killing the wrong guy. How excellent was that? And he let the boar go. Magnificent.
But... I'm not as thrilled by this episode as I should be. I don't know why. There is every reason why I should love it. Just have a look at the previous paragraph here, and add to it that, hel-lo, it's Drew writing! But I'm just not that thrilled. It's great writing, but it's not thrilling writing.
Come to think of it, I haven't been thrilled by Lost since 1x12, Whatever the case may be. Maybe it's because after that it was Boone and Shannon and I had to face the fact that Lost was an ABC show, not HBO. I had to face the fact that they would probably never reach certain heights that shows like Carnivàle or Nip/Tuck have got me to expect. And while I can still enjoy Lost, I can't be thrilled by it... precisely because of this sense of loss. I feel robbed of an excellent show, as if I'd just been handed "good" instead. As if Lost were second hand.
I don't want it to be. Those characters, those writers... they can do such great work. I know they can. Now I want them to actually do it, to screw political correctness and do their damned best.
But yeah. It's an ABC show.
And I could have kept the thrills on if I hadn't expected more out of it. Bloody stupid me...
That being said, as for RL... Things are still good, though not so much for far too many people around me. I wish I could ease their troubles somehow...
Tonight is one of the teachers' housewarming party, that should be good. I might go to Manchester on Saturday, not sure yet. And in one week and one day, I'm in Paris (and Les Miroirs Obscurs has been released)! It's a measure of how much I love
greenie_breizh that I'm still happy and excited about going back, because the sense of impending doom in the form of having soon to leave England and my assistant's life behind has not diminished any. But I can't wait to be with her again.I'm very slowly writing the Sarkney fic. I'm putting the final touches to the new versions of Rien N'est Eternel and Nothing Lasts Forever, which I'll update over break. I'm also nearing the end of Vice Versa, one of my most challenging and thought-provoking readings ever, I believe. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in (bi)sexuality.
Now have a nice weekend, everyone! I'll be reading you in a matter of days.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-03-11 06:09 am (UTC)A mud fight between Locke and Ethan was shot but never used. Pity.
And the model number of the copier he's trying to sell is C815 (flight number 815, Kate open the safe 815, not a coincidence).
Outlaws was good, excellent characterisation, the Jossverse staff is doing pretty good on this show. "I never" is just shiny. When those 2 are gonna go at it, they're gonna go at it hard :)
And one wonders if Sawyer being in the precinct when Boone was, has something to do with him shooting this poor bugger.
I love those characters :)
no subject
Date: 2005-03-21 01:09 pm (UTC)Yes I love 'em too!!! And I love that they still haven't "gone at it", those two. I love how Kate is torn between Jack and Sawyer and doesn't choose either, it's brilliant and it says so much about her character.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-21 05:27 pm (UTC)Ethan seemed stronger the last time when he beat Jack, and when he overpowered Charlie and hang him while carrying Claire. Definitely strong guy. Me think we haven't seen the last of him.
No matter who she'll end up choosing, could they have steamy sex please. I'm starting to think they're all sexdriveless on Paradise Island :)
no subject
Date: 2005-03-11 02:03 pm (UTC)I just really felt like telling you right now... damn different countries and not being able to call or text you, so I'm doing the next best thing.
I love you so much.