Pop culture stuff
Apr. 5th, 2021 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Rock Star Television Critic Alan Sepinwall reviews The Nevers in Rolling Stone Magazine
My takeaways?
It has the flaws of most of Whedon's television serials.
The Nevers should be a triumphant TV homecoming for Joss Whedon. It’s the first series in more than a decade solely created by the man responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. (He co-created Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. back in 2013 with brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen, and wasn’t really involved past the pilot episode.) It is his first dance with premium cable, after spending the earlier phase of his career working for broadcast networks with either low budgets or minimal faith in his ideas. After he spent much of the last 10 years directing comic-book movies, it’s a return to the medium that made him a creative superstar, with a premise — a host of superhuman women cause a stir in Victorian England — hearkening back to the familiar Buffy themes of female empowerment in a world run by bad men.
But what in theory is a neat and clean comeback narrative is in reality a big mess. In recent months, Whedon has been accused of abusive behavior throughout his career, by colleagues from Justice League actor Ray Fisher to Angel‘s Charisma Carpenter (who said, among other things, that Whedon turned on her after she got pregnant) and Buffy‘s Michelle Trachtenberg (who was a teenager at the time of their work together, and said a rule had to be instituted that Whedon not be allowed to be alone in a room with her). Whedon had, in fact, already departed The Nevers before the allegations of Carpenter and other Buffy alums surfaced, leaving the entire postproduction process to be overseen by replacement showrunner Philippa Goslett. Whedon might once have been a huge selling point for a fantasy series like this one, where he’s significantly more famous than anyone in the cast, but instead he’s not part of the marketing at all. A recent HBO press release about the show runs through nearly 600 words, and the mention of 19 other people involved, before Whedon’s name appears, and only in the context of having written and directed the premiere. (He also directed two more out of the initial batch of six episodes.)
But even if Whedon still had the pristine cult-icon image from the turn of the century, The Nevers would still be a disappointment. It has many of the elements you would expect from a Whedon show, and on a greater scale than any of the older ones, but some pieces only occasionally come into focus. Others leave you wondering why they’re around at all. This isn’t unusual for Whedon, since the sci-fi Western Firefly is the only one of his past series to arrive fully formed(*), while he needed a half-season or more to figure out exactly how to tell the stories of Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse. But with his abrupt — and, in hindsight, understandable — exit, it’ll be Goslett’s job to peer through this kaleidoscope of ideas and see if something beautiful falls into place.
Whedon sucks at plot and world-building. Always has. That was my difficulty with all of his series. Also he tends to be at his best when he's dealing with a clear, relatable and universal theme that he knows well. Such as the hellish aspects of high school. Or growing up and dealing with annoying parents. Subverting slasher film tropes, and romance tropes.
But if you pull him out of that - he tends to fall apart. Also I'm not certain six episodes gives him enough time to pull his shit together.
I'll probably try it for myself when it airs on HBO Max, but with low expectations. But I wasn't that turned on by the trailer. I don't like Victorian Steam-Punk (I don't like the Victorian Era - it annoys me, I'm starting to think that maybe I lived through it in another life and still have PTSD from the experience, hence the annoyance?)
The above review also makes a point about how it is hard not to see the show in light of the allegations. The allegations cast a long shadow over the art, apparently. I'd agree - I picked up on it in the synopsis.
2. I had a number #2, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.
Here, have a picture instead.
My takeaways?
It has the flaws of most of Whedon's television serials.
The Nevers should be a triumphant TV homecoming for Joss Whedon. It’s the first series in more than a decade solely created by the man responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. (He co-created Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. back in 2013 with brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen, and wasn’t really involved past the pilot episode.) It is his first dance with premium cable, after spending the earlier phase of his career working for broadcast networks with either low budgets or minimal faith in his ideas. After he spent much of the last 10 years directing comic-book movies, it’s a return to the medium that made him a creative superstar, with a premise — a host of superhuman women cause a stir in Victorian England — hearkening back to the familiar Buffy themes of female empowerment in a world run by bad men.
But what in theory is a neat and clean comeback narrative is in reality a big mess. In recent months, Whedon has been accused of abusive behavior throughout his career, by colleagues from Justice League actor Ray Fisher to Angel‘s Charisma Carpenter (who said, among other things, that Whedon turned on her after she got pregnant) and Buffy‘s Michelle Trachtenberg (who was a teenager at the time of their work together, and said a rule had to be instituted that Whedon not be allowed to be alone in a room with her). Whedon had, in fact, already departed The Nevers before the allegations of Carpenter and other Buffy alums surfaced, leaving the entire postproduction process to be overseen by replacement showrunner Philippa Goslett. Whedon might once have been a huge selling point for a fantasy series like this one, where he’s significantly more famous than anyone in the cast, but instead he’s not part of the marketing at all. A recent HBO press release about the show runs through nearly 600 words, and the mention of 19 other people involved, before Whedon’s name appears, and only in the context of having written and directed the premiere. (He also directed two more out of the initial batch of six episodes.)
But even if Whedon still had the pristine cult-icon image from the turn of the century, The Nevers would still be a disappointment. It has many of the elements you would expect from a Whedon show, and on a greater scale than any of the older ones, but some pieces only occasionally come into focus. Others leave you wondering why they’re around at all. This isn’t unusual for Whedon, since the sci-fi Western Firefly is the only one of his past series to arrive fully formed(*), while he needed a half-season or more to figure out exactly how to tell the stories of Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse. But with his abrupt — and, in hindsight, understandable — exit, it’ll be Goslett’s job to peer through this kaleidoscope of ideas and see if something beautiful falls into place.
Whedon sucks at plot and world-building. Always has. That was my difficulty with all of his series. Also he tends to be at his best when he's dealing with a clear, relatable and universal theme that he knows well. Such as the hellish aspects of high school. Or growing up and dealing with annoying parents. Subverting slasher film tropes, and romance tropes.
But if you pull him out of that - he tends to fall apart. Also I'm not certain six episodes gives him enough time to pull his shit together.
I'll probably try it for myself when it airs on HBO Max, but with low expectations. But I wasn't that turned on by the trailer. I don't like Victorian Steam-Punk (I don't like the Victorian Era - it annoys me, I'm starting to think that maybe I lived through it in another life and still have PTSD from the experience, hence the annoyance?)
The above review also makes a point about how it is hard not to see the show in light of the allegations. The allegations cast a long shadow over the art, apparently. I'd agree - I picked up on it in the synopsis.
2. I had a number #2, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.
Here, have a picture instead.
no subject
Date: 2021-04-06 07:53 pm (UTC)and all the Joss-favorite themes seems to be there, and I am tired of them.
no subject
Date: 2021-04-06 08:05 pm (UTC)The Nevers doesn't really grab me - neither the synopsis nor the trailer. Not sure why they greenlit it. I'll check it out for curiosity's sake, it's only six episodes. But I've low expectations.
no subject
Date: 2021-04-06 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-06 10:47 pm (UTC)