The Nevers...a review of sorts

I've finally watched all six episodes of The Nevers. The best episode is actually the last one, which was written by Jane Espenson and directed by someone I've not heard of, and reviewed by Phillipa Gossellet.
(Whedon had on foot out the door at this point.)

I'm not crazy about the series, and its unlikely I'll continue with it - if it makes it to a second season.

Before I continue with a review? I was blown away by this article, which is an interview with Claudia Black, who guest stars in episode 6 of The Nevers.

Claudia Black on Her Surprise 'The Nevers' Role, the Joss Whedon Situation, and Breaking the Cycles of Trauma

While Black didn't witness anything untoward in regards to Whedon's behavior on the set, she states that it was clear he was under a lot of pressure, and things had begun to dissolve. And just because no one reported anything, didn't necessarily mean it wasn't there. And there was a heavy feeling that everyone had to cater to Whedon and see his vision through - which doesn't tend to lend itself to a successful work environment.

( excerpt )

The Nevers - Review

There's aspects of this series I enjoyed, but not enough to hold my interest to continue. The problem is two-fold, too many characters, and too much focus on a somewhat trite and convoluted plot, that utilizes sci-tropes and gimmicks that tend to irritate me.

Frankly the series had some of the same problems that I had with Marvel Agents of Shield. Which I kept giving up on.

Thematically? It's fine. A little preachy in places - characters like to launch into long monologues and sermonize. I get bored and my attention wanders.

Lacks the humor of Whedon's earlier series. (Or it has jokes, but they flew over my head.)

What worked? I found the lead character of Mrs. True interesting, she's complicated and well-played by Laura Donnelly (and in a guest role - Claudia Black).

Also, the concept of people obtaining odd and often inconvenient super-powers was a nice one - if heavily borrowed from Marvel Comics.

But outside of Mrs. True, I kept losing track of the characters, and everyone mumbles. I had to use close-captioning at various points. Ben Chaplin's cop is rather interesting, and written smartly for once. But everyone else is just kind of there.

Also, Claudia Black is excellent in episode six, which is an intentional mind-fuck of an episode. I was kind of spoiled on it, because I read the article with Black. Also, I could kind of see it coming - since the series structurally reminds me a great deal of Marvel Agents of Shield and Dollhouse. But watching Black made me want to re-watch Farscape. (I adore Claudia Black.)

What doesn't work?

Everything else. But it's worth stating that there are a couple of sci-fi tropes that I've grown weary of, and this has pretty much all of them.
I'd list them, but I'd be spoiling you on the series more than I already have.

It's very busy, and when we get to the great reveal - it's not that interesting. I was disappointed, mainly because I'd seen it done elsewhere far better. ( spoilers )

Year #2 of Pandemic -Day #68 - More Dispatches

1. Took a brief walk in the hot humidity - the mask state was about the same. It's not really changed that much since well March 2020, to be honest. It's still 80% with, 20% without, possibly climbing to 60% with and 40% without, since I admittedly take mine off outdoors and indoors if there's really no one near me.

I kind of envy my brother on weekends, he can sit outside, and have barbecues, and watch his old decrepit kitties. Also he lives on the Hudson River Side up in the Catskills.

I'd visit him - but it's not worth the energy. Also I haven't exactly been invited, and COVID. We're all still being careful around COVID.

2. Mother asked if I wanted her to call me when she was with father today.
I said it didn't matter. Mainly because I can't understand half of what he says, and I'm not sure he hears me.

But she told me she'd be most likely calling around one. She didn't. Instead she called around 4.

Mother: Visited your father today and called your brother, spoke for a while.
Me: Thought you were going to call me?
Mother: I asked him, but he told me that he'd already had spoken to you today and had a long conversation. So I figured, I'd go along with him on it, and call your brother instead.
Me: I guess I'm time-traveling again.
Mother: Pretty much.

3. Television As posted previously, I finished the Nevers - it's okay. The plot for anyone remotely interested is: In Victorian England, a celestial event occurs (i.e. an alien space ship flies overhead and infects half the populace with spores, some people die, some are touched with special powers, etc.) Various factions are upset with this turn of events and handle it in different ways. There's Lady Lavina and Dr. Hague who are attempting to destroy the celestial spaceship and creature, they've discovered, and are conducting experiments on the touched. Lord Manson, who is building an army and forming an alliance with the Beggar King to get rid of the touched. Hugo Swan who has formed an alliance with the local inspector to employ them in his little club. And Mrs. True, one of the Touched who has created an orphanage of sorts for them with the financing of Lavina of all people.

It's kind of a Victorian Steampunk version of the first two-three seasons of Marvel Agents of Sheild, except without the Agents. Also reminds me a bit of Dollhouse.

It has a few plot twists here and there, but nothing shocking. The sixth episode is supposed to be a huge mind-fuck of an episode - but alas I've watched too many television series like this in my life time to be shocked or surprised by it. And the other series, films, were actually better done.

Kind of disappointing for an HBO series.

I also got caught up on Legacies - I like the characters, so am sticking with it. Also the writing is not bad, it's entertaining. And in one episode they actually referenced Vamp Diaries - by having MG and Josie staying with Aunt Elena and Uncle Damon in Elena's family home.

And caught up on Nancy Drew - which is better written than most of these shows. It's by Joshua Schwatz and Stephanie Savage - and features a rather flawed heroine in Nancy. Rarity that. See, The Nevers isn't the only series that does that. While I enjoy Nancy more, I will admit Molly True is a better written character.

4. Reading a historical romance novel that is kind of amusing. ( plot so far... )

I'm also reading The Rules of Civility by Amor Torres - or rather listening to it. It's my audio book - which I've taken up since the pandemic. Rec'd by college buddy. It's about a young woman living in NYC in the 1930s, she starts out as a legal secretary, and eventually becomes the assistant to the publisher of a glamour rag or magazine. I'll give Torres credit for nailing the publishing industry. ( Read more... )

This book is a bit more biting in humor than the previous Torres book that I read.

I've kind of given up on Good Reads yearly challenges. I honestly don't care how many books I read a year, nor do I care how many books other people read. It doesn't matter. It's not the amount you read that matters, it's whether you enjoy what you've read or how it enriches your life , etc that matters.

[I'd say quality of the read - but who am I kidding. I don't care about that either.]

5. The Governor went from sending Corona Virus emails every night, to just five days a week, to now twice a week. This is good news - it means that A) there's less to report and we're improving, and b) he's getting bored of the updates.

6. Mother keeps wanting to talk about the Middle East - or what is happening is Israel and Gaza. (I don't.) We both agree its been going on for forever. And both sides are wrong in different ways. They also have more in common than they know. But they have managed to broker a cease fire via Egypt, and Biden managed to get them to do this by bringing in Egypt and the surrounding countries to the table - to put pressure on both. And he did it quietly without fanfare, allowing them to save face. (See? This is what a leader without a monsterous ego looks like.)

The death toll is rather monsterous however.

( The Israeli military according to NY Times killed 248 Palestinans in Gaza, including 66 children - I'm having a feeling God may be looking down at them and not think all that kindly in regards to their next Jubliee celebration )

7. Hmmm...depending on your point of view, this could be seen as potential good news, assuming of course its true.

( less people in the world )

I was thinking at the start of 2020, and towards the end of 2019 - that there were far too many people on the planet. But I didn't want a pandemic, with a rising death toll. I don't like seeing people in pain. Every person matters.

Also a lot of people have come down with cancer recently - folks I know.( Read more... )

I feel kind of numb now with all of the stories. The numbers seem surreal.
And I wonder how many deaths are too much. 26? 30? 159 is that a lot of people dead? Is a thousand? Two thousand? Fifty-two thousand? How about Six Hundred Thousand? Or One point Three Million? They may seem meaningless or distant if they aren't personal to us? Or our dead? Just numbers. We don't know the names. We don't know what they did. Or who they were. Like flowers in a field, each plucked before its time. Life is so precious, and yet we reduce it to numbers on a chart or on a map or dashboard. It feels so...empty somehow.

I heard at my Zoom UU services today, that the Ministers this week are holding a prayer vigil/memorial to honor George Floyd. And I thought, perhaps uncharitably, what about all the others? ( Read more... )

The Johns Hopkins COVID MAP OF DOOM that I've been intermittently checking since roughly January 20, 2020 has now morphed into the Johns Hopkins COVID DASHBOARD OF DOOM - prior to that I was following it in the NY Times Corona Virus map and briefing - but the Times, I found out in January, was getting data partly from Johns Hopkins. I don't check it as frequently now, maybe once or twice a week if that. I stopped checking it constantly sometime in December or November, when I finally hit the proverbial wall. I couldn't do it as a regularly...the numbers stopped making sense to me. And I found myself just very tired and worn out from the looking.

The Dashboard shows that over 1 billion vaccine doses have been administered world-wide, and the good news, if there is any - is the number of vaccines administered is higher than the number of cases or deaths. ( Read more... )

Meanwhile, my Zoom Service UU Minister advises us to engage in Sabbath Practices, and do a daily meditation of 100 blessings, leading into a year of letting the land rest - or "The sabbath year" (shmita; Hebrew: שמיטה‎, literally "release"), also called the sabbatical year or shǝvi'it (שביעית‎, literally "seventh"), is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Bet HaMikdash. Yes, my Minister is a practicing Jew. I was raised Catholic, attending a Unitarian Church, with a Jewish Minister. When I joined it had a former Catholic as Minister, now the former Catholic is in the UK and has contracted cancer.

I feel like I have whiplash. Also the church services made me feel lonely. ( Read more... )

On that sad note...here's a picture.