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Oct. 17th, 2025 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatOff to get lunch soon, and then a massage at 3:15.
On the Buffy/Angel rewatch - I actually think what the writers did in the episodes Bachelor Party through Something Blue is rather clever? They managed to move Willow, Doyle, Buffy and Angel on from their first loves in an entertaining and convincing manner. Also from the metaphor - no longer are we doing the Beauty and the Beast metaphor, or the taming the wild beast in the man - or being abandoned by Daddy. We've moved on to the sick mother, or the dark mother imagery and providing women with greater agency in a relationship.
Tough to do, well. But they did it. I'm convinced by the end of Something Blue that both Willow and Buffy have to move on to someone else. And I've stopped shipping them with OZ (Willow) or Angel (Buffy) and have decided they are better off without them. Also done with the trope. Both OZ and Angel leave for more or less the same reason - they can't control the beast inside when they are around Willow and Buffy, so they have to leave. And they tend to weaken Willow and Buffy, and take away their agency. On the surface the relationships seemed great and really romantic, but in reality they were toxic to everyone involved. And, well didn't help either character grow or evolve. The writers had no choice but to somehow get this across - since Angel had moved onto his own series, and you can't have Angel and Buffy on separate shows and in a relationship. And well the actor playing OZ wanted to be written out. Doyle - was given a wife - to make him more appealing to Cordelia, and to parallel the character with Willow's situation. It doesn't quite work - but it does give him a back story, which was needed.
Sciatica is slightly better - but I've also not aggravated it too much this morning. At least the calves no longer hurt, and digestion is working better.
Started watching Rain Maker on Peacock, which stars in supporting roles, the actress who played the Evil Queen (in Once Upon a Time) as the bad ass lawyer that Rudy (the protagonist) ends up working for - "Bruiser", and John Slattery (Mad Men) as the head of the firm, that Rudy was fired from, and is fighting against. Slattery is inspired, since he doesn't come across as either a bully or evil, but likable - and that works actually.
And LP (who played the Evil Queen) is also cast against type, as the good guy rouge with the heart of gold lawyer. It's actually better than expected and based on John Grisham's novel of the same name. Grisham is an executive producer.
On the Buffy/Angel rewatch - I actually think what the writers did in the episodes Bachelor Party through Something Blue is rather clever? They managed to move Willow, Doyle, Buffy and Angel on from their first loves in an entertaining and convincing manner. Also from the metaphor - no longer are we doing the Beauty and the Beast metaphor, or the taming the wild beast in the man - or being abandoned by Daddy. We've moved on to the sick mother, or the dark mother imagery and providing women with greater agency in a relationship.
Tough to do, well. But they did it. I'm convinced by the end of Something Blue that both Willow and Buffy have to move on to someone else. And I've stopped shipping them with OZ (Willow) or Angel (Buffy) and have decided they are better off without them. Also done with the trope. Both OZ and Angel leave for more or less the same reason - they can't control the beast inside when they are around Willow and Buffy, so they have to leave. And they tend to weaken Willow and Buffy, and take away their agency. On the surface the relationships seemed great and really romantic, but in reality they were toxic to everyone involved. And, well didn't help either character grow or evolve. The writers had no choice but to somehow get this across - since Angel had moved onto his own series, and you can't have Angel and Buffy on separate shows and in a relationship. And well the actor playing OZ wanted to be written out. Doyle - was given a wife - to make him more appealing to Cordelia, and to parallel the character with Willow's situation. It doesn't quite work - but it does give him a back story, which was needed.
Sciatica is slightly better - but I've also not aggravated it too much this morning. At least the calves no longer hurt, and digestion is working better.
Started watching Rain Maker on Peacock, which stars in supporting roles, the actress who played the Evil Queen (in Once Upon a Time) as the bad ass lawyer that Rudy (the protagonist) ends up working for - "Bruiser", and John Slattery (Mad Men) as the head of the firm, that Rudy was fired from, and is fighting against. Slattery is inspired, since he doesn't come across as either a bully or evil, but likable - and that works actually.
And LP (who played the Evil Queen) is also cast against type, as the good guy rouge with the heart of gold lawyer. It's actually better than expected and based on John Grisham's novel of the same name. Grisham is an executive producer.
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Date: 2025-10-18 08:40 pm (UTC)I like it. I'm not all that enamored of the hero, Rudy Baylor, because I've seen his character a million times before. But the rest of the cast is terrific. Yes, Lana Parilla is a great Bruiser Stone and John Slattery gives you some quality sleaze as Leo Drummond. My favorite is PJ Byrne as Deck--the perfect combination of sidekick and stealth mentor for Rudy.
I also like that Sarah has her own arc in the series, that she's somewhat corrupted by the lure of a high profile career. (Maybe proving to daddy that she's not coasting on his reputation?)
I have some issues with plot threads that spun out for too long (but I don't know how far along you are and I don't want to spoil you). I'm ready to watch episode 10. Keep going! You won't be disappointed.
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Date: 2025-10-18 09:44 pm (UTC)But? I agree with you on the characters so far. Every time I see Rudy - I see Matt Damon (from the film version). (I read the book and saw the film way back in the early 1990s when I was in law school.) The actor playing Rudy looks like a wet behind the ears Matt Damon, without the jawline.
And you're right - he's a stock character - with the Grisham background, from poor roots, family member dead, hates bullies - honestly, all of Grisham's protagonists have that background. (The Firm, Rainmaker, Time to Kill... and it's a popular legal thriller trope. I preferred Scott Turow, because his were a bit less boilerplate? (I read a lot of legal thrillers in the 1990s. So know the trope well.).
That said, I really like the supporting cast. And I'm basically watching for Bruiser, Leo, Sarah, Deck, and Leo's sleazy sidekick. I think Bruiser and Sarah are being paralleled a bit. And I can already tell the female neighbor (Kate?) who is being abused by her security guard/cop boyfriend is being set up as Rudy's new love interest (sigh. Grisham. sigh. He does this in almost all his books.)