Arrow and Vamp Diaries..
Nov. 1st, 2012 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Arrow - admittedly slower this week than usual. Writing was a bit off, and the take-down-of-the-week on the cliche side of the fence.
(How many times has tv done the guy on death row who must be saved at the very last minute, because he's innocent trope? Although - I know from actual experience that this is why the death penalty is wrong - the fact that there is 90% chance that the person convicted of the crime is actually innocent. Our justice system is not that good. Keep in mind that no critical thinkers are permitted on juries. In short, the people who serve on juries tend to believe the lawyer's performance, and never ask any questions. The media is merely reflecting this problem. But tv shows like The Arrow do this particular trope rather poorly. That said, kudos for the twist - which was the bad guy was getting rid of a whistle-blower by setting him up. And the reason - for the Arrow to have a reason to get closer to Laurel Lance, granted contrived.
But hey, a lot happened. More than usual for this types of shows. We actually have her Dad figure out the mystery of who Arrow is, which surprised me. I'm admittedly watching mainly for Paul Blackthorne's smart and snarky cop, who is Laurel's Dad. I find him hotter than the guy playing Arrow.
The other reason I'm intrigued is the backstory. Oliver Queen changes. This is rare for tv. We have the spoiled, wet-behind-the-ears, rich kid/playboy who doesn't take much seriously but doesn't want to kill things, to the hardened/struggling survivor. The mystery is how did he get there? How did Oliver Queen become the Arrow? Which is admittedly what I was most interested about in the Batman tale. Arrow is an extended origin story in some respects, but it also is a revenge tale. In some respects I prefer it to Nolan's Dark Knight series because it focuses more on Arrow than on the villain of the week.
And it's a psychological examination of the effects of violence and war on people. Also a commentary on our current economic/political/class situation. Thematically I much prefer Arrow to Revolution and Supernatural which grate. There's a cathartic thrill to Arrow taking down the Donald Trump's of our world.
Finally, it respects its female characters. Berlanti actually writes strong women. We have Laurel Lance - the crusading Legal Aid rep. Thea or Speedy, Arrow's bitter but worldly sis. Moira - Gertrude from Hamlet, except she seems to be more like Claudius or maybe Lady Macbeth? A complex female villain or not. Nice twist that Walter Steel is not the bad guy, and discovered his wife was hiding her hubby's broken boat and may well have been responsible for the crash. I like strong female characters in TV shows.
If you want to understand the appeal of this series for me? There it is. Right now, its intriguing me and I find the back-story on Green fascinating, along with how the other characters deal with it. Also not that predictable. YMMV.
2. Vamp Diaries
Does the story always have to center on how can we save or cure or protect Elena? It's getting old.
Stop. Well that and the love triangle between Damon/Elena/Stefan - its getting to the point in which I'm rooting for Elena to hook up with Matt. And for Katrina to come back and have a hot fling with Damon.
So now, Stefan and Klaus are teaming up to hunt for a cure for vampirism in order to cure Elena and make her human again. (Hmmm...sounds too easy and too...holy grail-ish. Really hoping it's not true. I prefer Vamp!Elena, Human!Elena was getting boring.)
Turns out I may be right...the vampire hunter goes back to the "witch" teacher friend of Bonnie's Mom and Gran, and asks the (hot) witch teacher guy why he sent him to Mystic Falls. Good question.
Also the teacher guy turns out to have a design of the tattoo on his wall, framed.
The back story is the brotherhood of the five were created by a witch to destroy vampires, and had tattooed on their bodies a map to the cure for vampirism, with their swords as the key to unraveling the secret. Rebecca tells it to Stefan, and reveals where the sword is - only to have her brother stake her again.
Stefan agrees to help Klaus because he fears losing Elena to vampirism, that she will switch off what he loves most about her (and basically become Katrina Take II). But he also agrees to keep all of this a secret from everyone including Elena. (So much for the whole - we're going to let Elena choose her own fate bit.)
I'm hoping this storyline is a mislead. Mainly because it looks like an easy way out of having Elena be a vampire - and keep her heroic and charmingly innocent, compassionate and good. When I prefer the ambiguity or grey. Complexity. Making her more complex, having her struggle to figure out how to handle her cravings like Caroline has - is more interesting. Then doing a cure.
But since we have introduced the nefarious witch teacher and vamp hunter...there appears to be a twist in the offing.
Damon meanwhile manages to teach Elena to drink without killing or harming anyone. She hates herself for reveling in it. But Damon is right when he tells Bonnie - that reveling in it keeps the monster at bay, or entertained enough not to take over. Elena, also, for the record, wasn't repulsed until she ran into Bonnie. Then she was upset she was doing it with Damon and not Stefan.
(Elena gets on my nerves, I keep wanting to slap her upside the head.)
Not as great an episode this week. Although I did enjoy the Rebecca and Klaus scenes, and the new witch teacher guy is interesting. Damon and Stefan were also fun.
(How many times has tv done the guy on death row who must be saved at the very last minute, because he's innocent trope? Although - I know from actual experience that this is why the death penalty is wrong - the fact that there is 90% chance that the person convicted of the crime is actually innocent. Our justice system is not that good. Keep in mind that no critical thinkers are permitted on juries. In short, the people who serve on juries tend to believe the lawyer's performance, and never ask any questions. The media is merely reflecting this problem. But tv shows like The Arrow do this particular trope rather poorly. That said, kudos for the twist - which was the bad guy was getting rid of a whistle-blower by setting him up. And the reason - for the Arrow to have a reason to get closer to Laurel Lance, granted contrived.
But hey, a lot happened. More than usual for this types of shows. We actually have her Dad figure out the mystery of who Arrow is, which surprised me. I'm admittedly watching mainly for Paul Blackthorne's smart and snarky cop, who is Laurel's Dad. I find him hotter than the guy playing Arrow.
The other reason I'm intrigued is the backstory. Oliver Queen changes. This is rare for tv. We have the spoiled, wet-behind-the-ears, rich kid/playboy who doesn't take much seriously but doesn't want to kill things, to the hardened/struggling survivor. The mystery is how did he get there? How did Oliver Queen become the Arrow? Which is admittedly what I was most interested about in the Batman tale. Arrow is an extended origin story in some respects, but it also is a revenge tale. In some respects I prefer it to Nolan's Dark Knight series because it focuses more on Arrow than on the villain of the week.
And it's a psychological examination of the effects of violence and war on people. Also a commentary on our current economic/political/class situation. Thematically I much prefer Arrow to Revolution and Supernatural which grate. There's a cathartic thrill to Arrow taking down the Donald Trump's of our world.
Finally, it respects its female characters. Berlanti actually writes strong women. We have Laurel Lance - the crusading Legal Aid rep. Thea or Speedy, Arrow's bitter but worldly sis. Moira - Gertrude from Hamlet, except she seems to be more like Claudius or maybe Lady Macbeth? A complex female villain or not. Nice twist that Walter Steel is not the bad guy, and discovered his wife was hiding her hubby's broken boat and may well have been responsible for the crash. I like strong female characters in TV shows.
If you want to understand the appeal of this series for me? There it is. Right now, its intriguing me and I find the back-story on Green fascinating, along with how the other characters deal with it. Also not that predictable. YMMV.
2. Vamp Diaries
Does the story always have to center on how can we save or cure or protect Elena? It's getting old.
Stop. Well that and the love triangle between Damon/Elena/Stefan - its getting to the point in which I'm rooting for Elena to hook up with Matt. And for Katrina to come back and have a hot fling with Damon.
So now, Stefan and Klaus are teaming up to hunt for a cure for vampirism in order to cure Elena and make her human again. (Hmmm...sounds too easy and too...holy grail-ish. Really hoping it's not true. I prefer Vamp!Elena, Human!Elena was getting boring.)
Turns out I may be right...the vampire hunter goes back to the "witch" teacher friend of Bonnie's Mom and Gran, and asks the (hot) witch teacher guy why he sent him to Mystic Falls. Good question.
Also the teacher guy turns out to have a design of the tattoo on his wall, framed.
The back story is the brotherhood of the five were created by a witch to destroy vampires, and had tattooed on their bodies a map to the cure for vampirism, with their swords as the key to unraveling the secret. Rebecca tells it to Stefan, and reveals where the sword is - only to have her brother stake her again.
Stefan agrees to help Klaus because he fears losing Elena to vampirism, that she will switch off what he loves most about her (and basically become Katrina Take II). But he also agrees to keep all of this a secret from everyone including Elena. (So much for the whole - we're going to let Elena choose her own fate bit.)
I'm hoping this storyline is a mislead. Mainly because it looks like an easy way out of having Elena be a vampire - and keep her heroic and charmingly innocent, compassionate and good. When I prefer the ambiguity or grey. Complexity. Making her more complex, having her struggle to figure out how to handle her cravings like Caroline has - is more interesting. Then doing a cure.
But since we have introduced the nefarious witch teacher and vamp hunter...there appears to be a twist in the offing.
Damon meanwhile manages to teach Elena to drink without killing or harming anyone. She hates herself for reveling in it. But Damon is right when he tells Bonnie - that reveling in it keeps the monster at bay, or entertained enough not to take over. Elena, also, for the record, wasn't repulsed until she ran into Bonnie. Then she was upset she was doing it with Damon and not Stefan.
(Elena gets on my nerves, I keep wanting to slap her upside the head.)
Not as great an episode this week. Although I did enjoy the Rebecca and Klaus scenes, and the new witch teacher guy is interesting. Damon and Stefan were also fun.