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shadowkat1. Saw the flick Snow White and the Huntsman courtesy of HBO yesterday. (I'm attempting to justify my purchase of HBO by watching more than just True Blood and Game of Thrones.) I more or less agree with my flist's take on the film when it first came out in theaters. Great visuals, an adept performance by Charlize Theron and the actor who plays the Duke's son, Will Hammond, but everything else is sort of blah.
Actually, I'd like to see the actor who plays Will Hammond, Snow's other love interest, in something else. He was compelling. Which posed a bit of a problem - since I was obviously supposed to find Chris Hemsworth's Huntsman compelling. I've come to the conclusion that Chris Hemsworth is hunky but boring. He does nothing for me as an actor, no matter what he is in. Also, hunky doesn't necessarily turn me on that much anyhow. The actor who played Will Hammond on the other hand was insanely good for such a small role that had very little dialogue and/or screen time. Whenever he was onscreen - the story took off. He's also the one outside of Charlize Theron who had chemistry with Snow White.
The best two things in this film were Charlize Theron's Ravena (who to date is the most interesting Evil Queen I've seen in the Snow White tale, and by far the most complex. This version did a much better job of explaining the evil queen than OUAT does. She's been doing this for a very long time. The fairest of them all spell - is one that keeps her alive and protects her. It was enacted when she was very young by her mother - to protect her and her brother when marauders came and killed her family, ripping it apart. In her pursuit for vengeance and her hatred of the men who ripped her family apart and attempted to use her, she's become a weapon, filled with venom. Yet her life is empty. War created this Queen.
Not lost love and a manipulative mother. Which I think works far better.) And Will Hammond, the Duke's Son. Snow's childhood friend, whose father rescues him from the Castle as the Queen lays siege to it, resulting in his inability to save his friend, and a sense of guilt. He feels he abandoned her. When he pops up again - he's an expert bowman. And to find Snow, he infliterates the Queen's brother's guard. Becoming a huntsman. In some respects he's more of the huntsman, than Chris Hemsworth is. I wish they'd combined the two roles. Made Will Hammond the huntsman and gotten rid of Hemsworth, who was poorly cast and whose role feels like a trite cliche.
It's one of those films that holds promise - if you could just change the casting, and fix a few items in the plot.
2. Vampire Diaries - entertaining and rather interesting this week. Not that it wasn't last week - it was. Can't really discuss without spoilers.
As an aside - in interviews, the writers state they are having the characters graduate from high school finally - so they can broaden the universe and expand. It's odd, I keep forgetting they are still in high school - possibly because they never appear to be in high school. Matt is apparently failing most of his classes (small wonder, it's not like he's been in school much lately) - which shocks Caroline. Really? I'm surprised everyone isn't. When have any of them had time to go to class?
When watching television, sometimes it is best to just suspend all disbelief and go for the ride. Logic and television series tend to be unmixy things, regardless of the genre. I may be wrong about this? But I'm guessing television writers failed logic in school or didn't bother with it. At any rate, a bit of hard learned advice when watching tv shows..a)don't apply logic, it will just give you a headache and b) don't take it too seriously.
Katherine to Elena before she lets her go: "You could never cut as a vampire. You can't handle the emotions so you turn it all off. Poor Elena. See? The difference between you and me, is I do horrible things...but I deal with them. I deal with the guilt. I live with it.
You just turn it all off." (Actually she said it better than that, but I didn't keep the episode, so can't rewatch to get the exact wording - this is a paraphrase.)
I rather liked this bit. Elena's problem is she is overwhelmed with guilt. Some of it deserved, some not. She's not responsible for her parents deaths, either set, nor is she responsible for Alaric's nor Jenna. Jeremy on the other hand - yes. That is unfortunately on her. As are quite a few of Bonnie's relatives. And that waitress she killed. But letting the guilt take over is a bit like feeling sorry for yourself and moping about. It doesn't change what happened, and it doesn't help anyone else. It's weak.
Damon keeps trying to get that across to her. As for that matter does Stefan. Katherine states it, and it still falls on death ears. Elena hates herself, so doesn't care. Nothing matters. She'll just be hateful, until someone puts her out of her misery. And Nina Dobrev to give the actress some credit, does a rather good job of conveying this.
Damon finally gets through to her - by using Matt. It was saving Matt's life that turned Elena into a vampire. So it is ironic that vamp Elena almost kills him. But she isn't upset or worried, because heck he let her feed off him before. What's a little draining of blood between friends? Besides she can get him back. Right? That is until Damon calls her bluff and kills Matt in front of her. That brings out the pain. The remorse. He gets at the emotion that she shut herself off to avoid - the guilt. That rises to the surface.
The Damon/Elena/Stefan dynamic is rather interesting. Throughout this trajectory - Damon is becoming more and more convinced that Elena's love for him was little more than a pipe dream.
Just a side-effect of the sire bond, which he clearly doesn't understand any more than Stefan does. Even though it happened before. Dark!Elena has told him this. As has Silas. And Stefan. And Caroline. The only one's who haven't...are Tyler, Nikklaus and Rebekkah, who actually understand what a sire bond is - and have stated off-hand that no, you can't have a sire bond, unless the individual sired has deep emotional feelings as a "human" for the vampire. Otherwise it won't transfer. And it doesn't always happen. Which intrigues me. Because what if everyone is wrong? What if Elena had fallen in love with Damon? But Damon can't allow himself to believe it? I'm curious to see where they go with it. And how they plan on resolving it, assuming they do resolve it. Because at the moment it feels like they've written themselves into a corner with the sire bond bit.
The other bit that intrigued me - was we have Stefan/Elena scenes - where Stefan keeps trying to appeal to Elena's love for him. In the scene where she turns on her emotions, because Damon just killed Matt, (although it is revealed that he put Jeremy's ring on Matt before he did it - ensuring Matt would survive the experience), Stefan tells Elena to hunt for the strongest emotion inside her. To latch on to that and hold on. Damon who is watching the whole thing - with increasingly concern, is no doubt convinced it's Elena's love for Stefan that will be her saving grace. As is Stefan for that matter. This has been hinted at throughout, with the photos of Stefan and Elena together at prom, and even the flirtation between Dark!Elena and Stefan at the prom. Plus Dark! Elena even tells Damon when he's trying to get her to turn on her emotions - that they were just a one-night stand - a side effect of the sire bond. Plus - that's how Elena got Stefan out of his self-loathing, right, by getting him to latch on to his love for her, right? (Well, not really, it was actually Katherine who motivated him with his hatred for Nikklaus and the Originals, and need for revenge. It's ironic that the emotion Damon latched onto after his emotions turned on again, was his love for Elena.) Anyhow - no, sorry Stef, she latches on to her hatred for Katherine.
Katherine did all this - Katherine killed Jeremy, she brought Nikklaus here and killed my parents and Jenna, she created you and messed with you - she's the problem. Oddly, she just transferred all her guilt to Katherine, her doppleganger, her double.
Speaking of Katherine - Bonnie offers Katherine immortality, to give her what Bonnie's ancestor gave Silas, in return for Katherine's help to defeat Silas. Which makes me wonder if Katherine will be the one who takes the cure? Except that feels like a writing corner.
Where do you go with that, without going in a circle? Sure it's nicely ironic. But it's also a non-starter. Katherine wants to stop being afraid, to stop running, to stop worrying about Nikklaus. She's run for over 400 years, it gets tiring after a bit. If Elena's defining emotion was guilt. Katherine's was fear. This may pose a problem with Elena killing her, unless of curse she gets the cure. But where do we go from there? I suppose a human Katherine could be entertaining. Switch the two characters... have Katherine be human and Elena be stuck as the vampire? Assuming Elena doesn't kill her. It would also pose a moral dilemma for Elena.
Who will take the cure?
They are trying to get me to root for Rebekka. But honestly, that would make Rebekkah boring. She's more interesting as a vampire. I did like her scenes with Matt. And Caroline's with Elena. For a while there I was worried that they'd killed off Caroline's mom, who I like a lot. But no, Caroline brought her back with a vial of her blood shot to the heart. (Interesting - I didn't know that was possible.)
Silas? No, boring. Then you can kill him off and there's no more Silas. I think they'll drop the viel but not have him take the cure. That way they get their ghost apocalypse (apparently these writers are like me, they prefer tangible ghosts to zombies. Less makeup required and not as gory. I'm apparently in the minority - I am not a fan of zombies. I think they are gross and scary and would prefer something else, like ghosts, which are merely scary.)
Elena? Also boring. There's no where you can go with that except in a circle. It's frankly more interesting if they gave it to Katherine. Besides giving it to Elena - is what everyone wants, it was their main goal. What they kept trying to do. This is a horror story, we don't get the happy ending.
Stefan? Could be interesting...but again he wants it too badly, although that too could be interesting - to find out that becoming human won't give him what he wants. The freedom.
That the same problems exist. No, Stefan getting it results in the same dull storyline that Rebekkah getting it would. There's no where you can really go.
Damon? That's an intriguing option. Because he doesn't want it. He wants Elena to have it.
Or Nikklaus. Or Silas. Never wanted it. Has no interest. IT would break the sire bond, and result in some interesting questions. Also Stefan would have to deal with Damon getting what he wanted and lusted after. It's the worst thing the writers could do to Damon and the other characters - which makes it a rather interesting idea. I'm half convinced they'll do that.
I would. Mostly because that's the only option that I have no idea what will happen with and would like to see fanfic on.
Katherine? Like Damon, she's amongst the few characters who don't want it. And there are some interesting angles you can explore. What was she like human? And how will the Salvatore brothers, not to mention Elijah react to a human Katherine? Or Elena for that matter?
In short there are only two interesting options on that list. The others not so much.
3. Merlin - which I can't talk about without spoilers, except to state, finally, a good episode! Merlin S5 is uneven, the first three-four episodes are great. Then we get to the Dark Tower, bleargh, then that arc is resolved quite nicely "With All Your Heart" (the episode I watched last night). I will state this - if this series doesn't resolve itself with Arthur finally realizing who and what Merlin is, I'm going to be annoyed. Don't spoil me, if you already know. I hate tv series that don't resolve these things.
Oh, and Merlin keeps employing the same actors that have lead roles on Game of Thrones. In the episode prior to this one, I saw a minor guest-star, and thought - ah there's Sam Tarly from Game of Thrones.
* As much as I whined about Morgana in the past - I will admit to two things, 1) her arc is far better written than Regina's on OUAT, and 2) the actress is more attractive and better than the actress playing Regina. In short, after watching Regina all year long, I've begun to appreciate Morgana as a villainess.
I rather loved the scenes with Mordred and Morgana, and Mordred and Merlin. (Mordred is written well here, and the actor oddly familiar. He's not on Game of Thrones too, is he?)
Mordred to Morgana: Your hate and need for vengeance will destroy you and everything. I will never give into that. I hope someday you will get back to the person you once were...the person who had compassion in her heart and saved me.
Mordred to Merlin: You needn't worry, I won't tell your secret. I admire you actually. Arthur is lucky that he has you. He doesn't realize what he has in you. You did what you did without any need for accolades or recognition. And no awards. And what you put up with - considering the power you have. I don't know how you do it. But I admire it.
Which gives me hope regarding Mordred. I'm praying they don't end this series the same way the other versions ended. (I admittedly love the Arthurian legends. This is a love I share with my mother, who adores Merlin. The first R-rated film my parents took me too was Excalibur. Some people love the Greek myths, I'm fascinated by the lesser known Celtic ones, well outside of the Arthurian legends and Tam Lin, that is.)
Also, Merlin's interactions with Arthur - where he talks Arthur into not giving up on Gwen, and not viewing magic as the enemy. This statement was rather good:
"It's not magic that is bad or evil, Arthur. It's the hearts of men that harbor such things.
The person who uses the magic, not magic in of itself. Promise me, when the time comes, you will strive to remember that."
Also, the interaction between Mordred/Arthur and Merlin. Mordred tried to get Arthur to recognize that the old woman was Merlin. But Arthur remains dense.
Mordred (looking at the old woman): Doesn't she look familar to you?
Arthur: yes, she does...have we met before?
Old Woman Sorcerer: Ohhh...have we? (flirting with him)
Mordred: Where's Merlin by the way?
Arthur: Oh, that's a good question, where is Merlin?
LOL! Oh Arthur...
Mordred clearly figured it out right off the bat, but then he's been hiding in plain sight too.
Morgana: Where's Emeryss.? (She knows he had to be there, because he scared off her dragon and no one else could.)
Mordred: He's not here. If he was, wouldn't we both feel the presence of a great sorcerer?
Morgana (confused): okay...
Mordred blasts her. She's knocked out for the time being.
I can't wait for these people to figure out that Merlin is Emerys and a sorcerer. If the writers don't do this before the season is over, I'll be annoyed. But I think they will, otherwise flist wouldn't have been squeeing so much over the last two-three final episodes.
Also it's certainly building up to that. Morgana has figured out by now that her problem is Emerys - if she can get him out of the way, she gets power. Mordred has also figured out what Merlin has done. Which means Morgana is going to go after Emerys. Which she should have done a lot earlier...She did go after Merlin once or twice, but she didn't know Merlin was Emerys. So it was sort of ironically productive and counter-productive at the same time.
And the love story between Gwen and Arthur is quite good here, my favorite version to date.
It makes more sense. And Gwen isn't portrayed as stupid - she's quite bright and resourceful.
Also how they resolved and explained the Evil Gwen arc - made sense. Morgana used the mandrake root to take over Gwen's will completely. The only way to heal Gwen was with white magic and the White Goddess. And a female soceress was used, and female magic. Demonstrating that women aren't evil, any more than magic is. Some of our actions can be, but actions don't define you alone. It's not that clear cut or black and white. It's grey or complex.
Quite a good series. Unevenly written at times, but seriously what tv show isn't? They all are. Even the critically acclaimed ones. Also, one of the better fantasy serials on tv, in my opinion.
4)Smash - speaking of unevenly written. This week's episode fell flat. I've come to the conclusion that episodes which focus on Jimmy, Julia, or Karen are dull. Episodes that focus on Tom, Ivy, and Derek, rock. This is a problem with the series. They really miscast this series. Casting matters.
Example? The Great Gatsby. They keep miscasting this. In the book, Gatsby isn't described as necessarily good-looking, he's rugged, and clearly out of place, not comfortable in a tux.
So who do they cast? Robert Redford (who is Waspish and looks like a millionaire) and Leonardo DiCaprio( ditt). Who should they cast? Ethan Hawk or Christian Bale or Daniel Craig.
Someone who doesn't look like a millionaire, who looks like someone who scraped to get ahead and redefine himself. And throw opulent parties to fit in.
Smash has the same problem - Debra Messing was miscast as Julia, as was Katherine McPhee as Karen, and whoever is playing Jimmy. They just don't work. Plus they are all three poorly defined and written. Every time the story focuses on them, my attention wanders. And Julia grates on my nerves.
The songs were also weak this week. I know what they were going for - a Jonathan Larson - Rent vibe, but it just wasn't working.
Oh as an aside...they are making a movie out of one my favorite Sondheim musicals, finally, Into the Woods - we can thank the recent fascination with fairy tales and musicals for this. Although I'm not sure about the casting...Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp? Really?
Get Bernadette Peters for the Witch, at least.
Actually, I'd like to see the actor who plays Will Hammond, Snow's other love interest, in something else. He was compelling. Which posed a bit of a problem - since I was obviously supposed to find Chris Hemsworth's Huntsman compelling. I've come to the conclusion that Chris Hemsworth is hunky but boring. He does nothing for me as an actor, no matter what he is in. Also, hunky doesn't necessarily turn me on that much anyhow. The actor who played Will Hammond on the other hand was insanely good for such a small role that had very little dialogue and/or screen time. Whenever he was onscreen - the story took off. He's also the one outside of Charlize Theron who had chemistry with Snow White.
The best two things in this film were Charlize Theron's Ravena (who to date is the most interesting Evil Queen I've seen in the Snow White tale, and by far the most complex. This version did a much better job of explaining the evil queen than OUAT does. She's been doing this for a very long time. The fairest of them all spell - is one that keeps her alive and protects her. It was enacted when she was very young by her mother - to protect her and her brother when marauders came and killed her family, ripping it apart. In her pursuit for vengeance and her hatred of the men who ripped her family apart and attempted to use her, she's become a weapon, filled with venom. Yet her life is empty. War created this Queen.
Not lost love and a manipulative mother. Which I think works far better.) And Will Hammond, the Duke's Son. Snow's childhood friend, whose father rescues him from the Castle as the Queen lays siege to it, resulting in his inability to save his friend, and a sense of guilt. He feels he abandoned her. When he pops up again - he's an expert bowman. And to find Snow, he infliterates the Queen's brother's guard. Becoming a huntsman. In some respects he's more of the huntsman, than Chris Hemsworth is. I wish they'd combined the two roles. Made Will Hammond the huntsman and gotten rid of Hemsworth, who was poorly cast and whose role feels like a trite cliche.
It's one of those films that holds promise - if you could just change the casting, and fix a few items in the plot.
2. Vampire Diaries - entertaining and rather interesting this week. Not that it wasn't last week - it was. Can't really discuss without spoilers.
As an aside - in interviews, the writers state they are having the characters graduate from high school finally - so they can broaden the universe and expand. It's odd, I keep forgetting they are still in high school - possibly because they never appear to be in high school. Matt is apparently failing most of his classes (small wonder, it's not like he's been in school much lately) - which shocks Caroline. Really? I'm surprised everyone isn't. When have any of them had time to go to class?
When watching television, sometimes it is best to just suspend all disbelief and go for the ride. Logic and television series tend to be unmixy things, regardless of the genre. I may be wrong about this? But I'm guessing television writers failed logic in school or didn't bother with it. At any rate, a bit of hard learned advice when watching tv shows..a)don't apply logic, it will just give you a headache and b) don't take it too seriously.
Katherine to Elena before she lets her go: "You could never cut as a vampire. You can't handle the emotions so you turn it all off. Poor Elena. See? The difference between you and me, is I do horrible things...but I deal with them. I deal with the guilt. I live with it.
You just turn it all off." (Actually she said it better than that, but I didn't keep the episode, so can't rewatch to get the exact wording - this is a paraphrase.)
I rather liked this bit. Elena's problem is she is overwhelmed with guilt. Some of it deserved, some not. She's not responsible for her parents deaths, either set, nor is she responsible for Alaric's nor Jenna. Jeremy on the other hand - yes. That is unfortunately on her. As are quite a few of Bonnie's relatives. And that waitress she killed. But letting the guilt take over is a bit like feeling sorry for yourself and moping about. It doesn't change what happened, and it doesn't help anyone else. It's weak.
Damon keeps trying to get that across to her. As for that matter does Stefan. Katherine states it, and it still falls on death ears. Elena hates herself, so doesn't care. Nothing matters. She'll just be hateful, until someone puts her out of her misery. And Nina Dobrev to give the actress some credit, does a rather good job of conveying this.
Damon finally gets through to her - by using Matt. It was saving Matt's life that turned Elena into a vampire. So it is ironic that vamp Elena almost kills him. But she isn't upset or worried, because heck he let her feed off him before. What's a little draining of blood between friends? Besides she can get him back. Right? That is until Damon calls her bluff and kills Matt in front of her. That brings out the pain. The remorse. He gets at the emotion that she shut herself off to avoid - the guilt. That rises to the surface.
The Damon/Elena/Stefan dynamic is rather interesting. Throughout this trajectory - Damon is becoming more and more convinced that Elena's love for him was little more than a pipe dream.
Just a side-effect of the sire bond, which he clearly doesn't understand any more than Stefan does. Even though it happened before. Dark!Elena has told him this. As has Silas. And Stefan. And Caroline. The only one's who haven't...are Tyler, Nikklaus and Rebekkah, who actually understand what a sire bond is - and have stated off-hand that no, you can't have a sire bond, unless the individual sired has deep emotional feelings as a "human" for the vampire. Otherwise it won't transfer. And it doesn't always happen. Which intrigues me. Because what if everyone is wrong? What if Elena had fallen in love with Damon? But Damon can't allow himself to believe it? I'm curious to see where they go with it. And how they plan on resolving it, assuming they do resolve it. Because at the moment it feels like they've written themselves into a corner with the sire bond bit.
The other bit that intrigued me - was we have Stefan/Elena scenes - where Stefan keeps trying to appeal to Elena's love for him. In the scene where she turns on her emotions, because Damon just killed Matt, (although it is revealed that he put Jeremy's ring on Matt before he did it - ensuring Matt would survive the experience), Stefan tells Elena to hunt for the strongest emotion inside her. To latch on to that and hold on. Damon who is watching the whole thing - with increasingly concern, is no doubt convinced it's Elena's love for Stefan that will be her saving grace. As is Stefan for that matter. This has been hinted at throughout, with the photos of Stefan and Elena together at prom, and even the flirtation between Dark!Elena and Stefan at the prom. Plus Dark! Elena even tells Damon when he's trying to get her to turn on her emotions - that they were just a one-night stand - a side effect of the sire bond. Plus - that's how Elena got Stefan out of his self-loathing, right, by getting him to latch on to his love for her, right? (Well, not really, it was actually Katherine who motivated him with his hatred for Nikklaus and the Originals, and need for revenge. It's ironic that the emotion Damon latched onto after his emotions turned on again, was his love for Elena.) Anyhow - no, sorry Stef, she latches on to her hatred for Katherine.
Katherine did all this - Katherine killed Jeremy, she brought Nikklaus here and killed my parents and Jenna, she created you and messed with you - she's the problem. Oddly, she just transferred all her guilt to Katherine, her doppleganger, her double.
Speaking of Katherine - Bonnie offers Katherine immortality, to give her what Bonnie's ancestor gave Silas, in return for Katherine's help to defeat Silas. Which makes me wonder if Katherine will be the one who takes the cure? Except that feels like a writing corner.
Where do you go with that, without going in a circle? Sure it's nicely ironic. But it's also a non-starter. Katherine wants to stop being afraid, to stop running, to stop worrying about Nikklaus. She's run for over 400 years, it gets tiring after a bit. If Elena's defining emotion was guilt. Katherine's was fear. This may pose a problem with Elena killing her, unless of curse she gets the cure. But where do we go from there? I suppose a human Katherine could be entertaining. Switch the two characters... have Katherine be human and Elena be stuck as the vampire? Assuming Elena doesn't kill her. It would also pose a moral dilemma for Elena.
Who will take the cure?
They are trying to get me to root for Rebekka. But honestly, that would make Rebekkah boring. She's more interesting as a vampire. I did like her scenes with Matt. And Caroline's with Elena. For a while there I was worried that they'd killed off Caroline's mom, who I like a lot. But no, Caroline brought her back with a vial of her blood shot to the heart. (Interesting - I didn't know that was possible.)
Silas? No, boring. Then you can kill him off and there's no more Silas. I think they'll drop the viel but not have him take the cure. That way they get their ghost apocalypse (apparently these writers are like me, they prefer tangible ghosts to zombies. Less makeup required and not as gory. I'm apparently in the minority - I am not a fan of zombies. I think they are gross and scary and would prefer something else, like ghosts, which are merely scary.)
Elena? Also boring. There's no where you can go with that except in a circle. It's frankly more interesting if they gave it to Katherine. Besides giving it to Elena - is what everyone wants, it was their main goal. What they kept trying to do. This is a horror story, we don't get the happy ending.
Stefan? Could be interesting...but again he wants it too badly, although that too could be interesting - to find out that becoming human won't give him what he wants. The freedom.
That the same problems exist. No, Stefan getting it results in the same dull storyline that Rebekkah getting it would. There's no where you can really go.
Damon? That's an intriguing option. Because he doesn't want it. He wants Elena to have it.
Or Nikklaus. Or Silas. Never wanted it. Has no interest. IT would break the sire bond, and result in some interesting questions. Also Stefan would have to deal with Damon getting what he wanted and lusted after. It's the worst thing the writers could do to Damon and the other characters - which makes it a rather interesting idea. I'm half convinced they'll do that.
I would. Mostly because that's the only option that I have no idea what will happen with and would like to see fanfic on.
Katherine? Like Damon, she's amongst the few characters who don't want it. And there are some interesting angles you can explore. What was she like human? And how will the Salvatore brothers, not to mention Elijah react to a human Katherine? Or Elena for that matter?
In short there are only two interesting options on that list. The others not so much.
3. Merlin - which I can't talk about without spoilers, except to state, finally, a good episode! Merlin S5 is uneven, the first three-four episodes are great. Then we get to the Dark Tower, bleargh, then that arc is resolved quite nicely "With All Your Heart" (the episode I watched last night). I will state this - if this series doesn't resolve itself with Arthur finally realizing who and what Merlin is, I'm going to be annoyed. Don't spoil me, if you already know. I hate tv series that don't resolve these things.
Oh, and Merlin keeps employing the same actors that have lead roles on Game of Thrones. In the episode prior to this one, I saw a minor guest-star, and thought - ah there's Sam Tarly from Game of Thrones.
* As much as I whined about Morgana in the past - I will admit to two things, 1) her arc is far better written than Regina's on OUAT, and 2) the actress is more attractive and better than the actress playing Regina. In short, after watching Regina all year long, I've begun to appreciate Morgana as a villainess.
I rather loved the scenes with Mordred and Morgana, and Mordred and Merlin. (Mordred is written well here, and the actor oddly familiar. He's not on Game of Thrones too, is he?)
Mordred to Morgana: Your hate and need for vengeance will destroy you and everything. I will never give into that. I hope someday you will get back to the person you once were...the person who had compassion in her heart and saved me.
Mordred to Merlin: You needn't worry, I won't tell your secret. I admire you actually. Arthur is lucky that he has you. He doesn't realize what he has in you. You did what you did without any need for accolades or recognition. And no awards. And what you put up with - considering the power you have. I don't know how you do it. But I admire it.
Which gives me hope regarding Mordred. I'm praying they don't end this series the same way the other versions ended. (I admittedly love the Arthurian legends. This is a love I share with my mother, who adores Merlin. The first R-rated film my parents took me too was Excalibur. Some people love the Greek myths, I'm fascinated by the lesser known Celtic ones, well outside of the Arthurian legends and Tam Lin, that is.)
Also, Merlin's interactions with Arthur - where he talks Arthur into not giving up on Gwen, and not viewing magic as the enemy. This statement was rather good:
"It's not magic that is bad or evil, Arthur. It's the hearts of men that harbor such things.
The person who uses the magic, not magic in of itself. Promise me, when the time comes, you will strive to remember that."
Also, the interaction between Mordred/Arthur and Merlin. Mordred tried to get Arthur to recognize that the old woman was Merlin. But Arthur remains dense.
Mordred (looking at the old woman): Doesn't she look familar to you?
Arthur: yes, she does...have we met before?
Old Woman Sorcerer: Ohhh...have we? (flirting with him)
Mordred: Where's Merlin by the way?
Arthur: Oh, that's a good question, where is Merlin?
LOL! Oh Arthur...
Mordred clearly figured it out right off the bat, but then he's been hiding in plain sight too.
Morgana: Where's Emeryss.? (She knows he had to be there, because he scared off her dragon and no one else could.)
Mordred: He's not here. If he was, wouldn't we both feel the presence of a great sorcerer?
Morgana (confused): okay...
Mordred blasts her. She's knocked out for the time being.
I can't wait for these people to figure out that Merlin is Emerys and a sorcerer. If the writers don't do this before the season is over, I'll be annoyed. But I think they will, otherwise flist wouldn't have been squeeing so much over the last two-three final episodes.
Also it's certainly building up to that. Morgana has figured out by now that her problem is Emerys - if she can get him out of the way, she gets power. Mordred has also figured out what Merlin has done. Which means Morgana is going to go after Emerys. Which she should have done a lot earlier...She did go after Merlin once or twice, but she didn't know Merlin was Emerys. So it was sort of ironically productive and counter-productive at the same time.
And the love story between Gwen and Arthur is quite good here, my favorite version to date.
It makes more sense. And Gwen isn't portrayed as stupid - she's quite bright and resourceful.
Also how they resolved and explained the Evil Gwen arc - made sense. Morgana used the mandrake root to take over Gwen's will completely. The only way to heal Gwen was with white magic and the White Goddess. And a female soceress was used, and female magic. Demonstrating that women aren't evil, any more than magic is. Some of our actions can be, but actions don't define you alone. It's not that clear cut or black and white. It's grey or complex.
Quite a good series. Unevenly written at times, but seriously what tv show isn't? They all are. Even the critically acclaimed ones. Also, one of the better fantasy serials on tv, in my opinion.
4)Smash - speaking of unevenly written. This week's episode fell flat. I've come to the conclusion that episodes which focus on Jimmy, Julia, or Karen are dull. Episodes that focus on Tom, Ivy, and Derek, rock. This is a problem with the series. They really miscast this series. Casting matters.
Example? The Great Gatsby. They keep miscasting this. In the book, Gatsby isn't described as necessarily good-looking, he's rugged, and clearly out of place, not comfortable in a tux.
So who do they cast? Robert Redford (who is Waspish and looks like a millionaire) and Leonardo DiCaprio( ditt). Who should they cast? Ethan Hawk or Christian Bale or Daniel Craig.
Someone who doesn't look like a millionaire, who looks like someone who scraped to get ahead and redefine himself. And throw opulent parties to fit in.
Smash has the same problem - Debra Messing was miscast as Julia, as was Katherine McPhee as Karen, and whoever is playing Jimmy. They just don't work. Plus they are all three poorly defined and written. Every time the story focuses on them, my attention wanders. And Julia grates on my nerves.
The songs were also weak this week. I know what they were going for - a Jonathan Larson - Rent vibe, but it just wasn't working.
Oh as an aside...they are making a movie out of one my favorite Sondheim musicals, finally, Into the Woods - we can thank the recent fascination with fairy tales and musicals for this. Although I'm not sure about the casting...Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp? Really?
Get Bernadette Peters for the Witch, at least.
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Date: 2013-05-05 11:52 pm (UTC)I had to put on close-captioning, I couldn't make out what he was saying in any of his scenes. The man mumbles.
I know he's hot right now, but I fail to see the appeal. Outside of maybe the film Thor (and honestly I thought Hiddleston's Loki was more attractive), I fail to see what everyone is attracted to.
And Smash as a tribute to poor dead Kyle was about everyone and everything but Kyle. Although Jeremy Jordan's Jimmy had a nice song at the end and a few tears.
Oh so true. I hadn't thought of that. I did like Tom's song to Kyle in the flashback.
The episode just did not quite work.