Mondays suck...and eh, season finales
May. 12th, 2014 10:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatOnly seen two of the shows from last night (keep in mind that I'm DVRing four and get ready for bed at 10pm.)
1. Once Upon a Time's season finale was disappointing and a bit lame, underlining once again why time travel story-lines rarely work for me. I think Connie Willis' Doomsday Book, and Doctor Who are the only one's that have. Although Butterfly Effect and Ray Bradbury's Sound of Thunder short story worked too. Most of the time, though, it's basically variations on the flick Back to The Future. This one seemed to borrow half of the plot (the uninteresting portion) and then winked at the audience about it, by referencing the Back to the Future films. Yes, Emma, you get to play Marty McFly...isn't that cool? Except without the cool plot-twists.
I'm guessing if you are a shipper for any of the featured pairings, you probably enjoyed it? If you were ambivalent, liked them but weren't obsessed, or neither here nor there? Most likely bored.
The writing is uneven in this series. It lacks something...I just can't quite put my finger on it. Energy? Depth? Something. It feels like fanservice or summarizing.
Nothing really felt earned in the episode, if that makes sense?
I found most of it predictable. I knew that Emma had saved Maid Marion long before it was revealed (the writers jumped up and down and said "hint, hint", sort of hard to miss). So of course Regina would hate Emma again, and resent her just like she did Snow. Which sets Regina's redemption back a bit. But that just doesn't work for me - because hello, Regina was going to execute Maid Marion. So sooner or later, Robin was going to figure out that Regina was responsible for his wife's death. Regina was directly responsible for Maid Marion's death and their separation. That's far worse than Snow telling Cora about Daniel. Then of course, we have Rumple cause the whole thing but refuse to take responsibility for it - which sets his redemptive arc back - although killing Wicked did as well.
Regina wonders what else Emma brought back...looks like the Snow Queen, but not the Hans Christian Anderson version - the Disney version from Frozen, Elsa. I figured that out, because I just watched Frozen this weekend (still prefer the Hans Christian Anderson and Joan D. Vinge versions). Which means she's not a bad guy, just misunderstood - so yet another foil for Rumple and Regina, except the opposite from Wicked and Peter Pan. Pan and Wicked were irredeemably evil - worse than Rumple and Regina, while Elsa is misunderstood and has difficulty controlling her power. The whole controlling power thing - matches Emma's journey best. Emma is struggling to control her power. Anyhow...it doesn't intrigue like the other finales did. Felt sort of lumped together.
Shame - considering that the fall's finale, and the two finale's prior to that were really really good. And made me impatient for what will happen next. This one?
Not so much. A big let down from the fall. So much wasted potential. I was going to buy the third season DVD, but now...I may pass.
2.Revenge - on the other hand, rocked. It was surprising. With lots of plot-twists. And possibly the best and most satisfying season finale of the entire series to date.
* I can't believe they killed off Aiden. Was highly annoyed that they did it - but I guess it was the push Emily needed to do in Victoria. Why Victoria blamed Emily for Pascale, is beyond me. That was Conrad and Daniel, not Emily. Emily merely got Pascale to take responsibility for what he did to David Clark and all those people on the plane. Anyhow, Aiden, Nolan and Emily are the only characters I like - so was annoyed.
* Ironically, Jack of all people gets arrested for kidnapping Charlotte. He's the one who let her go or rescued her. So of course, he's the one she remembers and sends the police after. Way to pay back the guy - who because of you and your family has lost everyone he loves. Nice twist that. Albeit frustrating.
* Meanwhile - Nolan's revenge against Daniel takes an unexpected turn even for Nolan, who discovers that Margo bro has a lot of his Daddy in him. Javier hires a prostitute to sleep with Daniel, and pays her with a gram of cocaine, which she od's on...Daniel is in bed with her corpse and has just unknowingly called Margo to join him in his room for a night-cap.
* Conrad Grayson is let out of prison, and couldn't be happier. Except who should drive up? David Clark. Who kills him. Turns out that the guy who contacted Charlotte was David Clark, and not working for Victoria.
* Victoria figures out Emily is really Amanda Clark and claims that the David Clark Emily knew and remembers isn't the one Victoria knew...but Emily knocks Victoria upside the head with a shovel and then has her committed to an insane asylum by the same shrink that Victoria had commit Amanda to juvenile detention and destroyed Amanda's faith in her father. Victoria has been committed just like Emily/Amanda's mother was. Vickie - you created your own enemy.
Outside of what happened to Jack and Aiden, a highly satisfying finale. Best to date.
So in season finals so far - OUAT is the worst, and Revenge is the best. Which is the polar opposite of last year. Unexpected that.
3. I inadvertently locked my downstairs neighbor out of the apartment on Saturday, prior to a rain storm. It wasn't deliberate. I automatically lock my front door - been doing that since I was robbed. And Sat, was a bad day, my head was in the clouds. I'd passed downstairs neighbor playing his guitare on the front stoop and smoking, trudged to Whole Foods- four blocks up the street, and while standing in the checkout lane - saw a deluge of rain fall from the sky. I discovered that I'd forgotten my umbrella, my cell-phone, and as a result was stuck at Whole Foods for an hour and a half. I remember worrying on the way back...that maybe I had inadvertently locked the door and did he have his keys? I hoped I didn't lock him and his guitar out in the rain? But could not remember if I had or hadn't. When I got back - I saw that he wasn't still there, so I assumed that I must not have locked it. Well..he confronted me on it at 7 am this morning as I'm running out the door to work. Totally blind-sided me, and threw off my day. BASTARD.
Neighbor: Next time when you see me on the front stoop, don't lock the door. (Keep in mind, he lives on the second floor.)
Me: I do it automatically, I didn't think. [To myself: Seriously dude, next time remember to bring your keys. How hard is that? You brought your guitare, your book, and your cigarettes. Keys, are easy! This has happened numerous times, I forget. If you don't want to be locked out - bring your keys!! Then it won't happen. Don't hope that I will remember not to lock the door. Idiot. ]
What's amusing about all of this is my landlord used to send emails telling me to be sure to remember to lock the door always on my way out. And I'd email back - I always do. Check with downstairs guys, they don't.
This brought back flashbacks of freshmen year roommate fights - my roommate liked to sit in the tv lounge in her robe and pj's, leaving her keys in the room. The room was three flights from the tv lounge.
She'd rage at me for locking her out. I'd say - look, I didn't know you were in the lounge, and why didn't you have your keys with you? Are you an idiot? I'd understand if she were in the shower and I'd just seen her. But she was hanging out downstairs in the tv lounge.
Oh well, he'll be gone in three more weeks - he's moving in June. Along with his shoes. He leaves his shoes in the hallway. I have to keep pushing them aside to ensure I don't trip over them and fall down the steps.
There must be something in the air...everyone's irritable today. Sunday was great.
Monday...well it was Monday.
4. Read some reviews on The IronDuck Duke (would be entertaining if the alpha hero was a Duck, but alas no) - first in the Iron Seas Fantasy Steampunk series. I've never read the Steam-Punk Fantasy genre. This appears to be a genre blend, a rather wacky genre blend: it's a sci-fantasy, mystery, boddice ripper Victorian romance, with zombies and sea monsters.
It takes place in London, England during the Victorian period in an Alternate Universe version of our world. The inhabitants of England have all been infected by nanonites or mechanical microbes. Only the people who immigrated to America don't have them. But if you want to survive in London, you sort of need them or you will die of a black lung - everything is powered by coal.
The heroine is an Inspector who solves crimes and kills zombies.
The hero is a Duke, an-ex Pirate, who helped get rid of the bad guys.
Apparently everyone's problem with the book on Amazon and Good Reads is the hero sort of compels the heroine to have sex. OR he performs oral sex on her, bringing her to orgasm, against her will. In other words - a boddice ripper or seduction.
I don't know, having read more than my fair share of these, this actually sounds rather tame. Will let you know. Haven't read it yet.
1. Once Upon a Time's season finale was disappointing and a bit lame, underlining once again why time travel story-lines rarely work for me. I think Connie Willis' Doomsday Book, and Doctor Who are the only one's that have. Although Butterfly Effect and Ray Bradbury's Sound of Thunder short story worked too. Most of the time, though, it's basically variations on the flick Back to The Future. This one seemed to borrow half of the plot (the uninteresting portion) and then winked at the audience about it, by referencing the Back to the Future films. Yes, Emma, you get to play Marty McFly...isn't that cool? Except without the cool plot-twists.
I'm guessing if you are a shipper for any of the featured pairings, you probably enjoyed it? If you were ambivalent, liked them but weren't obsessed, or neither here nor there? Most likely bored.
The writing is uneven in this series. It lacks something...I just can't quite put my finger on it. Energy? Depth? Something. It feels like fanservice or summarizing.
Nothing really felt earned in the episode, if that makes sense?
I found most of it predictable. I knew that Emma had saved Maid Marion long before it was revealed (the writers jumped up and down and said "hint, hint", sort of hard to miss). So of course Regina would hate Emma again, and resent her just like she did Snow. Which sets Regina's redemption back a bit. But that just doesn't work for me - because hello, Regina was going to execute Maid Marion. So sooner or later, Robin was going to figure out that Regina was responsible for his wife's death. Regina was directly responsible for Maid Marion's death and their separation. That's far worse than Snow telling Cora about Daniel. Then of course, we have Rumple cause the whole thing but refuse to take responsibility for it - which sets his redemptive arc back - although killing Wicked did as well.
Regina wonders what else Emma brought back...looks like the Snow Queen, but not the Hans Christian Anderson version - the Disney version from Frozen, Elsa. I figured that out, because I just watched Frozen this weekend (still prefer the Hans Christian Anderson and Joan D. Vinge versions). Which means she's not a bad guy, just misunderstood - so yet another foil for Rumple and Regina, except the opposite from Wicked and Peter Pan. Pan and Wicked were irredeemably evil - worse than Rumple and Regina, while Elsa is misunderstood and has difficulty controlling her power. The whole controlling power thing - matches Emma's journey best. Emma is struggling to control her power. Anyhow...it doesn't intrigue like the other finales did. Felt sort of lumped together.
Shame - considering that the fall's finale, and the two finale's prior to that were really really good. And made me impatient for what will happen next. This one?
Not so much. A big let down from the fall. So much wasted potential. I was going to buy the third season DVD, but now...I may pass.
2.Revenge - on the other hand, rocked. It was surprising. With lots of plot-twists. And possibly the best and most satisfying season finale of the entire series to date.
* I can't believe they killed off Aiden. Was highly annoyed that they did it - but I guess it was the push Emily needed to do in Victoria. Why Victoria blamed Emily for Pascale, is beyond me. That was Conrad and Daniel, not Emily. Emily merely got Pascale to take responsibility for what he did to David Clark and all those people on the plane. Anyhow, Aiden, Nolan and Emily are the only characters I like - so was annoyed.
* Ironically, Jack of all people gets arrested for kidnapping Charlotte. He's the one who let her go or rescued her. So of course, he's the one she remembers and sends the police after. Way to pay back the guy - who because of you and your family has lost everyone he loves. Nice twist that. Albeit frustrating.
* Meanwhile - Nolan's revenge against Daniel takes an unexpected turn even for Nolan, who discovers that Margo bro has a lot of his Daddy in him. Javier hires a prostitute to sleep with Daniel, and pays her with a gram of cocaine, which she od's on...Daniel is in bed with her corpse and has just unknowingly called Margo to join him in his room for a night-cap.
* Conrad Grayson is let out of prison, and couldn't be happier. Except who should drive up? David Clark. Who kills him. Turns out that the guy who contacted Charlotte was David Clark, and not working for Victoria.
* Victoria figures out Emily is really Amanda Clark and claims that the David Clark Emily knew and remembers isn't the one Victoria knew...but Emily knocks Victoria upside the head with a shovel and then has her committed to an insane asylum by the same shrink that Victoria had commit Amanda to juvenile detention and destroyed Amanda's faith in her father. Victoria has been committed just like Emily/Amanda's mother was. Vickie - you created your own enemy.
Outside of what happened to Jack and Aiden, a highly satisfying finale. Best to date.
So in season finals so far - OUAT is the worst, and Revenge is the best. Which is the polar opposite of last year. Unexpected that.
3. I inadvertently locked my downstairs neighbor out of the apartment on Saturday, prior to a rain storm. It wasn't deliberate. I automatically lock my front door - been doing that since I was robbed. And Sat, was a bad day, my head was in the clouds. I'd passed downstairs neighbor playing his guitare on the front stoop and smoking, trudged to Whole Foods- four blocks up the street, and while standing in the checkout lane - saw a deluge of rain fall from the sky. I discovered that I'd forgotten my umbrella, my cell-phone, and as a result was stuck at Whole Foods for an hour and a half. I remember worrying on the way back...that maybe I had inadvertently locked the door and did he have his keys? I hoped I didn't lock him and his guitar out in the rain? But could not remember if I had or hadn't. When I got back - I saw that he wasn't still there, so I assumed that I must not have locked it. Well..he confronted me on it at 7 am this morning as I'm running out the door to work. Totally blind-sided me, and threw off my day. BASTARD.
Neighbor: Next time when you see me on the front stoop, don't lock the door. (Keep in mind, he lives on the second floor.)
Me: I do it automatically, I didn't think. [To myself: Seriously dude, next time remember to bring your keys. How hard is that? You brought your guitare, your book, and your cigarettes. Keys, are easy! This has happened numerous times, I forget. If you don't want to be locked out - bring your keys!! Then it won't happen. Don't hope that I will remember not to lock the door. Idiot. ]
What's amusing about all of this is my landlord used to send emails telling me to be sure to remember to lock the door always on my way out. And I'd email back - I always do. Check with downstairs guys, they don't.
This brought back flashbacks of freshmen year roommate fights - my roommate liked to sit in the tv lounge in her robe and pj's, leaving her keys in the room. The room was three flights from the tv lounge.
She'd rage at me for locking her out. I'd say - look, I didn't know you were in the lounge, and why didn't you have your keys with you? Are you an idiot? I'd understand if she were in the shower and I'd just seen her. But she was hanging out downstairs in the tv lounge.
Oh well, he'll be gone in three more weeks - he's moving in June. Along with his shoes. He leaves his shoes in the hallway. I have to keep pushing them aside to ensure I don't trip over them and fall down the steps.
There must be something in the air...everyone's irritable today. Sunday was great.
Monday...well it was Monday.
4. Read some reviews on The Iron
It takes place in London, England during the Victorian period in an Alternate Universe version of our world. The inhabitants of England have all been infected by nanonites or mechanical microbes. Only the people who immigrated to America don't have them. But if you want to survive in London, you sort of need them or you will die of a black lung - everything is powered by coal.
The heroine is an Inspector who solves crimes and kills zombies.
The hero is a Duke, an-ex Pirate, who helped get rid of the bad guys.
Apparently everyone's problem with the book on Amazon and Good Reads is the hero sort of compels the heroine to have sex. OR he performs oral sex on her, bringing her to orgasm, against her will. In other words - a boddice ripper or seduction.
I don't know, having read more than my fair share of these, this actually sounds rather tame. Will let you know. Haven't read it yet.
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no subject
Date: 2014-05-14 04:27 am (UTC)For some reason, I thought that you were mistaken about this, and tonight I had a chance to re-watch the ep. Regina didn't know who she was executing here. I thought that when Emma was in the cell next to Marian, that Marian wouldn't tell Emma her name. She didn't-- when Emma asked, Marian replied that she didn't reveal it to Regina because it would put her family at risk (which turned out to be Robin and her son).
And, I can't see that Robin would ever have feelings for Regina if he knew that she had killed his beloved wife, so it seems that neither of them were aware of the specifics.
Anyway, I also wanted to mention that while I agree with your reviews of most shows probably 90% of the time, in this instance I really did enjoy this season finale, and disagree that it was erratically written. For example, I give the writers a lot of props for finding a credible way to get Emma and Hook / Killian together (I don't ship them, so for me it's just the way they're taking the story right now) and I loved the bit where he gave up the Jolly Roger for her, but only reveals that now, when he could have played that bit much earlier in an attempt to win her over.
The time travel aspect was handled better than I expected. It wasn't perfect, but time travel stories are nearly impossible to pull off without paradox/inconsistency creation, and they did stick with the "loop" concept, the only even slightly credible method.
I think that bringing back Marian was a stroke of genius, for several reasons, the most important of which is that while I'm a fan of the Regina character, it's critical that she not get off too easily for her past sins. Just when she thinks that she may finally have a chance of being happy, and being forgiven by many of those around her, this woman appears who she was casually going to execute without even knowing her name, a fate she bestowed upon all too many others. That this person was the dearly beloved wife of the man she is now in love with brings the horror of her past actions to her in an intensely personal way that would be hard to achieve by anyone else that Emma might have accidentally saved.
This OUaT season has made for quite a few thinky thoughts on my part, and I won't go into them now, but consider one interesting possibility for next year-- if Marian could be saved without significantly disrupting the time stream, what about others? Someone-- and not necessarily Emma-- might get it into their head to try. Someone, for example, who might want to assuage their guilt for past actions. Wouldn't happen right away, of course.
Doubt they'll do that, but hey-- I'd find that interesting.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-14 05:39 pm (UTC)