AoS and Treme
Oct. 19th, 2013 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightThan which there could not be two more different shows.
Again, I thought ep 4 of AoS was an improvement, but that still doesn't mean I think it's good. Spoilers behind cut, also for season 1 of Treme that I finished watching the other day.
Okay, Stockholm looks very nice. In fact, that's probably the most positive thing I can say about this episode, except maybe that the girl playing Akela was quite good, and Clark Gregg's Coulson continues to be quite watchable.
That apart, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (the Marvel bit is quite important, it is ultimately Marvel's show) is still sputtering badly, mainly due to the fact that the actors playing Ward and Skye are so terrible. Okay, they're not terrible terrible, but they really aren't very good. And as a consequence of that, nothing quite works. The quippy dialogue is dead in their mouths, the supposed UST between them isn't there, the father/daughter thing between Skye and Coulson just doesn't work. It's just...bland.
Ming-Na Wen isn't helping either. Four episodes in, and I'm beginning to think she only has one expression.
Which is a pity, because if it weren't for that, this episode could have been quite enjoyable - this despite the ridiculousness of the first scene, with the men in identical suits and masks marching through the centre of Stockholm like a bunch of scary storm troopers. I mean, it just seemed like a ridiculous way to hide the identity of whoever was really carrying the diamonds, having them all stick together. Also, are we supposed to believe that when the lights went out on the underground train, Akela killed them all, just like that, when she couldn't even beat Melinda in a fight?
Silly!
Mind you, Joss's (and Joss's alumni's) plots often are, but you can forgive that if they do other stuff - the character stuff, the drama, the humour - well. But that's not working either. Also, Joss (and alumni) are repeating themselves. That scene where Skye, Fitz and Simmons are asking Ward what they should do if they need to pee, and what if they're hungry, was just a re-hash of the scene from FFL where Xander, Willow and Anya are eatingcrisps chips while poor old Riley's trying to be stealthy. Except that the scene in FFL was funny. Here, it just fell flat, because the girl playing Skye isn't good enough.
Meh!
As for Treme, anything I could say about season 1 would be inadequate to describe just how good it is. I loved it, from start to finish - the setting, the wonderful music, the great, great characters (including many great female characters, which was not so true of The Wire (what female characters there were in that were wonderful, but there weren't that many of them)). The final episode made me cry. Poor Toni, and poor LaDonna (though I loved it when she started dancing in the second line), and it also sent chills down my spine - the confrontation between the Mardi Gras Indians and the cops. Somehow, though, in spite of the sadness, and in a complicated, messy way,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
beer_good_foamy (who always knows) is right about this show. It's about reconstruction.
The polar opposite of meh!
Highly recommended.
Again, I thought ep 4 of AoS was an improvement, but that still doesn't mean I think it's good. Spoilers behind cut, also for season 1 of Treme that I finished watching the other day.
Okay, Stockholm looks very nice. In fact, that's probably the most positive thing I can say about this episode, except maybe that the girl playing Akela was quite good, and Clark Gregg's Coulson continues to be quite watchable.
That apart, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (the Marvel bit is quite important, it is ultimately Marvel's show) is still sputtering badly, mainly due to the fact that the actors playing Ward and Skye are so terrible. Okay, they're not terrible terrible, but they really aren't very good. And as a consequence of that, nothing quite works. The quippy dialogue is dead in their mouths, the supposed UST between them isn't there, the father/daughter thing between Skye and Coulson just doesn't work. It's just...bland.
Ming-Na Wen isn't helping either. Four episodes in, and I'm beginning to think she only has one expression.
Which is a pity, because if it weren't for that, this episode could have been quite enjoyable - this despite the ridiculousness of the first scene, with the men in identical suits and masks marching through the centre of Stockholm like a bunch of scary storm troopers. I mean, it just seemed like a ridiculous way to hide the identity of whoever was really carrying the diamonds, having them all stick together. Also, are we supposed to believe that when the lights went out on the underground train, Akela killed them all, just like that, when she couldn't even beat Melinda in a fight?
Silly!
Mind you, Joss's (and Joss's alumni's) plots often are, but you can forgive that if they do other stuff - the character stuff, the drama, the humour - well. But that's not working either. Also, Joss (and alumni) are repeating themselves. That scene where Skye, Fitz and Simmons are asking Ward what they should do if they need to pee, and what if they're hungry, was just a re-hash of the scene from FFL where Xander, Willow and Anya are eating
Meh!
As for Treme, anything I could say about season 1 would be inadequate to describe just how good it is. I loved it, from start to finish - the setting, the wonderful music, the great, great characters (including many great female characters, which was not so true of The Wire (what female characters there were in that were wonderful, but there weren't that many of them)). The final episode made me cry. Poor Toni, and poor LaDonna (though I loved it when she started dancing in the second line), and it also sent chills down my spine - the confrontation between the Mardi Gras Indians and the cops. Somehow, though, in spite of the sadness, and in a complicated, messy way,
beer_good_foamy (who always knows) is right about this show. It's about reconstruction.The polar opposite of meh!
Highly recommended.
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no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 08:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 09:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 10:02 pm (UTC)Maybe the HBO and AMC series - which don't count.
But neither to quite this extent. Also, their characters were more engaging.
You can have crack writing (see Sleepy Hollow) but if you have an engaging cast, on-screen chemistry, and a bit of fun thrown in...
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Date: 2013-10-19 10:29 pm (UTC)I can't even remember what happened in the first 3 eps of this show. That's how bland it is.
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Date: 2013-10-19 10:49 pm (UTC)I think it's doing well, because a lot of people are "hoping" it will get better. (98% of the people posting about on lj have more or less said exactly that). I hate to say this? But I really don't see that happening - although on the off chance it does, even I hang in there. I want it to be better...I want to be wrong. But I don't think I am.
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Date: 2013-10-21 04:32 pm (UTC)I don't either. Actors who are unengaging and dull aren't suddenly going to become the opposite.
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Date: 2013-10-19 09:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 09:42 pm (UTC)On the other hand, there was no way this show was ever going to be It.
Joss isn't infallible, and even if he were, this isn't really his show. It's Marvel's.
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Date: 2013-10-19 10:07 pm (UTC)The ratings are still quite good. And it got picked up for a full season already and is considered amongst the "hits".
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/media-migraine/2013/oct/10/fall-2013-tv-shows-hits-misses-cancellations-black/
But it really doesn't have any of the things in it that made me a fan of Whedon's or for that matter a fan of Marvel comics. Not one thing. Disappointing from my perspective.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 09:37 pm (UTC)- Who on Earth takes the metro from Sergel Square to Kungsträdgården? It's about 500 metres, walking's quicker. And, most likely, safer. PLOT HOLE!!1!
- The fake ads in the fake metro car were... interestingly translated. Apparently, they were selling some product called "Forgetcrawling".
But yeah, even if this ep was a bit better, the series really isn't working. It's like they figured they could either do a show about how the world's changed after the events of The Avengers, or do a show about one interesting team working in that world, and did... neither. I'm giving it a couple more episodes because a) it's not really hurting me, and b) there's an interesting idea in there somewhere if they ever decide to use it. A pity if they don't, but no great loss.
The final episode made me cry.
You and me both. The letter in the wallet, the second line... incredible stuff. Especially how WE get to see Creighton fall apart, we see how he gives up on one thing after another, but nobody around him sees it... But I love the attitude this show has; if The Wire was cynical, this is anything but.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 09:50 pm (UTC)True, though I still expect a visit to the UK at some point, during which we learn that Fitz and Simmons are closely related to royalty (if not to each other, since they have completely different accents).
- The fake ads in the fake metro car were... interestingly translated. Apparently, they were selling some product called "Forgetcrawling".
I want some, I want some!
I'm giving it a couple more episodes because a) it's not really hurting me.
I know. It comes under the heading 'mostly harmless', doesn't it? Not what I expect from a Joss show.
Speaking of Joss and Treme in one comment, I saw a pic of Joss's brother Jed the other day, and he looks just like Davis McAlary. Weird.
But I love the attitude this show has; if The Wire was cynical, this is anything but.
I agree. Shall continue soon, as I have season 2. After that, I'll have to wait until the season 3 DVDs go down in price.
Also, it's been at least six or seven years since Hurricane Katrina now. The show ends this year. I wonder if the length of time it's gone on since the events that sparked it has affected its outcome? Has it grown more cynical over time? If it had only been one season the show would have been damn near perfection. I'm a little worried about how continuing the story will work out.
We'll see.
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Date: 2013-10-19 09:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 10:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 10:06 pm (UTC)I have no idea what it was supposed to do. I think it was meant to be "for your way of life today", but what it actually said was "for your method of being alive today".
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Date: 2013-10-19 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-19 10:39 pm (UTC)If this show were better written, I'd almost assume it's a plot point.
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Date: 2013-10-21 04:34 pm (UTC)Ah, it'll probably turn out to be the AoS equivalent of the Cheese Man.
Actually, I'm puzzled. Were those scenes not actually filmed on the Stockholm metro/subway/whatever you call it? Why were the scenes in incorrect Swedish?
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Date: 2013-10-21 04:56 pm (UTC)There's some creative (and pretty convincing) editing going on. All the scenes up until the Menacing Masks step into the metro car are filmed in Stockholm. All the scenes in the car, as well as the scene of Coulson & the Shieldettes doing their CSI thing later on, are filmed in a US studio - it's a standard NYC (?) subway set painted up to look Swedish. So I'm guessing the fake ads were a) because they wanted to avoid giving ad space to actual products, and b) just wanted something that looked foreign. (For the record, here's what an actual Stockholm metro interior looks like.)
(Also, officially it's called the tunnelbana - "tunnel rail" - but "metro" seems to be the official name in English. Most people call it "subway", since that's the English word they know from movies.)
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Date: 2013-10-21 06:13 pm (UTC)The editing convinced me. I'm easily convinced. I suppose they thought no one watching would care whether the Swedish was correct or not anyway.
Your socialist government probably doesn't allow you to have tellies.
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Date: 2013-10-19 09:58 pm (UTC)Agree completely with your review of Marvel Agents of Shield. It's not engaging. Every time I watch it...my attention wanders elsewhere. Also, there's a big problem when the only two episodes I fond half-way engaging were because of the guest star. Whenever Akela was on-screen, I was interested in the story, when she was off screen, I wasn't. Felt the same way about J August in the pilot - when he was on-screen, I was interested, when he wasn't - I wasn't.
You're right about the rest of the cast...there really isn't anyone that compelling. I've come to the conclusion that if you don't find Skye or Coulson compelling - this show won't work for you.
Also there's no chemistry between the cast. They are sort of bland.
I know quite a few people on my flist like Skye, but I'm not really seeing the appeal. She wasn't bad in episode 4, but not great either.
I'll give the series maybe two more episodes before I give up. But it really doesn't hold my attention.
There are other better television series on. Heck The Tomorrow People is more engaging.
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Date: 2013-10-19 10:32 pm (UTC)I don't dislike Skye, but I don't like her either. She not a worse actress than Eliza Dushku, but she has about 1% of her charisma.
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Date: 2013-10-19 10:38 pm (UTC)It's not that they are bad actors...they just have 0 chemistry or screen presence. Actually the one who sort of does is Coulson, which is saying something.
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Date: 2013-10-21 04:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-21 10:25 pm (UTC)Everyone however is in agreement on Ward.
And you are right about Ming-Na Wen. Brood/pensive = looking constipated for every episode.
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Date: 2013-10-22 08:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-22 11:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-27 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-20 09:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-21 04:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-21 08:06 pm (UTC)I'm so disappointed, but I think it's a true kids' show (although too violent for kids). There's nothing in the undertow, just shallow adolescent sexual fantasies and a bit of 'kookiness' added to show Whedon still has his irony on.
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Date: 2013-10-22 09:01 am (UTC)I'm afraid so, and the occasional 'gimmick' like Samuel L Jackson's brief appearance.
But you're right. There's no substance there, or if there is, the actors aren't good enough to convey it.