Linkspam + rambling
Jan. 3rd, 2013 03:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normal* A very thorough analysis of the pros and cons of Downton Abbey season 3 (mainly spoiler-free). I agree a lot more with the negatives than the positives, although basically it boils down to I will watch this show as long as Maggie Smith and Michelle Dockery are on it and fuck everything else.
Downton has taken a lot of (wholly justified) flak for its precipitous fall from grace, but I wonder if it's not a bit of a Homeland situation, where it hasn't gotten a lot worse so much as it just was never really as good as we thought? I mean, let's not forget, season 1 included a foreign dignitary dying in Lady Mary's bed, and a late-night cover-up to get rid of the body (or at least put him back in his own room). As soap operas go, that's pretty sudsy. I think the trouble with Downton isn't that the plotlines have gotten more ridiculous (although they have, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing). It's that the drama is focused on all the wrong things. I mean, for God's sake, NO ONE CARES ABOUT BATES. Seriously, no one would mind if he'd rotted away in prison for the rest of the series, as long as we never had to see him again. There's a lot of great conflict to be mined from these characters and their relationships, but "Will Mary and Matthew get married?" "Will they lose the estate?" "Is modernization the work of the devil?" and "What exactly is the point of Branson's continued existence?" are not the most interesting questions for the show to explore.
* The Vampire Diaries has a Big Bad problem? LOL no. While I definitely agree that there is a PROBLEM with Klaus, I don't know that the Buffy Big Bad model is necessarily better? I quite like that TVD blurs the line between good and evil, that the so-called good guys are often just as terrible as the people they're fighting against. I'm even a fan of the way that all the "bad guys" seem to switch sides whenever it's convenient for them, because it seems like a much more truthful depiction of human nature - that we are, ultimately, motivated by self-interest more than abstract ~morals. It's not about good vs. evil; it's about conflicting desires and priorities that aren't necessarily right or wrong.
The problem with Klaus, though, is that the show wants to have it both ways. It wants Klaus to be the mustache-twirling villain, but it also wants him to become part of the gang and make googly eyes at Caroline. Which is a totally valid character arc (see also: Damon/Elena), but you can't do that and then expect us to take him seriously as a villain. Damon still does some horrific, unconscionable things, but he hasn't been the "villain" in a long time. Nor is anyone actively trying to defeat Damon anymore, the way that everyone seems to be trying to defeat Klaus, except when they're not, because the show wants to keep him around forever (apparently) and so they can't ever actually succeed. And that makes both Klaus and everyone else look foolish, because they've been in the same basic stalemate for two seasons now. I don't think it's a coincidence that the mid-season finale was the first time in a while I've really enjoyed the Klaus plot, because it was the first time in ages someone's actually made an effort to oppose him and forced them out of the stalemate. (Also, ripping out hybrid hearts to Christmas carols? EPIC.)
The OP absolutely has a point here: "I can’t help but feel that if TVD were less focused on converting any potential baddie into a series regular for us to get to know and love, we could focus more on what makes Elena, Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Jeremy and Bonnie tick." But not because we need Big Bad Villains to root against. The cast is simply too damn big and the show doesn't have the time or interest to give them all interesting storylines and character arcs. "Potential baddies" like the Originals can still be complex and morally grey, while also being ushered off-stage when they've served their purpose. This show just doesn't know when to let go.
* GPOY courtesy ofper_aspera_ad_astra: How I lost my virginity, in gifs.
* For any other political/musical nerds out there: Les Fiscal Miserables.
Downton has taken a lot of (wholly justified) flak for its precipitous fall from grace, but I wonder if it's not a bit of a Homeland situation, where it hasn't gotten a lot worse so much as it just was never really as good as we thought? I mean, let's not forget, season 1 included a foreign dignitary dying in Lady Mary's bed, and a late-night cover-up to get rid of the body (or at least put him back in his own room). As soap operas go, that's pretty sudsy. I think the trouble with Downton isn't that the plotlines have gotten more ridiculous (although they have, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing). It's that the drama is focused on all the wrong things. I mean, for God's sake, NO ONE CARES ABOUT BATES. Seriously, no one would mind if he'd rotted away in prison for the rest of the series, as long as we never had to see him again. There's a lot of great conflict to be mined from these characters and their relationships, but "Will Mary and Matthew get married?" "Will they lose the estate?" "Is modernization the work of the devil?" and "What exactly is the point of Branson's continued existence?" are not the most interesting questions for the show to explore.
* The Vampire Diaries has a Big Bad problem? LOL no. While I definitely agree that there is a PROBLEM with Klaus, I don't know that the Buffy Big Bad model is necessarily better? I quite like that TVD blurs the line between good and evil, that the so-called good guys are often just as terrible as the people they're fighting against. I'm even a fan of the way that all the "bad guys" seem to switch sides whenever it's convenient for them, because it seems like a much more truthful depiction of human nature - that we are, ultimately, motivated by self-interest more than abstract ~morals. It's not about good vs. evil; it's about conflicting desires and priorities that aren't necessarily right or wrong.
The problem with Klaus, though, is that the show wants to have it both ways. It wants Klaus to be the mustache-twirling villain, but it also wants him to become part of the gang and make googly eyes at Caroline. Which is a totally valid character arc (see also: Damon/Elena), but you can't do that and then expect us to take him seriously as a villain. Damon still does some horrific, unconscionable things, but he hasn't been the "villain" in a long time. Nor is anyone actively trying to defeat Damon anymore, the way that everyone seems to be trying to defeat Klaus, except when they're not, because the show wants to keep him around forever (apparently) and so they can't ever actually succeed. And that makes both Klaus and everyone else look foolish, because they've been in the same basic stalemate for two seasons now. I don't think it's a coincidence that the mid-season finale was the first time in a while I've really enjoyed the Klaus plot, because it was the first time in ages someone's actually made an effort to oppose him and forced them out of the stalemate. (Also, ripping out hybrid hearts to Christmas carols? EPIC.)
The OP absolutely has a point here: "I can’t help but feel that if TVD were less focused on converting any potential baddie into a series regular for us to get to know and love, we could focus more on what makes Elena, Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Jeremy and Bonnie tick." But not because we need Big Bad Villains to root against. The cast is simply too damn big and the show doesn't have the time or interest to give them all interesting storylines and character arcs. "Potential baddies" like the Originals can still be complex and morally grey, while also being ushered off-stage when they've served their purpose. This show just doesn't know when to let go.
* GPOY courtesy of
per_aspera_ad_astra: How I lost my virginity, in gifs.* For any other political/musical nerds out there: Les Fiscal Miserables.
no subject
Date: Jan. 4th, 2013 01:17 am (UTC)And there are always TINY FLASHES of the show it could be, like with a couple Isobel and Mrs. Hughes and Edith scenes in season 3, or. . . well, I'm out of examples, but I think there were more. But they are always the little scenes, and not the big narrative focus. So I can neither love it nor quit it!
no subject
Date: Jan. 9th, 2013 09:59 pm (UTC)Ugh, yes. I have a whole separate rant (which I will save for my wrongshipping post) about how Mary/Matthew COULD have gone that would have been so much better than the nonsense we got in s2.
no subject
Date: Jan. 4th, 2013 01:50 am (UTC)I do agree with most of the points in the article. The line about "an upper-class Englishman's horror of 'psychology'" particularly amused me.
no subject
Date: Jan. 9th, 2013 10:03 pm (UTC)But yeah, it's a sad indication of how detached I am that I'm not even bothered by them killing my ship. I was tired of M/M anyway. :(
no subject
Date: Jan. 10th, 2013 12:52 am (UTC)But yeah, I'm fully willing to continue to be invested in a couple once they get together, but not if their entire interaction afterwards involves sniping and Mary Crawley wanting a baby (which she had shown zero personal interest in before).
no subject
Date: Jan. 12th, 2013 10:30 pm (UTC)Yeah, Mary suddenly wanting a baby was odd, although I can kind of see that being an ~obligation thing? She needs to produce an heir, and it's like her only purpose in life, so she wants to get on that ASAP.
no subject
Date: Jan. 4th, 2013 03:58 am (UTC)Without being spoilery, what is the Homeland situation? I thought it was supposed to be this completely amazing show?
"Is modernization the work of the devil?"
YES.
The Vampire Diaries has a Big Bad problem? LOL no. While I definitely agree that there is a PROBLEM with Klaus, I don't know that the Buffy Big Bad model is necessarily better?
Yeah, I'm not sure having a villain that dies at the end of every season is necessarily better (which is also the Dexter model, and is predictable). But there is a problem with TVD. And it is, as you said, this:
The problem with Klaus, though, is that the show wants to have it both ways. It wants Klaus to be the mustache-twirling villain, but it also wants him to become part of the gang and make googly eyes at Caroline. ... And that makes both Klaus and everyone else look foolish, because they've been in the same basic stalemate for two seasons now. This show just doesn't know when to let go.
I actually wouldn't mind not-a-bad-guy Klaus. I was sort of hoping for such when Mikael awakened. I don't *necessarily* mind that Klaus is a gigantic woobie, except that the show is also wanting him to be a big evil at the same time. And of course the real problem is the way that everyone makes nice with him and then an episode later is back on the killing (or incapacitating or whatever) wagon against Klaus. And I think it is a problem of the show not knowing when to let go. They found an actor that they liked, and now they're bending the storylines to keep him no matter what. And it does a disservice to everyone. Dammit, make Klaus human (just werewolf, I suppose) so we can be done with this, and they can keep him on, like they're so clearly determined to do.
no subject
Date: Jan. 9th, 2013 10:13 pm (UTC)The situation is that it is/was an amazing show, with excellent character drama, brilliant actors in Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, and a central relationship in Carrie/Brody that was complicated and compelling and loaded with tension (but not UST), and a plot that required quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, but people forgave it b/c the character stuff was so good.
Then in s2, the relationship wasn't as much in the foreground (and what was there was less compelling than in s1), and without that shiny distraction, people started to notice that the plot is sort of ridiculous. Or a lot ridiculous. The actors are still stellar and much of the non-Carrie/Brody character work is still quite good, but a lot of people just couldn't swallow some of the plot machinations this season.
But... it's a show by the same people who made 24, so I'm kind of like, "Really? You're surprised that the plot is totally bonkers?"
I don't *necessarily* mind that Klaus is a gigantic woobie, except that the show is also wanting him to be a big evil at the same time.
Yes, exactly. The show still wants us to see Klaus as terrifying. Woobies are not, as a general rule, terrifying.