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clo_againI downloaded Primeval 03x03 a few days ago but just now got around to watching it while I wait for Planet of the Dead to download (part four of six!) and holy crap cakes, when did this show go from "vaguely silly Saturday night dinosaur insanity" to "holy shit, they just did what now give me the next episode immediately or I may die of the waiting"?
Seriously. This show just took a step up. There is a reason I'm bothering to download this while Robin Hood isn't even getting recorded back home; take note BBC. You make have hit everyone's fun and fabulous gaydar-mad dragons-Anthony Head being an awesome tyrant-kinks with Merlin but watch Primeval for tips on how to make a show that forces you to sit up and pay attention.
So obviously Nick won't stay dead. There was every hint given with his clone that the clones themselves can learn to be the people they've been 'photocopied' from or at least a close enough facsimilie that the differences won't matter. The moment this show stepped up at the end of last season and brought technology from the future into matters, everything instantly took on the Daniel Jackson factor. Namely, just because you see someone die in various, potentially horrible ways? Doesn't mean they won't be back to fightaliens dinosaurs after they've had a week off!
What's more interesting about this angle is that it obviously opens up the possiblity that Nick will come back on Helen's side (I just died a little of glee at that thought) as a clone, who learns to be 'Nick' again whenever it's convenient. The thought of Nick actually working with Helen is exciting beyond words. 'We should've done this together' will become "we're doing this together"; cue angst all around!
Especially for Claudia/Jenny(is her new name even Jenny? I've never stopped calling her Claudia). She gets wiped from the timeline and replaced without knowing; now, the one man who remembered her from before just as she begins to love him again has also been wiped, in a rather more melodramatic fashion, and will no doubt return as a clone who doesn't remember her at all. It's wonderful. Possibly there should be poetry. Or not. But it's still wonderful. It's letting characters get within a sneeze of happiness only to snatch it away in an unexpected and devious fashion. Even if I'd despised this show up until now, I would love it from this moment on. YOU TERRIBLE EVIL SCRIPTWRITERS FOR STRUCTURING SUCH BEAUTIFUL ANGST. MARRY ME IMMEDIATELY.
I was also very amused (and full of flail) to note that Helen deftly sidestepped when Nick asked if she'd brought Stephen back. Oh scriptwriters. Bring back Stephen and Nick as Helen's sidekick clones who turn on her! Or, since you seem to be taking the route less travelled (you blew up your main expensive shiny set mid-season, seriously. You are beautifully insane) do something unexpected but equally awesome! Possibly they'll all come back wearing spandex and capes! (only Stephen wouldn't have a cape because he's practical. He'd mock Nick for getting it caught in doors and yank it sideways to tempt dinosaurs conquistador-style).
On a side note, I saw the Cutter/Connor for the first time this episode. Saw it to the point where I believed it, wanted it, want to icon the scene where Cutter dies with his head resting on Connor's shoulder. So not only did this episode give me such beautiful angst, it gave me a slash pairing back for this show! (other than Connor/Beckett which is mainly for funsies). NOT ONLY THAT but it killed half the slash pairing in the same episode... but in a probably temporary way! Angst and slash! I'm so happy I may be about to flail in the very-public lounge of my hostel.
...I've just realised how much of my squee in this post depends on Cutter coming back. This is when I go to Wikipedia and discover Douglas Henshall has actually quit, since he now has excellent hair and wants to move up in the world.
...Yeah. Way to go kill my squee Wikipedia.
Forget everything I just said. If that was actually a final death scene then it was ridiculous. The whole point was that he comes back! How can there be ridiculously beautiful angst if he just dies? There's no poetry in simply dying. There's no arc (actually there's no Arc anymore either). You can't kill off Cutter AND Stephen with the space of a series! That's like killing off Angel AND Buffy!
Oh wait, they did that. BUT THEY CAME BACK. WHICH IS TOTALLY MY POINT.
Dear Douglas Henshall, I take back every nice thing I've said about your hair these last few weeks. You are a bad man. This show was just achieving unforseen heights. As much as I've grown to love Connor, he's the tech guy. You cannot base this entire show around Connor. And certainly not around that random former policemanofficer from last week. Who's he? Why should we care?
Essentially they just threw together a hasty motive for Helen to kill Nick, which makes much less sense in the wider arc of the show as a whole if he doesn't come back.
...I'm bitter. I'm not sure if I've ever gone from such squee to such bitterness in the space of one post before.
Yeah. I'm going to bed now, with my buzz totally killed dead. You know what the problem with TV shows is? Actors.
(But in Torchwood's case it's the scriptwriters. Or occasionally the camerawork. Or...
...okay, okay, tangent. I'm just bitter. WATCH ME DOWNLOAD ROBIN HOOD INSTEAD NEXT WEEK ITV...except Jonass is leaving at the end of this series too.
SEE. ACTORS ARE THE PROBLEM. DAMN THEM ALL.)
Seriously. This show just took a step up. There is a reason I'm bothering to download this while Robin Hood isn't even getting recorded back home; take note BBC. You make have hit everyone's fun and fabulous gaydar-mad dragons-Anthony Head being an awesome tyrant-kinks with Merlin but watch Primeval for tips on how to make a show that forces you to sit up and pay attention.
So obviously Nick won't stay dead. There was every hint given with his clone that the clones themselves can learn to be the people they've been 'photocopied' from or at least a close enough facsimilie that the differences won't matter. The moment this show stepped up at the end of last season and brought technology from the future into matters, everything instantly took on the Daniel Jackson factor. Namely, just because you see someone die in various, potentially horrible ways? Doesn't mean they won't be back to fight
What's more interesting about this angle is that it obviously opens up the possiblity that Nick will come back on Helen's side (I just died a little of glee at that thought) as a clone, who learns to be 'Nick' again whenever it's convenient. The thought of Nick actually working with Helen is exciting beyond words. 'We should've done this together' will become "we're doing this together"; cue angst all around!
Especially for Claudia/Jenny(is her new name even Jenny? I've never stopped calling her Claudia). She gets wiped from the timeline and replaced without knowing; now, the one man who remembered her from before just as she begins to love him again has also been wiped, in a rather more melodramatic fashion, and will no doubt return as a clone who doesn't remember her at all. It's wonderful. Possibly there should be poetry. Or not. But it's still wonderful. It's letting characters get within a sneeze of happiness only to snatch it away in an unexpected and devious fashion. Even if I'd despised this show up until now, I would love it from this moment on. YOU TERRIBLE EVIL SCRIPTWRITERS FOR STRUCTURING SUCH BEAUTIFUL ANGST. MARRY ME IMMEDIATELY.
I was also very amused (and full of flail) to note that Helen deftly sidestepped when Nick asked if she'd brought Stephen back. Oh scriptwriters. Bring back Stephen and Nick as Helen's sidekick clones who turn on her! Or, since you seem to be taking the route less travelled (you blew up your main expensive shiny set mid-season, seriously. You are beautifully insane) do something unexpected but equally awesome! Possibly they'll all come back wearing spandex and capes! (only Stephen wouldn't have a cape because he's practical. He'd mock Nick for getting it caught in doors and yank it sideways to tempt dinosaurs conquistador-style).
On a side note, I saw the Cutter/Connor for the first time this episode. Saw it to the point where I believed it, wanted it, want to icon the scene where Cutter dies with his head resting on Connor's shoulder. So not only did this episode give me such beautiful angst, it gave me a slash pairing back for this show! (other than Connor/Beckett which is mainly for funsies). NOT ONLY THAT but it killed half the slash pairing in the same episode... but in a probably temporary way! Angst and slash! I'm so happy I may be about to flail in the very-public lounge of my hostel.
...I've just realised how much of my squee in this post depends on Cutter coming back. This is when I go to Wikipedia and discover Douglas Henshall has actually quit, since he now has excellent hair and wants to move up in the world.
...Yeah. Way to go kill my squee Wikipedia.
Forget everything I just said. If that was actually a final death scene then it was ridiculous. The whole point was that he comes back! How can there be ridiculously beautiful angst if he just dies? There's no poetry in simply dying. There's no arc (actually there's no Arc anymore either). You can't kill off Cutter AND Stephen with the space of a series! That's like killing off Angel AND Buffy!
Oh wait, they did that. BUT THEY CAME BACK. WHICH IS TOTALLY MY POINT.
Dear Douglas Henshall, I take back every nice thing I've said about your hair these last few weeks. You are a bad man. This show was just achieving unforseen heights. As much as I've grown to love Connor, he's the tech guy. You cannot base this entire show around Connor. And certainly not around that random former policemanofficer from last week. Who's he? Why should we care?
Essentially they just threw together a hasty motive for Helen to kill Nick, which makes much less sense in the wider arc of the show as a whole if he doesn't come back.
...I'm bitter. I'm not sure if I've ever gone from such squee to such bitterness in the space of one post before.
Yeah. I'm going to bed now, with my buzz totally killed dead. You know what the problem with TV shows is? Actors.
(But in Torchwood's case it's the scriptwriters. Or occasionally the camerawork. Or...
...okay, okay, tangent. I'm just bitter. WATCH ME DOWNLOAD ROBIN HOOD INSTEAD NEXT WEEK ITV...except Jonass is leaving at the end of this series too.
SEE. ACTORS ARE THE PROBLEM. DAMN THEM ALL.)
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-16 04:16 pm (UTC)Though I loved the ep, barring the end, I agree totally with it being a useless waste if he's just dead and there's nothing more to come.
And you've said exactly what I feel about Danny (despite me liking Jason Flemyng in general). Why should anybody care, after two years with Cutter, about Danny Quinn?
I saw 3.03 on Saturday, and I'm still gutted now, and so bitterly disappointed. S3 was gonna be great, and now it's pretty well spoilt for me. Dougie is a plonker of major proportions, frankly! I hope he enjoys it up there in the rarified heights of serious acting, because I will never trust him again, not ever.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-17 11:50 am (UTC)I'm really struggling to understand how he could think now was a good time to pull out of the show. They haven't even hit twenty episodes yet and his storyline with Helen still had such awesome heights it could go to yet. It was getting so good; now they're starting over. I don't know. I don't want to say I'll stop watching but I'm hardly enthusiastic anymore, even if they bring Stephen back because it was his friendship and backstory with Cutter that would've made his return interesting.
(What I don't get is why they chose to do it this way. Cutter as a character was so important; if DH wanted to quit then why didn't they just have someone else play Cutter from the start of series three? It would've sucked a bit but at least given them the chance to keep the main backbone of the show. I really don't understand their reasoning for doing this way, and I suspect it'll come back to bite them.)
no subject
Date: 2009-04-16 06:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-17 11:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-16 09:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-17 11:57 am (UTC)And it was awesome! :D So I snagged them singing 'Through the Grapevine' off YouTube. I kind of want to buy the DVD when I get to Melbourne because it's not available in the UK and I can play it on VLC. I love their 'Jesus Christ Superstar in Four and a Half Minutes' so much. *hearts*.