Vampires, I swear...
Oct. 29th, 2014 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe AV Club has posted their list of ten vampire centric tv series episodes; as they put it, they might not be the 10 best episodes, but they’re the 10 episodes that’ll help you understand what the show’s all about—without having to watch the whole thing.
Naturally, I found myself arguing with some of the choices for series I'm familiar with. Not in a "never! not this one!" way, on the contrary, these are good choices; in a "hm, I'm not sure this fits the criteria" way.
For example: Being Human (original UK version, naturally), season 2, episode 7, Damage: On the one hand, I can totally see their argument. That was the train car episode, where Mitchell crossed the moral horizon. I remember how mad I was upon first broadcast because I was sure Mitchell would be forgiven both by the show and the other characters, and that we were expected to feel sorry for him. Which turned out to be so not the case. As AV Club says, the show refused to forget what he'd done, and in season 3, the consequences would be drawn to the logical end, unrelentingly. And Damage certainly was the first episode where the sheer monstrousness of vampires, the serial killing without rhyme or reason, came across like never before, via one of the main characters, not in the past but in the present.
However. I really don't think you can watch that episode "without having to watch the whole thing". No way. Because without knowing the rest of the series, you're neither attached to Mitchell in his s1 incarnation (so no shock when you see him do this), nor do you know without s2 that this isn't fridging a whole train car of strangers so Mitchell can angst some more. And you certainly miss out the friendships between the main characters, which are very much what this particular show is all about.
My own choice would be episode 3.05 The Longest Day. And no, it's not just because my darling Nina has a central role in it. It examines what it means in this universe to be a vampire not just via Mitchell but via amnesiac (or is he? we don't know yet at this point, and it's part of the tension) Herrick, and Jason Watkins gives a fantastic performance here which by itself justifies the show resurrecting him for this season. With the exception of the opening hospital scenes, the episode takes place exclusively in the house, which heightens the claustrophobia. It's an ensemble tour de force - Annie, George, Mitchell and Nina all react in different ways to Herrick. George's friendship with Mitchell (key to the first three seasons) and how much he's willing to look away because of it, Mitchell's need to survive at all costs ("there is a poison in you that has nothing to do with being a vampire", Nina says to him), and Nina breaking the assumption not just this show but most supernatural shows have, that supernatural main characters aren't subject to "mundane" law because the supernatural world has to be protected, with her reaction to finding out Mitchell is responsible for the train car massacre. And while yes, this episode also is far better if you've followed the show until then, I think there is enough information in it for the emotional impact to be strong even for newbies. Presumably newbies will be more inclined Herrick isn't faking it, but they'll believe the trio that this is one dangerous vampire as well. (And again, Jason Watkins' performance is fantastic; he does the helpessness and the panic but also the innate manipulativeness and that glint which could, or could not, be be a sign old Herrick is still there.) Lastly: Cara. Being Human wasn't a show where only pretty people got to be vampires. And Cara, poor exploited mad Cara, was a case in point. Cara, too, shows what it means to be a vampire on this show, and her being driven to stake herself by Herrick's vicious words tells an entire relationship tale in just one scene.
Their choice for Angel is: Are you now or have you ever been? Again, I agree with their arguments : it stands on its own (i.e. is accessible for newbies), tells a self contained story while at the same time showing an important step in the main vampire character's development, and the paranoia demon as 50s metaphor works; indeed, as the poster says, the demon is hardly necessary.
Which is perhaps why it wouldn't be my choice. Angel being a vampire is not touched upon in the episode, either. That he's immortal, yes, but it would work just as well with, say, a Highlander type of immortal - and the episodes should say something about what this particular series makes of vampires, how it uses them. Now an episode like Reunion with its shocker ending (Angel locks up the lawyers with Darla and Dru) isn't useable, either, because it's too much an arc episode. I'm tempted to go with Darla, which also is part of that arc but because of its "life of..." nature . (Also, their choice for Buffy is Fool for Love - which I agree with, because remember, this is a specific vampire theme centric list.) It certainly examines what it means to be a vampire in this 'verse (Darla is human now and doesn't want to be; Angel in the past wanted to be what he was and couldn't anymore) and gives us the glories of the co-dependent Darla/Angel relationship through the centuries (which Tim Minear, who wrote the episode, once summed up with "you're my mother and my lover, you damned me and you're really pretty").
But. It doesn't really show the interplay of the not Angel and Darla characters, and an episode representative of Angel the series should have more Wesley and Cordelia in it. (Which Are you now... doesn't have, either.) And I don't think a newbie would get what Lindsey's thing with Darla and Angel was, or who the hell Holland Manners is. Hm. How about... Somnabilist, in season 1? It has Wesley and Cordy in important roles while still being vampire centric, and it has humor (very present in the overall show, but not so much in Darla). It's perhaps the best Kate s1 episode, and she gets to stake the vampire serial killer. And because said guy is Angel's spawn, it also examines the main vampire character's responsibilities and quest for redemption (at that point) while showing his growing friendships and the ongoing question how much his friends could/should trust him. All important to the overall show, and yet a newbie can watch because Penn (who is played by Jeremy Renner, aka Clint in The Avengers) is a character who never turned up before this episode, because Kate being a cop and Angel as a P.I. she sometimes work with requires no lengthy exposition, it's clear from the episode (and this is before her father dies), and it's basically a case story.
No argument at all with Closer than Sisters for Penny Dreadful. Because Eva Green acting the hell out of everyone and Vanessa having messed up relationships with Mina and Malcolm so is what this show is about. :) What do you mean, there is no vampire activity at all in this episode?
Naturally, I found myself arguing with some of the choices for series I'm familiar with. Not in a "never! not this one!" way, on the contrary, these are good choices; in a "hm, I'm not sure this fits the criteria" way.
For example: Being Human (original UK version, naturally), season 2, episode 7, Damage: On the one hand, I can totally see their argument. That was the train car episode, where Mitchell crossed the moral horizon. I remember how mad I was upon first broadcast because I was sure Mitchell would be forgiven both by the show and the other characters, and that we were expected to feel sorry for him. Which turned out to be so not the case. As AV Club says, the show refused to forget what he'd done, and in season 3, the consequences would be drawn to the logical end, unrelentingly. And Damage certainly was the first episode where the sheer monstrousness of vampires, the serial killing without rhyme or reason, came across like never before, via one of the main characters, not in the past but in the present.
However. I really don't think you can watch that episode "without having to watch the whole thing". No way. Because without knowing the rest of the series, you're neither attached to Mitchell in his s1 incarnation (so no shock when you see him do this), nor do you know without s2 that this isn't fridging a whole train car of strangers so Mitchell can angst some more. And you certainly miss out the friendships between the main characters, which are very much what this particular show is all about.
My own choice would be episode 3.05 The Longest Day. And no, it's not just because my darling Nina has a central role in it. It examines what it means in this universe to be a vampire not just via Mitchell but via amnesiac (or is he? we don't know yet at this point, and it's part of the tension) Herrick, and Jason Watkins gives a fantastic performance here which by itself justifies the show resurrecting him for this season. With the exception of the opening hospital scenes, the episode takes place exclusively in the house, which heightens the claustrophobia. It's an ensemble tour de force - Annie, George, Mitchell and Nina all react in different ways to Herrick. George's friendship with Mitchell (key to the first three seasons) and how much he's willing to look away because of it, Mitchell's need to survive at all costs ("there is a poison in you that has nothing to do with being a vampire", Nina says to him), and Nina breaking the assumption not just this show but most supernatural shows have, that supernatural main characters aren't subject to "mundane" law because the supernatural world has to be protected, with her reaction to finding out Mitchell is responsible for the train car massacre. And while yes, this episode also is far better if you've followed the show until then, I think there is enough information in it for the emotional impact to be strong even for newbies. Presumably newbies will be more inclined Herrick isn't faking it, but they'll believe the trio that this is one dangerous vampire as well. (And again, Jason Watkins' performance is fantastic; he does the helpessness and the panic but also the innate manipulativeness and that glint which could, or could not, be be a sign old Herrick is still there.) Lastly: Cara. Being Human wasn't a show where only pretty people got to be vampires. And Cara, poor exploited mad Cara, was a case in point. Cara, too, shows what it means to be a vampire on this show, and her being driven to stake herself by Herrick's vicious words tells an entire relationship tale in just one scene.
Their choice for Angel is: Are you now or have you ever been? Again, I agree with their arguments : it stands on its own (i.e. is accessible for newbies), tells a self contained story while at the same time showing an important step in the main vampire character's development, and the paranoia demon as 50s metaphor works; indeed, as the poster says, the demon is hardly necessary.
Which is perhaps why it wouldn't be my choice. Angel being a vampire is not touched upon in the episode, either. That he's immortal, yes, but it would work just as well with, say, a Highlander type of immortal - and the episodes should say something about what this particular series makes of vampires, how it uses them. Now an episode like Reunion with its shocker ending (Angel locks up the lawyers with Darla and Dru) isn't useable, either, because it's too much an arc episode. I'm tempted to go with Darla, which also is part of that arc but because of its "life of..." nature . (Also, their choice for Buffy is Fool for Love - which I agree with, because remember, this is a specific vampire theme centric list.) It certainly examines what it means to be a vampire in this 'verse (Darla is human now and doesn't want to be; Angel in the past wanted to be what he was and couldn't anymore) and gives us the glories of the co-dependent Darla/Angel relationship through the centuries (which Tim Minear, who wrote the episode, once summed up with "you're my mother and my lover, you damned me and you're really pretty").
But. It doesn't really show the interplay of the not Angel and Darla characters, and an episode representative of Angel the series should have more Wesley and Cordelia in it. (Which Are you now... doesn't have, either.) And I don't think a newbie would get what Lindsey's thing with Darla and Angel was, or who the hell Holland Manners is. Hm. How about... Somnabilist, in season 1? It has Wesley and Cordy in important roles while still being vampire centric, and it has humor (very present in the overall show, but not so much in Darla). It's perhaps the best Kate s1 episode, and she gets to stake the vampire serial killer. And because said guy is Angel's spawn, it also examines the main vampire character's responsibilities and quest for redemption (at that point) while showing his growing friendships and the ongoing question how much his friends could/should trust him. All important to the overall show, and yet a newbie can watch because Penn (who is played by Jeremy Renner, aka Clint in The Avengers) is a character who never turned up before this episode, because Kate being a cop and Angel as a P.I. she sometimes work with requires no lengthy exposition, it's clear from the episode (and this is before her father dies), and it's basically a case story.
No argument at all with Closer than Sisters for Penny Dreadful. Because Eva Green acting the hell out of everyone and Vanessa having messed up relationships with Mina and Malcolm so is what this show is about. :) What do you mean, there is no vampire activity at all in this episode?
no subject
Date: 2014-10-29 07:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-30 07:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-30 09:48 am (UTC)I have no idea if Korean law enforcement works anything like this. It's Dark and Atmospheric and there are Secrets and Standing On Rooftops Looking Soulful and Not Eating With Everyone Else and stuff like that. An interesting take on the modern vampire mythos.