Meanwhile...
Feb. 1st, 2017 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakMy battle with Darth Real Life ended with a truce, meaning I have a bit more breathing room this month, but not that much, though in a good way - there's a literary festival to attend to. Mind you, after all the horrible events of last month and the expectation of the rest of the year following suit it's good to have some events to look forward to. Other than the festival this month, I have a wonderful one in March: I'll travel to New Zealand! (With the AP.)
Back to January: my one big interruption was when I took part in the Munich edition of the Women's March on January 21st, which I hadn't planned to but couldn't do otherwise, or I might have exploded. In Munich, there were between 500 and 700 people marching, both Americans abroad and Germans, in glorious sunshine, having a break from daily horrors and expressing solidarity with the millions in the US standing up to The Orange One. (Since as John Oliver once said he gets an orgasm every time he reads his name, I'm determined to go with synonyms, just in case.)
Catching up with tv:
Call the Midwife 6.01. and 6.02: good as usual, though I question the plot device of the Evil Superior. I remember it well from various incarnations of Star Trek: crazy or incompetent admiral/commodore/rival captain comes on board, our captain and crew have to follow his incompetent orders until a situation presents itself where the intruder either is removed by our hero reassuming command or realises he's in over his head on his own. Since a great many people have had an Incompetent Superior experience in their lives, it's a failsafe way to make the audience hiss at someone and sympathize with the oppressed ensemble, and I've grown tired of it. BTW, Star Trek of course also did two noteworthy twists to the formula: one in Star Trek The Slow Motion Picture, where Kirk overrides young Decker (whose father had been the original Unwanted New Boss in a ST episode) to assume command of the Enterprise mid crisis and it then turns out that Kirk isn't familiar with the new tech and it's young Decker who saves the day; and of course Commander Jellico in Chain of the Command, who is presented as a jerk no one likes, but also as a competent jerk, succesfully filling in for Picard while the later is gone. Anyway, back to CtM: so far, Sister Ursula has had one single scene to humanize her a little (the one with the little boy in the season opener), and otherwise is unrelentingly set up as a heartless bureaucrat to contrast with Sister Julienne's warm humanity, a textbook plot device we can safely hiss at, not a character in her own right. I hope to be proven wrong by future episodes, of course. Otherwise: Phyllis catching a glimpse of Patsy and Delia, drawing the right conclusions and offering comfort to Delia when Patsy has to leave to be with her dying father in a wonderfully discreet yet to the point way was great, and Phyllis Crane was the perfect character to to first figure out the truth (and respond well to it) of their relationship. Also, lovely continuity with her continued interest in Spanish.
Vikings 4.15 - 4.17: . The episode with Ragnar's death was perfect, though sadly the famous "oh how the will pigs will grunt when they hear how the old boar has suffered" quote lost its power by constant repetition in subsequent episodes. In the death episode itself, though, it was chilling. Ekbert going undercover in Athelstan's old monk robes to be with Ragnar in the hour of his death was the ideal ending for that peculiar triangle as well. Incidentally, since Ekbert is the character most marked for death before the season is over, I treasure all his remaining appearances. Judith tries to save her family from Aelle's stupidity, in vain: I think that other than showcasing Judith, this is meant as an introduction of her younger sister, whom I don't think we've met before. Aethelwulf finally having it out with Dad about Dad liking Athelstan, Judith and Ragnar better before gallopping off to face The Great Heathen Army was another reminder that Aethelwulf is a rare character, starting out as a boo-hiss villain (and in the banal way, not in the over the top Caligula way) and then made very human without losing what made him dislikeable originally. The same guy who doesn't think of pagans as people and can slaughter them without hesitation, and who was an awful husband long before his wife cheated on him is also the man who was a great father to his wife's bastard son, never once taking it out on the kid or making that kid feel unwanted or unloved, and who helped Kerithwen above and beyond. I'm back, you'll note, to being more emotionally invested in the Saxon characters than in the Vikings right now, not least because I get everyone there, whereas I can't see what, say, the point of the Astrid/Björn thrust is, and am not sure why the sight of praying Muslims had such an impact on Floki when a decade or so earlier praying Christians were just objects of ridicule - I mean, I suspect Michael Hirst has the noble intention of showing positive Muslim characters, but this was a bit out of nowhere.
Black Sails 4.01: Pirates, you're back! Rogers scoring an impressive victory right at the start was a good set up, since the finale left the pirate alliance a bit too convinced they've now become invincible. Worthy Antagonists for the win, I say. Also, good for Anne to curtail Jack's unending Charles Vane Was The Greatest mourning party. Meanwhile, Madi is definitely Team Get Rid Of Flint, though I think she's misreading Silver a lot if she means "you'd be a good King" in a sense other than in the one her father, Mr. Scott was, i.e. as off shore support for the ruling Queen. Silver is great at influencing people, and at making plans, but never struck me as having the ambition/vision/however you want to call it to want a realm in the sense that Flint originally wanted a Thomas-shaped Nassau, or Eleanor wanted a Lawful Nassau with her on top, or Madi's mother wanted an island where her people were free of white rule. And I think you need that for rulership, and Silver knows it. Feelings for Flint aside, that's a big reason for not going for the top spot himself. BtW, Flint attempting a bonding/mutual mourning experience with Madi and failing to connect was awkwardly human, especially for him.
More during the remaining week, I hope, but remember: it's only a truce, Darth Real Life is not yet defeated!
Back to January: my one big interruption was when I took part in the Munich edition of the Women's March on January 21st, which I hadn't planned to but couldn't do otherwise, or I might have exploded. In Munich, there were between 500 and 700 people marching, both Americans abroad and Germans, in glorious sunshine, having a break from daily horrors and expressing solidarity with the millions in the US standing up to The Orange One. (Since as John Oliver once said he gets an orgasm every time he reads his name, I'm determined to go with synonyms, just in case.)
Catching up with tv:
Call the Midwife 6.01. and 6.02: good as usual, though I question the plot device of the Evil Superior. I remember it well from various incarnations of Star Trek: crazy or incompetent admiral/commodore/rival captain comes on board, our captain and crew have to follow his incompetent orders until a situation presents itself where the intruder either is removed by our hero reassuming command or realises he's in over his head on his own. Since a great many people have had an Incompetent Superior experience in their lives, it's a failsafe way to make the audience hiss at someone and sympathize with the oppressed ensemble, and I've grown tired of it. BTW, Star Trek of course also did two noteworthy twists to the formula: one in Star Trek The Slow Motion Picture, where Kirk overrides young Decker (whose father had been the original Unwanted New Boss in a ST episode) to assume command of the Enterprise mid crisis and it then turns out that Kirk isn't familiar with the new tech and it's young Decker who saves the day; and of course Commander Jellico in Chain of the Command, who is presented as a jerk no one likes, but also as a competent jerk, succesfully filling in for Picard while the later is gone. Anyway, back to CtM: so far, Sister Ursula has had one single scene to humanize her a little (the one with the little boy in the season opener), and otherwise is unrelentingly set up as a heartless bureaucrat to contrast with Sister Julienne's warm humanity, a textbook plot device we can safely hiss at, not a character in her own right. I hope to be proven wrong by future episodes, of course. Otherwise: Phyllis catching a glimpse of Patsy and Delia, drawing the right conclusions and offering comfort to Delia when Patsy has to leave to be with her dying father in a wonderfully discreet yet to the point way was great, and Phyllis Crane was the perfect character to to first figure out the truth (and respond well to it) of their relationship. Also, lovely continuity with her continued interest in Spanish.
Vikings 4.15 - 4.17: . The episode with Ragnar's death was perfect, though sadly the famous "oh how the will pigs will grunt when they hear how the old boar has suffered" quote lost its power by constant repetition in subsequent episodes. In the death episode itself, though, it was chilling. Ekbert going undercover in Athelstan's old monk robes to be with Ragnar in the hour of his death was the ideal ending for that peculiar triangle as well. Incidentally, since Ekbert is the character most marked for death before the season is over, I treasure all his remaining appearances. Judith tries to save her family from Aelle's stupidity, in vain: I think that other than showcasing Judith, this is meant as an introduction of her younger sister, whom I don't think we've met before. Aethelwulf finally having it out with Dad about Dad liking Athelstan, Judith and Ragnar better before gallopping off to face The Great Heathen Army was another reminder that Aethelwulf is a rare character, starting out as a boo-hiss villain (and in the banal way, not in the over the top Caligula way) and then made very human without losing what made him dislikeable originally. The same guy who doesn't think of pagans as people and can slaughter them without hesitation, and who was an awful husband long before his wife cheated on him is also the man who was a great father to his wife's bastard son, never once taking it out on the kid or making that kid feel unwanted or unloved, and who helped Kerithwen above and beyond. I'm back, you'll note, to being more emotionally invested in the Saxon characters than in the Vikings right now, not least because I get everyone there, whereas I can't see what, say, the point of the Astrid/Björn thrust is, and am not sure why the sight of praying Muslims had such an impact on Floki when a decade or so earlier praying Christians were just objects of ridicule - I mean, I suspect Michael Hirst has the noble intention of showing positive Muslim characters, but this was a bit out of nowhere.
Black Sails 4.01: Pirates, you're back! Rogers scoring an impressive victory right at the start was a good set up, since the finale left the pirate alliance a bit too convinced they've now become invincible. Worthy Antagonists for the win, I say. Also, good for Anne to curtail Jack's unending Charles Vane Was The Greatest mourning party. Meanwhile, Madi is definitely Team Get Rid Of Flint, though I think she's misreading Silver a lot if she means "you'd be a good King" in a sense other than in the one her father, Mr. Scott was, i.e. as off shore support for the ruling Queen. Silver is great at influencing people, and at making plans, but never struck me as having the ambition/vision/however you want to call it to want a realm in the sense that Flint originally wanted a Thomas-shaped Nassau, or Eleanor wanted a Lawful Nassau with her on top, or Madi's mother wanted an island where her people were free of white rule. And I think you need that for rulership, and Silver knows it. Feelings for Flint aside, that's a big reason for not going for the top spot himself. BtW, Flint attempting a bonding/mutual mourning experience with Madi and failing to connect was awkwardly human, especially for him.
More during the remaining week, I hope, but remember: it's only a truce, Darth Real Life is not yet defeated!
no subject
Date: 2017-02-01 10:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-02 10:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-01 11:14 am (UTC)I think that is more when he hears his name on tv... I mean, he doesn't really read, does he? Maybe if it's in really big headlines.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-02 10:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-02 07:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-02 10:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-06 10:05 am (UTC)This is one show where all the characters I like are The Most Doomed of a Doomed Lot. I liked Miranda. I liked Vane. I used to like Eleanor with her being a young female controlling a very difficult and very male-dominated scenario, but she is dead to me now. I'm assuming Flint's death will end the series, and set up the scenario of Treasure Island. (I really should reread that, as I haven't since childhood.)
no subject
Date: 2017-02-06 02:50 pm (UTC)re: Treasure Island, I reread for the first time since my childhood in 2015 prompted by Black Sails (between seasons 2 and 3 by then), and here are my thoughts.