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selenakSo about Carnivale. In a way, the season 2 finale summed up what was best and worst about the second season at the same time.
Let's start with the good stuff this time. Samson's plan to defeat Justin? Was so smart, and made so much sense. How often do we get one of the characters point out to the character not just that the big heroic confrontation is a dumb thing to do but to suggest an alternate plan, and the alternate plan IS BEING FOLLOWED? Wonderful. And speaking of Samson, loved his moment with Rita Sue, too. Because if someone's life seriously sucked this season, it was hers. And I think it's typical and clever of Samson to give Rita Sue the money, not Stumpy.
Iris, my darling, you only remnant of ambiguity in California, I am ever so glad that the monologue Clancy Brown mentioned did make emotional sense of the entire mess. Seriously, Amy Madigan rocked in this episode. I know, when does she not? But especially here. Her scene with Norman was so understated and touching. And yes, Iris saying that she used to think she was doing the work of God (because she used to believe in Justin's destiny as an instrument of good), and that this justified all, was absolutely believable. As was the idea that she turned against Justin not because she stopped loving him but because she saw what he had become. And her sad and serene: "I'm going to hell. But I am lucky, Norman, for my brother will await me there with an embrace." Sums up the grandeur and wrongness and rightness of Justin/Iris perfectly.
(Close second in terms of performance: Iris going from fear at the ferris wheel to forgetting that, and her enstrangement from Justin, as soon as she saw him suffering and hurting next to her, and then she only wanted to help. Awwwwww.)
The showstopping creepiness of "this is your house" and the final images, Sofie and the field of corn withering. But leads me to my "best and worst" idea. Because it showcases Daniel Knauf's sublime visual imagination, his ability to evoke horror, and to use imagery, and to tie it together. It also showcases his complete failure in this season to even try for going for consistent development with characters who were going darkside, not lightside. Just compare Sofie's season 2 arc with Justin's season 1 arc, and you'll see what I mean. Sofie ending the season by becoming a prophet in her house (and I feel just the slightest bit smug that at least a part of my speculation re: Sofie inheriting the CoD position from Justin) should have been the stunning, triumphant conclusion of her arc, and we should have trembled for her and hoped she wouldn't take this path and yet seen why she did. But for this it would have required for Sofie to MAKE a choice.
What we got instead was this: as soon as Ben told Sofie Justin was evil and she defended him, she got presented with scene after scene which showcased Justin's evilness. This is not a way to set up Sofie for a genuine conflict, for her to be honestly torn between Ben and Justin and what they represent. Not surprisingly, when Justin said "make a choice", Sofie retorted "go to hell". And then, to make her turn around, the principle of free will had to be utterly abandoned. Now I do have massive issues with Justin's season 2 characterisation but at least one legacy from season 1 was carried over - he always and consistently was presented as having made a choice, and as keeping on making it. Sofie? Made a very easy decision (really, between the creepy preacher who just dissapointed you by putting the moves on you and freaked you out by other behaviour, whom you then recognize as the guy who raped your mother, and your nice former boyfriend, whom are you going to choose?), and then hijacked into evilness by force of posession (one assumes), resulting in actions that were in no way connected to decisions she made. Justin, after having come to the conclusion that he was not a good man but the antichrist in late season 1, still loved Norman and accepted Norman's set of values enough to ask Norman to kill him in the season 1 finale; it took him until the season 2 finale to kill Norman instead (more about that in a moment). Sofie out of the complete blue shoots Jonesy and, as the final image implies, brings Justin back from the dead. Why? One assumes we're to believe that when Justin died, Sofie got activated as a prophet and promptly turned evil in a Jekyll/Hyde fashion.
And it would have been so easy to achieve the same result with a little more care and better writing. Let Sofie arrive in California, fine, and let her bond with Justin, but then instead of the Evil Lecherous Preacher cliché let Justin seduce her to the darkside by being the genuine article to her: someone she can admire, who consistently takes care of her and whom she sees building a new society. Let him teach her how to use those powers she always has repressed and been afraid of, and let her start to enjoy the feeling of being a mover and shaker, someone admired and powerful instead of somene pushed around all her life. And THEN let Ben and the Carnies arrive, and let present Ben his "but this guy is evil" case. (And may I say that Ben's arguments - "he's Russian, and I've had bad dreams about him" - weren't the best in any case - how about "he's employing Stroud the creep, and doesn't that make you think?") Let Justin not help Ben's case by suddenly showing all his bad sides, but continue to be the guy Sofie can admire. This would have made for genuine conflict in her. Then okay, bring on the Ben/Justin showdown, and then let Sofie turn against the Carnies, not because she's suddenly Ms Hyde but because despite she wants the life as Ms Powerful more than she wants her old life, and is prepared to pay a price for this.
(When Sofie was brought into the shack, I sighed. Because that's so offensive against the Evil Overlord Rules. There was no logical reason for Justin to hold her hostage there other than the melodrama tradition of the villain dong this to the heroine while he and the hero have it out. Sofie as a trump card, as Ben guessed? But why if Justin intended to find and kill Ben at the fair anyway? The two things that almost make up for this to me are a) the fact that the hero-rescues-heroine cliché is foiled by having Jonesy arrive too late and get shot by Newly Evil! Sofie for his troubles, and b) the creepiness of the "this is your house" revelation.)
And then there is the powerful finale image. Which really is incredible, but sadly, also incredible. As in not be believed. And it could have been different. Sofie as the Omega, as the late Lodz said, combining the powers of CoL and CoD, being able to kill AND heal? Beautiful. Works for me. The repetition of the season 1 episode 1 image of the dying corn? Wow. Wonderful imagination Daniel Knauf has. But is this in any way emotionally justified? Not at all. Because Sofie's last positive experience with Justin has been being baptized, and then she was given every sensible reason to hate him, and hate him she did. If she had some reason to be conflicted about him still, even after realizing he's not a force for good but the antichrist, then again, that last image, implying her decision to raise him from the dead, would have been earned. As it is, it's simply a showy empty trick. She's evil now, so is he, and evil people help each other, huh?
Sidenote: I've seen it suggested that Sofie does not raise Justin but heals Ben in that final image. Which would work for me - maybe she uses the knife he left in Justin as a conduit - except that Sofie does not know Ben is even wounded and requires healing.
And the frustrating thing is, even within this season, there would have been so much stuff to build on, to tie it all together. Take that earlier scene with Justin and Sofie praying for the parents who tried to kill them. Now that scene in the season 2 finale where Justin hands over the razor to Sofie AFTER she has seen his tattos? Thus giving her the chance to kill him? Was good, except it could have been better. Even within the constraints of season 2 Justin. Instead of having him turn Victorian moustache turning villain on her, why not make him go Elizabethan villain and pull out the wrong "put up the sword again, or put up me" alternative Shakespeare's Richard III. presents Lady Anne with? But no.
Moving on from Sofie and wasted opportunities: look, I was trying to adjust myself to the fact that Justin had degenerated to comic book villain, I truly was. But that evil laughter (tm) over the cornfield (literary "muaaaahhaahhahaa") when Ben was on the run? The fact he went into standard villain monologue instead of finishing Ben off thus giving Ben the opportunity? Knauf, Knauf. I know you never meant him to be other than evil, but really, George Lucas is more subtle than that.
And let's not even start to apply logic to the fact that Justin loses it in front of the entire congration and starts slicing and dicing people left and right... and instead of this news about their beloved preacher spreading like wildfire through New Kanaan and causing a mass panic, rioting, mass exodus, what have you, the camp is all still there the next morning when the Carnivale leaves.
Oh, and speaking of the Carnivale: that's another thing. As Te did, I wondered why when Libby asked Jonesy if he was still sweet on Sofie, Jonesy didn't ask her the same thing. Except that the Libby/Sofie relationship was utterly forgotten this entire seasons. Ben's oedipal feelings for Ruthie? Vanished with her resurrection. Ruthie in any case? Used minimally. The Dreyfus family continued to be written well, but it took their ordeal in the desert fort Jonesy/Libby to become believable to me. And like Te, I despised Lilah gettting the comic comeuppance treatment by letting Burly (of all the people, the would-be rapist and molester of the Dreyfus women) tell her to shut up. Like her or not, Lilah had been absolutely right about Ben killing Lodz and Samson covering it up. (And what about "you'll see me in the flesh", btw?) She and Lodz might not be nice or good people (Lilah's unblinking willingness to let Lodz use Ruthie's body against Ruthie's will being a case in point), but she wasn't getting scorned for that, she was because she was making things tough for Samson and Ben. This just felt wrong.
In conclusion: Ben as the new management, the cornfield, beautiful symmetry. Ben healing Norman only for Norman being killed by Justin when he tries to exorcise him - brings the wheel from the season 1 finale full circle and shreds Justin's last tie to humanity. Iris being given her tender scene with Norman earlier and her telling him about her reasons - wonderful. Samson being smart and coming up with a cool and clever plan, and Ben listening to him, and the use of the wheel (thus justifiying Justin's visions of it throughout the season) - inspired. The Ben healing people through drawing the lifeforce from Justin scene? Awesome.
Everything else? A series of fireworks, spectacular to watch, with no earned content, feeling hollow after the sparks have died away.
My diagnosis: it's not just the "battle of good versus evil" thing, it's that Daniel Knauf isn't very interested in what makes people go evil, and in evil (or darker shades of grey) people and what makes them tick. He did a great, great job with Ben's development this season - Ben really came into his own. His relationship with Samson was handled wonderfully well. The healing scenes became increasingly powerful, and never tacky. There was a genuine feeling of grace about them, with Jonesy's healing being the best example. Norman going from very occasional guest star (in the first season) to regular paid off beautifully, and kudos to Ralph Waite for conveying so much when restrained by the character's physical immobility.
But look at the other side of the fence, and you fling your hands up in despair. Justin went from complicated character to comic book villain (no, I apologize, these are often far more subtly drawn), in the end even with muuhahhhaaah laughter and I wanna destroy the world speech. And he suffered the indignity of retcon to boot. (I'm rewatching the first season, too, and the idea of season 1 Justin, let alone pre-The River Justin, as a racist rapist simply does not compute.) Even Dukat was spared that one. New regular villain Varlan Stroud was your one note evil cheerful serial killer. One episode bad guys include the ever so subtly drawn Scudder clan, that collection of every stereotype about evil Southerners imaginable. Lilah's attempt to find out what happened to Lodz and then her attempt to dethrone Samson and Ben was presented as wrong and petty, and easily overcome once Jonesy told everyone Ben had healed him. (Which had nothing to do with her original accusation whatsoever.) Sofie's arc, which should have been the most powerful of the season, was seriously underwritten and defied all logic (see above). Iris' arc was salvaged by Amy Madigan's performance and a single monologue, so no grudges there - she was the one darker shades of grey character from the first season who made it through the second without getting reduced to a single dimension in the process. And I'm beating on a deceased equine, but I do think this is because Ron Moore left. Moore isn't perfect, not by any means, but his darker characters tend to get and keep an emotional and intellectual life of their own, instead of going the muuhahhhaaa route.
So, will I watch a third season? I don't think so. Despite liking the idea of a Ben and Sofie at the Trinity Test Side conclusion in the end, because that would be more original and satisfying ending than the Justin versus Ben chase through the corn field and then the mutual stabbing. But one of the reasons why I feel in love with this show was that I liked the shades of grey, the messiness of relationships, the unpredictability that still made you say afterwards "but of course" not "how does this jam with everything else about this character?". The ambiguity. The consistent character development for EVERYONE. And with that gone, I see no reason to continue the show. For me, I mean. The actors being superb as they are, and Daniel Knauf's visual imagination and gift for creating atmosphere being of the highest order, I imagine a lot of fans will get a lot of joy of the show if/when it continues, and I wish them well. But I'm done with it.
Let's start with the good stuff this time. Samson's plan to defeat Justin? Was so smart, and made so much sense. How often do we get one of the characters point out to the character not just that the big heroic confrontation is a dumb thing to do but to suggest an alternate plan, and the alternate plan IS BEING FOLLOWED? Wonderful. And speaking of Samson, loved his moment with Rita Sue, too. Because if someone's life seriously sucked this season, it was hers. And I think it's typical and clever of Samson to give Rita Sue the money, not Stumpy.
Iris, my darling, you only remnant of ambiguity in California, I am ever so glad that the monologue Clancy Brown mentioned did make emotional sense of the entire mess. Seriously, Amy Madigan rocked in this episode. I know, when does she not? But especially here. Her scene with Norman was so understated and touching. And yes, Iris saying that she used to think she was doing the work of God (because she used to believe in Justin's destiny as an instrument of good), and that this justified all, was absolutely believable. As was the idea that she turned against Justin not because she stopped loving him but because she saw what he had become. And her sad and serene: "I'm going to hell. But I am lucky, Norman, for my brother will await me there with an embrace." Sums up the grandeur and wrongness and rightness of Justin/Iris perfectly.
(Close second in terms of performance: Iris going from fear at the ferris wheel to forgetting that, and her enstrangement from Justin, as soon as she saw him suffering and hurting next to her, and then she only wanted to help. Awwwwww.)
The showstopping creepiness of "this is your house" and the final images, Sofie and the field of corn withering. But leads me to my "best and worst" idea. Because it showcases Daniel Knauf's sublime visual imagination, his ability to evoke horror, and to use imagery, and to tie it together. It also showcases his complete failure in this season to even try for going for consistent development with characters who were going darkside, not lightside. Just compare Sofie's season 2 arc with Justin's season 1 arc, and you'll see what I mean. Sofie ending the season by becoming a prophet in her house (and I feel just the slightest bit smug that at least a part of my speculation re: Sofie inheriting the CoD position from Justin) should have been the stunning, triumphant conclusion of her arc, and we should have trembled for her and hoped she wouldn't take this path and yet seen why she did. But for this it would have required for Sofie to MAKE a choice.
What we got instead was this: as soon as Ben told Sofie Justin was evil and she defended him, she got presented with scene after scene which showcased Justin's evilness. This is not a way to set up Sofie for a genuine conflict, for her to be honestly torn between Ben and Justin and what they represent. Not surprisingly, when Justin said "make a choice", Sofie retorted "go to hell". And then, to make her turn around, the principle of free will had to be utterly abandoned. Now I do have massive issues with Justin's season 2 characterisation but at least one legacy from season 1 was carried over - he always and consistently was presented as having made a choice, and as keeping on making it. Sofie? Made a very easy decision (really, between the creepy preacher who just dissapointed you by putting the moves on you and freaked you out by other behaviour, whom you then recognize as the guy who raped your mother, and your nice former boyfriend, whom are you going to choose?), and then hijacked into evilness by force of posession (one assumes), resulting in actions that were in no way connected to decisions she made. Justin, after having come to the conclusion that he was not a good man but the antichrist in late season 1, still loved Norman and accepted Norman's set of values enough to ask Norman to kill him in the season 1 finale; it took him until the season 2 finale to kill Norman instead (more about that in a moment). Sofie out of the complete blue shoots Jonesy and, as the final image implies, brings Justin back from the dead. Why? One assumes we're to believe that when Justin died, Sofie got activated as a prophet and promptly turned evil in a Jekyll/Hyde fashion.
And it would have been so easy to achieve the same result with a little more care and better writing. Let Sofie arrive in California, fine, and let her bond with Justin, but then instead of the Evil Lecherous Preacher cliché let Justin seduce her to the darkside by being the genuine article to her: someone she can admire, who consistently takes care of her and whom she sees building a new society. Let him teach her how to use those powers she always has repressed and been afraid of, and let her start to enjoy the feeling of being a mover and shaker, someone admired and powerful instead of somene pushed around all her life. And THEN let Ben and the Carnies arrive, and let present Ben his "but this guy is evil" case. (And may I say that Ben's arguments - "he's Russian, and I've had bad dreams about him" - weren't the best in any case - how about "he's employing Stroud the creep, and doesn't that make you think?") Let Justin not help Ben's case by suddenly showing all his bad sides, but continue to be the guy Sofie can admire. This would have made for genuine conflict in her. Then okay, bring on the Ben/Justin showdown, and then let Sofie turn against the Carnies, not because she's suddenly Ms Hyde but because despite she wants the life as Ms Powerful more than she wants her old life, and is prepared to pay a price for this.
(When Sofie was brought into the shack, I sighed. Because that's so offensive against the Evil Overlord Rules. There was no logical reason for Justin to hold her hostage there other than the melodrama tradition of the villain dong this to the heroine while he and the hero have it out. Sofie as a trump card, as Ben guessed? But why if Justin intended to find and kill Ben at the fair anyway? The two things that almost make up for this to me are a) the fact that the hero-rescues-heroine cliché is foiled by having Jonesy arrive too late and get shot by Newly Evil! Sofie for his troubles, and b) the creepiness of the "this is your house" revelation.)
And then there is the powerful finale image. Which really is incredible, but sadly, also incredible. As in not be believed. And it could have been different. Sofie as the Omega, as the late Lodz said, combining the powers of CoL and CoD, being able to kill AND heal? Beautiful. Works for me. The repetition of the season 1 episode 1 image of the dying corn? Wow. Wonderful imagination Daniel Knauf has. But is this in any way emotionally justified? Not at all. Because Sofie's last positive experience with Justin has been being baptized, and then she was given every sensible reason to hate him, and hate him she did. If she had some reason to be conflicted about him still, even after realizing he's not a force for good but the antichrist, then again, that last image, implying her decision to raise him from the dead, would have been earned. As it is, it's simply a showy empty trick. She's evil now, so is he, and evil people help each other, huh?
Sidenote: I've seen it suggested that Sofie does not raise Justin but heals Ben in that final image. Which would work for me - maybe she uses the knife he left in Justin as a conduit - except that Sofie does not know Ben is even wounded and requires healing.
And the frustrating thing is, even within this season, there would have been so much stuff to build on, to tie it all together. Take that earlier scene with Justin and Sofie praying for the parents who tried to kill them. Now that scene in the season 2 finale where Justin hands over the razor to Sofie AFTER she has seen his tattos? Thus giving her the chance to kill him? Was good, except it could have been better. Even within the constraints of season 2 Justin. Instead of having him turn Victorian moustache turning villain on her, why not make him go Elizabethan villain and pull out the wrong "put up the sword again, or put up me" alternative Shakespeare's Richard III. presents Lady Anne with? But no.
Moving on from Sofie and wasted opportunities: look, I was trying to adjust myself to the fact that Justin had degenerated to comic book villain, I truly was. But that evil laughter (tm) over the cornfield (literary "muaaaahhaahhahaa") when Ben was on the run? The fact he went into standard villain monologue instead of finishing Ben off thus giving Ben the opportunity? Knauf, Knauf. I know you never meant him to be other than evil, but really, George Lucas is more subtle than that.
And let's not even start to apply logic to the fact that Justin loses it in front of the entire congration and starts slicing and dicing people left and right... and instead of this news about their beloved preacher spreading like wildfire through New Kanaan and causing a mass panic, rioting, mass exodus, what have you, the camp is all still there the next morning when the Carnivale leaves.
Oh, and speaking of the Carnivale: that's another thing. As Te did, I wondered why when Libby asked Jonesy if he was still sweet on Sofie, Jonesy didn't ask her the same thing. Except that the Libby/Sofie relationship was utterly forgotten this entire seasons. Ben's oedipal feelings for Ruthie? Vanished with her resurrection. Ruthie in any case? Used minimally. The Dreyfus family continued to be written well, but it took their ordeal in the desert fort Jonesy/Libby to become believable to me. And like Te, I despised Lilah gettting the comic comeuppance treatment by letting Burly (of all the people, the would-be rapist and molester of the Dreyfus women) tell her to shut up. Like her or not, Lilah had been absolutely right about Ben killing Lodz and Samson covering it up. (And what about "you'll see me in the flesh", btw?) She and Lodz might not be nice or good people (Lilah's unblinking willingness to let Lodz use Ruthie's body against Ruthie's will being a case in point), but she wasn't getting scorned for that, she was because she was making things tough for Samson and Ben. This just felt wrong.
In conclusion: Ben as the new management, the cornfield, beautiful symmetry. Ben healing Norman only for Norman being killed by Justin when he tries to exorcise him - brings the wheel from the season 1 finale full circle and shreds Justin's last tie to humanity. Iris being given her tender scene with Norman earlier and her telling him about her reasons - wonderful. Samson being smart and coming up with a cool and clever plan, and Ben listening to him, and the use of the wheel (thus justifiying Justin's visions of it throughout the season) - inspired. The Ben healing people through drawing the lifeforce from Justin scene? Awesome.
Everything else? A series of fireworks, spectacular to watch, with no earned content, feeling hollow after the sparks have died away.
My diagnosis: it's not just the "battle of good versus evil" thing, it's that Daniel Knauf isn't very interested in what makes people go evil, and in evil (or darker shades of grey) people and what makes them tick. He did a great, great job with Ben's development this season - Ben really came into his own. His relationship with Samson was handled wonderfully well. The healing scenes became increasingly powerful, and never tacky. There was a genuine feeling of grace about them, with Jonesy's healing being the best example. Norman going from very occasional guest star (in the first season) to regular paid off beautifully, and kudos to Ralph Waite for conveying so much when restrained by the character's physical immobility.
But look at the other side of the fence, and you fling your hands up in despair. Justin went from complicated character to comic book villain (no, I apologize, these are often far more subtly drawn), in the end even with muuhahhhaaah laughter and I wanna destroy the world speech. And he suffered the indignity of retcon to boot. (I'm rewatching the first season, too, and the idea of season 1 Justin, let alone pre-The River Justin, as a racist rapist simply does not compute.) Even Dukat was spared that one. New regular villain Varlan Stroud was your one note evil cheerful serial killer. One episode bad guys include the ever so subtly drawn Scudder clan, that collection of every stereotype about evil Southerners imaginable. Lilah's attempt to find out what happened to Lodz and then her attempt to dethrone Samson and Ben was presented as wrong and petty, and easily overcome once Jonesy told everyone Ben had healed him. (Which had nothing to do with her original accusation whatsoever.) Sofie's arc, which should have been the most powerful of the season, was seriously underwritten and defied all logic (see above). Iris' arc was salvaged by Amy Madigan's performance and a single monologue, so no grudges there - she was the one darker shades of grey character from the first season who made it through the second without getting reduced to a single dimension in the process. And I'm beating on a deceased equine, but I do think this is because Ron Moore left. Moore isn't perfect, not by any means, but his darker characters tend to get and keep an emotional and intellectual life of their own, instead of going the muuhahhhaaa route.
So, will I watch a third season? I don't think so. Despite liking the idea of a Ben and Sofie at the Trinity Test Side conclusion in the end, because that would be more original and satisfying ending than the Justin versus Ben chase through the corn field and then the mutual stabbing. But one of the reasons why I feel in love with this show was that I liked the shades of grey, the messiness of relationships, the unpredictability that still made you say afterwards "but of course" not "how does this jam with everything else about this character?". The ambiguity. The consistent character development for EVERYONE. And with that gone, I see no reason to continue the show. For me, I mean. The actors being superb as they are, and Daniel Knauf's visual imagination and gift for creating atmosphere being of the highest order, I imagine a lot of fans will get a lot of joy of the show if/when it continues, and I wish them well. But I'm done with it.
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no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 03:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 05:03 pm (UTC)And I was so excited that I actually guessed the Ben-healing-Norman thing, because my spec is never right!
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Date: 2005-03-30 05:10 pm (UTC)And I really must watch out for Amy Madigan in other productions, because she is so very, very good here.
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Date: 2005-03-30 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-31 05:44 am (UTC)What KdS said...
Date: 2005-03-30 11:20 pm (UTC)Re: What KdS said...
Date: 2005-03-31 05:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 06:13 pm (UTC)RE: Ron Moore
I'm sure you've read that it was Ron Moore who came in and created Justin's world (Iris and Norman) and brought him to an earlier point in his character development so that he would have someplace to go. I agree that its the loss of Moore that has impacted Justin's characterization.
The "mhuahahaha" ing of Justin has been a sore point for a lot of the fans.
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Date: 2005-03-30 06:30 pm (UTC)I just don't see how it could have been a choice, and that's my main irritation. Free will, and people choosing what they become, used to be very important on this show. And I think that is how they'll get Sofie to the stage where she's with Ben in 1945 - by declaring that she did not choose to do go evil, it was forced upon her.
As I said, if they had written the Sofie and Justin relationship differently, it could have been a choice. A very powerful moment. Because then she would have had a reason. As it is, she had none.
I'm sure you've read that it was Ron Moore who came in and created Justin's world (Iris and Norman) and brought him to an earlier point in his character development so that he would have someplace to go.
Yes, I read it. And I'm really glad he did. I can't imagine having fallen in love with the show if the first season had offered Justin as The Evil Preacher and no Iris and Norman.
I agree that its the loss of Moore that has impacted Justin's characterization. The "mhuahahaha" ing of Justin has been a sore point for a lot of the fans.
It's the very first time I wanted to hit the creator of a show I like with the clue bat.
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Date: 2005-03-30 07:39 pm (UTC)I could buy resignation. That when she was confronted by what she was she chose not to fight against it. Granted, it goes against her "go to hell" moment earlier with Justin, but maybe she couldn't stand up to herself. I'm not really happy with that scenario but I could go with it. Would I have liked to have seen the conflict you outlined...you betcha.
I could also buy that she shot Jonesy because he saved her twice...and there are worse things than death.
In any case, if they play the possession card (because you're right, how else to get Ben to forgive her) I think then I would say goodbye as well.