Mini reviews from an absentee

[selenak]

It's strange, this last week I saw the first two episodes of Veronica Mars which I liked, and the first episode of Alias which I also liked (what I saw of it, because there were glitches in the copy I had), but I can't think of many useful review thoughts. Beyond "why does my copy have a glitch in the middle of the only scene Sloane is in? And just when he's telling Sydney she's beautiful to boot? Not fair!" But okay. Here's what little I've got:

VM:


- good new mystery

- I'm pretty sure they're going for the teen "girl dates nice guy, realizes her true passion is dangerous guy, dumps nice guy and makes out with dangerous guy by end of season" pattern, which always annoys me a bit (so refreshing in X-Men when girl actually said no to dangerous guy), but hey, the art is in making the cliché interesting, and Thomas seems a good enough storyteller for that

- but I still don't feel more than a clinical interest for Logan (appreciate that the fact he can be an utter jerk hasn't been forgotten, though), which is strange, because I have my share of troubled messed up boys I do care for (Anakin, Connor) - perhaps the popularity puts me off?

- Charisma Carpenter looks gorgeous, but the sex scene in the second episode confirmed my suspicion that she just isn't good at these (if they're not supposed to be comedy, like Cordy's early makeouts with Xander, or the illfated Wesley kiss) - her expression is every bit as uncomfortable as it was in Waiting in the Wings and Apocalypse, Nowish

- class warfare as a major red thread continues and is much appreciated

Alias:



- see above: if my darling Arvin gets only one scene in which he displays his very special mixture of paternal concern and Bad Wrong subtext with Sydney, I want to see that scene uninterrupted

- maybe Vaughn is just an Alias death, i.e. faked by Sydney and Jack, but I for one would have no problem if it is a real one; he always was my choice to be killed off, even after getting somewhat more interesting in season 4 for a while

- SingleMother Sydney works surprisingly well for me

- that scene with Jack was adorable

- so was every scene with Marshall

- aw, Weiss; I'll miss you. Why no Nadia mention in the talks with Weiss, though?

- I like the credits better than the ones last season.

All in all: the Veronica Mars episodes were probably better written, but I liked the Alias season opener more, perhaps because I'm more attached to the characters.

In other news, theatrical_muse is eating my life again. Not that I'm complaining, it's a pretty way to die.

Comments

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Charisma Carpenter looks gorgeous, but the sex scene in the second episode confirmed my suspicion that she just isn't good at these (if they're not supposed to be comedy, like Cordy's early makeouts with Xander, or the illfated Wesley kiss) - her expression is every bit as uncomfortable as it was in Waiting in the Wings and Apocalypse, Nowish

You know, I thought of you saying that when I saw the scene and I agree.

Not that I'm sure CC is doing it on purpose, but don't you think it kind of works here? I don't see any particular reason to think she's having sex with Logan because she enjoys the sex. Not that we know her well enough yet to know what she wants, but I can think of a lot of other reasons she'd be with him -- power, ego, insecurity, boredom. And a teenage boy, particularly a boy who's in love with somebody else, is not a bad outlet for that kind of emotion, because how much does he really CARE whether she's enjoying it. Anyway, I'm reserving judgment, but I liked her in that scene. And I'm not just being a Charisma fangirl, I promise, because there's plenty of stuff she did (most of season 4) that I didn't care for. I do think comedy is her gift and that she's going to run into the "too gorgeous to be funny" thing with most writers and casting directors..

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Point taken. It works for the character.

They gave her some cutting put downs which she delivered expertedly in the other scenes, so I hope the show will give CC more to do in terms of performance soon.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I just hope they don't kill her!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Not before the season is finished, darling girl.

[bats_eye.livejournal.com]

Wait, I'm confused. I thought Weiss leaving and the Sydney/Sloane scene were in the second episode of the season.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Then the CD I have is even more cursed than usual! It was supposed to show the first two episodes. But only shows one. (The other file is announced as too corrupted.) And that one which I assumed was the opener was the one with Weiss leaving and said scene.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, Weiss left at the end of Ep#2.

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

That was me, btw.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

What are you doing lately? Singing for your supper? Publicizing the new book? Running off with a hottie or two?

Not, of course, that I'm even aware that it's been a week and a half since I heard from you last, let alone whining about it. Oh, no.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

New book publicity work, yes, lots of (inner German) travelling, and I promise there will be a mail tomorrow!

[leia-naberrie.livejournal.com]

Well Ihaven't watched any of the Season 5 episodes but I hope this season will be at least better than the past 2. Season 4 was better than 3 but both of them paled in comparism to the first 2. Too many inconsistencies. I, for one, won't mind Vaughn going, but I can understand how un-Alias-ish the show will become without one of the most fundamental characters in it. Well, I'll keep an open mind.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Actually, I loved the fourth season. The only reason why I'd rank season 2 higher is Irina's presence, but that's it. Otherwise, season 4 is my favourite, and I definitely rewatched its episodes far more often than I did season 1's.

[leia-naberrie.livejournal.com]

Well, in fairness to Season 4, it came in after the 'it's been a bad year' Season 3 and spent a lot of time mopping up after 3's inconsistencies. There were some cool episodes. And I loved Sloane's arc in Season 4. But Season 2 was tighter. You could tell that right from the beginning, the writers knew where the story was going to - Irina's plot to infiltrate the CIA and join forces with Sloane... Sloane's plot to rescue his wife and betray the Alliance... Even the lower level plot of Francie...