Things to take interest in while bereft of current tv shows

[selenak]

I will not read BSG spoilers. I will not read BSG spoilers. I will not read BSG spoilers.


So, here are some things serving as distraction from same. Firstly, I have no compunction about reading second season Rome spoilers, because a) it's going to be a year till it's shown here, and b) well, history. Which led me to come up with the following theory regarding Pullo, Octavian and Caesarion:



I had been wondering what the hell they were thinking regarding season 1's Cleopatra characterisation, and why Pullo ended up being the biological father of Caesarion (in all likelihood). However, if you consider Octavian is going to order someone to murder that boy once he has defeated Antony & Cleopatra, it makes sense. Because what do you want to bet the ever loyal Pullo is going to be the one who gets that order?

Incidentally: given that Antony's previous marriages have been disregarded by the show (one to his cousin Antonia, one to the formidable Fulvia, whom he's supposed to be married to at the time of the current action - mind you, I can see why they cut Fulvia, because she'd eat Atia alive), I'm assuming Octavian also having his eldest son killed and handing over the rest of the bunch to Octavia to raise is also not going to be featured. Well, perhaps the three later children vom Cleopatra, but no Julus.

Secondly, I seem to be developing an interest in fictional representations of the current English prime minister. calapine describes a tv film named the Trial of Tony Blair, which sounds worth watching. Although a future where Hillary C. is President, Bush is in rehab again and Blair is left facing charges of war crimes sounds, shall we say, less than likely. (Except for the Dubya part.)

Thirdly, though this was posted last week, and has probably by now been read by all interested parties: great PotC essay on Elizabeth's morality. Focusing, but not exclusively, on That Action She Takes At The End Of The Second Movie, aka the one which made be go from sympathy to adoration.

And fourthly, my thing for ruthless manipulative women makes me think - no, not of Laura Roslin, because I WILL NOT READ SPOILERS OF THE NEW BSG EPISODE - of Livia, which brings me back to Rome and I wonder whether or not they will include her in the later half of the second season. Because



Octavian divorcing Julia's mother Scribonia and marrying the pregnant Livia Drusilla might not fit with their Octavian characterisation (about which I'm not complaining; it's the most credible I've seen on screen yet). More importantly, whom do you cast as Livia when Sian Phillips made the role so fantastically her own? And: won't bringing in a new character near the end of the season for Octavian to marry feel as odd as poor Arwen does to LotR readers when she shows up to marry Aragorn? On the other hand, I want my Livia. And I think it would be a lovely irony to end on if we have Octavian triumphant, becoming Augustus, reigning supreme, all enemies wiped out and defeated, etc., and then you also realise that, to quote - who was it, Dio Cassius? - that "Augustus ruled Rome, but Livia ruled Augustus".

Lastly, and not completely unrelated: great article about and interview with Peter O'Toole. In the inevitable biographical resumé, it mentions his marriage to Sian Phillips, and the image of the Empress Livia married to Lawrence of Arabia is still one of the most odd things ever.

Comments

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

*am in the process of taking actions that should soon relieve your pain*

Stay strong.

I should probably watch Rome; my brother is bullying me to!

I missed the first season and I told him I wouldn't be able to follow it, and he said "Caesar just DIED, you know the story!" Hmmm.

I still have B5 and Dexter to catch up though (BTW, the only reason I haven't looked at the latter yet is that I'm currently reading the novel it's based on, which is turning out to be one of those "things I would like to have written, if only I were a whole lot crazier).

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I don't think I'll read the book, because everybody who has read it tells me it is far less layered and complex than the show (and how often does that happen?).

*staying strong*

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I'll let you know what I think when I'm done with both, but. . .the book's a genre novel, no question. Very tight, very terse. It doesn't have the room to move around that a TV series would; it's also first person and bound to Dexter's POV and (being essentially a procedural, though a very odd one) it's bound to the one particular case he's working. So it wouldn't surprise me if the show is richer but, at least in the first third or so I've read, I think it's a very very good book -- at least, as a twist on a genre that I completely overdosed on, at one point in my life (the "gritty" urban procedural mystery) and thus I like it. The other thing it is, frankly, is a mutant story. Dexter is the kid with the with the "gift/curse" that makes him different, and dangerous, and his stepfather was the mentor who helped him train that gift to a particular (twisted, but in the context, almost understandable) end. I know it's partly a function of seeing everything through my own lens but I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that Jeff Lindsay read a few Xmen comics when he was a kid, at the very least.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Having finished the book and watched the first episode, I have to concur -- pretty much all the good stuff from the book finds its way onto the show, and the book itself, after the first five chapters or so, feels basically unfinished. I have sort of a hunch that he sold the book (or maybe the media rights) before he got done writing it. Could be an excellent book if it was about twice as long, but as is feels kind of skeletal. But the show, so far, does a great job of fleshing it out, so that's good.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, just wait till you see the second episode! That's where the fleshing out of the supporting cast really starts...

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I just saw number 2 . . . and I note that LaGuerta seems to be popular, which suggests she is changed a lot from the book.

I have an instant soft-spot for Deb (though I kind of wish the actress would gain some weight. . .)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love Deb, too (and btw, since I saw your comment to Julia - in the series, she stops with the asking Dexter for answers thing and starts to strike out on her own as a cop. This becomes an important plot point later on). And the actress is great. More Deb praise once you've seen more episodes.

La Guerta: yes, everybody who read the book tells me she's very different there (same with Rita and Doakes), which is yet another reason why I don't think I'll read it. The great thing about La Guerta and Doakes is that while in the pilot we see them as Dexter (and Deb, in the case of La Guerta) see them, the show then goes on showing us different sides, for example in their relationship with each other, which as a m/f friendship (they used to be partners before La Guerta got promoted) is one of my favourite things about the show. There is a lot more on their respective backgrounds etc to come.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm glad I read it because it hits a few particular kinks of mine (umm, that would be eccentric first-person narration and setting-description kind of kinks, not wrapped-up body part kinds -- just so we're clear). But I don't really think it adds that much to the story and characters we see on screen.

As far as relationships, I do really like the way Doakes and LaGuerta relate to each other, and Dexter with Rita and her kids, but it's my soft spot for brothers + sisters that's in real squee overdrive so far.

[zandra-x.livejournal.com]

And after Peter O'Toole, Sian Phillips was married to Robin Sachs. Livia united with Ethan Rayne, there's your full range of evil.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Verily!