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selenakName your five favorite fictional apocalypses (or near misses).
1) Season 4 of Angel: The Series. BTVS did near-apocalypses for many a season finale; so did AtS. My favourite take, not surprising for anyone who knows my preferences, as the way they handled it in season 4, which was two-fold. First, mid-season, we got the darkening of the sun, and several episodes in which Los Angeles was literally an eternal night-zone and vampire free for all. Then, which was the true master stroke, we got the Jasmine era. Which was a complete visual contrast - check out the opening of The Magic Bullet which sums it up: sunlight and smiles all around - and yet it was more horrifying than the eternal night demon free for all had been, because it was an Utopia achieved by brainwashing, and most, though not all, of Our Heroes were brainwashed as well. There are so many reasons why season 4 was my favourite of AtS, and this was one of them.
2) Battlestar Galactica: the miniseries which started the new version. The destruction of the twelve colonies save for a few survivors came across as devastingly real. It did a great job of introducing the characters and the thematic shades of grey. So many scenes that stick in your mind: Roslin assuming the presidence, Roslin persuading Adama that running away to save the rest of humanity is better than doing the "going out in a glorious fight" thing, Helo and Boomer faced with a desperate crowd running towards them, all trying to leave the planet, the Six model in the very first scene asking "are you alive?", Caprica Six and Gaius Baltar as she tells him the truth, Six and the baby (I maintain this is the only time infanticide makes a character more morally ambiguous instead of less), Starbuck dragging the cat in, and so forth.
3) Babylon 5, season 5: The Fall of Centauri Prime. This is somewhat masochistic on my part, and perhaps cheating as it is not an apocalypse for most of the show's characters, but it is for the Centauri. For them, it's a near-end of their world, so I think it counts. One of the all time tragic episodes, wonderfully played, the last-but-one act in the tragedy of Londo Mollari, who, like Aristoteles demands, was brought to this point by a mixture of his own choices and circumstance, and then goes to confront his fate with a dignity and courage that makes one speechless. I can't watch it without crying, which is why I can't watch it very often, despite the fact it's a masterpiece of an episode. And yet it makes me smile as well, in the middle of the tears, which is the magic of Londo, G'Kar, and the best scene ever. (Oh, and the subplot involving Delenn and Lennier is an elegant tragedy all of its own.) I'm the last person to claim JMS' writing, whether for B5 or elsewhere, is flawless, but Londo's storyline was really his unsurpassed masterpiece.
4) Doctor Who (season 3/29): Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords. Yes, yes, flaws a plenty, and it would have needed another episode in between set during the Year That Wasn't, but still. The event itself - the apocalypse at the end of Sound of Drums - was a glorious mixture of horror and camp, featuring the correct use of the word "decimate" (Time Lords are fiends for proper language use, see also the Doctor correcting Luke Rattigan a season later), Voodoo Child and the most dire consequence that obsessive relationship between the Master and the Doctor ever had for Earth. The aftermath of said apocalypse offered Martha Jones at her heroic best, the Scissor Sisters and pyrrhic victories for everyone concerned (except humanity). I know Parting of the Ways was better written, but still. So far, this is my favourite New Who apocalypse.
5) The Kindly Ones, last but one volume of Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman. Given what happens to the Dreaming in this story, I think it does qualify as an apocalypse. Again, it's a tragedy of someone whose flaws are largely (though not exclusively) responsible for it, it's the end of an era, the end of a world... and then it's rebirth. The expressionistic art used in this volume would drive me crazy in any other circumstance, but it's fitting for this particular storyline (just as the beautiful and soothing art is for the epilogue, The Wake). And the scale is truly epic as all the storylines which we have seen in previous segments come together. And yet there are so many small, intimate moments as well - Paul McGuire talking to Rose Walker, for example, which prepares for that unexpected moment of grace at the end when Alex Burgess wakes up. Back to the mythic again: anyone who can read the end of Gilbert, Matthew's leavetaking of Dream and the last Dream-Death moment without chocking has no soul.
***
In other (Doctor Who) news, someone has done us a favour and collected a series of very entertaining (in a good way) Stephen Moffat quotes, here, proving the man's sense of humour about both himself and the series, which bodes well. My favourite is (re: Doctor Dances) "How dare you. We never called the nanogenes 'magic fairy dust', that would've been camp and ridiculous. We called them Tinkerbells!", followed closely by "In my head, the Doctor doesn't have a bloody clue what age he is (how could he, unless he's keeping count on a big chart somewhere) and only picks on 900 cos it sounds good". (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
versaphile has used this in fanfiction!)
Also, the BBC has put up a podcast of Jonathan Ross' latest show, in which he interviews David Tennant. Aside from DT defending King Lear and New Who Cybermen alike (as both were slandered by Mr. Ross as being rubbish), the most interesting thing was a casting spoiler for the next Christmas special which has absolutely nothing to do with any companion or any reccuring character; it was a casting spoiler in the sense that for The Runaway Bride, "Sarah Parish guest stars" would have been. (Sarah Parish played the Empress of the Raccnoss back then.) Still, just to be on the safe side, I'll hide it behind a cut . DT said the Christmas special - which is already filmed - would guest star David Morrisey. Since a) David Morrissey is a fabulous actor in any circumstance and b) he and David Tennant were terrific together in Blackpool, this painted a huge grin on my face. I guess it's too much to hope that Rusty will have found an excuse for another dance scene? .
1) Season 4 of Angel: The Series. BTVS did near-apocalypses for many a season finale; so did AtS. My favourite take, not surprising for anyone who knows my preferences, as the way they handled it in season 4, which was two-fold. First, mid-season, we got the darkening of the sun, and several episodes in which Los Angeles was literally an eternal night-zone and vampire free for all. Then, which was the true master stroke, we got the Jasmine era. Which was a complete visual contrast - check out the opening of The Magic Bullet which sums it up: sunlight and smiles all around - and yet it was more horrifying than the eternal night demon free for all had been, because it was an Utopia achieved by brainwashing, and most, though not all, of Our Heroes were brainwashed as well. There are so many reasons why season 4 was my favourite of AtS, and this was one of them.
2) Battlestar Galactica: the miniseries which started the new version. The destruction of the twelve colonies save for a few survivors came across as devastingly real. It did a great job of introducing the characters and the thematic shades of grey. So many scenes that stick in your mind: Roslin assuming the presidence, Roslin persuading Adama that running away to save the rest of humanity is better than doing the "going out in a glorious fight" thing, Helo and Boomer faced with a desperate crowd running towards them, all trying to leave the planet, the Six model in the very first scene asking "are you alive?", Caprica Six and Gaius Baltar as she tells him the truth, Six and the baby (I maintain this is the only time infanticide makes a character more morally ambiguous instead of less), Starbuck dragging the cat in, and so forth.
3) Babylon 5, season 5: The Fall of Centauri Prime. This is somewhat masochistic on my part, and perhaps cheating as it is not an apocalypse for most of the show's characters, but it is for the Centauri. For them, it's a near-end of their world, so I think it counts. One of the all time tragic episodes, wonderfully played, the last-but-one act in the tragedy of Londo Mollari, who, like Aristoteles demands, was brought to this point by a mixture of his own choices and circumstance, and then goes to confront his fate with a dignity and courage that makes one speechless. I can't watch it without crying, which is why I can't watch it very often, despite the fact it's a masterpiece of an episode. And yet it makes me smile as well, in the middle of the tears, which is the magic of Londo, G'Kar, and the best scene ever. (Oh, and the subplot involving Delenn and Lennier is an elegant tragedy all of its own.) I'm the last person to claim JMS' writing, whether for B5 or elsewhere, is flawless, but Londo's storyline was really his unsurpassed masterpiece.
4) Doctor Who (season 3/29): Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords. Yes, yes, flaws a plenty, and it would have needed another episode in between set during the Year That Wasn't, but still. The event itself - the apocalypse at the end of Sound of Drums - was a glorious mixture of horror and camp, featuring the correct use of the word "decimate" (Time Lords are fiends for proper language use, see also the Doctor correcting Luke Rattigan a season later), Voodoo Child and the most dire consequence that obsessive relationship between the Master and the Doctor ever had for Earth. The aftermath of said apocalypse offered Martha Jones at her heroic best, the Scissor Sisters and pyrrhic victories for everyone concerned (except humanity). I know Parting of the Ways was better written, but still. So far, this is my favourite New Who apocalypse.
5) The Kindly Ones, last but one volume of Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman. Given what happens to the Dreaming in this story, I think it does qualify as an apocalypse. Again, it's a tragedy of someone whose flaws are largely (though not exclusively) responsible for it, it's the end of an era, the end of a world... and then it's rebirth. The expressionistic art used in this volume would drive me crazy in any other circumstance, but it's fitting for this particular storyline (just as the beautiful and soothing art is for the epilogue, The Wake). And the scale is truly epic as all the storylines which we have seen in previous segments come together. And yet there are so many small, intimate moments as well - Paul McGuire talking to Rose Walker, for example, which prepares for that unexpected moment of grace at the end when Alex Burgess wakes up. Back to the mythic again: anyone who can read the end of Gilbert, Matthew's leavetaking of Dream and the last Dream-Death moment without chocking has no soul.
***
In other (Doctor Who) news, someone has done us a favour and collected a series of very entertaining (in a good way) Stephen Moffat quotes, here, proving the man's sense of humour about both himself and the series, which bodes well. My favourite is (re: Doctor Dances) "How dare you. We never called the nanogenes 'magic fairy dust', that would've been camp and ridiculous. We called them Tinkerbells!", followed closely by "In my head, the Doctor doesn't have a bloody clue what age he is (how could he, unless he's keeping count on a big chart somewhere) and only picks on 900 cos it sounds good". (
versaphile has used this in fanfiction!) Also, the BBC has put up a podcast of Jonathan Ross' latest show, in which he interviews David Tennant. Aside from DT defending King Lear and New Who Cybermen alike (as both were slandered by Mr. Ross as being rubbish), the most interesting thing was a casting spoiler for the next Christmas special which has absolutely nothing to do with any companion or any reccuring character; it was a casting spoiler in the sense that for The Runaway Bride, "Sarah Parish guest stars" would have been. (Sarah Parish played the Empress of the Raccnoss back then.) Still, just to be on the safe side, I'll hide it behind a cut . DT said the Christmas special - which is already filmed - would guest star David Morrisey. Since a) David Morrissey is a fabulous actor in any circumstance and b) he and David Tennant were terrific together in Blackpool, this painted a huge grin on my face. I guess it's too much to hope that Rusty will have found an excuse for another dance scene? .
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no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 01:10 pm (UTC)(I mean, I prefer MacBeth, myself, but no denying it is a great work of art.)
Wonderful news on David Morrisey!
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 01:13 pm (UTC)PS re: David Morrisey....
Date: 2008-06-06 01:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 01:26 pm (UTC)(Surely I don't need to say that I agree v. much with the DW S3 apocalypse being the best? For me it is always far more about the personal connections than the plot, and those episodes are the perfect example. They also made me obsess and write one of my longest ever essays...)
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 01:33 pm (UTC)BSG, check.
Dr. Who, check as well.
Don't know the others; assume you're right. :D
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 01:46 pm (UTC)Deep Down to The House Always Wins (http://selenak.livejournal.com/104073.html)
Supersymmetry to Habeas Corpses (http://selenak.livejournal.com/104252.html)
Long Day's Journey... till Salvage (http://selenak.livejournal.com/104675.html)
Release till Inside Out (http://selenak.livejournal.com/104813.html)
Shiny Happy People till Home (http://selenak.livejournal.com/104999.html)
My Connor essay (http://community.livejournal.com/idol_reflection/22580.html), which by necessity has some 5 stuff as well, of course.
And yes, I figured you'd agree with me on the s3 apocalypse.*g* And I do love your essay.
Yay season 4!
Date: 2008-06-06 01:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 01:53 pm (UTC)You are evil, because I do NOT have time to read all that right now. Stupid RL. *shakes fist* But I'll be back... (incidentally 'Home' was the first episode of ATS that I ever saw, and then I went back and watched them all in order. Finding out how everything came about was fascinating.)
And I didn't realise you'd read my essay - thank you, I'm very flattered. :)
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Date: 2008-06-06 02:29 pm (UTC)I also completely agree on the BSG miniseries. It was just beautiful destruction. Amazing and terrible.
I have some issues with the end of Doctor Who season 3, but it was a great apocalypse. Lots of good emotional stuff. However, unless we get rid of old Doctor and let David Tennant act, I must confess to being happy there is no middle episode.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 02:36 pm (UTC)And I'm always thrilled to find more AtS season 4 love, as I so often hear complaints about it!
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 02:57 pm (UTC)And the BSG miniseries never fails to move me to tears - it's so powerful and moving and also very beautifully filmed (the scene in the golden meadow with Helo and Boomer is visually stunning!) and ... yeah. (I think the only thing I slightly disagree with is Six's baby-killing - still can't forgive her for that!)
Also, I am myself not a huge "Lear" fan - it has isolated scenes of grandeur and power, and I recently saw Ian McKellen in the role and he was fantastic, but ... I love the other tragedies much, much more, because I think the characters are much better fleshed out!
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 03:21 pm (UTC)Season 4 of Angel is one of my favorite seasons of TV, ever. It was just a thrill ride all around, and I managed to stay unspoiled for virtually all of it (knowing me, this is a minor miracle *g*). Moreover, it retroactively justified Cordy's characterization in Season 3! Awesome.
I still wish they'd included Jasmine's line in her final fight with Angel, where she says, "Just whose champion did you think you were?" Because OMG, the constant "champion" business irritated me so much in Season 3 and early Season 4, and that would have made it so much better.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 03:26 pm (UTC)MacBeth
Hamlet
Othello
Lear
But I spent an entire term arguing about Lear in a class, so I definitely think it's worth reading and putting on stage.
Yes, Connor seems to be one of the two divisive factors (the other being Cordelia, but as I always say, the damage done to Cordelia as a character starts way earlier, and the worst is in s3; in s4 we actually get a salvage operation because "she was possessed by Jasmine" makes a hell of a lot more sense than "she turned into a saintly champion and obsessed about Angel to the exclusion of everything else") . As you know, he's one of my favorite characters, so of course I'm biased...
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Date: 2008-06-06 04:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 04:08 pm (UTC)(I wouldn't have minded the bit where Lilah congratulates them some more about destroying world peace, either.)
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 04:16 pm (UTC)Plus, extra painful with the leaked spoilers/sides including scenes we didn't get to see either, sigh.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 04:38 pm (UTC)ARGH! Nooooo! I did not know this!
You know, what amazes me is how good DB was at playing a father. He was genuinely awesome--I'd always been kind of embarrassed at being a fan because of his, er, "acting." But he just took it to another level in his scenes with VK.
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Date: 2008-06-06 05:51 pm (UTC)When he handed her the loaf of bread was when I made a strangled sound in my throat.
Reply |
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Date: 2008-06-06 05:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 06:22 pm (UTC)*blinks*
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Date: 2008-06-06 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 06:45 pm (UTC)The Angelus episodes in S2 BtVS are some of the best hours of TV on any show, ever, IMO. And that is in large part due to how *good* DB's Angelus was. Charismatic, sexy, and truly believably evil. He brought a real menace to that role that really brought his scenes to a whole other level.
It puzzled me then, and still puzzles me now, because I've never seen such a contrast between an actor's abilities. I mean, DB had already gotten better since S1, but his scenes as Angelus are as good as anything I've ever seen done on TV--and very far from his actual personality. Whereas his S2 and S3 scenes as Angel are still problematic, though DB has the natural charisma and screen presence to cover those flaws.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 07:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 08:43 pm (UTC)David Morrissey: I need them to dance! They can't not dance. (And it's Victorian England, is it not? It might just be the first Christmas Special I actually like...)
no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 09:03 pm (UTC)anyone who can read the end of Gilbert, Matthew's leavetaking of Dream and the last Dream-Death moment without chocking has no soul.
I agree on the two first ones, Gilbert especially, but I'm afraid Dream mostly causes me to want to hit him. It's just what the character invokes in me. I love him, I do, but such a slap-worthy ... entity. (Ah, for rational reactions to fictional creations. :))
no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 05:40 am (UTC)David Morrissey: I need them to dance! They can't not dance.
My thoughts precisely! And yes, that's supposed to be the historical.
Dream is eminently slap-worthy (which is one of the many reasons why I adore Thessaly, and of course love it when Nada finally has a go at him in "Seasons of Mist", in the "so maybe I was wrong in condemming you to hell for a couple of millennia" scene), but I get chocked up in that scene nonetheless.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 09:29 am (UTC)(English was a little better, fwiw. Lord of the Flies and The Great Gatsby beat Effi Briest every time.)
Dream is eminently slap-worthy (which is one of the many reasons why I adore Thessaly, and of course love it when Nada finally has a go at him in "Seasons of Mist", in the "so maybe I was wrong in condemming you to hell for a couple of millennia" scene), but I get chocked up in that scene nonetheless.
Ah, Dream and his, er, "unique" way of dealing with relationship obstacles. One of the things that endeared Gaiman to me was that he usually let's the women comment extensively on that - and not only them - and that we really aren't meant to think Dream is right in what he does.
And yes, I unashamedly admit that I bawled like a child at that scene, but it doesn't change that I was incredibly angry at Dream, because he caused it all himself. And I know that's the point, but still! I think it's a testament to the character writing, because I do react to him like I would to someone I actually know and care about, and disagree fundamentally with. (I've noticed lately that this is pretty much exactly my reaction to Locke as well.)
no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 10:52 am (UTC)One of the things that endeared Gaiman to me was that he usually let's the women comment extensively on that - and not only them - and that we really aren't meant to think Dream is right in what he does.
Same here. Also, I think the opening and ending of Brief Lives are a great show not tell of contrasting two very different types of grief. In the first instance, while Dream is genuinenly upset about Thessaly leaving him, he's also posing, big time, with the ongoing rain in the Dreaming and the posture, and Marvin is rightfully sarcastic about it. Whereas at the end when he's absolutely devastated about Orpheus he is so quietly, and is nice to Nuala and others before that.
I think it's a testament to the character writing, because I do react to him like I would to someone I actually know and care about, and disagree fundamentally with. (I've noticed lately that this is pretty much exactly my reaction to Locke as well.)
I call this the Londo Mollari effect myself, but yes, Locke is another good example. (And Sloane.)
no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 11:08 am (UTC):D! To be honest, I don't know if we would have done it if we had had our regular teacher, but she was gravely ill the first year and we had a substitute, maybe that's why we used LotF. On the other hand, Catcher in the Rye was a book I did in eleventh grade for a book assignment. *shrugs*
Also, I think the opening and ending of Brief Lives are a great show not tell of contrasting two very different types of grief. In the first instance, while Dream is genuinenly upset about Thessaly leaving him, he's also posing, big time, with the ongoing rain in the Dreaming and the posture, and Marvin is rightfully sarcastic about it. Whereas at the end when he's absolutely devastated about Orpheus he is so quietly, and is nice to Nuala and others before that.
Yes.
I call this the Londo Mollari effect myself, but yes, Locke is another good example. (And Sloane.)
Can't say much about Londo, but Sloane is definitely more like Ben for me, I think because they are both so very adept at playing their game. They seldom feel human to me, even when they have vulnerable moments, and I relate less to them as people - I see them as players, if that makes any sense. It's still a character type I like a lot, but they usually engage me differently. I think it might be a reason why I feel a lot more uncomfortable about some of Locke's decisions than about Ben's.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 12:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 12:56 pm (UTC)And Edmund the base shall top the legitimate. ..
Date: 2008-06-07 04:04 pm (UTC)I'd stay away from the Lear/daughters contingents, though, who naturally have vicious flamewars among themselves.
I'd probably read some of the sister/sister stuff, though, just wouldn't admit it.
The people who write Fool-centric gen, of course, look down on everyone.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 04:06 pm (UTC)Re: And Edmund the base shall top the legitimate. ..
Date: 2008-06-07 04:13 pm (UTC)Also, the Fool-centric gen writers live happily in their gen-ness until a Timelord from Gallifrey is cast as the Fool next to Sir Ian McKellan as Lear. Sir Ian brings on the slasher contingent from his other fandoms, and Sylvester McCoy brings on the Old Who contingent who writes fic wherein the Fool is the Seventh Doctor in disguise which means they must ship him with Cordelia, and suddenly slash and het both have invaded.
*This was brought to you by this:
Re: And Edmund the base shall top the legitimate. ..
Date: 2008-06-07 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-07 05:40 pm (UTC)And if Lear were a fandom, I would so belong to the snobbish Fool-gen crowd!
no subject
Date: 2008-06-08 06:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-08 06:42 am (UTC)Less convincing in what sense? I'd agree that there isn't a single character in Lear whose psychology is developed in the way that Hamlet or Iago or Othello the Macbeths are -- and I probably find Lear as a central character the least interesting of all of them -- but every time I read it or see it I'm blown away by the scale and complexity of the exercise -- the number of voices and viewpoints clamoring to be heard -- which makes it feel more like the histories, or even some of the comedies, than it does like the other big tragedies.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-08 04:59 pm (UTC)And -- speaking of your icon -- I'm glad to see that there are other fans of Slings & Arrows around on LJ.
Slings & Arrows
Date: 2008-06-09 12:54 am (UTC)Not surprisingly, people who write in this fandom tend to produce amazing stories.
Re: Slings & Arrows
Date: 2008-06-09 06:10 pm (UTC)