My Top Ten Fannish Highlights of 2008

[selenak]

In no particular order of preference.

1) Torchwood, season 2. Which came as a real surprise. I had liked individual season 1 episodes, but if it hadn't been a DW spin-off, I probably wouldn't have continued watching. Season 2, by contrast, wasn't perfect, but it gets a gold star for most improved show since the previous season, in terms of character dynamics (in s2, the TW crew came across as still dysfunctional but genuinenly liking each other), individual characterisation, and a balance between gloom and humour. Not to mention that as opposed to the evil-only aliens in s1, we got some sympathetic aliens as well as a sense of aliens embodying wonder instead of of threat (in A Day in the Death). If I had to single out individual episodes: Reset for best use of the entire ensemble as well as a good use of Martha as the guest star (I hope that wasn't Hammond's last episode for TW), A Day in the Death for Burn Gorman's most outstanding performance as Owen Harper (we got the extremes of Owen's character here, from the capacity for viciousness - in the scene where he lashes out at Tosh and breaks his fingers - to the capacity for compassion and the ability to hope again, in his scenes with Henry and Maggie) and for being the highlight and summation of the Owen arc, and Something Borrowed for being the funniest episode of the season, a great showcase for Eve Myles as Gwen (again, covering the full spectrum from comedic hormone-driven rants to bravery under pressure, when she rescues her mother) and a happy ending for my TW OTP, Gwen/Rhys.

2) The Shape of Things To Come, Lost, season 4. Lost's fourth season was cut short through the strike but as opposed to some other shows coped with this remarkably well. The third season finale had brought a big change via the first use of flashforwards instead of flashbacks, and season 4 employed them in full measure; one could even argue that by time it ends, the island stories are the flashbacks. Of the many combinations of looks into the future/present time and events on the island, my favourite episode wasn't the one singled out most fans, The Constant (though that was a fine episode, no question about it), but The Shape of Things To Come, which was a tour de force for Michael Emerson, as in the island scenes Ben's ability to predict and manipulate his opponents fails him in a fatal, fatal way and in the off-island future story the audience keeps switching between admiration and horror as we see the consequences he drew from this.

3) Iron Man: my favourite comic book adaption of the year (pace, The Dark Knight fans). It captured the essence of the comic book character while remembering it had to be a movie in its own right, not just an illustration, offered good acting, character exploration, fun, suspense and seriousness in a good mixture.

4) Doctor Who, season 4: has become my favourite New Who season, featuring my favourite New Who Doctor/Companion team. I've already written essays as to why, and why the buddy movie principle works better for this particular show than the two leads in a romance and/or unrequited love story structure, so let me just say briefly that Donna Noble and the Tenth Doctor just clicked with me both in terms of actor interplay and writing. There was no episode I didn't rewatch, or which I disliked (as opposed to s1 - The Long Game, grrr, arggh - s2 - Tooth and Claw, headdesk - or s3 - 42 is just dull, which is a pity since it's probably the episode which shows the Doctor's concern for Martha best. If I have to single out season 4 episodes: The Fires of Pompeii for best illustration why the DoctorDonna dynamic is so great, and for managing to get a historical catastrophe across in a non-trivializing and very real way (I've seen various movies using the end of Pompeii as their grand climax, but I always felt distanced; not here), Midnight (that was the big surprise of the season to me, in fact), which was experimental, taut, offered terrific acting especially by Lesley Sharp and David Tennant, and scared me more than any other episode this season, and The Unicorn and the Wasp for the sheer fun of it, which while being DW at its silliest nonetheless made its central guest character, Agatha Christie, feel three dimensional and gave her great character moments (not just for her but for our regulars) with both Donna and the Doctor.

5) Astonishing X-Men, Unstoppable: the fourth and final arc of Joss Whedon's run concludes. I stand by my claim that AXM is the best thing he did since Buffy (and Angel, but Angel was just as imprinted by first David Greenwalt and then Tim Minear), and better than any of his other comics efforts. It used the established X-Men characters - Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Logan, Hank McCoy and Pjotr Rasputin - in an excellent way, with great interaction. (The outstanding inter-X-men relationships for me were probably Emma and Kitty, from their first encounter in Gifted, which made Emma's backstory as a villain very real via Kitty's reaction, to their last in Unstoppable where Emma was in telepathic contact with Kitty throughout Kitty's sacrifice; and Emma and Scott, who in all other incarnations by other writers never click with me as a couple the way they do when Joss writes them.) The new characters Joss invented - Kavita Rao, Hisako, Wing, Danger, Abigail Brand - all gained a life of their own while adding to the "regulars" via their interaction with them. In Unstoppable specifically, Logan's mentoring of Hisako is a great take on the tried and true "Wolverine and a teenage girl = win" formula, and as you may have noticed, trusted reader, Brand/Hank became a favourite pairing of mine. Seriously, I was surprised people were surprised when Brand propositioned to our Dr. McCoy in the last issue of Unstoppable because I had started to ship them from issue 2 onwards. So yes: Unstoppable was one of my absolute fannish highlights this year.

6) Battlestar Galactica, The Hub and Revelations: The fourth season had pacing problems and episodes that drove me up the wall (Sine Qua Non, I'm looking at you), but it also had some great aspects, such as yet another fascinating Six model, Natalie or the return of D'Anna. And two of my favourite episodes for the show overall, The Hub and the mid season finale, Revelations. The Hub is a Laura Roslin character episode in which scriptwriter Jane Espenson finally matches the standard of her BTVS scripts with something that manages to be deep, funny, scary and layered at the same time while also moving the overall story further in several crucial ways. Revelations by contrast is more an ensemble episode, as befits a semi-finale, with everyone getting outstanding moments, from Saul Tigh's talk with Bill Adama to Gaius Baltar asking Laura Roslin to let him talk to D'Anna on humanity's behalf and Laura agreeing (oh, and Baltar succeeding with this) to Lee Adama's "it happened before, but it doesn't have to happen again" to the punchline of a tag scene.

7) Hamlet as produced by the RSC in Stratford, co-starring one David Tennant and one Patrick Stewart. *waves at bimo, who saw it with me* It was a great production in any case, but seeing two of my favourite actors excel in it didn't just make my summer, but my theatre-going year. (If you want details again, my review is here.)

8) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: after a superb first season, the second season shows no sign of a sophomore slump but remains thoughtful, layered and fascinating tv which has yet to disappoint me. It never patronizes its watchers (and expects them to pay attention), develops its characters in believable ways, and lets them have their own stories instead of just using them to move the plot forward. Oh, and the season 2 opener, Samson and Delilah, remains the best non-pilot season opener I've watched in a long, long while, from the opening sequence and its outstanding use of music and image onwards.

9) The Sarah Jane Adventures: also had an excellent second season. Alas, there was one two-parter which I disliked, but there was more than enough goodness to make up for it, plus a great and improved ensemble use (not that the first season one was bad, but it became predictable in teaming Sarah Jane up with Maria in one subplot and Luke with Clyde in the other; in s2, everybody interacted with everybody else, and the Sarah Jane-Clyde interaction in particular was a welcome change). My favourite story of the second season was Mark of the Berserker (written by Joseph Lidster), followed closely by Enemy of the Bane (written by Phil Ford).

10) Kirschblüten (Cherry Blossoms): a wonderful, tender movie which should make it outside of Germany but hasn't so far; focusing on a decades long marriage, and loss and on connections, with great, great performances.

Comments

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

my favourite episode wasn't the one singled out most fans

We're probably looking at different parts of the fandom, but I don't think this is entirely right. While I believe The Constant would come up on top on a lot of lists, The Shape of Things to Come was incredibly popular, as is Ben (whom I would bet to be the most popular character on the show by a margin). The winner might nonetheless be the finale, simply because it's fresher in many people's minds.

As for myself, I have wondered why I seem to like Shape so much less than other fans, and I think it's because I dislike the plot twist in the end. I'm not really surprised that a lot of the show boils down to being a game between two old(ish) white guys, but I'm nonetheless not very fond of it.

(pace, The Dark Knight fans)

*g* I know this is not right by any stretch, but I often feel I am the only person who actually disliked Dark Knight. I find Iron Man as a whole far superior, even though TDK had some great moments. It's just - maybe an hour and a few subplots less would have helped? And obviously, having been a huge fan of RDj since forever lends me massive objectivity here, but in all fairness, I would have been disappointed by TDK, even if there hadn't been Iron Man

We do almost completely agree on BSG, although there was another episode I really liked. (And I hate The Ties That Bind even more than Sine Qua Non, although I won't forgive the dog any time soon.)

8) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

I still haven't continued watching, but I have greatly enjoyed reading your reviews.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

as is Ben (whom I would bet to be the most popular character on the show by a margin).

I'm willing to take that bet and suggest that Sawyer is the most popular character (based on how often he appears in fanfic and in icons by Lost fans), and that a lot of people, notably Sayid and Charlie and yes, your guy Desmond, too, are more popular then Ben. Hell, dead Boone might be more popular. (Again, based on presence in fanfic as linked by Lost newsletters and icons.)

...I'm willing to take your word for The Shape of Things To Come being more popular than I assumed, though.

I often feel I am the only person who actually disliked Dark Knight. I find Iron Man as a whole far superior, even though TDK had some great moments. It's just - maybe an hour and a few subplots less would have helped?

And, err, a lack of making the main female character a classic fridge case, and a not-ignoring of Barbara Gordon in favour of Jim Jnr. I didn't dislike TDK, but I didn't love it, either. My favourite film by Christopher Nolan remains The Prestige; I'll take it over both the Batman films (and Insomnia).

The Ties That Bind: brings back bad memories. Yes. It's just that Sine Qua Non with its assumption that we should sympathize with Adama and his self-indulgent, anti-democratic behaviour galls me more.

Will you start with SCC again?

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

I'm willing to take that bet and suggest that Sawyer is the most popular character (based on how often he appears in fanfic and in icons by Lost fans), and that a lot of people, notably Sayid and Charlie and yes, your guy Desmond, too, are more popular then Ben. Hell, dead Boone might be more popular. (Again, based on presence in fanfic as linked by Lost newsletters and icons.)

I'm basing my view mostly on mainstream media, blogs and internet polls - and going by that, I agree with you, Desmond is very popular, and so is Sayid, but I really think other than a very vocal small group of fans, everyone has moved on from Charlie, and certainly from Boone (in fact, I'm convinced I know more people who still pine for Shannon than for her brother). As for Ben, Michael Emerson is by far the actor who gets the most media coverage, even compared to Josh Holloway (who gets the token "such a hunk!" articles and not much else), and he is massively popular on more general blogs and message boards. I don't think it's surprising, either - he's a great ambiguous/bad guy character, everyone usually loves those.

But as I said (and you said), we seem to be looking at different corners of fandom here, it might be interesting to see a more complete survey.

(ETA: and I think you're right about Sawyer in general being quite popular, I just tend to edit the Triangle Characters out when musing on such things. Can't quite imagine why.)

And, err, a lack of making the main female character a classic fridge case, and a not-ignoring of Barbara Gordon in favour of Jim Jnr. I didn't dislike TDK, but I didn't love it, either. My favourite film by Christopher Nolan remains The Prestige; I'll take it over both the Batman films (and Insomnia).

I think it narrowly beats out BB in terms of female character issues by letting the female cop live and actually giving her some sort of plot (that's more than Martha Wayne got, after all), but the rest is certainly a given. Exchanging Barbara for a boy simply makes no sense, unless we're meant to assume that Bruce is too emotionally stunted to identify with a girl child. This is starting to massively hamper my enjoyment of Christopher Nolan projects, because it's certainly not restricted to the Batman series, either.

The Prestige: yes, although Memento is quite clever and worth watching.

Will you start with SCC again?

Certainly. My TV schedule thankfully is much lighter now that I kicked off a few shows.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

ETA: and I think you're right about Sawyer in general being quite popular, I just tend to edit the Triangle Characters out when musing on such things. Can't quite imagine why.

:) It's been about a year since last I braved TWOP, but I think his section on the board had the most entries, and he definitely rules the icon world, not to mention that if you check the Lost recs at crack_van (as I did after having watched s1 for the first time, looking in vain for some Locke fanfiction), basically every story is Sawyer/Someone. (Sawyer/Jack, Sawyer/Kate, Sawyer/Sayid, take your pick.)

I might be misled re: Charlie by the fact that they do tend to be very vocal, yes.

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

It's been about a year since last I braved TWOP, but I think his section on the board had the most entries

I assume it does, but judging from TWOP, Sark was the most popular character on Alias and Vaughn was really awesome, too. I don't know, I always hope neither the world nor fandom are accurately represented by TWOP. (And hey, judging by TWOP, I could go back to my initial misconception that Desmond isn't all that popular. :P)

basically every story is Sawyer/Someone.

You know, I almost never look at Lost fanfic. This makes me feel I'm not missing out. (I don't want any recs, either, despite yours usually being fabulous. I think about this show enough as it is.)

Another thing: at my current workplace, I pass a giant billboard of Holloway's Davidoff commercial nearly every single day. I can convincingly say I don't get the appeal. He's funny as Sawyer, but apart from that... it's simply not the original.

(I'm also fairly sure I saw some Ben/Juliet, Ben/Locke and some Gen Ben on someone's flist. Will keep an eye out for the Tiny Evil One and report back if I find anything.)


I might be misled re: Charlie by the fact that they do tend to be very vocal, yes.

Another point I will never understand about fandom, but have come to accept as an almost adorable eccentricity: people being totally pissed off that a show did unspeakable things to their favourite, but yet they still won't quit it.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

1. Torchwood really did have such a tight, fabulous second series. They had some flashes of brilliance in S1, but nothing consistent. In S2, they were consistently really great. And, as you mentioned, the team really came together.

PS. The title for the TW wedding episode is "Something Borrowed". I think you may be thinking of BtVS, who did "Something Blue" in S4.

4. Doctor Who's fourth season was almost completely wonderful, though I still think that S2 is my favourite (but you and I disagree on the romance vs. friendship angle... and, as RTD has said, you don't bring him onto a project and not expect romance. I think it's hard-wired into him.). The Doctor and Donna had a wonderful and beautiful chemistry that really never for one moment felt sexual or romantic, but always felt very deep and true. They were spectacular together.

"Midnight" is actually the only episode of Doctor Who that's scared me at all. It was really fantastic. Lesley Sharp is superb (and David, of course, was simply marvelous).

I think that S1 remains the tightest series, S2 is my favourite overall, but S4 runs fairly closely with 1&2. S3 lags a bit behind, but I do love all four series of New Who quite a bit.

7. Oh, yes. Hamlet was so amazing. *sigh* Worth every penny.

8. Sarah Connor is such a smart show. I've been riveted to every episode.

9. I still need to watch this. I think that I'm scared about Maria leaving. I've grown quite attached to her and SJA didn't have the history behind it that DW did. I wanted it to be my fluffy show!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

SJA: It's still fluffy! (In a good way). Feel-good is how I'd put it. Also Maria is in the first two episodes and later on in a mid-season two parter. Plus I think one of the best decisions they made was to change the overall dynamic as a fallout, i.e. Rani, when she shows up, doesn't automatially get Maria's "position" as audience pov and Sarah Jane's primary sidekick; that one switches over to Clyde while Rani establishes her own type of relationships with Luke, Clyde and Sarah Jane. And her parents are fabulous, as is Clyde's mother whom we meet this season.

*edits title of TW episode*

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

It's still fluffy! (In a good way). Feel-good is how I'd put it. Also Maria is in the first two episodes and later on in a mid-season two parter. Plus I think one of the best decisions they made was to change the overall dynamic as a fallout, i.e. Rani, when she shows up, doesn't automatially get Maria's "position" as audience pov and Sarah Jane's primary sidekick; that one switches over to Clyde while Rani establishes her own type of relationships with Luke, Clyde and Sarah Jane.

That does make me feel better about it. I'm glad they don't just trade her out (you'd think that I would trust the showrunners by this point, having liked the emotional continuity of the companion switching, but... apparently not). Thank you!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Agree with most of this. My personal Torchwood favourite was the time loop one with the frozen soldier (sorry, I'm crap at titles), but tastes differ.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

To the Last Man - and yes, that was a great episode, too, definitely best one for Tosh.

[resolute.livejournal.com]

You have such thoughtful memes, yay.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

When I went through the archive last year, I noticed I had done this one and found it was time to do it again...

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Ok, I have to ask...I'm curious as to the reasons for your dislike of Long Game and Tooth and Claw. I'm not a huge fan of the former, though I don't out-and-out dislike it, and I rather enjoy the latter. Other than though, I completely agree with S4 being the best series, and TheDoctorDonna being the best team the new series has had.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

The Long Game: firstly, the very premise - to show Adam as the bad, unworthy companion to Rose as the good one is superfluous. At this point, we already know that Rose is a good time traveller and that she and the Doctor have a great relationship. Secondly, the writing is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, with even Adam telling Rose how she and the Doctor belong together, and the Doctor and Rose coming across as unpleasantly clique-ish. Thirdly, the Doctor's treatment of Adam is childish and irresponsible. Yes, getting the device into his head is Adam's own fault, but leaving him like this isn't funny, it's callous and leaves advanced futuristic technology in a time where it doesn't belong, in other words, just what we saw an episode before (Dalek) causing danger and trouble. Fourthly, this episode contains the sentence I despise more than any other sentence spoken on the show in 40 years. "I take only the best - I take Rose." Come on. It is factually untrue - he picked up companions in all kind of manners and for all sorts of reasons, sometimes by accident (Sarah Jane, for example, was a stowaway), sometimes he downright kidnaps then because he can't be bothered to do something else (Ian and Barbara), sometimes because they need to be rescued from a bad situation, sometimes because he becomes fascinated by the human in question and sometimes just because he's lonely. (And good lord, Adam was hardly the worst behaved first time traveller. Turlough tried to kill him on the first trip and sabotaged the TARDIS on the second.) But he never, ever, did this as some kind of award. And don't get me started on the implication that Rose is somehow among the best or is the best.

Tooth and Claw: the "I'm not amused" running gag isn't funny, pure and simple, but rather obnoxious. I like parts of the episode - the Ninjas in Victorian Scotland are a wonderfully cracky concept just in the right DW manner, the werewolf is great and for once looks like I imagined a werewolf (far better than the Harry Potter film versions), the Doctor's ability to wonder at the beauty of a monster is on full display (and I find that appealing), plus we get a lovely Old Who continuity reference when he introduces himself as "Doctor James McCrimmon" (Jamie McCrimmon, a Highlander from the 18th century, was the Second Doctor's companion and incidentally probably the one with the claim to the most handholding and physical clinging.) But all in all, the Doctor and Rose were just too touristy (as embodied by the unfunny "I am not amused" gag), and also really tactless when joking in front of the widow of the just murdered Sir Robert.

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

Sarah Connor Chronicles is just *amazing*. You're right about that season opener - I had to keep pausing to take a breath. I think its only competitor for non-pilot season opener would be the first episode of the second season of "Supernatural".

Iron Man is a terrific movie - I've just been re-watching over the last few days - because everything in it ties together as either plot or character moments, and, unlike Dark Knight, Iron Man makes *more* sense the more you think about it. I found just about everything to do with the second half of Dark Knight to be dull, illogical and quite poorly done, except for the visuals (with the exception of the passengers on the ferry, NOT the ferry plan itself).

I loved Donna Noble dearly, but other elements of fourth season, especially the final episodes, really ruined it for me. I'm glad to see RTD go, because talking about how something is SO COOL is not the same as making something interesting!