Alias question, LotR-connected recs, and a DS9 review

[selenak]

Okay, a question to all Alias fans, of which there seem to be quite a lot: I've been reading intriguing comments on this show in the lj world for more than a year now. Here are the somewhat conflicting impressions I got: Buffy with spies instead of vampires; La Femme Nikita, only better/worse; owes something to Run Lola Run; the most intriguing characters are people nicknamed Spy Mommy and Spy Daddy, a KGB agent and CIA agent respectively who somehow spawned the heroine of the show. Correct or misled?

Also: since I'm now curious enough, is it possible to get a season or two of this show on DVD in Europe?


Here is a cool discussion of the scene in RotK (the film) where Frodo sends Sam away, how this scene was interpreted by fandom; of the characters (Frodo, Sam and Gollum) in general, and how a slash-only reading (i.e. a reading that does not see slash as an interpretation but as the only interpretation) can be detrimental to the overall impression of the story. Choice excerpt:

So I guess I'm beginning to feel like F/S can be too focused on, elevated in ways it shouldn't be. It's sad, but the story states pretty clearly that their friendship is not any ultimate solution. Maybe this is another reason Sam seems like the more accessible character. Not only are his deeds easier to understand, but his needs are too. Why can't Frodo just return Sam's adoration? But the thing is he can't and he shouldn't. He loves Sam but he's focused in the other direction. (...) Here I'm not talking about elevating one character over another, but I think this quote is related to the elevation of F/S above the real quest. Sam is the easier character for slash and fanfic purposes, but he's not the ideal to which all characters in the story should aspire. His devotion to Frodo is a very special role that's essential to the quest, but it isn't the quest in itself.

Two terrific interviews of the actors, one with Sean Astin, and a corresponding interview with Elijah Wood. butterfly, Sean Astin is as irritated with the "true hero" thing as we are.

I've learned the Gone With The Wind story I've recced some days ago was written by bonibaru, she who creates beautiful vids. She also started a most amazing thing, a Gone With The Wind/Harry Potter crossover that actually works!

Lastly, one of my christmas presents was the DS9 anthology Prophecy and Change, which is basically printed fanfiction. I reviewed it here.

Comments

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

Buffy with spies instead of vampires; La Femme Nikita, only better/worse; owes something to Run Lola Run; the most intriguing characters are people nicknamed Spy Mommy and Spy Daddy, a KGB agent and CIA agent respectively who somehow spawned the heroine of the show. Correct or misled?

Also: since I'm now curious enough, is it possible to get a season or two of this show on DVD in Europe?


Well, I like both Alias and Buffy/Angel quite a bit, but for different reasons. Alias is far more plot-driven and conspiracy-driven than Buffy ever was. Alias has an emotional tenor closer to early X-Files; I care about the characters, but they are secondary to the cliffhangers, unveilings, and double-crosses. Alias exists more-or-less in our world, though it does have a lot of James-Bond-style whatever technology (TM TWOP). There is a tiny bit of the flavor of prophecy that permeates Angel, but that takes a while to unfold.

I've never watched La Femme Nikita, but I am under the impression that Nikita worked in relative isolation. Spy Barbie (TM TWOP) is surrounded by regular and recurring characters who make up the plot and emotional landscape of the show.

It's got a bit of a feel of Run Lola Run in the pilot episode particularly, but there is no "go back and change time and run a lot" feel to it. You want that, you gotta watch Tru Calling (to which I can only say - Eliza, honey, you should have done Faith the Vampire Slayer instead).

I can't spoil you on Spy Momsky and Spy Daddy - you need to watch to get the backstory on that.

A quick glance at amazon.co.uk shows a region 2 release of the first season (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AVB6Y/qid=1073148801/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_11_1/202-1588963-9092651). Don't know when the second would be available. But the first season is quite good and stands well enough on its own that I can recommend it wholeheartedly.

[asta77.livejournal.com]

Alias is far more plot-driven and conspiracy-driven than Buffy ever was. Alias has an emotional tenor closer to early X-Files; I care about the characters, but they are secondary to the cliffhangers, unveilings, and double-crosses. Alias exists more-or-less in our world, though it does have a lot of James-Bond-style whatever technology (TM TWOP). There is a tiny bit of the flavor of prophecy that permeates Angel, but that takes a while to unfold.

Well, I think this superbly sums up Alias in comparison to the other shows and I agree completely. Buffy I watched primarily for the characters; Alias I got hooked on because of the stories being told. It's a brilliantly twisty show. And one that JJ Abrams has 'reinvented' twice already in it's relatively brief life.

I do believe you could start watching the show with season 3 and understand the basics of it. Yet, you'd miss out on the significance of the little things and the incresingly rich emotional history of the show (I think you would be fascinated by Jack and Irina's complicated relationship). Therefore, I'd recommend watching from the beginning.

Now, I tried repeatedly to get into LFM, but failed. The show just left me cold. I can't enjoy a show devoid of emotion no matter how many neat plot twists they may throw in. I need to care about the fate of the characters and it boggles my mind why anyone cared whether Nikita, Michael, etc lived or died.

While I'm not as emotionally invested in Alias as I was with Buffy, I do give a damn as to what happens to these characters. Without spoiling you, Sydney Bristow's life can be just as heartbreaking as Buffy's.

Alias

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Synopsis: Sydney Bristow kicks butt. Smart, hot, and did I mention kicking butt? And it runs in the family. What else do you need to know?

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Buffy with spies instead of vampires;

More or less...Like Buffy, it uses outlandish, sci/fi-ish extremes to deal with real-life problems, here mostly family-related. Like Buffy, no matter how much disbelief you have to suspend throughout the run of the series, the characters themselves are always completely believable, which helps you accept the other stuff.

La Femme Nikita, only better/worse;

Haven't seen it, although I've heard there are some parallels, but most places I've seen concede that Alias is the better show, including some people who liked Nikita better, meaning that their favorite show is still LFN, but they admit that the writing and acting is better on Alias.

owes something to Run Lola Run;

Not really. The closest I could think is the pilot episode where one of Sydney's covers is as a girl with orange hair. Other than that, um, no, not really.

the most intriguing characters are people nicknamed Spy Mommy and Spy Daddy, a KGB agent and CIA agent respectively who somehow spawned the heroine of the show.

Yes, to a certain degree. They're never called Spy Mommy and Spy Daddy in the series. They are Irina Derevko (cover name Laura Bristow) and Jack Bristow, and they are among the most intriguing characters on the show, but IMO the most intriguing are Sloane and Sark, but I won't spoil for you who they are.

I definitely recommend you watch it. It's one of my favorite shows...but I strongly recommend you watch every episode in order, because it's even more complicated than X-Files--there are no episodes that break away from the main arc completely and the mythology is incredibly complex, to the point that now in year 3 we don't understand all of it fully--and even harder to join mid-story than Buffy. It's well-worth seeing all of them though, because it's immensely fun: the actiony stuff, the character-driven stuff and the absolutely jaw-dropping plot twists, some of which forever change the show. And when this show drops a bombshell that "forever changes it," it really does, unlike some shows that promote something like that and then go back on it.

Anyway, the first season is available in Europe. Here's (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AVB6Y/qid=1073150181/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_11_1/026-5202678-8985255) a link. The second isn't yet, but it came out in the U.S. only months after the first, so I assume you guys will be getting the second, which is even better than the first, pretty soon.

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

Ah, I must concur with this statement:

I strongly recommend you watch every episode in order, because it's even more complicated than X-Files--there are no episodes that break away from the main arc completely and the mythology is incredibly complex, to the point that now in year 3 we don't understand all of it fully--and even harder to join mid-story than Buffy.

Very important to watch all the eps in the correct order and not miss any.

re: Frodo and Sam

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. I agree very much with the post, particularly in this case where slash is such a relatively new concept compared to when this book was originally written. Sam and Frodo were not intended in any way to be a gay relationship. I wouldn't say that it cheapens the story to slash them because of the gay aspect. That would imply that the case would be different if Sam and Frodo were a male and a female who were friends; that it wouldn't cheapen the story if it was a straight relationship, when the fact is, it would. Entering any sort of sexuality into this section of the story cheapens it, because it is about issues and almost Platonic ideals far more important than if there is an attraction between the characters. That reduces all of the actions that they take into questioning whether it is because of an underlying sexual subtext (Frodo "choosing" Gollum over Sam, for instance, and for anyone whose mind goes there, may I say "Ewwwww!!"?) when the true focus of the story is the ring, the effect it is having on Frodo, and Sam's extreme loyalty and (non-sexual) love of Frodo in protecting his friend, both due to his friendship with him and due to his promise to Gandalf to take care of him. There are stories where gay subtext can enrich and even add new depth to a relationship, such as between Spike and Angel (for the record, I don't think that there was an actual sexual relationship, but there is some definite sexual tension between them, due to the intertwininess of their relationships with Dru among other things), but this story just does not lend itself to it. Frodo is the knight, and Sam is the good, loyal, faithful squire; Frodo bears the weight of the quest in protecting the ring, and Sam protects Frodo.

Re: Frodo and Sam

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Frodo "choosing" Gollum over Sam, for instance, and for anyone whose mind goes there, may I say "Ewwwww!!"

LOL! Some people are twisted. aren't they?

I prefer a platonic Frodo+Sam relationship myself, but then I'm the canon queen. That said, I do believe that Sam is in love with Frodo in a platonic sense of that term. Does that make sense?

Re: Frodo and Sam

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

That said, I do believe that Sam is in love with Frodo in a platonic sense of that term. Does that make sense?

Absolutely! I think it's a great, rare example in film of a friendship in which two male characters are shown to love each other deeply, and completely platonically. A great deal of their love for each other, I think also probably has to do with how each one reminds the other of home and the Shire, and the life and world they are trying to save.

Well...

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I think Sam is more platonically in love with Frodo than Frodo is platonically in love with Sam. Sam has this devotion that goes beyond, "I'm your servant back in the Shire." It goes beyond, "You have a mission and I'm going to support you." It's very, very personal. It's all about Frodo. It's just not sexual.

And I think that what brings it into sharp relief is that Frodo is almost completely oblivious to it.

[lakrids404.livejournal.com]

They have just send the last episode of season 1 of Alias, on Danish national TV, and what a cliff hanger ending. I am trying to stay spoiler free, when it comes to Alias, but even now do I find that Sloane is one of the most interesting character. He is as far from being a hero as you can come corrupt, manipulative, ruthless etc. But sometime do you feel for the man and perhaps understand him, just after that he usually disappoint you, good stuff.
I never got into the serie LFN, I thought it looked to cheap, compared to the original French movie. The Alias settings can be rather impressive in their range and change of scenery.

Frodo and Sam
A couple days ago, I heard on the radio, a 16 year old, talk about his view of RotK. Which he said he found scenes with Frodo and Sam to be to gay. But he liked the scenes with Aragon, and he did not sound like a guy that read to much fanfic.

[kathyh]

Many thanks for the link to the ROTK discussion which managed to articulate a lot of my problems with Frodo/Sam slash rather better than I can.