Fictional Females Squee

[selenak]

Damages and The Good Wife continue to make me very happy. The former, after a mixed second season, currently has a wonderful third one, and the Patty-Ellen (which is damn near Patty/Ellen now) interplay just makes me purr. Also the mystery this season is something the audience is really emotionally invested in. Last season, one of the problems was that the set-up at the start - did Ellen just shoot Patty? - was too obvious a fake-out. (If Ellen had genuinenly so, they wouldn't have given it away this early.) This year, the question is "zomg what happened to Tom?" and as yours truly and presumably a lot of viewers care about Tom Shayes, this is really a good macguffin. Moreover, we're not constantly switching antagonists; the Tobin family plus Martin Short is given time to be explored. Rose Byrnes isn't so frighteningly thin anymore, and Ellen's relationship with Patty grows ever more complex. And the show still continues to avoid all the usual clichés female leads can be burdened with. Glenn Close continuing to be awesome goes without saying.

The Good Wife makes me purr as well. Well, unless there's a scene between Will and Alicia, because Will rapidly fills the Bill-Adama-shaped hole in my life. (As in: character I want to slap each time I see him.) Thankfully, there aren't many of these, and instead lots of Alicia and Kalinda, and Diane (last episode matching wits with a character played by Gary Cole, which made the American Gothic fan in me squee, plus his character actually was cool, and I hope this wasn't the last time we've seen him). Three female regulars, each of them complex in her own right, and all with their own agendas. And the relationship between two of them as the key relationship of the show. This show is just quietly demonstrating that you can pass the Bechdel test all the time. (Also? I'll take the way they play Kalinda's sexuality any time over the tired old House/Wilson "ha ha ha, we're joking" stick.)

To round off the squee, a couple of days ago I saw that The Sarah Jane Adventures have been granted a fourth and fifth season by the BBC, which made me go "hooray!" in RTD/Julie/Phil Collinson audio commentary style. It's just such a lovely show, and I don't want to say goodbye to Rani, Luke, Clyde and Sarah Jane for a long, long while.

Comments

[jesuswasbatman]

Possibly the actor may not be available, but NEEDS MOAR MICHAEL. I want to know how he's planning to turn the divorce to his own advantage. I hadn't thought of "did Ellen really shoot Patty" as one of the problems with the last season, but can definitely see it now you mention it.

I still resent fandom for the lack of Damages fic, although it would be seriously difficult to write. I also wonder if the amount of mystery and plot twisting in the series puts people off writing fic for fear of being rendered non-canon-compliant.

[selenak]

Michael has only been in one episode so far, though he's been referenced in most of the other, so it might really be a question of actor availability.

Fanfiction: I hear you. Have you read the Yuletide-posted story I recced back then, which is long and plotty and really well written?