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selenakJudging by the squees everywhere about Soul Purpose, I take it last night's ep was good. Not that I'm jealous, of course. Who, me? Never. Ignore the green.
I did check on the Harm's Way reviews over at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
mutant_allies and noticed this episode seems to divide fandom much the same way Storyteller did, or the Ferengi episodes on DS9, or an episode like And now for a word... on B5. What all of these have in common is that they choose the perspective of
non-heroic outsiders, I suppose, and usually don't show the regulars in their best light. More often than not, they also carry an element of parody in them. Quark's "the line has to be drawn here!" speech in The Dogs of War is basically Sisko's Grand Heroic speech from the season 5 finale, sent up; similarily, Quark's encounter with the Prophets in Prophet Motive is one of the few times when DS9 dares to be tongue-in-cheek with the Prophets themselves, and gives us a pov character who behaves disrespectful - it's a decided contrast to the awe-stricken encounters of Sisko. The Zeppo includes a deliberate parody of the season 3 Buffy/Angel scenes from Xander's pov, and Storyteller sends up Buffy/Spike, the fanfic version. (It also sends up the fannish tendency to see slash everywhere, with Andrew commenting on the Spike/Wood UST.) I suppose this is off-putting for fans who want their show to be taken seriously and take itself seriously. The thing is, for me, all this parody elements aren't off-putting because they're obviously written and played with great affection for the serious stuff. Plus the camp is - to me - mingled very well with more serious elements - Andrew gets his breakthrough to accepting responsibility. Harmony actually gets someone to listen to her.
Plus the unusual perspectives, to me, are fascinating. Take The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father from B5's fifth season. I do recall some complaints along the lines of "why waste an entire episode on a non-regular like Bester - a villainous non-regular at that - when the show is drawing to its close". For me, the justification wasn't just that Bester is interesting but that the change of perspective is something which allows a writer to challenge perceptions. Harm's Way is strictly Harmony: The Episode; we never leave her pov, and in yesterday's entry I wrote why I think that adds something to the overall show. The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father is Al Bester, Psi Cop: The Episode, with Babylon 5 as the guest location, and it's quite a revelation - with the exception of Dr. Franklin, the B5 crew comes across as a bigots, and as opposed to Bester, loathed visitor, you get Bester, hero of young interns and responsible mentor who does not exploit their infatuation.
(You also get Bester the ruthless instructor in regarding mundanes as expendable. But that is counter balanced by Zack asking earlier what was bad about a killer who murders members of Psi Corps, thus displaying an equally reprehensible "the only good Psi Cop is a dead Psi Cop" mentality, something which is not lost on Lauren.)
Speaking of telepaths, look what I found out:
*Whines* But I do not like baseball, let alone baseball bats! And I suppose the ex girlfriend must be![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
honorh, acting on those marriage proposals I accepted after the B5 story. Or maybe on the John Cusack kidnapping. A superhero's life is a dangerous one...
I did check on the Harm's Way reviews over at
mutant_allies and noticed this episode seems to divide fandom much the same way Storyteller did, or the Ferengi episodes on DS9, or an episode like And now for a word... on B5. What all of these have in common is that they choose the perspective of non-heroic outsiders, I suppose, and usually don't show the regulars in their best light. More often than not, they also carry an element of parody in them. Quark's "the line has to be drawn here!" speech in The Dogs of War is basically Sisko's Grand Heroic speech from the season 5 finale, sent up; similarily, Quark's encounter with the Prophets in Prophet Motive is one of the few times when DS9 dares to be tongue-in-cheek with the Prophets themselves, and gives us a pov character who behaves disrespectful - it's a decided contrast to the awe-stricken encounters of Sisko. The Zeppo includes a deliberate parody of the season 3 Buffy/Angel scenes from Xander's pov, and Storyteller sends up Buffy/Spike, the fanfic version. (It also sends up the fannish tendency to see slash everywhere, with Andrew commenting on the Spike/Wood UST.) I suppose this is off-putting for fans who want their show to be taken seriously and take itself seriously. The thing is, for me, all this parody elements aren't off-putting because they're obviously written and played with great affection for the serious stuff. Plus the camp is - to me - mingled very well with more serious elements - Andrew gets his breakthrough to accepting responsibility. Harmony actually gets someone to listen to her.
Plus the unusual perspectives, to me, are fascinating. Take The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father from B5's fifth season. I do recall some complaints along the lines of "why waste an entire episode on a non-regular like Bester - a villainous non-regular at that - when the show is drawing to its close". For me, the justification wasn't just that Bester is interesting but that the change of perspective is something which allows a writer to challenge perceptions. Harm's Way is strictly Harmony: The Episode; we never leave her pov, and in yesterday's entry I wrote why I think that adds something to the overall show. The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father is Al Bester, Psi Cop: The Episode, with Babylon 5 as the guest location, and it's quite a revelation - with the exception of Dr. Franklin, the B5 crew comes across as a bigots, and as opposed to Bester, loathed visitor, you get Bester, hero of young interns and responsible mentor who does not exploit their infatuation.
(You also get Bester the ruthless instructor in regarding mundanes as expendable. But that is counter balanced by Zack asking earlier what was bad about a killer who murders members of Psi Corps, thus displaying an equally reprehensible "the only good Psi Cop is a dead Psi Cop" mentality, something which is not lost on Lauren.)
Speaking of telepaths, look what I found out:
*Whines* But I do not like baseball, let alone baseball bats! And I suppose the ex girlfriend must be
honorh, acting on those marriage proposals I accepted after the B5 story. Or maybe on the John Cusack kidnapping. A superhero's life is a dangerous one...
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mmm, pov
Date: 2004-01-22 03:03 pm (UTC)However! Lower Decks is probably my favorite TNG episode ever, and I whole-heartedly support POV episodes. After all, I was always a great proponent of them doing a Dawnized version of S1/S2 with her trying to figure out what was wrong with her sister.
And yo, what's wrong with baseball bats? Fine balance, good craftmanship, nice sound when they connect with the flesh of thine enemy. What's not to love?
Re: mmm, pov
Date: 2004-01-23 04:22 am (UTC)The big flaw of the baseball bat would be that I can't handle it. Can't I do that chocking-mine-enemy stuff our boy is so good at?
Re: mmm, pov
Date: 2004-01-23 07:15 am (UTC)Ah, well I *suppose* that if you can't be like Benji, Anakin is perfectly suitable as a replacement.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-22 09:03 pm (UTC)True and...
Date: 2004-01-22 11:34 pm (UTC)