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selenak: (Werewolf by khall_stuff)
[personal profile] selenak
Nina and Annie love won out, plus I didn't want to end my watching with the s2 cliffhanger. As it turned out, this was the right decision because the s3 opener dealt with one of my major, major s2 issues very satisfyingly.



Just so we're clear, I'm still on Team Stake Mitchell Now. However, s2 left me raging along the lines of "how many chances is Mitchell supposed to get, and at the expense of how many lives?" and disappointed that what I took at first as a critique of the Saved By Your Love cliché (the Mitchell/Lucy relationship) might have been that but then the show still seemed to exculpate Mitchell because he showed up in time to save his friends, zomg, and thus was saved by their love, etc. Whereas the s3 opener had Mitchell's guide/victim neatly tear up one excuse after another, and this time the narrative definitely went with it. Mitchell did his usual routine of excuses, he was a victim himself, he was depressed, it wasn't his fault, it's a compulsion, Daisy made him do it etc., and they were shown up as just that, excuses, and hollow ones at that. And they weren't accepted.

Incidentally, I felt somewhat reassured early on when Mitchell cought that bit of news about the investigation of his underground massacre while looking for Annie; the identity of his "guide" wasn't that hard to guess then (it had to be one of his victims, and since the show had taken care to remind us of that incredible crap he pulled (depression about Lucy having lied to him = reason to massacre everyone in sight in a tube), it stood to reason she had to be one of the underground passengers rather than an earlier victim. Confronting a vampire with past sins isn't a new idea, of course, but it still was executed so very, very well, complete with pointing out gender disparaty before we even got to the underground - Mitchell angsts about Arthur and took the trouble to poison him before biting him, but Sally had to serve for sex as well as for dinner. Victim indeed. Mind you, it's the perfect portrayal of an addict. His addiction and everything he does to fuel it is always someone else's fault. So the show being so crystal clear that this wasn't good enough was a big relief, as was spelling out that Mitchell questing after Annie and trying to save her in no way made up for the people he killed.

(BTW: could have done without Annie being purely in the damsel role here, but I'm open-minded because everyting else was so good in the opener, so the optimist in me hopes she'll get her own agenda in the next episodes.)

Meanwhile, on the werewolf front, everything was fine. George hopefully left his much of s2 annoyingness behind for good, and Nina was fabulous. Loved her making it clear to Mitchell and George both that they should treat the dying patient with respect. (Hooray for not forgetting Nina is a professional medic, show!) Loved her saving George from the cell in the nick of time while having to outrun her own impending transformation, loved them channelling werewolf aggressiveness via sex and thus avoiding killing each other while they were locked up in the cellar. (A minor note of concern here: while I'm pretty sure Nina is on the pill as a human, this might not count while she's a wolf, and I'd rather not get a pregnancy storyline, show, okay?) George praying for the patient (did he say kaddosh or was that another prayer, oh list?) and slapping down Mitchell's objection with "tough" was great, too. And of course the show wouldn't be the show if they hadn't presented us with another sight of Russell Tovey in the nude. :)

New characters: lol it's Rhys Williams. (I'm sure Kai Owen had fun in that cameo.) Also we have a new local werwolf & son, and I suspect the show might go for a reverse of the Mitchell situation in Bristol, i.e. here George will have to work out a modus vivendi with the local werewolves. Who after what MacAnair just went through can't be too keen on vampires.

Which brings me to: prophecy of doom. Well, methinks it's pretty clear. The show will lead us to believe at various points through the season it won't be George but either Nina or the new characters who'll be the "werewolf-shaped bullet" for Mitchell, but of course, angsty drama being what it is, it will be George in the end, probably in a Londo/G'Kar fashion. And then, depending on whether or not they get a fourth season, it's either truly curtain time for Mitchell or (if there is a fourth season) Annie, mirroring his quest here, will retrieve him from the underworld. (Especially since the opener also threw heavy Mitchell/Annie hints at us.) Since, see above, I'm still on team Stake Mitchell Now (sorry, but as his underground victims pointed out, they each had lives), I'm biased, but I do think the show should bite the bullet, no pun intended, and actually go through with Mitchell dying regardless of whether they get another season or not. It would make storytelling sense, given Mitchell's characterisation through two seasons now I don't think they can convince us he'll ever be permanently on the wagon, and there are only so many times you can show him go on a rampage again and feeling ever so sorry afterwards. Whereas George killing him at Mitchell's own request - the only way to be really sure he won't slaughter people again - would mean redemption, and by now I think George could do it without breaking apart afterwards.

Still on a bloody note, something for Shakespeareans: much like the poster I'm linking, I love MacBeth, and hold it not mutually exclusive with making fun of it. The Scottish Play, Short Version . Enjoy.:)
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