I finished the third season of For All Mankind, and thus all broadcast so far. (Youtube tells me there is a trailer for a fourth season, set in 2003, so this AU will be with us for at least one era more.) Still immensely watcheable, and I loved the big twist of the season premise. Now that's the right way to play with expectations and widen your fictional universe at the same time. (A more spoilery comment beneath the cut.) There were also new Cold War tropes interwoven, which made the The Americans watcher in me go "Are they actually giving (Spoiler) Martha's storyline? They are!". One big unsolved mystery is why, given the season premise, no episode managed to work in Bowie's Life on Mars, but hey. Maybe Moore & Co. thought it was overused by now.

This season is set partly in 1992, partly in 1995, and from an AU pov, it was fascinating to see what alternate or similar developments the show came up with. (Beyond faster technological developments courtesy of the ongoing space race; in this universe, NASA by the 1990s has become financially self sustaining courtesy of marketing their inventions originally made for the space program. This in turn meant electric cars, lap tops, touchscreens and emails happened a whole lot faster than in real life.) One way where society did not develop faster was regarding same sex relationships, which after being a subplot through two seasons involving one of the main astronaut characters becomes a main plot in s3. This is also connected to the general political American developments, which are partly different, partly parallel to rl events. (Re: Presidents - because Ted Kennedy does not go to Chappaquiddik as a result of the different moon landing fallout, he remains a viable Democratic candidate and wins against Nixon in 1972. Because he's Ted Kennedy in the 1970s, he still has sex scandals and a one term presidency, with Reagan coming in a term earlier. But Reagan isn't followed by George HW Bush, but by Gary Hart, who doesn't have a scandal and becomes a two terms president. In 1992, Bill Clinton is the Democratic nominee, but gets defeated by a (fictional) Republican candidate, who is President for the majority of season 3. The Republican party still has an evangelical wing, but so far, no Tea Party crazies have shown up. (Newt Gingrich was once mentioned in dialogue, but isn't Speaker, because with a Republican President instead of Clinton, the Democrats have the House.) Reagan doesn't seem to have been as big an influence as he was in our timeline. It feels a bit like the West Wing verse, where Democrats and Republicans are opponents and either party has jerks and backroom deals, but also a public service code and, oh eternal bliss, Fox News and the radicalisation going with same doesn't seem to exist. (There's a conservative network called Eagle News instead, but the brief clips shown so far aren't comparably poisonous and deranged.) I don't know whether that means Rupert Murdoch chose another career instead, but it certainly is another plus of this universe.

Now, so far the show while showing an increasing number of Russian characters has remained in the American pov, but it did provide some nods as to why the Soviet Union survived into 1995 instead of falling apart. Because of the Russians going to the moon first and throwing most of their money and energy into the ongoing space race, there is no Russian invasion to Afghanistan (presumably this means also no US backed Mujaheddin and no Taliban?), and Gorbachev's economic reforms actually work. (Otoh, no mention of German reunification. One hopes Putin remains stuck in Dresden among the Saxons.) (In rl, Putin was stationed in Dresden as a KGB official when the wall came down.) (It just occured to me: if there's no reunification and still a West and East Germany, one half of us is spared Sahra Wagenknecht. BLISS.)

Otoh, I was a bit slow; it took me most of the season to remember a certain spoilery rl event from the US in the 1990s which has a devastating and very appropriate for this new context parallel in the show in the finale. This despite the effect one show character is given a very similar background to the rl character he parallels. Anyway: you know how some AUs don't really bother with thinking their premise through because they just want one particular scenario? This is true for most of the "What if the Nazis won!" AUs I've seen and what makes them so annoying. I haven't come across one which didn't feel like the creator(s) wanted more than just a costume cosplay featuring the Evilest Villains (tm).) By contrast, this show so far does quite well with the increasing ripple effects.

lizbee said that the aging make up in s3 for the actors whose caracters are by now in their 50s or 60s isn't the most convincing, and that's certainly true for the majority of the female characters. (Karen being a standout in this regard - basically, they seem to have given the actress a grey wig, with her face looking like it did in the 1970s.) This feels weirdly nostalgic as it reminds me of the unconvincing age make up from the original Star Trek in that episode where you get Old Kirk and Old McCoy, looking nothing whatsoever like their actorly counterparts would some decades later. Otoh, it might simply be that the wonders of GCI have lessened aging makeup skills? Because some shows and movies were actually good with this in years past. I mean, take I, Claudius, made in the actual 1970s on not exactly a large budget. The aging makeup for Derek Jacobi, playing our titular hero from late teenagedom till his death, as well as for Sian Philipps, playing Livia from her mid 30s to her 90s, always felt very good and convincing to me. (I remember talking to someone who was surprised that Derek Jacobi is still alive, because "wasn't he an old man when he played Claudius in the 1970s?" I asked back who he thought played young Claudius then, and he had a very duh moment.)

Aaannnyway, there are some very youthful looking middle aged people in season 3, but then again, some people in rl do age very late in life, and not because of botox.

On to personal storylines, which is where it gets too spoilery for above cut remarks.

( Spoilers want to go to Mars )

On another note, and speaking of the 1990s: annaverse wrote a great post about the short but fascinating show American Gothic. *waves to andraste and jesuswasbatman*

The characters on my list were:

1. Alex Millar (Being Human UK)
2. Hank Schrader (Breaking Bad)
3. Jamie Moriarty (Elementary)
4. Cora Mills (Once upon a Time)
5. Felix Dawkins (Orphan Black)
6. Lix Storm (The Hour)
9. Guinevere "Gwen" (Merlin)
7. Bruce Banner (MCU)
8. Ichabod Crane (Sleepy Hollow)
10. Lucas Buck (American Gothic)
11. Jo Grant (Doctor Who)
12. Ray Carling (Ashes to Ashes, Life on Mars)
13. Andrew Wells (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
14. Cameron (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
15. Jack Harkness (Torchwood, Doctor Who)

( Now for whacky adventures caused by questions under the cut! With spoilers for the shows/films these characters are from )

Day 08 - A show everyone should watch

All the shows ever reviewed in this journal, obviously.:) Okay, more seriously now, I don't think you can answer that question without a certain hyperbole, because when you reccommend shows, you are, or at least I am, usually aware that not everything is for everyone. I know people whom I wouldn't reccommend Merlin to, and I know some who really wouldn't enjoy Breaking Bad, to name two widely disperate shows whom I both love a lot. Otoh, I have several friends who were wild about Supernatural for years, and it never did anything for me. Ditto for Stargate. But we share other fandoms. So, with this caveat, here's my choice for this time: aquire the dvds of the first and only season of American Gothic. Then get yourself the correct episode order, because the people releasing the dvds have done something very stupid. Not all of the episodes were shown on American tv (mostly, I take it, for censorship reasons), though all were shown on European tv, and in the correct order, too. However, dvds in every region have the episodes in the American order plus the three which weren't broadcast simply slapped on at the end AFTER the season and show finale, despite the fact that two of them contain crucial character development which really needs to be seen at the right chronological point(s). More about this and the right episode order are here.

Once you've done that, you're in for a treat. American Gothic only got one season, but what a season it was. (And also the show's creator was notified of the cancellation in time to make the season finale a good show finale as well.) It had lots of shades of grey, fantastic performances, complicated relationships, dark humor, character growth, and one of the best subversions of fridging I've ever seen. (A key female character dies at the start of the pilot, which sets a lot of things in motion for her little brother. However, it is also just the start of her own development - the title may have clued you in that there are supernatural goings on here, and the woman in question, as a ghost, acquires over the course of the season enough powers to go toe to toe with may-not-be-the-devil-himself-but-definitely-bad-news-in-a-really-entertaining-way, Sheriff Lucas Buck.) Since it's a one season only show, it doesn't add too much to your undoubtedly large staple of to be watched shows, and like I said: the dvds are out there.

In conclusion:






( The rest of the days )

Name five characters who probably shouldn't try to be monogamous.



1.) Chiana (Farscape). Actually, to clarify that: not because the early s3 incident, which was mostly Chiana panicking and self-sabotaging. Not to mention being very young. But I think even a mature Chiana under optimal cirucmstances would not be happy in a monagamous relationship (but very happy in an open one).

2.) Londo Mollari (Babylon 5). Centauri polygamy is part of their culture (and I love that it's not presented as a Londo-only thing; ( spoilers for Sleeping In Light ensue ) moreover, Londo is one character who'd probably find it bewildering if told he can only be in love with one person at a time.

3.) Lucas Buck (American Gothic). No matter whether you think Lucas was a human being with supernatural gifts, the devil himself or just a minor demonic entity: definitely not a candidate for monogamy, or, for that matter, for romantic relationships, full stop. At best, you get something dysfunctional and emotionally abusive involving a lot of mutual sarcasm.

4.) Jack Harkness (Torchwood and Doctor Who). Here I have to clarify again: it's not that I see Jack as incapable of sexual fidelity if that is what his partner expects and needs. We have no idea whether the the Estelle, Lucia and Unknown Woman In Black And White Wedding Photo relationships were sexually exclusive or not while they lasted. They might have been. The one with Ianto probably was in its later stages (not early on, since Jack had no problem telling Real Jack "there is no one" at a point where he already had sex with Ianto). But at the same time, I think that a) this would always be the partner's in question choice, and b) emotional monogamy would definitely not be the case, which could place those relationships under severe stress in most cases.

5.) Dream of the Endless (The Sandman). To be more precise, Morpheus. Just look at his romantic track record. If every single romance we know of ended badly, there is an argument to be made for not having any at all, but for an anthropomorphic entity, that's probably not an option. So, in order for Daniel to avoid his Morphean catastrophe of a love life, I'd suggest non-monogamous relationships, in which case the train wreckage might not be so bad or could be avoided.

I'm answering this from the ideal assumption I could resurrect some of these directly after they were cancelled, i.e. with the same writers/actors/producers available instead of bound by other commitments, aged or died.

1) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Because it was, hands down, the best show in the last two years, smart, with complex characters and relationships, developing arcs, and a superb use of its medium. (By which I mean it used visuals and music as well as dialogue for storytelling, which fewer tv shows do than you'd think.)

2) Deadwood. Because I want my characters cursing in iambic pentameters back, damn it, instead of seeing their story just cut off by cancellation. Again, great ensemble show, complex characters of both genders, and it manages to avoid incredibly easy traps of horrible gender clichés. (For example: Trixie and Al.)

3) Crusade. Not as great as the first two, but it had promise (especially if seen with the episodes in the right order), I liked most of the characters enormously (i.e. everyone except for Galen), I'm still frustrated thinking of the unfilmed scripts that I've read (one of which was a great Bester episode which incidentally would have made my favourite B5 books character, Sandoval Bey, tv canon, and the other would have been one of the jawdropping OMG NOW I UNDERSTAND revelation episodes JMS excels at that would actually have justified the existence of Galen the irritating to me), and also, the Excalibur is the Liberator with better GCI and I loved watching it.

4) American Gothic. This one found out it would get cancelled just early enough so that the s1 finale also works as a show finale, and a good one, but you know, it should never have been cancelled to begin with. It was great and subversive, and it probably influences me against Supernatural to this day because I can't help but comparing its first and only season to SPN's first season (which is all I've seen of the later) and wonder how the second one survived when the former was ever so much better as a take on supernatural mysteries of the week connected through ongoing arcs and an ensemble of characters. And as twisted family relationships with possible devils, definite angels and potential antichrists go, give me Lucas Buck, Caleb Temple and Merlyn over the Winchester boys any time. Footnote: and it even got screwed on the DVD release because for some benighted reason they put the four episodes not broadcast in the US at the end instead of putting them where they were in the European broadcast, which is at various places in the first third, middle, and last third of the show. Where, you know, they included crucial character development. Grrr. Argh.

5) The Order. Because the question did not specify "tv series", and the cancellation of this comics series by Matt Fraction after just two trade volumes continues to grieve me. Yes, he can and has brought characters from it back in his other titles, but that's not the same as the freedom to develop them and their stories in their own title. Again, great ensemble story, great twist on the Marvelverse and its established storylines, and oh, great, great use of location. (I.e. Los Angeles). I want it back!

Conversations with both likeadeuce and wee_warrior this past week made me think about shows that basically put the villain in the central character position and pull this off without being narratively dishonest (i.e. they don’t go the simple route of just making all the good guys look stupid, incompetent and/or bland so the villain/hero shines all the more). What started the conversation was Dexter, of course, and certain things in the last three episodes of season 2, but the two other shows that came to mind for me were American Gothic and Profit.

( Spoilery thoughts on both shows, and their bargain with the audience )

linaerys asked about these. Let's see, and start by excluding specimens. For example, morally ambigous trickster types who spend most of their time helping the protagonist (Methos on Highlander would be a good example) do not count as villains, even if they turn out to have a villainous past. Similarly, monsters are a category of their own (and I already did that meme) - for example, the Gentlemen in Hush (BTVS) or the Angels in Blink (DW). One episode scary creatures out of fairy tales, not interacting on a longer basis with the regular lot of characters; different category. Also, no characters whose fate and hero-or-villanhood is still undecided (looking at you, Snape, and you, Abigail Brand).

Another thing in advance: Villain love usually does not mean for me that I want these characters to win, though I most often want them to survive (that would be where the "favourite" part comes in) . Also, it it doesn't mean I dislike the heroes of whatever book/movie/tv show they happen to come from, because if I find a primary text where I can like only the villains, I give up on the text. (This happened to me with Earth: Final Conflict.)

There are two categories for me: villains I love, villains I love to hate (different thing), and villains I neither love or hate but find so interesting that they are listed here anyway.

So, most loved villains:

Servalan (Blake's 7). Best Evil Overlady ever. Had one of the best "why am I surrounded by idiots?" looks, managed to play mind games even when chained against a wall, and was the origin of that line recently stolen by G. Martin, originally written for her by Tanith Lee: "Come on, a woman like you?" "There are no women like me." No one said it with her panache.

Darla (BTVS/AtS). My favourite of the Fanged Four, my favourite AtS character, and my favourite vampire, full stop, though I love her no less when she's human. See also: lots of fanfic and roleplay.

Scorpius (Farscape). Is that rarity, a villain who gets a happy end in his primary text without this feeling wrong. Which caught me by surprise, and a very pleasant one it was, given I had other issues about The Peacekeeper Wars. As opposed to the two ladies mentioned above, Scorpius is a great example of the "villain as hero in his own story" type, given that he's absolutely convinced he's working for the greater good (in addition to personal revenge) here. Which brings me to:

Alfred Bester (Babylon 5). Who has the same idea, sans personal revenge. It's significant that one of the worst things Bester does from the pov of the shows heroes' is actually not about said heroes at all (he couldn't care less what happens to Sheridan, good or bad, in Face of the Enemy; it's all about saving "my telepaths"; whether the emphasis is on "my" or on "telepaths" is the dilemma of Bester's life).

Arvin Sloane (Alias). One of my all time favourite characters, villains or heroes or ambiguous types all included. I'll be lazy and just link my essay about him when it comes to the reasons.

Livia Drusilla (I, Claudius). Here's a woman who manipulates, schemes, kills, outlives most of her family and victims (frequently the same thing) and is absolutely convincing when she says she did it for Rome. (Incidentally, whether or not she did is another question, but you believe she believes it.) She's ruthless, she's relentlessly witty and she gets the hero to make her a goddess after death. Who can beat that?

Winn Adami (Star Trek: DS9). Not Kai Winn, alas, but she's great with the manipulation and the scheming as well, and you know, she's also convinced she does it for Bajor (with her as the best thing for Bajor, naturally). Winn is the female version of a Renaissance Cardinal, and her fall-out with her gods, the Prophets had me rooting for her all the way (but then I always loathed the Prophets). I think it was deborah_judge who once said that Laura Roslin is Winn witten as the hero, and the reverse is somewhat true as well: Winn is Roslin written as the villain of the story.

Erik Lehnsherr, aka Magneto (X-Men movieverse and 616 verse, but not Ultimate): And another "I'm doing this for the greater good" villain with a tragic background. Though alas, he's subjected to the whims of various writers in several of his incarnations, which makes him at times too monomanic. In fine form, however, Magneto is for the win.

Lucas Buck (American Gothic): Now here's a man (? actually, for all we know he's a different entity altogether) who's intriguingly limited in his ambitions for a Luciferian villain. Lucas isn't interested in what goes on beyond Trinity (small fictional town in South Carolina), and he definitely doesn't want to rule the world or lead any group to victory, but within Trinity, you tend to end up mad, bad, or dead if you don't do exactly what he wants you to. He has a number of supernatural tricks at his disposal, but mostly succeeds via sheer manipulativeness.


Most love to hate villains:

Mr. Morden (Babylon 5): Because even Wolfram and Hart lawyers have nothing on him when it comes to evil smarminess. Enjoyed every one of his appearances, did not feel sorry a bit for him when he finally was dispatched with (by My Darling Londo, in style).

Emperor Cartagia (Babylon 5) and Caligula (I, Claudius): Basically the same character, only one has sci-fi tech at his disposal. When it comes to crazy cruel lunatics in power who are at the same time far from stupid, these two can't be bettered. Also, they're along just long enough - if either was around any longer, the genuine horror they inspired would have faded.

Palpatine (Star Wars prequels): Was necessary but somewhat dull in the OT as the Emperor, but creepily good in the prequels. No one says "I love democray, I love the Republic" the way Ian McDiarmid does. (Definitely not certain current politicians...)


Most interesting but not loved or hated villains:

Warren Mears (BTVS): as with many other aspects of season 6, the decision to make the Trio the seasonal villains until Willow takes over in the finale is controversial. Some people thought three geeks Buffy went to school with weren't threatening enough, some people felt betrayed by the fact they were geeks and portrayed in a negative manner. To me, Warren was the most interesting villain since the Mayor, and actually more interesting than Angelus (Angelus solely in his function as villain, not as a part of Angel). Precisely because he wasn't a monster, and was a fanboy gone bad. If you think that can't happen, you're lucky in the types you've met. My Warren interest led me to lengthy fanfic, which basically sums up why he fascinated me on the show.

(Sidenote: it also occured to me that if Winn and Roslin are versions of each other written as hero and villain respectively, then Owen Harper on Torchwood is Warren written as one of the heroes, which is probably why Owen is the most interesting character on that show to me.)

Daniel Holtz (AtS): arguably the most complex of the AtS villains. I admire the way the show on the one hand never made it look as if Holtz' hatred towards Angel wasn't entirely justified but on the other made it equally clear that the actions this hatred caused were beyond the pale.

The Operative (Serenity): another entry in the "villains convinced of working for the greater good" club; if he had been on the show (Firefly, that is) instead of only appearing in the movie, he might have made it into the loved category. As it is, I found him fascinating, and he was the element of the film I thought most worthy of exploration.

The Female Founder (Star Trek: DS9): actually, as with all the Founders, we don't know whether she's female, but the form she chooses to appear in was. In many ways the embodiment of the Great Link, and a great mixture of serene, creepy and alien. I very much enjoyed each of her appearances on the show.

londonkds wrote some excellent American Gothic meta these recent days, on the metaphysics of the show and on Ben Healy. Mmmm, American Gothic.


I rarely read BSG fanfic, but I'm sure there was and is a lot post-Maelstrom fanfiction which has the characters reflecting on Kara Thrace, with Lee, Adama and Sam Anders as the leading suspects. Echoes in Space presents Gaius Baltar and Head!Six reacting to the Maelstrom news. Not only does the way the author uses the s1 developments between Baltar and Kara make the continuity girl in me happy, but she gives us a great example of Gaius' thought process at this (late s3) stage in the show.

Because soundtracks for pairings are fun: sionnain has posted an Emma/Jean fanmix. That would be Emma Frost and Jean Grey, for non-X-men readers.

Because historical partisanship is fun (think of it as the historians' equivalent of the "my show is so much cooler than your show" argument: check out lesbiassparrow's post about the Battle of Marathon (wherein the Athenians beat the Persians), complete with snark against those recent heroes of cinema, the Spartans ("The Spartans didn't turn up for Marathon. They said they were busy celebrating the Carneia. They did show up after the battle and say that the Athenians hadn't done a bad job, which I am sure was very useful and much appreciated.") Her version of the Battle of Marathon if done a la 300 is great fun as well.

Like everyone else, I snatched time away from family during these last days to indulge in the fannish goodness that is yuletide, with its multitude of fanfic in rare fandoms. Here are my favourites so far, with the caveat that I've still a lot to read:


American Gothic:

Visiting Hours. Matt only gets one visitor. Short, and with perfect Dr. Crower and Lucas Buck voices.

Blade Runner:

Pride Goeth Before. Roy Batty, from the moment of his awakening. Blade Runner is probably my favourite Sci Fi movie, and this captures its noir, William Blakeish heart perfectly.

Carnivale:

Of Present Sorrows and Two-Sided Coins. Iris Crowe post season 2. This one is a crossover with Sandman, and the Endless Iris meets are perfectly chosen, but even if you've never read Sandman in your life and don't intend to, you should read this for its superb Iris characterisation and the evocation of Russia.

Dexter:

Use Your Illusion, too. Deb after the season finale, coping, or not. I was pleased as punch there were four Dexter stories at Yuletide, and this one is my favourite.

Brother's Keeper. This one tackles Harry the well-meaning and slightly chilling manipulator, with teenage Deb this time instead of Dexter. As with the Harry flashbacks on the show, you never can decide whether he's a brilliant or a ever so screwed up father, or both.

Indiana Jones:

Indiana Jones and the Chinatown Ghosts. This one does what Wrath of Khan does with Kirk: confront the icon with his aging and mortality and makes the guy emotionally real this way. Indy post -WWII meets up with some old aquaintances. Bonus points for the Young Indiana Jones tie-in (the lost eye which Old!Indy sports in the tv show).

Isaac Asimov

The Conscientious Objectors. Two of the great attractions of Asimov's robot stories, to me: no-nonsense, not-pretty, tough and intelligent robot psychologist Susan Calvin and robots which are never the man-killing clichés which drove Asimov to invent the Three Laws to begin with. (Insert mini rant about dreadful Will Smith movie here.) This story captures both perfectly, and manages to make a pointed comment on our present as well.

Hostage Negotiations. Why Susan Calvin likes robots better than humans. Another great take on Dr. Calvin.


American Gods:

The Goal is the Thing. Loki, before and during the novel. Great use of both mythology and Gaiman's interpretation.

Sandman:

An Awfully Deep Well. Portraits of all seven Endless, poetic and fitting.

Darkness and Beauty of Stars was on my Mouth. The Corinthian, both versions. How long before someone writes a Dexter/Sandman crossover featuring the Corinthian, I wonder? Meanwhile, read this awesome take on him.

Supreme Power

So Truly Parallel. Nighthawk and Hyperion. If you think Batman is fucked up and Superman could/should be, try the Marvelverse versions written by JMS. This story captures both wonderfully well. With a great punchline.

Ring Cycle by Richard Wagner

Wayfarer's Daughter. Brünnhild, specifically Wagner's interpretation of her, with a great and chilling twist on the salvation-through-love idea.

Tonight I'm going to see Rheingold in Bayreuth, which among many other things reminds me of the way film and tv sometimes manage to use opera. It can be embarassing (for example, the sequence in Pretty Woman where Richard Gere's character puts Julia Roberts' to the opera sensitivity test - see, she may be a hooker, but she's an unspoiled girl who can really react to the classics!) or it can be so good that the next time you hear the aria or recitative or bit of orchestration in its proper context, i.e. in the opera it came from, you still can't help associationg the tv/movie images. So, here are my favourite examples of the later, in no particular order, with spoilers for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alias, Heavenly Creatures, Apocalypse Now and (very very vaguely) American Gothic.

- Giles finds Jenny's dead body to the sounds of La Boheme by Puccini, in the BTVS episode Passion. It works both within the story - the whole arrangement is something Angelus would come up with - and on a meta level, with Giles being as oblivious as Rodolfo to the fact his beloved is doomed/dead at first. The combination is heartbreaking and stunning.

- more Puccini: the humming chorus from Madama Butterfly is played in the climactic sequence from Heavenly Creatures when Pauline and Juliet lead Pauline's mother to her death; the eerie peacefulness of the walk through the park is underscored by the music, and as soon as chorus ends, the actual killing begins, which is all the more shocking in its naked brutality for this preparation. Peter Jackson, who directed Heavenly Creatures, said he copied himself took this sequence as inspiration for the way he filmed Boromir's long death in Fellowship of the Ring, using a again a chorus in the background.

- the last minutes of The Getaway, season 2 of Alias, show us Arvin Sloane walking on a beach to the sound of Charles Gounoud's Faust (specifically, to the sound of an aria Faust sings about Marguerite/Gretchen) meeting his wife Emily. This is both one of the big time stunning revelations of the show - Emily is alive, and far from killing her, Sloane has faked her death to save her life and tricked villains and heroes alike to make the getaway from the title - and with hindsight a warning. Because Faust, when singing this, has already sold his soul to the devil, and no matter Faust's intention, it's Gretchen who is going to suffer for it.

- actually a film whose production I find more interesting than the end product itself, but yes, that particular sequence is insidious that way: Apocalypse Now with its use of The Ride of the Valkyries (from Richard Wagner's Die Walküre, the second of the Ring operas which I'm going to see tomorrow) to the sequence of the helicopters attacking. It's hubris and satire in one, and more acid a comment on the US in Vietnam than, say, Oliver Stone's earnest sequence in Platoon where Willem Dafoe dies in a Christ-like posture.

- not strictly opera, but still: Carl Orff's Carmina Burana used for the climactic sequence in the season and, alas, show finale of American Gothic: the confrontation between father, son and the holy angelic spirit, aka Lucas Buck, Caleb Temple and Merlyn... and it's just the reverse from what you expected it to be in the pilot. Perfect combination of music and action. Lucas Black, who played Caleb, still gets my vote for best child actor ever.

So these are my favourites. Any other suggestions?