and now, back to PoI
I CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS SHOW
Urgh, I've got so much meta brewing, but it's not like I'm making a whole lot of sense, mostly because I'm just having a lot of fucking feelings about this show, and feelings aren't very conducive toward my being coherent.
REMEMBER HOW I WAS LIKE HAHA I NEED A SHOW THAT I'M NOT GONNA BE HEAVILY INVESTED IN?
D'OH.
My brain is drawing a connection between PoI and Life. At first, it was like, well, it's Dani REESE. So I guess Reese is the go to name for badasses. A part of me is lol at the thought of John Reese + Dani Reese, and we beget Kyle Reese. But idk, Dani is possibly too badass for John, not to mention, well, Dani and Crews are OTP.
Anyway, thematically, this vid (which is amazing btw omg omg omg, total spoilers for 1.10) is what sparked it. It recast the opening narration in the pilot in a whole new light for me. Reese is talking about Jessica: she is his one connection to the world, apparently, but now that he's lost her, he's questioning who he is now. There're a lot of undercurrents about identity on the show. Finch's multiple aliases and personas. Which is the real him? And we've got the crazy thing where John Reese isn't even Reese's real name either. And the thing is, that narration applies to Finch, too. He lost Ingram, and if the flashbacks have shown us anything, it's that Ingram really was Finch's one connection to the world at large. Now, who is Finch without Ingram? And the show becomes this search for a new identity, new purpose, for Reese and Finch. With each other.
It reminds me of Life, because the big theme on that show is recovery. Life AFTER. Picking up the pieces. Finding yourself again. It's a big narrative kink of mine: what happens AFTER.
Another piece of meta that's been clinging to me is the Batman analogies. We already have Reese = Batman Jesus. Finch is Dude!Oracle. The kid in "Wolf and Cub" is totally Robin. Zoe is Catwoman. And you guys, Elias = Ra's Al Ghul.
I think it was the io9 article about PoI being a superhero show done right that pointed this out, the amaaaaaaaaaazing thing that they might possibly be developing, which is the tension between what Elias is doing versus what Reese & Finch are doing and how they are, at heart and in a way, the same thing. Operating outside the law to restore order. The Dark Knight is essentially known for The Joker, and The Joker has always been a very central oppositional force in the Batman-verse since he is the absolute opposite of Batman. Chaos versus order. But fuck if I don't love PoI for not going that route, for doing Ra's Al Ghul instead. I LOVE the establishment of Elias. That widow who was like, "fuck you guys, Elias is gonna put the five families back together. Things will be restored." And the corrupt Captain guy who was like, "remember when organized crime was organized?"
Elias is about strategy and order and intelligence and structure. Like Ra's Al Ghul, he knows our vigilante's true identity, respects him, even wants him on his side. I really hope they develop more on this aspect, rather than the "conspiracy" aspect.
Urgh, I've got so much meta brewing, but it's not like I'm making a whole lot of sense, mostly because I'm just having a lot of fucking feelings about this show, and feelings aren't very conducive toward my being coherent.
REMEMBER HOW I WAS LIKE HAHA I NEED A SHOW THAT I'M NOT GONNA BE HEAVILY INVESTED IN?
D'OH.
My brain is drawing a connection between PoI and Life. At first, it was like, well, it's Dani REESE. So I guess Reese is the go to name for badasses. A part of me is lol at the thought of John Reese + Dani Reese, and we beget Kyle Reese. But idk, Dani is possibly too badass for John, not to mention, well, Dani and Crews are OTP.
Anyway, thematically, this vid (which is amazing btw omg omg omg, total spoilers for 1.10) is what sparked it. It recast the opening narration in the pilot in a whole new light for me. Reese is talking about Jessica: she is his one connection to the world, apparently, but now that he's lost her, he's questioning who he is now. There're a lot of undercurrents about identity on the show. Finch's multiple aliases and personas. Which is the real him? And we've got the crazy thing where John Reese isn't even Reese's real name either. And the thing is, that narration applies to Finch, too. He lost Ingram, and if the flashbacks have shown us anything, it's that Ingram really was Finch's one connection to the world at large. Now, who is Finch without Ingram? And the show becomes this search for a new identity, new purpose, for Reese and Finch. With each other.
It reminds me of Life, because the big theme on that show is recovery. Life AFTER. Picking up the pieces. Finding yourself again. It's a big narrative kink of mine: what happens AFTER.
Another piece of meta that's been clinging to me is the Batman analogies. We already have Reese = Batman Jesus. Finch is Dude!Oracle. The kid in "Wolf and Cub" is totally Robin. Zoe is Catwoman. And you guys, Elias = Ra's Al Ghul.
I think it was the io9 article about PoI being a superhero show done right that pointed this out, the amaaaaaaaaaazing thing that they might possibly be developing, which is the tension between what Elias is doing versus what Reese & Finch are doing and how they are, at heart and in a way, the same thing. Operating outside the law to restore order. The Dark Knight is essentially known for The Joker, and The Joker has always been a very central oppositional force in the Batman-verse since he is the absolute opposite of Batman. Chaos versus order. But fuck if I don't love PoI for not going that route, for doing Ra's Al Ghul instead. I LOVE the establishment of Elias. That widow who was like, "fuck you guys, Elias is gonna put the five families back together. Things will be restored." And the corrupt Captain guy who was like, "remember when organized crime was organized?"
Elias is about strategy and order and intelligence and structure. Like Ra's Al Ghul, he knows our vigilante's true identity, respects him, even wants him on his side. I really hope they develop more on this aspect, rather than the "conspiracy" aspect.