Reaction Post: Cabin Pressure & To The Ends of the Earth (it's a veritable BC marathon!)
It’s like I’m going on a Benedict Cumberbatch spree or something. Possibly because I am. At this rate, Bill and I might actually get around to watching Tinker Tailor before the week’s out.
(Probably not, though; we’re back to making fun of Star Trek TOS again. Season Two is pretty much all about the ways Spock nearly dies. It’s getting a bit ridiculous.)
Anyway, finally finished off Series 4 of Cabin Pressure yesterday at the gym. Basically, the whole series is about how adorable Martin is, isn’t it? I mean, every. Episode. I wanted to cuddle him and pinch his cheek and go, “Aren’t you just precious?”
(I also want to know if John Finnemore put all the Sherlock references in on purpose (Bees! Mysteries! Crime!), or if it was accidental, and if it was on purpose, was it mainly to needle BC, or to delight us?)
In short:
1. Martin/Theresa OTP.
2. Okay, fine, I see why there might be Douglas/Carolyn, but I’m still not buying it. I don’t think Douglas was as jealous of Herc in the last episode as some of the comments I’ve seen made it out to be, but I did love the bit where he suddenly realized he was Martin.
3. Arthur. Oh, Arthur. Oh, dear, darling, delightful, dotty Arthur, that moment where he realized Martin had everything he wanted, and you could hear the wonder and joy and sorrow all at once in his voice, and I wanted to stop hugging Martin and start hugging him instead.
4. OMG, Carolyn. You are going to be horrible if Herc goes to Switzerland, would you get off your high horse and just marry the man, because he’s Tony Head and he kills vampires in his spare time and he’s awesome?
Personally, I love the cliffhanger. I don’t get why people thought this was the end of the series; of course it’s not the end of the series, it’s a (to steal the phrase) brilliant cliffhanger, and it’s totally in line with what Martin would do, because he’s been so hesitant all season about applying for anything else because he loves MJN and is so frickin’ loyal to Carolyn. Actually leaving MJN to go anywhere else is going to just kill him. I totally see why he’d want to spare her the pain a little longer, because he knows that him leaving might just be the last thing that breaks MJN.
And really, can you imagine Arthur doing anything else? Or Carolyn, or Douglas? Poor Martin.
Me, I think Martin should go and work for Swiss Air or whatever the airline is called, and drop Icarus Moving and then he can keep flying for free for MJN and then EVERYONE LIVES HAPPILY EVER AFTER. I’m sure what with hours and whatnot, this wouldn’t actually work, but I DON’T CARE. I want a happy ending, and I want Martin to fly and get paid for it, and I want another season. I am all for adding additional letters to the alphabet, if necessary.
*
In other BC-viewing, I watched the first two nights of To the Ends of the Earth last week, and have been mulling them over. My first recommendation if there are any of you out there who might want to watch it themselves: try to find a disc that has subtitles. Mine did not. This was a serious sin of omission, because the volume on the disc was notoriously spotty, and some of those actors slurred, and others whispered, and still others shouted, and I was trying not to wake the toddler, and it was all incredibly annoying.
(Also, I cross-stitch while watching, and sometimes, subtitles are helpful.)
Right, so thoughts after the first two nights:
1. BC’s character, Edmund, is actually kind of reprehensible. The first thing we see him do is seduce one of his fellow passengers, and when he’s done seducing her, he shoos her out of his cabin. When she says, “What happens if I’m in trouble?”, he replies, “Well, I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” !!!!!
2. He does have a bit of comeuppance, reading the dead parson’s notes, when he realizes the parson had thought of him as a friend, because Edmund, despite putting the parson in a precarious position with the captain (an act which ultimately led to the parson’s disgrace and death), dropped the man like a hot rock once he was done with him.
3. Then again…the second episode starts off with gratuitous naked-BC-in-the-rain scene. Seriously, there is no good reason for that scene whatsoever, but there it is, and it was everything you hope a naked-BC-in-the-rain scene could be. If you’re in it for the naked BC, seriously, just watch the first five minutes of the second night and you’re set.
4. If you’re in it for the slash…so far, not much. There’s something weird between Edmund and one of the sailors, but it’s only vaguely hinted and I think I only saw it because I’ve been watching way too much Sherlock recently. It was also overshadowed by Edmund flirting heavily with a girl from another ship - she’s drawn to be all sweet and innocent and pure and etc, and the whole time Edmund is pining for her, I kept telling her to RUN, RUN LIKE HECK, HE’S HORRIBLE, HE’LL JUST CHEAT ON YOU WITH THE SLUT NEXT DOOR, RUN RUN RUN.
5. (Because seriously, Edmund is the type of guy in the type of era going to the type of wilderness where he will totally have a couple of mistresses on the side. We know this, Edmund knows, the girl probably knows this.)
Anyway, the second disc is coming - I’ll have to check if it’s one night or two - and will probably get here in a few weeks. I fully intend to continue watching, if for no other reason to see if Edmund falls conveniently in love with anyone else, and if he dies of horrible disease before the ship actually reaches Australia. Or maybe if he actually learns something and reaches Australia a changed (and less morally reprehensible) man. I kind of doubt it, but you never know, I might be wrong.
If nothing else, the footage of the ship on the open ocean is pretty, and there’s always the chance of another naked-in-the-rain scene, or maybe more flowing pirate shirts with tight breeches. Yay for flowing pirate shirts with tight breeches, no matter who wears them.
(Probably not, though; we’re back to making fun of Star Trek TOS again. Season Two is pretty much all about the ways Spock nearly dies. It’s getting a bit ridiculous.)
Anyway, finally finished off Series 4 of Cabin Pressure yesterday at the gym. Basically, the whole series is about how adorable Martin is, isn’t it? I mean, every. Episode. I wanted to cuddle him and pinch his cheek and go, “Aren’t you just precious?”
(I also want to know if John Finnemore put all the Sherlock references in on purpose (Bees! Mysteries! Crime!), or if it was accidental, and if it was on purpose, was it mainly to needle BC, or to delight us?)
In short:
1. Martin/Theresa OTP.
2. Okay, fine, I see why there might be Douglas/Carolyn, but I’m still not buying it. I don’t think Douglas was as jealous of Herc in the last episode as some of the comments I’ve seen made it out to be, but I did love the bit where he suddenly realized he was Martin.
3. Arthur. Oh, Arthur. Oh, dear, darling, delightful, dotty Arthur, that moment where he realized Martin had everything he wanted, and you could hear the wonder and joy and sorrow all at once in his voice, and I wanted to stop hugging Martin and start hugging him instead.
4. OMG, Carolyn. You are going to be horrible if Herc goes to Switzerland, would you get off your high horse and just marry the man, because he’s Tony Head and he kills vampires in his spare time and he’s awesome?
Personally, I love the cliffhanger. I don’t get why people thought this was the end of the series; of course it’s not the end of the series, it’s a (to steal the phrase) brilliant cliffhanger, and it’s totally in line with what Martin would do, because he’s been so hesitant all season about applying for anything else because he loves MJN and is so frickin’ loyal to Carolyn. Actually leaving MJN to go anywhere else is going to just kill him. I totally see why he’d want to spare her the pain a little longer, because he knows that him leaving might just be the last thing that breaks MJN.
And really, can you imagine Arthur doing anything else? Or Carolyn, or Douglas? Poor Martin.
Me, I think Martin should go and work for Swiss Air or whatever the airline is called, and drop Icarus Moving and then he can keep flying for free for MJN and then EVERYONE LIVES HAPPILY EVER AFTER. I’m sure what with hours and whatnot, this wouldn’t actually work, but I DON’T CARE. I want a happy ending, and I want Martin to fly and get paid for it, and I want another season. I am all for adding additional letters to the alphabet, if necessary.
*
In other BC-viewing, I watched the first two nights of To the Ends of the Earth last week, and have been mulling them over. My first recommendation if there are any of you out there who might want to watch it themselves: try to find a disc that has subtitles. Mine did not. This was a serious sin of omission, because the volume on the disc was notoriously spotty, and some of those actors slurred, and others whispered, and still others shouted, and I was trying not to wake the toddler, and it was all incredibly annoying.
(Also, I cross-stitch while watching, and sometimes, subtitles are helpful.)
Right, so thoughts after the first two nights:
1. BC’s character, Edmund, is actually kind of reprehensible. The first thing we see him do is seduce one of his fellow passengers, and when he’s done seducing her, he shoos her out of his cabin. When she says, “What happens if I’m in trouble?”, he replies, “Well, I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” !!!!!
2. He does have a bit of comeuppance, reading the dead parson’s notes, when he realizes the parson had thought of him as a friend, because Edmund, despite putting the parson in a precarious position with the captain (an act which ultimately led to the parson’s disgrace and death), dropped the man like a hot rock once he was done with him.
3. Then again…the second episode starts off with gratuitous naked-BC-in-the-rain scene. Seriously, there is no good reason for that scene whatsoever, but there it is, and it was everything you hope a naked-BC-in-the-rain scene could be. If you’re in it for the naked BC, seriously, just watch the first five minutes of the second night and you’re set.
4. If you’re in it for the slash…so far, not much. There’s something weird between Edmund and one of the sailors, but it’s only vaguely hinted and I think I only saw it because I’ve been watching way too much Sherlock recently. It was also overshadowed by Edmund flirting heavily with a girl from another ship - she’s drawn to be all sweet and innocent and pure and etc, and the whole time Edmund is pining for her, I kept telling her to RUN, RUN LIKE HECK, HE’S HORRIBLE, HE’LL JUST CHEAT ON YOU WITH THE SLUT NEXT DOOR, RUN RUN RUN.
5. (Because seriously, Edmund is the type of guy in the type of era going to the type of wilderness where he will totally have a couple of mistresses on the side. We know this, Edmund knows, the girl probably knows this.)
Anyway, the second disc is coming - I’ll have to check if it’s one night or two - and will probably get here in a few weeks. I fully intend to continue watching, if for no other reason to see if Edmund falls conveniently in love with anyone else, and if he dies of horrible disease before the ship actually reaches Australia. Or maybe if he actually learns something and reaches Australia a changed (and less morally reprehensible) man. I kind of doubt it, but you never know, I might be wrong.
If nothing else, the footage of the ship on the open ocean is pretty, and there’s always the chance of another naked-in-the-rain scene, or maybe more flowing pirate shirts with tight breeches. Yay for flowing pirate shirts with tight breeches, no matter who wears them.