What to believe in?
Today's topics:
Firstly, I will say that I liked the second episode of the new Doctor Who better than the first. It was a more interesting story, to begin with. But I still find the Doctor almost off-putting in this shape, he's not particularly charming, like he used to be. Again, he just looks confused. Or so it seems to me.
More importantly, I have also watched those 99 Problems . First, I love the episode title, that instead of naming the 100th one anything related, they advertized it this way!
When SPN started to seriously dive into the more theological aspect of their world, I was worried for a while. Worried that it would take on a religious, godly aspect that I never care for and which usually ruins any story, because it gets preachy. But I love that they've managed to include both angels and demons and god and Lucifer, without actually making it about religion. It's just the way it is, in this world; there are angels, there are demons and everyone's fighting. It's not about faith it's about facts, the very thing that Dean's always been so adamant about. Nothing's changed there. This episode was particularly interesting in this regard, since it also dealt with the consequences of blind faith, or just blindly following a leader. And also what fear can do to people. It wasn't particularly deep, but it was interesting in the greater scheme of things.
However, I'm not completely on board with Dean's change of heart yet, I don't think they've managed to really convey why he's gone from being absolutely against being a vessel for Michael, to actually considering it. It's gone a bit fast, and without much conviction. He's tired in general, sure, and he's feeling powerless, yes, we've been told. But they haven't really showed us WHY he's feeling so powerless, I think. They just keep telling us. Maybe if they'd spent more time dealing with the actual apocalypse this season...
Still, Jensen's selling it all he can. And he's doing it very well. That last scene was heartbreaking. But it would have been a lot more powerful, had we felt anything more for Lisa. She came a bit out of left field, I think. (I have a feeling that it's mostly about which actress they can get, unfortunately.) Because I have trouble believing, all of sudden, that Dean's idea of paradise is Lisa. If I should believe it, I'd say it's the IDEA of her and Ben that he likes to think about. Somewhere safe and home and a family. He's all about family, after all. And since he's felt that Sam doesn't want the same, and that he can't completely trust him anymore, he's looking somewhere else for what he wants (but can't have).
As for Sam, we have no idea what he's thinking, as usual... Dean's not being very fair to him, though. Why can't they just get along? Talk to each other, boys!
Castiel was hilarious, I love his deadpan deliveries of weird jokes. I'm guessing he's still on the road of becoming less angelic than before, drinking alcohol, being hungover (you'd think he wouldn't really need painkillers, after all) etc. But most of all, being depressed! Poor dear.
Most jolting (in a negative sense) moments: when Dean kept saying he'd kill a whore. It didn't sound very good. You'd think the writers would hear how that sounds to a modern ear. This isn't biblical times, after all. We've come a long way since then.
All in all a pretty good episode. Michael Shanks was a bit of a waste, it seems. He didn't do much at all. He can't have had many line at all.
I went to a free (thank you, Amnesty!) screening of Brothers on Sunday. I thought it was a decent movie, but it left me strangely untouched for such a strong subject matter. It's interesting to see how easy it was to translate the movie from Danish into an American setting, that part worked very well indeed. And the acting was great - it was interesting to see Jake G play someone rough for once, he did it perfectly. But it felt like the characters remained mere sketches and I never really understood who they were. It's an important subject, though, what war and torture and trauma will do to a person.
This entry was originally posted at http://charlidos.dreamwidth.org/504554.html. Comments:
Firstly, I will say that I liked the second episode of the new Doctor Who better than the first. It was a more interesting story, to begin with. But I still find the Doctor almost off-putting in this shape, he's not particularly charming, like he used to be. Again, he just looks confused. Or so it seems to me.
More importantly, I have also watched those 99 Problems . First, I love the episode title, that instead of naming the 100th one anything related, they advertized it this way!
When SPN started to seriously dive into the more theological aspect of their world, I was worried for a while. Worried that it would take on a religious, godly aspect that I never care for and which usually ruins any story, because it gets preachy. But I love that they've managed to include both angels and demons and god and Lucifer, without actually making it about religion. It's just the way it is, in this world; there are angels, there are demons and everyone's fighting. It's not about faith it's about facts, the very thing that Dean's always been so adamant about. Nothing's changed there. This episode was particularly interesting in this regard, since it also dealt with the consequences of blind faith, or just blindly following a leader. And also what fear can do to people. It wasn't particularly deep, but it was interesting in the greater scheme of things.
However, I'm not completely on board with Dean's change of heart yet, I don't think they've managed to really convey why he's gone from being absolutely against being a vessel for Michael, to actually considering it. It's gone a bit fast, and without much conviction. He's tired in general, sure, and he's feeling powerless, yes, we've been told. But they haven't really showed us WHY he's feeling so powerless, I think. They just keep telling us. Maybe if they'd spent more time dealing with the actual apocalypse this season...
Still, Jensen's selling it all he can. And he's doing it very well. That last scene was heartbreaking. But it would have been a lot more powerful, had we felt anything more for Lisa. She came a bit out of left field, I think. (I have a feeling that it's mostly about which actress they can get, unfortunately.) Because I have trouble believing, all of sudden, that Dean's idea of paradise is Lisa. If I should believe it, I'd say it's the IDEA of her and Ben that he likes to think about. Somewhere safe and home and a family. He's all about family, after all. And since he's felt that Sam doesn't want the same, and that he can't completely trust him anymore, he's looking somewhere else for what he wants (but can't have).
As for Sam, we have no idea what he's thinking, as usual... Dean's not being very fair to him, though. Why can't they just get along? Talk to each other, boys!
Castiel was hilarious, I love his deadpan deliveries of weird jokes. I'm guessing he's still on the road of becoming less angelic than before, drinking alcohol, being hungover (you'd think he wouldn't really need painkillers, after all) etc. But most of all, being depressed! Poor dear.
Most jolting (in a negative sense) moments: when Dean kept saying he'd kill a whore. It didn't sound very good. You'd think the writers would hear how that sounds to a modern ear. This isn't biblical times, after all. We've come a long way since then.
All in all a pretty good episode. Michael Shanks was a bit of a waste, it seems. He didn't do much at all. He can't have had many line at all.
I went to a free (thank you, Amnesty!) screening of Brothers on Sunday. I thought it was a decent movie, but it left me strangely untouched for such a strong subject matter. It's interesting to see how easy it was to translate the movie from Danish into an American setting, that part worked very well indeed. And the acting was great - it was interesting to see Jake G play someone rough for once, he did it perfectly. But it felt like the characters remained mere sketches and I never really understood who they were. It's an important subject, though, what war and torture and trauma will do to a person.
This entry was originally posted at http://charlidos.dreamwidth.org/504554.html. Comments: