Tonight I'm random
I've just finished watching the show "Harper's Island" in which the SPN fan finds several familiar faces, like Jim Beaver (Bobby) and Katie Cassidy (Ruby n°1). There is also Chris Gauthier, who played Ronald Resnick in Nightshifter (remember the mandroid?).
Warning, spoilers below.
So, I have to say I very much enjoyed watching this show, at least the eleventh first episodes. I was on edge pretty much all the time, especially after episode 6 or 7, and jumping at every dark corner, which I guess is the purpose of this kind of show. Good thing I had my brother with me!
But the real treat was the characters. At the beginning they feel a little like caricatures, but with every passing episode they're more and more fleshed out, until I ended up liking every one (of course, that's generally the moment they get killed.) Katie Cassidy as a brunette is so very cute (it suits her better than blond hair), and I loved her character Trish, a rich girl who doesn't lack courage and kindness. Abby sometimes irritated me a little but I suspect that a lot of it had to do with her French voice (yes, I watched it in French; my brother did the downloading).
What I really appreciated in this show is that the writers didn't take the horrible situation the characters are in as an occasion to show "the dark side of human nature" - by that I mean to make the characters act in a petty and cowardly way. On the contrary, many characters discover in themselves unsuspected treasures and have the occasion to shine. Cal's bravery, Danny's kindness (I mean, the guy was even trying to find excuses to John Wakefield - before he was killed), and Chloe who realizes that she has underestimated her boyfriend, and Sully who talks all the time about running away but sticks to his friends until the end and understands that maybe it's not good to judge people too quickly - and many others. I also loved that every loss was felt keenly, because in this kind of show, with several deaths per episode it would have been easy to hand-wave the deaths but they took the time to show us the other characters mourning. Friendship, family love, romantic love, they were all represented in a moving way. But well, the downside was that these characters were coming to interesting self-realization just to get killed. For that, I don't think I'm made for this kind of show, because I just felt it was such a waste, when of course it was the whole point of the show.
I said I enjoyed the first eleventh episodes, because while I mostly liked "Harper's Island", I found the ending ridiculous. So, I understand they took the road of "the character you expect the least will be the killer," which, okay. It felt a little jarring to see Henry turning from nice guy to psycho killer, but okay (I actually started suspecting him after his brother's death, though I was hoping I was wrong). But the last episode was just horrible. I was bored, and my brother was laughing (and I don't think it was what the writers were aiming at). Oh, Henry's long monologues of craziness...! And of course, just as I was happy to see genuine male/female friendship in Abby and Henry, it turns out that he's really in love with her and wants to live with her for ever and ever just the two of them so that's why he has to kill every one (and I'm leaving out the issue of them being brother and sister). Shoot me now, please? Though I found interesting that the only characters who die knowing he was behind everything are Trish, Sully, and probably JD - the ones he cared the most about. It is certainly a dubious favor he did to them, because it had to be so painful for them to die with that knowledge (especially for Trish), but I still find it... oddly touching.
So to sum it up, some good things, sloppy ending, and I don't think I'm cut for stories in which about everyone dies. But I don't regret watching it because it was good moments with my brother and it was fun to speculate with him about who the killer was while we were waiting for our food in a shop. :D
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To end this post on a totally non-related note, a little something I got via smilla02:
Reply to this post, and I'll tell you one reason why I like you. Then repost this [if you like] and spread the love.
ETA: Be careful about the spoilers for "Harper's Island" in the comments.
Warning, spoilers below.
So, I have to say I very much enjoyed watching this show, at least the eleventh first episodes. I was on edge pretty much all the time, especially after episode 6 or 7, and jumping at every dark corner, which I guess is the purpose of this kind of show. Good thing I had my brother with me!
But the real treat was the characters. At the beginning they feel a little like caricatures, but with every passing episode they're more and more fleshed out, until I ended up liking every one (of course, that's generally the moment they get killed.) Katie Cassidy as a brunette is so very cute (it suits her better than blond hair), and I loved her character Trish, a rich girl who doesn't lack courage and kindness. Abby sometimes irritated me a little but I suspect that a lot of it had to do with her French voice (yes, I watched it in French; my brother did the downloading).
What I really appreciated in this show is that the writers didn't take the horrible situation the characters are in as an occasion to show "the dark side of human nature" - by that I mean to make the characters act in a petty and cowardly way. On the contrary, many characters discover in themselves unsuspected treasures and have the occasion to shine. Cal's bravery, Danny's kindness (I mean, the guy was even trying to find excuses to John Wakefield - before he was killed), and Chloe who realizes that she has underestimated her boyfriend, and Sully who talks all the time about running away but sticks to his friends until the end and understands that maybe it's not good to judge people too quickly - and many others. I also loved that every loss was felt keenly, because in this kind of show, with several deaths per episode it would have been easy to hand-wave the deaths but they took the time to show us the other characters mourning. Friendship, family love, romantic love, they were all represented in a moving way. But well, the downside was that these characters were coming to interesting self-realization just to get killed. For that, I don't think I'm made for this kind of show, because I just felt it was such a waste, when of course it was the whole point of the show.
I said I enjoyed the first eleventh episodes, because while I mostly liked "Harper's Island", I found the ending ridiculous. So, I understand they took the road of "the character you expect the least will be the killer," which, okay. It felt a little jarring to see Henry turning from nice guy to psycho killer, but okay (I actually started suspecting him after his brother's death, though I was hoping I was wrong). But the last episode was just horrible. I was bored, and my brother was laughing (and I don't think it was what the writers were aiming at). Oh, Henry's long monologues of craziness...! And of course, just as I was happy to see genuine male/female friendship in Abby and Henry, it turns out that he's really in love with her and wants to live with her for ever and ever just the two of them so that's why he has to kill every one (and I'm leaving out the issue of them being brother and sister). Shoot me now, please? Though I found interesting that the only characters who die knowing he was behind everything are Trish, Sully, and probably JD - the ones he cared the most about. It is certainly a dubious favor he did to them, because it had to be so painful for them to die with that knowledge (especially for Trish), but I still find it... oddly touching.
So to sum it up, some good things, sloppy ending, and I don't think I'm cut for stories in which about everyone dies. But I don't regret watching it because it was good moments with my brother and it was fun to speculate with him about who the killer was while we were waiting for our food in a shop. :D
---
To end this post on a totally non-related note, a little something I got via smilla02:
Reply to this post, and I'll tell you one reason why I like you. Then repost this [if you like] and spread the love.
ETA: Be careful about the spoilers for "Harper's Island" in the comments.