SPN 5.19 Hammer of the Gods
This was a good, fun episode, but mostly because Sam and Dean were so great in it. They had wonderful interaction, a growing ease between each other that warms my heart, and they were both so entertainingly expressive as they reacted to their situation. Truly frikkin adorable. ♥
Cue some qualified squee. Every once in a while we get an episode that feels more like Charmed or Buffy than SPN, which is usually so good at the gritty realism and complex depictions of villains. Not that Charmed or Buffy (which I've watched only enough to get a feel for the writing and acting, so it's possible I'm citing bad examples) may not have complex villains--but SPN's tend toward the dark and mysterious side.
The angels, for instance, whether good or bad, mix thousands of years of biblical bad-assery with the image of the (male), top of the ladder business leader, evoking a tremendous sense of authority (religious, social, economic) and distrust (Sam and Dean occupy a much lower social class than the suit-wearing angels, mirroring the relationship of humanity to the angels as well.)
In comparison, the gods in 5.19 are flat and unevocative. They bicker, eat human flesh and display stereotypical surface personality. One was very much like the other, except for Kali (more on her in a minute). The richness of the angels and their shades of morality and special family issues is absent from the gods, which is unfair because in their own real traditions, these gods are just as terrifying and complex as anything in Hebrew, Christian or Muslim scripture.
Except for Kali, these guys were pretty unimpressive. (Speaking of which, only one goddess with a speaking role present? *sigh*)
A fault of the episode rather than the concept, I think. This story really needed a longer arc, maybe two or three episodes that could have replaced Fallen Idols, The Real Ghostbusters and Swap Meat. A longer arc would have allowed more time for differentiation of the gods, exploration of the many motives at play (every single one of those gods has backstory and an agenda), and potentially much more action. It would have worked better because:
- I didn't get a sense of why Hermes called in Lucifer
- the story behind Gabriel/Kali would be fucking FASCINATING--but without knowing them each better and what happened between them, their interactions came across as a little too theatrical.
- knowing them better would have deepened our emotional connection to the gods, allowing their deaths to RESONATE when Lucifer cleans out the hotel. He was really scary in that scene, but you almost have to root for him, right? He did what Dean and Sam would have done. Besides, when any god dies, that's a big deal. Should be, anyway.
- the racialized depictions of the gods would have sat better with me if the characters had been more than just stereotypes and cannon fodder.
This story would have been such a good fic!
smilla02 has suggested that Kali return next season and get an arc of her own, to which I say, YES THIS. She pretty much rocked (though the flaming arms looked kind of cheesy--no, I am never 100 percent happy! bwahahaha!).
Very, very sad to see the Trickster/Gabriel/Loki go. (If only I could have felt the same pity for the rest of the pantheon.) His relationship with Kali opened up a side of him that I would have liked to have seen explored (thank gosh there's fic), and his turnaround as a helper of humanity would have been nice to watch as it grew. Again with the incomplete motivations in this ep. The most bothersome of which was the sudden shift from "I can't kill my brother!" (another interesting side of Gabriel!) to "I'm on their side." Not that it was totally out of left field, but it felt rushed and a little predictable.
Sorry, guys. Sometimes it seems like everyone's squeeing and I'm the only one with reservations. All the above said, I really did enjoy this episode--enough that I wish it had been two or three episodes!
Anyone watch Ugly Betty? I have a question about the last episode:
What do you think of Betty/Daniel? It took me by surprise, mainly because I haven't ever viewed their relationship as having a sexual element. They read more as siblings to me (though I missed much of the third season, so maybe that would have helped?).
Not opposed to it at all, just was unexpected. In fact, it's intriguing and kind of cool the more I think about it. It helps that that show can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. Never saw anything quite like it; I'll miss the sharp writing, the talented, talented actors and their characters (AMANDA! MARC! JUDITH LIGHT! HILDA! LITTLE JUSTIN! [btw, why did Alexis leave? She was one of my favorites too.]) Goodbye, Betty. I'll buy your DVDs someday.
Last week I saw a stage adaptation of Chaim Potok's The Chosen, and kind of want to review it on here, except no one's probably seen it, making a review a little pointless. So maybe I'll just talk about book-to-stage adaptations in general?
Not that I've seen too many. Um, Man of La Mancha comes to mind and might actually work as a good comparison. MoLM condenses a very, very long novel into a 90-minute or so drama, and an affecting one at that. It works because the playwrite takes ownership, grabs hold of Don Quixote, Sancho Panza and Aldonza, boils the story down to its core themes and plot, and transforms it into something crafted to appeal to modern audiences. IOW, the play is based on the book, but only that. And it's a good play, and it works whether you've read the book or not (which I haven't completely).
The Chosen, meanwhile, is a strange choice for an adaptation. It's a moving, important novel, but doesn't have a ton of action (Torah study! hanging out in a library! convalescing in a hospital!). Most of the movement is internal as Rueven and Danny come of age and negotiate their futures against their fathers' preferences. Truly stunning writing that left me a little teary in the end.
The play, on the other hand, reenacts many of the scenes in the novel, has the same characters and plot and not bad dialogue... but lacks whatever it was that made the book special. An older version of Reuven moves invisibly through each scene, narrating, providing exposition and occasionally defining some Yiddish terminology and Jewish customs. He's kind of helpful, but mostly he gets in the way, comes between us and the other actors, blocking any emotive force they might have projected. Too much tell, not enough show. Which makes you wonder why the book needed to be staged if the acting itself could only communicate half the story.
I think a more gutsy interpretation of the book would have worked better. Not sure what that would have involved, but what we had was basically cut-and-paste storytelling. Better to write an almost completely new story that distills the important elements of the book--the characters, situations and relationships, setting, historical moment--just re-envisioned.
Fandom AUs have clearly spoiled me. I hope all the good writers in fandom also go on to write for the Real World. Our little sub-culture really has got something.
In other news, I bowed out of Bigbang today. Too much to do for school and work. Might have taken a couple days this month to bang something out, but that's really not the way I like to write, and besides, I'm more interested in spending fannish time working on my meta of doom. That all said, I've asked for permission to sign up as an artist, because I'm a little nuts like that. :P
Here's to Friday!