I think the universe is fucking with me. Also: FNL 4x01, "East of Dillon"
I haven't had time to vid in ages, which has been more than usually annoying because I have so many ideas I am excited about right now! But I thought, until a few days ago, that I had a plan: hold out until Thanksgiving, and then use my long weekend to work on Star Trek vids. Because, hey, shiny!
But.
Over the weekend I ended up with yet another Firefly vidsong (and thanks to all of you who put up with my foisting the song on you and flailing at you about it!), and not only am I really excited about the song (OMG I so am), I am now ALSO jazzed up about the Firefly vid that's been more or less (...okay, mostly less) in progress for many many months now. Not that I was ever not excited about it, but the energy is suddenly really focused again, and I want to drop everything and work on those vids.
Except.
Having just watched FNL 4x01 (about which more anon), I am more than ever excited about my vid ideas for that show, and *especially* for the idea that I got near the end of last season, because I can already tell that this season is going to be perfect for what I want to do there; which is great - one song for S1-3, one song for the end of S3 and S4. The only problem is that now I want to drop everything and work on THOSE vids.
And then of course there are the five Buffy vid ideas tugging at my sleeve - though, okay, only two of those are really pressing.
Still. Eight vids.
::facepalm::
I HAVE FOCUS PROBLEMS OKAY. (Have I mentioned that I cannot in good conscience take the time right now to work on ANY of these vids? On balance, I suppose I'd rather have ideas and no time than time and no ideas, or ideas but no enthusiasm, but MOSTLY I WANT A MONTH OFF IN ORDER TO VID.)
Aaaaaaaaaanyway. Speaking of Friday Night Lights...
OH GOD THIS SHOW. This show totally owns me. And here I'm going to crib from my comments on kassrachel's post: I love how deftly this ep managed to introduce some key new characters (I already love Vince like crazy - seriously, how does the show do that?), shift around the roles of some longtime characters, reaffirm the centrality of Eric and Tami, and mention some characters who are now offscreen, like Lyla.
I loved seeing Matt and Landry throwing the ball together again - I feel like we haven't seen that in a while, and it was such a shout-out to S1! And I loved, too, that Matt is almost but not quite right about what the move to East Dillon means for Landry: yeah, he's gonna play, he's even gonna start, but it's not just that - he's gonna be a leader, because he's played for Eric before, he knows how a team should work. And I love that Eric, who still didn't even know Landry's *name* for a lot of last season, trusts him with that: "Clear eyes, full hearts-" There's only one other person in the room who can finish that sentence, and he does, and it brings them all together. And it's not enough, because they're not a team yet, they don't know enough yet, but in that moment, I feel certain that they could get there. And part of what I am already loving about this season is that I suspect it's going to redefine "getting there." The East Dillon Lions aren't going to the state championship; there's no way. So this season is going to be about Eric, and coaching, and football, but it's not going to be about those things in the same way that the previous seasons have been. The parameters for success have changed, and I am really looking forward to seeing where the show goes with that idea.
But oh, that forfeit really did hurt. It's a new low. We've seen Eric lose before, we've seen the Panthers get crushed, we've seen the heartbreak of almost and not quite making it; this was a totally different kind of defeat. But I love that Eric conceded the game, that he was willing to do that, because those kids and their safety are more important to him than his pride is. He's been such a hardass with them, and he will be again, but at that halftime he is so quiet with them, so - tender isn't the right word, exactly, but he CARES. And knowing what we know about some of the boys he's worked with before, we know without even being told that for some of them he's the first adult male who's cared about them. And that's just wonderful and heartbreaking all at once.
And, okay, Vince. VINCE. I can already tell that I am going to need a Vince icon. Partly this is residual sympathy inspired by the actor himself (Michael Jordan also played Wallace on The Wire - WALLACE!), but mostly it's just the character and how carefully the ep sketches him. From the moment we see him onscreen, running like hell, I just *know* he's gonna end up on the football field. I love that, after the brief confab with the guy who's handing him over, Eric just sticks his hand out and welcomes the kid into the fold (in his own abrupt way, of course), and I love that Vince is clearly startled by this white adult taking him completely seriously - and that he immediately recovers, shakes hands, says he'll show up for practice the next day. And I love the way that, when the team starts to fragment and the other black kids start to leave and Eric gets up in his face, he just says "I wanna play." So quiet, so determined. It's a brilliant bit of characterization; he's his own character with his own problems, but he's just enough like Matt Saracen that - well, the show has spent three seasons preparing me to fall in love with this kid. And I did.
And speaking of Matt - oh, Matt. My heart is breaking for him and the sacrifices he's making. I love what the show's doing with him and Tim: two boys from fairly similar backgrounds with totally different relationships to the idea of going to college. Tim doesn't want to go, has a shot, takes it because of Billy and Lyla, hates it, comes home; Dillon's not just all he knows, it really is all he wants, at least right now. Matt does want to go to college, has a shot, gives it up for his Grandma (and Julie), but in his heart of hearts he wants to get out, get away, figure out a new life for himself. And although I would hate to see him go, I am desperately hoping that the fact that Zach Gilford isn't in the main credits means that he *is* going to get his chance.
Also, I want to beat Joe McCoy with a stick. A really big, really heavy stick.
I love this show so, so incredibly much. I still can't quite believe how much. But - yeah. Love.
But.
Over the weekend I ended up with yet another Firefly vidsong (and thanks to all of you who put up with my foisting the song on you and flailing at you about it!), and not only am I really excited about the song (OMG I so am), I am now ALSO jazzed up about the Firefly vid that's been more or less (...okay, mostly less) in progress for many many months now. Not that I was ever not excited about it, but the energy is suddenly really focused again, and I want to drop everything and work on those vids.
Except.
Having just watched FNL 4x01 (about which more anon), I am more than ever excited about my vid ideas for that show, and *especially* for the idea that I got near the end of last season, because I can already tell that this season is going to be perfect for what I want to do there; which is great - one song for S1-3, one song for the end of S3 and S4. The only problem is that now I want to drop everything and work on THOSE vids.
And then of course there are the five Buffy vid ideas tugging at my sleeve - though, okay, only two of those are really pressing.
Still. Eight vids.
::facepalm::
I HAVE FOCUS PROBLEMS OKAY. (Have I mentioned that I cannot in good conscience take the time right now to work on ANY of these vids? On balance, I suppose I'd rather have ideas and no time than time and no ideas, or ideas but no enthusiasm, but MOSTLY I WANT A MONTH OFF IN ORDER TO VID.)
Aaaaaaaaaanyway. Speaking of Friday Night Lights...
OH GOD THIS SHOW. This show totally owns me. And here I'm going to crib from my comments on kassrachel's post: I love how deftly this ep managed to introduce some key new characters (I already love Vince like crazy - seriously, how does the show do that?), shift around the roles of some longtime characters, reaffirm the centrality of Eric and Tami, and mention some characters who are now offscreen, like Lyla.
I loved seeing Matt and Landry throwing the ball together again - I feel like we haven't seen that in a while, and it was such a shout-out to S1! And I loved, too, that Matt is almost but not quite right about what the move to East Dillon means for Landry: yeah, he's gonna play, he's even gonna start, but it's not just that - he's gonna be a leader, because he's played for Eric before, he knows how a team should work. And I love that Eric, who still didn't even know Landry's *name* for a lot of last season, trusts him with that: "Clear eyes, full hearts-" There's only one other person in the room who can finish that sentence, and he does, and it brings them all together. And it's not enough, because they're not a team yet, they don't know enough yet, but in that moment, I feel certain that they could get there. And part of what I am already loving about this season is that I suspect it's going to redefine "getting there." The East Dillon Lions aren't going to the state championship; there's no way. So this season is going to be about Eric, and coaching, and football, but it's not going to be about those things in the same way that the previous seasons have been. The parameters for success have changed, and I am really looking forward to seeing where the show goes with that idea.
But oh, that forfeit really did hurt. It's a new low. We've seen Eric lose before, we've seen the Panthers get crushed, we've seen the heartbreak of almost and not quite making it; this was a totally different kind of defeat. But I love that Eric conceded the game, that he was willing to do that, because those kids and their safety are more important to him than his pride is. He's been such a hardass with them, and he will be again, but at that halftime he is so quiet with them, so - tender isn't the right word, exactly, but he CARES. And knowing what we know about some of the boys he's worked with before, we know without even being told that for some of them he's the first adult male who's cared about them. And that's just wonderful and heartbreaking all at once.
And, okay, Vince. VINCE. I can already tell that I am going to need a Vince icon. Partly this is residual sympathy inspired by the actor himself (Michael Jordan also played Wallace on The Wire - WALLACE!), but mostly it's just the character and how carefully the ep sketches him. From the moment we see him onscreen, running like hell, I just *know* he's gonna end up on the football field. I love that, after the brief confab with the guy who's handing him over, Eric just sticks his hand out and welcomes the kid into the fold (in his own abrupt way, of course), and I love that Vince is clearly startled by this white adult taking him completely seriously - and that he immediately recovers, shakes hands, says he'll show up for practice the next day. And I love the way that, when the team starts to fragment and the other black kids start to leave and Eric gets up in his face, he just says "I wanna play." So quiet, so determined. It's a brilliant bit of characterization; he's his own character with his own problems, but he's just enough like Matt Saracen that - well, the show has spent three seasons preparing me to fall in love with this kid. And I did.
And speaking of Matt - oh, Matt. My heart is breaking for him and the sacrifices he's making. I love what the show's doing with him and Tim: two boys from fairly similar backgrounds with totally different relationships to the idea of going to college. Tim doesn't want to go, has a shot, takes it because of Billy and Lyla, hates it, comes home; Dillon's not just all he knows, it really is all he wants, at least right now. Matt does want to go to college, has a shot, gives it up for his Grandma (and Julie), but in his heart of hearts he wants to get out, get away, figure out a new life for himself. And although I would hate to see him go, I am desperately hoping that the fact that Zach Gilford isn't in the main credits means that he *is* going to get his chance.
Also, I want to beat Joe McCoy with a stick. A really big, really heavy stick.
I love this show so, so incredibly much. I still can't quite believe how much. But - yeah. Love.