Being Human: The Failings of Hal Yorke [meta on Hal's passive outlook]

Dec 09, 2013 19:11

It’s always hard to lose faith in someone. The way I see it, it’s twice harder when you’re losing faith in a fictional character because they are supposed to be infallible. Not in the sense of being perfect or logical (that would be boring, wouldn’t it?), but because with enough dedication you can excuse their mistakes with poor writing, you can ( Read more... )

ch: hal yorke, meta, being human, issues, tv

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zoicite December 9 2013, 16:10:24 UTC
This is an excellent post and I don't think that there is a single thing that I disagree with in it (except for the part where he's "rewarded" with humanity because I don't understand how anyone can choose to see the end of the show that way, but clearly some people are choosing to do so, so whatever. Also, I really wish someone other than Hal had realized that the 'reward' was a lie. Argh, DVD extra). There are a lot of things here that I hadn't really thought about, but found myself nodding as I read. Anyway, I'm tight on time, but I'm looking forward to coming back and responding to this in depth a bit later!

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istne_pieklo December 9 2013, 16:14:30 UTC
Thank you. :))) Writing this was supposed to calm me down, but I'm raging even more now, argh.
Well, I meant "rewarded" from his POV mostly because he does see it as a a good thing, but of course there are people who also believe the end of the show was real, etc.
Also, I really wish someone other than Hal had realized that the 'reward' was a lie. Well, he's apparently a hero. XDDDD

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zoicite December 9 2013, 16:34:42 UTC
Ah, yeah. The parenthetical bit confused me and I thought you were primarily talking from the audience POV there.

The fact that he actually believed he deserved that 'reward' is pretty hilarious, really, when you consider the entire picture.

Okay, I'm in danger of actually responding to other parts of this now and I have work that I really really really need to be doing. Will be back later!

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istne_pieklo December 9 2013, 16:35:59 UTC
Ow, sorry. >_< I did say I'd try to make myself clear, but I was actually just raging XDDD
GOOD LUCK WITH WORK. <3

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zoicite December 10 2013, 17:03:00 UTC
AAAHHH, I just wrote up a whole response and then accidentally hit something and lost it. Grr ( ... )

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istne_pieklo December 10 2013, 17:26:44 UTC
Ow, that's just evil. >_< It happened to me today on AO3 too. Very frustrating!
Well, I mostly started raging while I was writing it, towards the end. Especially since my browser apparently disliked Hal too and decided to throw a fit and freeze and then shut down completely while I was editing some HTML bits. XD Very conducive to good writing.
Out of the things you listed I only have a problem with "passive". I enjoy everything else. It's just... Hal pretty much comes into a new household like he's God's gift to humanity and demands to be looked after. Not my idea of an active stance. XD
I also didn’t spend all of that time really loving s4 Hal only to have it turn around in s5 though, which I know I mention every time these sorts of convos come up, but I really do think it makes a difference in how turned off I am/am not by his character in s5. I agree! I think if I hadn't waited a year for s5, I would have just been less disappointed. Maybe. XD ( ... )

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zoicite December 10 2013, 17:55:57 UTC
Hal pretty much comes into a new household like he's God's gift to humanity and demands to be looked after. Not my idea of an active stance. XD

Definitely not! And it is frustrating. And this statement kinda perfectly describes that scene where Annie and Tom tell him he has to get a job, yes.

I think if I hadn't waited a year for s5, I would have just been less disappointed. Maybe.

Ha, to be fair, I'm still disappointed! The Devil plotline was ridiculous, and Lady Mary makes no sense, and that damn scene in the basement, and I have issues with all of it. I'm just not nearly as disappointed/bitter as I would have been if I'd spent a year in anticipation. And apparently there was still enough that I'm obsessed with that it has provided me with months of fic fodder, so there's that.

I do love the way you write Tom. He's always seemed very difficult for me to write, and you do it wonderfully.

Thank you! Lately all of my WiPs seem to be Alex-centric, but Tom is definitely my favorite to write.

I agree too but imho the show doesn ( ... )

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istne_pieklo December 11 2013, 11:32:21 UTC
And apparently there was still enough that I'm obsessed with that it has provided me with months of fic fodder, so there's that. I'd be lying if I said this didn't make me happy. XDD
Not that I think any of it is out of character for Tom at all. I think his acceptance/easy forgiveness when it comes to Hal is very similar to some of his s3 reactions regarding McNair, but still. With Tom, yes, but then again, McNair had at least raised him. It's much harder to stay mad at your father (even if you were adopted under such exreme circumstances) than at some vampire you've known for a few months. McNair did bad things but I wouldn't call them inexcusable. I don't mean to say I wouldn't have wanted Tom and Alex to forgive Hal. Of course I would. But forgiveness takes time! In Alex's case, it could legitimately take centuries, since both of them are immortal. But no, she suddenly remembers that she has the hots for him and they're all lovey-dovey even though he is the reason she's dead. Brilliant.
For some reason my gut has always assumed ( ... )

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zoicite December 11 2013, 11:53:37 UTC
With Tom, yes, but then again, McNair had at least raised him. It's much harder to stay mad at your father (even if you were adopted under such exreme circumstances) than at some vampire you've known for a few months.

That's true. On the other hand, if I found out that my dad had accidentally killed my biological parents, turned me into a werewolf, and then lied to me about it for 20 years, it'd still probably take me longer than the course of one afternoon to get over it.

You'll get no disagreement from me on your point re: Alex.

Also, sometimes I honestly think the show itself forgets that these people have only known each other for a few months. Because I agree, the fact that Tom and Hal and Alex go from meeting to "It's incomplete without them" in less than a year with all the bullshit and lying and dying that goes down between is pretty crazy.

I have this feeling too, but I am so glad Crumb didn't stay longerMe too. I would have been cool with that route if Crumb was played differently (or was Cutler instead of Crumb), ( ... )

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istne_pieklo December 11 2013, 12:03:45 UTC
Hahaha, okay, let's face it: Tom is an adorable fluffball of innocence and forgiveness. *sobs* I actually adore that about him. And you're right: it's perfectly IC for him. He's impulsive, he can react hotly (like when Kirby provoked him) but he's a sweetie, so yes, I suppose he'll forgive. But Alex? Nooooo.
Also, sometimes I honestly think the show itself forgets that these people have only known each other for a few months. Because I agree, the fact that Tom and Hal and Alex go from meeting to "It's incomplete without them" in less than a year with all the bullshit and lying and dying that goes down between is pretty crazy. I could by the "incomplete" part coming from the first trio, but definitely not the second. Especially since the first trio hadn't started out by its members fundamentally hurting each other. Mitchell saved George, and neither of them killed Annie. They did some shit later, but the beginning was good. The Hal/Tom/Alex trio stands on a rather rotten foundation imho.
I would have been cool with that route if Crumb ( ... )

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zoicite December 11 2013, 13:02:42 UTC
I wanted Hal to tell Alex why she died the way she died.

I sometimes wonder how much Alex actually did know about the circumstances of her death. I mean, Cutler was shouting at Hal about how Hal made him what he is and dragged him into this world, etc etc, and she was just sitting there, a ghost at the back of the room, for the whole thing. Cutler said in that scene that Hal killed his wife and turned him into a murderer. And he wasn't exactly being quiet about it. Was Alex just not listening? She heard Cutler ask Hal how her blood tasted, as she mentioned it to Hal once Cutler was gone. Did she hear that and just kinda black out on the rest of that conversation? And if Cutler monologued his entire werewolf plan prior to killing Alex, doesn't it seem likely that he would have monologued a bit about why he was killing Alex as well?

I don't know. I originally assumed she had no idea because that seemed like something that she'd bring up...repeatedly, but sometimes I'm not so sure.

The Hal/Tom/Alex trio stands on a rather ( ... )

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istne_pieklo December 11 2013, 13:14:14 UTC
True, Cutler was shouting, but he didn't mention the specific circumstances. And I don't think his monologue to her included mentions of Rachel: Hal says smth along the lines: "You don't know what he's about to do" (as in now) and she says she knows. And then when she comes out she asks if she undertsood things correctly and Hal had been drinking her blood. So I assume Cutler never mentioned Hal making him drink the blood of smn he cared about. I don't think she knew just how much of a parallel her murder was to Rachel's murder. The show never seemned to acknowledge it, and I would have liked to know her reaction.
We get more nods to Cutler in s5 from Tom than we do from Hal (indirectly anyway, if you count Tom talking to Natasha about how he'd been to that restaurant before). I don't count that as a nod to Cutler))) It's like the only restaurant they ever go to. XDD ( ... )

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zoicite December 11 2013, 14:45:01 UTC
Cutler didn't mention the specific blood drinking parallel, but I think "killed my wife" and "turned me into a murderer" is probably enough to assume that revenge is a factor and Hal did some pretty bad shit to deserve it and Alex's death is directly related to that. I would have liked direct acknowledgement of the parallel too, absolutely, but I think what she did overhear was enough for Alex to have a pretty solid argument against Hal's "I was involved tangentially" protests.

I don't think his monologue to her included mentions of Rachel: Hal says smth along the lines: "You don't know what he's about to do"

No, I know. I just think it's surprising that if Cutler's the kind of guy who is going to stand there and monologue to someone he's about to kill about his plans regarding Tom and the club, etc, that he wouldn't also be the kind of guy who might find some satisfaction in informing Alex of at least some of the details as to why he's killing her and what his plans for her entail. Apparently not though.

I don't count that ( ... )

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istne_pieklo December 11 2013, 15:30:02 UTC
Maybe Rachel's death is still something very personal to him and he doesn't actually talk about it much, not even to a victim... True, he's chatty but he's also very efficient. Tbh I'm half-ready to bet he monologued the plan as a sort of a rehearsal before he got to tell it to Hal. He's got some real issues when it comes to Hal. XDDD Maybe he just wanted it to sound perfect. (LMAO, now this is a crackfic idea. It reminds me of Megamind where he kidnaps the girl and tries to tell her his evil plan and she keeps interrupting and generally acting bored and 500 % done with everything.)))
Well, yeah, but they only go there three times Yeah, but I just find it hilarious. Is it the only good restaurant in Barry? B/c if someone had taken me out to dinner and then tried to have me kill a bunch of people and bring about the vampire revolution, I wouldn't have taken a date to that same place!
Whatever he was thinking, it didn't look like a serious fight to the death, at least not from Hal's POV. Even once Tom has him on the ground with a stake ( ... )

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zoicite December 11 2013, 17:38:02 UTC
Tbh I'm half-ready to bet he monologued the plan as a sort of a rehearsal before he got to tell it to Hal. He's got some real issues when it comes to Hal.

That totally makes sense, actually. Now that you've mentioned it, I'd probably be more than half-ready to bet that you are correct there. And I LOVE that crack-fic idea! ha!

Yeah, but I just find it hilarious. Is it the only good restaurant in Barry?

It's Michelin-rated! (or something...I know Tom said something about awards or stars anyway)

I don't know, I think it makes sense that he would think to bring a girl that he wants to impress to that restaurant, even despite the Cutler fiasco, because he was a bit impressed by it before he went as well. The fact that they go there a 3rd time, just the three of them, is a pretty funny choice though.

B/c if someone had taken me out to dinner and then tried to have me kill a bunch of people and bring about the vampire revolution, I wouldn't have taken a date to that same place!Pfft, Tom probably forgave Cutler for all that like... ( ... )

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istne_pieklo December 11 2013, 17:48:47 UTC
Pfft, Tom probably forgave Cutler for all that like...two days after it happened. ;D Hahaha, good point. XDDDD
I really don't understand why you would go with the Hatch idea when you have a perfect series villain already sitting there in your main cast. Probably because they wanted us to sympathise with Hal. B/c he's such a misunderstood tragic hero. Blergh! Give me evil Hal all the way!

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