(no subject)
[insert annual 'it's dark and I'm miserable' paragraph here]
The SAD is kicking my butt at the moment. I'm using my lightbox, and we've had enough sunshine on some days that my tiredness is at exhaustion level but not beyond. It's the mood that's the killer, making it hard to get anything done beyond basic survival.
Bah. I hate November. For the last few years, I've made a point of doing MUCH Christmas decorating and planning and enjoying, as I find it takes the edge off December. But November is always horrendous (not as bad as February, but nearly) and apparently this year is no different. I'm going to make a point to get out in the sunshine at lunchtime today, even though what I want to do is crawl under my desk and not come out.
In other news, I finished Daredevil S3 which I enjoyed for the character stuff, even if I felt the plot got a bit rushed towards the end. I did love having the original team back together again for a couple of episodes, and I'm hoping like crazy that Vanessa is the main villain for S4, if it gets made, because WOW she was chilling in the brief time we saw her.
I read a review that talked about how interesting Fisk is as a baddie, because he's driven so strongly by emotions. He wants respect and power, not money primarily, which stems from his childhood. In this season, he's driven by his need for Vanessa. Normally, it's our heroes who have the emotional weakness, but I think one of the reasons Fisk feels so dangerous is that we know he's constantly exercising extreme self-control not just to kill everyone around him, because he's so angry all the time. It's a fascinating dynamic with Matt's anger issues, both of them needing outlets for the rage that they're always feeling. In Matt's case, he excuses it by saying he's saving people. In Fisk's case, I think the show wants us to believe that *he* genuinely believes he's making the city a better place to live. Not in absolute terms, but because he's egotistical enough to think that if everyone just does what he says, New York will prosper. Matt's all about saving individuals, which is why Fisk is normally able to out-manoeuvre him. Fisk is all about the big picture, and sees the deaths around him as unfortunate but necessary.
Like the other seasons of Daredevil, for me, this was a bunch of really strong ideas that never quite coalesced around a story that I found satisfying. Especially in the last episode, there was waaaay too much dialogue of people stating what, to me, should have been subtext. It felt rushed, so that they were having to tell rather than show, while the rest of the episodes had been better at that. Still, there was enough in here to keep me happy, mostly.
Dex was a good villain, well fleshed-out and thought-through. And while I understood the compassion of his therapist, I do wonder about her professional conduct, knowing how dangerous he would be and yet apparently thinking he'd be fine out in the world. I thought they did a decent job of the 'every villain is the hero of his own story' trope, and the clever use of the suicide hotline script throughout. It was nicely done, and the actor sold it. The unravelling was a little swift and melodramatic for my taste, but I still went with it.
It was nice seeing Matt get to use his brain as well as his fists in the back half of the season. The transition from 'angry and hitting everything' to 'I can do this in a smart way' was really well done, particularly with Felix Manning. It was a good fake-out for the viewer as well, having him throw him off the roof. The story and the performance sold to us that this is a Matt who's willing to start killing, and I confess I thought it was for real. Having him push Dex over the edge as well was very effective, and a good reminder that Matt is smart as well as skilled at hitting people.
Random thoughts:
+ I loved seeing Foggy's family, who were even better than I expected.
- I was slightly confused that there was literally no mention of Matt being 'missing' following Midland Circle. Did they just not tell anyone? In which case, how much time had passed? From the other series, I had the impression it was a couple of months, and I would have though even Matt would need a reasonable amount of time to recover from having a building fall on him. But given he just drops back into his old, lawyerly life with no one saying anything, I'm assuming it's only actually a few weeks.
+ Nelson, Murdoch & Page. YES. GIVE ME ALL THE FIC BEFORE S4 DESTROYS IT ALL. I liked the acknowledgement that what Karen's really good at is investigating. Give me the fic where she butts heads with Malcolm, because Jeri Hogarth is representing the other side. If there's even a hint in S4 that she's the secretary office manager, I will throw a pillow at the television.
+ I liked the use of 'ghosts' for Matt to talk to when he's on his own. It was a nice way to get around the problem of a character who, deliberately, is isolated from others, but who needs to talk so that we know what's going on in his head.
+ The show called Matt out for his whole 'I don't kill people' schtick when someone (Nadeem??) pointed out that some of the people who got in his way were still in the hospital. I would have liked to see more made of that, given how hard they pushed the "DO NOT KILL" aspects, but it was nice to at least get something.
- I didn't like that Nadeem ended up dead. While I understood it from a story point of view, and even a character point of view, the show needs to be careful of the Supernatural Trope where only the white guys survive. Ben Urich, Electra (in S2 at least), Nadeem. It's not a good look, guys.
+ Nadeem was an awesome, awesome character. His story, the performance, everything worked for me. I'm gutted we won't get to see him again.
- I miss the suit. Not for itself, but because it served a purpose. Matt is squishy! The show makes a point of just how beat up he is all the time! Get you some body armour, Matt! Honestly, it felt unnecessarily macho/symbolic for him to be back in the black pyjamas (although with a red undershirt, I see you, Show). He got the suit in the first place because he was getting too beat up. With Melvyn gone, I'm assuming that's put the kybosh on the suit as well, but it does make me cross. The guy needs protection!
As you can probably tell, Daredevil remains the Netflix show that resonates with me the most. I have So Many More Thoughts, about Karen, about Maggie, about Foggy and everyone else. But as this is far too long for anyone but me to read anyway, I'll leave it there.
Overall: B+. Solid stuff, but didn't quite stick the landing.
This entry was originally posted at https://jadesfire.dreamwidth.org/589445.html where there are
comments
The SAD is kicking my butt at the moment. I'm using my lightbox, and we've had enough sunshine on some days that my tiredness is at exhaustion level but not beyond. It's the mood that's the killer, making it hard to get anything done beyond basic survival.
Bah. I hate November. For the last few years, I've made a point of doing MUCH Christmas decorating and planning and enjoying, as I find it takes the edge off December. But November is always horrendous (not as bad as February, but nearly) and apparently this year is no different. I'm going to make a point to get out in the sunshine at lunchtime today, even though what I want to do is crawl under my desk and not come out.
In other news, I finished Daredevil S3 which I enjoyed for the character stuff, even if I felt the plot got a bit rushed towards the end. I did love having the original team back together again for a couple of episodes, and I'm hoping like crazy that Vanessa is the main villain for S4, if it gets made, because WOW she was chilling in the brief time we saw her.
I read a review that talked about how interesting Fisk is as a baddie, because he's driven so strongly by emotions. He wants respect and power, not money primarily, which stems from his childhood. In this season, he's driven by his need for Vanessa. Normally, it's our heroes who have the emotional weakness, but I think one of the reasons Fisk feels so dangerous is that we know he's constantly exercising extreme self-control not just to kill everyone around him, because he's so angry all the time. It's a fascinating dynamic with Matt's anger issues, both of them needing outlets for the rage that they're always feeling. In Matt's case, he excuses it by saying he's saving people. In Fisk's case, I think the show wants us to believe that *he* genuinely believes he's making the city a better place to live. Not in absolute terms, but because he's egotistical enough to think that if everyone just does what he says, New York will prosper. Matt's all about saving individuals, which is why Fisk is normally able to out-manoeuvre him. Fisk is all about the big picture, and sees the deaths around him as unfortunate but necessary.
Like the other seasons of Daredevil, for me, this was a bunch of really strong ideas that never quite coalesced around a story that I found satisfying. Especially in the last episode, there was waaaay too much dialogue of people stating what, to me, should have been subtext. It felt rushed, so that they were having to tell rather than show, while the rest of the episodes had been better at that. Still, there was enough in here to keep me happy, mostly.
Dex was a good villain, well fleshed-out and thought-through. And while I understood the compassion of his therapist, I do wonder about her professional conduct, knowing how dangerous he would be and yet apparently thinking he'd be fine out in the world. I thought they did a decent job of the 'every villain is the hero of his own story' trope, and the clever use of the suicide hotline script throughout. It was nicely done, and the actor sold it. The unravelling was a little swift and melodramatic for my taste, but I still went with it.
It was nice seeing Matt get to use his brain as well as his fists in the back half of the season. The transition from 'angry and hitting everything' to 'I can do this in a smart way' was really well done, particularly with Felix Manning. It was a good fake-out for the viewer as well, having him throw him off the roof. The story and the performance sold to us that this is a Matt who's willing to start killing, and I confess I thought it was for real. Having him push Dex over the edge as well was very effective, and a good reminder that Matt is smart as well as skilled at hitting people.
Random thoughts:
+ I loved seeing Foggy's family, who were even better than I expected.
- I was slightly confused that there was literally no mention of Matt being 'missing' following Midland Circle. Did they just not tell anyone? In which case, how much time had passed? From the other series, I had the impression it was a couple of months, and I would have though even Matt would need a reasonable amount of time to recover from having a building fall on him. But given he just drops back into his old, lawyerly life with no one saying anything, I'm assuming it's only actually a few weeks.
+ Nelson, Murdoch & Page. YES. GIVE ME ALL THE FIC BEFORE S4 DESTROYS IT ALL. I liked the acknowledgement that what Karen's really good at is investigating. Give me the fic where she butts heads with Malcolm, because Jeri Hogarth is representing the other side. If there's even a hint in S4 that she's the secretary office manager, I will throw a pillow at the television.
+ I liked the use of 'ghosts' for Matt to talk to when he's on his own. It was a nice way to get around the problem of a character who, deliberately, is isolated from others, but who needs to talk so that we know what's going on in his head.
+ The show called Matt out for his whole 'I don't kill people' schtick when someone (Nadeem??) pointed out that some of the people who got in his way were still in the hospital. I would have liked to see more made of that, given how hard they pushed the "DO NOT KILL" aspects, but it was nice to at least get something.
- I didn't like that Nadeem ended up dead. While I understood it from a story point of view, and even a character point of view, the show needs to be careful of the Supernatural Trope where only the white guys survive. Ben Urich, Electra (in S2 at least), Nadeem. It's not a good look, guys.
+ Nadeem was an awesome, awesome character. His story, the performance, everything worked for me. I'm gutted we won't get to see him again.
- I miss the suit. Not for itself, but because it served a purpose. Matt is squishy! The show makes a point of just how beat up he is all the time! Get you some body armour, Matt! Honestly, it felt unnecessarily macho/symbolic for him to be back in the black pyjamas (although with a red undershirt, I see you, Show). He got the suit in the first place because he was getting too beat up. With Melvyn gone, I'm assuming that's put the kybosh on the suit as well, but it does make me cross. The guy needs protection!
As you can probably tell, Daredevil remains the Netflix show that resonates with me the most. I have So Many More Thoughts, about Karen, about Maggie, about Foggy and everyone else. But as this is far too long for anyone but me to read anyway, I'll leave it there.
Overall: B+. Solid stuff, but didn't quite stick the landing.
This entry was originally posted at https://jadesfire.dreamwidth.org/589445.html where there are
comments