TV meta -- hooks and game changers

[kaydeefalls]

Bit of random meta, mostly because I feel like rambling about stuff I love to take my mind off stuff that stresses me out.

So, again, on a bit of a Buffyverse kick at the moment, and I was thinking about trying to come up with a list of my top ten episodes or something, which made me think about what I'd consider my top episodes of any show I love

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[pocky_slash]

Those would be my hook and Game Changer for Who too! Even though I pretty much hate Jack Harkness now, as Becca likes to remind me, that hatred only lasts for as long as I go between viewings of "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances," because watching those episodes reminds me that I used to love him and also that Nine/Rose/Jack was my original Who OT3 ♥

The hook for me for The West Wing was "In Excelsis Deo," but that was the first episode I saw so... yes. But I'd agree that "What Kind of Day Has It Been?" was the Game Changer. Oh man. THE TEARS I CRIED THAT SUMMER.

For Buffy, I'd say my hook is hard to define? I would guess it was the first episode I watched since I was like, immediately addicted to it, but I'm having trouble remembering what episode that was, now. Something in the first season. For some reason I want to say "The Puppet Show?" But I watche done episode and was immediately hooked. The Game Changer for me was definitely Suprise/Innocence.

SGA is the rare fandom where I started reading fic before watching the show. The hook once I began watching was "Hide and Seek," maybe? And...I don't know what the Game Changer was. Maybe something in S3? But I think because the thing that draws me most of shows is the character dynamics, this one was different because I went in knowing all the character dynamics. I had already been reading fic and I kept reading fic, so everything was spoiled until S3, when I caught up to what was airring, and I already knew who everyone was and how they related to each other.

Hm, what other shows did I/do I watch? To my LJ interests!

The Hook AND Game Changer for me in Torchwood was "Countrycide." I loved Jack on Who and I was really excited to see that he had his own spinoff, but Torchwood has always been better in theory than in practice and I was totally underwhelmed by the show. I think I had S1 on DVD or something? But I just played it in the background while I sat on my computer, not really paying attention, until "Countrycide" happened. "Countrycide" was the episode that made me sit up and pay attention to the characters, specifically Ianto, but also to the setting and the storytelling. It reminded me of my favorite episodes of The X-Files, which were always the ones where Scully and Mulder were stranded out of their element ("Ice," "Darkness Falls," etc) away from civilization and the chance of rescue. The bit where Ianto is running after Tosh and he's pointing his gun and his hands are shaking is just wonderful, as is his shakey, frightened speech to Tosh once they've been captured. (Also, it is really pretty visually. The whole episode, I mean.)

[pocky_slash]

And the only other show I can think of where I had those moments, at least in my (admittedly shitty) memory, is White Collar. But also, I feel like my moments in White Collar were also the ones designed by Jeff Eastin? I was hooked from the Pilot, from the immediate presentation of this dynamic between Peter and Neal, but also hooked by Elizabeth and Diana. They were total surprises--I had gone in expecting this to be another buddy-cop-esque USA drama and was pleasantly surprised that a) one of the guys had a super funny, super kickass wife who seemed to be there for more than just a convenient plot point or someone to complain that Peter worked too much and b) AN AWESOME LESBIAN SECONDARY CHARACTER WHO WAS MORE THAN A STEREOTYPE. I was so, so bummed that Diana was missing from most of the rest of S1, let me tell you. But the Game Changer was "Free Fall." I watched that one with my cousin in our hotel room outside Boston when we were coming up to visit Becca before I lived with her and our mouths just DROPPED OPEN at the end when Kate entered the hotel room and Peter was sitting there. TOTAL SHOCK. We talked about little else for the rest of our vacation (including a spirited discussion about it with Becca at brunch the next morning) and had tons of ideas and spent the entire mid-season hiatus saying, "PETER WOULD NEVER DO THAT. THERE HAS TO BE MORE OF AN EXPLANATION. I BET HE'S JUST THERE TO TELL KATE TO STOP DICKING NEAL AROUND AND LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

(Hilariously, if you're not familiar with White Collar, THAT WAS EXACTLY WHY PETER WAS THERE. The second half of the season opens with Peter being like, "Kate! You need to stop leading Neal on! It's clear you don't really love him the way that Elizabeth and I do!" The finale between S1 and S2 was the same way. Neal stops during his escape and turns to Peter and fandom was like, "NEAL WAS ABOUT TO SAY HE WANTED TO STAY IN NEW YORK WITH PETER AND EL!" and then S2 revealed...that Neal was about to say he wanted to stay in New York with Peter and El. Oh, show ♥)