So, watched "Shades of Reason"...
...and it's really disheartening to say it, but it was pretty disappointing.
Things I liked:
-Maul outlining the battle plans.
-It was good to see Satine, really. I didn't like much of what they did with her character (see below for more information), it was good to see her again. And I liked the idea of her being tested.
-There were some genuinely great moments, e.g. Maul dueling Viszla, and a great "Holy shit" moment when Maul actually killed him.
-Satine's conversation with the governor. And her words to Maul, "What do you want, you monster?" Few things kept them from being completely great (see below), but they were still pretty good chill-worthy moments.
-I liked the ending with Maul talking with the new Prime Minister of Mandalore. A great cliffhanger, in a way, for what it's worth.
Things that really bugged me:
-I know they were technically supposed to be the villains and this was part of a gambit and yadda yadda yadda, but the way that Maul and co.'s plan came off (no doubt thanks to some rather weak writing) came off as sort of a combination of that one scene from "The Christmas Invasion" (i.e. "Don't you think she looks tired?") on a more massive scale and some sort of angry response to the sort of "pacifism and compassion are good things" that have popped up in some TV shows, movies, etc. I don't think it would be that bad if Satine was actually shown to be formulating a plan to get out. I mean, perhaps the writers were trying to portray her as having lost hope, but...*Sighs* I am hesitant to use the word, but it came off as borderline Chickification. 'Course, I could be overreacting, but combined with some of the comments made in the episode...yeah. I just pray that I'm wrong and next episode returns to form, but with that and a more male-predominated set of storylines at the moment (except for Ahsoka), I'm starting to have a few iffy feelings. 'Course, I could be wrong. If anyone else has seen the episode, feel free to offer your opinions on the matter. Also, I hope that I'm not coming off as Miss Real Women Never Wear Dresses here. I just hate how they seemed to have mixed up the word "pacifist" with "passive and weak". At least that's how I saw it.
-Putting possible implications aside, the plan itself was incredibly convoluted. I really don't mind the "what people are capable of in a crisis" sorts of episodes, but let's just say that Maul's plan didn't make any sense. At least with Palpatine in the prequels, you could sort of follow his plan. With Maul, using Visla as the fall-guy -- it came off less "brilliant" and more the large-scale equivalent of "why you hitting yourself, why you hitting yourself?" (Okay, probably not the perfect comparison, but that's what it felt like to me)
-Speaking of Death Watch, did they have any motivation outside simply "they oppose Satine, therefore they're evil"? I felt at times that the writers had to resort to using ham-handed ways to show that they're the bad guys, along with their allies -- e.g. Satine accusing the imprisoned Prime Minister of killing children (make of that what you will). I mean, come on, he already has black market stuff on there and corruption; they could have just left it at that. They didn't have to add killing children to the list. Dissuading an audience from DILPing a villain is fine -- although good luck on that -- but hitting them over the head with obvious evil is just not good storytelling. It has to have at least a reason for being there, other than shock value. Maybe in some of Death Watch's previous stories and Mandalore's previous stories they fleshed it out a bit more, but here, it just doesn't work.
And honestly, imagine how much more compelling it would be if Death Watch had twisted rationalizations for what they were doing. Thinking that pacifism genuinely had weakened Mandalore and made it unprepared for, say, invasions from outsiders. Or that, in a way, they were erasing Mandalorian culture, their way of life. It might be still a bit "huh", but at least in their eyes, it would be reasonable. Perhaps not every villain has to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist per se, but they have to at least have reasons and rationalizations for why they do what they do. It's called a well-rounded character and not just simply an archetype (nothing wrong with archetypes, but I think some people out there seem to mistake the idea that you can just rely on an archetype and that's the end of it, which...you can't).
I'm going to present you with one example of such a thing. It's from TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH (and I have to warn you, if you're not a big fan of bad things happening with children, you're probably going to have to skip). Basically, it's the government discussing which children to hand over to the aliens (the 456 -- I believe the phrase "it's a long story" comes to mind). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44FHJPOqLSA. I think what really works about the scene is the fact that while what the government is saying is absolutely repugnant (especially the whole Kill the Poor situation that Denise Riley -- one of the cabinet members; always nice to name the perpetrators, I think -- proposes), they have rationalizations for their actions, and hell, some of them are there for their own reasons. Frobisher because Green needed him to do his dirty work, and Spears because...well, it's heavily implied that she cares about Frobisher...not just as a friend, really. If nothing else, the real evil mostly comes down to what people are willing to do when shit gets real. Some try to save their own skins (Green, for instance) and some have the guts to do what's right where others run away (Torchwood). And I think it's all the more powerful considering that Torchwood may not be perfect people, but they'll do the right thing, no matter what it takes. Which I think makes it all the more powerful, I think. Perhaps CLONE WARS didn't have to go that far (hell, even rewatching the clip makes me a bit queasy) -- but I would have liked them to give more motivation to Death Watch, really. I guess I can mostly conclude that this season does not like complex villains. Or maybe not? I don't know.
-Satine being handed the Idiot Ball if only in tipping Maul off regarding the imprisoned Prime Minister. Honestly, Satine, that's like trying to ward off the Borg by saying you have new technology or something. It just...well, it bugs me.
So yeah... *Sighs* I wanted to like this episode. It has some good ideas in it, but the execution...well, it's wanting, really. I can only pray that the next episode is better. And that Satine gets out of this mess. I had really high hopes for the episode, and it was kind of disheartening to see them dashed like that. I can only pray it was a minor misstep, and the next episode is better.
And guys? Please don't kill me.
Things I liked:
-Maul outlining the battle plans.
-It was good to see Satine, really. I didn't like much of what they did with her character (see below for more information), it was good to see her again. And I liked the idea of her being tested.
-There were some genuinely great moments, e.g. Maul dueling Viszla, and a great "Holy shit" moment when Maul actually killed him.
-Satine's conversation with the governor. And her words to Maul, "What do you want, you monster?" Few things kept them from being completely great (see below), but they were still pretty good chill-worthy moments.
-I liked the ending with Maul talking with the new Prime Minister of Mandalore. A great cliffhanger, in a way, for what it's worth.
Things that really bugged me:
-I know they were technically supposed to be the villains and this was part of a gambit and yadda yadda yadda, but the way that Maul and co.'s plan came off (no doubt thanks to some rather weak writing) came off as sort of a combination of that one scene from "The Christmas Invasion" (i.e. "Don't you think she looks tired?") on a more massive scale and some sort of angry response to the sort of "pacifism and compassion are good things" that have popped up in some TV shows, movies, etc. I don't think it would be that bad if Satine was actually shown to be formulating a plan to get out. I mean, perhaps the writers were trying to portray her as having lost hope, but...*Sighs* I am hesitant to use the word, but it came off as borderline Chickification. 'Course, I could be overreacting, but combined with some of the comments made in the episode...yeah. I just pray that I'm wrong and next episode returns to form, but with that and a more male-predominated set of storylines at the moment (except for Ahsoka), I'm starting to have a few iffy feelings. 'Course, I could be wrong. If anyone else has seen the episode, feel free to offer your opinions on the matter. Also, I hope that I'm not coming off as Miss Real Women Never Wear Dresses here. I just hate how they seemed to have mixed up the word "pacifist" with "passive and weak". At least that's how I saw it.
-Putting possible implications aside, the plan itself was incredibly convoluted. I really don't mind the "what people are capable of in a crisis" sorts of episodes, but let's just say that Maul's plan didn't make any sense. At least with Palpatine in the prequels, you could sort of follow his plan. With Maul, using Visla as the fall-guy -- it came off less "brilliant" and more the large-scale equivalent of "why you hitting yourself, why you hitting yourself?" (Okay, probably not the perfect comparison, but that's what it felt like to me)
-Speaking of Death Watch, did they have any motivation outside simply "they oppose Satine, therefore they're evil"? I felt at times that the writers had to resort to using ham-handed ways to show that they're the bad guys, along with their allies -- e.g. Satine accusing the imprisoned Prime Minister of killing children (make of that what you will). I mean, come on, he already has black market stuff on there and corruption; they could have just left it at that. They didn't have to add killing children to the list. Dissuading an audience from DILPing a villain is fine -- although good luck on that -- but hitting them over the head with obvious evil is just not good storytelling. It has to have at least a reason for being there, other than shock value. Maybe in some of Death Watch's previous stories and Mandalore's previous stories they fleshed it out a bit more, but here, it just doesn't work.
And honestly, imagine how much more compelling it would be if Death Watch had twisted rationalizations for what they were doing. Thinking that pacifism genuinely had weakened Mandalore and made it unprepared for, say, invasions from outsiders. Or that, in a way, they were erasing Mandalorian culture, their way of life. It might be still a bit "huh", but at least in their eyes, it would be reasonable. Perhaps not every villain has to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist per se, but they have to at least have reasons and rationalizations for why they do what they do. It's called a well-rounded character and not just simply an archetype (nothing wrong with archetypes, but I think some people out there seem to mistake the idea that you can just rely on an archetype and that's the end of it, which...you can't).
I'm going to present you with one example of such a thing. It's from TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH (and I have to warn you, if you're not a big fan of bad things happening with children, you're probably going to have to skip). Basically, it's the government discussing which children to hand over to the aliens (the 456 -- I believe the phrase "it's a long story" comes to mind). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44FHJPOqLSA. I think what really works about the scene is the fact that while what the government is saying is absolutely repugnant (especially the whole Kill the Poor situation that Denise Riley -- one of the cabinet members; always nice to name the perpetrators, I think -- proposes), they have rationalizations for their actions, and hell, some of them are there for their own reasons. Frobisher because Green needed him to do his dirty work, and Spears because...well, it's heavily implied that she cares about Frobisher...not just as a friend, really. If nothing else, the real evil mostly comes down to what people are willing to do when shit gets real. Some try to save their own skins (Green, for instance) and some have the guts to do what's right where others run away (Torchwood). And I think it's all the more powerful considering that Torchwood may not be perfect people, but they'll do the right thing, no matter what it takes. Which I think makes it all the more powerful, I think. Perhaps CLONE WARS didn't have to go that far (hell, even rewatching the clip makes me a bit queasy) -- but I would have liked them to give more motivation to Death Watch, really. I guess I can mostly conclude that this season does not like complex villains. Or maybe not? I don't know.
-Satine being handed the Idiot Ball if only in tipping Maul off regarding the imprisoned Prime Minister. Honestly, Satine, that's like trying to ward off the Borg by saying you have new technology or something. It just...well, it bugs me.
So yeah... *Sighs* I wanted to like this episode. It has some good ideas in it, but the execution...well, it's wanting, really. I can only pray that the next episode is better. And that Satine gets out of this mess. I had really high hopes for the episode, and it was kind of disheartening to see them dashed like that. I can only pray it was a minor misstep, and the next episode is better.
And guys? Please don't kill me.