Eureka season 5, episodes 1-3
I really should sit down and try to have some coherent thoughts on this.
Things I enjoyed:
1. Allison getting some good, meaty emotional stuff (even if it was a fake world). It was nice to see her pulling out all the stops. (and they did some nice stuff with her and Jo in the fake world, and her kids, and I appreciate that they didn't try to gloss it over)
2. That it seemed to be Allison, Holly and Grace who were going to save the day (and also did a lot of the saving and stuff in episodes one and two).
3. Zane is pretty. I can't help it.
4. Henry continuing to be intelligent and thinking outside the box, and trusting Beverly.
5. Jo on her walkabout! She is amazing, and I really hope we'll get more of her running off by herself. And, y'know, having a plotline that isn't about who she's screwing. Also, Jo returning and getting Jack and Andy out of jail. Because she is that awesome.
6. JO SAVING THE DAY AT THE END WITH HER INSANE FLYING SKILLS.
Things I was ... meh on:
1. Jo and Jack as lovers. OH GOD NO. Seriously, it's, ugh. I also find it really iffy and a bit sexist that, of course, Jo drops her clothes at some point so he sees her naked.
2. NPC!Henry menacing Grace.
3. Beverly saving the day. While I don't think she'd ever been into killing people (at least not brilliant ones), I am sort of a little "really? That's how fast she goes running to Jack?" about it. Although I appreciate her solution for Senator Wen (though, srsly, a senator disappears, and no one goes looking? On what planet?). (also, to be shallow, she was very hot)
4. Senator Wen being the Bad Guy. Erm. ok.
5. I figured out it was fake!world from the episode description. Highly predictable, and I wish they'd just done something different or less obvious.
Things I was angry about:
1. Jo finally gets a plotline all about her, and not her nether regions, and IMMEDIATELY we return from break and she's dating Jack? oh, wait, it's a fake-out. She's... back and maybe will sleep with Zane again. So. Two scenes in one episode were about this other plotline, and now that's out the window. Great.
2. Jack will never die. Nor will Fargo. Every time either is threatened, you can ignore it.
3. The death of Holly Martin. I am fucking pissed about this, as it's obvious it was only so that Fargo could have some 'character growth'. For fuck's sake, that end scene in 5.3 is two dudes mourning the death of a woman. I AM SO TIRED OF THIS PLOT. SO FUCKING TIRED. And there was NO reason for it. None.
Oh, wait. There was. Because you can't kill Zane, Fargo or Jack, and killing a red-shirt wouldn't have emotionally resonated with people. And besides, Holly's only purpose was to be Fargo's trophy in his ongoing game of egos with that dude Wheaton plays.
So, on the whole, while I appreciate that the show has multiple women, who sometimes talk to each other (and that was the end of Holly, wasn't it? She was talking to Allison and Grace, and three women conversing is the death knell of at least one of them--so Stargate has taught me), and occasionally gives them plots that aren't about who they're sleeping with, it still views them as lesser to the male characters.
Because no one would watch Eureka if Jack or Fargo were dead, amiright?
Things I enjoyed:
1. Allison getting some good, meaty emotional stuff (even if it was a fake world). It was nice to see her pulling out all the stops. (and they did some nice stuff with her and Jo in the fake world, and her kids, and I appreciate that they didn't try to gloss it over)
2. That it seemed to be Allison, Holly and Grace who were going to save the day (and also did a lot of the saving and stuff in episodes one and two).
3. Zane is pretty. I can't help it.
4. Henry continuing to be intelligent and thinking outside the box, and trusting Beverly.
5. Jo on her walkabout! She is amazing, and I really hope we'll get more of her running off by herself. And, y'know, having a plotline that isn't about who she's screwing. Also, Jo returning and getting Jack and Andy out of jail. Because she is that awesome.
6. JO SAVING THE DAY AT THE END WITH HER INSANE FLYING SKILLS.
Things I was ... meh on:
1. Jo and Jack as lovers. OH GOD NO. Seriously, it's, ugh. I also find it really iffy and a bit sexist that, of course, Jo drops her clothes at some point so he sees her naked.
2. NPC!Henry menacing Grace.
3. Beverly saving the day. While I don't think she'd ever been into killing people (at least not brilliant ones), I am sort of a little "really? That's how fast she goes running to Jack?" about it. Although I appreciate her solution for Senator Wen (though, srsly, a senator disappears, and no one goes looking? On what planet?). (also, to be shallow, she was very hot)
4. Senator Wen being the Bad Guy. Erm. ok.
5. I figured out it was fake!world from the episode description. Highly predictable, and I wish they'd just done something different or less obvious.
Things I was angry about:
1. Jo finally gets a plotline all about her, and not her nether regions, and IMMEDIATELY we return from break and she's dating Jack? oh, wait, it's a fake-out. She's... back and maybe will sleep with Zane again. So. Two scenes in one episode were about this other plotline, and now that's out the window. Great.
2. Jack will never die. Nor will Fargo. Every time either is threatened, you can ignore it.
3. The death of Holly Martin. I am fucking pissed about this, as it's obvious it was only so that Fargo could have some 'character growth'. For fuck's sake, that end scene in 5.3 is two dudes mourning the death of a woman. I AM SO TIRED OF THIS PLOT. SO FUCKING TIRED. And there was NO reason for it. None.
Oh, wait. There was. Because you can't kill Zane, Fargo or Jack, and killing a red-shirt wouldn't have emotionally resonated with people. And besides, Holly's only purpose was to be Fargo's trophy in his ongoing game of egos with that dude Wheaton plays.
So, on the whole, while I appreciate that the show has multiple women, who sometimes talk to each other (and that was the end of Holly, wasn't it? She was talking to Allison and Grace, and three women conversing is the death knell of at least one of them--so Stargate has taught me), and occasionally gives them plots that aren't about who they're sleeping with, it still views them as lesser to the male characters.
Because no one would watch Eureka if Jack or Fargo were dead, amiright?