Sanctuary Pimp Post
I've fallen very much in love with Sanctuary and while usually I'm the last to jump on a bandwagon, not many people are watching Sanctuary, so I'm pimping it out a bit because it a great little show and more people should be watching it.
How I think to describe it is a mixture of Torchwood, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the graphic novel, not the movie) and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends with a slight hint of Gilmore Girls and Heroes.
Basically, it's about a monster rescuing and hunting team, consisting of doctor, leader and all round awesome Helen Magnus (who has fast become one of my favourite characters on television) her more trigger-happy field-agent daughter Ashley (it's those two who give the show the its slight Gilmore Girls feel), Henry the snarky tech-guy, the big hairy humanoid butler who is quite possibly Big Foot and the n00b forensic psychiatrist Will Zimmerman. They all run around with guns either saving 'abnormals' from the world or the world from abnormals and doing all this from their base, a gigantic mansion known as 'The Sanctuary' which functions as an abnormal refuge, prison, research centre and medical facility.
(The great Helen Magnus - I covet her wardrobe)
All this together makes for a pretty decent premise for a show. But it gets way better, because Magnus is 157 years old (although, apparently not immortal, she just doesn't age) and reoccurring plot element is exploring what she and her friends got up to back in the 1880s. Here's where the League comparison comes in, because Magnus back then was (and still is) pretty damn similar to Mina Murray - one of my favourite characters of all time - an upper-class Victorian protofeminist unafraid to get her hands dirty. As for her associates, so far we've met John Druitt, a.k.a. Jack the Ripper and Nikola Tesla, and they all have some kind of power (the former teleports, the latter is part vampire)
(Ashley Magnus - on the scale of tv blondes, she's thankfully more Elle Bishop or Daphne Millbroke than Claire Bennet or Rose Tyler)
The main theme of the show, which is one I love to seen explored: the definition of a monster. It all begins with brief exchange between Will and Magnus in the pilot "I profile criminals, not monsters" "You can't see the irony in that statement?" As the show has progressed, it seems that is a reoccurring element not only in the storylines, but also in the character's own internal struggles, particularly with Henry and Ashley.
And then there's what I see as the main ship of the series, Magnus/Druitt which is oh so epic and messed-up and tragic, since Druitt's wasn't born a psychopath and Magnus fell in love with him before his ability to teleport drove him murderously insane. Further complicating matters is that Ashley is Druitt's. So not only are the heroine and reoccurring antagonist former lovers, but they're former lovers with a kid. Basically, it's what the Heroes writers have been trying to pull off with Sylar and Arthur/Angela but whereas they fail so miserably at it (particularly with Sylar) that it's dragging the show down, Sanctuary has so far been pulling it off so well it's one of the best things about the show for me.
(Flashback hair!)
Furthermore, the show is quite groundbreaking. It's the first web-serial turned tv show to have any success (it's been renewed for a second season). And it's the first show to use green-screen for the majority of its sets - the background is added later, which means unlimited by the real world, they do get a very creative in their world-creation.
However, there are problems. While the premise is fantastic and there have been some really great episodes (I recommend episode five, Kush in which Magnus and Will are trapped with a murderous shape-shifting abnormal after a plane crash in the Himalayas, and episode seven, The Five in which Magnus and Tesla run from soldiers in catacombs in Rome while Druitt kidnaps Ashley and tells her about her mother's past, there has yet to be a brilliant one. Of course, I've been spoilt rotten for fantastic television lately, so my not brilliant means it's not up to Blink or Company Man or Two Cathedrals standards.
(Will Zimmerman, easily the most boring character of the bunch, but still endearing and does provide a useful member of the team)
However, I believe in this show since it is getting better with every episode. And furthermore, there has yet to be an awful episode - so far not a Cyberwoman to be found. The worst episode of the bunch - Folding Man, rates an 'alright' by my standards. It's moving from strength to strength and it's doing everything right. There's ongoing mystery, but it's answering the questions at a decent pace. The characters that start out slightly two dimensional, such as Ashley and Henry are being fleshed out in to complex three-dimensional ones fantastically.
(Henry and The Big Guy)
Also, a word of warning: I've read a lot of criticism on the net about Amanda Tapping's accent. Although, I'm an ex-pat Brit and I don't notice anything wrong with it. Neither do any of my flatmates. But, just shoving that out there.
(Sanctuary serves to remind the world that mother-daughter teams in sci-fi are fantastic)
Okay, I'm sick of rambling. Basically you should watch this show because:
1. There is a team, and they're competent and a bit snarky and are not just a bunch of people who hang out like each other, but as an oddball family unit.
2. There's not one but two fantastic kickass female characters.
3. I like every single character. Even the boring one. They're all well drawn and three-dimensional and virtually free of wangst (there is a angst, but angst is about actual legitimate problems)
4. Eight episodes in, and the word 'destiny' has been said all of once. There's been no time travel other than flashbacks. There are no prophecies (okay, maybe one was vaguely hinted at once in the pilot and never been heard from again). Nobody is out to save the world. It's like the prefect pallet cleaner for those tired of Heroes.
5. While it takes itself seriously, it doesn't confuse being serious with being overly dark. Oftentimes, the episodes have hopeful endings and the writers don't forget to bring the funny.
6. It's been renewed for a second series, so no possible cancellation woes until at least next year.
Final round of pictures: Yay team!
How I think to describe it is a mixture of Torchwood, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the graphic novel, not the movie) and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends with a slight hint of Gilmore Girls and Heroes.
Basically, it's about a monster rescuing and hunting team, consisting of doctor, leader and all round awesome Helen Magnus (who has fast become one of my favourite characters on television) her more trigger-happy field-agent daughter Ashley (it's those two who give the show the its slight Gilmore Girls feel), Henry the snarky tech-guy, the big hairy humanoid butler who is quite possibly Big Foot and the n00b forensic psychiatrist Will Zimmerman. They all run around with guns either saving 'abnormals' from the world or the world from abnormals and doing all this from their base, a gigantic mansion known as 'The Sanctuary' which functions as an abnormal refuge, prison, research centre and medical facility.
(The great Helen Magnus - I covet her wardrobe)
All this together makes for a pretty decent premise for a show. But it gets way better, because Magnus is 157 years old (although, apparently not immortal, she just doesn't age) and reoccurring plot element is exploring what she and her friends got up to back in the 1880s. Here's where the League comparison comes in, because Magnus back then was (and still is) pretty damn similar to Mina Murray - one of my favourite characters of all time - an upper-class Victorian protofeminist unafraid to get her hands dirty. As for her associates, so far we've met John Druitt, a.k.a. Jack the Ripper and Nikola Tesla, and they all have some kind of power (the former teleports, the latter is part vampire)
(Ashley Magnus - on the scale of tv blondes, she's thankfully more Elle Bishop or Daphne Millbroke than Claire Bennet or Rose Tyler)
The main theme of the show, which is one I love to seen explored: the definition of a monster. It all begins with brief exchange between Will and Magnus in the pilot "I profile criminals, not monsters" "You can't see the irony in that statement?" As the show has progressed, it seems that is a reoccurring element not only in the storylines, but also in the character's own internal struggles, particularly with Henry and Ashley.
And then there's what I see as the main ship of the series, Magnus/Druitt which is oh so epic and messed-up and tragic, since Druitt's wasn't born a psychopath and Magnus fell in love with him before his ability to teleport drove him murderously insane. Further complicating matters is that Ashley is Druitt's. So not only are the heroine and reoccurring antagonist former lovers, but they're former lovers with a kid. Basically, it's what the Heroes writers have been trying to pull off with Sylar and Arthur/Angela but whereas they fail so miserably at it (particularly with Sylar) that it's dragging the show down, Sanctuary has so far been pulling it off so well it's one of the best things about the show for me.
(Flashback hair!)
Furthermore, the show is quite groundbreaking. It's the first web-serial turned tv show to have any success (it's been renewed for a second season). And it's the first show to use green-screen for the majority of its sets - the background is added later, which means unlimited by the real world, they do get a very creative in their world-creation.
However, there are problems. While the premise is fantastic and there have been some really great episodes (I recommend episode five, Kush in which Magnus and Will are trapped with a murderous shape-shifting abnormal after a plane crash in the Himalayas, and episode seven, The Five in which Magnus and Tesla run from soldiers in catacombs in Rome while Druitt kidnaps Ashley and tells her about her mother's past, there has yet to be a brilliant one. Of course, I've been spoilt rotten for fantastic television lately, so my not brilliant means it's not up to Blink or Company Man or Two Cathedrals standards.
(Will Zimmerman, easily the most boring character of the bunch, but still endearing and does provide a useful member of the team)
However, I believe in this show since it is getting better with every episode. And furthermore, there has yet to be an awful episode - so far not a Cyberwoman to be found. The worst episode of the bunch - Folding Man, rates an 'alright' by my standards. It's moving from strength to strength and it's doing everything right. There's ongoing mystery, but it's answering the questions at a decent pace. The characters that start out slightly two dimensional, such as Ashley and Henry are being fleshed out in to complex three-dimensional ones fantastically.
(Henry and The Big Guy)
Also, a word of warning: I've read a lot of criticism on the net about Amanda Tapping's accent. Although, I'm an ex-pat Brit and I don't notice anything wrong with it. Neither do any of my flatmates. But, just shoving that out there.
(Sanctuary serves to remind the world that mother-daughter teams in sci-fi are fantastic)
Okay, I'm sick of rambling. Basically you should watch this show because:
1. There is a team, and they're competent and a bit snarky and are not just a bunch of people who hang out like each other, but as an oddball family unit.
2. There's not one but two fantastic kickass female characters.
3. I like every single character. Even the boring one. They're all well drawn and three-dimensional and virtually free of wangst (there is a angst, but angst is about actual legitimate problems)
4. Eight episodes in, and the word 'destiny' has been said all of once. There's been no time travel other than flashbacks. There are no prophecies (okay, maybe one was vaguely hinted at once in the pilot and never been heard from again). Nobody is out to save the world. It's like the prefect pallet cleaner for those tired of Heroes.
5. While it takes itself seriously, it doesn't confuse being serious with being overly dark. Oftentimes, the episodes have hopeful endings and the writers don't forget to bring the funny.
6. It's been renewed for a second series, so no possible cancellation woes until at least next year.
Final round of pictures: Yay team!