The Title that I Couldn't Figure Out
Yeah, mainly a catch-up post, ergo the vague title. I started reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer a couple of days ago. So far, a good book. The little kiddy things Sawyer does are so charming and I remember doing a few of them. I can't really believe that it's Christmas already! Which means figuring out and buying presents (uggh) but receiving them as well (yay!). I'll be checking Dana's Advent Calendar every day as usual. I'd suggest you do as well.
I'm plowing through Angel Season 4 at the moment and am up to Shiny Happy People at the moment. The season's actually rather ingenious when you take it as a whole and you can see the excellent forethought and planning put into the entire Jasmine/Beast arc. Bringing in Faith and Willow were brilliant ideas and I loved the writers for doing it. Faith's return to Buffy pales in comparison to her Angel one. Much of her development in Angel was sidelined in Buffy due to the amount of crap going on.
Angel's Season 4 is often hated by the fans but I'd attribute this to the 'OOC' actions of the much loved Cordy, which can't be considered OOC as it was always Jasmine. The twist that Cordy was evil was brilliantly executed and well setup. The most satisfying moments were when the Fang Gang finally figured out Evil Cordy's deception. The one thing I feel the writers screwed up was sending Cordy away. I may not be as knowledgeable about the behind-the-scenes of Angel as I am with Buffy but they shouldn't of let Charisma Carpenter go. By putting Cordy into a coma, it meant that her/Jasmine's actions couldn't be talked about and resolved. This meant that the Jasmine storyline had only half the punch it could've had if we were allowed to see Cordy's reaction. The coma also meant that the last time we see the real Cordy (You're Welcome not withstanding) is in Season 3.
Confusion about Jasmine's agenda also lead to fan's disapproval of the season. Jasmine's motivation (bringing about World Peace) didn't correlate with what lead up to her birth (the Rain of Fire, the blackout, bringing Angelus back). Most of Evil Cordy's actions couldn't be directly attributed to Jasmine's plan either. It takes a lot of thought to understand why she wanted Angelus around/Lilah dead etc. This left the viewers nonplussed about what was happening for most of the season and feeling somewhat disappointed with the outcome. It was quickly explained in Inside Out but anyone who missed it would feel lost.
Overall, the season was an excellent idea on the writers part but could've been even better with a few adjustments.
Woah, no idea that tirade was gonna happen. Moving on. My sister gave me Doctor Who Series 1 (which I haven't seen yet) and Harry Potter & The OOtP for an early Christmas. I started watching last night and was prety engaged. I've been pretty much been completely spoilt for all of the episodes of the Series so I've been revelling in the little things I didn't get spoilt for (poor Jabe's death in The End of The World for example). Kinda regretting all of that Wiki-surfing now... Why am I a complete spoiler ho?
I'm trying to remain as unspoilt for Who S4 as possible. I've gotten a few mild spoilers (episode settings/monsters and characters returns) but nothing too terrible. Of course I heard about Billie Piper returning cause I don't live under a rock, but I wasn't too surprised so it was kinda alright. I imagine that remaining spoiler free'll get harder as the series airs in the UK but I'll try my hardest.
Aggh. Got a headache from being on the computer all day.