Tim Minear's "The Inside" and why everyone needs to watch it.
Public service announcement: Tim Minear's "The Inside" is made up of utter and complete awesomeness. If you missed this show during its original run in 2005, you're luckier than you realize because now you have 13 episodes of pure awesomeoness that you have yet to experience. Read on for the premise and links to streaming videos and/or downloads of the episodes. This series is not officially avaliable on DVD or VHS, and the only way to watch it is pretty much online.
I recently found DVDs for it, and rewatched the entire series in a week, and it's much better than I remember it being. Which is rare for me because I tend to build up things in my mind with my own interpretations and all. But "The Inside" is filled with nuances and lends itself to rewatching and reinterpretating.
Premise: "The Inside" is a psychological thriller created by Tim Minear (Angel, Wonderfalls) and Howard Gordon (X-Files, Strange World) that uses the format of a procedural drama to explore its wonderfully messed up and layered characters. It takes place within the Violent Crimes Unit of the FBI, and while it focuses on the crime elements, it's more interested in exploring the characters who deal with this sort of violence on a regular basis. The main character, Rebecca Locke (Rachel Nichols), is the kind of dark and fucked-up character that you never really get as a protagonist and rarely even as a regular, and so, therefore: much love for her. Tim Minear said about the character, "It was my decision and my choice to do a story about a character that has no inside. The arc of the show is her trying to figure out who she is. It’s about identity and trying to become a person." And that's as good a description of Rebecca and her arc as any. When she was ten, Rebecca was kidnapped and held captive for 18 months. The details of her stay with her kidnapper remain vague and are never exploited as sensational crap that one would see on other crime dramas. She was never rescued and found her way back on her own, under circumstances that are slowly revealed during the course of the series. Needless to say, she not only has issues, but in fact has several subscriptions.
She's brought into the unit in the first episode to replace a recently-dead FBI agent. She never passed her psych screening test to become a field agent, and we find out that Supervisory Agent Web (Peter Coyote) pulled some strings to bring her in so he could use her tragedy to mindfuck her into solving his cases. She has an insight into profiling not the suspects, but the victims, which she then uses to make conclusions about the suspects. It’s uncanny to watch her slip into the victims’ heads, and I think it’s her own sense of a fractured identity that allows her to do it. She’s not exactly an easy character to like because it can be uncomfortable to realize how much you do like her given her extreme creepiness, but it’s really fun to watch her grow and discover parts of herself that she has lost.
Web is another character who is made up of too much awesomeness for a single show to contain. He’s incredibly machiavellian and would be totally evil if he didn’t happen to be on the right side of justice. He’s willing to use anything and anyone to solve his cases, and his team members are picked, as he says, based on the specific issues and problems they have that can be used by him. He’s not interested in helping Rebecca get better because she’s only useful to him as long as she’s just this side of crazy. He's also fond of putting her in dangerous situations to lure the killers because he thinks that being in that kind of danger gives her special insights. Luckily for him, she seems to enjoy being in danger and has issues that are somewhere between a suicidal wish and invencibility complex. (They have very messed-up but oh-so-cool subtext that's made of awesome.)
For those who like their characters less dark and creepy, there are also Paul (Jay Harrington), Mel (Katie Finneran), Danny (Adam Baldwin), and Carter (Nelsan Ellis). Paul is very much like the narrators/heroes you would find in American Modernist fiction (Nick from The Great Gatsby, for instance). He sees himself as the moral center of the world that he inhibits and appoints himself Rebecca’s protector, determined to keep Web from screwing her up more than she’s already been screwed. His perception of Rebecca is very different from Web’s, and it’s interesting to see Rebecca fluctuate between these perceptions (yay for more modernism!). Mel brings some much-needed humor to the show and Danny tends to help.
Episodes: For anyone who is interested in checking this series out (and why wouldn’t you be?), you can find streaming videos of the first four episodes here: Just be aware that they are listed out of order, kind of like how FOX aired them. Watch them in this order: 1). New Girl in Town, 2). Everything Nice, 3). Old Wounds, and 4). Pre-filer.
Those are all excellent episodes, with the possible exception of "Old Wounds," but I tend to like that one a lot, too. If the streaming videos aren’t working for you, I can upload the episodes. There are only 13 episodes in all, but the series got to finish its first arc so there’s a sense of completion. I will upload the rest of the episodes if anyone is interested in more. Now do yourself a favor and go watch.
And now, spoiler-filled gushing over the entire run:
Rebecca: This show really lends itself to DVD-watching, so it's tragic that it will never be put out in that format. Rebecca's growth, while not drastic in the 13 episodes we get, is still amazing. It's great to watch her change and slowly become a person. Somewhere between thinking that the actress is bland or the character just isn't that interesting, you begin to realize that she's just incredibly fucked up and broken and was never quite put back together right. I also loved, loved, loved how every episode revealed her to be crazier than you thought she was last episode.
Rebecca's craziness is the kind of quite, creepy insanity that I've rarely seen in fiction. I'm more about the Medea school of crazy where the insanity brings down fun chaos. Rebecca is withdrawn, stoic, and the quite violence of her insanity is directed towards herself. It's not intentional; she's not openly suicidal or violent, but she seems to throw herself into danger at every turn. It's interesting to note that she is the most animated in the role of the victim. It's only when she's put in that position that she starts to show some semblance of being alive. It's familiar and once put there, she can rescue herself. And that's just so damn uncomfortable that this show was never going to last on network TV. People like stories of kidnapped little girls who grow up to be just fine. Most people don't want to watch a show about someone who was very possibly permanently fucked up by her tragedy. It's just not uplifting enough for TV. It might've worked on HBO since "Carnivale" was a lot creepier, but FOX wasn't ever going to keep this around. Still, I think that virtually any TV show can become a success given enough promotion on the network's part, and "The Inside" was an excellent show to begin with.
Web: He's, like, Batman, but without the "My parents are dead!" trauma. He keeps them all on a short leash just like Batman and uses them for his own ends. It's fun to watch him, and as with Rebecca, it's fun to watch for signs that he's not as creepy and cold as he appears to be. It seems that a lot of people are convinced that he was evil, but I don't see that so much. I think he's a bit like Emma Frost in that his methods are totally evil, but he just happens to be on the side of good for now. The only time where I kind of believed he may be evil was in the Pilot, where I almost think that he fucked poor Margaret up on purpose so he could bring in Rebecca? But it seems like Margaret was similarly issued, so Web must've liked her. It's possible that I would totally be up for a prequel-y show with Web and Margaret. That'd be hot and fun.
Paul: So, yeah, he's a tool. But I kind of think he's a tool that's needed? I could analyze this show from the Modernist perspective so very much, and Paul is kind of fun to have in that regard. His sense of moral superiority and his view of the world as black and white really makes everyone else seem so much more interesting in comparison. He is the moral center (in his eyes) of his unit and judges everyone accordingly. I think the more he becomes disillusioned with his perception of Rebecca, the better I like her. He wants to think of her as redeemable, human, and fragile. And sometimes, I find myself wanting him to be right about Rebecca, for her to have even a fraction of the goodness he attributes to her, but also? I love her so much more every time the show proves that Web has a better grasp of Rebecca's issues than Paul ever could. (And then even MORE when we figure out that Web is also wrong about her.) Especially in the early episodes. In the later episodes, she starts developing qualities that Paul wants her to have, but I think by then, he's grown to like her issues a bit. Because who wouldn't? ;)
Web/Rebecca: The interaction between Web and Rebecca was some of the most interesting on the show. They're both so fucked up, in such complimentary ways that it's just not possible to not ship them a little. But even without the subtext, the odd relationship between them is made of awesome. I like that while Rebecca is totally indifferent to the feelings of her other teammates, she seems to genuinely want Web's approval. She comes off as a bigger Web fangirl in the script than in the actual episodes, but the undertones of her brain-crush on Web seem apparent on the show. And they're both on such similar brain wavelenghts that it really is hard to tell sometimes if Web is putting her in danger because he's an asshole or if it was her idea because she likes being in danger. There are a few moments where she seems uncertain about his suggestions, but she never really argues until towards the end of the run, which just makes everything so much more interesting. There are so many scenes with them that are made up of pure hotness and awesome mindfucks. I don't think Rebecca is completely clueless about Web's issues like Paul thinks she is. She seems to feel comfortable with Web because he gets the extent of her issues, and she doesn't have to play stupid social games with him the way she has to with others. And she seems to share with Web the issues she doesn't with anyone else. Unfortunately for her, Web really isn't interested in her getting better, and I think that's actually what makes me ship them. I could never get on the Buffy/Giles or Faith/Mayor train because Giles and the Mayor are very much the father figures, and that makes it odd for me. But Web? Not really interested in having a meaningful connection with Rebecca outside of wanting to control her, and while that's creepy, it also lends itself to fun subtexty vibes. Especially since Rebecca is really the one who has power in their dynamic. But between all the creepiness, there are still cute moments like the ones at the end of "Loneliest Number" and "Point of Origin."
I think part of the reason that I like crazy and/or psychologically damaged characters so much is that I really enjoy watching them grow into people who might someday be able to function on a normal level. And I'm sad that I'll never get a chance to see Rebecca get there. I think that this first arc felt a bit like Carnivale season one, where it's used to establish who these people are more than anything else. The end felt more like a beginning than an ending. At the end of the season, Rebecca is only beginning to realize that the way she's been living isn't the best way to go about it. The arc feels completed, but I'm not at all satisfied with the ending the way I was with the "Wonderfalls" ending or even "Firefly." Rebecca is still deeply damaged, and I'm not comfortable leaving her at the end of the thirtheenth episode. I'm not entirely convinced that she'll not end up like Margaret Alvarez. Especially with Web there to mindfuck her some more. This feels like, in some ways, the most incomplete heroic journey I've encountered.
In other news, I have now accomplished my goal of finishing one year of Ancient Greek studies in less than four months. Now, I'm totally qualified to translate random Greek mythology fanfic into ancient Greek.
Secondly, comics: I finished the entire "Stranges in Paradise, V3" in about two weeks, but only because I was delaying it on purpose because I had much, much love for it. I was prepared to rec the hell out of it once done, but um, I'm kind of very much 'meh' on the ending, so I shall contain my love and my rec until I have resolved my issues with it.
I recently found DVDs for it, and rewatched the entire series in a week, and it's much better than I remember it being. Which is rare for me because I tend to build up things in my mind with my own interpretations and all. But "The Inside" is filled with nuances and lends itself to rewatching and reinterpretating.
Premise: "The Inside" is a psychological thriller created by Tim Minear (Angel, Wonderfalls) and Howard Gordon (X-Files, Strange World) that uses the format of a procedural drama to explore its wonderfully messed up and layered characters. It takes place within the Violent Crimes Unit of the FBI, and while it focuses on the crime elements, it's more interested in exploring the characters who deal with this sort of violence on a regular basis. The main character, Rebecca Locke (Rachel Nichols), is the kind of dark and fucked-up character that you never really get as a protagonist and rarely even as a regular, and so, therefore: much love for her. Tim Minear said about the character, "It was my decision and my choice to do a story about a character that has no inside. The arc of the show is her trying to figure out who she is. It’s about identity and trying to become a person." And that's as good a description of Rebecca and her arc as any. When she was ten, Rebecca was kidnapped and held captive for 18 months. The details of her stay with her kidnapper remain vague and are never exploited as sensational crap that one would see on other crime dramas. She was never rescued and found her way back on her own, under circumstances that are slowly revealed during the course of the series. Needless to say, she not only has issues, but in fact has several subscriptions.
She's brought into the unit in the first episode to replace a recently-dead FBI agent. She never passed her psych screening test to become a field agent, and we find out that Supervisory Agent Web (Peter Coyote) pulled some strings to bring her in so he could use her tragedy to mindfuck her into solving his cases. She has an insight into profiling not the suspects, but the victims, which she then uses to make conclusions about the suspects. It’s uncanny to watch her slip into the victims’ heads, and I think it’s her own sense of a fractured identity that allows her to do it. She’s not exactly an easy character to like because it can be uncomfortable to realize how much you do like her given her extreme creepiness, but it’s really fun to watch her grow and discover parts of herself that she has lost.
Web is another character who is made up of too much awesomeness for a single show to contain. He’s incredibly machiavellian and would be totally evil if he didn’t happen to be on the right side of justice. He’s willing to use anything and anyone to solve his cases, and his team members are picked, as he says, based on the specific issues and problems they have that can be used by him. He’s not interested in helping Rebecca get better because she’s only useful to him as long as she’s just this side of crazy. He's also fond of putting her in dangerous situations to lure the killers because he thinks that being in that kind of danger gives her special insights. Luckily for him, she seems to enjoy being in danger and has issues that are somewhere between a suicidal wish and invencibility complex. (They have very messed-up but oh-so-cool subtext that's made of awesome.)
For those who like their characters less dark and creepy, there are also Paul (Jay Harrington), Mel (Katie Finneran), Danny (Adam Baldwin), and Carter (Nelsan Ellis). Paul is very much like the narrators/heroes you would find in American Modernist fiction (Nick from The Great Gatsby, for instance). He sees himself as the moral center of the world that he inhibits and appoints himself Rebecca’s protector, determined to keep Web from screwing her up more than she’s already been screwed. His perception of Rebecca is very different from Web’s, and it’s interesting to see Rebecca fluctuate between these perceptions (yay for more modernism!). Mel brings some much-needed humor to the show and Danny tends to help.
Episodes: For anyone who is interested in checking this series out (and why wouldn’t you be?), you can find streaming videos of the first four episodes here: Just be aware that they are listed out of order, kind of like how FOX aired them. Watch them in this order: 1). New Girl in Town, 2). Everything Nice, 3). Old Wounds, and 4). Pre-filer.
Those are all excellent episodes, with the possible exception of "Old Wounds," but I tend to like that one a lot, too. If the streaming videos aren’t working for you, I can upload the episodes. There are only 13 episodes in all, but the series got to finish its first arc so there’s a sense of completion. I will upload the rest of the episodes if anyone is interested in more. Now do yourself a favor and go watch.
And now, spoiler-filled gushing over the entire run:
Rebecca: This show really lends itself to DVD-watching, so it's tragic that it will never be put out in that format. Rebecca's growth, while not drastic in the 13 episodes we get, is still amazing. It's great to watch her change and slowly become a person. Somewhere between thinking that the actress is bland or the character just isn't that interesting, you begin to realize that she's just incredibly fucked up and broken and was never quite put back together right. I also loved, loved, loved how every episode revealed her to be crazier than you thought she was last episode.
Rebecca's craziness is the kind of quite, creepy insanity that I've rarely seen in fiction. I'm more about the Medea school of crazy where the insanity brings down fun chaos. Rebecca is withdrawn, stoic, and the quite violence of her insanity is directed towards herself. It's not intentional; she's not openly suicidal or violent, but she seems to throw herself into danger at every turn. It's interesting to note that she is the most animated in the role of the victim. It's only when she's put in that position that she starts to show some semblance of being alive. It's familiar and once put there, she can rescue herself. And that's just so damn uncomfortable that this show was never going to last on network TV. People like stories of kidnapped little girls who grow up to be just fine. Most people don't want to watch a show about someone who was very possibly permanently fucked up by her tragedy. It's just not uplifting enough for TV. It might've worked on HBO since "Carnivale" was a lot creepier, but FOX wasn't ever going to keep this around. Still, I think that virtually any TV show can become a success given enough promotion on the network's part, and "The Inside" was an excellent show to begin with.
Web: He's, like, Batman, but without the "My parents are dead!" trauma. He keeps them all on a short leash just like Batman and uses them for his own ends. It's fun to watch him, and as with Rebecca, it's fun to watch for signs that he's not as creepy and cold as he appears to be. It seems that a lot of people are convinced that he was evil, but I don't see that so much. I think he's a bit like Emma Frost in that his methods are totally evil, but he just happens to be on the side of good for now. The only time where I kind of believed he may be evil was in the Pilot, where I almost think that he fucked poor Margaret up on purpose so he could bring in Rebecca? But it seems like Margaret was similarly issued, so Web must've liked her. It's possible that I would totally be up for a prequel-y show with Web and Margaret. That'd be hot and fun.
Paul: So, yeah, he's a tool. But I kind of think he's a tool that's needed? I could analyze this show from the Modernist perspective so very much, and Paul is kind of fun to have in that regard. His sense of moral superiority and his view of the world as black and white really makes everyone else seem so much more interesting in comparison. He is the moral center (in his eyes) of his unit and judges everyone accordingly. I think the more he becomes disillusioned with his perception of Rebecca, the better I like her. He wants to think of her as redeemable, human, and fragile. And sometimes, I find myself wanting him to be right about Rebecca, for her to have even a fraction of the goodness he attributes to her, but also? I love her so much more every time the show proves that Web has a better grasp of Rebecca's issues than Paul ever could. (And then even MORE when we figure out that Web is also wrong about her.) Especially in the early episodes. In the later episodes, she starts developing qualities that Paul wants her to have, but I think by then, he's grown to like her issues a bit. Because who wouldn't? ;)
Web/Rebecca: The interaction between Web and Rebecca was some of the most interesting on the show. They're both so fucked up, in such complimentary ways that it's just not possible to not ship them a little. But even without the subtext, the odd relationship between them is made of awesome. I like that while Rebecca is totally indifferent to the feelings of her other teammates, she seems to genuinely want Web's approval. She comes off as a bigger Web fangirl in the script than in the actual episodes, but the undertones of her brain-crush on Web seem apparent on the show. And they're both on such similar brain wavelenghts that it really is hard to tell sometimes if Web is putting her in danger because he's an asshole or if it was her idea because she likes being in danger. There are a few moments where she seems uncertain about his suggestions, but she never really argues until towards the end of the run, which just makes everything so much more interesting. There are so many scenes with them that are made up of pure hotness and awesome mindfucks. I don't think Rebecca is completely clueless about Web's issues like Paul thinks she is. She seems to feel comfortable with Web because he gets the extent of her issues, and she doesn't have to play stupid social games with him the way she has to with others. And she seems to share with Web the issues she doesn't with anyone else. Unfortunately for her, Web really isn't interested in her getting better, and I think that's actually what makes me ship them. I could never get on the Buffy/Giles or Faith/Mayor train because Giles and the Mayor are very much the father figures, and that makes it odd for me. But Web? Not really interested in having a meaningful connection with Rebecca outside of wanting to control her, and while that's creepy, it also lends itself to fun subtexty vibes. Especially since Rebecca is really the one who has power in their dynamic. But between all the creepiness, there are still cute moments like the ones at the end of "Loneliest Number" and "Point of Origin."
I think part of the reason that I like crazy and/or psychologically damaged characters so much is that I really enjoy watching them grow into people who might someday be able to function on a normal level. And I'm sad that I'll never get a chance to see Rebecca get there. I think that this first arc felt a bit like Carnivale season one, where it's used to establish who these people are more than anything else. The end felt more like a beginning than an ending. At the end of the season, Rebecca is only beginning to realize that the way she's been living isn't the best way to go about it. The arc feels completed, but I'm not at all satisfied with the ending the way I was with the "Wonderfalls" ending or even "Firefly." Rebecca is still deeply damaged, and I'm not comfortable leaving her at the end of the thirtheenth episode. I'm not entirely convinced that she'll not end up like Margaret Alvarez. Especially with Web there to mindfuck her some more. This feels like, in some ways, the most incomplete heroic journey I've encountered.
In other news, I have now accomplished my goal of finishing one year of Ancient Greek studies in less than four months. Now, I'm totally qualified to translate random Greek mythology fanfic into ancient Greek.
Secondly, comics: I finished the entire "Stranges in Paradise, V3" in about two weeks, but only because I was delaying it on purpose because I had much, much love for it. I was prepared to rec the hell out of it once done, but um, I'm kind of very much 'meh' on the ending, so I shall contain my love and my rec until I have resolved my issues with it.