Sharpe and episode watching order
I've been rewatching Sharpe, in order this time. It started innocently enough last weekend when I was looking for something to watch while working out with weights (The Persuaders has been on hold while sarren has been otherwise occupied), but it's taken on a life of its own, and what started with one episode each evening has become several episodes a day where possible. They're two hours long, so that's a lot of TV. I had to see my chiropractor this week and we decided I'd hurt my neck by spending so much time on my lounge when I'm not accustomed to it. You have to work up to these things.
I've come to the startling realisation that shows can be appreciated more fully when you watch the episodes in order. Possibly some of you know this already. When I get interested in a new show, it's very important to me to SEE ALL THE BEST EPISODES RIGHT AWAY, yesterday if possible. I think that's very reasonable - you never know how much time you have, so if there's something you really want to do, you shouldn't put it off! During the week it took me to see all the Persuaders episodes in January, I drove up and down the highway thinking, "If I'm in a car accident today, my main regret will be that I never got to see those last Persuaders episodes!" (I take that to mean the rest of my life is in fairly good order, rather than that I have some kind of pathological obsession.) I normally start with the first episode of a show, sometimes the first two episodes, and then move smartly on to the best (i.e., slashiest or angstiest) episodes, then work my way back through the rest a little more calmly. I resort to chronological order only upon rewatching. With due South, I saw Ladies Man, Call of the Wild and Mountie on the Bounty long before the rest of season 3, with Sports Night I jumped way ahead to Draft Day and April is the Cruelest Month, and with The Persuaders I watched Someone Like Me and Death in the Family in the first two days despite being specifically advised I shouldn't. I think the only show I've ever seen mostly in chronological order was The Sentinel, and that's because I was incorrectly informed that the episodes weren't really any good.
With Sharpe, it makes particular sense to watch it in order because you can see him fighting his way up through the ranks and becoming more confident as an officer. Locals: does anybody have Sharpe's Challenge?
I knew there were at least a couple of episodes I hadn't seen, using my "work backwards from the best episodes" approach, and now I've seen them. Sharpe's Honour has its moments, but I can't say I enjoyed the Chosen Men's, and especially Harper's, very low-key reaction to Sharpe's supposed hanging. A little more emotion wouldn't have gone astray, particularly when contrasted to their grief at Perkin's death a couple of episodes later. Sharpe's Gold was too gruesome for me and I found myself watching some of it from the hallway, peeking round the corner. I still don't like the way Sharpe refuses to move his few men off the road out of the way of the oncoming company in Sharpe's Battle, but by sticking with the chronological method I know there are some really good episodes coming up, so I'm not going to grind to a halt over the issue like I think I did in 2005. Sean Bean is so attractive and charismatic as Sharpe that just about every moment he's on the screen is a delight.
I need something to read on the plane next to my boss next month and I'm thinking the Sharpe novels might fit the bill. Military historical fiction not only genuinely interests me, but would match the image I want to portray!
I've come to the startling realisation that shows can be appreciated more fully when you watch the episodes in order. Possibly some of you know this already. When I get interested in a new show, it's very important to me to SEE ALL THE BEST EPISODES RIGHT AWAY, yesterday if possible. I think that's very reasonable - you never know how much time you have, so if there's something you really want to do, you shouldn't put it off! During the week it took me to see all the Persuaders episodes in January, I drove up and down the highway thinking, "If I'm in a car accident today, my main regret will be that I never got to see those last Persuaders episodes!" (I take that to mean the rest of my life is in fairly good order, rather than that I have some kind of pathological obsession.) I normally start with the first episode of a show, sometimes the first two episodes, and then move smartly on to the best (i.e., slashiest or angstiest) episodes, then work my way back through the rest a little more calmly. I resort to chronological order only upon rewatching. With due South, I saw Ladies Man, Call of the Wild and Mountie on the Bounty long before the rest of season 3, with Sports Night I jumped way ahead to Draft Day and April is the Cruelest Month, and with The Persuaders I watched Someone Like Me and Death in the Family in the first two days despite being specifically advised I shouldn't. I think the only show I've ever seen mostly in chronological order was The Sentinel, and that's because I was incorrectly informed that the episodes weren't really any good.
With Sharpe, it makes particular sense to watch it in order because you can see him fighting his way up through the ranks and becoming more confident as an officer. Locals: does anybody have Sharpe's Challenge?
I knew there were at least a couple of episodes I hadn't seen, using my "work backwards from the best episodes" approach, and now I've seen them. Sharpe's Honour has its moments, but I can't say I enjoyed the Chosen Men's, and especially Harper's, very low-key reaction to Sharpe's supposed hanging. A little more emotion wouldn't have gone astray, particularly when contrasted to their grief at Perkin's death a couple of episodes later. Sharpe's Gold was too gruesome for me and I found myself watching some of it from the hallway, peeking round the corner. I still don't like the way Sharpe refuses to move his few men off the road out of the way of the oncoming company in Sharpe's Battle, but by sticking with the chronological method I know there are some really good episodes coming up, so I'm not going to grind to a halt over the issue like I think I did in 2005. Sean Bean is so attractive and charismatic as Sharpe that just about every moment he's on the screen is a delight.
I need something to read on the plane next to my boss next month and I'm thinking the Sharpe novels might fit the bill. Military historical fiction not only genuinely interests me, but would match the image I want to portray!