Noah's Arc discussion, part 1
As some of you mentioned being interested in discussing, I thought I'd do a few Noah's Arc posts, so people in various stages of watching could comment and discuss it. This post contains my overall thoughts -- there are a couple of spoilers for Season One, but mostly just general comments on the show, and nothing specific to Season Two.
I'll make other separate posts later about the other two seasons.
Overall:
I really love this show. I have a lot of criticisms -- or wishes, really -- but all in all, I don't think I would have watched the entire first season, purchased it, and buy every epi on iTunes when it comes out if I didn't think there was something special there.
I'm not quite sure I can pin down what has drawn me to it. copilot jokes that it might be the hot men, of which there is no dearth, but I certainly wouldn't keep watching something and be really drawn to it if there were only hot men. I would have lost interest if that were the case. One can get hot men in many places.
In the first place, I do wonder how much of the show is truly realistic. I've never lived or been to West Hollywood, nor have I ever (to my knowledge) been a gay black man, so my perspective is very limited. I also imagine that Patrik-Ian Polk [the creator-director] is trying to reach as wide an audience as he can, while continuing to maintain the dignity and reality of the gay community, and more specifically, the gay black community, so there are certain choices and deliberate decisions he's had to make in order to make the show appealing to a variety of viewers.
I also hope that each member of the 'Arc' get to develop and grow as characters as the shows go on. It is very easy to let characters develop into only caricatures, and there are so many little details in Chance, Alex, and Ricky, that I really hope they continue to let them grow. I love that there are little elements of Ricky that come out every once in a while that show he has a lot more depth than he likes to let on. I love watching Chance interact with Kenya (also, because I think it's probably hard as an actor to work with children, and he seems quite masterful at it), and I love just listening to Alex. I swear, Rodney Chester [Alex] just seems to do things with lines that make them so much better. I'm thinking in particular of a moment in of the first episodes where he's telling Noah, Ricky, and Chance that they're just jealous of his relationship with Trey and he says they: "are just... *dramatic pause* jea-LOUS" [with emphasis and an Alex-squeak on the "Lous" part of jealous] and it's just hysterical. I love that.
The ensemble feel is excellent, and I think the four men that make up the 'Arc' have good chemistry together. They look like they have a lot of fun, and in spite of their differences, there is this element of comfort and care between the characters that is really beautiful. Sometimes it seems like a friendship story, sometimes it seems like a love story, sometimes it seems like a life story. In reality, it's probably all three.
Some criticisms, or wishes, if you will:
I think the episodes are too short. They run about 22 minutes, and for such a short season (9 episodes!), it's very hard to offer really deep character and plot development, particularly with so many (potentially) interesting characters. I also think that the show has been given a bit of an uphill battle with a half hour spot. Half hours are typically for sitcoms, and there's too much in this show for it to be a sitcom. It's not. There are some hard hitting issues to be dealt with [recognizing and dealing with one's sexuality, infidelity, and et cetera...] that are hard to make sense of in a single half hour.
I've figured out that the first season, all nine episodes, span a relatively long time -- and that some things, both within an episode and between episodes happen across weeks, though I don't think that's always very clear.
During the show where Wade wanted he and Noah to move in together, I was all: "Um, Wade? wtf? How can you want to move in with someone when you only *just* started fucking? Though, in the show's timeline, it's been months. And how long was it between when Wade and Noah made love for the first time and the boys all came over for the brunch and caught Wade and Noah all busy? It was obviously some amount of time, as they were at Noah's place, not Wade's, but there enough details to let us know.
I think they're trying to create a realistic timeline on the show, but I don't think there are enough clues to show us that time has passed, and thus, things feel too quick or seem to come out of the blue.
I also think that the online promoting that they're doing, with all the *digisodes* and such -- scenes only available online -- contribute to this. There are sometimes things in the clips available online and in deleted scenes that do give more character development and sense of timeline which isn't immediately available to people that only watch the episodes.
Things happen too fast for my taste. Eddie cheats on Chance. And then within a couple of episodes, they're engaged! I know that Chance loves him [and I see it, even if I don't understand it. Seriously. Of all the characters, I'm still really, really unsure of Eddie. I don't really like him yet. I don't find him sympathetic yet, and I don't understand him yet. So, the jury is still out on him for me.] and I also know that Chance wants to believe in love and fidelity and committment, but it seemed awfully quick to me.
I think there are some really deep-seated issues between Alex and Trey. I initially was pretty lukewarm on Trey, but I've really warmed up to him. I think things, again, happen too fast, and there is forgiveness or moving-on-ness too quickly [ie, the ski-mask break in, and subsequent reconciliation in the grocery store!!!], but I can see the history between them and I like it.
I also wonder, too, though, if a lot of the things I see are also through my white, north-east US, female lens. Maybe the way I handle conflict and such in my own relationships is very different and atypical of men, gay men, or people in general. Maybe I'm putting too much of my own experience or baggage on the Arc boys and expecting them to act like women or something else.
And maybe it's that they have to fit everything into 22 minutes, so it has to be quick. ;)
I can't decide if Jensen Atwood [Wade] is a good actor, or if he just has really amazing chemistry with Darryl Stevens [Noah]. Sometimes I really *feel* him, and sometimes, I really don't. He's so beautiful, though, and clearly trying so hard. And, in spite of everything, god, I want the two of them together. ALL the time. Please, god, just keep them together.
Random:
Um, when will they decide Trey's actor's last name? Is it Gregory Keith or Gregory Kieth? I've seen it both ways now, and I can't imagine it's that hard to just ask him.
It's interesting that they edit so much of the sex, as they are a cable TV show. It's much more available (and really beautifully done sometimes) in deleted scenes and in online clips, so I wonder what sort of rules there are about sexual content.
Also, um, I think watching Jensen Atwood kiss is one of the greatest pasttimes one could have. I highly recommend it. And it's not just the braids. He's just really good at it. ggnnngguh
I'll make other separate posts later about the other two seasons.
Overall:
I really love this show. I have a lot of criticisms -- or wishes, really -- but all in all, I don't think I would have watched the entire first season, purchased it, and buy every epi on iTunes when it comes out if I didn't think there was something special there.
I'm not quite sure I can pin down what has drawn me to it. copilot jokes that it might be the hot men, of which there is no dearth, but I certainly wouldn't keep watching something and be really drawn to it if there were only hot men. I would have lost interest if that were the case. One can get hot men in many places.
In the first place, I do wonder how much of the show is truly realistic. I've never lived or been to West Hollywood, nor have I ever (to my knowledge) been a gay black man, so my perspective is very limited. I also imagine that Patrik-Ian Polk [the creator-director] is trying to reach as wide an audience as he can, while continuing to maintain the dignity and reality of the gay community, and more specifically, the gay black community, so there are certain choices and deliberate decisions he's had to make in order to make the show appealing to a variety of viewers.
I also hope that each member of the 'Arc' get to develop and grow as characters as the shows go on. It is very easy to let characters develop into only caricatures, and there are so many little details in Chance, Alex, and Ricky, that I really hope they continue to let them grow. I love that there are little elements of Ricky that come out every once in a while that show he has a lot more depth than he likes to let on. I love watching Chance interact with Kenya (also, because I think it's probably hard as an actor to work with children, and he seems quite masterful at it), and I love just listening to Alex. I swear, Rodney Chester [Alex] just seems to do things with lines that make them so much better. I'm thinking in particular of a moment in of the first episodes where he's telling Noah, Ricky, and Chance that they're just jealous of his relationship with Trey and he says they: "are just... *dramatic pause* jea-LOUS" [with emphasis and an Alex-squeak on the "Lous" part of jealous] and it's just hysterical. I love that.
The ensemble feel is excellent, and I think the four men that make up the 'Arc' have good chemistry together. They look like they have a lot of fun, and in spite of their differences, there is this element of comfort and care between the characters that is really beautiful. Sometimes it seems like a friendship story, sometimes it seems like a love story, sometimes it seems like a life story. In reality, it's probably all three.
Some criticisms, or wishes, if you will:
I think the episodes are too short. They run about 22 minutes, and for such a short season (9 episodes!), it's very hard to offer really deep character and plot development, particularly with so many (potentially) interesting characters. I also think that the show has been given a bit of an uphill battle with a half hour spot. Half hours are typically for sitcoms, and there's too much in this show for it to be a sitcom. It's not. There are some hard hitting issues to be dealt with [recognizing and dealing with one's sexuality, infidelity, and et cetera...] that are hard to make sense of in a single half hour.
I've figured out that the first season, all nine episodes, span a relatively long time -- and that some things, both within an episode and between episodes happen across weeks, though I don't think that's always very clear.
During the show where Wade wanted he and Noah to move in together, I was all: "Um, Wade? wtf? How can you want to move in with someone when you only *just* started fucking? Though, in the show's timeline, it's been months. And how long was it between when Wade and Noah made love for the first time and the boys all came over for the brunch and caught Wade and Noah all busy? It was obviously some amount of time, as they were at Noah's place, not Wade's, but there enough details to let us know.
I think they're trying to create a realistic timeline on the show, but I don't think there are enough clues to show us that time has passed, and thus, things feel too quick or seem to come out of the blue.
I also think that the online promoting that they're doing, with all the *digisodes* and such -- scenes only available online -- contribute to this. There are sometimes things in the clips available online and in deleted scenes that do give more character development and sense of timeline which isn't immediately available to people that only watch the episodes.
Things happen too fast for my taste. Eddie cheats on Chance. And then within a couple of episodes, they're engaged! I know that Chance loves him [and I see it, even if I don't understand it. Seriously. Of all the characters, I'm still really, really unsure of Eddie. I don't really like him yet. I don't find him sympathetic yet, and I don't understand him yet. So, the jury is still out on him for me.] and I also know that Chance wants to believe in love and fidelity and committment, but it seemed awfully quick to me.
I think there are some really deep-seated issues between Alex and Trey. I initially was pretty lukewarm on Trey, but I've really warmed up to him. I think things, again, happen too fast, and there is forgiveness or moving-on-ness too quickly [ie, the ski-mask break in, and subsequent reconciliation in the grocery store!!!], but I can see the history between them and I like it.
I also wonder, too, though, if a lot of the things I see are also through my white, north-east US, female lens. Maybe the way I handle conflict and such in my own relationships is very different and atypical of men, gay men, or people in general. Maybe I'm putting too much of my own experience or baggage on the Arc boys and expecting them to act like women or something else.
And maybe it's that they have to fit everything into 22 minutes, so it has to be quick. ;)
I can't decide if Jensen Atwood [Wade] is a good actor, or if he just has really amazing chemistry with Darryl Stevens [Noah]. Sometimes I really *feel* him, and sometimes, I really don't. He's so beautiful, though, and clearly trying so hard. And, in spite of everything, god, I want the two of them together. ALL the time. Please, god, just keep them together.
Random:
Um, when will they decide Trey's actor's last name? Is it Gregory Keith or Gregory Kieth? I've seen it both ways now, and I can't imagine it's that hard to just ask him.
It's interesting that they edit so much of the sex, as they are a cable TV show. It's much more available (and really beautifully done sometimes) in deleted scenes and in online clips, so I wonder what sort of rules there are about sexual content.
Also, um, I think watching Jensen Atwood kiss is one of the greatest pasttimes one could have. I highly recommend it. And it's not just the braids. He's just really good at it. ggnnngguh