I absolutely LOVED the first episode of season 2, which subverted the "lone cop, tough, violent, rule-breaking" Sweeney-type narrative PERFECTLY via the plotline about Lestrade in London: showing why that kind of police work is IDIOTIC, why it's destructive to enable and/or reward it, and why it's tempting as a story to the general public but 100% toxic to those involved.
Oh, well said! That is truly the perfect way to encapsulate it and makes me love that episode even more.
And fuck, yeah, Sleepy Hollow! One of the things coming to the fore from the past season of television is that you can get away with the batshit crazy as long as your emotional core is rock solid. And you can be successful! See Sleepy Hollow, Orphan Black, etc. And it's also not a coincidence many such shows are in the sci-fi/fantasy realm. It's just such a refreshing change of pace to have multiple shows take their characters seriously in the midst of epic craziness and to have audiences respond. ::loves::
Thank you! It's such a tired trope, even Idris Elba mentioned recently that the "loose canon cop" story is played out (re: Luther), but I haven't seen it addressed in TV as such before. It was SO well done! And as much as I love Lestrade from ACD canon, I love a brilliant retelling of his story even more. :)
One of the things coming to the fore from the past season of television is that you can get away with the batshit crazy as long as your emotional core is rock solid. - OMG, THIS. SO MUCH. Yay for our crazy sci-fi/fantasy shows with heart!!!
Seconding all your Elementary and Sleepy Hollow thoughts. Elementary's Holmes and Watson are my absolute favourites of all the recent incarnations, and the way the show's making an explicit effort to examine the Holmes characters and the long-established Holmesian cultural narratives is just wonderful.
I'm ready for SH to evolve out of its breakneck plottiness and let things breathe a bit more, but its core characters and their FEELINGS are wonderful.
Elementary is the best surprise I've had from TV in a long, long time. I honestly didn't think that it would turn out to be a better AND smarter show than its British counterpart, and yet here we are. :)
I feel like SH maybe didn't expect to have another season, so they crammed EVERYTHING in a handful of episodes. On the other hand, maybe all the batshit crazy just looks better when flying at you at 100 miles per hour? ;) I agree, I hope they slow it down a bit moving forward; unfold the story more evenly.
I find the Irving family story to be not terrifically interesting--it's just feels like something I've seen before. I do really like all the actors involved, so I think it's very possible it'll go in a direction that captures my fancy more. I like Irving's interactions with Ichabod and Abbie--I like that he's not a skeptic but a realist, and when confronted with the evidence he realized he had to believe.
Jenny and Abbie's relationship is amazing and one of my favorite parts of the show. It's just incredibly rare for TV--especially genre TV--to have such a fully realized relationship between sisters. Make Jenny a main cast member, damn it. God, I love her.
The family estrangement thing is not new for sure, but the way they treated Irving's growing understanding of his daughter's disability was a breath of fresh air, at least to me. You nailed it, btw: he's 100% a realist, and I love that his attitude makes him sort of - believably cool? Like, he's not okay with all the supernatural shit he's seeing, but he's coping with it with extreme competence. (...unf.)
The Mills sisters are incredible. Jenny needs to have been made a main cast member yesterday. #TEAMJENNY \o/
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Oh, well said! That is truly the perfect way to encapsulate it and makes me love that episode even more.
And fuck, yeah, Sleepy Hollow! One of the things coming to the fore from the past season of television is that you can get away with the batshit crazy as long as your emotional core is rock solid. And you can be successful! See Sleepy Hollow, Orphan Black, etc. And it's also not a coincidence many such shows are in the sci-fi/fantasy realm. It's just such a refreshing change of pace to have multiple shows take their characters seriously in the midst of epic craziness and to have audiences respond. ::loves::
Reply
One of the things coming to the fore from the past season of television is that you can get away with the batshit crazy as long as your emotional core is rock solid. - OMG, THIS. SO MUCH. Yay for our crazy sci-fi/fantasy shows with heart!!!
Reply
I'm ready for SH to evolve out of its breakneck plottiness and let things breathe a bit more, but its core characters and their FEELINGS are wonderful.
Reply
I feel like SH maybe didn't expect to have another season, so they crammed EVERYTHING in a handful of episodes. On the other hand, maybe all the batshit crazy just looks better when flying at you at 100 miles per hour? ;) I agree, I hope they slow it down a bit moving forward; unfold the story more evenly.
Reply
I find the Irving family story to be not terrifically interesting--it's just feels like something I've seen before. I do really like all the actors involved, so I think it's very possible it'll go in a direction that captures my fancy more. I like Irving's interactions with Ichabod and Abbie--I like that he's not a skeptic but a realist, and when confronted with the evidence he realized he had to believe.
Jenny and Abbie's relationship is amazing and one of my favorite parts of the show. It's just incredibly rare for TV--especially genre TV--to have such a fully realized relationship between sisters. Make Jenny a main cast member, damn it. God, I love her.
Reply
The family estrangement thing is not new for sure, but the way they treated Irving's growing understanding of his daughter's disability was a breath of fresh air, at least to me. You nailed it, btw: he's 100% a realist, and I love that his attitude makes him sort of - believably cool? Like, he's not okay with all the supernatural shit he's seeing, but he's coping with it with extreme competence. (...unf.)
The Mills sisters are incredible. Jenny needs to have been made a main cast member yesterday. #TEAMJENNY \o/
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