the good the bad the ugly
Mar. 7th, 2007 01:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizzy_copycatMusic is in honor of the G.O.D.
The thing about Without a Trace is...
...when you expect it to be disappointing it hardly ever disappoints.
See, that's an hour of my life I'm never getting back.
There are things about television (or fiction in general, really) that I am ambivalent about. Which is why I have no desire to MAKE television. One of those things happened this episode. You know, how sometimes you can see the original idea a story came from, and although it's never explicitly stated, you can tell that the writer molded the entire story around that one line/scene/visual idea. It's more commonly obvious in fanfics, I think, but the pros do it as well. With fanfiction it works better for me, I think, because I appreciate the process more for that. Probably because I write that way myself a lot of the time.
And I'm not saying it's BAD when it happens with shows. Only when it's an excuse for doing a crappy episode.
Like this one.
Yes, it was clever with the MP's husband and Elena on the elevator and him talking about his dead wife and she thinks he's talking about her daughter because logic is not part of this universe. But it wasn't THAT clever. It was medium good fanfic writing. With very bad real professional show-writing on top. Not even a cherry to make it LOOK good.
Unless Poppy smiling is supposed to be a cherry? Whatever, I don't like cherries.
Now, can I just be nasty and say, I wished Sophie (Is it Sofie?) had died? (What a stupid kid! "Daddy is threatening mommy's boyfriend with a gun. I'll just stand here and look as if that's totally normal and I'm not confused or scared at all.")) I SO wanted Viv to be telling the truth when she told the perp they'd found her body. I wanted Carlos to have had nothing to do with it, and it was just a guy who resented Elena for putting him away and now he killed her kid. But no. Obviously they had to go with the obvious. The meanie-weanie ex-husband did it. And Danny blames himself for... I never got that... Breathing?
Oh, and were ALL the guest starts recycled? I might recognize them from other shows, I dunno, but they just all seemed WaT familiar as opposed to, say, random other crime show familiar.
The thing I was most interested in this episode was whether the kid playing Sophie/Sofie also played the daughter of the FBI agent who was killed on Vanished. That kid was stupid and annoying as well.
[Space to prevent BL from becoming contaminated by WaT suckiness.]
I'm not saying Boston Legal is PERFECT...
...because there is no such thing as a perfect show. Even XF had flaws. Very few at first, but all the same.
These days, however, it's as close as it gets and that's fine.
I'm sure perfect shows are boring. BL is hardly ever boring. How could it be?
Random thoughts about random episodes, because it's all such a jumble in my head, and... um... continuity. It all blends together. (WaT people feel free to take notes.)
They just do things BETTER on BL. Let's make a list, shall we:
- Continuity (recurring guest stars, character development, referring to things that happened in the past, etc etc).
- More interesting characters.
- Better acting by actors who don't look like they hate their jobs and would rather be anywhere else than in front of the camera.
- The ability to make cast changes that don't completely suck
- Better story lines
- Better editing
- Better music
- And so on...
See?
One of the greatest things about it, though: I have no big ship, so they can't fuck THAT up for me. I mean, sure, there's Brad/Denise, but every time I think he's made me like him he goes and does or says something SO frustrating I go right back to thinking he's a jerk. I think it would help if I thought Denise had real feelings for him. If SHE likes him, he must be good for something other than benefits. Feel free to point out lingering looks, comments, specific scenes to make me see the error of my ways, but I always got the impression that she liked CoHo better. He also did a better job of making me like him, despite getting off to a VERY bad start... (In the beginning his one redeeming quality was that Claire liked him. Oh, wait, I guess I ship Claire/Clarence, but I'm not really invested in that, I just think they're cute.)
And, honestly, was that triangle the BEST way to handle Julie Bowen's pregnancy? It annoyed the hell out of me. I just hope Denise doesn't get more hormonal and crazy. I LIKE her, but she gets irrational enough as it is without them throwing a lame pregnancy on top. (Why did she and Brad go see the sex therapist? She creeps me out. She should go away and not come back. Ever. Just like Catherine. Ugh!)
Now, am I the only person confused by why all these women are so eager to sleep with Denny? Really, WHAT about him is attractive? It's not that he isn't funny and all that, but would YOU want to see him naked? Seriously?
Hmmm. There were so many more random clever witty things I meant to say, but right now I can't actually think of any.
So, anyway, this is absolutely my favorite show these days, and Alan Shore is absolutely my favorite character. (Even if I do think it's a bit much sometimes with the sex talk. Like with Denise. Gross, much? Not how he could smell Brad and CoHo, that was hilarious, I mean when HE wanted to have sex with her. TMI, Alan. Honestly. And the sex therapist. Why? Just, why?)
Now I just need to get used to only getting one new episode each week. So sad.
The thing about Without a Trace is...
...when you expect it to be disappointing it hardly ever disappoints.
See, that's an hour of my life I'm never getting back.
There are things about television (or fiction in general, really) that I am ambivalent about. Which is why I have no desire to MAKE television. One of those things happened this episode. You know, how sometimes you can see the original idea a story came from, and although it's never explicitly stated, you can tell that the writer molded the entire story around that one line/scene/visual idea. It's more commonly obvious in fanfics, I think, but the pros do it as well. With fanfiction it works better for me, I think, because I appreciate the process more for that. Probably because I write that way myself a lot of the time.
And I'm not saying it's BAD when it happens with shows. Only when it's an excuse for doing a crappy episode.
Like this one.
Yes, it was clever with the MP's husband and Elena on the elevator and him talking about his dead wife and she thinks he's talking about her daughter because logic is not part of this universe. But it wasn't THAT clever. It was medium good fanfic writing. With very bad real professional show-writing on top. Not even a cherry to make it LOOK good.
Unless Poppy smiling is supposed to be a cherry? Whatever, I don't like cherries.
Now, can I just be nasty and say, I wished Sophie (Is it Sofie?) had died? (What a stupid kid! "Daddy is threatening mommy's boyfriend with a gun. I'll just stand here and look as if that's totally normal and I'm not confused or scared at all.")) I SO wanted Viv to be telling the truth when she told the perp they'd found her body. I wanted Carlos to have had nothing to do with it, and it was just a guy who resented Elena for putting him away and now he killed her kid. But no. Obviously they had to go with the obvious. The meanie-weanie ex-husband did it. And Danny blames himself for... I never got that... Breathing?
Oh, and were ALL the guest starts recycled? I might recognize them from other shows, I dunno, but they just all seemed WaT familiar as opposed to, say, random other crime show familiar.
The thing I was most interested in this episode was whether the kid playing Sophie/Sofie also played the daughter of the FBI agent who was killed on Vanished. That kid was stupid and annoying as well.
[Space to prevent BL from becoming contaminated by WaT suckiness.]
I'm not saying Boston Legal is PERFECT...
...because there is no such thing as a perfect show. Even XF had flaws. Very few at first, but all the same.
These days, however, it's as close as it gets and that's fine.
I'm sure perfect shows are boring. BL is hardly ever boring. How could it be?
Random thoughts about random episodes, because it's all such a jumble in my head, and... um... continuity. It all blends together. (WaT people feel free to take notes.)
They just do things BETTER on BL. Let's make a list, shall we:
- Continuity (recurring guest stars, character development, referring to things that happened in the past, etc etc).
- More interesting characters.
- Better acting by actors who don't look like they hate their jobs and would rather be anywhere else than in front of the camera.
- The ability to make cast changes that don't completely suck
- Better story lines
- Better editing
- Better music
- And so on...
See?
One of the greatest things about it, though: I have no big ship, so they can't fuck THAT up for me. I mean, sure, there's Brad/Denise, but every time I think he's made me like him he goes and does or says something SO frustrating I go right back to thinking he's a jerk. I think it would help if I thought Denise had real feelings for him. If SHE likes him, he must be good for something other than benefits. Feel free to point out lingering looks, comments, specific scenes to make me see the error of my ways, but I always got the impression that she liked CoHo better. He also did a better job of making me like him, despite getting off to a VERY bad start... (In the beginning his one redeeming quality was that Claire liked him. Oh, wait, I guess I ship Claire/Clarence, but I'm not really invested in that, I just think they're cute.)
And, honestly, was that triangle the BEST way to handle Julie Bowen's pregnancy? It annoyed the hell out of me. I just hope Denise doesn't get more hormonal and crazy. I LIKE her, but she gets irrational enough as it is without them throwing a lame pregnancy on top. (Why did she and Brad go see the sex therapist? She creeps me out. She should go away and not come back. Ever. Just like Catherine. Ugh!)
Now, am I the only person confused by why all these women are so eager to sleep with Denny? Really, WHAT about him is attractive? It's not that he isn't funny and all that, but would YOU want to see him naked? Seriously?
Hmmm. There were so many more random clever witty things I meant to say, but right now I can't actually think of any.
So, anyway, this is absolutely my favorite show these days, and Alan Shore is absolutely my favorite character. (Even if I do think it's a bit much sometimes with the sex talk. Like with Denise. Gross, much? Not how he could smell Brad and CoHo, that was hilarious, I mean when HE wanted to have sex with her. TMI, Alan. Honestly. And the sex therapist. Why? Just, why?)
Now I just need to get used to only getting one new episode each week. So sad.
