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shallownessIn short, I think they’re handling the Rivers better than the Reeds. Also, I refer to what happens next in the books when discussing episodes.
Ep 57 The Departure
Red-nosed, upset Jane – interesting that she was talking to two audiences at the same time, her usual audience and Rochester (and by extension Grace?). And perhaps herself* with the whole owing it to herself to live up to her principles.
Does she believe that he’ll listen to her and not follow or find her? Does she, at this point, want him to?
*Confirmed by her later.
Ep 58 I’m Okay
‘I’m okay’, declaimed rather wildly in not-okay style, but then we got to see Jane back waiting for a bus (I’m sure that Canadian buses are really fine) again. Aww, poor fictional camera. Quite the introduction to ‘Simon’ (who came off as a slightly controlling/worry-wartish Good Samaritan, but a hyperventilating Jane talking about a him and having nowhere to go or no-one to turn to would certainly come across as odd and rather worrying. Diana just came across as a nice Good Samaritan.) I’m interested in how the vlog will change what the Rivers know about what Jane left behind.
Ep 59 Recuperation
Well, it is one thing after another. Jane got mugged after running away from a man who had been trying to get her to not marry him while lying about his mentally ill WIFE, she is estranged from her hardly close family and she has no money and so is reliant on the kindness of strangers. While she might be feeling up to recording a message (though she could and should have cut out Mary and Diana or told them about the video, a bit of whiplash or no) Jane isn’t really okay, is she? She’s in a surprisingly decent situation, where the recuperation and thinking about what next can begin.
Ep 60 A Plan
Okay, Simon-James is a weird updating of St John, but let’s go with it – is he meant to be on the spectrum, though, because that burbling about memory loss was a bit weird, and I think that Jane’s response to him, at times, could be summed up as ‘...’ Yes, she was hiding something, but he was a mix of formal and kind and bossy (which works).
Again, with-holding the characters’ faces. Possibly over-used?
Interesting that they chose to have him roll up his shirt sleeves too, though.
And while at least he knows that she keeps a vlog, saying ‘you can keep the camera on’ isn’t the same as ‘you can post it’.
Oh, and how handy that the room-mate who has vacated left her room furnished. I thought Jane was in one of the sisters’ rooms.
Ep 61 Marzipan and Dianimal
I cannot say how happy this episode made me, mainly for Jane, but also for being the most LBDish episode – chiefly in the sense that here were girl friends for Jane, sisters with a healthy relationship, contemporaries, peers. And having Diana be an anthropologist with her graduate speak (nicely sent up) and analysis of what Jane was doing with her vlog. Hey, even having Jane talk about having a vlog and viewers and interacting online far more naturally than she’s done with anyone (see every comment I’ve ever made about how she hasn’t asked permission and Mary is worrying about saying something slightly critical about her adult students when so much has been said and shown on these vids) was nice and something I’ve long wanted on AoJE.
But like Jane, I was smiling at Diana and Mary being breaths of fresh air and funny and fun. I was reminded of Lizzie with Charlotte and Jane (and even Lydia in contrast). I almost thought we were going to get an LBD reference – certainly you know Diana would be fascinated by the phenomenon and Mary would probably gobble it down far more than the Pullman books.
The sisters are just there in the books, but seeing them be in Jane’s life and the contrast between them and the Reeds – just seeing Jane with other young women like her in terms of outlook, only without the same life experiences, was wonderful. Jane and I could do with a few happy episodes like this.
Ep 62 A Lesson
I enjoyed Diana mugging in the background, and Jane was happy and the sisters rolled their eyes at their brother (they’ve made him adopted to avoid the incest vibes when it turns out the Rivers are related to her, haven’t they?) I was going to say that not a lot happened, but we saw SJ’s face and the four interacting with each other.
But how long before there’s a job for Jane?
Ep 63 Perception
I’m glad Jane synthesised the explanation of face blindness, because all that I was taking in was that those are horrible lines to learn. Um, SJ is cute and definitely useless on social conventions if not on the spectrum – see the invasion of Jane’s personal space to prove his point – and quite a handful to cope/interact with. Which is a totally valid updating of the character, I think.
But Jane has just been thinking of the man she can talk to about anything (in the abstract) and can’t talk to now and she’s sad about that, and SJ, to whom she’s kind, isn’t going to help with that grief.
Q and A 4 was fun, although the line about what is good about Little Women was hardly subtle. I think they could do a Q and A that was solely about tea. But anyway, Jane and Diana and Mary spending quality time together is always a plus for me. And the sisters do realise they have to make a fuss of Jane from 28 Feb to 1 March, I hope. I mean, however much they teased her for being too good (and too tragic – and it’s completely fair enough given all she’s been through AND THEN SHE’S A LEAP YEAR BABY WHO HAS NEVER HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY...) they had better realise that.
Ep 64 Soup
I felt there was a little too much repetition here, plus the curiosity about Simon felt a little too obvious, although I appreciate that it was Jane trying to gather her thoughts about what had happened, and I liked the juxtaposition of that with the background soup chaos.
Ep 65 St Valentine’s
Jane going stir-crazy – check; Simon being clueless (although I find the actor and thus the character far too endearing, and I want to see him with Rose ASAP) check.
Ep 66 Pursuits
So there isn’t a recession in Canada? And one can do what they love as a job? How lovely for them.
Sarcasm aside, it’s a valid issue for the Jane they’ve created at this point in her life.
I still feel that they aren’t addressing the elephant in the room of Simon’s behaviour.
I did wonder how Simon would know how Jane teaches. (Bless the Rivers, they don’t seem to have looked up the vids, but are taking Jane as they find her.)
Ep 67 Rose Oliver
Did they mixed up the order? Although, again, Simon didn’t actually see Jane at work.
Shame they went for such broad comedy, I think. Rose came off as a bit of an airhead and in trying to wrest Simon’s attention back from Jane, not very nice or secure. He was oblivious (or was he?) to Rose’s feelings, but I found it painful to watch him fail at social niceties.
Best thing? Hall’s face as Jane watched things in the middle.
Ep 68 Observations
My observation would be that Jane’s observations about Rose aren’t exactly how she came off to me in the last ep. It’s a good point that we haven’t seen Simon around men, so maybe he isn’t as socially then. But I really wasn’t convinced by Jane’s view of what I’d seen (setting aside what I expect to happen unless if they take huge, pointless liberties, which I don’t think they will as Jane was totally comparing Simon with Edward here and guess who was falling short in the attractiveness stakes).
Then there was only one episode left and I’d be caught up, but I had to switch off the computer, so I never got caught up. I almost don’t want to, because then I’d be watching live and that would be new and weird.
Ep 57 The Departure
Red-nosed, upset Jane – interesting that she was talking to two audiences at the same time, her usual audience and Rochester (and by extension Grace?). And perhaps herself* with the whole owing it to herself to live up to her principles.
Does she believe that he’ll listen to her and not follow or find her? Does she, at this point, want him to?
*Confirmed by her later.
Ep 58 I’m Okay
‘I’m okay’, declaimed rather wildly in not-okay style, but then we got to see Jane back waiting for a bus (I’m sure that Canadian buses are really fine) again. Aww, poor fictional camera. Quite the introduction to ‘Simon’ (who came off as a slightly controlling/worry-wartish Good Samaritan, but a hyperventilating Jane talking about a him and having nowhere to go or no-one to turn to would certainly come across as odd and rather worrying. Diana just came across as a nice Good Samaritan.) I’m interested in how the vlog will change what the Rivers know about what Jane left behind.
Ep 59 Recuperation
Well, it is one thing after another. Jane got mugged after running away from a man who had been trying to get her to not marry him while lying about his mentally ill WIFE, she is estranged from her hardly close family and she has no money and so is reliant on the kindness of strangers. While she might be feeling up to recording a message (though she could and should have cut out Mary and Diana or told them about the video, a bit of whiplash or no) Jane isn’t really okay, is she? She’s in a surprisingly decent situation, where the recuperation and thinking about what next can begin.
Ep 60 A Plan
Okay, Simon-James is a weird updating of St John, but let’s go with it – is he meant to be on the spectrum, though, because that burbling about memory loss was a bit weird, and I think that Jane’s response to him, at times, could be summed up as ‘...’ Yes, she was hiding something, but he was a mix of formal and kind and bossy (which works).
Again, with-holding the characters’ faces. Possibly over-used?
Interesting that they chose to have him roll up his shirt sleeves too, though.
And while at least he knows that she keeps a vlog, saying ‘you can keep the camera on’ isn’t the same as ‘you can post it’.
Oh, and how handy that the room-mate who has vacated left her room furnished. I thought Jane was in one of the sisters’ rooms.
Ep 61 Marzipan and Dianimal
I cannot say how happy this episode made me, mainly for Jane, but also for being the most LBDish episode – chiefly in the sense that here were girl friends for Jane, sisters with a healthy relationship, contemporaries, peers. And having Diana be an anthropologist with her graduate speak (nicely sent up) and analysis of what Jane was doing with her vlog. Hey, even having Jane talk about having a vlog and viewers and interacting online far more naturally than she’s done with anyone (see every comment I’ve ever made about how she hasn’t asked permission and Mary is worrying about saying something slightly critical about her adult students when so much has been said and shown on these vids) was nice and something I’ve long wanted on AoJE.
But like Jane, I was smiling at Diana and Mary being breaths of fresh air and funny and fun. I was reminded of Lizzie with Charlotte and Jane (and even Lydia in contrast). I almost thought we were going to get an LBD reference – certainly you know Diana would be fascinated by the phenomenon and Mary would probably gobble it down far more than the Pullman books.
The sisters are just there in the books, but seeing them be in Jane’s life and the contrast between them and the Reeds – just seeing Jane with other young women like her in terms of outlook, only without the same life experiences, was wonderful. Jane and I could do with a few happy episodes like this.
Ep 62 A Lesson
I enjoyed Diana mugging in the background, and Jane was happy and the sisters rolled their eyes at their brother (they’ve made him adopted to avoid the incest vibes when it turns out the Rivers are related to her, haven’t they?) I was going to say that not a lot happened, but we saw SJ’s face and the four interacting with each other.
But how long before there’s a job for Jane?
Ep 63 Perception
I’m glad Jane synthesised the explanation of face blindness, because all that I was taking in was that those are horrible lines to learn. Um, SJ is cute and definitely useless on social conventions if not on the spectrum – see the invasion of Jane’s personal space to prove his point – and quite a handful to cope/interact with. Which is a totally valid updating of the character, I think.
But Jane has just been thinking of the man she can talk to about anything (in the abstract) and can’t talk to now and she’s sad about that, and SJ, to whom she’s kind, isn’t going to help with that grief.
Q and A 4 was fun, although the line about what is good about Little Women was hardly subtle. I think they could do a Q and A that was solely about tea. But anyway, Jane and Diana and Mary spending quality time together is always a plus for me. And the sisters do realise they have to make a fuss of Jane from 28 Feb to 1 March, I hope. I mean, however much they teased her for being too good (and too tragic – and it’s completely fair enough given all she’s been through AND THEN SHE’S A LEAP YEAR BABY WHO HAS NEVER HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY...) they had better realise that.
Ep 64 Soup
I felt there was a little too much repetition here, plus the curiosity about Simon felt a little too obvious, although I appreciate that it was Jane trying to gather her thoughts about what had happened, and I liked the juxtaposition of that with the background soup chaos.
Ep 65 St Valentine’s
Jane going stir-crazy – check; Simon being clueless (although I find the actor and thus the character far too endearing, and I want to see him with Rose ASAP) check.
Ep 66 Pursuits
So there isn’t a recession in Canada? And one can do what they love as a job? How lovely for them.
Sarcasm aside, it’s a valid issue for the Jane they’ve created at this point in her life.
I still feel that they aren’t addressing the elephant in the room of Simon’s behaviour.
I did wonder how Simon would know how Jane teaches. (Bless the Rivers, they don’t seem to have looked up the vids, but are taking Jane as they find her.)
Ep 67 Rose Oliver
Did they mixed up the order? Although, again, Simon didn’t actually see Jane at work.
Shame they went for such broad comedy, I think. Rose came off as a bit of an airhead and in trying to wrest Simon’s attention back from Jane, not very nice or secure. He was oblivious (or was he?) to Rose’s feelings, but I found it painful to watch him fail at social niceties.
Best thing? Hall’s face as Jane watched things in the middle.
Ep 68 Observations
My observation would be that Jane’s observations about Rose aren’t exactly how she came off to me in the last ep. It’s a good point that we haven’t seen Simon around men, so maybe he isn’t as socially then. But I really wasn’t convinced by Jane’s view of what I’d seen (setting aside what I expect to happen unless if they take huge, pointless liberties, which I don’t think they will as Jane was totally comparing Simon with Edward here and guess who was falling short in the attractiveness stakes).
Then there was only one episode left and I’d be caught up, but I had to switch off the computer, so I never got caught up. I almost don’t want to, because then I’d be watching live and that would be new and weird.
