how to tie all this together?
May. 31st, 2014 09:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessThe Good Wife 5.18 All Tapped Out
I know this was meant to be more comic than most recent episodes, but it was the kind of comedy where you make noises other than laughter, if you know what I mean.
I may have actually groaned at the ‘fox’ line.
LG got merged just like that, at one point a still depressed Alicia seemed cut off from practically everyone as well-meaning (?) Hayden, although he does always think of the bottom line, made Cary not give Alicia the benefit of the doubt, and then we had a moment of them miscommunicating, or rather, barely communicating, which was awful, until that descendent of the Cherokee nation of Oklahoma came in and proved that Alicia makes Cary better as a lawyer.
And then she got woken up, which was good for Finn and also for balance, as we’d seen Peter at his most impressive in responding to the news that he was being listened to.
Christine Baranski had Diane pull the best faces in response to Louis Canning. Also great were the little moments with Kalinda responding to the loss of Will (echoed by Alicia facing those graphic pictures). They were just enough as was the acknowledgement of how hard it is to have someone else be in Will’s office. But that’s the next step.
As to whether it was really a good step for that person to be Canning, well the show of course made it complicated.
While I remember, a thing I learned this week was that Makenzie Vega was in X-Men 3 (it’s for a couple of lines at most, she’s a kid that Mystique shifts into). The rewatch is continuing – I am now willing to concede that X2 is more assured than X-Men, X-Men 3's script needed another few drafts and my interest in The Wolverine dipped whenever Yukio wasn't on screen.. Next: XMFC, which I know will make me less grumpy.
Agents of SHIELD 1.22 Beginning of the End
I enjoyed fair bits of this, and there were other bits that I thought that were less good, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the (smart) decisions made.
An overriding theme of freedom to choose came out, and it must be said that the most popular choice was violence.
I really enjoyed Fury. He made me like Phil some of the most I’ve liked him on the show – did I understand it right, did he make him an honorary Avenger? I’m not so supportive on giving Coulson, the boy scout idealist, the ultimate SHIELD agent, the power to start SHIELD anew, because I can’t see how it won’t all go to pot again.
The only real casualty was Garratty and thank goodness for that. I was with Coulson and Fury, snarking on how crazy he was. Bill Paxton went big, and I suppose that’s what they wanted, with the lines he was given, but he was chewing scenery (and Negga’s readings of Raina’s true believing were far creepier and more effective).
Also Fitz was hors de combat for the last half or so. I don’t really think his brain is in peril, and I will put up with him getting the big sacrifice to save The Girl because Simmons got to be more than that, she got to save his life and hang out with Fury. I liked the melancholy of him being a best friend for her and her being more for him, and the sense that his cowardice contributed to why he’s just a BF for her.
Great choices WRT Ward. I was allowed to merrily snark at the shock that picking such a bad father figure to side with went south for him. All the pining for Skye came from his side and she...just handed him over to May. Who got to pound him.
I’m afraid that’s not the last we’ve seen of Ward, but he wasn’t back on the team, and it looks like Tripp is – thanks to the team hero shot towards the end. They really needed to keep one of the black guys, and it made sense that despite Skye trying too hard, Peterson just felt that he’d gone too far. Having said that, I really don’t think that Tripp has been given due writerly attention as a character.
For once, a great deployment of the Hulk on the show instead of the usual clunky ‘casual’ references.
I also really enjoyed Coulson and Tripp’s assault of the base, for some reason.
On the other hand, it started off badly with Fitzsimmons’ first scene. I can just about swallow Leo Fitz having been in the States and around Americans long enough for ‘do the math’ to trip off his tongue but SECOND GRADE? Why didn’t the actor fight that? Second grade in Scotland? And it was such an easy fix: ‘when I was X years old’. Get a Britpicker, show.
I don’t know if I’ll watch the next season, honestly. The reveal of Skye’s father didn’t annoy me as much as it would have earlier in the season when I hated that it was All About Skye. She hugged Jenna after having clearly been the one who was most worried about Fitzsimmons. May has Coulson’s back. I was more amused by the similarity of the secret base than not, and although I like the mission of Coulson and his team of white hats fighting the black hats, I am not so wholeheartedly on board for rebuilding SHIELD. Compare this with my unadulterated looking forward for Avengers 2...
I know this was meant to be more comic than most recent episodes, but it was the kind of comedy where you make noises other than laughter, if you know what I mean.
I may have actually groaned at the ‘fox’ line.
LG got merged just like that, at one point a still depressed Alicia seemed cut off from practically everyone as well-meaning (?) Hayden, although he does always think of the bottom line, made Cary not give Alicia the benefit of the doubt, and then we had a moment of them miscommunicating, or rather, barely communicating, which was awful, until that descendent of the Cherokee nation of Oklahoma came in and proved that Alicia makes Cary better as a lawyer.
And then she got woken up, which was good for Finn and also for balance, as we’d seen Peter at his most impressive in responding to the news that he was being listened to.
Christine Baranski had Diane pull the best faces in response to Louis Canning. Also great were the little moments with Kalinda responding to the loss of Will (echoed by Alicia facing those graphic pictures). They were just enough as was the acknowledgement of how hard it is to have someone else be in Will’s office. But that’s the next step.
As to whether it was really a good step for that person to be Canning, well the show of course made it complicated.
While I remember, a thing I learned this week was that Makenzie Vega was in X-Men 3 (it’s for a couple of lines at most, she’s a kid that Mystique shifts into). The rewatch is continuing – I am now willing to concede that X2 is more assured than X-Men, X-Men 3's script needed another few drafts and my interest in The Wolverine dipped whenever Yukio wasn't on screen.. Next: XMFC, which I know will make me less grumpy.
Agents of SHIELD 1.22 Beginning of the End
I enjoyed fair bits of this, and there were other bits that I thought that were less good, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the (smart) decisions made.
An overriding theme of freedom to choose came out, and it must be said that the most popular choice was violence.
I really enjoyed Fury. He made me like Phil some of the most I’ve liked him on the show – did I understand it right, did he make him an honorary Avenger? I’m not so supportive on giving Coulson, the boy scout idealist, the ultimate SHIELD agent, the power to start SHIELD anew, because I can’t see how it won’t all go to pot again.
The only real casualty was Garratty and thank goodness for that. I was with Coulson and Fury, snarking on how crazy he was. Bill Paxton went big, and I suppose that’s what they wanted, with the lines he was given, but he was chewing scenery (and Negga’s readings of Raina’s true believing were far creepier and more effective).
Also Fitz was hors de combat for the last half or so. I don’t really think his brain is in peril, and I will put up with him getting the big sacrifice to save The Girl because Simmons got to be more than that, she got to save his life and hang out with Fury. I liked the melancholy of him being a best friend for her and her being more for him, and the sense that his cowardice contributed to why he’s just a BF for her.
Great choices WRT Ward. I was allowed to merrily snark at the shock that picking such a bad father figure to side with went south for him. All the pining for Skye came from his side and she...just handed him over to May. Who got to pound him.
I’m afraid that’s not the last we’ve seen of Ward, but he wasn’t back on the team, and it looks like Tripp is – thanks to the team hero shot towards the end. They really needed to keep one of the black guys, and it made sense that despite Skye trying too hard, Peterson just felt that he’d gone too far. Having said that, I really don’t think that Tripp has been given due writerly attention as a character.
For once, a great deployment of the Hulk on the show instead of the usual clunky ‘casual’ references.
I also really enjoyed Coulson and Tripp’s assault of the base, for some reason.
On the other hand, it started off badly with Fitzsimmons’ first scene. I can just about swallow Leo Fitz having been in the States and around Americans long enough for ‘do the math’ to trip off his tongue but SECOND GRADE? Why didn’t the actor fight that? Second grade in Scotland? And it was such an easy fix: ‘when I was X years old’. Get a Britpicker, show.
I don’t know if I’ll watch the next season, honestly. The reveal of Skye’s father didn’t annoy me as much as it would have earlier in the season when I hated that it was All About Skye. She hugged Jenna after having clearly been the one who was most worried about Fitzsimmons. May has Coulson’s back. I was more amused by the similarity of the secret base than not, and although I like the mission of Coulson and his team of white hats fighting the black hats, I am not so wholeheartedly on board for rebuilding SHIELD. Compare this with my unadulterated looking forward for Avengers 2...
no subject
Date: 2014-06-01 06:42 pm (UTC)I was disappointed with this too, for this reason but also because if surely the best person to begin rebuilding SHIELD should be Maria Hill?
I really hope that they make the effort to develop Triplett's character next season, and not just stick to the Skye and Coulson show as it was so often this season. Coulson's arc was resolved, but Skye's wasn't, and I hope that the writers don't use that as an excuse to focus on her and short-change the others.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-02 05:58 am (UTC)I think she'd be a better person, except she agreed with bringing it down and maybe doesn't have the motivation to rebuild? Presumable Fury has factored in the fact that Coulson has May to inject some balance (if Phil listens to her).
I really hope that they make the effort to develop Triplett's character next season,
He really was so reactive and whatever the plot needed.
and not just stick to the Skye and Coulson show as it was so often this season.
YES! I think it got better at this when SHIELD went down, because everyone's response to that and then Ward's betrayal mattered. I also found Skye less annoying in the last handful of episodes, so maybe they've found a balance. If they contrast or link Skye's backstory with Rayna and her journey, I may be able to live with it. But they have to see that May and Simmons have their fans (me) and so, I daresay, do the others.