shallowness (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shallowness) wrote2014-08-22 10:44 pm
shallowness) wrote2014-08-22 10:44 pm
The Honourable Woman 8/8
Finale
Well, I don’t think anyone watching really thought that Nessa was going to be dead. I tend to think she called Shlomo instinctively, without really thinking of all the ears listening in, but it was what saved her.
Nicely complicated in that one desperately wanted Nessa and Kasim (mainly Kasim, and I wanted him not to be brought up by his grandfather, frankly) to be safe after everything, whatever that meant for the bigger picture. But then Atika, the orphaned zealot, joined us in that desire. The line being that what was done to Nessa (and what if the first rape hadn’t impregnated her? Over and over and ugh). I loved that it came back to the bond that was forged in that prison cell, that The Honourable Woman could, in the end, be read as referring to Atika. Atika who was so stonecold capable (I couldn’t watch the self-surgery). Atika who got her hands dirty, while Nessa bore her guilt complex. After everything, Nessa needs therapy SO MUCH. And I’m not saying that she should have taken a life.
I am also going to put Kasim’s total lack of reaction to Nessa claiming him as her son down to heat exhaustion/trauma/thinking she was lying. But the fact that I noticed his lack of reaction slightly undercut the big moment.
Speaking of, that insert of wee!Nessa intercut with footage of all the Jews/Israelis and Palestinians had been through – it just was too different to everything that’s happened in the show to work. Fine, have disruptive material to break up your arty naturalistic style, but not just the once. The final image of Nessa in some locked room, wearing clothes we hadn’t seen her wear before worked as symbolism/representation of her state of mind – because it wasn’t a flashback, unless if she was in some other prison, which I tend to think would be too much trauma.
Seeing as they took a scythe to so many characters, I don’t really see the need for a sequel, unless if the recent events that have shadowed the airing of this show inspire a story in Blick’s mind.
I was glad of the final family reunion – that Rachel could see Kasim as Nessa’s son (which would obviously be better than That Woman’s son, as she’d see it) and the sense that after all the loss, she could reach out instead of pushing away.
I yelped at Hugh nearly being mowed down because he didn’t know how to cross a road. Was leaving his bag behind symbolic, a sign of leaving his work behind and choosing his wife, or forgetful? Also, the paralleling and contrast of a post-spook professorship in the UK and the US was noted.
Even with Monica, it was complicated. Setting aside ‘the big picture’ what Monica was doing was partly/greatly driven by personal ambition, and one certainly wanted to see Julia and Hugh removing that smugness. But the way she was killed was horrifying.
This series was ambitious, with some brilliant moments of drama and some daft ones/mis-steps, but it tackled a hugely complex situation dramatically and well, even if not everything came off. The acting was really good, and I expect Gyllenhaal, Rea and McTeer to get noted. And visually – the composition, stuff like the blue smoke rising as Atika talked to Nessa – it was well done, and I found its willingness to embrace the slower pace at times compelling. I think you would certainly go back to the opening episodes with a different mindset knowing what was revealed towards the end, although I don’t feel inclined to rewatch it, personally.
Well, I don’t think anyone watching really thought that Nessa was going to be dead. I tend to think she called Shlomo instinctively, without really thinking of all the ears listening in, but it was what saved her.
Nicely complicated in that one desperately wanted Nessa and Kasim (mainly Kasim, and I wanted him not to be brought up by his grandfather, frankly) to be safe after everything, whatever that meant for the bigger picture. But then Atika, the orphaned zealot, joined us in that desire. The line being that what was done to Nessa (and what if the first rape hadn’t impregnated her? Over and over and ugh). I loved that it came back to the bond that was forged in that prison cell, that The Honourable Woman could, in the end, be read as referring to Atika. Atika who was so stonecold capable (I couldn’t watch the self-surgery). Atika who got her hands dirty, while Nessa bore her guilt complex. After everything, Nessa needs therapy SO MUCH. And I’m not saying that she should have taken a life.
I am also going to put Kasim’s total lack of reaction to Nessa claiming him as her son down to heat exhaustion/trauma/thinking she was lying. But the fact that I noticed his lack of reaction slightly undercut the big moment.
Speaking of, that insert of wee!Nessa intercut with footage of all the Jews/Israelis and Palestinians had been through – it just was too different to everything that’s happened in the show to work. Fine, have disruptive material to break up your arty naturalistic style, but not just the once. The final image of Nessa in some locked room, wearing clothes we hadn’t seen her wear before worked as symbolism/representation of her state of mind – because it wasn’t a flashback, unless if she was in some other prison, which I tend to think would be too much trauma.
Seeing as they took a scythe to so many characters, I don’t really see the need for a sequel, unless if the recent events that have shadowed the airing of this show inspire a story in Blick’s mind.
I was glad of the final family reunion – that Rachel could see Kasim as Nessa’s son (which would obviously be better than That Woman’s son, as she’d see it) and the sense that after all the loss, she could reach out instead of pushing away.
I yelped at Hugh nearly being mowed down because he didn’t know how to cross a road. Was leaving his bag behind symbolic, a sign of leaving his work behind and choosing his wife, or forgetful? Also, the paralleling and contrast of a post-spook professorship in the UK and the US was noted.
Even with Monica, it was complicated. Setting aside ‘the big picture’ what Monica was doing was partly/greatly driven by personal ambition, and one certainly wanted to see Julia and Hugh removing that smugness. But the way she was killed was horrifying.
This series was ambitious, with some brilliant moments of drama and some daft ones/mis-steps, but it tackled a hugely complex situation dramatically and well, even if not everything came off. The acting was really good, and I expect Gyllenhaal, Rea and McTeer to get noted. And visually – the composition, stuff like the blue smoke rising as Atika talked to Nessa – it was well done, and I found its willingness to embrace the slower pace at times compelling. I think you would certainly go back to the opening episodes with a different mindset knowing what was revealed towards the end, although I don’t feel inclined to rewatch it, personally.