Saturday night TV
Apr. 26th, 2015 08:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessAtlantis 2.9 The Gorgon’s Gaze
Well, we certainly had the metaphoric darkness they’ve been promising us along with the literal one in this ep.
It felt like the right ending (with one major quibble) for Medusa. My regret that this is what they did with a character I liked so much is tempered big time by the fact that she was finally taking responsibility for her actions in killing the Oracle. Although she was doing it really slowly, so quite a few more Atlanteans probably died as she was trying to make Hercules feel better. For as you know, despite the actors’ sterling work, Hercules/Medusa was something I like about as much as cold fish.
But the thing that the show did not address was that Jason had to behead Medusa for the plan to work. So it wasn’t suicide, beyond her willingly turning herself into a Gorgon again. He had to kill his friend. And apart from atmosphere, did she have to do it in a cave? Wouldn’t it have been quicker for her just to pop out of the hunting lodge and Pythagoras to turn his back to all the windows? Anyway, she couldn’t chop her own head off. So, that was pretty grim, even if it's obviously a striking image.
(And did all those soldiers who were turned to stone deserve it?)
The Pythagoras-Medusa scenes had a nice balance between thinking things through and feeling them – Hercules was just feeling and Jason was just moping for most of the episode.
In the midst of all this angst, Daedalus (whom I remember) and Icarus (whom I don’t) and the former’s wacky scientist zeal and their inter-generational bickering added some much needed humour. I wonder if they got caught, though.
Poor Cassandra. I am not going to get involved in her (because of previous female characters), but I’m glad the actress got some meaty scenes given that she’d gone bald for the role, and I appreciate that Malus’s chickens are coming home to roost.
I didn’t say how gorgeous Pasiphae’s outfit was in the last episode. Well, it was. Speaking objectively, I thought she should have sicced Medea on Jason, because unless if Pasiphae wasn't going to use magic on him, he was always going to better her in a swordfight. And then we had the Darth Vader moment.
And then, whatever, Medea. I did feel a little sorry for you, with Pasiphae using you to torture Ariadne (why, when it was clearly something she’d done before?), but I am not Jason.
Ariadne stepped up, in extremis, though. I kept expecting her mumbling tortured general to make it personal, but it was all about loyalty, and if she needed the promise (rather than realising that Pasiphae was ruling by murderous force) to stop her from giving in, well, fine. Her resistance to the various forms of torture and claiming of her duty as the person who should be on the throne earned a lot of my respect. This is what I've been clamouring from Queen Ariadne.
I hope the next episode is as much about her dealing with that torture as Jason dealing with the knowledge of his maternity, although I expect it won't be. I’d also like to see her pressing for them to rescue Atlantis as soon as.
I also hope that council member gets his dues. Which is to say that this was not a bad episode, although quite a lot of that darkness made me glad that the show is coming to an end, because I don’t think I’d want to watch another whole season going in this direction. And I think that speaks to the show’s problem of not being what it should have been as a Saturday teatime drama for the family (or being consistently good enough to win the audience over by just being what it was).
Well, we certainly had the metaphoric darkness they’ve been promising us along with the literal one in this ep.
It felt like the right ending (with one major quibble) for Medusa. My regret that this is what they did with a character I liked so much is tempered big time by the fact that she was finally taking responsibility for her actions in killing the Oracle. Although she was doing it really slowly, so quite a few more Atlanteans probably died as she was trying to make Hercules feel better. For as you know, despite the actors’ sterling work, Hercules/Medusa was something I like about as much as cold fish.
But the thing that the show did not address was that Jason had to behead Medusa for the plan to work. So it wasn’t suicide, beyond her willingly turning herself into a Gorgon again. He had to kill his friend. And apart from atmosphere, did she have to do it in a cave? Wouldn’t it have been quicker for her just to pop out of the hunting lodge and Pythagoras to turn his back to all the windows? Anyway, she couldn’t chop her own head off. So, that was pretty grim, even if it's obviously a striking image.
(And did all those soldiers who were turned to stone deserve it?)
The Pythagoras-Medusa scenes had a nice balance between thinking things through and feeling them – Hercules was just feeling and Jason was just moping for most of the episode.
In the midst of all this angst, Daedalus (whom I remember) and Icarus (whom I don’t) and the former’s wacky scientist zeal and their inter-generational bickering added some much needed humour. I wonder if they got caught, though.
Poor Cassandra. I am not going to get involved in her (because of previous female characters), but I’m glad the actress got some meaty scenes given that she’d gone bald for the role, and I appreciate that Malus’s chickens are coming home to roost.
I didn’t say how gorgeous Pasiphae’s outfit was in the last episode. Well, it was. Speaking objectively, I thought she should have sicced Medea on Jason, because unless if Pasiphae wasn't going to use magic on him, he was always going to better her in a swordfight. And then we had the Darth Vader moment.
And then, whatever, Medea. I did feel a little sorry for you, with Pasiphae using you to torture Ariadne (why, when it was clearly something she’d done before?), but I am not Jason.
Ariadne stepped up, in extremis, though. I kept expecting her mumbling tortured general to make it personal, but it was all about loyalty, and if she needed the promise (rather than realising that Pasiphae was ruling by murderous force) to stop her from giving in, well, fine. Her resistance to the various forms of torture and claiming of her duty as the person who should be on the throne earned a lot of my respect. This is what I've been clamouring from Queen Ariadne.
I hope the next episode is as much about her dealing with that torture as Jason dealing with the knowledge of his maternity, although I expect it won't be. I’d also like to see her pressing for them to rescue Atlantis as soon as.
I also hope that council member gets his dues. Which is to say that this was not a bad episode, although quite a lot of that darkness made me glad that the show is coming to an end, because I don’t think I’d want to watch another whole season going in this direction. And I think that speaks to the show’s problem of not being what it should have been as a Saturday teatime drama for the family (or being consistently good enough to win the audience over by just being what it was).
