How many Leonardos have you got, then?
Sep. 13th, 2016 09:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessApparently Victoria 'beat' Poldark on Sunday night. I have to admit I did choose to catch up on the latest episode of Victoria first too when I got a chance, having watched episode 3 on Saturday, I think.
Victoria
1.3 Braddock Hall
Lots of padding at the start, I thought, with Victoria being pressured to get married and her not wanting to because she’s hung up on Lord M, King Leopold being another bossyboots thinking that ordering her would get her to listen to him, Chartists and their probable link to Mrs Jenkins and Skerrit’s Past being aired about three times each. Maybe there wasn't enough material for such an extended cut of The Young Victoria?
The staff gambling about who the Queen was going to marry!? Carson would be HORRIFIED.
Victoria refusing the Russian and English hands offered to help her walk all the way to the statue was funny. The rooks scene was well played by both actors, spesh Sewell.
I spent a lot of the next section thinking ‘not helping!’ in terms of the orchids and the Elizabeth/companionship or ‘companionship’ conversations. I would also like to know who the casting director would have cast as Byron just for comparison’s sake.
Calling Victoria a midget was, well, a new way of referencing her lack of stature (which happens every two or three scenes). Up till then, George’s blunt grumpiness was amusing me, but that’s not good manners, in general, and a spectacular fail in a suitor. Still, Victoria scored in pointing out that anyone who needed Lord John’s advice would no husband of hers.
Skerritt might say that she doesn’t have friends, but she made a point of being nice to the unseen laundry maid and Mrs Jenkins. Still, I don’t blame her for not wanting to be ‘friends’ with someone who equates her with being a prostitute and thinks they have the power/right to expect things she doesn’t want to give. (Ugh, even in cosy period dramas, there’s the threat of rape to contend with.) Anyway, predictably, she conveyed the voice of the common people tothe Granthams Victoria so that she could be merciful.
But seriously, the treatment of the Chartists was glancing (so was the stuff about Jamaica, I know...)
And, from transportation, Victoria got the idea of getting rid of Sir John. It was her idea, right? Otherwise, I lost something (and I do not think I lost anything, because, in general, this show fairly obvious until it's suddenly confusing, as it was with Victoria's mother in the previous episode). Victoria's mother’s heart broke, but they did share a little weep.
I liked Victoria’s machinations. Ooh, and also Firth and Jennings exchanging sour royal faces.
The Russian ex-suitor gave a V and A-decorated anvil, I mean, gift. I think that’s part of the problem I had with this episode, really, we know what’s coming, and I don’t think it was worth spending a whole episode with-holding his arrival until the last scene, no matter how good the performances of Sewell and Coleman were with their characters' conflicted feelings.
They made the MOST of Albert’s entrance, understandably (I did like that Victoria’s feeling for music, even if some of it was Romantic Teenager on Cusp of Womanhood, was shown clearly). I squealed because Tom Hughes (predictably not a sausage) has Period Drama Baggage for me and I didn't know he'd been cast.
1.4 The Clockwork Prince
Ahahahaha. The first section was a hoot. Albert is like Darcy on steroids, kind of. ‘You can be better!’ has the virtue of novelty as a courting method and there’s the suggestion that there’s enough in her to respond to that amid all the attentive fawning she'd started getting used to. Aw, so aware of his position, well, he would be, being pernitecky (about how he'd be the husband of the Queen of England, not the King of England), and a bit more aware of the arts and social conditions than Victoria would be (there were a few Dickensian bits, like Skerrit definitely being blackmailed from another quarter).
The second section was less amusing as they ramped up the UST via innuendo, which was a shame.
Albert continued his ‘Be Better!’ campaign by being kind...to Victoria’s mother, not to her. I’m not even going to go into the Dead Mother/Unloved Child/Growing Up Means Seeing Your Parents in a Different Light/You Remind Me of My Mother because I knew that the take-out was meant to be Stiff German Prince can love passionately. The fact that Lord M’s flowers got used by Albert was much more effective.
Sadly, all ballroom scenes this year will be compared against War and Peace’s and come short (not a dig at HRH Small Hands).
Skerritt tried out being a thief, didn’t like it.
Lord M bragged about Afghanistan. Clearly, he’s never seen The Princess Bride.
Ernest is totally on board with the Victoria/Albert programme and better at engineering it than most, but I hope that that’s not the only nunnery in London (did they only have the one bit of slang for whorehouse in those days, or is it just another example of the show being obvious?)
We had some casual 19th century racism.
Victoria Could Have Danced All Night.
Off to Windsor, where Truth (as written by Dickens and painted by Rembrandt) was set up against Flattery. They did a good job on Victoria and Albert just acting their age with the running outdoors (and wasn’t it better than the more sophisticated version of herself Victoria was trying to be?).
And if there wasn't enough UST, we had emergency vet!Albert and Victoria opened up on why Dash meant so much to her – I was thinking that he might point out to her ‘You feed your dog right royally and urchins go starving’ at some point, which, while accurate, would probably throw everything off. But they managed to avoid that and just have Albert march off over Lord M, even as he’s already made Victoria feel and think things his oh-maybe-I’ve-changed-my-mind rival hasn’t.
Lord M found his conscience, though (although having the ‘I want another man to smile at me’ conversation with him was a bit ouch, even if it shows how constrained her circle is, because I didn't read it as her sending Lord M a coded message).
We found out why Skerrit's blackmailer was doing it – cute little toddler alert. I liked the idea that, for a second, ‘Skerritt’ found the connection she’d had with her friend with the Queen, even if 'just a girl' was a bit much.
After a lot of less good stuff, the proposal scene ended on some decent dialogue and a smile, several lifts and kisses for our heroine. In fairness to Tom Hughes, I he shook off the Dancing onthe Edge baggage. And if you're going to dip from other people's wells, Pride and Prejudice, Dickens and My Fair Lady are pretty pure ones.
Victoria
1.3 Braddock Hall
Lots of padding at the start, I thought, with Victoria being pressured to get married and her not wanting to because she’s hung up on Lord M, King Leopold being another bossyboots thinking that ordering her would get her to listen to him, Chartists and their probable link to Mrs Jenkins and Skerrit’s Past being aired about three times each. Maybe there wasn't enough material for such an extended cut of The Young Victoria?
The staff gambling about who the Queen was going to marry!? Carson would be HORRIFIED.
Victoria refusing the Russian and English hands offered to help her walk all the way to the statue was funny. The rooks scene was well played by both actors, spesh Sewell.
I spent a lot of the next section thinking ‘not helping!’ in terms of the orchids and the Elizabeth/companionship or ‘companionship’ conversations. I would also like to know who the casting director would have cast as Byron just for comparison’s sake.
Calling Victoria a midget was, well, a new way of referencing her lack of stature (which happens every two or three scenes). Up till then, George’s blunt grumpiness was amusing me, but that’s not good manners, in general, and a spectacular fail in a suitor. Still, Victoria scored in pointing out that anyone who needed Lord John’s advice would no husband of hers.
Skerritt might say that she doesn’t have friends, but she made a point of being nice to the unseen laundry maid and Mrs Jenkins. Still, I don’t blame her for not wanting to be ‘friends’ with someone who equates her with being a prostitute and thinks they have the power/right to expect things she doesn’t want to give. (Ugh, even in cosy period dramas, there’s the threat of rape to contend with.) Anyway, predictably, she conveyed the voice of the common people to
But seriously, the treatment of the Chartists was glancing (so was the stuff about Jamaica, I know...)
And, from transportation, Victoria got the idea of getting rid of Sir John. It was her idea, right? Otherwise, I lost something (and I do not think I lost anything, because, in general, this show fairly obvious until it's suddenly confusing, as it was with Victoria's mother in the previous episode). Victoria's mother’s heart broke, but they did share a little weep.
I liked Victoria’s machinations. Ooh, and also Firth and Jennings exchanging sour royal faces.
The Russian ex-suitor gave a V and A-decorated anvil, I mean, gift. I think that’s part of the problem I had with this episode, really, we know what’s coming, and I don’t think it was worth spending a whole episode with-holding his arrival until the last scene, no matter how good the performances of Sewell and Coleman were with their characters' conflicted feelings.
They made the MOST of Albert’s entrance, understandably (I did like that Victoria’s feeling for music, even if some of it was Romantic Teenager on Cusp of Womanhood, was shown clearly). I squealed because Tom Hughes (predictably not a sausage) has Period Drama Baggage for me and I didn't know he'd been cast.
1.4 The Clockwork Prince
Ahahahaha. The first section was a hoot. Albert is like Darcy on steroids, kind of. ‘You can be better!’ has the virtue of novelty as a courting method and there’s the suggestion that there’s enough in her to respond to that amid all the attentive fawning she'd started getting used to. Aw, so aware of his position, well, he would be, being pernitecky (about how he'd be the husband of the Queen of England, not the King of England), and a bit more aware of the arts and social conditions than Victoria would be (there were a few Dickensian bits, like Skerrit definitely being blackmailed from another quarter).
The second section was less amusing as they ramped up the UST via innuendo, which was a shame.
Albert continued his ‘Be Better!’ campaign by being kind...to Victoria’s mother, not to her. I’m not even going to go into the Dead Mother/Unloved Child/Growing Up Means Seeing Your Parents in a Different Light/You Remind Me of My Mother because I knew that the take-out was meant to be Stiff German Prince can love passionately. The fact that Lord M’s flowers got used by Albert was much more effective.
Sadly, all ballroom scenes this year will be compared against War and Peace’s and come short (not a dig at HRH Small Hands).
Skerritt tried out being a thief, didn’t like it.
Lord M bragged about Afghanistan. Clearly, he’s never seen The Princess Bride.
Ernest is totally on board with the Victoria/Albert programme and better at engineering it than most, but I hope that that’s not the only nunnery in London (did they only have the one bit of slang for whorehouse in those days, or is it just another example of the show being obvious?)
We had some casual 19th century racism.
Victoria Could Have Danced All Night.
Off to Windsor, where Truth (as written by Dickens and painted by Rembrandt) was set up against Flattery. They did a good job on Victoria and Albert just acting their age with the running outdoors (and wasn’t it better than the more sophisticated version of herself Victoria was trying to be?).
And if there wasn't enough UST, we had emergency vet!Albert and Victoria opened up on why Dash meant so much to her – I was thinking that he might point out to her ‘You feed your dog right royally and urchins go starving’ at some point, which, while accurate, would probably throw everything off. But they managed to avoid that and just have Albert march off over Lord M, even as he’s already made Victoria feel and think things his oh-maybe-I’ve-changed-my-mind rival hasn’t.
Lord M found his conscience, though (although having the ‘I want another man to smile at me’ conversation with him was a bit ouch, even if it shows how constrained her circle is, because I didn't read it as her sending Lord M a coded message).
We found out why Skerrit's blackmailer was doing it – cute little toddler alert. I liked the idea that, for a second, ‘Skerritt’ found the connection she’d had with her friend with the Queen, even if 'just a girl' was a bit much.
After a lot of less good stuff, the proposal scene ended on some decent dialogue and a smile, several lifts and kisses for our heroine. In fairness to Tom Hughes, I he shook off the Dancing onthe Edge baggage. And if you're going to dip from other people's wells, Pride and Prejudice, Dickens and My Fair Lady are pretty pure ones.
