And so it ends
Feb. 12th, 2018 07:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessMcMafia - epsiode 8
We ended about where we’d started, with James Norton making a strong case as a candidate for Bond.
I didn’t think there was much tension as to whether Alex would ‘turn bad’. He was far from innocent, had refused chances to walk away, even in the episode, when Vadim was gravely weakened and he didn’t have to take the meetings and given that Vadim was bleeding out, if he wasn’t going to call an ambulance, shooting Vadim was almost a mercy kill. If we were supposed to feel sad that he didn’t take Rebecca’s call, I was more relieved for her sake. I also liked Katya’s hackles rising at the sight of Antonio – maybe Rebecca needs to rethink the guys she’s attracted to?
Katya was also in my good books for acknowledging how great her boyfriend is.
There’s been talk of Alex’s Russian fighting training coming into use, but it wasn’t to be. Still, we got the chase scene around Moscow; the very cold hits as henchmen were leaving Natasha’s funeral (henchmen being killed with one shot, Vadim only being wounded after six, and I can’t have been the only one instructing them to shoot the tires); Ilya’s boss standing up to Vadim and then coldly blackmailing Ilya into betraying his friend for his family. I got a slight kick out of the last two things.
Josef still hitched his star to Alex’s wagon, to the point where, for Luydmilla’s sake, I wished he hadn’t.
‘Poppa’ realised what a mistake he’d made, suffered, looked a bit more put together for a few scenes than he’s done all series. But it was Alex who was able to do what he (and Boris) couldn’t. No return to Russia for you.
I liked Alex’s return to his childhood flat, a contrast to the palace where he went to meet Oleg’s friend. I don’t remember if they pulled off camera tricks, but they made good use of the actor’s height there. And as Alex allied himself with the Not Vadim Russian Faction, and shut out short little Antonio (hee!), there were reminders of why Norton had been cast as a prince in War and Peace, all cold arrogance. Or mostly cold arrogance. For a killer who is all arranging drug trafficking (but it’s okay if it’s to Europe and not in Russia?) like it’s a business now.
The Night Manager it wasn’t, the picture of a man’s fall (to his family illegal business, because of family loyalty) was ultimately distancing, although it was quite the global ride, picking up a few stones I hadn’t really thought about along the way.
We ended about where we’d started, with James Norton making a strong case as a candidate for Bond.
I didn’t think there was much tension as to whether Alex would ‘turn bad’. He was far from innocent, had refused chances to walk away, even in the episode, when Vadim was gravely weakened and he didn’t have to take the meetings and given that Vadim was bleeding out, if he wasn’t going to call an ambulance, shooting Vadim was almost a mercy kill. If we were supposed to feel sad that he didn’t take Rebecca’s call, I was more relieved for her sake. I also liked Katya’s hackles rising at the sight of Antonio – maybe Rebecca needs to rethink the guys she’s attracted to?
Katya was also in my good books for acknowledging how great her boyfriend is.
There’s been talk of Alex’s Russian fighting training coming into use, but it wasn’t to be. Still, we got the chase scene around Moscow; the very cold hits as henchmen were leaving Natasha’s funeral (henchmen being killed with one shot, Vadim only being wounded after six, and I can’t have been the only one instructing them to shoot the tires); Ilya’s boss standing up to Vadim and then coldly blackmailing Ilya into betraying his friend for his family. I got a slight kick out of the last two things.
Josef still hitched his star to Alex’s wagon, to the point where, for Luydmilla’s sake, I wished he hadn’t.
‘Poppa’ realised what a mistake he’d made, suffered, looked a bit more put together for a few scenes than he’s done all series. But it was Alex who was able to do what he (and Boris) couldn’t. No return to Russia for you.
I liked Alex’s return to his childhood flat, a contrast to the palace where he went to meet Oleg’s friend. I don’t remember if they pulled off camera tricks, but they made good use of the actor’s height there. And as Alex allied himself with the Not Vadim Russian Faction, and shut out short little Antonio (hee!), there were reminders of why Norton had been cast as a prince in War and Peace, all cold arrogance. Or mostly cold arrogance. For a killer who is all arranging drug trafficking (but it’s okay if it’s to Europe and not in Russia?) like it’s a business now.
The Night Manager it wasn’t, the picture of a man’s fall (to his family illegal business, because of family loyalty) was ultimately distancing, although it was quite the global ride, picking up a few stones I hadn’t really thought about along the way.
