that was the TV that was
Dec. 1st, 2018 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessBlindspot 1.9
I enjoyed this, partly because (in my usual Wednesday night brainhaze) I was two steps ahead of the characters, but also there were tropes to wallow in. Not only did we get fake married undercover, but dressed up, meaning Weller in a tux and Jane in a dress that came into its own when helicopter blades made its train fly, but she could still fight in it. That’s a dress. And it was an epic two-on-one fight scene, involving leap twist kicks, pool cues and whatever else was in the room. Also there was team spirit.
I’m not sure what I think about packing so much into the final montage – a waste of Lou Diamond Phillips, although possibly his character is only injured not dead; Tasha choosing not to plant the bug; David getting predictably killed; and I’ve Forgotten Her Name finding out at Jane’s safehousewarming. Proof that you can tell a story without dialogue?
We got a warning for violence before the episode started. As ever, I was slightly ‘what do you think I watch the show for?’ But then it was torture, eurgh. Best that can be said is that it was brief and revealed the ruthlessness of the Bulgarianphone lady killer.
David was all cute ‘let us puzzle together’/borderline stalky, and I was all ‘respect her choice to dump you, dude’, even though I think ‘I can have no relationship ever because of work/this case’ is not a healthy position.
Hello, Kurt’s ex!
I got excited when I realised several beats before the characters that Weller and Jane were obviously going to go to a gala. (Were the actual assassins married? I am not complaining because they went all out for ring business, tying it into Jane’s memories, which confirm that her past self knew all about the plan, and was willing to sacrifice her life as she knew it and the shared life she could have had with Tree Tattoo for it).
Anyway, KURT WELLER’S CAPTIVATED FACE when he saw Jane in that sophisticated cover-up dress (and impressive job on the later make-up removal scene make-up). While enjoying the shipping fodder on a surface level – oh, I’m allowed to touch you all the time, am I? Jealous husband comes easy to me. Shall we dance? etc – I loved the wordless communication/teamwork aspect the pair had going the most.
It was only reinforced by knowing that Tasha and Reed were searching for them. IN A HELICOPTER.
Rich Dot Com (appropriate response to his name, Tasha) was good value.
It’s time to admit have to admit, that though I’ve tried, I find MJB’s performance as Mayfair grating, with the tilted head earnestness and raspy voice. So, I tuned out a bit on the Daylight/Jane flapping (and dude, the tatts are in the system, killing her would just make the team more determined to investigate them).
But back to the ship fodder, notably his ex’s advice to Jane, Kurt probably has lowered many of his walls because Kurt thinks/wants so badly to think she is Taylor. And the way he looked at her and was around her! It’s more complicated than that, with Jane saying she thought she might have been engaged yet another thing to get a deferred reaction. The show keeps dropping big revelations…and everyone puts off reacting to it.
My excitement may be influenced by a spoilery trailer from Sky about future (possibly way future) episodes where Jane was wielding two swords. Other stuff happened, but that was my take-out. Obviously.
Berlin Station 1.4 By Way of Deception
You can tell I watched this on catch-up, because I knew the episode title.
Well, it’s no show for a break of longer than a week as I took a while to recognise the agents’ sources. So, Daniel decided to work with Stephen, who asked some pertinent questions about his motivations RE Shaw, eavesdropped by Hector all the while. All Daniel knew was that his old friend was treading on his sensitive case toes and being obnoxious in front of his family. They pushed the embezzling security firm lady too hard with drugging her boss, let alone the stuff at the office, which was more the type of tense spy business you’d see on other shows.
Meanwhile, I’m sorry, Stephen, but shouldn’t Kelly be the spy chief with all those manipulative methods to get what she wanted done? I didn’t think she knew about Sandra and her husband’s affair (confirmed by their later exchange), but her parting shot to the obnoxious Jason Wolff was epic, and then she just set her husband off, and he was quite devious. But it’s like suddenly realising you’re watching the spy!Macbeths whose child survived, and Lady Macbeth wants to move nearer to her.
Meanwhile, again, Valerie continued to investigate, and it was an entirely female-driven subplot, with the women noticing Ioseva’s wife and unearthing what she was up to. It also showed off the virtues of caution and competence.
And while Daniel was forced not to be cautious, he turned out to be competent now, foiling Hector, but not so very competent back in Chechnya. I was initially very confused by the dual flashback. I know they’d set it up right at the beginning, but it felt like they’d dropped it for a while. Then Daniel cutting Lana loose, but hoping she’d work with him was both right, given her protests and actions, and smooth, given how the potential Iranian source went (the concept of working with/for them). He still has no idea how compromised he is or that Hector’s untrustworthiness leads to him being Shaw, but what was also clear from the conversation on the boat is that Daniel is in no way naïve about the organisation he’s working for. Hmm.
And Robert owes the Israelis. Wheels within wheels!
I enjoyed this, partly because (in my usual Wednesday night brainhaze) I was two steps ahead of the characters, but also there were tropes to wallow in. Not only did we get fake married undercover, but dressed up, meaning Weller in a tux and Jane in a dress that came into its own when helicopter blades made its train fly, but she could still fight in it. That’s a dress. And it was an epic two-on-one fight scene, involving leap twist kicks, pool cues and whatever else was in the room. Also there was team spirit.
I’m not sure what I think about packing so much into the final montage – a waste of Lou Diamond Phillips, although possibly his character is only injured not dead; Tasha choosing not to plant the bug; David getting predictably killed; and I’ve Forgotten Her Name finding out at Jane’s safehousewarming. Proof that you can tell a story without dialogue?
We got a warning for violence before the episode started. As ever, I was slightly ‘what do you think I watch the show for?’ But then it was torture, eurgh. Best that can be said is that it was brief and revealed the ruthlessness of the Bulgarianphone lady killer.
David was all cute ‘let us puzzle together’/borderline stalky, and I was all ‘respect her choice to dump you, dude’, even though I think ‘I can have no relationship ever because of work/this case’ is not a healthy position.
Hello, Kurt’s ex!
I got excited when I realised several beats before the characters that Weller and Jane were obviously going to go to a gala. (Were the actual assassins married? I am not complaining because they went all out for ring business, tying it into Jane’s memories, which confirm that her past self knew all about the plan, and was willing to sacrifice her life as she knew it and the shared life she could have had with Tree Tattoo for it).
Anyway, KURT WELLER’S CAPTIVATED FACE when he saw Jane in that sophisticated cover-up dress (and impressive job on the later make-up removal scene make-up). While enjoying the shipping fodder on a surface level – oh, I’m allowed to touch you all the time, am I? Jealous husband comes easy to me. Shall we dance? etc – I loved the wordless communication/teamwork aspect the pair had going the most.
It was only reinforced by knowing that Tasha and Reed were searching for them. IN A HELICOPTER.
Rich Dot Com (appropriate response to his name, Tasha) was good value.
It’s time to admit have to admit, that though I’ve tried, I find MJB’s performance as Mayfair grating, with the tilted head earnestness and raspy voice. So, I tuned out a bit on the Daylight/Jane flapping (and dude, the tatts are in the system, killing her would just make the team more determined to investigate them).
But back to the ship fodder, notably his ex’s advice to Jane, Kurt probably has lowered many of his walls because Kurt thinks/wants so badly to think she is Taylor. And the way he looked at her and was around her! It’s more complicated than that, with Jane saying she thought she might have been engaged yet another thing to get a deferred reaction. The show keeps dropping big revelations…and everyone puts off reacting to it.
My excitement may be influenced by a spoilery trailer from Sky about future (possibly way future) episodes where Jane was wielding two swords. Other stuff happened, but that was my take-out. Obviously.
Berlin Station 1.4 By Way of Deception
You can tell I watched this on catch-up, because I knew the episode title.
Well, it’s no show for a break of longer than a week as I took a while to recognise the agents’ sources. So, Daniel decided to work with Stephen, who asked some pertinent questions about his motivations RE Shaw, eavesdropped by Hector all the while. All Daniel knew was that his old friend was treading on his sensitive case toes and being obnoxious in front of his family. They pushed the embezzling security firm lady too hard with drugging her boss, let alone the stuff at the office, which was more the type of tense spy business you’d see on other shows.
Meanwhile, I’m sorry, Stephen, but shouldn’t Kelly be the spy chief with all those manipulative methods to get what she wanted done? I didn’t think she knew about Sandra and her husband’s affair (confirmed by their later exchange), but her parting shot to the obnoxious Jason Wolff was epic, and then she just set her husband off, and he was quite devious. But it’s like suddenly realising you’re watching the spy!Macbeths whose child survived, and Lady Macbeth wants to move nearer to her.
Meanwhile, again, Valerie continued to investigate, and it was an entirely female-driven subplot, with the women noticing Ioseva’s wife and unearthing what she was up to. It also showed off the virtues of caution and competence.
And while Daniel was forced not to be cautious, he turned out to be competent now, foiling Hector, but not so very competent back in Chechnya. I was initially very confused by the dual flashback. I know they’d set it up right at the beginning, but it felt like they’d dropped it for a while. Then Daniel cutting Lana loose, but hoping she’d work with him was both right, given her protests and actions, and smooth, given how the potential Iranian source went (the concept of working with/for them). He still has no idea how compromised he is or that Hector’s untrustworthiness leads to him being Shaw, but what was also clear from the conversation on the boat is that Daniel is in no way naïve about the organisation he’s working for. Hmm.
And Robert owes the Israelis. Wheels within wheels!
