Up the Women
May. 31st, 2013 08:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessI remembered to watch Up the Women (a suffragette sitcom on BBC4. Of course such a thing would be on BBC 4. It’s written by Jessica Hynes, I believe and am too lazy to check.)
I wanted to like it more than I liked it, really. Why so crude? It wasn’t necessary. The dynamics of Helen and Margaret battling for the direction of the crafting circle i.e. whether it would become pro-suffragism or anti-suffragism and all the various characters were fun, with Helen being a marvellously monsterous bossy-boots. Despite the historical setting, it was really a traditional sitcom.
I liked earnest, clever Margaret, and was glad she won the argument with reason. I haven't really seen Hynes in anything much so I don’t know if the panting was something character specific or something the actress does all the time, but it was well annoying. I liked Evelyn, the mother of a billion children – a well-deployed idiot is an important part of any sitcom, but I didn’t chuckle or laugh as much as I would have liked.
And then The Good Wife. 4.19 The Wheels of Justice
Ooh, someone got a bit radical with the camera shots.
I loved how Diane was putting things in order, doing her best for protégé Cary and giving him his chance and that she had the nous to ask Kalinda to do a background check, which I don’t think Eli and Peter had gone so far as to think of.
On the whole, I was weirded out by the fanfiction reference, especially as one who has read fic for this show, although Panjabi played it beautifully. It’s just weird when it’s acknowledged on a show, and though I don’t think it had any of the issues in the infamous West Wing episode, especially given that this show’s standing operating procedure is dealing with how we use technology these days, it’s just weird. Although it was nice that it was the housekeeper, sad that she had to fire her (or did she?) Did this inspire a lot of vampire AU TGW fics? My sense, being a few months behind, is that the fanfiction has tailed off for the show, although I think that it continually throws up interesting 'what if' scenarios.
The stuff about her father was much more powerful, and the joking 'tell me to stop' became real.
And there was Kurt (and hee, Will insisting Diane got him on board despite his feelings set him up for having to face his girlfriend). I love Diane/Kurt so very, very much, the fact that they disagree so much politically and yet respect each other and love to infuriate each other, and there’s all this affection and chemistry. I am really not sure whether she will choose marrying Kurt over being a judge. Of course, the show could find another way of keeping her in the firm. He did hesitate at the idea, after all.
I really liked Robin. Basically she pulled some faces, and I was on her side – the actress reminds me of Joan Cusack a little, which is good. The interaction with Cary was fun, and although Robin is sneaky like you’d expect an investigator to be - I submit that whole story (I hope?) about her accidentally shooting her brother – it might be more functional than Cary/Kalinda.
And then we had the case, with everyone’s distaste for Sweeney – speak truth, judge. The against the clock aspect was less of an issue than wondering how Will helping Alicia to fight the case against Laura would work. With a little stirring from Sweeney and his relationship to contrast with all the others.
I mostly loved how the triangle played out. Although I will point out that you can’t gently mock TVD Elena/Damon shippers when you have your heroine fantasising about her ex and getting jealous that he may now be making out with someone else. On the other hand, Laura, flustered as she was by her lack of time for prepping the case, picked up vibes from Alicia and Will’s interaction in court. And I am not entirely convinced about the man from her past who has returned into her life. He may well be a fiction to disentangle herself from the situation. Although she is a straight arrow. So maybe the converstaion with Alicia was Laura looking for excuses. We'll probably find out.
I do know that Will drank his alcohol with more relief than he liked, even if he was giving his burgeoning relationship with Laura his best shot.
I wanted to like it more than I liked it, really. Why so crude? It wasn’t necessary. The dynamics of Helen and Margaret battling for the direction of the crafting circle i.e. whether it would become pro-suffragism or anti-suffragism and all the various characters were fun, with Helen being a marvellously monsterous bossy-boots. Despite the historical setting, it was really a traditional sitcom.
I liked earnest, clever Margaret, and was glad she won the argument with reason. I haven't really seen Hynes in anything much so I don’t know if the panting was something character specific or something the actress does all the time, but it was well annoying. I liked Evelyn, the mother of a billion children – a well-deployed idiot is an important part of any sitcom, but I didn’t chuckle or laugh as much as I would have liked.
And then The Good Wife. 4.19 The Wheels of Justice
Ooh, someone got a bit radical with the camera shots.
I loved how Diane was putting things in order, doing her best for protégé Cary and giving him his chance and that she had the nous to ask Kalinda to do a background check, which I don’t think Eli and Peter had gone so far as to think of.
On the whole, I was weirded out by the fanfiction reference, especially as one who has read fic for this show, although Panjabi played it beautifully. It’s just weird when it’s acknowledged on a show, and though I don’t think it had any of the issues in the infamous West Wing episode, especially given that this show’s standing operating procedure is dealing with how we use technology these days, it’s just weird. Although it was nice that it was the housekeeper, sad that she had to fire her (or did she?) Did this inspire a lot of vampire AU TGW fics? My sense, being a few months behind, is that the fanfiction has tailed off for the show, although I think that it continually throws up interesting 'what if' scenarios.
The stuff about her father was much more powerful, and the joking 'tell me to stop' became real.
And there was Kurt (and hee, Will insisting Diane got him on board despite his feelings set him up for having to face his girlfriend). I love Diane/Kurt so very, very much, the fact that they disagree so much politically and yet respect each other and love to infuriate each other, and there’s all this affection and chemistry. I am really not sure whether she will choose marrying Kurt over being a judge. Of course, the show could find another way of keeping her in the firm. He did hesitate at the idea, after all.
I really liked Robin. Basically she pulled some faces, and I was on her side – the actress reminds me of Joan Cusack a little, which is good. The interaction with Cary was fun, and although Robin is sneaky like you’d expect an investigator to be - I submit that whole story (I hope?) about her accidentally shooting her brother – it might be more functional than Cary/Kalinda.
And then we had the case, with everyone’s distaste for Sweeney – speak truth, judge. The against the clock aspect was less of an issue than wondering how Will helping Alicia to fight the case against Laura would work. With a little stirring from Sweeney and his relationship to contrast with all the others.
I mostly loved how the triangle played out. Although I will point out that you can’t gently mock TVD Elena/Damon shippers when you have your heroine fantasising about her ex and getting jealous that he may now be making out with someone else. On the other hand, Laura, flustered as she was by her lack of time for prepping the case, picked up vibes from Alicia and Will’s interaction in court. And I am not entirely convinced about the man from her past who has returned into her life. He may well be a fiction to disentangle herself from the situation. Although she is a straight arrow. So maybe the converstaion with Alicia was Laura looking for excuses. We'll probably find out.
I do know that Will drank his alcohol with more relief than he liked, even if he was giving his burgeoning relationship with Laura his best shot.
