Catching up on TV
Feb. 20th, 2008 09:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
purplecatThanks to a reliance on B recording things while I was away and "other means" when that failed I have finally caught up with both Torchwood and Primeval:
Torchwood: Meat
This was a pretty good episode, particularly by Torchwood standards, though not without its nickpicks (why was Rhys needed to get into the warehouse?). I do, however, appear to be the only person in this corner of the blogsphere, to have found Rhys's anger at Gwen rather baffling - you're cross because the ultra-secret job she couldn't tell you about is not the ultra-secret job she couldn't tell you about that you thought it was? and why did Gwen never counter with "because I signed the official secrets act"? though of course, since this is Torchwood, its entirely possible that she never did.
Appropos of nothing in Torchwood, but enlightened by current affairs, I've decided it must be controlled directly by the Duke of Edinburgh.
Primeval 2.5
On the whole a fairly ho-hum primeval episode. The continuing rather clumsy attempts to differentiate Jenny and Claudia back-fire more than usual. Part of the problem is, I think, that Lucy Brown's range doesn't really extend to making the Jenny character believable - in particular her interactions with the general public when she either tries to flirt or intimidate them into silence make Jenny look amateurish rather than professional. She is not helped, however, by appalling clothes and camera direction which attempts to establish her as some sort of ball-breaker type in short skirts and high heels even when such attire is clearly inappropriate and would probably take only minutes to change. The stranded girl was excellent though.
Torchwood: Adam
I thought this was a mixed bag of an episode with some bits that were plain confused either in the script or the direction (its actual treatment of memory and personality doesn't bear close inspection). However it handed the actors some lovely material to work with and it was interesting to see which ones rose to the challenge (Naoko Mori, Eve Myles and Burn Gorman, in particular) and those who fluffed it (John Barrowman, sadly).
The whole Gwen/Jack thing seems such a major rewrite of what happened last year - just like the whole Gwen/Owen thing just appeared out of the blue then. Its one aspect of the Torchwood mini-reboot I find quite hard to swallow.
Primeval 2.6
I really enjoyed this despite the awful clothes they once again tried to squeeze Lucy Brown into and Helen's wonder-bra. In fact I loved Helen's manipulation here - often it comes across as rather clumsy and unbelievable but here you could see her pushing Stephen's buttons in just the right way and playing off a knowledge of Cutter's character flaws to reinforce her points... and just where she starts being clumsy again Stephen starts looking a bit suspicious. I think, though, that this is the first time Primeval has attempted an episode which doesn't really have a self-contained story within it but is inextricably linked to the wider plot.
Torchwood: Meat
This was a pretty good episode, particularly by Torchwood standards, though not without its nickpicks (why was Rhys needed to get into the warehouse?). I do, however, appear to be the only person in this corner of the blogsphere, to have found Rhys's anger at Gwen rather baffling - you're cross because the ultra-secret job she couldn't tell you about is not the ultra-secret job she couldn't tell you about that you thought it was? and why did Gwen never counter with "because I signed the official secrets act"? though of course, since this is Torchwood, its entirely possible that she never did.
Appropos of nothing in Torchwood, but enlightened by current affairs, I've decided it must be controlled directly by the Duke of Edinburgh.
Primeval 2.5
On the whole a fairly ho-hum primeval episode. The continuing rather clumsy attempts to differentiate Jenny and Claudia back-fire more than usual. Part of the problem is, I think, that Lucy Brown's range doesn't really extend to making the Jenny character believable - in particular her interactions with the general public when she either tries to flirt or intimidate them into silence make Jenny look amateurish rather than professional. She is not helped, however, by appalling clothes and camera direction which attempts to establish her as some sort of ball-breaker type in short skirts and high heels even when such attire is clearly inappropriate and would probably take only minutes to change. The stranded girl was excellent though.
Torchwood: Adam
I thought this was a mixed bag of an episode with some bits that were plain confused either in the script or the direction (its actual treatment of memory and personality doesn't bear close inspection). However it handed the actors some lovely material to work with and it was interesting to see which ones rose to the challenge (Naoko Mori, Eve Myles and Burn Gorman, in particular) and those who fluffed it (John Barrowman, sadly).
The whole Gwen/Jack thing seems such a major rewrite of what happened last year - just like the whole Gwen/Owen thing just appeared out of the blue then. Its one aspect of the Torchwood mini-reboot I find quite hard to swallow.
Primeval 2.6
I really enjoyed this despite the awful clothes they once again tried to squeeze Lucy Brown into and Helen's wonder-bra. In fact I loved Helen's manipulation here - often it comes across as rather clumsy and unbelievable but here you could see her pushing Stephen's buttons in just the right way and playing off a knowledge of Cutter's character flaws to reinforce her points... and just where she starts being clumsy again Stephen starts looking a bit suspicious. I think, though, that this is the first time Primeval has attempted an episode which doesn't really have a self-contained story within it but is inextricably linked to the wider plot.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 09:43 am (UTC)Appropos of nothing in Torchwood, but enlightened by current affairs, I've decided it must be controlled directly by the Duke of Edinburgh.
Chortle. That's inspired!
Jenny's clothes are just appalling. I can't decide if she is actually supposed to be laughable in her 'hardnosed PR' role or if it's just a mistake. Or maybe they spent all their money on animating that rather lovely mammoth and had to buy the wardrobe from Oxfam. Or actually, not even Oxfam, one of those smaller, dustier charity shops where things still cost 50p.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 10:30 am (UTC)One thing I think they have done well is contrast Jenny's behaviour in her PR role with her behaviour in her role as team manager (which is much more Claudia like - even though Cutter has completely failed to notice that). She clearly likes and respects them and does not attempt the sort of steam-roller tactics on them that she does on other people.
Ooh! look what I did there, edited a typo! and who said a paid account was a waste of money! (no one actually, but I still feel a little extravagant over forking out for it).
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 03:50 pm (UTC)http://philmophlegm.livejournal.com/42567.html
Interested?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-22 10:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-22 10:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 09:45 am (UTC)No. Cannot swallow.
And never mind Jenny's weird clothes - what the heck was Abby thinking of with that yellow fringe rah-rah skirt in 2.06????
Though my brother will be horrified to know that she is no going to be running around in her nickers any time soon.
Edited because 1) I pressed the post button too soon 2) and then spotted typos.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 09:56 am (UTC)Abby's dress sense doesn't bother me so much, but maybe that's because I write it off as "yuff fashion" which I've never been good at - besides have you seen the sort of stuff Hannah Spearritt appears to wear when left to her own devices?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 10:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 11:20 am (UTC)I agree it's pretty damn odd, but then this is South Wales we are talking about.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 11:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 09:58 am (UTC)Primeval certainly has a (very mildly) problematic approach to the way it dresses its female characters which makes it feel like something of a throwback to the 1970s on occasion.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 10:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-20 10:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-21 10:42 pm (UTC)I've come to the conclusion that while he may be very good in musical theatre (the lowest form of art) and at being a celebrity homosexual for hire, he just isn't a good dramatic actor. Certainly not in a leading role.
He's more Lionel Blair than Kenneth Branagh. (Except that Lionel Blair ain't gay.)