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Primeval 4.05
What struck me most, oddly perhaps, about this episode was the lack of on-screen chemistry between Andrew Lee-Potts and Hannah Spearritt.
Being unfamiliar, as I am, with the London skyline and not particularly invested in the idea that anomalies only open within an hour's drive of the capital this was the first episode in which the location move to Dublin for filming was really very obvious. My first thought, before I recalled where the shooting was taking place, was that they had gone to Scotland for the episode. Since the episode clearly flagged that the action was all taking place within a couple of hour's drive of the ARC and, even if the ARC wasn't necessarily in London, it was clearly Midlands or Home Counties, believability was stretched a little there, even more-so when we met the (are you) locals.
The monster of the week plot was pretty throwaway without the taughtness of setting/direction that made 4.04 stand out and the absence of Ben Mansfield was odd. I assume there was some contractual reason he wasn't at least sitting around at the ARC complaining that his leg was preventing him getting into the field. It reminded me a little of some of the early Doctor Who episodes which, because they were being shot 50 weeks of the year, would have Doctor absent while William Hartnell went on holiday. However having disposed of Becker, the script seemed to entirely forget that there are, actually, other soldiers available - or maybe the new Private-Public ARC could only afford four soldiers and having eaten one in each of the first three episodes and then taken a chunk out of Becker's leg in the last, no one remained to provide back up. I perfectly understand the dramatic constraints that cause the script writers to want to limit the number of people running around, but to suggest that there is a military team and then write an episode in which key parts of the action hinge around there being no other personnel available is clumsy at best.
I keep wanting to say something about Ciaren McMenamin and the Matt character in these posts but I'm still very much making my mind up about him. When I'm being charitable I think there is some fascinating work going here. A man, clearly unsuited for an infiltration role because he too impulsively connects with those he encounters, but presumably forced into it because there is no one else available. He's trying to keep a lid on his own natural tendency to form close bonds with his team because he understands the importance of the mission but his own character is working against him. He's unsuitable as the cool-headed leader of this kind of group because of his own recklessness but, of course, his credentials were all forged so the ARC can not be blamed for being unaware of this and, in short, there is a neat little tragedy waiting to happen there. When I'm being uncharitable I think it's all a sloppy mess, but so far he seems potentially more coherent and thought out than either Burton or Jess. Time, I suppose, will tell.
And lastly, Connor and Abby: I realise that the writers, ill-advisedly I think but that's by-the-by, want to create dramatic tension by driving a wedge between them but in order for me to invest in that, when I had long grown tired of Connor/Abby UST I need to be convinced there's an actual relationship there and I'm just not seeing it. This is particularly odd considering Lee-Potts and Spearritt are engaged in real life. Obviously there are documented cases of couples who are shagging like bunnies off screen having all the onscreen chemistry of a wet flannel however, if the publicity is to be believed, half the reason we have the pairing in the first place is because of the actors' natural chemistry. So why is it gone? Where are the quick looks, the fleeting touches, the tiny signs that let you know two people are a couple - especially in the few scenes we get when Connor and Abby are out of the professional environment. I know the relationship is supposed to be under strain but, at the moment, we're at the beginning of the break down so we should be seeing more of what is going to be lost. The kiss Connor gave Abby at the end of this episode was not the kiss of man who is relieved his girlfriend is all right, it was the kiss of man who had to work up his courage to actually kiss the other person and was slightly anxious they would be angry or put out about it and Abby's reaction reminded me of nothing more than the Abby who is in denial about Connor's feelings of previous seasons. There was no real response to it just a kind of blanking out, an "I'll pretend it didn't happen". I'll be very sorry if Primeval becomes another sorry entry into the canon of shows that don't know how to handle resolved sexual tension, but the signs are not good.
Being unfamiliar, as I am, with the London skyline and not particularly invested in the idea that anomalies only open within an hour's drive of the capital this was the first episode in which the location move to Dublin for filming was really very obvious. My first thought, before I recalled where the shooting was taking place, was that they had gone to Scotland for the episode. Since the episode clearly flagged that the action was all taking place within a couple of hour's drive of the ARC and, even if the ARC wasn't necessarily in London, it was clearly Midlands or Home Counties, believability was stretched a little there, even more-so when we met the (are you) locals.
The monster of the week plot was pretty throwaway without the taughtness of setting/direction that made 4.04 stand out and the absence of Ben Mansfield was odd. I assume there was some contractual reason he wasn't at least sitting around at the ARC complaining that his leg was preventing him getting into the field. It reminded me a little of some of the early Doctor Who episodes which, because they were being shot 50 weeks of the year, would have Doctor absent while William Hartnell went on holiday. However having disposed of Becker, the script seemed to entirely forget that there are, actually, other soldiers available - or maybe the new Private-Public ARC could only afford four soldiers and having eaten one in each of the first three episodes and then taken a chunk out of Becker's leg in the last, no one remained to provide back up. I perfectly understand the dramatic constraints that cause the script writers to want to limit the number of people running around, but to suggest that there is a military team and then write an episode in which key parts of the action hinge around there being no other personnel available is clumsy at best.
I keep wanting to say something about Ciaren McMenamin and the Matt character in these posts but I'm still very much making my mind up about him. When I'm being charitable I think there is some fascinating work going here. A man, clearly unsuited for an infiltration role because he too impulsively connects with those he encounters, but presumably forced into it because there is no one else available. He's trying to keep a lid on his own natural tendency to form close bonds with his team because he understands the importance of the mission but his own character is working against him. He's unsuitable as the cool-headed leader of this kind of group because of his own recklessness but, of course, his credentials were all forged so the ARC can not be blamed for being unaware of this and, in short, there is a neat little tragedy waiting to happen there. When I'm being uncharitable I think it's all a sloppy mess, but so far he seems potentially more coherent and thought out than either Burton or Jess. Time, I suppose, will tell.
And lastly, Connor and Abby: I realise that the writers, ill-advisedly I think but that's by-the-by, want to create dramatic tension by driving a wedge between them but in order for me to invest in that, when I had long grown tired of Connor/Abby UST I need to be convinced there's an actual relationship there and I'm just not seeing it. This is particularly odd considering Lee-Potts and Spearritt are engaged in real life. Obviously there are documented cases of couples who are shagging like bunnies off screen having all the onscreen chemistry of a wet flannel however, if the publicity is to be believed, half the reason we have the pairing in the first place is because of the actors' natural chemistry. So why is it gone? Where are the quick looks, the fleeting touches, the tiny signs that let you know two people are a couple - especially in the few scenes we get when Connor and Abby are out of the professional environment. I know the relationship is supposed to be under strain but, at the moment, we're at the beginning of the break down so we should be seeing more of what is going to be lost. The kiss Connor gave Abby at the end of this episode was not the kiss of man who is relieved his girlfriend is all right, it was the kiss of man who had to work up his courage to actually kiss the other person and was slightly anxious they would be angry or put out about it and Abby's reaction reminded me of nothing more than the Abby who is in denial about Connor's feelings of previous seasons. There was no real response to it just a kind of blanking out, an "I'll pretend it didn't happen". I'll be very sorry if Primeval becomes another sorry entry into the canon of shows that don't know how to handle resolved sexual tension, but the signs are not good.
no subject
Thank you for making me poke the Google and realize everything in England is within 12 hours of London - how're the regional airports distributed? Could ARC have a dedicated Gulfstream? (Though, still, convenient that these spacetime anomalies are all happening on the Blessed Isle.
With the Becker* absence, you've nailed something that's been driving me nuts about a dozen shows, lately (Hawaii Five-0, I'm looking at you). It makes no sense that this special-ops force has a grand total of four team members and a minimal paramilitary force backing them up. Heck, I'm irked that there's supposedly only four field teams. As to Becker's* absence, could have been the actor had another commitment. If he's missing from the next ep without some story, I'm gonna be irked. Becker* did take a huge hit to his confidence in the last ep, so...
Connor and Abby - maybe my glasses are a little too pink, but there's a little part of me that says that 'relationship' was written in to break up the fact that Connor/Potts has chemistry with so many of the men on the show, and that Abby keeps getting written as attracted to the wrong guys. Relationship-in-name-only, you ask me.
As for Matt. Matt, Matt, Matt. Let me quote at you what I wrote to Alyse:
As to Matt (Ciaran is, speaking of shallow, smoking hot to me, so I might be biased), but I wonder how much of it's the actor and how much of it's the script not letting him bond with the team at all. It really is like he (and Jess, fwiw) is on the blue team, while A-C-B are the orange team, and he occasionally gets shoved into their team for a mission. Ergo, no team or character building. It also reads to me that it's not that he's unemotive, it's that he (Matt, not Ciaran) has no idea how to be unemotive and still build rapport with the team he might have to betray. And yes, I am considering his interactions with Emily - it really reads like he does not know how to relate to people and still deceive them. Considering how many plotlines they're having to shove into 45 minutes, I'm not surprised the writing's taken a hit - more complexity is a wonderful thing in a written script, but how much of it dies on the editing floor. I do hope they actually do develop him more.
He strikes me as being in way over his depth - he wants to be close to this new team, but he's supposedly the leader, and on top of that, he's a double agent, so he has no clue how he's supposed to act towards them. He wants, no, needs to connect to people, but he's in a position that he can't, because it will make the betrayal that much worse. I'm hoping they figure out a better balance point for him and let him emotionally connect with the team, for all the drama it will cause later (something they're not afraid of).
*ETF: do not be watching Covert Affairs while trying to comment on Primeval. Name trainwrecks will occur.
no subject
Connor/Abby is easily the most popular pairing in the fandom, I'd say. Certainly the most popular het pairing so (assuming fandom isn't entirely unrepresentative) I doubt the writers have dreamed it up just to avoid the possibility of slash (especially, again, since the publicity hinted pretty strongly that moving Connor in with Lester in series 3 was partly fan service). And certainly a lot of the publicity material has said that the original plan was for Abby and Stephen to have a relationship but that Potts and Spearritt worked so well together that they very rapidly focused the writing onto Connor/Abby. I don't like to hazard a guess as to why they decided to make them an official couple at this point. I thought the UST out-stayed it's welcome badly in series 3 and, in particular, made Abby look very cruel and that may have been a factor, but it does seem to me that the writers are running scared of the industry accepted truth that the public aren't interested in actual relationships, only in potential relationships and, having got them together they now want to split them up as quickly as possible.