That’s horrible about the ER. I had no idea! I wouldn’t have thought the other officers would have treated the young cop so badly for saving the young man either. Are they really that negative, even with young people? I guess it’s different here. Hopefully.
I fail to see why they hype up the directors. What does that have to do with the plot of a new show. Now “Daredevil” I understand. Why not push the sci fi angle more than who the directors were?
It’s rare for feature film directors to work the small screen unless that’s where they started, so it is pretty noteworthy; I can’t recall a show where it wasn’t mentioned. Often it’s hyped if they’re just involved in the concept, without ever working on it.
Read a good suggestion on another forum for people trying the show - skip the first two eps.
Which is the kind of thinking (not always wrong) that has led to so many series launching with a later episode than the pilot or first two or three. Gotta throw that grabber out there, no matter how much it screws up continuity or sense.
I am on the fourth episode now. Definitely better than the pilot at this point. The pilot now looks like a jumbled mess compared to episodes 2-4.
Having said that, I’m surprised how much(90% or more) is focused on the main characters’ individual stories. I thought they would “sense” each other more and cross the world to meet up and…stuff would happen.
I like most of the main characters. The Mexican storyline is the lamest, pretty much just a sitcom level of lameness. I don’t like much about it. The Icelandic girl has had one or two moments, but is mostly dead weight. However, the other stories are more solid. I like the Nairobi story quite a bit. The thief’s story line is Ok, as is the cops. The transgendered lady has one of the more engaging stories at this point, but I wish her mother was written better instead of just being a stereotype.
Anyway, it has improved and I hope it continues to do so. But, man, that pilot looks like crap now I’m looking back.
Oddly, this seems to come from two conflicting philosophies at the source. Hollywood creative types seem to think audiences have short attention spans, so they have to introduce all the characters and motivations right away. Producer types seem to think audiences have short attention spans, so jump to the action and let them catch up on the characters later. So the creative types create slow openers and the execs show things out of order.
The real issue is simple - they spent way too much time on Nomi. Her politics, her past, her relationship - you could happily watch follow the show without knowing her feelings about Pride parades (or that she and her gf use a strap-on, for that matter). Things could have been sped up with Sun as well, especially since we still wind up learning little about her. Her situation with her father and brother could have been shorthanded easily.
Just finished all 12 episodes.
[ul]
Best character - Sun… by a mile.[/ul][ul]Most integral and integrated character - Tie between Sun and Will.[/ul][ul]Most pathetic character - Tie between Nomi and Lito. Maybe Lito edges out Nomi on the pathetic meter because of his crying in almost every damned episode.[/ul][ul]Least important character and least integrated into the overall story - Lito… by far. If Lito died it would have no impact on the story whatsoever. In fact, please kill him off.[/ul][ul]Most enigmatic character - Sayid…I mean Jonas (heh). I am still not quite sure what his agenda is.[/ul][ul]Most honourable character - Tie between VanDamn (Capheus) and Sun.[/ul][ul]Pleasantest character - Tie between VanDamn and Amanita (yes, I know Amanita is not a sensate).[/ul][ul]Scariest of the sensates - Wolfgang.[/ul]
A few notes:
The sex scenes were generally gratuitous, too long, and didn’t add anything to the story.
In every Nomi scene, all I heard in my head was “I am transgender, hear me roar.” Her character was so one-dimensional I thought I was in Flatland whenever she was onscreen. She could have and should have been written much better.
Anytime anyone was in trouble I found myself wanting Sun there, even when her unique skills would not have solved the problem.
All the sensate characters, with Lito and Nomi being the exceptions, grew on me over the course of the series. Even the last scene between Wolfgang and his uncle in the final episode, as Wolfgang explained to Kala why she should marry Rajan, as brutal as the scene was, increased my affinity for him.
I really liked the authenticity of the Iceland scenes, all the way down to the writing on the headstones in the cemetary Riley visited.
All-in-all, I liked the series. It definitely got better over time, and finally began to click for me by the fourth episode, after which I knew I would stick it out to the end. The first three episodes were really a slog for me. Frankly, I almost didn’t make it past the pilot.
I sort of liked Lito’s storyline, predictable as it was (it was obvious from the jump that this show would not let a gay man stay closeted), and not just because Dani was hot. My least favorite was Riley, who gave us all the moaning angst of Nomi with absolutely no helpful skills whatsoever.
Someone mentioned thinking the sensates would go meet each other. I thought more of them would at least call or Skype/facetime to confirm what was going on.
One thing I liked was the influence of movies on the characters’ lives - Wolfgang and Felix with Conan, Lionheart on Capheus, and a running theme in Lito’s story was the impact his films had on people when he thought they were meaningless.
I believe everything was filmed in the locations they take place. In fact, even though the show lists different directors for each episode, each director(or set with the W’s) was in charge of a different location, not a different episode.
I tried the pilot and didn’t like it - a jumbled mess. It just felt like they were trying to jam a bunch of “interesting” items together with nothing to follow or care about.
I won’t be continuing.
I felt exactly the same way. The second ep gets a little better and shows promise for the rest of the series.
To second Amateur Barbarian, try to give it a shot. It does get a lot better, albeit slowly.
I am with you on the pilot, however. Not very well-crafted or executed. The sheer force of my will prevented me from bailing, as much as I wanted to.
There’s also a high JMS content, exceeding the viewer’s RDA.
JMS is one of those people, like Roddenberry, hailed as a great creative genius who, when examined closer, turns out to be a pretty ordinary mind. Listen to him on the B5 commentary tracks - he’s using a lot of Im Portant Wurdz and getting a lot of them wrong. There’s a passage where he goes on and on about Londo/Centauri being “monotheistic” - which they are pointedly, manifestly, plot-fully not.
I am already a little tired of his kind of jerky, Simpsons-wannabe fanservice inclusions. “Nomi” - straight from “Showgirls,” wink wink nudge nudge. “1 Adam 12” as the cop’s car sign. I can forgive the purple and green fairies as a B5 nod, but it’s another ain’t-I-smart wink. There have been half a dozen more, all of which flew out of my head as I started to write this, and I’ve only watched two eps. Plus a huge amount of this seems lifted from… “Heroes,” was it? down to the creepy evilish guy who Knows What’s Happening (and seems to be bending it to his purposes).
So yeah, it’s got a huge budget and they talk real dirty and they fuck like rabbits right there on the screen… but the recycle factor is pretty damned high, so far. Back to Sturgeon, as someone already pointed out.
Yeah, I caught the “1-Adam-12” thing too, which took me right out of the program as it made me immediately wonder ‘Is this supposed to be funny?’
The program is a bit Heroes-like as it follows a specific set (or cluster, as it is called in the show) of eight individuals who have ‘abilities’ and I really have had enough of shows like that. However, in this program, all eight have the same primary ability, which is somewhat of a unique take, I guess. It worked for me toward the end.
Just finished it this weekend. Enjoyed the show, had some good moments, and I hope it gets another season.
The slow pace would have killed it for me on TV though - the first couple of episodes would have been distracting, confusing and slow if I couldn’t just move onto the next episode. In this case, I really think that the Netflix system worked well.
Finished this up over the weekend. I can’t say I’ll be back for season two. I almost gave up on it after the orgy, because Jesus Christ. After that one, I started skipping forward whenever a sex scene was happening. Turns out you don’t miss anything by doing that, and it’s an improvement.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and here’s where I am with it: It’s a show trying extremely hard to be edgy and grown up with a script that is often young adult. Take all the sex out, and this is mostly a show for teens. That would be fine, if it weren’t for the absurdly gratuitous sex. It’s like Agents of Shield mixed with Skinemax. It just doesn’t work. (For the record, I like Agents of Shield…and Skinemax.) Oh, and then there are the random scenes with Riley taking drugs, and explaining that she’s taking drugs while taking the drugs, which is idiotic.
Am I the only one who feels that way?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the show, but I think it’s confused about what it is. I’m not sure I’m willing to continue watching and hope they figure it out. They also really need to do something with Nomi and her girlfriend, because those characters are terrible.
I have just finished episode 6, and so far Nomi is my favorite character. Her and Will seem to be the only characters that actually have an interest in investigating their situations rather than continuing to live their lives and pretending that what’s going on is just a minor annoyance. As of episode 6 at least, it seems to me like she’s the character with the best chance of figuring out what’s going on.
Bingo. You said it better than I did: it’s a 15yo trying to be all adult and sophisticated by waving his cock around and spewing dirty words. In other words, JMS (and The Wachowskis, to some extent) playing to their strengths.
Interesting credit, by the way: “The Wachowskis.” I am pretty sure that’s completely verboten by the DGA, WGA and other Hollywood agencies; there have been some titanic battles over having to use one name, or forbidding the use of such combined names. I suspect that in production terms, this show is outside the Hollywood/industry/union pale.
Watched the whole series and enjoyed it. But got to the end and realised I’d watched a show with a diverse cast of characters, from different countries with unique stories, help the white guy save the white girl.
Well, I am hopeful the second season (if there is one) will have Riley actually doing something substantive and helpful, rather that simply playing the victim.