hedda62: my cat asleep (Default)
I don't have time for analysis or introspection this week, but:

1) We finished "Breaking Bad" last night. You can color me still impressed, whichever of their many gorgeous backwashes and filters and highlights that is. It's very seldom that a TV show pleases on so many levels, so consistently, for such a long time: the character development, the continuity and callbacks, the tenseness and the tenderness, the pinpricks of humor, the raw realism, the expansive scenery and the intimate glowing interiors. Just all so good, so integral, so true to itself. Wow. (Now let's do the same thing, but with women as the main characters. Yes?)

2) Also have watched all three episodes of S3 "Sherlock" and - they were okay, even very good in spots, though it strikes me even more now that three is an insufficient number (of episodes per season, not of focal characters, though perhaps that too). I just think the plot arc would have worked better stretched out a little. It especially seems that a lot of effort was expended to have very little happen in the second episode (I mean, a lot happened emotionally, but I want plot!). And yes, clues and callbacks, but the impact is considerably less when you'll calling back to something that happened last week. Bury it and resurrect it! (Or maybe I've just been watching too much "Breaking Bad.") I do like Mary; I'm still fond of the cinematography and the acting (Martin Freeman continues to do "gutted" really well), and I think I like what they're doing with Molly; but I can't help noticing the bits of Moffatitis and the weird "we're doing fanservice!" touches and they annoy me. All in all, though… okay. I'll watch the next set of episodes, I guess, whenever they manage to produce them.

3) Speaking of fanservice… by Michael Emerson's wiggly eyebrows, I hope I can count on POI to do it right tonight. Bow ties are cool, Mr. Reese.
hedda62: my cat asleep (Default)
I don't have an assigned topic for today, but I thought of two things to talk about anyway. :)

So we were watching "Breaking Bad" last night (up through 4x11 - !!!!) and it occurred to me that there must have been someone on the production staff whose assigned task it was to keep track of exactly how much money Walt possesses at any one point. This was extremely plot-relevant at that particular moment, but really all the time (I mean, "having enough" is his motivation from the beginning, and he never does). The show's good at continuity in general, so I'm sure they thought that part out very well.

I don't necessarily notice continuity errors while I'm watching a show for fun, but I think I could pick them out when more emotionally detached (being a continuity supervisor would be a great job). The Person of Interest Wikia lists errors of various types for each episode, and I happened to be looking at the "God Mode" entry the other day and saw a note about spoiler )

I think it would be fun to have a fandom fest in which people write wild and wacky rationalizations for continuity errors and other oddities. For the above one, I offer: and again, spoilers )

On another topic, I had an interesting conversation with an acquaintance at the MG meeting I mentioned where I was being showered with book praise. She took one of my cards, saying that her husband might be interested in reading my book, but that she wouldn't, because she has great trouble with suspension of disbelief and can't read anything that's "unlikely" - including, I guess, all fantasy, science fiction, other speculative fiction, spy novels, and works with too many coincidences in them. She says she enjoys Jonathan Franzen. I am all for people being upfront about what they like and don't like, and it's usually hard to change minds about that kind of thing, especially among older readers, though I always hold out a smidgen of hope.

Anyway, I personally have no trouble with suspension of disbelief within reason, meaning that as both a reader and a writer I allow for at least one major coincidence and/or seemingly impossible technology per book, as long as everything else falls into place logically. But it's interesting to think that some people just lack that ability, in the same way that they can't curl their tongues or deal with brussels sprouts. I've been thinking this as I watch my two cats, one of which adores chasing the little red light of the laser pointer, and clearly has a vendetta against it ("curse you, little red light! curse you forever!") while not suffering any apparent emotional distress over never ever being able to catch and eat it. While the other one watches the light for a moment, and then looks at your hand. If they were bookstore cats, you know which would end up in the mystery novels and which in the nonfiction section.
hedda62: my cat asleep (Default)
Trip to the north went well, except that I returned with a cold: luckily not a bad one, but I'm coughing more than I would normally with just the allergies, and my energy level is low. Lots to do, though. I think today is mostly cooking and repotting things, but I have many many photos of teacups waiting to be sorted through.

Last night we watched more Breaking Bad: "Kafkaesque" and "Fly," of which... oh my God, wow. The first is everybody getting Emmy-worthy speeches in a row and somehow it all being plot-coherent, and the second... how is this show so good, I mean seriously. I still hate everybody, but... well, even that isn't true anymore, I'm afraid. I am especially stupidly fond of Jesse. Which I'm aware is tragedy in the making. But the box. And the ladder. (And Walt, the things you say under the influence. And the tension they manage to build out of them. Literal gasping on this end.)

Also, I now want to add "Bitch" to the end of all significant sentences.

In somewhat less heartbreaking news, I'm caught up on Once Upon a Time, and still loving it while trying not to snorfle too often. And ooh, canonical lesbian pining.

I am desperately hoping that Person of Interest doesn't break my heart in the not-so-good way; the writing has just not been up to standard so far this season, but I still have faith they'll pull it together.

Hope to have more to say when my head isn't full of snot.

February 2020

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