Angel 5x05 Life of the Party, Alias 2x01-2x02
Thu, Oct. 30th, 2003 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterAngel 5x05 Life of the Party
Ok. Not terribly impressed but also not bored. I liked how we got to see a little of Lorne, even though it wasn't giant character development, it's nice to know why he's been doing all the party stuff. Also, I liked the thought of taking out his sleep (and the other person's ennui)... reminds me of this experiment I read in psych class where they cut the pons out of a cat's brain so that the cat would stop dreaming, and eventually the cat just went insane.
Hrm. I don't have much to say about the ep. But I'm liking Eve now! I stopped for a bit when she and Angel started going at it because, despite Lorne's comment, there is no sexual tension between them, even in the very funny shower scene. Angel's very much the Big Man on Campus type of guy. But I really liked her reaction to Angel's "Shouldn't we talk about it?" She's not Lilah, but she's slowly defining herself in my mind as an employee of W&H, not quite the competitive one like Lilah and Lindsey, but more someone who does the day to day of the business.
I also wanted to yell at Wes through the entire episode. Why is ME constantly pushing the Wes and Fred thing?! Why? Also, if he's just picking up where he left off thanks to the memory schtick, what about Gunn and Fred? Do they remember dating? Do they remember Siedel and breaking up? Because right now, Gunn and Fred don't even seem to realize the other exists. Wes needs to do something other than be jealous about Knox and moon over Fred.
Alias 2x01-2x02
Alias has so been kicked up a notch, to paraphrase Emeril. Yes, I watch Food Network whenever I can. It's a channel devoted entirely to food! How can that be bad? Anyhow...
Irina is awesome. She hasn't even done that much yet, just had loads of attitude and shot Sydney in the shoulder. I like her very, very, very much. I also am dying for the first Irina/Jack encounter, because she's bringing out very interesting things in Jack -- his sense of betrayal and instability. I wonder how much she damaged his ability to trust people? I loved the moment when Vaughn is telling Sydney to pull the fire alarm and Sydney asks what her dad said. Then a brief flash to Jack, in the car: "NO! She is not to be trusted!!" at the most emotional I have seen Jack at. I love Jack. He is awesome.
I'm also liking Will a lot more now that he's lost everything. I still think he and Francie should get together and anticipate much more cringing when the "Will knows about Sydney" thing leads to more snuggly moments between them. Also very much like the Will and Jack dynamic.
I was also very not heartbroken over Vaughn's near-drowning. Mostly the boy and I were yelling at the screen because he was being so stupid -- when you see Sydney running like mad and a giant, Indiana-Jones-esque wave of water coming right after her, the last thing you do is stand still and ogle!! I would also like to point out that he was many feet ahead of Sydney and if he had just run for his life like all sensible people would do, he wouldn't have ended up drowning. This is my general problem with the show: I yell at the screen a lot when Vaughn breaks CIA protocol and helps Sydney, whenever Sydney jeopardizes her cover because of some emotional thing, etc. I'm surprised Dixon never caught on earlier. I am also wondering small things like, why doesn't the CIA use the callsign Bluebird on their radio frequency as well?
Sloane continues to fascinate me and disgust me at the same time. I was so sure the show was just going to give him an out with Emily's situation, but they actually had him go through with it. The frightening thing is that Rifkin made me believe that Sloane was completely in love with his wife, and yet, also completely able to go through with it anyway. Also, is it just me, or is Sloane acting very skeevy toward Sydney? The kiss on the hand, the constant hugs? Ick.
I also dislike the continuing trend of revealing the characters' emotions through expository, esp. with the psychologist, who annoys me thoroughly. It's not just the psych sessions though. It's Sydney and Vaughn talking in their hideaway and Sydney saying stuff like, "I thought I could see my mother again without flinching, but when I think of what she did to my father and me"
etc. in a completely calm, unemotional tone of voice, simply analyzing her feelings, I feel like Abrams is just trying to make me think: Oh! Sydney is conflicted! Very much telling instead of showing. Also spotted the little trick that had me constantly annoyed with Will in the ep, in which conflict is generated re: Sydney talking to her mother. First conflict between Sydney-and-Vaughn (allies) and Kendall. Then, despite Vaughn's very vehement stance that Sydney should never have to talk to her mother, ever, to generation Sydney-Vaughn conflict, Vaughn very quickly changes his mind and tries to persuade Sydney. Then, for Even More Conflict, Sydney changes her mind when Vaughn changes his back! ARGH. It's just like the entire stupid subplot with Will -- He wants to write the article, but his boss won't let him! His boss thinks the article is great, but Will won't write it now! Now that his boss doesn't want the article anymore, Will changes his mind completely and wants to write it again! It's a cheap trick that makes the characters look like they have no will of their own (or they are too weak-minded to stick to their guns). I do like Jack and Sloane because they never seem to do this (I think). I feel like Sydney will end up talking to her mom and end up with some emotional bond thing despite her vehement protests in the beginning, because Sydney's vehement protests never stick it out. But when Jack does his paranoid yelling thing on the phone that That Woman is not to be trusted, I believe him. And I don't think just a few sessions with his wife will cure him of that, because Jack so far has been a fairly consistent character. He will jeopardize his career for Sydney, but he will first yell at Sydney and tell her not to get in the compromising position in the first place. He remembers that their covers can be blown. He walks the thin line with Sloane. And he is a very, very angry and confused man, who never spills.
Ok. Not terribly impressed but also not bored. I liked how we got to see a little of Lorne, even though it wasn't giant character development, it's nice to know why he's been doing all the party stuff. Also, I liked the thought of taking out his sleep (and the other person's ennui)... reminds me of this experiment I read in psych class where they cut the pons out of a cat's brain so that the cat would stop dreaming, and eventually the cat just went insane.
Hrm. I don't have much to say about the ep. But I'm liking Eve now! I stopped for a bit when she and Angel started going at it because, despite Lorne's comment, there is no sexual tension between them, even in the very funny shower scene. Angel's very much the Big Man on Campus type of guy. But I really liked her reaction to Angel's "Shouldn't we talk about it?" She's not Lilah, but she's slowly defining herself in my mind as an employee of W&H, not quite the competitive one like Lilah and Lindsey, but more someone who does the day to day of the business.
I also wanted to yell at Wes through the entire episode. Why is ME constantly pushing the Wes and Fred thing?! Why? Also, if he's just picking up where he left off thanks to the memory schtick, what about Gunn and Fred? Do they remember dating? Do they remember Siedel and breaking up? Because right now, Gunn and Fred don't even seem to realize the other exists. Wes needs to do something other than be jealous about Knox and moon over Fred.
Alias 2x01-2x02
Alias has so been kicked up a notch, to paraphrase Emeril. Yes, I watch Food Network whenever I can. It's a channel devoted entirely to food! How can that be bad? Anyhow...
Irina is awesome. She hasn't even done that much yet, just had loads of attitude and shot Sydney in the shoulder. I like her very, very, very much. I also am dying for the first Irina/Jack encounter, because she's bringing out very interesting things in Jack -- his sense of betrayal and instability. I wonder how much she damaged his ability to trust people? I loved the moment when Vaughn is telling Sydney to pull the fire alarm and Sydney asks what her dad said. Then a brief flash to Jack, in the car: "NO! She is not to be trusted!!" at the most emotional I have seen Jack at. I love Jack. He is awesome.
I'm also liking Will a lot more now that he's lost everything. I still think he and Francie should get together and anticipate much more cringing when the "Will knows about Sydney" thing leads to more snuggly moments between them. Also very much like the Will and Jack dynamic.
I was also very not heartbroken over Vaughn's near-drowning. Mostly the boy and I were yelling at the screen because he was being so stupid -- when you see Sydney running like mad and a giant, Indiana-Jones-esque wave of water coming right after her, the last thing you do is stand still and ogle!! I would also like to point out that he was many feet ahead of Sydney and if he had just run for his life like all sensible people would do, he wouldn't have ended up drowning. This is my general problem with the show: I yell at the screen a lot when Vaughn breaks CIA protocol and helps Sydney, whenever Sydney jeopardizes her cover because of some emotional thing, etc. I'm surprised Dixon never caught on earlier. I am also wondering small things like, why doesn't the CIA use the callsign Bluebird on their radio frequency as well?
Sloane continues to fascinate me and disgust me at the same time. I was so sure the show was just going to give him an out with Emily's situation, but they actually had him go through with it. The frightening thing is that Rifkin made me believe that Sloane was completely in love with his wife, and yet, also completely able to go through with it anyway. Also, is it just me, or is Sloane acting very skeevy toward Sydney? The kiss on the hand, the constant hugs? Ick.
I also dislike the continuing trend of revealing the characters' emotions through expository, esp. with the psychologist, who annoys me thoroughly. It's not just the psych sessions though. It's Sydney and Vaughn talking in their hideaway and Sydney saying stuff like, "I thought I could see my mother again without flinching, but when I think of what she did to my father and me"
etc. in a completely calm, unemotional tone of voice, simply analyzing her feelings, I feel like Abrams is just trying to make me think: Oh! Sydney is conflicted! Very much telling instead of showing. Also spotted the little trick that had me constantly annoyed with Will in the ep, in which conflict is generated re: Sydney talking to her mother. First conflict between Sydney-and-Vaughn (allies) and Kendall. Then, despite Vaughn's very vehement stance that Sydney should never have to talk to her mother, ever, to generation Sydney-Vaughn conflict, Vaughn very quickly changes his mind and tries to persuade Sydney. Then, for Even More Conflict, Sydney changes her mind when Vaughn changes his back! ARGH. It's just like the entire stupid subplot with Will -- He wants to write the article, but his boss won't let him! His boss thinks the article is great, but Will won't write it now! Now that his boss doesn't want the article anymore, Will changes his mind completely and wants to write it again! It's a cheap trick that makes the characters look like they have no will of their own (or they are too weak-minded to stick to their guns). I do like Jack and Sloane because they never seem to do this (I think). I feel like Sydney will end up talking to her mom and end up with some emotional bond thing despite her vehement protests in the beginning, because Sydney's vehement protests never stick it out. But when Jack does his paranoid yelling thing on the phone that That Woman is not to be trusted, I believe him. And I don't think just a few sessions with his wife will cure him of that, because Jack so far has been a fairly consistent character. He will jeopardize his career for Sydney, but he will first yell at Sydney and tell her not to get in the compromising position in the first place. He remembers that their covers can be blown. He walks the thin line with Sloane. And he is a very, very angry and confused man, who never spills.