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House of the Dragon (2022)
Rich set design, but poorly drawn characters
In truth, the show presents all the GOT trappings, but offers none of its heart. Consider why we cared about GOT. First, we watched the Stark family children and their trials, torn from their home in the North: Sansa in King's Landing, then worse; Arya among the Nameless Men, then wandering Westeros with the Hound; Jon Snow at the Wall and beyond on his northern quest, then finding his truth with Dani. Secondly, the Lannister story-arc had legs. We came to care about both Jamie and Tyrion. Finally, we watched Dani rise from trophy wife to Targaryen queen. That is, we experienced these complex and beautifully written characters as they grew.
Contrastingly, House of the Dragon offers no one to support, truly; no main character to root for. Thus, it descends quickly into mere palace intrigue, cut with gut-wrenching violence. Who do we like, here? The arrogant and self-serving Rhaenyra offers little empathy; and while the young Queen Alicent seemed sympathetic, she grows icy cold. The King's weakness undermines our connection to him and, finally, Daemon is just unfathomable. Put simply, we don't care about these people and, without character sympathy, the show is empty. Great stories aren't about what happens to people. They're about what happens to people we care about. A lesson HOTD should learn.
Outlander: I Am Not Alone (2022)
A So-So Season
In S6, "Outlander" confronts the age-old conundrum that arises in romance-driven shows: what to do when your couple have found each other and settled down? How do you infuse their "happily ever after" with interesting tension while remaining true to their characters? Claire's bout with ether addiction offered some grist-and the shattering vulnerability of her admission through riven tears is matched only by his bottomless understanding and unshakable resolve to stand beside her. It's the best moment in Season 6-Claire and Jamie. It's the point of the show, why we watch. And their moment seemed well-earned, if not dragged out a bit.
But the thrust for something more explosive won out in the writer's room. Thus, the fisherfolk and Malva. And understand this about Malva, her wanton ways would not have gone unnoticed on Fraser's Ridge. Likely, her worldliness undergirds the general belief that Jamie partook of her pleasures. But, well, it's all a little absurd. What does she hope to gain? Jamie and Claire are bound with hoops of steel. Clearly, she attempted a love charm on Jamie and poisoned Claire and her father. (Quite likely, her father killed her). But her murder on the Fraser homestead blows up the entire season. It's just a teaser for coming installments.
In all Season 6 offered a few good moments, but too few and far between. And, finally, would someone please coach the actor playing Young Ian on drawing a bow, and explain to the director that no one takes an axe to a rotted tree, downed in the forest. Just laughable.
Deadwood (2004)
19th Century syntax - 21st Century profanity.
For me, in the end, the 19th Century diction jangled with the modern profanity (the home of lazy-minded hyperbole). I just didn't buy it, especially in the intelligent Al Swearengen character (despite the spelling of his name). It felt like the writers fell in love with this juxtaposition inside their semi-scandalous scripts, simply for the sake of the semi-scandalous juxtaposition.
And, finally, what of Alma and Bullock? From the moment they met, "Deadwood" tantalized us with the formality of their 19th century flirtation, halting and process-laden, yet sparkling with attraction. The writers built their chemistry, meticulously, over the entire first season. And Bullock's chivalry fit letter-perfectly to Alma's lady fair-in-need when her rapacious father appeared to threaten Alma's gold claim and her ward, Sophia. After dispatching the villain, Bullock's smoldering look at Alma lit the fire between them.
They consummated their desire for two episodes (S1, Ep12 - S2, Ep1), then "Deadwood" separated them and, yes, we get it: Bullock's gallantry toward his dead brother's wife and son and Alma's, well, who knows what? How does she accept Ellsworth proposal of a passionless, if courteous, coupling?
Anyway, here, the writers built tight chemistry between their second (male) and first (female) lead characters over a season, consummated it, then separated the pair (as shows often do, to extend our longing for their re-connection). Yet, they refused, in the end, to reunite them.
In the wake of Trixie and Sol's coupling, Seth and Alma's failed reconnection feels mean-spirited.
Virgin River: Unexpected Endings (2019)
Mel, Mel, Mel...
Okay, I'm a guy. I watched S1 with my girlfriend and I tried, I really did. But the obviousness of the plot points killed the show's vitality. Charmaine's pregnancy...like no one could see that coming? But the writers stretch out the reveal for two episodes. And the "letter conundrum"? Drop it in the mail. The illegal pot growers? A couple calls to the BLM and ATF.
And the relationships? In my experience, successful ones connect two people of relatively equal desire who both recognize the fragility of a good thing. Yet, the men in VR exhibit a sort of clubbed, everlasting love cut with the patience of Job, while the women seem narcissistic and self-absorbed. Doc cheated on Hope, once, 20 years ago and she has since resisted his every apology. But an unattached Doc would draw older women out of the woodwork, more than just Muriel. A few years of Hope's cold shoulder and Doc would turn to a warmer one. If Hope wanted to keep him, she'd have to address her issues, accept his apology, and meet him halfway.
And Jack is the most eligible bachelor in town (despite his relationship with Charmaine). A thoughtful, good-looking ex-Marine who owns and operates the town 'hot spot'? He'd have his pick of the local women. As a young man, I tended bar in a place like this and trust me, women for miles around would hound him. And even if reluctant, certainly, he'd understand the truth of his circumstances: high-demand. But, here, he's a doormat. The self-serving, drama queen Mel treats him like dirt, leaving for L. A. without a word, then refuses to return his calls. Here, the writers/Director refuse to include scenes of Jack going to the cabin and finding it empty; of a worried and heartsick Jack calling Mel, again and again, to no avail. Instead, we get Mel at her dead husband's grave, and Jack crawling back to her to renew his unquenched love. Meh.
A lot of guys (like me) would pass on Mel, a woman far too self-obsessed to see her partner with any clarity. But in this show, it's all Mel, all the time.
Virgin River: New Beginnings (2020)
All Mel, all the time.
Okay, I'm a guy. I watched S1 with my girlfriend and I tried, I really did. But the obviousness of the plot points killed the show's vitality. Charmaine's pregnancy...like no one could see that coming? But the writers stretch out the reveal for two episodes. And the "letter conundrum"? Drop it in the mail. The illegal pot growers? A couple calls to the BLM and ATF.
And the relationships? In my experience, successful ones connect two people of relatively equal desire who both recognize the fragility of a good thing. Yet, the men in VR exhibit a sort of clubbed, everlasting love cut with the patience of Job, while the women seem narcissistic and self-absorbed. Doc cheated on Hope, once, 20 years ago and she has since resisted his every apology. But an unattached Doc would draw older women out of the woodwork. A few years of Hope's cold shoulder and Doc would turn to a warmer one. If Hope wanted to keep him, she'd have to address her issues, accept his apology, and meet him halfway.
And Jack is the most eligible bachelor in town (despite his relationship with Charmaine). A thoughtful, good-looking ex-Marine who owns and operates the town 'hot spot'? He'd have his pick of the local women. As a young man, I tended bar in a place like this and trust me, women for miles around would hound him. And even if reluctant, certainly, he'd understand the truth of his circumstances: high-demand. But, here, he's a doormat. The self-serving, drama queen Mel treats him like dirt, leaving for L. A. without a word, then refuses to return his calls. Here, the writers/Director refuse to include scenes of Jack going to the cabin and finding it empty; of a worried and heartsick Jack calling Mel, again and again, to no avail. Instead, we get Mel at her dead husband's grave, and Jack crawling back to her to renew his unquenched love. Meh.
A lot of guys (like me) would pass on Mel, a woman far too self-obsessed to see her partner with any clarity. But in this show, it's all Mel, all the time.
Yellowstone: Cowboys and Dreamers (2020)
Beth and Jamie
Yellowstone (S3, Ep.5) reveals, finally, the tension between Beth and Jamie. In flashback, a sixteen-year-old Beth, pregnant with Rip's child, approaches an 18- or 19-year-old Jamie for help. She needs an abortion. Likely for good reason, neither feels free to inform John Dutton, (and Rip's tenure on the show would not have lasted long).
Jamie understands the threat of scandal likely to accompany Beth's visit to the local Livingston hospital so, with limited options, he takes Beth to the reservation clinic. There, he learns that Native American abortions carry mandatory sterilizations. Torn, yet cornered, Jamie leads Beth inside.
Several issues, here. First, the show presents Beth as an unknowing participant in the procedure but, almost certainly, the clinician-in-charge would have alerted Beth to the full process, including ramifications, so to gain her informed consent; and, this, even more so given Beth's non-Native status and the clinicians residing, there, on planet Earth with the rest of the county who, undoubtedly, had heard of the Dutton Ranch and family.
Secondly, while the show conveniently neglects to mention it, almost certainly the Duttons have a family doctor--some General Practitioner who makes house calls (and has done so for years) to patch up the kids and sip rye whiskey with John. The richest family for miles, without question, the Duttons would have a Doc and he would constitute Jamie's first call.
Thirdly, the practice of Native American sterilizations ended in the Seventies, long before Beth would have sought an abortion at a reservation clinic.
Finally, and most importantly, Beth's sterilization followed one of two courses: tubal ligation ("tubes tied") or hysterectomy (uterine removal). A hysterectomy is major surgery, requires hospital admission and a lengthy stay (two to three days). No way a surgeon proceeds on a minor without her father's consent, (her only surviving parent). Thus, only one rational means of Beth's sterilization remains: tubal ligation. Beth had her tubes tied. Thing is, reversal procedures on tubal ligation have a 50% to 80% success rate, which sets Beth's future pregnancy chances, at least, at even money. Now, Yellowstone may reveal that Beth has undergone a failed reversal procedure but given its possibility, the likelihood of Beth's informed consent (back when) and young Jamie's lack of options, Beth's abiding hatred of Jamie feels misplaced.
I understand that "Yellowstone" wants to carry forward the plot point of "Beth's hate and Jamie's fear," but the writers needed better homework, here. (Plot Point: 3 stars).