Further comments on Double or Nothing
Apr. 23rd, 2002 02:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thebratqueenOkay, now that the ep has aired I'll do my usual (is it "usual" when this is only the second time?) round 2 commentary.
General impressions:
Meh. Not a good episode. Typical of David Goodman (who also wrote "Dad") this episode had brief snippets that felt true to the characters, surrounded by a lot of crap. If anyone asked me I'd tell them to give the episode a miss. There's not enough goodnees or plot to be worth watching.
Biggest complaint:
It's been a week! A week! No way can I buy all of the characters acting like this within a week of Angel trying to kill Wesley. Why is the AI gang still with Angel? Why is Gunn acting like Wes is the enemy? More on this as I go.
Angel:
This is TV. They've got a limited amount of time to work with. That means that he can't be shown grieving for months in the same way that real life parents would. However I don't buy the way he was acting in relation to the Gunn stuff. He was making jokes, he was being laid-back and lighthearted - it doesn't work. And it didn't make sense. I think they should have left Angel up in the bedroom mourning. Keep all of his scenes the same except cut out the casino stuff. I know some might make the argument that the casino stuff was Angel realizing he needs to get back to the mission again, but really Angel could have gotten there on his own. It's implied by him giving up on Connor. So show him mourning, keep the well-done speech about "I think he was going to be left handed" and keep the last scene as him taking down the crib. It would have been much more plausible.
Cordy:
Charisma, whatever you did to your hairstylist apologize at once. Oh my GOD did she look awful. I could cope with her being blonde - I really don't think she has to be blonde, but whatever. But that haircut? Ugh! What was she thinking? Plus she's apparently pissed off people in makeup because she was definitely looking her age. Don't get me wrong - I think she's one of the most beautiful 30something woman I've ever seen, however she's playing a 21 year old. They've got to make her look younger and last night they so weren't.
Plus this was a bastardization of her character. Either she's an oblivious dork (Gunn's in pain but she thinks he's happy) or she's imitating Fred with her win-one-for-the-Gipperisms (tm Mer). Where's the real Cordy?
And I'm sorry but I don't buy her stabbing the guy at the end. There was no way for her to figure out that's what Angel meant, and if the plan was to stab the guy why didn't Angel, the much faster vampire, do it himself? Hell for that matter why didn't Angel get the other casino goers in on the fight to begin with? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Fred:
Acting like a five year old again. Seriously ew. I'm sorry but it gives me a big squick to see her going all scrunchy face, talking like a baby even during serious conversation, and making comments about her "tummy". She's OVER 20!! And we've seen her act like a mature woman in other scenes! I mean if she acted like a 5 year old all the time you could at least sell me on the idea that the time in Pylea stunted her emotional growth or something, but that's not the case. Last week, for example, she was acting like a woman and I liked her. So why do some of the directors have Amy Acker deliberately play her like a child? Esp when we're getting her and Gunn doing "what are you wearing?" talk while she's in bed. Ew. Big ew.
And I'm not even going to touch the wrongness that was her scene with Wesley. It made no sense, it flew in the face of continuity and it just plain sucked. You could have done the exact same plot points without insulting Fred's character or the audience. David Goodman didn't. Why?
Lorne:
Wearing suits. Are they trying to tone down his outfits? Just a random observation.
Gunn:
Total pod person. Didn't recognize his character at all. Contrast this episode with That Old Gang Of Mine and see what happens when you have a Gunn-centric ep that actually respects the nuances of his character and his background.
Tone of the ep:
I know that after a hard-core angst fest like Forgiving they probably felt they needed to lighten things up before the audience killed themselves, but this was the wrong kind of humor to use. Physical humor and so-called comedic misdirection? Didn't we abandon that shit in season 2 with good riddance?
Editing:
I'll give one prop for the show in the editing. Twice we get a reference to "family" and a cut between Wes and Angel. First is at the hospital when Wes is being asked if he's got friends or family he can call, and we cut to Angel. Second was Angel saying they weren't going to lose another member of the family and they cut to Wes. Slashiness of that aside, it was a nice subtle reminder that these two guys lost their friendship in each other.
Throw me a line!
This week's entry in the throw me a line game is Angel's "We're not going to lose another member of this family?" Um - what? Since when was Gunn a member of your family? That line would have read better, and made the same point, if Angel had said "We're not going to lose another member of this team."
The music:
These comments wouldn't be complete without talking about the music they used for Gunn's flashback. I think to do it justice I've got to paraphrase my phone call with Mer last night:
TBQ: So what was up with that? Were they trying to be funny? Like on purpose? Because if they meant it seriously, it wasn't, and if they meant it funny that's actually kind of offensive.
Mer: I'm not sure. But it was funny.
TBQ: I mean you can do that song funny. Weird Al parodied it and that was great. But you can't use the actual song in a funny way - it's about real pain and problems. Maybe they meant it serious? But it just... wasn't. I was cracking up.
Mer: Well I'll tell you why - because he wasn't doing anything related to the song! This is a song about gangbanging. Gunn wasn't doing anything gang related besides wearing that outfit.
TBQ: I did like them remembering that he was a gangbanger though. That, for the Buffyverse, him going after vamps is as close to a real gangbanger we're going to get.
Mer: Oh yeah. No problems there at all. But that's not what he was doing. He was walking through a parkinglot! To a casino! That's not -
TBQ: HA! Oh god -
Mer: That's not gangbanger related. Many people go to casinos who are not gangbangers, as we could see from the crowd. And it was a nice casino too!
TBQ: [on the floor laughing]
Mer: So it's not like this was about him living in the hood or something. He was just walking! To a casino!
TBQ: That's it! That's so it! It was funny because the music wasn't really related to what we were seeing. Plus the lyrics! "As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" - and he's walking! It's like a really bad songvid. Too literal. Especially because, like you said, he's just walking through a parking lot. It's not the valley of the shadow of death unless the valet fees are really steep.
Mer: Ha! Well it makes you wonder if that's always Gunn's music. Like everywhere he goes. He goes to the casino, there's the music, he's walking down the street, there's the music, he's going to the bathroom -
TBQ: Bwa! Well then they play the lyric "I realize there's nothing left"
Mer: Shut up.
TBQ: I'm going to Hell I know. But yeah - everytime he gets out of a chair it's all [imitating the violins] Da da da da DA da DA da - he can't get any work done. That song, everywhere.
Mer: Coolio's actually following him around singing...
TBQ: Hee! Like in I'm Gonna Get You Sucker. He's got a guy with a keyboard doing the wacka music.
Mer: And why that song?
TBQ: I think it came out that year.
Mer: But didn't any other songs come out that year? Good hip-hop songs?
TBQ: Maybe they meant to pick a song that was a cliche? So we'd remember it being that year?
Mer: Still they could have done better. That was what? Early/mid 90s? There's got to be better songs.
TBQ: Especially with the whole WB stable to chose from.
Mer: Hell, grab something by Run DMC while you're at it. What are they doing lately? Or Grandmaster Flash. He's like opening up grocery stores now he's got so little to do.
TBQ: Maybe everybody on the show has a theme song now. Or they should. They all need songs like this - this thing of "It could have been a good choice but they fucked it up". Like buying somebody a shirt that's the right style but the totally wrong color.
Mer: So what would the songs be?
TBQ: Angel would have to be "I'm only happy when it rains" - 'cause cliche and deals with the fact that when he's on the floor twitching you've got to pour water on him or he won't recover.
Mer: Right.
TBQ: Wes would be "Englishman in New York"
Mer: But he's in Los Angeles
TBQ: Yeah, and Gunn was walking through a parking lot, not the valley of the shadow of death. What would Cordy be?
Mer: [thinks] "Uptown Girl"
TBQ: Hee!
Mer: And the Host would be "Over the Rainbow"
TBQ: Ha! Can we think of one for Fred?
Mer: Wasn't there a song recently called "Crazy"?
TBQ: That could work.
Final thoughts:
Frustrating, frustrating ep. Bad followup to Forgiving, totally unbelievable characterization - just ick. David Goodman needs to join Mere Smith and stop writing for the show. (Or take whatever help MS had to write "Loyalty")
Twack! Out to you gang!
General impressions:
Meh. Not a good episode. Typical of David Goodman (who also wrote "Dad") this episode had brief snippets that felt true to the characters, surrounded by a lot of crap. If anyone asked me I'd tell them to give the episode a miss. There's not enough goodnees or plot to be worth watching.
Biggest complaint:
It's been a week! A week! No way can I buy all of the characters acting like this within a week of Angel trying to kill Wesley. Why is the AI gang still with Angel? Why is Gunn acting like Wes is the enemy? More on this as I go.
Angel:
This is TV. They've got a limited amount of time to work with. That means that he can't be shown grieving for months in the same way that real life parents would. However I don't buy the way he was acting in relation to the Gunn stuff. He was making jokes, he was being laid-back and lighthearted - it doesn't work. And it didn't make sense. I think they should have left Angel up in the bedroom mourning. Keep all of his scenes the same except cut out the casino stuff. I know some might make the argument that the casino stuff was Angel realizing he needs to get back to the mission again, but really Angel could have gotten there on his own. It's implied by him giving up on Connor. So show him mourning, keep the well-done speech about "I think he was going to be left handed" and keep the last scene as him taking down the crib. It would have been much more plausible.
Cordy:
Charisma, whatever you did to your hairstylist apologize at once. Oh my GOD did she look awful. I could cope with her being blonde - I really don't think she has to be blonde, but whatever. But that haircut? Ugh! What was she thinking? Plus she's apparently pissed off people in makeup because she was definitely looking her age. Don't get me wrong - I think she's one of the most beautiful 30something woman I've ever seen, however she's playing a 21 year old. They've got to make her look younger and last night they so weren't.
Plus this was a bastardization of her character. Either she's an oblivious dork (Gunn's in pain but she thinks he's happy) or she's imitating Fred with her win-one-for-the-Gipperisms (tm Mer). Where's the real Cordy?
And I'm sorry but I don't buy her stabbing the guy at the end. There was no way for her to figure out that's what Angel meant, and if the plan was to stab the guy why didn't Angel, the much faster vampire, do it himself? Hell for that matter why didn't Angel get the other casino goers in on the fight to begin with? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Fred:
Acting like a five year old again. Seriously ew. I'm sorry but it gives me a big squick to see her going all scrunchy face, talking like a baby even during serious conversation, and making comments about her "tummy". She's OVER 20!! And we've seen her act like a mature woman in other scenes! I mean if she acted like a 5 year old all the time you could at least sell me on the idea that the time in Pylea stunted her emotional growth or something, but that's not the case. Last week, for example, she was acting like a woman and I liked her. So why do some of the directors have Amy Acker deliberately play her like a child? Esp when we're getting her and Gunn doing "what are you wearing?" talk while she's in bed. Ew. Big ew.
And I'm not even going to touch the wrongness that was her scene with Wesley. It made no sense, it flew in the face of continuity and it just plain sucked. You could have done the exact same plot points without insulting Fred's character or the audience. David Goodman didn't. Why?
Lorne:
Wearing suits. Are they trying to tone down his outfits? Just a random observation.
Gunn:
Total pod person. Didn't recognize his character at all. Contrast this episode with That Old Gang Of Mine and see what happens when you have a Gunn-centric ep that actually respects the nuances of his character and his background.
Tone of the ep:
I know that after a hard-core angst fest like Forgiving they probably felt they needed to lighten things up before the audience killed themselves, but this was the wrong kind of humor to use. Physical humor and so-called comedic misdirection? Didn't we abandon that shit in season 2 with good riddance?
Editing:
I'll give one prop for the show in the editing. Twice we get a reference to "family" and a cut between Wes and Angel. First is at the hospital when Wes is being asked if he's got friends or family he can call, and we cut to Angel. Second was Angel saying they weren't going to lose another member of the family and they cut to Wes. Slashiness of that aside, it was a nice subtle reminder that these two guys lost their friendship in each other.
Throw me a line!
This week's entry in the throw me a line game is Angel's "We're not going to lose another member of this family?" Um - what? Since when was Gunn a member of your family? That line would have read better, and made the same point, if Angel had said "We're not going to lose another member of this team."
The music:
These comments wouldn't be complete without talking about the music they used for Gunn's flashback. I think to do it justice I've got to paraphrase my phone call with Mer last night:
TBQ: So what was up with that? Were they trying to be funny? Like on purpose? Because if they meant it seriously, it wasn't, and if they meant it funny that's actually kind of offensive.
Mer: I'm not sure. But it was funny.
TBQ: I mean you can do that song funny. Weird Al parodied it and that was great. But you can't use the actual song in a funny way - it's about real pain and problems. Maybe they meant it serious? But it just... wasn't. I was cracking up.
Mer: Well I'll tell you why - because he wasn't doing anything related to the song! This is a song about gangbanging. Gunn wasn't doing anything gang related besides wearing that outfit.
TBQ: I did like them remembering that he was a gangbanger though. That, for the Buffyverse, him going after vamps is as close to a real gangbanger we're going to get.
Mer: Oh yeah. No problems there at all. But that's not what he was doing. He was walking through a parkinglot! To a casino! That's not -
TBQ: HA! Oh god -
Mer: That's not gangbanger related. Many people go to casinos who are not gangbangers, as we could see from the crowd. And it was a nice casino too!
TBQ: [on the floor laughing]
Mer: So it's not like this was about him living in the hood or something. He was just walking! To a casino!
TBQ: That's it! That's so it! It was funny because the music wasn't really related to what we were seeing. Plus the lyrics! "As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" - and he's walking! It's like a really bad songvid. Too literal. Especially because, like you said, he's just walking through a parking lot. It's not the valley of the shadow of death unless the valet fees are really steep.
Mer: Ha! Well it makes you wonder if that's always Gunn's music. Like everywhere he goes. He goes to the casino, there's the music, he's walking down the street, there's the music, he's going to the bathroom -
TBQ: Bwa! Well then they play the lyric "I realize there's nothing left"
Mer: Shut up.
TBQ: I'm going to Hell I know. But yeah - everytime he gets out of a chair it's all [imitating the violins] Da da da da DA da DA da - he can't get any work done. That song, everywhere.
Mer: Coolio's actually following him around singing...
TBQ: Hee! Like in I'm Gonna Get You Sucker. He's got a guy with a keyboard doing the wacka music.
Mer: And why that song?
TBQ: I think it came out that year.
Mer: But didn't any other songs come out that year? Good hip-hop songs?
TBQ: Maybe they meant to pick a song that was a cliche? So we'd remember it being that year?
Mer: Still they could have done better. That was what? Early/mid 90s? There's got to be better songs.
TBQ: Especially with the whole WB stable to chose from.
Mer: Hell, grab something by Run DMC while you're at it. What are they doing lately? Or Grandmaster Flash. He's like opening up grocery stores now he's got so little to do.
TBQ: Maybe everybody on the show has a theme song now. Or they should. They all need songs like this - this thing of "It could have been a good choice but they fucked it up". Like buying somebody a shirt that's the right style but the totally wrong color.
Mer: So what would the songs be?
TBQ: Angel would have to be "I'm only happy when it rains" - 'cause cliche and deals with the fact that when he's on the floor twitching you've got to pour water on him or he won't recover.
Mer: Right.
TBQ: Wes would be "Englishman in New York"
Mer: But he's in Los Angeles
TBQ: Yeah, and Gunn was walking through a parking lot, not the valley of the shadow of death. What would Cordy be?
Mer: [thinks] "Uptown Girl"
TBQ: Hee!
Mer: And the Host would be "Over the Rainbow"
TBQ: Ha! Can we think of one for Fred?
Mer: Wasn't there a song recently called "Crazy"?
TBQ: That could work.
Final thoughts:
Frustrating, frustrating ep. Bad followup to Forgiving, totally unbelievable characterization - just ick. David Goodman needs to join Mere Smith and stop writing for the show. (Or take whatever help MS had to write "Loyalty")
Twack! Out to you gang!
