so, that's supposed to be the big reveal, i guess. the problem is that there were no surprises in
it. everything we learned was already apparent in the very first episode
again, the performances were excellent, the production values and art direction were quite good, and
the direction in terms of the cinematography was fine. the direction in terms of pacing and story
structure (which is partly up to the writers, although for a show like this the ultimate
responsibility lies with the director) still sucks. assuming that the next episode takes place in
the present, we still don't know what is motivating the main character. we saw happen what we
already knew had taken place, and that second hand experience psychologically causes us to empathize
to a greater degree, but it doesn't make her actions to date any more forgivable.
i still say that for a drama to be successful you either need to have a sympathetic protagonist
(which is not the same as merely empathizing with the character - because you can understand
another's feelings and still think that their actions are wrong) whose motivations you understand
(or at least you think you do - getting fooled about this can be a neat trick sometimes) or else you
need someone that you root for them regardless of their actions. the latter requires a special
combination of writing and performance. it can easily misfire - think of warren beatty in bonnie and
clyde. i'd argue that matt damon (who i don't think of as an especially strong actor) had his best
performance doing just that in ripley. michael caine can pull that off very well too.
gyllenhall gave a fantastic performance in this episode - particularly how stark the contrast is
between '06 nessa and present day nessa.
actually, there was one thing we did learn. we found out what role the brother played. you already
had a vague sense of what he'd done, but know we know in great detail.
[boone: i keep trying to write on of these that doesn't give away anything. did i successfully avoid
the need for spoiler tags this time ? ]
[#216082]
Written by: Trench [28/07/2014, 09:46]
pace and persistent lack of complete details or motivations draws positive similarities to
amc's "rubicon" for me. looking forward to the concluding two episodes.
[#216191]
Written by: ockraz [02/08/2014, 10:12]
Quote by trench
pace and persistent lack of complete details or motivations draws positive
similarities to
amc's "rubicon" for me. looking forward to the concluding two episodes.
i liked rubicon. for me the essential difference is that the character at the center of rubicon was
uncovering the truth and began with the same lack of knowledge of the mysteries as the viewer,
whereas the character at the center of this is obscuring the truth - even for the viewer.
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