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the_deep_magicAfter about half an hour of wavering, I went ahead and watched the leaked version of the midseason finale, because it's not like I watch it legally anyway. The thoughts I post after each episode are made after at least two viewings, so I'll probably post more specifics after Monday night.
I was so disappointed. I mean, I was 95% sure that nothing mind-blowing was going to happen, but there was still that 5% that hoped... But, no, we got a simplistic solution that sidelined just about everyone but Scott, Derek, Deucalion, and Jennifer. And don't worry -- all your favorite white males survived! But if last week's catchphrase was how fucking convenient, this week's was are you fucking serious? I did have some hope at the beginning, with the way Scott, Stiles, and Allison all flashed back to very beginning of the show and saw where the Nemeton was (if you think too hard about that, it doesn't make sense, but at least it was visually and conceptually cool). And then it went downhill.
Scott's tattoo was really the rings of a tree! Are you fucking serious? Derek survived several hours of a pole through his internal organs, but Kali died from some mirror shards! Are you fucking serious? The parents don't have to die if Derek goes with Jennifer as her... guardian? Are you fucking serious? Jennifer had spent years planning those 15 minutes in the warehouse to get revenge on Deucalion, yet stopped and used up her Darach juju to give him his sight back! Are you fucking serious? An aluminum bat holds up what a werewolf and two grown men couldn't! Are you fucking serious? Derek let Deucalion tear Jennifer's throat out, then let him walk free because, gee, he used to be such a nice guy and probably is again now that he can see! Are you fucking serious? Both twins get a free pass on murdering Boyd! Are you fucking serious?
The relationship between Kali and Jennifer was never explored. Nothing about various characters' mistletoe ingestion or how Cora got sick was explained. Nothing about Cora at all -- how she survived the fire, what she's been doing for six years. Wassname Uncle Argent who killed himself at the Motel Hell was never spoken of again. Paige? Who's Paige? And here's something I absolutely detest, particularly in the sci-fi/fantasy genre: they ignored the rules. Suddenly there don't need to be guardian sacrifices if Derek's a chaperone? Suddenly Scott can walk through mountain ash because he is Pure of Heart enough to become a True Alpha? Suddenly Peter's been an alpha all along? You can make up whatever rules you want for your universe, but breaking them all willy-nilly isn't a Shocking! Plot! Twist! It's shitty, unimaginative writing.
The True Alpha thing frustrates me, too. Look, I get that Scott has a good heart and truly cares for people, but I also get some of the fandom -- well, I don't want to say hatred, because I don't hate him, but it's stronger than frustration -- that's thrown his way. He can be a selfish asshole and make decisions without telling other people who are affected by them -- so can everyone else on the show -- but Scott's the only one who never suffers any negative effects as a result of his choices, or even by chance. In the whole show so far, Stiles was nearly killed by Scott (twice), had the shit beaten out of him by Gerard, lost a childhood friend, and suffered a months-long rift with his father. Isaac was orphaned and then the guy that took him in usually acted a lot like his abusive father. Allison lost her mother, and then lost her shit and tried to kill a bunch of people, then found out her grandfather would have murdered her without a second thought. Lydia was possessed and psychologically tortured by a dead man, watched her boyfriend die and come back to life only to leave her again, and then became (?) a banshee and started finding dead bodies all over the place. Erica and Boyd got killed. Even Danny ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung. Derek... I don't even have the space.
Scott got some werewolf powers that he didn't want and is (temporarily -- you know it) broken up with Allison. That's it. Everything else turns out just fine for him. His mom accepted his werewolfiness. Stiles forgave him for abandoning him for Allison and not even paying attention to what Stiles is going through. He's getting along fine with the whole Allison and Isaac thing which, yes, does show some positive growth. But even Peter doesn't try to fuck with Scott the way he fucks with everything else. Okay, maybe I'm going overboard and pinning too many of my frustrations on Scott, but this is one of many shows where the main character is the least interesting one, and in this case, arguably the one with the least accountability despite his apparently cosmic importance.
I'd be less upset if I thought any of this would get addressed in 3b, but it won't be, aside from perhaps the occasional reference to previous events and maybe Gerard coughing up more (new and unrelated) exposition along with black goop.
Ugh, okay, I'd better stop now. Be prepared for more on Monday, though. I want to start writing ALL THE FIX-IT FIC and the episode hasn't even aired yet. If anybody would like to give their thoughts on why I should like this episode, please do.
I was so disappointed. I mean, I was 95% sure that nothing mind-blowing was going to happen, but there was still that 5% that hoped... But, no, we got a simplistic solution that sidelined just about everyone but Scott, Derek, Deucalion, and Jennifer. And don't worry -- all your favorite white males survived! But if last week's catchphrase was how fucking convenient, this week's was are you fucking serious? I did have some hope at the beginning, with the way Scott, Stiles, and Allison all flashed back to very beginning of the show and saw where the Nemeton was (if you think too hard about that, it doesn't make sense, but at least it was visually and conceptually cool). And then it went downhill.
Scott's tattoo was really the rings of a tree! Are you fucking serious? Derek survived several hours of a pole through his internal organs, but Kali died from some mirror shards! Are you fucking serious? The parents don't have to die if Derek goes with Jennifer as her... guardian? Are you fucking serious? Jennifer had spent years planning those 15 minutes in the warehouse to get revenge on Deucalion, yet stopped and used up her Darach juju to give him his sight back! Are you fucking serious? An aluminum bat holds up what a werewolf and two grown men couldn't! Are you fucking serious? Derek let Deucalion tear Jennifer's throat out, then let him walk free because, gee, he used to be such a nice guy and probably is again now that he can see! Are you fucking serious? Both twins get a free pass on murdering Boyd! Are you fucking serious?
The relationship between Kali and Jennifer was never explored. Nothing about various characters' mistletoe ingestion or how Cora got sick was explained. Nothing about Cora at all -- how she survived the fire, what she's been doing for six years. Wassname Uncle Argent who killed himself at the Motel Hell was never spoken of again. Paige? Who's Paige? And here's something I absolutely detest, particularly in the sci-fi/fantasy genre: they ignored the rules. Suddenly there don't need to be guardian sacrifices if Derek's a chaperone? Suddenly Scott can walk through mountain ash because he is Pure of Heart enough to become a True Alpha? Suddenly Peter's been an alpha all along? You can make up whatever rules you want for your universe, but breaking them all willy-nilly isn't a Shocking! Plot! Twist! It's shitty, unimaginative writing.
The True Alpha thing frustrates me, too. Look, I get that Scott has a good heart and truly cares for people, but I also get some of the fandom -- well, I don't want to say hatred, because I don't hate him, but it's stronger than frustration -- that's thrown his way. He can be a selfish asshole and make decisions without telling other people who are affected by them -- so can everyone else on the show -- but Scott's the only one who never suffers any negative effects as a result of his choices, or even by chance. In the whole show so far, Stiles was nearly killed by Scott (twice), had the shit beaten out of him by Gerard, lost a childhood friend, and suffered a months-long rift with his father. Isaac was orphaned and then the guy that took him in usually acted a lot like his abusive father. Allison lost her mother, and then lost her shit and tried to kill a bunch of people, then found out her grandfather would have murdered her without a second thought. Lydia was possessed and psychologically tortured by a dead man, watched her boyfriend die and come back to life only to leave her again, and then became (?) a banshee and started finding dead bodies all over the place. Erica and Boyd got killed. Even Danny ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung. Derek... I don't even have the space.
Scott got some werewolf powers that he didn't want and is (temporarily -- you know it) broken up with Allison. That's it. Everything else turns out just fine for him. His mom accepted his werewolfiness. Stiles forgave him for abandoning him for Allison and not even paying attention to what Stiles is going through. He's getting along fine with the whole Allison and Isaac thing which, yes, does show some positive growth. But even Peter doesn't try to fuck with Scott the way he fucks with everything else. Okay, maybe I'm going overboard and pinning too many of my frustrations on Scott, but this is one of many shows where the main character is the least interesting one, and in this case, arguably the one with the least accountability despite his apparently cosmic importance.
I'd be less upset if I thought any of this would get addressed in 3b, but it won't be, aside from perhaps the occasional reference to previous events and maybe Gerard coughing up more (new and unrelated) exposition along with black goop.
Ugh, okay, I'd better stop now. Be prepared for more on Monday, though. I want to start writing ALL THE FIX-IT FIC and the episode hasn't even aired yet. If anybody would like to give their thoughts on why I should like this episode, please do.
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no subject
Date: 2013-08-18 03:12 pm (UTC)Like I know I read meta after meta saying, "there's obviously something else going on here" or "all these things don't make sense" or "there's some huge twist coming" or (sadly) "it's almost so poorly written that there HAS to be more happening than what we're seeing." I genuinely feel bad for all those meta writers who have spent HOURS analyzing this show and trying to make sense of what appears to be horrible writing, when in the end: a) they clearly spent more time thinking about the story/characters than Jeff Davis ever did; and b) it was, in fact, ALL just shitty writing.
I'm usually pretty forgiving when it comes to my shows. Especially some of the ones I watch (like Merlin, for example). Because sometimes they're not amazingly written or thought out shows, and I know that going in, but I still end up loving them anyway. So I can be willing to excuse a fair bit of ridiculousness/plot holes. But this? This season is literally, quite possibly, the worst written season of ANY TV show I've ever watched. Even cartoons for kids and tween Disney/Family Channel shows.
You want to know what this season was about? It was about the following:
- Torturing Derek Hale
- Two sets of big bads FIGHTING EACH OTHER.
There wasn't even ANY REASON at all to include any of our Beacon Hills gang, tbqh- Torturing Derek Hale
- Scott literally doing N O T H I N G all season
- Completely excessive and mostly unnecessary slow motion fight scenes
- Did I mention torturing Derek Hale? (And Isaac, ugh)
- I'd also argue that it was a big "Fuck You" from Jeff to Sterek shippers with the completely unnecessary Dennifer "romance", but...I will say that I'm generally happy with how they handled Allison and Lydia's stories, only in that they were actually given some agency and were total badasses throughout. But if I think too hard about that one, it'll probably piss me off too.
So, Jeff brings back Cora, Derek's sister that he thought had DIED, and then... they don't fucking do anything about it. They wasted SO MUCH screen time on stupid slow motion fights & forcing the Dennifer "romance" and completely ignored what could've been the most emotionally powerful and beautiful story this entire season.
They killed Erica AND Boyd. Why? To further Derek's torture. Wow. Like, that was only thing he could've done? There were NO OTHER OPTIONS?! Fuck you, Jeff. I have nothing more to say about that, because FUCK. YOU.
Scott actually spent the majority of this season doing nothing. I can't even FATHOM how we're expected to believe that he deserves to be a "True Alpha". ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! Scott is NOT a leader. The majority of the time he ACTS ON HIS OWN WITHOUT HIS FRIENDS. Scott doesn't even WANT to be a werewolf. Scott has NEVER had to make an actual difficult decision and face real world consequences. Scott has USED and MANIPULATED people and yet we're told to believe that he's so pure and holy and wonderful?
I've tried so, so hard since season 1 to like Scott. I really have. But the way he's written makes me dislike him time and time again. I was actually doing really well with him this season for the most part. And it's not because he makes mistakes or does asshole-ish things sometimes, because EVERYONE on this show does that. It's because he never experiences the consequences of ANYTHING, EVER. Every single other person has had terrible things happen to them, both because of consequences of their own actions OR consequences of the actions of others.
tbc...
no subject
Date: 2013-08-18 03:12 pm (UTC)Other questions I have:
- Why was the alpha pack trying to kill or recruit Derek in the first place?
- What was the point of the Dennifer "romance"? Because I legitimately can't see one.
- What was with all the flashing lights theme throughout the episodes?
- Why did Jeff literally skip over every significant conversation/interaction this entire season?
I'm sure I could keep ranting for DAYS about this. I pretty much already have been. I just can't fucking believe how ridiculous and terribly written this season was. I was almost hopeful that some of it would make sense by the end, after Jennifer was revealed to be the Darach, but no. That was craziness on my part.
I just... I really dislike Jeff Davis right now. So very, very, VERY much. I literally can't remember a time when I've ever been THIS disappointed, as a whole, with a season. And even more than being disappointed with the show, I'm disappointed with myself. I feel like such an idiot for trusting in Jeff, for believing that he could write a decent story, for believing that he was actually taking Sterek seriously and/or considering it. Now I just feel like an idiot for allowing myself to get so connected to this show and all of these characters. Because while I still want to keep watching, I can't go through another Merlin situation. So, if Derek isn't back for the full season 3B, I'm officially done, too.
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Date: 2013-08-19 03:46 am (UTC)Two sets of big bads FIGHTING EACH OTHER. There wasn't even ANY REASON at all to include any of our Beacon Hills gang, tbqh
Y'know, I kept waiting for the Scooby Gang to prove Cora wrong, that they weren't just waiting around to find the bodies... except they were. That is pretty much all they did.
Scott has NEVER had to make an actual difficult decision and face real world consequences. Scott has USED and MANIPULATED people and yet we're told to believe that he's so pure and holy and wonderful?
YES, THIS. Scott was sympathetic -- if whiny -- in season one, and then after that, we're just told over and over how great he is, like he's supposed to be some kind of shining opposite of Derek, but he's never given anything close to what Derek has had to face. It's easy enough for him to say, "Hey, why don't we just not kill anyone!" because he hasn't really had anything at stake. And the one time he did, just now with his mom, he didn't actually do a damn thing except throw some flashbombs at Deucalion. DEREK kept his mom alive by playing along with Jennifer.
Ugh. I don't want to jump on the Scott!hate bandwagon, but it's becoming harder and harder to find anything about him to like. And the shit never sticks to him when everyone else is covered in it.
It would've been a beautiful, satisfying storyline to see Derek eventually learn and grow and become the alpha he could definitely be one day.
I truly don't understand the "torture Derek" theme. Maybe it's done as a lazy way of building Scott up? Because it's just... it's not even compelling anymore, it's almost a joke. And the things that Derek DOES deserve to be called out on (abusing Isaac, taking advantage of Erica) are never specifically mentioned. Isaac got the closest, getting Derek to admit that he was lonely, but at that point it was just kicking him while he was down. Derek's never even been offered a chance at redemption -- he just has to choose between the terrible and the more terrible.
And I think they just wanted to give Derek a love interest, then decided they could make it a two-for-one by turning her into a plot twist with no regard for Derek's character. I actually could have gotten behind a Derek/Jennifer romance if it turned out the secret she was hiding (the one that made her only with banging a dude whose internal organs were barely internal at the time) was something more unexpected and less supervillain.
Honestly, I don't mind if Stiles/Derek never becomes canon... as long as they continue to have the kind of interactions that we barely got to see this season. JUST PUT THEM TOGETHER IN THE SAME DAMN ROOM and I am perfectly happy to fill in the blanks with my imagination. I was honestly surprised -- now that Jeff Davis is very clearly aware of the size of the Sterek fandom, I thought he'd be baiting us like crazy. If anything, I thought the story would suffer by overplaying the UST, as happens with so many will-they-won't-they shows (Bones comes to mind, though I stopped watching years ago). Instead -- and I will admit he managed to surprise me on this one -- he went in the complete opposite direction and kept them separated for most of the season. Maybe he thinks he's being clever by doing that? It seemed in the first few episodes of the season he was working toward a better balance, like maybe we would get one good, juicy Stiles/Derek scene per episode, however small, but then that got almost completely abandoned in favor of the crazy.
I could go on and on, but I'm probably running out of room in the comment box, so I'll leave it there for now. I can't imagine they'll drop Derek for 3b (though I imagine we've seen the last of Cora -- she'll go traveling or some shit if we're lucky, she'll die offscreen if we're not), but if either Stiles or Derek goes, I don't think there's anything I'd enjoy about the show.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-21 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-22 04:27 am (UTC)