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moogingSo that was literally amazing.
Right, I, er, think it would be a good idea if my thoughts actually started to coagulate round about now.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lo0o0ony_lauren and I went a bit text-spackish during the episode, and at one point actually sent each pretty damn near the same text. I CANNOT ADEQUATELY EXPRESS QUITE HOW GOOD THIS PROGRAMME IS. VERY, VERY GOOD.
I think maybe bullet points might be the only way I can make these things make sense.
- New cast! I actually really, really liked both new Mitchell and new Annie. I thought the dynamic worked just as well, if not better than, the pilot - but then, the pilot was about the start of these characters' relationships, so I don't know whether it's entirely fair to compare that with the series (!!!), where they're getting along with that base of friendship rather than meeting each other for the first time, if that makes sense? Anyway, Mitchell continues to be both angsty and highly attractive, so win for that, and I like Lenora Critchley from Sugar Rush (although I wasn't sure if I'd like her as Annie, but, hey, I do) so I am just pleased all round. :D
- MITCHELL AND GEORGE. GEORGE AND MITCHELL. THEY ARE GENUINELY THE BEST THING EVER TO HAPPEN, EVER. I love them together. I love them as friends. I love the high amount of slash going on. BASICALLY, I JUST LOVE THEM. I love that even though they'd fought, George still came rushing to find Mitchell when he thought that Mitchell was going to attack that girl from the hospital. I love that Mitchell knows how to cope with George when it's 'his time of the month' (incidentally: lol). I love that they clearly love each other; I don't care which kind of love it is, you know, I just love them together, I love them apart, I JUST LOVE THEM. ARGHHH, THIS SHOW BROKE MY HEART.
- George. George is hilarious. He could so easily be overblown, or a caricature, or silly, but a combination of the writing and Russell Tovey makes him just amaze.
- THAT LINE ABOUT GEORGE BEING A SPY BECAUSE OF HIS CALMNESS WAS UTTERLY, UTTERLY BRILLIANT.
- Which takes me onto: the dialogue. It was quippy but without being annoying; it was exposition-y without being ridiculous. :DD
- I loved that Annie and George got on better. I loved that Annie and Mitchell continue to get on so well.
- Oh God, that last shot of Mitchell on the floor, so empty, and George just turning away to wash his scrubs. Nnnnnngh. That song, 'Hurt', by Johnny Cash is one of the few songs that just bring me to tears the instant I hear it, so, that was painful. Mitchell does looking bleak so well.
- THIS SHOW. THE TWO MALE CHARACTERS (AND INDEED THE FEMALE) JUST CRY ALL THE TIME. It panders to my inane, sucker-for-angst heart, but then it's balanced with perfect humour, and perfect character interaction, and a brilliant soundtrack (The Killers! I did a little flail), and AJSBFABFABDFKJABGJBG, YOU GUYS.
- The huggg! The hug between Mitchell and Georrrrge! That was the time Loz and I sent each other the same text: just as I pressed send with the text 'HUG HOMG', I got 'OMG HUG' from her. ♥
- Er, probably I should also say things about the plot? I liked the recast of Lauren: having her be slightly less glamourous and slightly more unhinged I think worked well - the other actress captured creepy well but this one seemed a bit more believably derailed, if that makes sense? Also, I liked her hair - like Nina, from 24, whom I also really liked. Herrick: that actor creeps me out in everything ever, so on that count I think it worked, and I definitely think he's well cast in that he looks believable in all kinds of authoritarian uniform - modern day police; higher ranking military in WW1 - and he also looks ordinary enough to blend in yet there's still that air of ghoulishness about him. I, er, have to admit I'm not quite seeing the benefits for the vampires in their master plan - if they turn so many people into vampires, what's left for them to feed on? And if more people either were themselves or knew about vampires, would the mystery and the intrigue and the feeling superior still be there, or would it just be commonplace, or would there just be a massive-scale war between the mortal and the immortal, leading to a significant decrease in mortals and therefore a significant increase in hungry, frustrated vampires? idk. We'll see where it goes.
- GO MITCHELL FOR CHOOSING THE HUMANS. YOU WIN, MITCHELL.
- I spent a lot of time swearing at the screen this hour, but in the good way. You know, when something grabs you, or shocks you, or really engages you, as opposed to when you're watching, say, season 3 of Alias and everything's going to shit and you're bored out of your mind and the writing is going in circles? Anyway, when George hit Mitchell, I made a little noise of sadness. THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FIGHT, IT MAKES ME SAD.
- Right, er, what else? Oh, George's transformation: I really liked that you saw the bones change under his skin. I was ambivelent to the face change. The full on shot of wolf, however, was a just a bit 'lol wolf', but then I don't think I have ever seen a properly convincing werefold transformation on screen. Isn't it just one of those things that work really well in the imagination, because they can be exactly as horrifying or subtle or distorted as you like, but on screen is always going to be a little bit lacking because it will always run the risk of being exaggerated, or really CGI/FX-y? idk. Despite that, I thought the transformation scene on the whole, the one in the house, was fantastic: it was atmospheric, you really got the sense of the pain of it, and the kind of hideously tragic inevitability of it, and the reaction shots of Annie and Mitchell just responding to it worked so well. As did the shot of George later, surrounded by that trashed room, and the starkness of the house afterwards. :O
- Annie. I loved her lines. I loved that she wanted to see her fiance again (on this note, George's reaction when he walked in to find him there and Annie just distraught was priceless, I love him). I thought, like the whole main cast, that she swung between comedy and the, I don't want to say 'tragedy', but, er, I mean, the quieter moments, the downcast moments, the moments where the weight of what they live with every day really sank in for them all - I thought the tone switches were handled fantastically, and it never really felt jarring. Ohhh, and her fiance really is with Janey now. That hurt. But then! George said she was orange, and Annie said she looked like Kilroy, and I laughed. Something doesn't feel quite right about the way her fiance (look, I know that has an accent on it, but my computer doesn't want to cooperate) said she died - maybe there will be more details later?
- They all had AMAZING lines! George and his PIGEON, which he killed with a SHOE (lol George, and also your apparent passion for interior decorating, plus your subtle groping of Mitchell's shoulder, I C WHUT U DID THAR. Showing the landlord you're straight: you're doing it wrong). Mitchell and his telling George that he could talk to women without setting himself on fire! Telling George he was a spy! Being kicked in the shin by Annie and not liking Ikea! (OH MY GOD, THE FIC WHERE THE THREE OF THEM HAVE TO PUT UP NEW IKEA FURNITURE IS SOMETHING I NEED TO READ, RIGHT NOW). Annie being all :D to George's "he will die of shock if he sees you!". I did laugh really really loudly at something, quite near the beginning, but, er, I don't remember what. A quick trip to BBC iPlayer will sort that out, hang on.
- That scene where the blonde girl was attacked (I fail at remembering names, apparently) and both George and Mitchell were just completely wrung out and distraught, with Mitchell refusing to turn her even though George, George was begging him to, I, I just, NNNGH, oh God, it hurt me so much. The shot of them both weeping, all hunched up and sitting so close to each other but being so distant and separate smushed my poor brain. It was a ROLLERCOASTER of emotion from start to finish.
- THIS NEEDS ALL THE CAPSLOCK: WORLD WAR ONE MITCHELL WAS AMAZE. OH GODDDD, I CANNOT PROPERLY CONVEY MY LOVE FOR WORLD WAR ONE MITCHELL, VALIDATING BOTH MINE AND LOZ'S FICS IN ONE BIG WONDERFUL SWOOP. Ohh, the fact that he got vamped (er?) to save his mennn. NNNNGH. EVERYTHING IS MORE TRAGIC IN WORLD WAR ONE (no, really, Moog?). Also, George: how is going for a walk, at night, in the Scottish woods ever an intelligent thing to do? At best you get lost in the freezing cold and have to wait for someone to come and find you, and at worst you get WEREWOLFED. Um, also, is it just me, or did he just get swiped by the claws or smth of the werewolf? Was there an actual bite anywhere? idk.
- The vampire effect I liked as well. I liked how you saw on Lauren that her eyes slowly turned black, and her teeth were just that little bit more savage. I thought it emphasized how dangerous they were as creatures without making it a creature-feature, if that makes any sense at all (possibly it does not).
- OH GOD I JUST LOVED IT. Like Loz said in one of her texts, I just need to talk about this forever until next week.
So: next week. Mitchell and Lauren - I can see why that would work, but also why that should NOT HAPPEN. Mitchell, back away from the deranged lady. You do not want to 'just play' with her. George will not approve. Speaking of George, that guy in the white hat looks approximately 10000000000 more skin-crawlingy than should be allowed. Did I mention that there is actually a next week for this show? HURRAH.
Thank God for iPlayer, and repeats (which I will be in no way recording. Also, I lie.)
I am sure I've missed something to flail about, but in conclusion: I am so, so happy this got made into a series. I am so happy there are five whole new episodes, and at the same time sad that there are ONLY FIVE MORE EPISODES.
ajbfsbgjabgb, I loved it. Icon hunting, here I come!
This post was brought to you by the substantial overuse of the words 'actually', 'just', 'really' and 'amazing'.
Right, I, er, think it would be a good idea if my thoughts actually started to coagulate round about now.
lo0o0ony_lauren and I went a bit text-spackish during the episode, and at one point actually sent each pretty damn near the same text. I CANNOT ADEQUATELY EXPRESS QUITE HOW GOOD THIS PROGRAMME IS. VERY, VERY GOOD.I think maybe bullet points might be the only way I can make these things make sense.
- New cast! I actually really, really liked both new Mitchell and new Annie. I thought the dynamic worked just as well, if not better than, the pilot - but then, the pilot was about the start of these characters' relationships, so I don't know whether it's entirely fair to compare that with the series (!!!), where they're getting along with that base of friendship rather than meeting each other for the first time, if that makes sense? Anyway, Mitchell continues to be both angsty and highly attractive, so win for that, and I like Lenora Critchley from Sugar Rush (although I wasn't sure if I'd like her as Annie, but, hey, I do) so I am just pleased all round. :D
- MITCHELL AND GEORGE. GEORGE AND MITCHELL. THEY ARE GENUINELY THE BEST THING EVER TO HAPPEN, EVER. I love them together. I love them as friends. I love the high amount of slash going on. BASICALLY, I JUST LOVE THEM. I love that even though they'd fought, George still came rushing to find Mitchell when he thought that Mitchell was going to attack that girl from the hospital. I love that Mitchell knows how to cope with George when it's 'his time of the month' (incidentally: lol). I love that they clearly love each other; I don't care which kind of love it is, you know, I just love them together, I love them apart, I JUST LOVE THEM. ARGHHH, THIS SHOW BROKE MY HEART.
- George. George is hilarious. He could so easily be overblown, or a caricature, or silly, but a combination of the writing and Russell Tovey makes him just amaze.
- THAT LINE ABOUT GEORGE BEING A SPY BECAUSE OF HIS CALMNESS WAS UTTERLY, UTTERLY BRILLIANT.
- Which takes me onto: the dialogue. It was quippy but without being annoying; it was exposition-y without being ridiculous. :DD
- I loved that Annie and George got on better. I loved that Annie and Mitchell continue to get on so well.
- Oh God, that last shot of Mitchell on the floor, so empty, and George just turning away to wash his scrubs. Nnnnnngh. That song, 'Hurt', by Johnny Cash is one of the few songs that just bring me to tears the instant I hear it, so, that was painful. Mitchell does looking bleak so well.
- THIS SHOW. THE TWO MALE CHARACTERS (AND INDEED THE FEMALE) JUST CRY ALL THE TIME. It panders to my inane, sucker-for-angst heart, but then it's balanced with perfect humour, and perfect character interaction, and a brilliant soundtrack (The Killers! I did a little flail), and AJSBFABFABDFKJABGJBG, YOU GUYS.
- The huggg! The hug between Mitchell and Georrrrge! That was the time Loz and I sent each other the same text: just as I pressed send with the text 'HUG HOMG', I got 'OMG HUG' from her. ♥
- Er, probably I should also say things about the plot? I liked the recast of Lauren: having her be slightly less glamourous and slightly more unhinged I think worked well - the other actress captured creepy well but this one seemed a bit more believably derailed, if that makes sense? Also, I liked her hair - like Nina, from 24, whom I also really liked. Herrick: that actor creeps me out in everything ever, so on that count I think it worked, and I definitely think he's well cast in that he looks believable in all kinds of authoritarian uniform - modern day police; higher ranking military in WW1 - and he also looks ordinary enough to blend in yet there's still that air of ghoulishness about him. I, er, have to admit I'm not quite seeing the benefits for the vampires in their master plan - if they turn so many people into vampires, what's left for them to feed on? And if more people either were themselves or knew about vampires, would the mystery and the intrigue and the feeling superior still be there, or would it just be commonplace, or would there just be a massive-scale war between the mortal and the immortal, leading to a significant decrease in mortals and therefore a significant increase in hungry, frustrated vampires? idk. We'll see where it goes.
- GO MITCHELL FOR CHOOSING THE HUMANS. YOU WIN, MITCHELL.
- I spent a lot of time swearing at the screen this hour, but in the good way. You know, when something grabs you, or shocks you, or really engages you, as opposed to when you're watching, say, season 3 of Alias and everything's going to shit and you're bored out of your mind and the writing is going in circles? Anyway, when George hit Mitchell, I made a little noise of sadness. THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FIGHT, IT MAKES ME SAD.
- Right, er, what else? Oh, George's transformation: I really liked that you saw the bones change under his skin. I was ambivelent to the face change. The full on shot of wolf, however, was a just a bit 'lol wolf', but then I don't think I have ever seen a properly convincing werefold transformation on screen. Isn't it just one of those things that work really well in the imagination, because they can be exactly as horrifying or subtle or distorted as you like, but on screen is always going to be a little bit lacking because it will always run the risk of being exaggerated, or really CGI/FX-y? idk. Despite that, I thought the transformation scene on the whole, the one in the house, was fantastic: it was atmospheric, you really got the sense of the pain of it, and the kind of hideously tragic inevitability of it, and the reaction shots of Annie and Mitchell just responding to it worked so well. As did the shot of George later, surrounded by that trashed room, and the starkness of the house afterwards. :O
- Annie. I loved her lines. I loved that she wanted to see her fiance again (on this note, George's reaction when he walked in to find him there and Annie just distraught was priceless, I love him). I thought, like the whole main cast, that she swung between comedy and the, I don't want to say 'tragedy', but, er, I mean, the quieter moments, the downcast moments, the moments where the weight of what they live with every day really sank in for them all - I thought the tone switches were handled fantastically, and it never really felt jarring. Ohhh, and her fiance really is with Janey now. That hurt. But then! George said she was orange, and Annie said she looked like Kilroy, and I laughed. Something doesn't feel quite right about the way her fiance (look, I know that has an accent on it, but my computer doesn't want to cooperate) said she died - maybe there will be more details later?
- They all had AMAZING lines! George and his PIGEON, which he killed with a SHOE (lol George, and also your apparent passion for interior decorating, plus your subtle groping of Mitchell's shoulder, I C WHUT U DID THAR. Showing the landlord you're straight: you're doing it wrong). Mitchell and his telling George that he could talk to women without setting himself on fire! Telling George he was a spy! Being kicked in the shin by Annie and not liking Ikea! (OH MY GOD, THE FIC WHERE THE THREE OF THEM HAVE TO PUT UP NEW IKEA FURNITURE IS SOMETHING I NEED TO READ, RIGHT NOW). Annie being all :D to George's "he will die of shock if he sees you!". I did laugh really really loudly at something, quite near the beginning, but, er, I don't remember what. A quick trip to BBC iPlayer will sort that out, hang on.
- That scene where the blonde girl was attacked (I fail at remembering names, apparently) and both George and Mitchell were just completely wrung out and distraught, with Mitchell refusing to turn her even though George, George was begging him to, I, I just, NNNGH, oh God, it hurt me so much. The shot of them both weeping, all hunched up and sitting so close to each other but being so distant and separate smushed my poor brain. It was a ROLLERCOASTER of emotion from start to finish.
- THIS NEEDS ALL THE CAPSLOCK: WORLD WAR ONE MITCHELL WAS AMAZE. OH GODDDD, I CANNOT PROPERLY CONVEY MY LOVE FOR WORLD WAR ONE MITCHELL, VALIDATING BOTH MINE AND LOZ'S FICS IN ONE BIG WONDERFUL SWOOP. Ohh, the fact that he got vamped (er?) to save his mennn. NNNNGH. EVERYTHING IS MORE TRAGIC IN WORLD WAR ONE (no, really, Moog?). Also, George: how is going for a walk, at night, in the Scottish woods ever an intelligent thing to do? At best you get lost in the freezing cold and have to wait for someone to come and find you, and at worst you get WEREWOLFED. Um, also, is it just me, or did he just get swiped by the claws or smth of the werewolf? Was there an actual bite anywhere? idk.
- The vampire effect I liked as well. I liked how you saw on Lauren that her eyes slowly turned black, and her teeth were just that little bit more savage. I thought it emphasized how dangerous they were as creatures without making it a creature-feature, if that makes any sense at all (possibly it does not).
- OH GOD I JUST LOVED IT. Like Loz said in one of her texts, I just need to talk about this forever until next week.
So: next week. Mitchell and Lauren - I can see why that would work, but also why that should NOT HAPPEN. Mitchell, back away from the deranged lady. You do not want to 'just play' with her. George will not approve. Speaking of George, that guy in the white hat looks approximately 10000000000 more skin-crawlingy than should be allowed. Did I mention that there is actually a next week for this show? HURRAH.
Thank God for iPlayer, and repeats (which I will be in no way recording. Also, I lie.)
I am sure I've missed something to flail about, but in conclusion: I am so, so happy this got made into a series. I am so happy there are five whole new episodes, and at the same time sad that there are ONLY FIVE MORE EPISODES.
ajbfsbgjabgb, I loved it. Icon hunting, here I come!
This post was brought to you by the substantial overuse of the words 'actually', 'just', 'really' and 'amazing'.
