Channe Takes On \"The Long Road.\"
SPOILERVILLE for "The Long Road."
Thanks to a totally awesome benefactor who will safely remain anonymous, I was able to get my slender little hands on a copy of "The Long Road." While I will probably not be able to comment on Jeremiah after today, as I don't and can't get Showtime, I will at least subject you to my thoughts on the pilot.
Now. Let's get on with it.
*clears throat*
When I really like a show or a movie, I can tell. If not for the really giddy feeling I get after I see it, for the simple fact that I've forgotten the passage of time. If I don't like something, or it's boring, I'll check the clock every so often.
Dude, oh, dude. I am so hooked on Jeremiah. I didn't check the clock once. I didn't even THINK about the time, or the fact that I have an annotated bibliography due tomorrow... damn. Jeremiah is one impressive piece of television.
While not a perfect pilot, it was pretty frelling good. My gripes about the B5LR script seeming rushed, forced, and slightly silly do NOT apply here; JMS is at the top of his game, he knows it, and he's showing off to prove it. While there are snippets of painfully expository dialogue throughout the show, they were few and far between, and exposition was handled primarily pretty well.
I'm a writer, so when I watch tv, go to the theater, or go to the movies, I immediately think in dramatic structure. Jeremiah's was pretty good; it was all there, from inciting incident to closure (or denouement, whatever you call it in your part of the galaxy).
I like to think that the inciting incident was Jeremiah's meeting of Ezekiel. One of the neatest tricks of the show was placing Ezekiel in the beginning, middle, and end of the story - and a lot of questions have been raised. Who the hell is this guy, what the hell is he doing using a walkie-talkie (as we very well know such things just don't work in the "outside world" from Theo's amazement over the radio), and most importantly, WHO DOES HE WORK FOR? I like the mad-prophet 'do, and I'm looking forward to seeing this dude a lot more. (And not just because it's Alex Zahara).
Some of my favorite parts of the script are the opening monologue and the repetition of Jeremiah's "Dear Dad; I think about you every day." You hear it once and it makes an impression; hear it three times, however, and it tells you something *very* important about Jeremiah. JMS is *very* good at packing a lot of insight into just a few words.
The flashbacks were handled very, very well. They seemed to be just what they were; fragmented memories, those half-remembered kid memories that you grasp at when you're older and only get faint impressions of. Jeremiah's father is the subject of another really, really interesting insight, actually; through just three lines, you find out that he a) is a big-wig, a higher-up, b) knows a helluva lot about the situation, and c) has enough clout to get himself and his family into Valhalla Sector. Later, you see Jeremiah sobbing over the body of his mother, but nothing from his father; this makes me think the father's going to be a spectre on Jeremiah's shoulders.
And, as we all know, any good writer doesn't include a spectre just for kicks. It definitely MEANS something, and this humble amateur would speculate that it means that the father's gonna appear in some form or another (he's obviously dead, so we're talking about tapes, books, other means, etc.)
Ohhh, it's so *nice* to hear language like that on-screen. Although JMS is definitely messing around in a cable-standards playground here, it was just so satisfying to hear Kurdy say things like "fuckosity" and "shit" in that situation - because, come on, wouldn't you scream out "shit!" if that happened to you?
Besides, Kurdy speaks exactly like a guy I know. He talks like a real person. A lot of the characters do, unless they're talking vintage Straczynski. ("end of the story" is vintage, ain't it?)
I like the veiled references to the changing world and the way these people react to the old technology. I know some of you were wondering what the heck the telephone pole was; for me, it was another insight. Children who were too young to remember anything else *might* remember magically talking to Aunt Zelda over the telephone pole, or remember Dad telling them, "well, your voice travels over these wires." From there, it's only a step to treating that sort of thing as a cult object... after all, it's not like a lot of these people are going to be able to read. They know a lot of the rules of the old world, but as Theo said, they don't know how it works. So this sort of thing - religious adoration of objects, sort of a cargo cult for this new world - is really, really quite plausible.
Theo is one of the best villains I have ever seen. I'm not kidding. A combination of really good character development - you see her from both sides - and fantastic, firecracker acting makes her one of the treats of "The Long Road." JMS uses counterpoint really well to make you just goggle at this woman; first of all, she really cares about the advancement of her town. Second of all, she's willing to do anything to stay on top. Which can be a *very* lethal combination, as we've seen. She's horrifying and fantastic at the same time. I hope we see more of Theo, especially since I don't think that she's going to be very happy with Jeremiah and Kurdy the next time they meet, no sir-ree... although you DO see counterpoint throughout the show, it's used the BEST in Theo. One minute she's ordering cheerleaders for everyone (think about what your ordinary high schooler thinks about their cheerleaders, and you'll understand how that slang was adopted), the next, she's killing people. Oh, shiver.
I like the way JMS insinuates the fact that education is *not* a part of these people's daily lives. Did you notice the line in which one girl said, "I heard there's an army building up on the East Coast from China?" Similarly, the music was definitely music that would have been created by kids who had no exposure to any formative trends, like Romanticism, classical, rap, rock, or even gregorian chant. The one DOWNSIDE of this was the totally B5 crowd scene. Come on, tell me that scene with Kurdy at the bar with the rock candy didn't remind you totally of a scene with Sheridan and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds...?
A line about Marcus Alexander. "He believes in things, and has the amazing ability to make other people believe in things, too," or something like that. Yeah, Kennedy did that. But so did Hitler. We'll see where this goes. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif
Anybody who kept up on Jeremiah news immediately would have recognized Jeremiah's cafeteria conversation with Marcus as being straight off the press releases. It would have been a lot less jarring if it wasn't the same exact language...
Did you notice something? The NORAD people, with the exception of Simon and Sarah, all have last names. The people outside don't.
Marcus Alexander. Li Chen. Elizabeth Monroe.
Kurdy. Jeremiah. Theo. Sam.
Now, to the best part of the whole damned thing:
JEREMIAH AND KURDY.
I would talk about them for a while, but I have a TON of work to do - so I'll leave off here and get back to this when I can.
I'm so hooked...
SPOILERVILLE for "The Long Road."
Thanks to a totally awesome benefactor who will safely remain anonymous, I was able to get my slender little hands on a copy of "The Long Road." While I will probably not be able to comment on Jeremiah after today, as I don't and can't get Showtime, I will at least subject you to my thoughts on the pilot.
Now. Let's get on with it.
*clears throat*
When I really like a show or a movie, I can tell. If not for the really giddy feeling I get after I see it, for the simple fact that I've forgotten the passage of time. If I don't like something, or it's boring, I'll check the clock every so often.
Dude, oh, dude. I am so hooked on Jeremiah. I didn't check the clock once. I didn't even THINK about the time, or the fact that I have an annotated bibliography due tomorrow... damn. Jeremiah is one impressive piece of television.
While not a perfect pilot, it was pretty frelling good. My gripes about the B5LR script seeming rushed, forced, and slightly silly do NOT apply here; JMS is at the top of his game, he knows it, and he's showing off to prove it. While there are snippets of painfully expository dialogue throughout the show, they were few and far between, and exposition was handled primarily pretty well.
I'm a writer, so when I watch tv, go to the theater, or go to the movies, I immediately think in dramatic structure. Jeremiah's was pretty good; it was all there, from inciting incident to closure (or denouement, whatever you call it in your part of the galaxy).
I like to think that the inciting incident was Jeremiah's meeting of Ezekiel. One of the neatest tricks of the show was placing Ezekiel in the beginning, middle, and end of the story - and a lot of questions have been raised. Who the hell is this guy, what the hell is he doing using a walkie-talkie (as we very well know such things just don't work in the "outside world" from Theo's amazement over the radio), and most importantly, WHO DOES HE WORK FOR? I like the mad-prophet 'do, and I'm looking forward to seeing this dude a lot more. (And not just because it's Alex Zahara).
Some of my favorite parts of the script are the opening monologue and the repetition of Jeremiah's "Dear Dad; I think about you every day." You hear it once and it makes an impression; hear it three times, however, and it tells you something *very* important about Jeremiah. JMS is *very* good at packing a lot of insight into just a few words.
The flashbacks were handled very, very well. They seemed to be just what they were; fragmented memories, those half-remembered kid memories that you grasp at when you're older and only get faint impressions of. Jeremiah's father is the subject of another really, really interesting insight, actually; through just three lines, you find out that he a) is a big-wig, a higher-up, b) knows a helluva lot about the situation, and c) has enough clout to get himself and his family into Valhalla Sector. Later, you see Jeremiah sobbing over the body of his mother, but nothing from his father; this makes me think the father's going to be a spectre on Jeremiah's shoulders.
And, as we all know, any good writer doesn't include a spectre just for kicks. It definitely MEANS something, and this humble amateur would speculate that it means that the father's gonna appear in some form or another (he's obviously dead, so we're talking about tapes, books, other means, etc.)
Ohhh, it's so *nice* to hear language like that on-screen. Although JMS is definitely messing around in a cable-standards playground here, it was just so satisfying to hear Kurdy say things like "fuckosity" and "shit" in that situation - because, come on, wouldn't you scream out "shit!" if that happened to you?
Besides, Kurdy speaks exactly like a guy I know. He talks like a real person. A lot of the characters do, unless they're talking vintage Straczynski. ("end of the story" is vintage, ain't it?)
I like the veiled references to the changing world and the way these people react to the old technology. I know some of you were wondering what the heck the telephone pole was; for me, it was another insight. Children who were too young to remember anything else *might* remember magically talking to Aunt Zelda over the telephone pole, or remember Dad telling them, "well, your voice travels over these wires." From there, it's only a step to treating that sort of thing as a cult object... after all, it's not like a lot of these people are going to be able to read. They know a lot of the rules of the old world, but as Theo said, they don't know how it works. So this sort of thing - religious adoration of objects, sort of a cargo cult for this new world - is really, really quite plausible.
Theo is one of the best villains I have ever seen. I'm not kidding. A combination of really good character development - you see her from both sides - and fantastic, firecracker acting makes her one of the treats of "The Long Road." JMS uses counterpoint really well to make you just goggle at this woman; first of all, she really cares about the advancement of her town. Second of all, she's willing to do anything to stay on top. Which can be a *very* lethal combination, as we've seen. She's horrifying and fantastic at the same time. I hope we see more of Theo, especially since I don't think that she's going to be very happy with Jeremiah and Kurdy the next time they meet, no sir-ree... although you DO see counterpoint throughout the show, it's used the BEST in Theo. One minute she's ordering cheerleaders for everyone (think about what your ordinary high schooler thinks about their cheerleaders, and you'll understand how that slang was adopted), the next, she's killing people. Oh, shiver.
I like the way JMS insinuates the fact that education is *not* a part of these people's daily lives. Did you notice the line in which one girl said, "I heard there's an army building up on the East Coast from China?" Similarly, the music was definitely music that would have been created by kids who had no exposure to any formative trends, like Romanticism, classical, rap, rock, or even gregorian chant. The one DOWNSIDE of this was the totally B5 crowd scene. Come on, tell me that scene with Kurdy at the bar with the rock candy didn't remind you totally of a scene with Sheridan and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds...?
A line about Marcus Alexander. "He believes in things, and has the amazing ability to make other people believe in things, too," or something like that. Yeah, Kennedy did that. But so did Hitler. We'll see where this goes. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif
Anybody who kept up on Jeremiah news immediately would have recognized Jeremiah's cafeteria conversation with Marcus as being straight off the press releases. It would have been a lot less jarring if it wasn't the same exact language...
Did you notice something? The NORAD people, with the exception of Simon and Sarah, all have last names. The people outside don't.
Marcus Alexander. Li Chen. Elizabeth Monroe.
Kurdy. Jeremiah. Theo. Sam.
Now, to the best part of the whole damned thing:
JEREMIAH AND KURDY.
I would talk about them for a while, but I have a TON of work to do - so I'll leave off here and get back to this when I can.
I'm so hooked...
