First Impressions
Posted: Jan 4th 2003, 4:44 am
Hiya.
Just finished watching the DVDs. As a Brit, I never got a chance to see this show before. I've tried to watch them as slowly as possible, knowing the end to be so painfully and terminally nigh Anyway, I thought someone might be interested in the rambling first impressions of a newbie viewer who has come to it as a completely clean slate.
Perhaps I should start with criticisms seeing as I only have two. Which is actually really just the one. I don't like the magic realist Christmas and Halloween eps. Or more accurately the magic realist elements in these two eps - 'So-Called Angels' can almost be construed as a normal 'realistic' ep with magical elements. 'Halloween' reminds me of the (later) Buffy episode ('I Only Have Eyes For You') in which ghosts occupy Angel and Buffy and have their romantic way with them. Patty and Graham's possession by their costumes also recalls another Buffy episode, also set on and called 'Halloween'. I love this kind of material (I think both of these Buffy episodes are great), just not in this show. I found the Christmas ep. ultimately schmaltzy - despite also being the hardest-hitting story in many ways, with its portrayal of violence and homelessness. I got that it was 'doing' an It's A Wonderful Life without it needing to be telegraphed; and frankly, I didn't need it. I think it's stronger with its own stories, rather than recycling old chestnuts and roasting them on an open fire. The Halloween episode I found disorienting and dissatisfying, despite, again, having wonderful moments that I would have loved to have seen without the Completely-Different-Show/Genre quality the episode possessed (for me). I'm sad to say that it reminded me of the ('in my humble opinion') very lame Dawson's Creek (not a show I admire; although I do, occasionally, guiltily enjoy it) Halloween special ('The Scare') that did a total conversion of the show to force it against its will into ghoul territory.
I can't enumerate the things I love about MSCL - I don't have world enough or time. I've tried to keep references to specific scenes, characters, dialogue and events out of this... love letter... because I knew if I started, I'd never stop. I cried for the characters and for myself in almost every episode; at times, in almost every scene. I laughed like I was in love; revisited my childhood and my yesterdays to see what I could learn by inspecting them through the show's lens; I reeled in slow-motion from the aftershock of the high drama; and marveled - till my eyes, ears, heart and mind were sore - at the miniature, pixie handiwork lavished on every 'like', every look, every inarticulacy, and every profundity.
No show has made me feel for such a risky, rich tapestry of characters. I've never seen a young pre-teen girl as well written and acted as Danielle; or a 'dorky' teacher as loveably portrayed as Mr Katimski. The pilot is the best pilot I've ever seen for any show, British or American - I watched it 3 times in disbelief before ever daring to venture into the second episode: I particularly adore the blank, un-classic, banal exchange that is Jordan and Angela's first conversation. That's exactly how I remember it. And that's how it still is.
I was expecting this show to make mistakes, to fall into clichés, to stumble. I feared it wouldn't be able to handle the complexities of Ricky and Mr Katimski's sexuality sensitively. If not through its own fallibility then surely (and more probably) through network interference? But it handles these and every other delicate or unchartered issue it touches with an astonishing absence of cliché. The closest it comes to well-trodden ground is the inspring (temporary) English teacher ('The Substitute'), but even here it has a light touch and doesn't outstay its welcome; and, heck, even jaded cynics like me have a sweet-tooth for this oft-told story, especially when it comes bearing new gifts. In every other particular this show outsmarts me, keeps me on my toes, frustrates me in a highly controlled way, always taking care to amuse, entertain, sadden, stimulate and surprise.
To contrast it with another show (one which I like a great deal): Gilmore Girls needs to force drama upon its characters for any movement to take place. That forcing is clear right from the start, from the pilot - in which Rory and Lorelai are (economically) forced to attend a weekly dinner with Emily Gilmore. The show is full of imposed dramas that for some reason or other the characters can't wriggle out of. One gets the feeling that there would be no show if it wasn't for these dei ex machina. MSCL has none of that. The dramas arise or (more importantly) don't arise naturally.
Now that it's over I want to commit suicide or fall in love. Perhaps both at the same time. I know that things can't be the same because I'm not the same.
love,
chocolateboy.
Just finished watching the DVDs. As a Brit, I never got a chance to see this show before. I've tried to watch them as slowly as possible, knowing the end to be so painfully and terminally nigh Anyway, I thought someone might be interested in the rambling first impressions of a newbie viewer who has come to it as a completely clean slate.
Perhaps I should start with criticisms seeing as I only have two. Which is actually really just the one. I don't like the magic realist Christmas and Halloween eps. Or more accurately the magic realist elements in these two eps - 'So-Called Angels' can almost be construed as a normal 'realistic' ep with magical elements. 'Halloween' reminds me of the (later) Buffy episode ('I Only Have Eyes For You') in which ghosts occupy Angel and Buffy and have their romantic way with them. Patty and Graham's possession by their costumes also recalls another Buffy episode, also set on and called 'Halloween'. I love this kind of material (I think both of these Buffy episodes are great), just not in this show. I found the Christmas ep. ultimately schmaltzy - despite also being the hardest-hitting story in many ways, with its portrayal of violence and homelessness. I got that it was 'doing' an It's A Wonderful Life without it needing to be telegraphed; and frankly, I didn't need it. I think it's stronger with its own stories, rather than recycling old chestnuts and roasting them on an open fire. The Halloween episode I found disorienting and dissatisfying, despite, again, having wonderful moments that I would have loved to have seen without the Completely-Different-Show/Genre quality the episode possessed (for me). I'm sad to say that it reminded me of the ('in my humble opinion') very lame Dawson's Creek (not a show I admire; although I do, occasionally, guiltily enjoy it) Halloween special ('The Scare') that did a total conversion of the show to force it against its will into ghoul territory.
I can't enumerate the things I love about MSCL - I don't have world enough or time. I've tried to keep references to specific scenes, characters, dialogue and events out of this... love letter... because I knew if I started, I'd never stop. I cried for the characters and for myself in almost every episode; at times, in almost every scene. I laughed like I was in love; revisited my childhood and my yesterdays to see what I could learn by inspecting them through the show's lens; I reeled in slow-motion from the aftershock of the high drama; and marveled - till my eyes, ears, heart and mind were sore - at the miniature, pixie handiwork lavished on every 'like', every look, every inarticulacy, and every profundity.
No show has made me feel for such a risky, rich tapestry of characters. I've never seen a young pre-teen girl as well written and acted as Danielle; or a 'dorky' teacher as loveably portrayed as Mr Katimski. The pilot is the best pilot I've ever seen for any show, British or American - I watched it 3 times in disbelief before ever daring to venture into the second episode: I particularly adore the blank, un-classic, banal exchange that is Jordan and Angela's first conversation. That's exactly how I remember it. And that's how it still is.
I was expecting this show to make mistakes, to fall into clichés, to stumble. I feared it wouldn't be able to handle the complexities of Ricky and Mr Katimski's sexuality sensitively. If not through its own fallibility then surely (and more probably) through network interference? But it handles these and every other delicate or unchartered issue it touches with an astonishing absence of cliché. The closest it comes to well-trodden ground is the inspring (temporary) English teacher ('The Substitute'), but even here it has a light touch and doesn't outstay its welcome; and, heck, even jaded cynics like me have a sweet-tooth for this oft-told story, especially when it comes bearing new gifts. In every other particular this show outsmarts me, keeps me on my toes, frustrates me in a highly controlled way, always taking care to amuse, entertain, sadden, stimulate and surprise.
To contrast it with another show (one which I like a great deal): Gilmore Girls needs to force drama upon its characters for any movement to take place. That forcing is clear right from the start, from the pilot - in which Rory and Lorelai are (economically) forced to attend a weekly dinner with Emily Gilmore. The show is full of imposed dramas that for some reason or other the characters can't wriggle out of. One gets the feeling that there would be no show if it wasn't for these dei ex machina. MSCL has none of that. The dramas arise or (more importantly) don't arise naturally.
Now that it's over I want to commit suicide or fall in love. Perhaps both at the same time. I know that things can't be the same because I'm not the same.
love,
chocolateboy.