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fembuckBest episode of the series yet. Which is to say that on a scale of 1-10 is was about a 6, in the good range. But that's better, the score keeps going up so hopefully on day it will level out at a 7.5/8-ish range of good (I'm not greedy, I don't need it to be Heroes or Battlestar Galactica).
Jane
First of all, I liked that this episode had a large focus on Jane. The show is named after Jane, Kristanna Loken is the strongest, most charismatic member of the cast (not to mention the most photogenic) and Jane is the best developed, most non-annoying member of the cast so far so the episodes really SHOULD focus on her.
The boyfriend subplot kind of came out of nowhere (but SciFi is airing the episodes out of order, I think this was shot 7th, so we probably missed his introduction), but it was brief, and Kristanna was smiling left, right and center and being cute which made it much less cringeworthy than I would have anticipated.
Jane was smart. It's really already been established that Jane is the only member of the team that has any higher brian function, but this episode she wasn't smart in a "I'm gonna do something that is just common sense, though that seems to be above the mental abilities of my teammates", she actually did something that was creative, and that I hadn't anticipated her doing 30 minutes into the episode. Actually, I probably should have anticipated it, but I was watching at 2 in the morning, and I was interested enough in what was happening on screen that I wasn't trying to re-write the episode.
Also, on a completely shallow note, Kristanna looked super-gorgeous this episode. There were so many shot were I reached out my hand towards the computer screen and whispered "pretty". So ridiculously good-looking!
The Team
Still utter and complete dumbasses. McBride displayed some personality this episode but it was a douche-y personality that made me want to punch him in the face like he was wearing a Kirsten Dunst mask. What a horrible, horrible leader. I couldn't believe (well, actually I could because it's McBride and he sucks) that even after this dudes visions were proven to come true that he refused to even consider Jane's advice that they just let it go. I mean, the Neuro hadn't done anything but try to save numerous people's lives, and yet Team McBride was treating him like a criminal for no other reason because he was a Neuro. Wanting to chip him on the SUSPICISION that he might sometime in the future do something wrong, is the stupidest thing ever.
Connor (aka The Ugly One) still continues to be largely useless. He did get to utter one of the most horrible/terrific lines ever though, "Paranoid Neuro with an alias and a gun fetish. Tasty."
Riley was pretty good this episode though a bit over the top. I'll admit during that scene when Jane walked up to the monitors that I was like "hello, boobies" with the low cut top Lokinator was wearing, and well, Riley stared at the girls and then did a double-take I was laughing, cause really that's the ONLY thing TO do when Lokinator leans over you in a low cut top. That being said Riley is a grown ass man, not a fourteen year old boy and he was way to spastic when Jane asked him to get though recordings for her. Like, I know he has a crush on her, but have some dignity man.
The Neuro of the Week
The actual plot of the episode was pretty good and I enjoyed the neuro of the week. I still don't quite understand why he was trying to kill the members of Team McBride (maybe if he had met them previously, lol). Like I said I was watching at 2 am, after many glass of Sangria at a Cinquo de Mayo shindig, so I might have missed it, but with this show I don't think I did. Was he just trying to prove that everything was fate by actively making his vision come true? Was he trying to protect his crazy!man bunker? Was he trying to make my dreams come true? *sigh* I don't know.
But other than that it was pretty good. It kept me interested at least.
Closing Thoughts
The close-minded, xenophobic attitude of Team McBride really bothered me this episode. There's been this sense of them hunting down Neuros just because of what they are, and not necessarily because of what they have done in the past. But before this, all of the Neuros they actually hunted HAD done something wrong. But, this week it was really clear that they'll track and chip ANY known Neuro, even if they haven't done anything, simply because their power COULD make them dangerous. And that sucks.
Anyway, I hope that the writers are going to address this and have like Jane become disillusioned with the team and their attitudes towards those that are different, and maybe leave Team McBride and go on the run helping innocent Neuros, protecting them for her former teammates. That would be like awesome for later in the season (or next season if there is one) because it would mean more Jane and less dead weight. Also, it would indicate that the creative forces behind the show have some kind of plan because they started planting seeds of the future story arc early on.
Anyway, definately the best episode yet, and hopefully it will continue to get better. Though it does piss me off that they are airing the episodes out of order. Seriously, what is wrong with SciFi?
Jane
First of all, I liked that this episode had a large focus on Jane. The show is named after Jane, Kristanna Loken is the strongest, most charismatic member of the cast (not to mention the most photogenic) and Jane is the best developed, most non-annoying member of the cast so far so the episodes really SHOULD focus on her.
The boyfriend subplot kind of came out of nowhere (but SciFi is airing the episodes out of order, I think this was shot 7th, so we probably missed his introduction), but it was brief, and Kristanna was smiling left, right and center and being cute which made it much less cringeworthy than I would have anticipated.
Jane was smart. It's really already been established that Jane is the only member of the team that has any higher brian function, but this episode she wasn't smart in a "I'm gonna do something that is just common sense, though that seems to be above the mental abilities of my teammates", she actually did something that was creative, and that I hadn't anticipated her doing 30 minutes into the episode. Actually, I probably should have anticipated it, but I was watching at 2 in the morning, and I was interested enough in what was happening on screen that I wasn't trying to re-write the episode.
Also, on a completely shallow note, Kristanna looked super-gorgeous this episode. There were so many shot were I reached out my hand towards the computer screen and whispered "pretty". So ridiculously good-looking!
The Team
Still utter and complete dumbasses. McBride displayed some personality this episode but it was a douche-y personality that made me want to punch him in the face like he was wearing a Kirsten Dunst mask. What a horrible, horrible leader. I couldn't believe (well, actually I could because it's McBride and he sucks) that even after this dudes visions were proven to come true that he refused to even consider Jane's advice that they just let it go. I mean, the Neuro hadn't done anything but try to save numerous people's lives, and yet Team McBride was treating him like a criminal for no other reason because he was a Neuro. Wanting to chip him on the SUSPICISION that he might sometime in the future do something wrong, is the stupidest thing ever.
Connor (aka The Ugly One) still continues to be largely useless. He did get to utter one of the most horrible/terrific lines ever though, "Paranoid Neuro with an alias and a gun fetish. Tasty."
Riley was pretty good this episode though a bit over the top. I'll admit during that scene when Jane walked up to the monitors that I was like "hello, boobies" with the low cut top Lokinator was wearing, and well, Riley stared at the girls and then did a double-take I was laughing, cause really that's the ONLY thing TO do when Lokinator leans over you in a low cut top. That being said Riley is a grown ass man, not a fourteen year old boy and he was way to spastic when Jane asked him to get though recordings for her. Like, I know he has a crush on her, but have some dignity man.
The Neuro of the Week
The actual plot of the episode was pretty good and I enjoyed the neuro of the week. I still don't quite understand why he was trying to kill the members of Team McBride (maybe if he had met them previously, lol). Like I said I was watching at 2 am, after many glass of Sangria at a Cinquo de Mayo shindig, so I might have missed it, but with this show I don't think I did. Was he just trying to prove that everything was fate by actively making his vision come true? Was he trying to protect his crazy!man bunker? Was he trying to make my dreams come true? *sigh* I don't know.
But other than that it was pretty good. It kept me interested at least.
Closing Thoughts
The close-minded, xenophobic attitude of Team McBride really bothered me this episode. There's been this sense of them hunting down Neuros just because of what they are, and not necessarily because of what they have done in the past. But before this, all of the Neuros they actually hunted HAD done something wrong. But, this week it was really clear that they'll track and chip ANY known Neuro, even if they haven't done anything, simply because their power COULD make them dangerous. And that sucks.
Anyway, I hope that the writers are going to address this and have like Jane become disillusioned with the team and their attitudes towards those that are different, and maybe leave Team McBride and go on the run helping innocent Neuros, protecting them for her former teammates. That would be like awesome for later in the season (or next season if there is one) because it would mean more Jane and less dead weight. Also, it would indicate that the creative forces behind the show have some kind of plan because they started planting seeds of the future story arc early on.
Anyway, definately the best episode yet, and hopefully it will continue to get better. Though it does piss me off that they are airing the episodes out of order. Seriously, what is wrong with SciFi?
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-06 11:26 pm (UTC)That's the one thing that has really lessened my enjoyment of the show. The whole 'conformity good'/'different dangerous' theme. But, since they've been showing us how much Jane's becoming bothered by their mission... I'm hoping that she'll eventually knock some sense into the rest of them.
The whole concept is just so nonsensical. Jane has a special ability, only she's not a neuro so that's okay. But if she was a neuro that would be very, very bad. Ugh.
Of course, though, my favorite criteria for PKJ enjoyment is measuring its Jane/Mo-ness on the sliding scale of subtext. Still rather low this week, but up from the previous ep. First... after Jane showed Mo the tape of her future doom, Mo didn't look put out until Jane mentioned her femmy boyfriend. Jealous!Mo was quick to cast doubt upon her competition and beat a retreat home to sulk. And, ya know, Jane's foiling fate reveal with Mo was the subtexty choice. Finally... I realised that the only times I've actually smiled during the voiceovers, is when Jane recounts another of Mo's more endearing qualities.
I'm waiting for the episode where Jane & Mo go undercover as models. Which ought to translate into gay, wrapped in gay, inside of even more gay.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-06 11:55 pm (UTC)Oh I know! It just makes no sense. Like why are they okay with a woman who seemingly can't die, but being able to see the future is somehow unforgivable? It's like, Jane's power could make her as potentially dangerous as any neuro, but because it's not brain mojo she has, she gets a pass? WhatEVAH! I mean, if they made it a thing, where she was constantly being monitored and was being forced to work with them or else she would be thrown in jail, that would make sense, and would be way cooler. But as it is, I just don't understand the logic.
Of course, though, my favorite criteria for PKJ enjoyment is measuring its Jane/Mo-ness on the sliding scale of subtext. Still rather low this week, but up from the previous ep. First... after Jane showed Mo the tape of her future doom, Mo didn't look put out until Jane mentioned her femmy boyfriend. Jealous!Mo was quick to cast doubt upon her competition and beat a retreat home to sulk.
LOL! So true. You know when Mo got a call from Jane in the middle of the night asking her to meet her, she was thinking it was a booty call and they were going to get some hot desk action. So when Jane busted out the tape Mo was all pissed at being pussy blocked, and then the boyfriend mention just sent her into a tissy.
I realised that the only times I've actually smiled during the voiceovers, is when Jane recounts another of Mo's more endearing qualities.
lol. I love it because in the voice-overs Jane sounds so smitten when she talks about Mo. It's the vocal equivalent of "oh, you" and a smile and a shoulder punch. It's so cute. Those two really need to have more screen time together. I mean, they were
loverspartners for a long time before joining Team McBride, Jane should really be relying on Mo, and Mo more considered with what's going on with Jane than has been shown. Developing personal relationships is part of what separates the good shows from the bad writer dudes, and the Jane/Mosubtextrelationship is being neglected!I'm waiting for the episode where Jane & Mo go undercover as models. Which ought to translate into gay, wrapped in gay, inside of even more gay.
Oh, I hope it is! If that episode isn't gay, then I might just have to wash my hands of PKJ (okay, I won't do that cause Lokinator is hella hot, but I'll be really disappointed). I want some kind of gay, even if it's the other models checking out/hitting or Jane or Mo. Or Jane wandering into the changing room and watching the scantily clad women for "clues". Anyway, Lokinator mentioned a think that the neuro kills by kissing, so their should be some GoGA (though not the kind I would prefer).
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 02:52 am (UTC)If they can't manage to make the model episode even the littlest bit gay, then I guess I'll just have to get tough and only give them 3 or 4 more chances.
For the last few years it seems like there's been a dearth of good guilty-pleasure series centering around a kick-ass woman. Back in the Xena-esque day, we also had Buffy, Nikita, that Relic Hunter, Yancy Butler between rehabs, your Dark Angel Max, etc... Now I'm practically giddy that there's two such shows to get involved in. And while I'm lovin' Blood Ties and Christina Cox way more... I'm gonna keep hanging in there with Jane.
If all else fails, there's always PKJ fanfic. At least I've got my fingers crossed that you and a few others might write some.
(Hope you don't mind this brief lapse into fan mail, but I've lost count how many times I've read & re-read your BoP stories. So good... beyond good... in the land of many flattering adjectives. I've printed out several because there's something so satisfying about turning the pages of a really great read. Also loved your Sommerfield/Whistler piece. Wish there was more for them. Okay, sorry for going astray here. Back to pretty, subtexty, ass-kicking PKJ.)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-10 09:39 pm (UTC)I talk big, but I feel the same way. Really, I'll be turning in for the Lokinator, and the possibility of hot subtext until the show gets cancelled. What can I say, shallow viewing has merit too!
your Dark Angel Max
I WISH she was mine! ;)
Now I'm practically giddy that there's two such shows to get involved in. And while I'm lovin' Blood Ties and Christina Cox way more... I'm gonna keep hanging in there with Jane.
I feel your pain, for it is my pain as well. Chin up though, soon "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" will be hitting the airwaves wherein the delicious Lena Headey plays the kickass title character, so hopefully we'll have another ass-kicking female on our tv screens. I'd also like to throw a shout out to Battlestar Galactica for Starbuck and Six and Roslin as well (what, Roslin pwns people with her brainz!)
If all else fails, there's always PKJ fanfic. At least I've got my fingers crossed that you and a few others might write some.
When work dies down a little bit I'll probably try my hand at some. RL is ass raping me right now and I barely have time to sleep.
*awww fan mail* Thanks for the fan mail, it makes my heart feel like a delicious, gooey toasted marshmallow! *mourns BoP*
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 04:50 am (UTC)Also, on a completely shallow note, Kristanna looked super-gorgeous this episode.
Hee, I know. Especially that one shot where she's walking down the street in camos and boots. Had I not already been seated, I think I would have swooned. Oh Jane... you so gay!
Like
I couldn't believe that even after this dudes visions were proven to come true that he refused to even consider Jane's advice that they just let it go.
Or you know, wait a couple days until *after* the vision's deadline. Seriously, chipping a guy who can see the future has to be one of the stupidest things I've heard in a *long* time. Because, you know, it's not like the guy had the power to *help* them find other neuros or something.
Was he just trying to prove that everything was fate by actively making his vision come true?
I think that's it. It was a fait accompli of sorts. After having tried to change the outcome of his visions so many times and failing, he'd come to believe there was only one outcome.
Though it does piss me off that they are airing the episodes out of order. Seriously, what is wrong with SciFi?
They did the same thing with Eureka. And it sucked just as hard. FOX also has a bad habit of doing this. What I don't understand is why is it always the genre shows they do this with?
no subject
Date: 2007-05-10 09:52 pm (UTC)I know, it's amazing what slightly competent directing can do. I didn't feel like the director thought I was a complete idiot once. It's like s/he expected us to have higher brain function. How novel!
Hee, I know. Especially that one shot where she's walking down the street in camos and boots. Had I not already been seated, I think I would have swooned. Oh Jane... you so gay!
Oh, I know! I love my gay Jane. Honestly, no matter how many wimpy boyfriends they throw at Jane I'm not going to believe she's anything but a big ol mo! Seriously, floppy!haired boyfriend is totally Jane's Wade Brixton, and I don't buy it any more than I did with Barbara Gordon. Oooh, and speaking of Barbara Gordon, they should totally get Jane into some tight tank tops *remembers Dina Meyer in tight tank tops* Yeah, yeah ... that'd be ... ah, good.
Which is a problem with the show, they seem to lack focus when it comes to what this show is about. Either the Neuros are a *real* threat that must be taken care of, or they are what they are at the moment - regular people with enhanced abilities being hunted down for no other reason than fear.
So true. It's like they didn't really give much thought to what the universe this show takes place in was about before starting to film the series. It's like they had two or three "awesome" ideas and were just like "ah, we'll wing the rest", and it totally bugs. I feared this might be the case when Loken was giving interviews a few weeks before the show and seemed to have no idea what Jane really was or where her abilities originated from. I hoped it wasn't but more and more it seems like they really are just making it up as they go along, and it shows. I mean, knowing about where Jane's powers come from is some pretty fundamental information.
Anyway, I certainly hope that they ARE hinting towards Jane defecting because of the Nazi-like directive of the teams mission, otherwise I'm going to have serious problems with Jane (no matter hot she is).
Seriously, chipping a guy who can see the future has to be one of the stupidest things I've heard in a *long* time. Because, you know, it's not like the guy had the power to *help* them find other neuros or something.
I know! It was another head-desk moment. McBride is the worst. leader. ever. He's sooooo stupid. Like I honestly think Jane would be better off consulting a magic eight-ball when she's has concerns because at least it's bound to be right SOME of the time.
What I don't understand is why is it always the genre shows they do this with?
Because they think we're obsessed enough to watch anyway? I don't know, but it bugs. They've effed around with the order of almost every genre show I've loved in the last few years, and most of the time they frakked the shows over because of it.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 09:55 am (UTC)There was a line in the pilot about Neuros' mutations making them more aggressive, but as far as I'm concerned that's just a pseudoscientific justification for guv'mint racism (kinda like all that "evolution proves that black people are subhuman!" stuff from back in the day). I am all for the "Jane and Mo defect to the X-Men" plot, although Team McBride's so inept that I can't see them being a credible threat minus Jane.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-10 09:58 pm (UTC)So true! I almost rolled my eyes out of my head when I heard that line in the pilot, because I knew that they would use it as a ridiculous explanation for why we should cheer for Team McBride to hunt down and violate innocent people. I don't really think the show has any credibility with me to lose, but if there's even one iota there and they don't show good, normal, sane neuroes they will have destroyed it. Lazy, lazy, fucking lazy writing.
I am all for the "Jane and Mo defect to the X-Men" plot
I'm so totally hoping this plot line is coming up. Jane and Mo can defect anywhere, just as long as they are the hell away from Team McBride and think Team McBride are total turtle fucks.
although Team McBride's so inept that I can't see them being a credible threat minus Jane.
I hope when they defect it's the last we'll see of Team McBride, unless of course Jane and Mo go back to blow up the building so that they can't start up again. I mean, it couldn't be that hard, they'd basically just have to walk up to it. Hell, I'm pretty sure they could even call ahead, tell McBride they were going to blow up the building, plant the charges in broad daylight, go for a coffee and some afternoon delight in the back of Jane's Mazada and STILL blow up the building.