Painkiller Jane - 1x06 - Breakdown
May. 19th, 2007 03:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fembuckOh, PKJ! *shakes head* I just don't know what to do with you.
Everyone on this team is a complete moron.
Jane is less of a moron than the others, but it cannot be denied that she too, is uncommonly slow. I mean, honestly how did it take her like a day to realize that brandy Dr. Lewis gave her was drugged after Mohinder told her that she had been dosed with a slow-acting tranquilizer? Slow.
And when they were waiting outside of the motel, why did they just stand around for like 15 minutes waiting for Dr. Lewis to come out. I'm sorry, he should have been out of the room about a minute after he went in. The fact that Jane kept on muttering, "something isn't right, this is taking too long" does not make things better. It makes them worse because she KNEW something wasn't right and still kept out standing out there doing nothing like a moron.
Also, how is it surprising that Jane could possibly be neuro or neuro-like? You know that she can heal almost instantaneously. What did they think it was, magic beans? A fairy godmother? The effects of diligently taking Flintstones chewables? Idiots!
I liked that there was more Jane/Mo interaction this week.
It wasn't very meaningful, but at least they got to be partners. And also, Mo was standing beside Jane when she was droning on in her voice-over at the end about the power of love and people standing by you or whatever, which was kind of subtexty.
Lokinator gives good scream.
And considering that Jane spent most of the episode looking traumatized, rolling around on the ground, waking up from nightmares and pretending to drown, I guess that's a good thing.
Moral Ambiguity
I like my characters moral ambigous (Irina Derevko, Chase, Faith, Atia of the Julii, Captain Tightpants, etc. *swoon*) and Jane being a spectrum of gray would be totally cool with me. But her lie to Dr. Lewis about how they would be able to cure Elyse wasn't cool moral ambiguity it just sucked. Especially with the Jane-is-probably-a-neuro "reveal" at the end, it's becoming more and more distasteful that she's working for these people and now lying for them as well.
Going along with that, the teams belief that they are beyond the law or really human fucking decency is really really chaffing. They're just a unit of big, stupid thugs.
Really, that's enough to make you crazy?
I'm sorry, maybe this point will show that I have led an incredibly trauma-free life and don't understand the depths of PAIN, but is what Elyse went through really enough to keep someone in a nearly vegetative state for over a decade? I mean, with therapy and a proper regime of medicine shouldn't she have been at least functional? Like isn't that the whole point of therapy? I just feel like the entire episode could have been avoided if Elyse had been treated by a decent psychiatrist. I mean, if I had seen my parents murdered in front of me and nearly drowned to death when I was nine would I be traumatized and haunted? Yeah, probably. Would I need to be restrained in a straight-jacket in an empty cell where I muttered to myself for the rest of my life? Probably not.
Annoying non-continuity issue.
In the pilot Jane goes on about how she hates high heels when she and Mo are going undercover in the club. Yet the last shot clearly showed Jane just strolling around in like 3 inch heels, and I've seen her just casually wearing them before. Now, I'm sorry, if you want her to be no-nonsense type of girl who wears her hair in ponytails, shoves people in the street if they're in her way, and doesn't give a rats ass about the latest fashion tips in Cosmo or Jimmy Chos and Kate Spade hand bags, then DO NOT HAVE HER WALKING AROUND IN 3 INCH HEELS ON THE JOB!
And finally...
Jane needs to never ever make a comment that could be construed as sexually flirty to McBride again. The "How am I good to you?" line and him checking out her ass as she walked away made me throw up a little in my mouth.
And I hope that Loken wearing that red jacket and having her hair up while fighting a giant of a man was an intentional homage to T3, because I just giggled and kept on muttering "I like your car" in a Loken-esque growl the whole time she was in that outfit.
edited because Mo chipping Elyse actually did make sense in the context of the show and is probably the one action taken by a character this episode that SHOULDN'T be picked on
Everyone on this team is a complete moron.
Jane is less of a moron than the others, but it cannot be denied that she too, is uncommonly slow. I mean, honestly how did it take her like a day to realize that brandy Dr. Lewis gave her was drugged after Mohinder told her that she had been dosed with a slow-acting tranquilizer? Slow.
And when they were waiting outside of the motel, why did they just stand around for like 15 minutes waiting for Dr. Lewis to come out. I'm sorry, he should have been out of the room about a minute after he went in. The fact that Jane kept on muttering, "something isn't right, this is taking too long" does not make things better. It makes them worse because she KNEW something wasn't right and still kept out standing out there doing nothing like a moron.
Also, how is it surprising that Jane could possibly be neuro or neuro-like? You know that she can heal almost instantaneously. What did they think it was, magic beans? A fairy godmother? The effects of diligently taking Flintstones chewables? Idiots!
I liked that there was more Jane/Mo interaction this week.
It wasn't very meaningful, but at least they got to be partners. And also, Mo was standing beside Jane when she was droning on in her voice-over at the end about the power of love and people standing by you or whatever, which was kind of subtexty.
Lokinator gives good scream.
And considering that Jane spent most of the episode looking traumatized, rolling around on the ground, waking up from nightmares and pretending to drown, I guess that's a good thing.
Moral Ambiguity
I like my characters moral ambigous (Irina Derevko, Chase, Faith, Atia of the Julii, Captain Tightpants, etc. *swoon*) and Jane being a spectrum of gray would be totally cool with me. But her lie to Dr. Lewis about how they would be able to cure Elyse wasn't cool moral ambiguity it just sucked. Especially with the Jane-is-probably-a-neuro "reveal" at the end, it's becoming more and more distasteful that she's working for these people and now lying for them as well.
Going along with that, the teams belief that they are beyond the law or really human fucking decency is really really chaffing. They're just a unit of big, stupid thugs.
Really, that's enough to make you crazy?
I'm sorry, maybe this point will show that I have led an incredibly trauma-free life and don't understand the depths of PAIN, but is what Elyse went through really enough to keep someone in a nearly vegetative state for over a decade? I mean, with therapy and a proper regime of medicine shouldn't she have been at least functional? Like isn't that the whole point of therapy? I just feel like the entire episode could have been avoided if Elyse had been treated by a decent psychiatrist. I mean, if I had seen my parents murdered in front of me and nearly drowned to death when I was nine would I be traumatized and haunted? Yeah, probably. Would I need to be restrained in a straight-jacket in an empty cell where I muttered to myself for the rest of my life? Probably not.
Annoying non-continuity issue.
In the pilot Jane goes on about how she hates high heels when she and Mo are going undercover in the club. Yet the last shot clearly showed Jane just strolling around in like 3 inch heels, and I've seen her just casually wearing them before. Now, I'm sorry, if you want her to be no-nonsense type of girl who wears her hair in ponytails, shoves people in the street if they're in her way, and doesn't give a rats ass about the latest fashion tips in Cosmo or Jimmy Chos and Kate Spade hand bags, then DO NOT HAVE HER WALKING AROUND IN 3 INCH HEELS ON THE JOB!
And finally...
Jane needs to never ever make a comment that could be construed as sexually flirty to McBride again. The "How am I good to you?" line and him checking out her ass as she walked away made me throw up a little in my mouth.
And I hope that Loken wearing that red jacket and having her hair up while fighting a giant of a man was an intentional homage to T3, because I just giggled and kept on muttering "I like your car" in a Loken-esque growl the whole time she was in that outfit.
edited because Mo chipping Elyse actually did make sense in the context of the show and is probably the one action taken by a character this episode that SHOULDN'T be picked on
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-19 11:45 pm (UTC)Word. I mean I know they had to catch her, but really they could have accomplished the same thing if they'd just used some detective work instead of lying to the guy. Also, it made Jane look stupid again since the doctor totally saw through her. Also, admitting your power to someone who the team then would have let go was pretty stupid.
I must have wandered off and missed a few key bits of this ep. I get how Gigantor and Jane were given the nightmare, but how did all those other people end up with it? Did they all pass through the hospital, or what?
No, you didn't miss anything. They never explained it. Because PKJ sucks like that. I guess the fanwank would be that Dr. Lewis took Elyse outside sometimes under some pretense or after hours or something, but they never explained it. Basically I think the whole "outside people get nightmares" thing was there so that we would think it was Dr. Lewis and not guess the "surprising twist" at the end. Instead it just proved to be a huge plot hole.
at least, not until after she's called Mo first.
So true. Since they showed Jane with Mo this episode I was hoping she was calling her, but no. *sigh*
It was great to see Jane & Mo working side by side for much of this one. But, if I was turning PKJ on for the first time, I still wouldn't have gotten any sense of them having been partnered for years. Well, except for Jane's narration about Mo outlasting her boyfriends. Why, oh why, is all the best subtext in the voiceovers?
I know. I can't say "Show don't tell" to the writers of this show enough. They keep telling us that Mo is like Jane's rock, but they never actually show it. Like how hard would it have been for them to include Mo in the scene at Jane's apartment after the nightmare, just like sitting beside her on the couch. Or even tiding her stuff up, putting them back in the place she knew they should go because they've been friends that long. *sigh*
And I wish they'd give Maureen more purpose... besides lusting after Jane. A little backstory would be nice. I think her best line in this ep was the one about only sending 7 guys to help if Gigantor broke loose.
So true. That line was like one of the few times since the pilot that they felt like old friends. Mo totally had her back with that line. Plus it was badass "I'll be in there, send 7". Rowr Mo, very rowr!
Really I think the writers are afraid of Jane and Mo seeming gay so they won't let them have any meaningful interaction, but they're just screwing the show over. Because ...
Despite all the pretty, this show just has no heart.
Which is so true. There's just no one or anything to really care about with this show. Jane isn't struggling enough with her powers to be compelling, instead she just makes glib comments in voice-overs. There's no emotional relationship to get attached to, or relate to. By not showing Amanda again they've removed that 'normal' element from Jane's live so we don't see how she feels about being such a freak. And Team McBride isn't idealistic and fighting for good, they're a bunch of stupid, xenophobic, lying a-holes.
Jane's glibbness is actually really starting to bug. It's like you can have characters that are stoic and enigmatic to the people in their world but they shouldn't be unknowable to the audience. Like could you imagine if Xena behaved with Gabrielle like how she behaved with random people she met? The show would have been horrible, because Xena would have just been this angry, silent, unknowable brute. But instead of letting us see Jane's more emotional side and get to know her, we just get her idiotic voice overs. *sigh*
Which I could possibly overlook if it would only distract me with Jane & Mo kissing.
Heh! So true.
Man, I never thought I'd say this after the first episode, but I really miss Amanda. She actually got Jane to talk, and I'd like to see some more of that.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-20 02:45 am (UTC)I thought they did. In that the Dr. 'doctored' the records to make it look like he was someone where else when he passed on the nightmares to the other victims.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-20 05:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-20 06:55 am (UTC)On another tangent, here's what I didn't understand about Jane's 'lie'. They're like a covert goverment agency, right? We've seen them hold people without reading them any rights, chip people without permission, hack into every computer database imaginable but suddenly they're stonewalled by Doctor/Patient privilege? When the Doctor's all but admitted to infecting other innocent people to save said patient? The fuh!?!
no subject
Date: 2007-05-20 07:15 am (UTC)Brave, brave soul. My thoughts are with you. Let me know if that scene where Jane goes, "Brandy!" and Mo responds "Don't you think it's a bit early for that?" is as funny the second time around!
We've seen them hold people without reading them any rights, chip people without permission, hack into every computer database imaginable but suddenly they're stonewalled by Doctor/Patient privilege? When the Doctor's all but admitted to infecting other innocent people to save said patient? The fuh!?!
Yeah, that scene all falls apart when given like ANY thought.
I mean Elyse has been in a nuthouse drawing butterflies for the better part of a decade, and she's a fragile little soul. If they'd just put him in a cell for 24 hours he'd have been begging to get to her to help her, and likely she wouldn't have been a danger to anyone else because she hasn't done anything that wasn't regimented for her since she was a child, and probably wouldn't have left the room.
Besides that, if Riley is such a fucking genius then why couldn't he just trace the doctors credit card records or whatever. They were on the run so I doubt he had time to stop by a bank so she was probably using his plastic to pay for that motel room.
Also, considering that he wasn't a neuro and they aren't an acknowledged organization, what were they planning on doing with him afterwards. Jane just revealed her huge ass secret to him like she was reveal that she could touch her nose with her tongue. If he didn't go crazy, he would then have been in possession of knowledge that could have potentially been dangerous to Jane and the team.
Seriously, Lt. Van Buren bitched out Cassidy for being a smartass but Jane reveals governmental secrets and no one has anything to say to her about that?
*sigh*