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Caught up!
Apr. 15th, 2013 10:34 amI watched too much TV yesterday, when I should have been doing more remunerative things. But, since I did, I thought I’d seize this rare moment of being caught up with four (4!) shows.
Okay, I am caught up with Southland, and...I kind of wish I wasn’t. Or, maybe I wish I’d been spoiled for the latest episode (5.9) before I watched it. ( spoilers )
I am also caught up with two mystery miniseries—just because I totally can’t wait to find out what happens next/who did it. Top of the Lake and Broadchurch are both variations on the old Twin Peaks formula of “dead child in a tiny community that is not as bucolic as it seems; outside detective (with demons of their own) arrives to solve the case." You've seen the formula many times—but these shows do it well.
Top of the Lake. There’s this moment in Patrick O’Brian’s Post Captain when, Jack Aubrey asks a young girl who's in a ship that has been taken by the French, "I hope I see you well. Quite well?" and the narrator points out that what he really means is "no too much raped?"
So, okay, that’s not a question you’d want to ask any of the female characters in Top of the Lake. ‘Cause you’d get some pretty explicit answers. The show has maybe the harshest worldview I’ve seen on TV—no one is trustworthy, violence is around every bend.
There are a bunch of reasons to watch it, though. 1) Elizabeth Moss is astonishingly good—strong, smart, vulnerable, violent, complicated, sexy. The other acting—particularly by Peter Mullan—is excellent as well. 2) The New Zealand scenery is as spectacular as you’d expect. The human scenery is also amazing: the show is probably worth watching for the tattoos alone. 3) Aside from the preoccupation with rape (or along with it?), the show’s take on sexuality is really interesting. You see a lot of middle-aged people, with realistically middle-aged bodies, having sex. This never happens on TV.
Another thing about Top of the Lake is that it makes the ongoing family angst of Broadchurch seem fluffy by comparison. This is the ITV series with the Dr. Who actors—David Tennant and Arthur Darvill—and a whole bunch of actors you’ve seen before somewhere. It’s total crack: everyone is alternately suspicious and sympathetic, and the seaside landscape shimmers endlessly. The last two episodes have been a little draggy (montages, slow motion walks, etc.)—but who am I kidding? I’d watch these guys stare moodily into the sea forever.
I am also caught up on Grimm, and I don’t have much to say about it, except that much as I like Juliette and want her and Nick to get together again, the Nick-Monroe domesticity is endlessly pleasing (plaid flannel bathrobe!) and I can’t believe there aren’t a million fics about it.
Okay, I am caught up with Southland, and...I kind of wish I wasn’t. Or, maybe I wish I’d been spoiled for the latest episode (5.9) before I watched it. ( spoilers )
I am also caught up with two mystery miniseries—just because I totally can’t wait to find out what happens next/who did it. Top of the Lake and Broadchurch are both variations on the old Twin Peaks formula of “dead child in a tiny community that is not as bucolic as it seems; outside detective (with demons of their own) arrives to solve the case." You've seen the formula many times—but these shows do it well.
Top of the Lake. There’s this moment in Patrick O’Brian’s Post Captain when, Jack Aubrey asks a young girl who's in a ship that has been taken by the French, "I hope I see you well. Quite well?" and the narrator points out that what he really means is "no too much raped?"
So, okay, that’s not a question you’d want to ask any of the female characters in Top of the Lake. ‘Cause you’d get some pretty explicit answers. The show has maybe the harshest worldview I’ve seen on TV—no one is trustworthy, violence is around every bend.
There are a bunch of reasons to watch it, though. 1) Elizabeth Moss is astonishingly good—strong, smart, vulnerable, violent, complicated, sexy. The other acting—particularly by Peter Mullan—is excellent as well. 2) The New Zealand scenery is as spectacular as you’d expect. The human scenery is also amazing: the show is probably worth watching for the tattoos alone. 3) Aside from the preoccupation with rape (or along with it?), the show’s take on sexuality is really interesting. You see a lot of middle-aged people, with realistically middle-aged bodies, having sex. This never happens on TV.
Another thing about Top of the Lake is that it makes the ongoing family angst of Broadchurch seem fluffy by comparison. This is the ITV series with the Dr. Who actors—David Tennant and Arthur Darvill—and a whole bunch of actors you’ve seen before somewhere. It’s total crack: everyone is alternately suspicious and sympathetic, and the seaside landscape shimmers endlessly. The last two episodes have been a little draggy (montages, slow motion walks, etc.)—but who am I kidding? I’d watch these guys stare moodily into the sea forever.
I am also caught up on Grimm, and I don’t have much to say about it, except that much as I like Juliette and want her and Nick to get together again, the Nick-Monroe domesticity is endlessly pleasing (plaid flannel bathrobe!) and I can’t believe there aren’t a million fics about it.
