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See now, I didn't really have any expectations for this.
But I have the same issues I have with RTD that I've had in the past. There's an overt fannish-ness to the writing which I don't find particularly appealing, like he's too scared to really go with his own ideas and just write, and has to bluntly hit us in the head with other people's to make up for it. I really didn't feel like the twist worked - I just thought he's been watching his Buffy dvds again (you know, the whole bit about Xander's friend who gets turned in to a vampire in the first episode or whatever, and how he was going to be in the titles sequence). And besides the resolution coming out of nowhere and not being built up at all, there were various other elements that just seemed a bit uncomfortable.
While I don't doubt that the alien love potion is one of those grey areas that RTD is intent on exploring later (hello Angel) I just take issue with the way the actual scene was portrayed here... what's that? Played for laughs, Hollyoaks style by Lee Evans little brother! Comedy equal oppurtunities date rape, slap on wrist (for the team) at the end. That's all we get from the episode itself, and I find that bothersome.
Ultraviolet was just played straight, it just appeared one day and it was it was. It had a look and it felt whole, mainly. I'd really like to see this show pull that off, instead of being so aspirational in what it wants to be (the constant reminders of what it's not, although I'm aware this is because of my own knowledge of these shows - but then RTD's own is constantly in your face which is my issue / it's sometimes like he's writing a story about his dvd collection) and just be it's own show. I thought the writing was weak in that it felt like shorthand, there were lots of shortcuts and detail fuzzy areas (for something supposedly so secret... well, they're not) that have all been mentioned. I wish it concentrated more on telling a story, in it's own right, instead of plugging holes with poses. I really want him to get over his Buffy/Angel obsession and just write.
Weevils = RTD has been watching Ronnie Mars. You just know it...
The sets look great. But - they just can't film them in a way that looks decent. While they look good they film them in a way that makes it clear it's being filmed which I find totally jarring - even the film stock. Full of bubbling little things (did the docs hand really have to be BUBBLING AWAY like a witches brew?) and all a bit overegged, like it's a theme park recreation of what the set should actually be like, shot by newsround.
I have no qualms with the budget, but just how they go about what they actually can do. It all feels garish and patchy. I look at shows that carry off a look like Veronica Mars or Battlestar Galactica. Then I think that might be an unfair comparison, but I'm talking more about coherency of the world and consistency - hues and tones that let you know what it is you're watching, rather than massive special effects budgets. It's just a design issue, and I want it all to fit together. Buffy was not exactly expensive looking but they pulled it off (sort of, I think there's a case to be made for the cast holding it all together - and like Paleface I find Barrowman equally occasionally irksome). Maybe I don't know enough about budgets and what's possible - but shows like Ultraviolet, and countless other BBC shows seem to point to it being possible at least.
I think all the elements are there for this to be good - and the flotsam theory almost makes me like it a great deal more. I just feel they need to be put it together a bit better, rather than this somewhat shoddy feeling of hastily pasted-ness.
I'd really like it to deliver on it's promise, and I really think it could shape up to be something good. All the good bits have been mentioned and if it continues to build on and expand on those then I can see it being quite an exciting prospect. I hope it settles down in to it's own groove and gets a bit more comfortable, and I realise it's a bit harsh on only a couple of eps. That and Eva Myles has distractingly huge eyes, you can see her whole iris all of the time! |
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