Primeval 4x01 episode reaction
So I watched Ep1 of S4 yesterday. If you are reading my journal entries you probably remember that I've been on edge about S4 for way too long and ever since it aired that turned into full blown panic. Due to crappy internet connection it took me until yesterday to download Ep1 and 2 but once it was sitting on my laptop I started freaking out and didn't have the courage to start watching for another three hours or so.
So what do I think? It's hard to say...
In many many ways S4 is better than the first 3. No, honestly. I think the writing has improved, not necessarily dialogue-wise but scene setting-wise, I think the scenes are much better constructed and planned and woven together than they used to be. Character-writing has improved IMMENSLY. They kept what we loved about the old characters but improved them greatly. I have to say I actually LOVED every single Connor/Abby scene, which I used to be bored with before. Lester is love. And Becker, awww, just awww. And the new characters are bloody amazing, if you ask me. If I'm honest I'll have to admit I think they are already more fleshed out than any of the new S3 characters were allowed to be in the whole season. Or Caroline in S2. I love Matt’s accent and his relationship with Becker, works so much better than it did with Quinn last season, and I love the mystery plot A LOT (it reminds me of how I see Becker in the light of his relationship with Helen). Jess is bloody brilliant obviously, sometimes a liiiiiiittle bit bordering on annoying but I still like her most of the time and her relationship with Lester is very interesting (poor guy), I wasn’t that wrong when aaaaaaaages ago before we knew anything in a drabble I likened her to Christine, go girl. Philip will be great, I’m sure, something about him screams “smooth criminal”, which I like a lot (which Helen started out like).
On the whole it feels like this new Primeval is somewhat closer to the kind of Primeval I write. It feels a bit more… hmmm, mature in some sense, more serene, I suppose. I like the more balanced relationship of humour/drama a lot. We had drama before but the dynamics between angst and lightness is better here for my taste. Let me give you an example: Becker/Matt gun play. It’s hilarious, very funny scene, especially with the “when will this wear off” bit after it. But then that scene turns into a discussion of Becker losing too many friends, which is heartbreaking. It’s beautiful how they moulded these two together. They could not do this in S3 (see, Quinn/Becker playing mission impossible… it completely lacked weight bc there was no reference to why exactly this was important, that is Cutter’s death). And I just felt they allowed more room for the development and presentation of emotions here - see, Abby/Connor scenes (they gave a nice picture of their past year and yet they did not overdo the action, they also allowed room for the human side of their situation), or Becker’s grief, or even Lester’s antagonism towards Philip, compare these to how they handled Jenny’s sudden love to Cutter in S3, or how easily they all accepted Quinn in Cutter’s position, or how they all forgot about Stephen waaaaay too quickly (or Ryan as S2 started). Also, I’m very much hoping for more sensitivity in creating their “villains”, they have a lot of making up to do after what they did to Helen.
So all in all I have to say, this Primeval is a much better Primeval. I’m not afraid to admit that. AND YET, somewhere around the half of Ep1 I realised it did not merit a running commentary episode reaction. I started writing down my thoughts as they came just like with all eps of S3 but halfway through I stopped and just finished watching. And then I decided not to watch ep2 until tonight or maybe tomorrow. I liked everything about this first episode, there was nothing I felt as much outrage about as for example everything involving Quinn, even if certain scenes hurt me to no end (Abby burning Helen’s notebook, beautiful scene, but the idea that the last thing that belonged to Helen was destroyed killed me, I had to stop watching for a few minutes and I may or may not have shed a few tears). I enjoyed watching this, and still I don’t feel the kind of attachment to it as to the previous seasons. I think it has the potential to be the best season to date and yet it does nothing to my bunnies. Less than five minutes into Ep1 of S3 I had already been plotting my big fat twisted Becker/Helen plot. Here I had thoughts like “someone should write Lester/Jess” or “yeah Matt/Becker is kinda there” but I feel no true urge to explore any of that.
We’ll see how this changes later. *shrugs*
So what do I think? It's hard to say...
In many many ways S4 is better than the first 3. No, honestly. I think the writing has improved, not necessarily dialogue-wise but scene setting-wise, I think the scenes are much better constructed and planned and woven together than they used to be. Character-writing has improved IMMENSLY. They kept what we loved about the old characters but improved them greatly. I have to say I actually LOVED every single Connor/Abby scene, which I used to be bored with before. Lester is love. And Becker, awww, just awww. And the new characters are bloody amazing, if you ask me. If I'm honest I'll have to admit I think they are already more fleshed out than any of the new S3 characters were allowed to be in the whole season. Or Caroline in S2. I love Matt’s accent and his relationship with Becker, works so much better than it did with Quinn last season, and I love the mystery plot A LOT (it reminds me of how I see Becker in the light of his relationship with Helen). Jess is bloody brilliant obviously, sometimes a liiiiiiittle bit bordering on annoying but I still like her most of the time and her relationship with Lester is very interesting (poor guy), I wasn’t that wrong when aaaaaaaages ago before we knew anything in a drabble I likened her to Christine, go girl. Philip will be great, I’m sure, something about him screams “smooth criminal”, which I like a lot (which Helen started out like).
On the whole it feels like this new Primeval is somewhat closer to the kind of Primeval I write. It feels a bit more… hmmm, mature in some sense, more serene, I suppose. I like the more balanced relationship of humour/drama a lot. We had drama before but the dynamics between angst and lightness is better here for my taste. Let me give you an example: Becker/Matt gun play. It’s hilarious, very funny scene, especially with the “when will this wear off” bit after it. But then that scene turns into a discussion of Becker losing too many friends, which is heartbreaking. It’s beautiful how they moulded these two together. They could not do this in S3 (see, Quinn/Becker playing mission impossible… it completely lacked weight bc there was no reference to why exactly this was important, that is Cutter’s death). And I just felt they allowed more room for the development and presentation of emotions here - see, Abby/Connor scenes (they gave a nice picture of their past year and yet they did not overdo the action, they also allowed room for the human side of their situation), or Becker’s grief, or even Lester’s antagonism towards Philip, compare these to how they handled Jenny’s sudden love to Cutter in S3, or how easily they all accepted Quinn in Cutter’s position, or how they all forgot about Stephen waaaaay too quickly (or Ryan as S2 started). Also, I’m very much hoping for more sensitivity in creating their “villains”, they have a lot of making up to do after what they did to Helen.
So all in all I have to say, this Primeval is a much better Primeval. I’m not afraid to admit that. AND YET, somewhere around the half of Ep1 I realised it did not merit a running commentary episode reaction. I started writing down my thoughts as they came just like with all eps of S3 but halfway through I stopped and just finished watching. And then I decided not to watch ep2 until tonight or maybe tomorrow. I liked everything about this first episode, there was nothing I felt as much outrage about as for example everything involving Quinn, even if certain scenes hurt me to no end (Abby burning Helen’s notebook, beautiful scene, but the idea that the last thing that belonged to Helen was destroyed killed me, I had to stop watching for a few minutes and I may or may not have shed a few tears). I enjoyed watching this, and still I don’t feel the kind of attachment to it as to the previous seasons. I think it has the potential to be the best season to date and yet it does nothing to my bunnies. Less than five minutes into Ep1 of S3 I had already been plotting my big fat twisted Becker/Helen plot. Here I had thoughts like “someone should write Lester/Jess” or “yeah Matt/Becker is kinda there” but I feel no true urge to explore any of that.
We’ll see how this changes later. *shrugs*