Further despatches from the frontier of my TV viewing:
Game of Thrones Season 7 has just finished, and I enjoyed it. There has been criticism of the pacing and telescoping of plot, amongst other things. The criticisms are valid, I think, but I’m not that concerned in the long run. We’ve had 6 seasons of manoeuvering and subtle politics, and now crunch time is here and choices are forced by events.
Supergirl Season 2: A year ago I wrote about Supergirl as a surprise hit for me. I have nearly finished season 2 and continue to appreciate it: it is solid and enjoyable and more confident than season 1. Sure, it’s a little too clean-cut, and I get weary of inspirational speeches and occasionally strained dialogue, but not so much that I stop watching. Equally, though, the criticisms I had of it a year ago, when I compared and contrasted it with Sense8, still hold true for me. Global problems are still coterminus with “National City” rather than, er, global, and the Big Bads don’t begin to approach Bond super-villain class for that reason; it isn’t really a global threat if it only impacts on an industrial estate in Vancouver. Drama needs conflict and peril, but some of the drama in Supergirl seems somewhat forced rather than arising naturally out of what we know of the characters, especially from episode 14 onwards (and I’m not sure how Cadmus came to have a fully functioning FTL spaceship just hanging around.)
Genre television is in transition, but lots of of shows still cling to old norms (42 minutes plus ads, villain of the week, season long story arc, 20-odd episodes) and Supergirl is one of them. I’m hardly the target demographic, but I think that, enjoyable as it is, Supergirl could be better.
Jessica Jones is an interesting contrast to Supergirl, not just because of the Marvel:DC split; it is clearly aimed at a different audience. Jessica Jones doesn’t stick with traditional comic-book tropes, as Supergirl does; it deals with the upclose and personal and has more of a graphic-novel vibe. We engage with our titular heroine because of deep characterisation and a compelling narrative which is truly character driven. The drama never feels forced or false, and the show is populated by a convincing group of primary and secondary characters who are sharply delineated (and very well played by an ensemble cast).
And it looks and sounds ravishing.
If I have one reservation about Jessica Jones, it’s that I sometimes felt that they were told they had 13 episodes and wrote 13 scripts, when the story itself probably only needed 11 episodes to tell.
Jessica Jones seems to me to be much more in sync. with how genre television is changing than Supergirl, and all the better for it. I’m not suggesting Supergirl should be dark and gritty or that Kara Danvers should become a hard-assed, hard drinking woman with self-esteem issues and untreated trauma, but that with some thought the show could elevate itself further (it certainly has a cast capable of carrying that off). I doubt it will, though, because it sits in a CW/DC Universe that is much more attuned to classic comic-book tropes (acknowledging that it handled the coming out of a lead character with sensitivity and wit, and graced with a formidable performance from Chyler Leigh.)
A year ago I wrote:
Now: it would be wrong criticise Supergirl for not being something that it has never set out to be. Supergirl is no more Sense8 than Mary Poppins is an homage to Akira Kurosawa. And that’s fine, it takes all sorts to make a mix of entertainments. I enjoyed Supergirl season 1 and I’ll no doubt enjoy season 2 when it comes along.
But Sense8 seems to me to be an event which will be a reference point for future writers, directors and producers in the same way Twin Peaks, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Trek were and are. Supergirl is entertaining and fun, but it isn’t a game-changer.
A year on and I could write the same, swapping out Sense8 for Jessica Jones, and, in a weird sort of way, I regret that.
=====
Added: Supergirl season 2 ended in melodrama and emoting; so far so normal. It got noticeably stronger whenever Calista Flockhart was on screen. In the bigger picture though, it was still melodrama where Jessica Jones was drama, and the difference is telling.
I noticed towards the end of the last episode that Supergirl had her ears pierced; how did they manage that?
Recent Comments