Okay, *that* probably would have been a bad idea -- I'm fairly sure it would have jumped the shark before then.
I figured that Season 4 should have been the same plot it actually had except not so deeply compressed. Season 5 would have then been about the actual Traveler plot (which got replaced by a two-minute handwave instead), which would probably have made a more solidly thematic finish. But as it was, they did a good job of tying things off.
we never get any resolution on all the interesting stuff that was happening in the first version!
Honestly, I don't see it. I mean, yes, that did happen once -- and basically, the first version was "and now, the world goes *completely* to hell". Several cast members were dead, Carlos and Julian were about to found Liber8; honestly, I was pretty sure they were going to do a reset at that point because the show was rapidly becoming non-viable.
Yes, they reset back over three episodes, and yes, it might be interesting to fan-fic how that version of the world would have played out. But they then used the reset as the basis for a *ferociously* interesting season. In particular, the Green-Alec / Red-Alec duality was a fascinating exploration of how a few days can change your life completely, and the slow playing out of Alec's and Carlos' very different resolutions of "You're not *my* Kira" explored that problem nicely.
their method of gradual plot exposition included retconning/"revealing" a lot of stuff about various characters that wasn't actually very consistent with what we previously knew about them
This bit I don't see. Yes, the gradual unfolding does cast a completely different light on a lot of things, but I didn't see much by way of inconsistency. It *felt* inconsistent, but that's because we had originally seen everything from Kira's POV; seeing the details, and the background of the Liber8 members, completely recolored everything.
I'll agree that the first season didn't give enough impression that Kira had actually sparred with most of Liber8 personally before. But I didn't notice anything that was really inconsistent. What are you thinking of here?
It had the common TV problem of consequences only existing when the spotlight was on/when it was convenient for the plot, and not all the time.
I'll grant that there's some of that -- but honestly, I'm having trouble thinking of a TV show (except, notably Person of Interest) that has *less* of it. This show is all *about* consequences, and they come up all the time. That's part of what I love about it: because of those consequences, by the end of the show nobody is even remotely who they started as.
bonus points for Kiera never having romance with either Carlos or Alec
Well, I never expected anything with Alec -- the age difference aside, the chemistry never would have made a lick of sense. But yeah, I was pleasantly surprised that they (probably correctly) interpreted Kira and Carlos as being too close, both as friends and colleagues, to ever be *willing* to go there.
minus points for the random out-of-nowhere unmotivated season 3 love plot
Granted, but I honestly think that works better in light of season 4. This was never "love" in any serious sense -- this is Kira, who is *desperately* lonely by this point, finding somebody who at least *understands* her a little bit, and she's clutching to that. She definitely cares about Brad, but in 20/20 hindsight it never really feels like she's in love with him. (And it's never entirely clear that she actually *likes* him all that much.)
And in a way, it makes a lot of psychological sense. Hooking up with Carlos would have been too real and too serious, and would have constituted a betrayal of her family: it would have felt like genuinely giving up on them. Brad, OTOH, was basically a brief (and ultimately awkward) fling in the middle of desperate circumstances. That feels pretty honest and real to me...
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Date: 2017-11-18 05:57 pm (UTC)Okay, *that* probably would have been a bad idea -- I'm fairly sure it would have jumped the shark before then.
I figured that Season 4 should have been the same plot it actually had except not so deeply compressed. Season 5 would have then been about the actual Traveler plot (which got replaced by a two-minute handwave instead), which would probably have made a more solidly thematic finish. But as it was, they did a good job of tying things off.
Honestly, I don't see it. I mean, yes, that did happen once -- and basically, the first version was "and now, the world goes *completely* to hell". Several cast members were dead, Carlos and Julian were about to found Liber8; honestly, I was pretty sure they were going to do a reset at that point because the show was rapidly becoming non-viable.
Yes, they reset back over three episodes, and yes, it might be interesting to fan-fic how that version of the world would have played out. But they then used the reset as the basis for a *ferociously* interesting season. In particular, the Green-Alec / Red-Alec duality was a fascinating exploration of how a few days can change your life completely, and the slow playing out of Alec's and Carlos' very different resolutions of "You're not *my* Kira" explored that problem nicely.
This bit I don't see. Yes, the gradual unfolding does cast a completely different light on a lot of things, but I didn't see much by way of inconsistency. It *felt* inconsistent, but that's because we had originally seen everything from Kira's POV; seeing the details, and the background of the Liber8 members, completely recolored everything.
I'll agree that the first season didn't give enough impression that Kira had actually sparred with most of Liber8 personally before. But I didn't notice anything that was really inconsistent. What are you thinking of here?
I'll grant that there's some of that -- but honestly, I'm having trouble thinking of a TV show (except, notably Person of Interest) that has *less* of it. This show is all *about* consequences, and they come up all the time. That's part of what I love about it: because of those consequences, by the end of the show nobody is even remotely who they started as.
Well, I never expected anything with Alec -- the age difference aside, the chemistry never would have made a lick of sense. But yeah, I was pleasantly surprised that they (probably correctly) interpreted Kira and Carlos as being too close, both as friends and colleagues, to ever be *willing* to go there.
Granted, but I honestly think that works better in light of season 4. This was never "love" in any serious sense -- this is Kira, who is *desperately* lonely by this point, finding somebody who at least *understands* her a little bit, and she's clutching to that. She definitely cares about Brad, but in 20/20 hindsight it never really feels like she's in love with him. (And it's never entirely clear that she actually *likes* him all that much.)
And in a way, it makes a lot of psychological sense. Hooking up with Carlos would have been too real and too serious, and would have constituted a betrayal of her family: it would have felt like genuinely giving up on them. Brad, OTOH, was basically a brief (and ultimately awkward) fling in the middle of desperate circumstances. That feels pretty honest and real to me...