H50 Ep: Pe'epe'e Kanaka

[the_other_sandy]

Only two episodes left this season, huh? I suspect they may be the last two I ever watch.

I'm kind of in a quandary here. I've never been shy about saying when I didn't like something about an episode, but there's a potential here for me to get really unpleasantly ranty, more so than anyone would find enjoyable to read. I also don't know if it's possible for me to properly articulate why this episode made me so angry. I think it just may be that the sheer number of things in this episode that pushed my buttons achieved critical mass and I'm overreacting. Let me start with the basics and see how far I get.

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Nope, I didn't get far. You can't see it, but I've been writing and deleting and rewriting this entry for over an hour. I think I'm just going to have to let this one go.

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So, umm...

Yay for TPTB sending Danny to PT instead of granting him a magical recovery during the off-week. Boo for the way the "banter" scenes between Steve and Danny have become so mean-spirited.

And you know, I mostly do like Grover, but they really need to stop having him participate in the action scenes. Chi McBride is just not up to it.

Sorry, everyone. There were many issues in this episode that deserved thoughtful and considerate deconstruction. There are many things to be said about the plot, the way Steve talked to Dawn, and the agenda TPTB had for this episode that they pushed so hard they didn't care the episode ran short enough to need two epilogues, including a monologue about fish. But they're not going to be said by me. I need to go read some fic. From another fandom.

Comments

[bookwurm.livejournal.com]

Wow. I watched the first third to a half of this episode wondering what about it made you so angry. It wasn't great, but it wasn't any worse than an average episode this season. Then it turned into a jingoistic, anti-Islamic train wreck with a side of borderline-exploitation of wounded veterans.

I'll finish out the season, but I think it's becoming increasingly obvious that I am not the demographic wanted by TPTB for this show.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Then it turned into a jingoistic, anti-Islamic train wreck with a side of borderline-exploitation of wounded veterans.

Yes! This was my problem, only I was too angry and had too many words about it trying to get out and they all logjammed in my head. I swear Steve's "America is the greatest country on earth" speeches were the first things written, and then they tried to construct an episode around them. They weren't even good speeches. Nothing either Steve or Dawn said was insightful or well-argued. It sounded like they were both just spouting propaganda. And it's not like they didn't have time to include some well-reasoned arguments. The episode ran so short it needed two epilogues.

Also, I hated the way Steve talked to Dawn. She was just as much a militant believer in the cause as anyone Steve would have met in Afghanistan, but because she was white and young and female, Steve talked to her like she'd just let her friends peer-pressure her into shoplifting. Threatening her with death or prison was never going to have an effect because that's what she wanted. Dying for the cause or going to prison (which to her was like becoming a POW) only made her a hero in her own mind, and yet Steve never managed to change gears.

[opalshore.livejournal.com]

All of the above. This was the worst episode I remember so far. I skipped so many bits, just because they were dumb, and I do not appreciate being treated like a simplistic idiot. All of the things I liked to start with are disappearing. But you know what? The fic is still here! And the best fic was always so much better. Where the hell to they get their writers from?!?

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Ugh. It's like they weren't even trying. You know what I think this show really needs? A female writer or two on staff full time.

All of the things I liked about the show have already disappeared. I just keep hanging around because they have the potential to come back; however, my faith in TPTB's ability to fix this show has almost completely eroded.

I don't even remember the last time I saw a good fic. Fortunately I still have a stash of older stuff I never got around to at the time.

[opalshore.livejournal.com]

Yep. I have my own stash :D for the times I need to get away, or need that good relationship balance between the characters back.

Are show writers usually male? I don't know how that goes, I assume that as in most areas (other than the domestic/carer jobs) men dominate.

I'm not really sure why I still watch. Boredom perhaps, or just not having enough good TV shows to watch. And perhaps some strange loyalty as I've watched Alex for a long time now. Though McGarrett is not my favourite character he has done, he has the potential to be but its slipping away. There were these glimpses of Steve and Danny that were just beautiful, as characters I would really care about. But as it is, well I just hope they don't properly screw this up.

The only other show I can think of that I still watch is Castle, and they seem to have good writers. Though there are things that have changed over the last season and aspects of the past that I miss that have been reduced over the past season. The only other is Doctor Who but that one exists in it's own universe so it can't be compared. :)

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Are show writers usually male?

With rare exceptions, male staff writers outnumber female writers, especially on action-adventure shows like this, but there is usually at least one. H50 has had some episodes written by women, but they were widely scattered enough that I don't think any of them were full-time staff writers.

The only other show I can think of that I still watch is Castle

I used to watch Castle, but after awhile I started to realize that all the episodes were exactly the same and I got bored with it. I think I stopped watching early in season 2.

I was also a Doctor Who fan going back to the early '80s (I think I started watching when I was 12) and all the way up through Paul McGann, but I just couldn't get into the the new Who. I sat through all of Christopher Eccleston and most of David Tennant's first season before I couldn't take it anymore. Now I just keep an eye out for appearances by Captain Jack and watch those.

This has actually been a bumper year for me with TV shows. I usually only have maybe 2 that I watch regularly, but this year I had Sherlock, Sleepy Hollow, Almost Human, Teen Wolf, Supernatural, Justified, Arrow, Grimm, and Hawaii Five-0. I also tried Agents of SHIELD and The Tomorrow People, but I didn't like them. I'm actually looking forward to the summer hiatus so I can take a break from all the TV, even if I did make a lot of progress on my cross stitching while I was watching.

[opalshore.livejournal.com]

So, safe to assume male-domination there too. Not a surprise at all. As for Castle, yes it's a bit repetitive, but it's easy to watch. I think it does what it advertises. It's not a serious detective show. And I only started watching Doctor Who about 6 months ago maybe. I knew of it but it was not on TV here in oz all that regularly nor was it regularly advertised as being on. I watched an episode a few years ago with Tennant, it was one of the darker more serious ones and that was not what I was looking for. But then a good few months ago I sat in front of the telly and flipped through the channels and ran into it again. This time with Matt Smith, who I now think is fantabulous! :D He is now my doctor and it's now my favourite show. I did remember one more TV show that I have watched; Sherlock (UK). Now that is a good bloody show! I stopped watching SPN in season 3, it got to be a bit much for me. It was getting darker, more religious, I had started to lose count of how many times which brother had died, pined, and then sacrificed himself for the other, the angels... and I just threw my hands up. I had sorely missed the lighter funnier moments from the first two seasons, and it didn't look like they were going to get those back.

Oh yes, cross stitch, goodness that requires so much patience. All I have done so far are small pieces.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I mostly just do small pieces because I am the slowest stitcher in the entire world. I've been working on the same 8x10 piece for almost a year. There are some huge, elaborate pieces that I would love to try stitching, but I don't think the human life span is long enough for me to complete one.