Angel series 2
Feb. 21st, 2011 01:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackSeason 2 is in general very strong. What's especially notable is there are several episodes (Guise, Shroud) which are tense and interesting and funny even if you don't know the ongoing plot. They do it well, of being a strong, moving episode by making you care about the problem of the week seem important, rather than having to artificially introduce an apocalypse to make people care.
This is something I've often commented on when done wrong, but I wanted to point to some episodes done right. People often instinctively feel that if the protagonist saves the world one week, it can't be as exciting if they save just one person the next.
But I think this is not true. I think it's equally possible to make viewers/readers care about smaller stakes, I think it's in the way it's presented. I can't tell you how to do it right or I'd be a best-selling author, but I can recognise it done well and badly. Shroud is a good example, where the threat to the city is no more than in many other episodes, but somehow all the cues say "take this seriously", and we do, while in no way detracting from the many funny moments[1]. I think all the firefly episodes hit this very well: some are more tense than others, but all are good, whether threats of death and torture are immediate or not.
[1] Season 2 also has a lot of strong character and humour moments, notably whenever Angel shows, or pretends to show, elation, garrulousness or another emotion :)
There are also several mini-arcs which are done very well. The episodes often seem very very silly if you see one out of order, but also rely on background things built up in several previous episodes rather than just one specific ongoing story, and are very moving if you do know what character conflict is going on.
This is something I've often commented on when done wrong, but I wanted to point to some episodes done right. People often instinctively feel that if the protagonist saves the world one week, it can't be as exciting if they save just one person the next.
But I think this is not true. I think it's equally possible to make viewers/readers care about smaller stakes, I think it's in the way it's presented. I can't tell you how to do it right or I'd be a best-selling author, but I can recognise it done well and badly. Shroud is a good example, where the threat to the city is no more than in many other episodes, but somehow all the cues say "take this seriously", and we do, while in no way detracting from the many funny moments[1]. I think all the firefly episodes hit this very well: some are more tense than others, but all are good, whether threats of death and torture are immediate or not.
[1] Season 2 also has a lot of strong character and humour moments, notably whenever Angel shows, or pretends to show, elation, garrulousness or another emotion :)
There are also several mini-arcs which are done very well. The episodes often seem very very silly if you see one out of order, but also rely on background things built up in several previous episodes rather than just one specific ongoing story, and are very moving if you do know what character conflict is going on.
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Date: 2011-02-21 01:29 pm (UTC)