Spooks, Doctor Who, and My Final Thoughts on Due South

November 10th, 2008 2:49am by rusty-halo | 13 Comments »

My friend Cat came over Saturday night. We drank a bottle of red wine and watched two episodes of Spooks and two of Doctor Who. (Alas, jaydk is the only person I’ve found who’ll marathon TV with me until 7am; Cat was tired at midnight!)

The night was inspired by our discovery of our mutual appreciation for Richard Armitage, so we started with Spooks. It’s one of those humorless plot-driven “action” shows that I can’t stand, but Richard Armitage was fun to watch. It was particularly amusing to see how shamelessly gratuitous the camera was in lingering over his naked torso. They know what their audience wants! I’ll probably keep watching, despite the fact that the show itself stresses me out, because… well… naked torso of Richard Armitage. What can I say? I’m shallow and he’s pretty. And at least it’s not half as bad as Robin Hood!

Then we watched “The Christmas Invasion” (which made me tear up now that I know Ten is leaving!) and “School Reunion,” because Cat’s a former Buffy fan and wanted to see evil!Giles. It continues to astound me how such a sweet, progressive, funny, brilliant, amazing show can have such a bitter, miserable, hateful fandom. And, man, I miss season two! Ten was so bright and shiny and new and happy! And, Rose!!! I love Donna, but Rose is still my absolute favorite. She is so passionate and sincere and independent and wonderful.

It’s very strange to watch “School Reunion” in light of the Doctor/Rose conclusion in “Journey’s End.” The thing that hit me most (and this is probably because we were at the end of the bottle of wine) is how unbelievably painful it must be for the Doctor to lose every single person he loves, again and again. It’s why he didn’t want to say goodbye to Sarah Jane and why he couldn’t fully bring himself to open up to Rose. It’s not about species or age or intelligence or “domestics” or fear of being “tied down”; it’s that he doesn’t want to watch her die. And that’s why I don’t object to Ten II ending up with Rose; because it’s not that the original Ten couldn’t love Rose, it’s that Ten II can love her without the overwhelming pain of knowing he’s inevitably doomed to watch her die. *sniffle* Have I mentioned recently how much I adore RTD?

And then today I finished up Due South. I’m really going to miss having new (to me) episodes to watch whenever I’m feeling down! Anyone have good fanfic recs?

My initial impressions of the show:

* I LOVE RAY KOWALSKI. I bristled at him at first, but I ended up absolutely adoring him. He’s such a dork! With his goofy glasses and his awkwardness with women and the way he almost seems to purposely sabotage his own success. He’s so needy and insecure, and although he can lash out violently, he’s got such a core of sweetness. His story is a struggle with identity and loneliness… he’s like a lost little boy, how can you not love him? The episode that really won me over is “The Ladies Man,” where he tries to save a woman he arrested from being executed. He’s got a good heart, and he tries to do what’s best even though he usually doesn’t know what it is. (I think the character improved immensely when they switched the focus from his obsession with his ex-wife–creepy!–to the underlying loneliness and identity crisis that was causing it). Callum Keith Rennie is a great actor (I forgive him for the atrocious “Chicago” accent) — he made me cry a couple of times.

* That said, I like the Fraser/Ray Vecchio relationship better. I think Ray V. is a darker character–there’s something cold and cruel and bitter in him, and knowing Fraser really changes him. Fraser awakens a nearly-lost idealism in Ray V., and Ray helps Fraser come to a more nuanced understanding of the world and its darkness. They really do grow together and change each other. In comparison, the Fraser/Ray K. relationship seemed more shallow, focused on superficial traits like Fraser as the brains and Ray as the instinct, without challenging who either of them was at the core. They seemed drawn to each other out of loneliness and because the other was there, rather than out of a genuine connection.

* I did think the transition between Rays was handled very poorly. I have to remind myself that TV was different ten years ago; they were trying to gloss over the transition and get things back to “normal” as quickly as possible, instead of developing their relationship organically and exploring the emotional consequences of the change. Fraser and Ray K. trusted and liked each other way too quickly. This is part of what I love about new Who so much, that the companions aren’t treated as interchangeable, that there’s pain and fallout and loss to deal with every time someone leaves. I’m frustrated that Due South tried to “fix” things in a single episode, instead of doing an arc over time. But, I know, ten years ago.

* I liked the earlier seasons better. It was less self-consciously quirky–later episodes like “Spy vs Spy” made me cringe. And Fraser was a more nuanced character–in the early seasons, I really felt the desperate loneliness lurking underneath his exterior, but he seemed to become a parody of himself later on, played more for comedy with less underlying sadness. (Although I did get teary eyed at the very end, when he says that he thought his father’s ghost would be permanent. Awwww!)

* They did well in developing the supporting characters. I adored Inspector Thatcher–I kind of wish she’d ended up with Fraser, even though I hate compulsory-heterosexuality endings, just because she was so damn awesome. I love the way you always got the sense that she had so many emotions and lusts and insecurities lurking beneath her ultra-tough and competent exterior–I’d have watched a show entirely about her. But I’m glad her ending was to continue being awesome and saving the world. (Although modern events put a drearier perspective on it. *sigh*)

I also came to really love Lieutenant Welsh–I’m glad we got a whole episode focusing on him, and that he became a confidant and supporter of Fraser and Ray instead of just an adversary. And same with Gardino and … Huey? Louis? The one that didn’t die. That we got to know them beyond their role as rivals to the heroes, and that they got happy endings too. The less said about Francesca the better, though. I like that they gave her some depth near the end, but I was continually frustrated at how her sexuality was simultaneously exploited and treated like a joke.

* The episodes themselves were never that great. None of the plots were anything beyond standard and predictable. The fun was in the quirky moments (when they worked) and the characterizations. And, okay, the ho!yay was a bonus. I liked Fraser and Ray V. repeatedly locking themselves in the closet early on, and all through “Mountie on the Bounty” I was thinking, “The slashers must love this one.” Dude, they kissed!

I’m sad that Fraser didn’t end up with both Rays. I mean, it was a fun irony that Ray V. fell in love with Ray K.’s ex-wife, but, honestly, it’s his relationship with Fraser that I was invested in and that I wanted to see continue. Couldn’t they have all gone off to adventure in Canada? I mean, the slashers could squee about threesomes and the writers could maintain plausible deniability and all it really would’ve taken was a bit more bonding between the Rays in the final episode. *sigh* But I am glad that Fraser and at least one Ray ended up together! Although, um, I think Ray K. is going to get sick of freezing his ass off really quickly!

So, um, anyone have fic recs? I’ve never read a word of Due South fanfic–what are the standards in the fandom?

Current Mood: thoughtful