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 Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:55 pm
So there's much to say on this one. Like the beginning two episodes, this one is mixed with the web series. There were echoes and alterations alike, some good, some bad and some downright ambiguous.
Aside from the general commentary, I thought that the three-stories-at-once deal was pretty cool. It's not uncommon in general TV, but a lot of the time all of the threads converge instead of just two with an outlier. I'm all for nonconformity, so that was a nice twist. I'm also all for writers who can pull that off either by themselves of in some loose confederation (the writing credit slipped past my notice).
First, the main thread. Nikola Tesla was, I'll admit, a gigantic non-sequiter. It's implied throughout the series (and made blatant in the web series) that Helen has proverbially rubbed elbows with a lot of great historical figures in the sciences and I would not have put it past her to have been in partial cahoots with Tesla. Still, making him a vampire (or partially so, at least) seemed like a bit of a reach for the sake of weirdness. I'd also like to point out that the rewrite of the series left a nice little plot hole: Helen's longevity. The implication in the original web series was that Helen did, in fact, get it from her work with abnormals. Sure, the series never got far enough in that format to explain the exact way, but it was also implied that she received it as a reward from her patients for treating them (well some, anyway). Here they make Helen out to look almost wrong in her actions with the vampire blood. She literally created a monster (or two or three...). An interesting twist, but I'm not sure whether or not it's a good one.
And now for Druitt. I'm actually very torn over the idea of him being "cured". In the web series he was the chief bad guy; John Druitt was a human monster and a very compelling character as such. Seeing him all docile and sweet seemed very wrong to me at first, but it also made me a little bit happy (I'd also like to add that the setting of John and Ashley's conversation is an echo of the web premier to an extent). if things stay this good, he could come back and help the sanctuary crew again, but I have a bad feeling. In the web series he was an abnormal from birth and it was his warp ability that messed him up by damaging his brain every time he jumped. If the writers still hold this to be true, he could return just as psychotic as in the beginning and the results could rip us viewers up inside.
The third story thread in this episode appears to be the intro for next week's. I couldn't tell exactly what it is that Henry transforms into in the blur of that scene, but there's another big change in character history. In the original, Henry got into his position as sanctuary techie by nepotism; his grandfather was the original weapons designer for the organization and he was pure human. I'll admit that this makes things more interesting, but it's another case like the one of the main story. Was it a good idea to add this? I have to ask, being a writer.
And now for the greatest kicker of all: Ashley knows about her daddy. In the original this was learned right off the bat, as I believe I mentioned in the premier edition of the Review. It messed with Ashley's mind immensely (especially since John was still a villainous person then) and it caused her to go a wee bit psycho in the next arc of webisodes. The preview for next week suggests the exact same thing, but they're not jumping right into it like the web series did. At least, I don't think they are. I have a feeling we might see an exact reproduction or a close replica of a scene from the second set of webisodes that struck me as immensely awkward. I fear that Ashley will lose it most powerfully.
Now it's your turn, people. What did you think of The Five?
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:46 am
Overall I liked the episode. I was wondering if they were going to have any vampires on the show or if they were going to avoid them because so commonly used in scifi/fantasy. Do you know who played Tesla? He looks so familiar but for the life of me I cannot think of who he is....
I was wondering when they were going to get to Ashley finding out who her father is. I like Druitt's character but to me him being good almost makes him seem like a lost little puppy... From what I've seen of the first four webisodes and the show up until this point I was expecting him to be a bad guy....at least for a little bit longer than he was. I can't decide If I like him better good or evil. I'll just have to wait and see how they play his character out now.
I'm not sure how I feel about Henry being an abnormal...I'll have to wait until I get to watch then next episode to make up my mind.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:15 pm
The actor playing Tesla looked familiar to me, too. His IMDb page is right here.
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