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May. 10th, 2005 04:28 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
kosmickway.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
nbc_mediumI wasn't sure if critiques of the eps were allowed. I hope so ... I didn't see anything in the info about not posting them. Since I had some strong feelings about last night's show, I wanted to share. So here we go ...
In a nutshell, I had VERY mixed feelings about last night's "Medium" episode. It was a great concept but a swing and a miss as far as the execution goes.
If you haven't already decided to start chucking heavy objects at me and want to see more, check under the cut. Please note that this contains a discussion about the plot of the show so if you TIVO'ed the thing and haven't seen it yet, don't look. You have been warned.
-The dream really creeped me out. A lot. It had a very David Lynchian feel to it, gory, surreal, and utterly creepy. I was glad to see that ... most of the dream sequences are relatively straight forward (the exception being the dream in "Night of the Wolf" ... that was superbly Lynchian) so I was glad to really be creeped out.
-The concept ... interesting. A body-jumping soul sucker. Very Anne Rice Meets Star Trek. The concept didn't impress me as much as it could have because I am a fan of both Trek (which uses the body-jumping-soul sucker concept religiously) and Twin Peaks (which is supernatural realism at its peak, no pun intended) and have seen this idea many times before. It felt a little old to me. I think it had the potential to be executed well but this episode of "Medium" did NOT execute the idea well. I found myself a bit confused by the whole thing, by Allison's jumbled explanations about who Walker is and what he did ... it felt to me as though the screenwriter had figured everything out in her head but never took the time to thoroughly explain it to the audience so we could follow. I never clearly understood how Walker had the capability to jump from body to body, why the 15 years between killings made a difference (which Allison got wrong, BTW ... 1991 when Brittany was killed to 2004 when Alicia was supposed to die isn't 15 years ... it's 14), and why the spirit of this killer was so strong that it survived instead of going on to hell or heaven or wherever souls go. There were too many unanswered questions for my taste ... the whole episode felt sloppy. Granted, unanswered questions can be tantalizing ... I'm a screenwriter, too, I know this ... but these unanswered questions felt sloppy and left me unfulfilled.
-The actors seemed to be off. It's just a sense that they didn't seem as comfortable in their roles as they usually do. Or maybe it's the friction heating up between Joe and Allison but whatever it was, I felt as I was watching that the actors were having a major off night during filming ... but that may also be because of the poor script.
-Another thing that really irked me was the incorrect usage of the psychobabble. I've taken a few psych courses and have done some research especially into DID (disassociative identity disorder), a mental illness under a lot of debate by professionals in the field which was formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder (or MPD). the doctor at the sanitarium told Allison that Holloway was manifesting "a form or schizophrenia or DID" ... he also compared it to possession. Possession is probably the closest appropriate term for what Holloway seemed to be suffering from since he wasn't manifesting what I understood to be the major symptomology of schizophrenia. My grandmother was schizophrenic and I assure you that she did not go around hearing voices and switching accents. That is much more symptomatic of DID ... any doctor would know enough about schizophrenia, I should hope, not to diagnose a patient with it when, in fact, his symptomology is much closer to something else which isn't even in the same category as schizophrenia. As to DID, points for the writer for using it but she also loses some for not having it exactly right. DID is a disease that many mental health professionals debate exists at all and is almost impossible to prove that a patient does or does not have the disease. Many people are incorrectly diagnosed with DID, for some odd reason (one of my friends was diagnosed with DID when she was doing a lot of playacting for attention and nothing more), and the people who do present with symptoms usually present with one or more personalities (or alters). The research I've done says that DID sufferers, if they exist at all, do not typically lose blocks of time as Holloway did, although some do present with different voices and mannerisms. In short, it was a good try to use DID in the episode but it was not, in my opinion used correctly ... merely thrown in as psychobabble without appropriate research ...
BUT, MIND YOU, THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION. PErhaps the writer did a lot of research ... maybe my research is wrong or misleading ... I really couldn't tell you. It just irked me that it got thrown in there and lumped in with schizophrenia when they're really two different things. To sum up my long-winded analysis of "what was wrong with Holloway", it's closer to a possession, as we found out, than any psychological disorder.
-Dr Holloway as Dr Walker=really bad Keith Richards impersonation.
-For the love of GOD, someone PLEASE coach the young woman on her Brit accent. It was all over the place and just sounded stupid. For that matter, she isn't going to win an Emmy either.
-A point that I found interesting (being a TV nitpicker and all) is that "Medium" refers to the county that Phoenix is in as "Mariposa County" (in fact, we're in Maricopa County) ... that's probably for legal reasons and whatnot ... but why then can they use the actual area code of 602? Maybe because she gave a fictional 555 phone number after it. Who knows? It's just a nitpicky thing.
Well, that's my nitpicky and perhaps overly harsh critique of last night's ep. If anyone is still speaking to me after reading it, please weigh in. And if you don't like what I had to say please don't bother flaming me. I realize I'm an opinionated jerk when it comes to my shows. No one needs to tell me otherwise ;)
In a nutshell, I had VERY mixed feelings about last night's "Medium" episode. It was a great concept but a swing and a miss as far as the execution goes.
If you haven't already decided to start chucking heavy objects at me and want to see more, check under the cut. Please note that this contains a discussion about the plot of the show so if you TIVO'ed the thing and haven't seen it yet, don't look. You have been warned.
-The dream really creeped me out. A lot. It had a very David Lynchian feel to it, gory, surreal, and utterly creepy. I was glad to see that ... most of the dream sequences are relatively straight forward (the exception being the dream in "Night of the Wolf" ... that was superbly Lynchian) so I was glad to really be creeped out.
-The concept ... interesting. A body-jumping soul sucker. Very Anne Rice Meets Star Trek. The concept didn't impress me as much as it could have because I am a fan of both Trek (which uses the body-jumping-soul sucker concept religiously) and Twin Peaks (which is supernatural realism at its peak, no pun intended) and have seen this idea many times before. It felt a little old to me. I think it had the potential to be executed well but this episode of "Medium" did NOT execute the idea well. I found myself a bit confused by the whole thing, by Allison's jumbled explanations about who Walker is and what he did ... it felt to me as though the screenwriter had figured everything out in her head but never took the time to thoroughly explain it to the audience so we could follow. I never clearly understood how Walker had the capability to jump from body to body, why the 15 years between killings made a difference (which Allison got wrong, BTW ... 1991 when Brittany was killed to 2004 when Alicia was supposed to die isn't 15 years ... it's 14), and why the spirit of this killer was so strong that it survived instead of going on to hell or heaven or wherever souls go. There were too many unanswered questions for my taste ... the whole episode felt sloppy. Granted, unanswered questions can be tantalizing ... I'm a screenwriter, too, I know this ... but these unanswered questions felt sloppy and left me unfulfilled.
-The actors seemed to be off. It's just a sense that they didn't seem as comfortable in their roles as they usually do. Or maybe it's the friction heating up between Joe and Allison but whatever it was, I felt as I was watching that the actors were having a major off night during filming ... but that may also be because of the poor script.
-Another thing that really irked me was the incorrect usage of the psychobabble. I've taken a few psych courses and have done some research especially into DID (disassociative identity disorder), a mental illness under a lot of debate by professionals in the field which was formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder (or MPD). the doctor at the sanitarium told Allison that Holloway was manifesting "a form or schizophrenia or DID" ... he also compared it to possession. Possession is probably the closest appropriate term for what Holloway seemed to be suffering from since he wasn't manifesting what I understood to be the major symptomology of schizophrenia. My grandmother was schizophrenic and I assure you that she did not go around hearing voices and switching accents. That is much more symptomatic of DID ... any doctor would know enough about schizophrenia, I should hope, not to diagnose a patient with it when, in fact, his symptomology is much closer to something else which isn't even in the same category as schizophrenia. As to DID, points for the writer for using it but she also loses some for not having it exactly right. DID is a disease that many mental health professionals debate exists at all and is almost impossible to prove that a patient does or does not have the disease. Many people are incorrectly diagnosed with DID, for some odd reason (one of my friends was diagnosed with DID when she was doing a lot of playacting for attention and nothing more), and the people who do present with symptoms usually present with one or more personalities (or alters). The research I've done says that DID sufferers, if they exist at all, do not typically lose blocks of time as Holloway did, although some do present with different voices and mannerisms. In short, it was a good try to use DID in the episode but it was not, in my opinion used correctly ... merely thrown in as psychobabble without appropriate research ...
BUT, MIND YOU, THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION. PErhaps the writer did a lot of research ... maybe my research is wrong or misleading ... I really couldn't tell you. It just irked me that it got thrown in there and lumped in with schizophrenia when they're really two different things. To sum up my long-winded analysis of "what was wrong with Holloway", it's closer to a possession, as we found out, than any psychological disorder.
-Dr Holloway as Dr Walker=really bad Keith Richards impersonation.
-For the love of GOD, someone PLEASE coach the young woman on her Brit accent. It was all over the place and just sounded stupid. For that matter, she isn't going to win an Emmy either.
-A point that I found interesting (being a TV nitpicker and all) is that "Medium" refers to the county that Phoenix is in as "Mariposa County" (in fact, we're in Maricopa County) ... that's probably for legal reasons and whatnot ... but why then can they use the actual area code of 602? Maybe because she gave a fictional 555 phone number after it. Who knows? It's just a nitpicky thing.
Well, that's my nitpicky and perhaps overly harsh critique of last night's ep. If anyone is still speaking to me after reading it, please weigh in. And if you don't like what I had to say please don't bother flaming me. I realize I'm an opinionated jerk when it comes to my shows. No one needs to tell me otherwise ;)
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no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 11:47 pm (UTC)1. why the 15 years between killings made a difference
Dr. Holloway/Walker tells Allison that it takes 15 years (she actually posed the question herself..) because it took that long for him to actually have a profound influence on the human he's inhabiting. Most people are "a bit sensitive" and it takes them a long time to turn them into majorly sensitive (I forget the word he used here.)
2.why the spirit of this killer was so strong that it survived instead of going on to hell or heaven or wherever souls go.
This one's a lamer answer, but again, it's directly from the show and seemed to end my suspicions. Holloway/Walker something along the lines of when a soul hungers, death doesn't stop it. I'm thinking along the lines of unfinished business and such. Something akin to that. I don't know. I don't have qualms about it.
But then again, I am younger and totally not as experienced as a writer (although with luck! hopefully I will be, but I'm more of a playwright) so who knows if this will make any sense to you.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 11:53 pm (UTC)but i appreciate you clueing me in ... i can use all the help i can get ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 12:18 am (UTC)Esp. what-his-name? The cop. I always forget his name when it comes to things like this. I thought he was sharp this time. But that could just be me. *shrug*
I wish you luck in your TV future btw. You have an eye.
and SCORE! that my explanations make sense.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 12:15 am (UTC)I think your critique was right on.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 01:38 am (UTC)Two other stuff . . .
Date: 2005-05-11 01:44 am (UTC)My other complaint about the show was mostly the ending. I mean, it just seemed TOO easy for Allison to will the soul out of the girl, just like that. Oooh, scary evil Allison eye. Just seemed too easy for a soul that had supposedly been possessing people since his death in 1907 (?).
Oh, and one more . . . now, I really like the family dynamics of the show. But with the number-guess-cheating thing with Ariel seemed a bit out of place. I mean, usually there's a tie-in, or at least they'd talk to her about what was going on. Usually we find out the truth, and to be honest, I was more interested in that storyline (as out of place as it was), so when there wasn't any real answer. I mean, did Ariel "guess" it from her father, or did she "guess" it from the number on the desk?
Re: Two other stuff . . .
Date: 2005-05-11 02:38 am (UTC)I really liked the idea of a bodyhopping spirit as a serial killer though, mostly because Allison usually thwarts the living breathing murderers with the help of dead people, not the other way round.
And the dream sequence was definitely, effectively creepy.
Also - the news program on the TV, was the date May 23? Am I seeing things, or is that significant in some way? I remember being really disconcerted because I looked at the calendar and I was like, "It's the 9th!"
Re: Two other stuff . . .
Date: 2005-05-11 02:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 02:14 am (UTC)Funny, I think Jake Weber needs to be coached as well on his inconsistent accent.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-13 06:57 am (UTC)