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More VM ramblings
I will get to the point where I post about something else. Soon. I promise.
Now that a little time has passed I think that I have some better insights into what unsettled me about the VM finale. They range from specific issues with the episode itself to realizations about my own personal pov and how that affected my perceptions. Let me add that this is a purely subjective opinion and I'm in no way trying to undercut anyone else's pleasure in the episode.
Okay, I'll admit it. I thought having Aaron turn out to be a bombastic murderer employing the greatest hit parade of horror movie cliches was a little cheesy. While the horror movie homages did get the blood pumping, I was somehow expecting a reveal that was more clever. I think this partially makes the show a victim of its own success. Earlier episodes were deft with the unexpected twist and this one lacked that same touch. My own reading of textual clues was also at fault apparently. I totally bought that Aaron was a womanizer with an explosive temper, but the show, to me at least, had made a serious point of showing that he slept with the wives, ie adult women, of those that he knew and that his violence was only directed toward males (Logan and Dylan). In fact, it was violence against a woman (Trina) that acted as the trigger for one of his outbursts. So, I was less willing to buy a fling with his son's on again, off again girlfried. I felt it made what had been a oddly compelling trainwreck of a character and reduced him to more of a stock villain. Not that Harry Hamlin doesn't know how to chew some scenery.
Much attention has been devoted to the noir sensibility. I have loved the clever little details and grace notes in the series that have supported those comparisons, but in the excitement I forgot one important fact about noir, it's bedrock is betrayal and there aren't many happy endings. That's why I generally don't like classic noir movies as a rule. Yes, the mystery gets solved, but nearly everyone's life is negatively impacted in the process. I don't need to have a show wrap up every plot line neatly with color coordinated bows while the characters skip happily off into the middle distance, but I do need to feel that my emotional investment has been repaid with some catharsis and a hope for the future. This episode left me with a great deal of pain and not a whole lot of hope.
Am I swearing off VM forever because of the finale, no. That would be silly. But, I'm viewing the prospects of a new season with a lot more trepidation than anticipation.
Now that a little time has passed I think that I have some better insights into what unsettled me about the VM finale. They range from specific issues with the episode itself to realizations about my own personal pov and how that affected my perceptions. Let me add that this is a purely subjective opinion and I'm in no way trying to undercut anyone else's pleasure in the episode.
Okay, I'll admit it. I thought having Aaron turn out to be a bombastic murderer employing the greatest hit parade of horror movie cliches was a little cheesy. While the horror movie homages did get the blood pumping, I was somehow expecting a reveal that was more clever. I think this partially makes the show a victim of its own success. Earlier episodes were deft with the unexpected twist and this one lacked that same touch. My own reading of textual clues was also at fault apparently. I totally bought that Aaron was a womanizer with an explosive temper, but the show, to me at least, had made a serious point of showing that he slept with the wives, ie adult women, of those that he knew and that his violence was only directed toward males (Logan and Dylan). In fact, it was violence against a woman (Trina) that acted as the trigger for one of his outbursts. So, I was less willing to buy a fling with his son's on again, off again girlfried. I felt it made what had been a oddly compelling trainwreck of a character and reduced him to more of a stock villain. Not that Harry Hamlin doesn't know how to chew some scenery.
Much attention has been devoted to the noir sensibility. I have loved the clever little details and grace notes in the series that have supported those comparisons, but in the excitement I forgot one important fact about noir, it's bedrock is betrayal and there aren't many happy endings. That's why I generally don't like classic noir movies as a rule. Yes, the mystery gets solved, but nearly everyone's life is negatively impacted in the process. I don't need to have a show wrap up every plot line neatly with color coordinated bows while the characters skip happily off into the middle distance, but I do need to feel that my emotional investment has been repaid with some catharsis and a hope for the future. This episode left me with a great deal of pain and not a whole lot of hope.
Am I swearing off VM forever because of the finale, no. That would be silly. But, I'm viewing the prospects of a new season with a lot more trepidation than anticipation.