dear 2016, you are teetering on 'officially fired'

[lyssie]

1. Really. Bowie and Rickman in one week? Was it too much to ask not to spread them out a bit?

2. I am officially caught up on Doctor Who. Points to me for not stopping until I'd made it all the way through. No points to me for taking so bloody long.

3. I have also, disturbingly, caught up entirely on Sherlock. I blame the bushy-haired tall dude. Because he's not as tall as Trucco and Tahmoh, but he is tall, even if he's a bit odd-looking. (ok, also, Mary. And Molly.) and that voice, god

4. I should write up review things about the above two points, but they might entirely consist of "Can I have one?" (Clara) and "Can I have one?" (Sherlock). (ok, I'm not entirely that shallow)

(mostly)

5. In other news, I was listening to Spooks at work the other day (as you do, when windows keeps cuing up the episodes), and I realized that Tom Quinn is still the Angstiest Spy Ever, but Adam definitely gives him a run for his title. And as a whole, Harry's team really are the Worst, Most Obvious Spies. (also, Harry says something in a fourth series episode about not wanting to play god and I practically fell out of my chair. REALLY, HARRY. REALLY) And Ros, Ruth and Jo remain my favorites--if I had to quickly pick a team of women to storm the world, they'd be it. (and possibly Molly Hooper for medical backup. Or maybe Martha Jones. I can't decide which)

6. Like, a month ago I went down and visited aj and havocthecat, and there were potatoes and latkes and long conversations and it's been way too long since I'd seen them. And it was amazing to hang out. We all agreed that we are not too old for fandom, and that it sometimes is a bit scary to think about how long it's been since we entered said establishment and/or met each other (for reals, every time someone on my flist talks about the age of their children--if they have them--I suddenly am like "shit, I remember when...").

7. Christmas happened, saw parts of my family. Didn't see others. Drove a Ford Focus down and back, and it was lovely. (my sis and bro-in-law almost spoiled me for DW s9 and the xmas special, but I was all "la la la, can't hear you" at them. And then my sis was saying that she didn't get Elementary, 'cause Joan Watson sounds wrong, and I almost said "them's fighting words" but got distracted 'cause Joan would be like "...whatever" and go solve crime)

8. Watched the recent adaption of And Then Where None and thought it was very well done. Dark, gothic and very compelling (even if the music was occasionally a bit much). I also managed to not want it to end the way it did (and for once, fandom gave me presents in that the pairing I wanted to read is about the only thing out there--I know they are awful, awful people, but I ship it like I shipped everyone in Crimson Peak, ok)

9. I fell down on the job with keeping a booklist over the last year, so I've no idea what I read over the year. Perhaps I'll manage better this year. The only thing I remember is re-reading Georgiana again (I can't help it, Georgie is ridiculous and forthright and clever and she shoots him this one time, that's like Lyssie kryptonite served up with milk chocolate truffles)

10. I really have to stop with the parenthetical statements (even if they are fun, this is not prose, dammit).

(sigh)

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

I realized that Tom Quinn is still the Angstiest Spy Ever, but Adam definitely gives him a run for his title. And as a whole,

Adam's Angst never ends; it's terrible. At least Tom's is a story/character arc of beautiful destruction. Also, Lucas must surely be in the running too? (I mean, years of tortue! betrayal! whoops, what was 9.08, help?) Spooks men = so angsty. Except Harry. He tries, but always lapses into sarcasm.

I dunno, Ros and Ruth are the best, and Jo is pretty great but so are Zaf and Connie and Malcolm and Juliet and Tessa and Danny and Tom and Jools even Sam and probably people I have forgotten. Beth! I like Beth. She should have stayed. <3

(I'm rewatching S4 too. My rewatch has reached there and was going swimmingly until I hit some angst and slowed down. This rewatch could take some time if I procrastinate every time I reach an angsty episode, I fear...)

And as a whole, Harry's team really are the Worst, Most Obvious Spies.

But we wouldn't have them any other way. Go, incompetent spies! (You will be glad to know that I found a spy series from the 60s, Special Branch and it started up relatively realistic and ensemble (before taking an unexpected dive into colour and a misguided attempt to being like the Sweeney or something) and they failed at everything they did every week. But unlike 21st C spooks, they didn't angst, they just went home and had a casserole. So, actually, Section D have competition. And don't forget Wish Me Luck. They are not the most successful spies either.

Mind, according to my MI-5 book, neither are Mi-5 half the time.

I'm not sure I'd want a Sherlock, but I see nothing wrong with wanting a Clara.

ETA: I've just watched the Spooks film. I take it back: Harry's team are the worst, most incompetent, terrible, angsty spies ever, sorry I ever doubted you there.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

1. First off, I caught your ETA at work the other day, and laughed like a hyena. I'm so glad to know that (and now I really really have to get the movie, since it's never been released over here). So thank you =D

2. So, Leading Men and Their Angst in Spooks. Tom Quinn will always remain my personal Angstiest Spy Ever because I saw him and his angst first, and it made an impression upon me. I think it hit narrative beats that worked very well for me (even while being ridiculous at times), and so I liked his Angst the best. Adam's comes second, as while Tom was my first, Adam was the one who sort of matched everything I liked about spies (and angst. And spies)--it's also that the seasons 4-7 sort of hit multiple narrative kinks I enjoy deeply, and not just on Adam's behalf, so he benefits.

Lucas, otoh, I have... So. I like Lucas. In seasons 7 and 8. His angst wasn't overwhelming over the whole prison thing, and I quite liked his ex-wife. And the whole Sarah Caulfield thing was hilarious (they had the worst chemistry, even if I ship it. The writers should have gone with a Ros-Sarah thing, because they had excellent chemistry. I suppose they were trying a re-tread of Tom and Christine Dale, but unfortunately, Caulfield didn't have Dale's personality and style and Lucas isn't Tom). But then season 9 happened, with it's illogical and frankly stupid as hell backstory, and the season really warped around it, too. Most episodes are about Lucas and his thing. And then his ex (in the form of the lovely Laila Rouass) was introduced literally so they could fridge her and I was DONE with Lucas. Because, no.

Even typing it out still makes me incredibly angry.

And yes, I know that Adam's angst warped multiple seasons around him, and that Fiona was fridged for it, but Fiona got oodles of time to be awesome all on her own and as a character in her own right while Laila was literally a sexy lamp who got murdered to make Lucas turn into evilness. Also, while Adam's angst warped everything, the writers still managed to deliver fairly well with the other characters as well (Jo! Zaf! Connie! Roossss, who got her own manpain angstfest storyline!)

Season nine did not manage to deliver on the others being real people. Even the one episode focusing on Beth wasn't enough.

3. Beth. I do love Beth (even if the actress isn't the best, I still adore her in everything I've seen - I think Foyle's War was the first instance I saw her). But a) her introduction was as a prostitute (and one who was basically mistreated) which--I don't hate prostitutes, and Spooks has covered seduction as a cover multiple times, BUT. I still hate it as the "Hooker with a heart of gold" is so obnoxious and prevalent in everything. And I felt it was short-hand for the writers to not have to give Beth any sort of decent introduction.

b) WE GOT SO LITTLE OF HER. I wanted much more screen-time and action on her behalf--hell, I'm pretty sure Caulfield in season eight got more lines than Beth in season nine, and Caulfield was guest cast while Beth was supposedly main.

Basically, I hate season nine. And season ten didn't really do anything to make me lessen my anger towards the writers who took over. Literally, the only good bits of seasons nine and ten are: the aftermath of Ros, and Harry's revenge, Beth and Ruth and Erin, and the episode with Lydia Leonard--and Dmitri and Tariq, too. (my rage over Tariq is not particularly polite, either)

Er, and now I've started ranting. Apologies.
(continued, as I broke the comment character limit)

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

4. Back to not-ranting: one of the things I really do love (and continue to adore) about Spooks is the sheer variety of the women who are in it. Zoe, Juliet, Fiona, Jo, Ros, Connie, Ruth, Sam, Beth, Erin, Caulfield, Christine Dale... I know I'm missing some, but all of these women are so amazing (and so fallible, too) in their own ways and yet very different in others. And I do love them all, even if Connie broke my soul (OMG, the last run of episodes of season seven always has me in TEARS, because Ben. And Connie. And they are so so broken and ugh, I don't have the words).

I love Ben and Zaf and Colin and Malcolm and Adam and Danny and Tom and even Lucas (Tessa I don't remember much, and Jools was... slimy, but entertaining, I suppose). And Harry. Harry is like that person you hate so much (but then you love him after a while and he scares the pants off you on a regular basis).

I mean, if I really get down to it, Spooks fairly consistently delivered for about eight and a half seasons for me, with characters I adored and team-work and cameraderie and ANGST and ridiculousness and stupid chases and dumb decisions (TRAIN BOMB, HARRY) and adrenaline and double-crosses (OH JULIET).

And it also delivers well on spot the actor bingo.

5. Special Branch sounds entertaining (as does the MI-5 book. I should get myself more books on this subject to read, and more tv). Wish Me Luck! I'd forgotten that, though at least I felt they had... reason to be not so amazing at the spy business (and the Vera Atkins stand-in was lovely, as was Liz in all her Nancy Wake/Christina Granville-ness)

ETA: I've totally just realized that I mixed up Oliver Mace with Jools. This shouldn't really be surprising and I blame Black Adder for it entirely. I'm not actually sure I remember Jools very well. But Mace is slimy yet somewhat entertaining.

[thisbluespirit]

First off, I caught your ETA at work the other day, and laughed like a hyena. I'm so glad to know that (and now I really really have to get the movie, since it's never been released over here). So thank you =D

:-D If you think Section D have been incompetent in the series, the film takes it to a whole new level of what was anyone thinking??? But it does have Jennifer Ehle, which was nice. And Mace, actually, being surprisingly great, even though I don't know how he got out of disgrace to be there.

(Jools = snarky Hugh Laurie = awesome. Mace = Tim Mcinerny = pretty good, but yeah, slimy, character to hate. Blackadder confusion is understandable! You should clearly rewatch S1, because also Tessa is great in her special evil way. Jenny Agutter!)

Zoe, Juliet, Fiona, Jo, Ros, Connie, Ruth, Sam, Beth, Erin, Caulfield, Christine Dale... I know I'm missing some, but all of these women are so amazing

*nods a lot*

Adam's angst is still my most annoyingest, but probably because I find it easier to pretend lots of s9 (and especially 9.08) didn't even happen, whereas despite everything I don't like in S6 (and, oh my, where do you start?), that's harder. Also Adam was fun when he started, and I liked that, and so his turning around and angsting instead was just not on.

Special Branch wasn't really that entertaining, but I found it so on a Spooks-comparison level. (I also liked a really obscure spy b-movie called The Traitors that I watched for James Maxwell, but was pretty much Spooks 1962, except they were a bit more competent and actually rounded up their guy. Well, after letting people get killed and losing people and a dramatic fight in a swimming pool, and exchanges on London benches... :lol:)

BuT i'm having a slow Spooks rewatch and FEELINGS, and also baffled as to where all of Spooks fandom just evaporated. I think they were all undercover officers or something... :-(

*hangs onto you*

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I was very startled at Mace being quite good, myself (because it's Mace). otoh, he was still a slap-happy bastard, so it balanced out. (I also don't remember where he ended up, but he did start in '6, once upon a time, or so someone says at some point in an episode I was listening to).

I think I might actually need to do a proper re-watch rather than just my "MY FEELS" re-watch stuff where I gaze adoringly at Ros/Jo/Zoe/etc. (or not gaze, but listen, and especially Caulfield, because she is disturbingly awful and amazing at once. Terribly embarrassing how much the villains grow on me these days)

And it's funny that I was saying Adam's angst didn't bother me, because I just hit 5.9, and I wanted to beat him senseless for his "don't tell Harry I broke down last time, ok" bullshit. (also, it is very disconcerting to jump from season 8 where Lucas met up with his old torturer that one time to the episode where Adam meets his.) ARGH.

I think season six was something I watched all in one go, so it didn't bother me as much there (and Jo and Zaf were there, and Ros got her own man-pain plot to help balance it out). That said, I'm not sure I've ever re-watched season six. I tend to get through 3-5.7 or so and drift over to 7-8.

And to be fair to Spooks fandom, it's hard to maintain something when it's a small draw and there's no new material (and it wasn't until Hobbit that the Lucas fans descended and tumblr was a thing then, so LJ didn't get that influx as far as I can tell).

[thisbluespirit]

Terribly embarrassing how much the villains grow on me these days)

Well, in Spooks in particular, there are some great female villains & also there's this constant questioning of how far away they are from the 'heroes' anyway. Tessa & Connie in particular, I think. I haven't ever rewatched Sarah Caulfield. I would probably enjoy her more knowing she was evil from the start, whereas pre-evil-reveal she was just random and annoying.

(Also you need to do a rewatch, because S6 did not have Zaf! S6 lost him very quickly and never found him again and it was the most rubbish thing until 9.08, because if someone's missing on TV, you expect some sort of close out, not, o btw they're dead, sorry. Horribly horribly dead, sorry. /o\)

It's still very unfair - I always prefer a closed fandom and Spooks was so much more mainstream than nearly anything else I go for, but even when you poke the comm with a stick, nobody moves.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I feel that I had things I was going to say, and now it's been five days and I don't remember them (oh well, I did blather on quite a bit previous)

However, the big thing I'm discovering is that I'm completely eating my words about angst in the Male Spook Lead. Because re-watching 1/2 has led to adoration of Tom (or not adoration, but not annoying as I was expecting) whilst the re-listens at work continue to make me want to slap the crap out of Adam for not dealing with his crap and letting it get in the way (I don't care how believable a deconstruction of near-death/ptsd/grief that was, it was annnoying).

I HAD ENTIRELY forgotten that the train episode = Zaf being gone. (DAMN). And I agree that his send-off was ridiculous in that it got buried in the mix of everything else (and while I can claim that Jo got to mourn, that's really... not what happened. Just because it is MY headcanon...)

(Also, the train episode is what made me laugh like a loon when Harry claimed he didn't like to play god. I totally believe you, Harry. Totally)

Also, I'd forgotten season 2 has that one episode where Harry brings Important Documents home with him (even just typing that makes me go "are you f-ing KIDDING ME. HARRY? What?" Which is to say that seems like the LEAST likely thing he'd do) Or season 1. I don't remember which, I sort of watched half of 2, then went back and I'm halfway through 1.

Tessa is making me smile, but also be sad as I know she is gone in 2. However, I find her another completely different female character, so I'm deeply in love with that fact (and as much as I may hate later decisions of the show, I still give them props over the plethora of women).

Although just typing that is making me remember being angry over Erin in the movie. Sigh.

I went hunting Spooks fic out of boredom this morning, and there is actually a vaguely thriving (in that they post the occasional fic) section on fanfiction.net.

"You know Mr. Belling?" "Only from certain recordings." - I can't not watch and listen to 3.01. It's so terrible and yet I love it. (I am free-associating here, I think)

Augh. I'm going to stop while I'm ahead in not quoting entire sections at you.

[thisbluespirit]

I think the thing with Tom was annoying the first time round; on rewatches how much of it is actual this planned arc of character destruction makes it different. I haven't yet rewatched S5 or 6 to tell with Adam, but I will soon!

Jo mourning Zaf is my headcanon, too. And I don't think it just headcanon. In S7, she keeps seeing Zaf around, doesn't she? (I'm sure it was actually S7 and not S6, but now I'm doubting myself.)

S2 has two really duff episodes and they both involve child geniuses, so I don't know why they felt that was so good they should do it twice in one series. And the second one has Harry taking secret documents home with him. /o\ (Not good.)

Yay, Tessa. :-) (She actually does come back in S2 - I think more than once even?)

There's fic on AO3, too, but at the moment it always seems to be Ruth/Harry fluff or Lucas fic. Maybe I've given up too soon, though, just because of the measly amount of Zaf/Jo in the world!

[ilanala]

for reals, every time someone on my flist talks about the age of their children--if they have them--I suddenly am like "shit, I remember when..."

I know this feeling well. It's especially weird with the people who didn't have kids or in some cases weren't even with their future spouses yet when I met them.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

YES. Like, I'll suddenly be like "wait... I remember when you were single and now you're celebrating how many years?!?"

Still, I guess it's a good thing. =D

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

I asked for And Then There Were None (play version) for Yuletide, and did not get it sadly.

I keep hearing about the adaptation but haven't seen it yet.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Aw. That is sad!

This adaption restores the original novel ending, not the play ending (from what wiki tells me). Unfortunately, that probably means even if there is more fic popping up, it won't be the play version.