(will tackle this in reverse order, please bear with me and your patience will be rewarded)
1. The Ugly
I am pretty sure that 50 years from now historians and sociologists of the future will flag this series as a turning point in the corporate takeover of human culture. To viewers today, the fact that the scripts are designed -- at the highest corporate level, ie, Disney -- to "assume" that you have ALREADY been to the theatre to catch the missing bits may seem... quaint. To those looking back from a futuristic perspective, however, I suspect that "quaint" will prove to be a severe understatement.
2. The Bad
Actually there is no bad. That was a literary trick just to make the review header work. Since the Brothers Whedon are the most literary tagteam writing in Hollywood today, I did not think they would mind.
3. The Good
What a thrill ride! Team Whedon delivered in spades. Just as Woody Allen is known for his penchant to "deconstruct" traditional story arcs, Team Whedon is known for invariably putting character arcs ahead of story arcs as the season builds and then -- in the payoff -- making every arc pay off like a hot-wired Vegas slot machine. Only 22 episodes and I feel like I know the characters, like I went to school with them. Astonishing writing. Better action than a Van Damme movie. No other TV show even comes close. Makes the STRIKE BACK LEGACY team look like two old guys who spend most of their time playing with their walkie-talkies.
1. The Ugly
I am pretty sure that 50 years from now historians and sociologists of the future will flag this series as a turning point in the corporate takeover of human culture. To viewers today, the fact that the scripts are designed -- at the highest corporate level, ie, Disney -- to "assume" that you have ALREADY been to the theatre to catch the missing bits may seem... quaint. To those looking back from a futuristic perspective, however, I suspect that "quaint" will prove to be a severe understatement.
2. The Bad
Actually there is no bad. That was a literary trick just to make the review header work. Since the Brothers Whedon are the most literary tagteam writing in Hollywood today, I did not think they would mind.
3. The Good
What a thrill ride! Team Whedon delivered in spades. Just as Woody Allen is known for his penchant to "deconstruct" traditional story arcs, Team Whedon is known for invariably putting character arcs ahead of story arcs as the season builds and then -- in the payoff -- making every arc pay off like a hot-wired Vegas slot machine. Only 22 episodes and I feel like I know the characters, like I went to school with them. Astonishing writing. Better action than a Van Damme movie. No other TV show even comes close. Makes the STRIKE BACK LEGACY team look like two old guys who spend most of their time playing with their walkie-talkies.