Sanctuary For All: From the Top
Jan. 16th, 2011 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_ityI love watching pilot episodes of TV shows. I love it because I love watching how writers get around obstacles like "explaining what the hell is happening" in increasingly creative ways. The pilot episode for Atlantis, not to mention the one for LOST, are probably two of the greatest TV episodes of all time...because in addition to being pilots, they feel like actual episodes of the show. Sanctuary For All is not quite that seamless, since the pilot was actually a re-write of the webisodes, and then a bunch of things changed during the season, but it's still a very good start to an excellent show, balancing exposition, action, backstory, and forward movement through character development.
Most of the really great moments come at the end of the episode, but the opening is still very striking. We open in New City, a place the show almost never takes us, and the camera pans back to Old City, which manages to look more inviting and less comfortable at the same time. And then the first place we go is a crime scene, with characters we'll never see again (for the most part), and we find out exactly how crazy things are about to get.
It takes Will a while to follow us there. We meet him at a restaurant. At first, it looks like he's out with friends, but even though there are three other people at the table, he's not talking to any of them. He's just eating there alone, obsessing over the direction of the vinegar because he can't make himself stop. By the time Will catches up to us, he's already firmly established himself as Being Kind of Odd. The earthly, hardbitten cops back us up on that, teasing him less than gently because the only alternative is a hugely awkward silence. Before we go into the room with Will and meet up with his Gimmick, there's really only one important detail we need to remember: Kavan Smith is still very, very hot.
I actually kind of like Will's Gimmick, because it's dead useful. And it's played well throughout the rest of the show. The effect itself is a bit cheesy, but I'll allow it because it lets us follow his thought processes. I hate the part in Holmes stories were Sherlock is all "And now, watch me pull eight rabbits out of my hat!", and Will's Gimmick lets us keep pace nicely. It's a bit overdone in this scene (and the episode, really), but I suppose they wanted to be sure we were paying attention.
What "agency" exactly gave Will the boot? Because later we'll find out he was at Quantico, and that would be "the bureau", would it not? I suppose this just goes under "things that don't really matter and got changed."
Will has spent his entire life thinking that he's the only one who notices things like ten year old boys climbing down the side of a building and then running off up an alley. He's not, of course, and more importantly he has forgotten to take into account the people who were watching him. Ashley Magnus is the first one we meet, and clearly she's supposed to make an impression because no one dresses like that for accident, but it's not until we finally, finally meet Helen that we realize Will was born for this and no one ever thought to tell him about it.
And that's okay, you think, because Helen is not afraid of things that go bump in the night. More often, they are afraid of her. And with good reason, because her switch from "sorry we ran you over" to "lunch date/autopsy" is both adorable and chilling. The world is her playground, and Will is her next target. But still, you're not really afraid until a tall bald man appears in an alley way, knowing far too much to be just another monster and holding a picture of Helen that makes you start to question everything you knew about her. And then you're afraid, because nothing is more terrifying than a psychopath with a British accent.
When I first saw this episode, I assumed that we were in Seattle, or a facsimile thereof, because it rained so much. I'm still thinking Pacific Northwest (if only because later they'll drive to Vancouver in ten seconds), but I like that they picked an entirely new city to set the Sanctuary in. If nothing else, it will prevent me from spending more time on the internet googling street maps of NYC.
By the time we really meet Ashley and get the Alexei back to the Sanctuary, the show has changed again. Because there's a difference between a crazy lady with a big house and some wacky connections and a woman who has carefully constructed a team around her to help her do her job. And we haven't even MET Henry yet.
Ashley's whole spiel about the werewolves is another part of the show that changed after the pilot (in terms of werewolf mythology, anyway). But I like that parts of the scene in the infirmary that are still true: Helen worrying about the EM shield, and then telling Will that the details of Ashley's conception are "unimportant". Sweet, sweet denial! Plus, "She bags them, you tag them" is awesome. I really, really wish we got more of the mother/daughter monster hunter show. It's probably my only real complaint with the direction the series has taken.
When we finally get to see Will work his magic, he's alone in a room with two beings he's afraid of because he doesn't understand them. I'm not even sure he understands it's a job interview, though a watching Henry clearly does and thinks it's funny. We see Magnus crack just a bit more when he tells her about the prostitute murder from early in the evening, but it's played off so deftly amidst Henry's technobabble that it's almost possible to miss. By the time Will has figured out what's going on with the boy, and Helen has had a kind of terrifying scene with the mermaid, we as the audience are so spun around by all that's happened in the last ten minutes that we're not sure what's going on anymore.
Which is, of course, exactly when The Ripper makes his move.
(After an adorable scene with Ashley and Henry. Which was totally not necessary given the episode, but since it bookends nicely with there van scene later, I appreciate it even more.)
On the surface, John's first real scene is all about Ashley. How she acts in a fight (I particularly like the bits with Sylvio), and very, very easily her patience is frayed. Of course beneath the surface, the whole scene is about Ashley too, but we don't really know that until later. By the time John has his arm around Henry (for whom one might feel genuine concern, as his name is not in credits) it's finally all crashed in that a man Helen Magnus is afraid of is very, very bad news. He confirms this moments later, when he tells Henry what the EM shield is really for, and then it's too late.
Things happen quite quickly at that point, but important events are:
1. Helen does not shoot John. Even when he has his arm around her daughter, and she knows that he could make them both disappear any moment. EVEN THOUGH ASHLEY ASKS HER. TWICE.
2. There is something about Helen's blood. We are not surprised, because we knew it had to be something, but we are intrigued.
3. When the chips are down, there is very little that Will Zimmerman is frightened by.
4. Helen Magnus is ready for anything. Every time.
Interestingly, John makes reference to the Five twice, which makes me wonder if he honestly doesn't know that Nigel is dead. Also, the whole "they are coming" thing is creepy, but ultimately worthless, since nothing actually comes of it. Still, by the time John disappears, he's made Helen into the most interesting person on television, and he does it in four scenes.
When the dust has cleared and Will has decided this life is not for him, he goes to see The Big Guy in the infirmary. He presumes animal. He presumes non-speaking. He is wrong. And in his first line, Bigfoot gives possibly my favourite line in the entire episode, if not the series. Because it would have been SO easy for Will to Grow As A Person and be all "we're all God's chilluns", but he doesn't. And he doesn't because Bigfoot doesn't let him. "Will, you're wrong. There are monsters in the world."
He's not talking about John. He's not even talking about the people who shot him back in the '50s. He's talking about Helen Magnus, and all the things we don't yet know that she is capable of.
Because she held Will when his mother died, and grieved for the thing that killed her. And she tracked Jack the Ripper and couldn't shoot him even when he held a knife to Molly's throat. And she couldn't even do it when it was their daughter. And she's manipulative and brilliant and loving and deadly.
And there's no health plan. Shall we begin?
+++
I'm not going to review every episode, but I'm hoping to at least cover "the big ones". Honestly, it helps me marshal my thoughts for fic. ;)
Helen figured it out after Mary Kelly, went to James, things ensued, John escaped, they all tracked John but didn't catch him with #6 and #7, and then Helen caught him with Molly.
Most of the really great moments come at the end of the episode, but the opening is still very striking. We open in New City, a place the show almost never takes us, and the camera pans back to Old City, which manages to look more inviting and less comfortable at the same time. And then the first place we go is a crime scene, with characters we'll never see again (for the most part), and we find out exactly how crazy things are about to get.
It takes Will a while to follow us there. We meet him at a restaurant. At first, it looks like he's out with friends, but even though there are three other people at the table, he's not talking to any of them. He's just eating there alone, obsessing over the direction of the vinegar because he can't make himself stop. By the time Will catches up to us, he's already firmly established himself as Being Kind of Odd. The earthly, hardbitten cops back us up on that, teasing him less than gently because the only alternative is a hugely awkward silence. Before we go into the room with Will and meet up with his Gimmick, there's really only one important detail we need to remember: Kavan Smith is still very, very hot.
I actually kind of like Will's Gimmick, because it's dead useful. And it's played well throughout the rest of the show. The effect itself is a bit cheesy, but I'll allow it because it lets us follow his thought processes. I hate the part in Holmes stories were Sherlock is all "And now, watch me pull eight rabbits out of my hat!", and Will's Gimmick lets us keep pace nicely. It's a bit overdone in this scene (and the episode, really), but I suppose they wanted to be sure we were paying attention.
What "agency" exactly gave Will the boot? Because later we'll find out he was at Quantico, and that would be "the bureau", would it not? I suppose this just goes under "things that don't really matter and got changed."
Will has spent his entire life thinking that he's the only one who notices things like ten year old boys climbing down the side of a building and then running off up an alley. He's not, of course, and more importantly he has forgotten to take into account the people who were watching him. Ashley Magnus is the first one we meet, and clearly she's supposed to make an impression because no one dresses like that for accident, but it's not until we finally, finally meet Helen that we realize Will was born for this and no one ever thought to tell him about it.
And that's okay, you think, because Helen is not afraid of things that go bump in the night. More often, they are afraid of her. And with good reason, because her switch from "sorry we ran you over" to "lunch date/autopsy" is both adorable and chilling. The world is her playground, and Will is her next target. But still, you're not really afraid until a tall bald man appears in an alley way, knowing far too much to be just another monster and holding a picture of Helen that makes you start to question everything you knew about her. And then you're afraid, because nothing is more terrifying than a psychopath with a British accent.
When I first saw this episode, I assumed that we were in Seattle, or a facsimile thereof, because it rained so much. I'm still thinking Pacific Northwest (if only because later they'll drive to Vancouver in ten seconds), but I like that they picked an entirely new city to set the Sanctuary in. If nothing else, it will prevent me from spending more time on the internet googling street maps of NYC.
By the time we really meet Ashley and get the Alexei back to the Sanctuary, the show has changed again. Because there's a difference between a crazy lady with a big house and some wacky connections and a woman who has carefully constructed a team around her to help her do her job. And we haven't even MET Henry yet.
Ashley's whole spiel about the werewolves is another part of the show that changed after the pilot (in terms of werewolf mythology, anyway). But I like that parts of the scene in the infirmary that are still true: Helen worrying about the EM shield, and then telling Will that the details of Ashley's conception are "unimportant". Sweet, sweet denial! Plus, "She bags them, you tag them" is awesome. I really, really wish we got more of the mother/daughter monster hunter show. It's probably my only real complaint with the direction the series has taken.
When we finally get to see Will work his magic, he's alone in a room with two beings he's afraid of because he doesn't understand them. I'm not even sure he understands it's a job interview, though a watching Henry clearly does and thinks it's funny. We see Magnus crack just a bit more when he tells her about the prostitute murder from early in the evening, but it's played off so deftly amidst Henry's technobabble that it's almost possible to miss. By the time Will has figured out what's going on with the boy, and Helen has had a kind of terrifying scene with the mermaid, we as the audience are so spun around by all that's happened in the last ten minutes that we're not sure what's going on anymore.
Which is, of course, exactly when The Ripper makes his move.
(After an adorable scene with Ashley and Henry. Which was totally not necessary given the episode, but since it bookends nicely with there van scene later, I appreciate it even more.)
On the surface, John's first real scene is all about Ashley. How she acts in a fight (I particularly like the bits with Sylvio), and very, very easily her patience is frayed. Of course beneath the surface, the whole scene is about Ashley too, but we don't really know that until later. By the time John has his arm around Henry (for whom one might feel genuine concern, as his name is not in credits) it's finally all crashed in that a man Helen Magnus is afraid of is very, very bad news. He confirms this moments later, when he tells Henry what the EM shield is really for, and then it's too late.
Things happen quite quickly at that point, but important events are:
1. Helen does not shoot John. Even when he has his arm around her daughter, and she knows that he could make them both disappear any moment. EVEN THOUGH ASHLEY ASKS HER. TWICE.
2. There is something about Helen's blood. We are not surprised, because we knew it had to be something, but we are intrigued.
3. When the chips are down, there is very little that Will Zimmerman is frightened by.
4. Helen Magnus is ready for anything. Every time.
Interestingly, John makes reference to the Five twice, which makes me wonder if he honestly doesn't know that Nigel is dead. Also, the whole "they are coming" thing is creepy, but ultimately worthless, since nothing actually comes of it. Still, by the time John disappears, he's made Helen into the most interesting person on television, and he does it in four scenes.
When the dust has cleared and Will has decided this life is not for him, he goes to see The Big Guy in the infirmary. He presumes animal. He presumes non-speaking. He is wrong. And in his first line, Bigfoot gives possibly my favourite line in the entire episode, if not the series. Because it would have been SO easy for Will to Grow As A Person and be all "we're all God's chilluns", but he doesn't. And he doesn't because Bigfoot doesn't let him. "Will, you're wrong. There are monsters in the world."
He's not talking about John. He's not even talking about the people who shot him back in the '50s. He's talking about Helen Magnus, and all the things we don't yet know that she is capable of.
Because she held Will when his mother died, and grieved for the thing that killed her. And she tracked Jack the Ripper and couldn't shoot him even when he held a knife to Molly's throat. And she couldn't even do it when it was their daughter. And she's manipulative and brilliant and loving and deadly.
And there's no health plan. Shall we begin?
+++
I'm not going to review every episode, but I'm hoping to at least cover "the big ones". Honestly, it helps me marshal my thoughts for fic. ;)
Helen figured it out after Mary Kelly, went to James, things ensued, John escaped, they all tracked John but didn't catch him with #6 and #7, and then Helen caught him with Molly.
