I pretty much agree with almost all of this. Not the last paragraph though. I like the character too much to have him killed off or forgotten for 2 seasons. ;)
I think the thing that bothers me the most about this ep is that it feels like we're abruptly ending this complex and intriguing relationship that has existed for 3 seasons. Even when John was batshit crazy and threatening their daughter and killing people in her own home or right in front of her, there was always this sense of hesitation in Helen, that she still felt something for him and would regret it, just a little bit, when he was gone. That's probably why she's never actually killed him (well, killed him for good anyway) when she's had several opportunities where she could have, and probably should have. I'm missing that moment here where she softens, just for a second, in the middle of her ranting and raving. Her "we're not meant to be together, I never want to see you again" seems too harsh, too quick, too decisive, considering she's had 120something years where she's never quite been able to let him go. If she really means that, if she's finally ending it for good this time, then she needs to give him one last look back, and she doesn't. I get that she's pissed, but some of her dialogue here feels like an almost denial of the previous cannon.
And John's storyline makes him look really really stupid. I don't have a problem with him wishing that they'd never injected the source blood and wanting to go back and change that (because John's life has probably been pretty shit since he became the Ripper. How many times can you have Tesla shock you or put yourself into a drug-induced stupor?), it's the fact that he put himself in a position to be betrayed for a second time, when he was still dripping blood from the first. I could have almost bought it if he said he was willing to save Adam's daughter because Adam promised to save his, and I think even Helen may have had to stop and consider that one, but him thinking that they could go all the way back to how things were at Oxford is stretching it a little much.
I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out. I for one am hoping things are not over between the two of them, because it's so beautiful and tragic and twisted and enduring that I want to see more.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2011-06-25 10:16 pm (UTC)I think the thing that bothers me the most about this ep is that it feels like we're abruptly ending this complex and intriguing relationship that has existed for 3 seasons. Even when John was batshit crazy and threatening their daughter and killing people in her own home or right in front of her, there was always this sense of hesitation in Helen, that she still felt something for him and would regret it, just a little bit, when he was gone. That's probably why she's never actually killed him (well, killed him for good anyway) when she's had several opportunities where she could have, and probably should have. I'm missing that moment here where she softens, just for a second, in the middle of her ranting and raving. Her "we're not meant to be together, I never want to see you again" seems too harsh, too quick, too decisive, considering she's had 120something years where she's never quite been able to let him go. If she really means that, if she's finally ending it for good this time, then she needs to give him one last look back, and she doesn't. I get that she's pissed, but some of her dialogue here feels like an almost denial of the previous cannon.
And John's storyline makes him look really really stupid. I don't have a problem with him wishing that they'd never injected the source blood and wanting to go back and change that (because John's life has probably been pretty shit since he became the Ripper. How many times can you have Tesla shock you or put yourself into a drug-induced stupor?), it's the fact that he put himself in a position to be betrayed for a second time, when he was still dripping blood from the first. I could have almost bought it if he said he was willing to save Adam's daughter because Adam promised to save his, and I think even Helen may have had to stop and consider that one, but him thinking that they could go all the way back to how things were at Oxford is stretching it a little much.
I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out. I for one am hoping things are not over between the two of them, because it's so beautiful and tragic and twisted and enduring that I want to see more.