gdp's Comments

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings'- Episode 13 - The New King, Part II

Wed, 4 Nov 2015 15:00:00 +0000

Yeah, okay, I love this show but honestly I think this is a shit way to end the show. Which, it's not fair to pin that solely or even mostly on the writers since it's not like this was a planned series finale. But the show remains as it is and I have no counters for what Mark has to criticize. So this show ends off as a desparate 'imagine what could have been' for me because there's so much left to resolve and I admit fully to the fact that I love a happy ending. The show ends with so little hope in line of sight that I just want to sit down with the creators and beg them to tell me what their plan was. It's kind of funny, cause The Sarah Connor Chronicles is another one of my favorite shows, and both of these shows share a lot of common over-all elements that make me adore them. However, TSSC ends on a cliffhanger where I can believe in good things happening and, ok, outright revision of the timeline to make things better. I actually really love and respect TSSC for ending where it does, and I think it's a pretty fantastic ending for what wasn't originally planned as such. Kings just makes me think of what could have been. Maybe it would have fared better on tv now, or as some kind of nexflix original or something. Maybe if the advertising of the show was better, or if NBC recognized it doomed the show really quickly after moving around the time slot so much. So yeah. Kings. It's been quite a ride, and I'm glad to see more people watching this show and talking about it. I know it can't be to everyone's tastes, but I think there are so many powerful and beautiful and intelligent moments to this show that I'm not used to recieving in television that I have to hold it close to my heart as a show I fell in love with. I'm grateful for the opportunity to get to relive expriencing this show for the first time, and I look forward to what Michael Green (and Bryan Fuller) will be doing with American Gods. (Which had better be fucking great.)

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings'- Episode 12 - The New King, Part I

Tue, 3 Nov 2015 15:00:00 +0000

I feel like this is kind of a redeeming episode for the Benjamins. Michelle steps up and starts playing the political game. We've seen her lose a lot of her optimism and hope over the course of this show, and while I find it hard to watch her get hurt and broken down I can admit I don't necessarily miss the naivety. Here, she's willingly playing along with media games, which is a big change from where she started on this show. Jack, even if we don't really get to see what kind of king he would be, appears willing and desiring to be a more honest and peaceful version of his father. Between this episode and last, I believe he does have convictions of ethics and does genuinely want to be a better ruler than his father, and that's refreshing when in the past it seemed more like all he cared about was the power. Rose reveals what she cares about, and yeah appearance means a lot to her but she ultimately holds her children above the appearance of a united royal family, and even gives Silas an ultimatum. And now we see that even though Silas was a shit king, well, it could have been worse. It's been 12 episodes with 1 left, but it feels like we've come a lot farther than that, and that's a testament to how fast-paced this show is and how committed the writers are to delivering a compelling story. I feel like so often with American television the stories get stretched past the point of comfort and value; Kings has so far been a really compact story more reminiscent of a mini-series than a full-fledged show. And maybe that was it's downfall, I don't know. But being so close to the end of this ride all I can say is it's hard to predict where the next episode will end, and given that this is a retelling of a Biblic story I have to applaud that. It's been a roller-coaster of unpredictability and emotions that this show is able to wring out, and this feels like the precipice of the final drop.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings'- Episode 11 - Javelin

Mon, 2 Nov 2015 15:00:00 +0000

When David tells Jack to warn Silas about the planned coup from William, I just want to scream at David to wake the fuck up. It's one thing to take entertainment from Jack and William's scheming behind Silas' back, but it just edges too far into uncomfortable for me watching David still try to protect Silas, and believing without question that Jack only has the best for Silas in mind. And then David stays loyal to Silas to the extent of pleading guilty, and I just can't find it in myself to respect that loyalty over complete lack of self-preservation. And then Jack. Finally doing something geniune and honest, and it's terrifying and puts everyone in jeopardy and oh god even something that can actually be contstrued as "good" is still such a nightmare this goddamn show! (It's genuinely nice to watch The Martian and not have a Sebastian Stan character be tragic and heartbreaking, btw.) I like how during the opening credits of Mark's video he talks about this show being a personification of the "that escalated quickly" meme and it's just like yeah, uh, wait like 35 minutes and then you'll know how true that is.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings'- Episode 10 - Chapter One

Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

I think the last episode sets up pretty clearly the writing on the wall that everything is gonna start snowballing down and down and down. So hooray, confirmation of that, I guess? The lines are being drawn, and it's just so tense waiting to find out where things will settle in the end. I'll miss Katrina Gent. It totally stands to reason Rose would want to take her out for the disrespect alone, let alone having the audacity to scheme to marry Jack and take over Rose's crown, but the way we find out about Kathrina's fate is just so nonchalant it's still actually kinda surprising just how ruthless Rose can be. Also, somebody save Lucinda Wolf. Just, yikes, she's entered into this fucked up world and is learning immediately how terrible it is and just wow, she's just this poor, innocent sacrifical lamb. No good can be expected to come out of this.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings'- Episode 9 - Pilgrimage

Thu, 29 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

Whenever I've expressed love for this show, it's because of my love and admiration of this episode. It ties together a million different storylines, and furthers character development in really interesting and surprising ways. It furthers the plot and ends as a turning point for a number of different relationships on this show. I love getting to see Jack care for and protect his sister, but also choosing something for himself that doesn't serve his parents. As terrible as Rose's interactions with Jack are in this episode, I do love her scene with Michelle. I love her explicit discussion of sexism and double-standards in the media. But also there's this underlying message that the treatment from a homophobic society is in many ways more of a challenge. Even if Rose didn't consider Jack's sexuality a "mistake of character" I think she would still have made the same decision. I like watching Katrina Gent a lot. She's not William who's hurting the Benjamins simply out of spite; she's been mocked and denigrated and is fighting for some amount of power and respect, and I think that's so much more interesting to watch than William. We still haven't been told what Andrew did to get exiled, but in this episode he comes across as basically soulless and unfeeling, like his and even if it's not said what he did I can still easily believe he deserved it.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings': Episode 8 - Blackout

Thu, 29 Oct 2015 02:17:00 +0000

"Is the implication that Death took David's father in Michelle's place?" WOAH, never considered that. Yikes.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings': Episode 8 - Blackout

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

1. It's nice to see Jack, Michelle, and David get some modicrum of happiness for once. I mean, it's not exactly long lived, but it's something. "You're the only real thing I've ever touched" hahaha kill me now. 2. IT'S DEATH, YO! I'm not sure why urban modern fantasy isn't as big a thing in tv/movies, but I love the mixing of this polished, modern city and the high-stakes political drama with fascinating and creepy fantastical elements. 3. Oh Rose. Silas is incapacitated so she secretly fills in for him by "relaying" his orders, and I really do like stories where the wife of a politician is as ambitious and cunning as their husband. 4. Silas' deal with Death is perhaps a little overly on the nose in terms of Death basically giving Silas a prophesy of what's to come, but damned if it isn't a compelling scene. 5. The use of music in this episode is lovely and brilliant, and it's hard to think of other shows or movies that have tied in music to the plot at all, let alone as well as this episode does.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings'- Episode 7 - Brotherhood

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

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Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings'- Episode 6 - Judgment Day

Mon, 26 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

WE'RE ONLY ON EPISODE SIX! (or five, even, if you count Goliath as 1). Like, I don't even understand how it's possible to set up these characters so quickly, to set up the stakes and the reveals and the surprises and keep moving the plot forward so that it already feels like 20 episodes have passed and we're gearing up to a finale. One of the things I take away from this episode is that I genuinely cannot imagine anyone else doing what Ian McShane does with this role. He's so stately and so good in the judgement scenes that it's easy to understand why people would love him as king. With another actor, I might feel that David's choice to be loyal to Silas was a contrivance of the writing, and yet with McShane I understand why David believes so highly of Silas.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings'- Episode 5 - Insurrection

Fri, 23 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

It's been a couple years since I last rewatched this show. This has never been a standout episode to me, but I would say it has resonated more with me this time around given the current climate of US racial politics and police brutality. In real life we may never get to witness those in power actually scheming to manipulate the media or deliberately incite the masses, and we don't get to see the deals people make exchanging money and power. But I'm sure it does happen, and it makes this fantasy world not-so-fantastical. But maybe it's because this rewatch has more meaning to me now in the light of something like Black Lives Matter, that I agree with Mark's main criticism of this episode: the bleak nature about politics in this episode, though arguably heavy-handed, are solid and real enough that it makes the lack of racial politics in the world-building of this show suspect. Perhaps they're going for a "colorblind" universe, but if there's no racism then it's just happenstance there's so few characters of color in both the royal city and the rural area? The show is savvy in so many respects, and is often so good at holding up a mirror to our own world and our own political landscape that it's disappointing that they've overlooked or ignored for at least 5 episodes a pretty marked aspect of one of the biggest failures and injustices of our modern society.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings': Episode 4 - First Night

Thu, 22 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

The queen is frightening. Like, Silas is king and all and is a huge, manipulative bastard, but Queen Rose could be stabbing you in the face and you somehow wouldn't be sure what was happening. Jack in this episode speaks of it: "something in the way [his] mom set up the monarchy - they think we're something other than human." She's an incredible social strategist, and I have to wonder what it would be like if she were the one with the visible power. Sometimes I just want to take Michelle and David and transplant them into a different tv show. One more hopeful and less full of cynical, manipulative assholes. Because at this point you have to worry about whether their character will be corrupted by their surroundings like it already has with Jack. Jack gives me Smallville Lex Luthor feels where I want his life to go better because he'd probably end up a better, kinder person for it and would lead him off the villain path. Except Lex Luthor is canonically a supervillain while David and Jonathan are canonically (literally! hah!) the closest of friends (and arguably more, which is why I think the writers, at least in part, made Jack gay in this universe.) It's clear that this is a show where noble characters will be run through the gamut of trials and we can only watch and see how'll they'll fare.

http://markspoils.blogspot.com/ : The Black Market

Thu, 22 Oct 2015 01:24:25 +0000

This week's Kings for y'all! http://markdoesstuff.fetchapp.com/get/747c3503 http://markdoesstuff.fetchapp.com/get/e19af671

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings': Episode 3 - Prosperity

Wed, 21 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

This is an interesting episode because it's a lot of slow-burn suspence through the first half, and then you get the constant reveals and game-changers. Silas' brother-in-law has an estranged son and peace with Silas would mean he could get his son back, and Silas is fucking keeping an old enemy locked up for decades waiting for when he'll become useful, and1 Silas drives David and Michelle apart by reminding her of some mysterious vow she made, and then we see that David actually believes in King Silas and belives his own destiny is to help Silas. I'm also really impressed with how the comedic interludes with the pigeons ties into the main plot at the end and positions the pigeons as a huge symbol of David's destiny/God's will or whatever.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings': Episode 2 - Goliath, Part II

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

So many bombs dropped in this episode, jesus. Twice Queen Rose says in this episode that she doesn't like to get involved in politics, and then boom we find out she's so ridiculously good at the game she's convinced others that's actually true. I love that - characters that are so good at manipulating that others don't even realize it's happening. So let's talk about Jack. Firstly, Sebastian Stan is so good with his face acting. Just, so many little things that tell such a story. Really really good shit. Mark: " I’m still reeling from the confrontation on the steps because there wasn’t a single warning or hint to the truth. None!" So, I disagree but I have the benefit of having seen the show before. Last episode Jack makes eye contact for a long time whith a guy while he's making out with a woman, and when you watch retrospectively it is clearly intentional. Which is nice because there's a number of times I'll watch a show and be struck by 'that's pretty gay but is it actually meant to be or is it that the straight people that are making this show have such glued on heteronormativity goggles that they didn't even consider the gay interpretation is a lot more obvious than whatever they were going for???' The scene between Jack and Silas on the steps is really well done and really depressingly horrible in that realistic way that makes things hurt more. It's one thing to have to deal with homophobia from a parent but another issue entirely to have to deal with it coming from his king and in the context of monarchy and having children and monarchs being religious leaders and whatever the fuck else goes into it. "We give up what we want when we want power," and then we learn that's not actually true given Silas sees another woman and has another child and hasn't y'know, actually given this other family up. Fucking Silas; love to hate him in so many ways. It's so hard to watch Silas, with all his deceit and political machinations, come out of this episode smelling like roses. And the suspense of wondering what he plans for David is nerve-wracking. Cause you know he's planning something terrible in that last shot of him. Last thought, cause it's always worth saying: holy shit the cinematography on this show. Gorgeous.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings': Episode 1 - Goliath, Part I

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 01:30:26 +0000

Ah thanks. But please don't use the word "crazy" on this website.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings': Episode 1 - Goliath, Part I

Mon, 19 Oct 2015 17:44:56 +0000

I'm at work and don't remember when this is said/can't check it now if the line you mention is in the first 40-some minutes Mark's reviewing in this episode, so I rot13'd the bit. It's still important to mask spoilers for the next episode because often people follow each review at a time and we don't want to spoil anyone reading the comments. If it was said in the first half I'll un-rot it later.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Kings': Episode 1 - Goliath, Part I

Mon, 19 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

August 23, 2011 (possibly earlier; notemily replied to my comment on this date, in any event, so I still have a copy) - echinodermata on Mark Watches - Suggestions:

I did a search for Kings and didn't see it, so hopefully this isn't a repost. Since you confirmed Deadwood, Kings has Ian McShane, who's awesome. So once more, I'm rec-ing a show that got cancelled quickly. Kings is 13 episodes, but I think it's pretty fantastic, and also really stunning visually. As for what it's about, to quote wikipedia, "The series' narrative is loosely based on the Biblical story of King David, but set in a kingdom that culturally and technologically resembles the present-day United States." Ian McShane plays King Silas, who's a pretty wonderfully complicated character. He struggles with the notion of his destiny, and has to battle with threats to his power. This soldier David becomes popular with the kindgom's media, and the twist is that we all know he's going to eventually become king since he's, you know, David. So the fact that this is based on a Biblical story makes this interesting since you wonder how much of the story will be preserved and how certain events will unfold. Much of the drama is political in nature, spanning interpersonal drama to two monarchs feuding. The characters are wonderfully complicated, and even the secondary characters have a lot going for them. It's a smart show, it's a beautiful show, and it's just generally a good watch. And it's short, so it's a good project in between some big ones.

(pic was originally uploaded to tinypic and deleted over the years, but pretty sure this was the picture I used in the comment) (also lol at reccing this as a breather between 'big shows' when at the time 6 seasons of Doctor Who was what I meant by 'big show' and then fucking Supernatural and the entirety of Star Trek happening) So yeah, buckle the fuck up y'all cause it's Kings! Literally been hoping then waiting for this for over 4 years. I pressed play to re-watch and take notes and just had a moment of 'aw fuck, here we go' cause this show hits me hard in the best ways. (Validate my opinion and love this show Mark!!! (only sort of kidding!!!)) First things first: this show is so amazingly gorgeous. I remember reading that the pilot just blew way way past its budget, and I believe it because it's stunning. This cast is incredible. Chiefly, with Ian McShane who is so convincing as a King, but really this whole cast is just fantastic. And okay, this show was my first introduction to Sebastian Stan. I remember watching this episode and immediately thinking 'wow, attractive' and so started my enthusiasm for watching Sebastian Stan do anything. (Civil War can end up being a terrible movie but I'd still watch it a dozen times for more Bucky.) Episode-specific thoughts: ...so raise your hand if a lot of Christian allegory goes over your head? I remember when I first saw this and Reverend Samuels wipes a smudge off David's forehead that that was probably a thing, but I had to look it up. And now all I remember is there's some Biblical story behind this that I don't recall. Ash Friday? Something? I think this pilot hits this weird uncanny valley note where it's just similar enough to the modern US that everything feels weirdly surreal; almost familiar despite the monarchy somehow. I think it's because it could have more easily been a fantasy-driven show, but instead it's non-sf/f speculative fiction and that's something I'm not very familiar with. And...yeah, that's all I got for this episode. Lot of exposition to get through and a lot of work done on the world-building.

http://markspoils.blogspot.com/ : The Black Market

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 19:51:05 +0000

Sounds great; I'm of course interested in sharing remaining clicks too, so I'll email you when I've finished downloading the first 5 vids, and you can do vice versa for my vids.

http://markspoils.blogspot.com/ : The Black Market

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 01:35:06 +0000

Ah thanks, it's been awhile. I commissioned eps 8 and 9 (hell yeah so excite!), and also wouldn't mind paying for an extra so we can figure it out maybe tomorrow if no one else wants to join.

http://markspoils.blogspot.com/ : Geeky Weekly Funtimez

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 01:14:17 +0000

(Digging through old intensedebate emails since Kings is starting real soon whoo; don't know if this will serve useful as a heads up in case you're not following the MW site currently, but just in case)