Blink, Family of Blood, Dead Zone (USA), The Closer
Posted on | June 19, 2007 | 5 Comments
I guess my novelette was a little too explicit for the market to which I submitted it, as it received a resounding two-day form rejection. Either that or it sucks. Could be either. I pretended it was option 1 and submitted it elsewhere this morning.
I’ve been catching up with Doctor Who. Watched Family of Blood last night—the second part of a good thriller with some interesting insights into the doctor’s character as defined by others. The only part I didn’t like was when he returned to “the matron’s” cottage at the end and asked her to join him. That seemed ill conceived and no mention was made of Martha at all. True, the Doctor has had more than one companion at a time in the past, but that seemed like a poor mix if that was his intent. I liked the matron’s responses to him, though—especially when she pointed out the unintended effects of his “whim.” He also executed a bit of deserved retribution on the family, which was chilling. The Remembrance Day scene was a nice touch.
I watched Blink a little while ago and really liked it. A very clever concept—several of them, in fact. The bit about them existing on the potential energy was, uhm, wobbly, but other than that I thought it was a compelling episode. A fresh and fetching Carey Mulligan (Pride and Prejudice) didn’t hurt matters. The paradoxes of time could twist your head into a knot, but that’s the Doctor. The scene at the end (bow and arrows) was fantastic.
Watched the commercial-free premiere of The Closer last night. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of this show before while on the elliptical trainer at the gym, but it was pretty good. I’m glad they set up a big problem (cost cuts) and resolved it in the same episode rather than have it set the tone for the season. The guy who played the killer was excellent in the final confrontations. I think I’ll stick with the show this summer. Doctor Who is almost at an end, which leaves only The Dead Zone.
The producers and writers of The Dead Zone on USA have made a concerted effort to mix things up this season. Read no farther if you don’t want to be spoiled!. In one fell swoop they rehabilitated one character, retired another and relocated a third, as well as defusing the biggest problem looming over Johnny’s future. And they’ve allowed an entirely new dynamic between Johnny and Sara. Oh, yeah, and they substituted a pod-person for JJ. At least the kid can play guitar. I won’t miss Janus in the least, and I think the decision to back-burner Armageddon is wise. Remains to be seen how this will all play out though. I didn’t even see the previews for next week.
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5 Responses to “Blink, Family of Blood, Dead Zone (USA), The Closer”
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About
Bev Vincent is the author of The Road to the Dark Tower, the Bram Stoker Award nominated companion to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, which was nominated for a 2010 Edgar® Award and a 2009 Bram Stoker Award.
His short fiction has appeared in places like Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, From the Borderlands and The Blue Religion. He is a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine and a member of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging community. He also writes book reviews for Onyx Reviews.
June 19th, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
I particularly enjoyed “Family of Blood” for its insights into the Doctor, and for David Tennant’s ability to successfully carry off a scene that could have easily been over cheesed and, well, just plain embarrassing. I’m not sure I see why you thought the Doctor’s last scene with Joan was ill-conceived, though; I thought it was well done, and that Joan gave the Doctor a painful and appropriate scolding.
One theme that the current series has been building on is just how much it sucks to be the Doctor; in particular, we’re seeing not just a brilliant and eccentric traveler through time and space, but also someone who is desperately lonely and who is brimming over with guilt. He ends up asking just about everyone who steps into the TARDIS to come with him; he asked Rose Tyler on a whim, and the woman (whose name slipped my mind and I’m too lazy to look it up right now) from “The Runaway Bride”. He asked Martha without thinking about it too much, but even the terms he gave — “Just one trip” — were pretty flimsy. Considering that he had a connection with Joan, even in a inauthentic way, that resembled the connection he felt with Rose, asking Joan to come with him was pretty much a given.
What I personally find ill-conceived, though, is Martha’s crush on the Doctor. Where did that come from? She hardly seems to be the kind of woman who falls for the first guy to come along and shows her a good time, but that seems to be just what happened.
Haven’t watched The Closer or The Dead Zone, so I can’t comment on that.
Condolences on the rejection. I collected two last week myself, and haven’t gotten around to sending those stories back into circulation.
Now in the middle of Song of Susannah, and expect to be done today. Then I’ll read The Dark Tower, and then I’ll hit The Road to the Dark Tower.
On another note, I’m planning on picking up a copy of Stanley Wiater’s The Complete Stephen King Universe soon. In your opinion, would this be a worthy purchase?
June 19th, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
I cannot get into The Closer, mainly because I find Kyra Sedgewick’s character incredibly annoying. I like that she’s competent and in command, but she’s unnecessarily rude and manipulative toward the people with whom she is supposed to be working. I cannot believe that she wouldn’t have gotten shitcanned by the boss, regardless of her success rate, by this time in her career. People in strict hierarchies like police forces don’t get very far being rude and condescending to their superiors.
June 19th, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
Male cops get away with that behavior on TV shows fairly often. Half the cast of NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues and a good percentage of Law & Order would not only be fired in the real world, they’d be up on charges.
I think she’s an interesting character in that she is cloyingly polite in a way only Southerners truly master…polite to a fault. So polite that the recipients of her saccharine often don’t even realize they’re being insulted.
It’s one of those uncredible relationships in which the superior swallows the bad behavior because of the results. Only on telly.
June 19th, 2007 @ 4:55 pm
I thought the idea was ill conceived from the Doctor’s point of view. We don’t know that he remembers Martha’s confessional around him when he was still John Smith, but it seems like he probably does. To invite Joan to join a chaste menage-a-trois seems like a really, really bad idea (imagine Tennant’s voice doing the “really, really” bit–it was a really, really bad idea to let me push all those buttons). One woman who loves him and one woman who loved who he was but who he no longer is. The TARDIS may be big–but it’s not THAT big! Joan’s scolding was the true moment in that scene.
I do agree that Martha fell in love with him awfully fast and for no apparent good reason.
I found Tennant’s rictus face as “terrified John Smith” a bit overdone (as was the scene a few episodes back when he was shouting after Martha when her escape pod had just been launched at the core of the sun), but when he gets down to the dramatic one-on-ones he’s great.
I consulted with Chris Golden and Hank Wagner on The Complete SKU. I thought it was worthwhile when I read through it and offered my feedback.
June 19th, 2007 @ 5:14 pm
Ah, okay, I see what you mean now. In that case, I agree with you. The Doctor once again acting out of sentimentality and desire to ease his loneliness than out of, you know, good sense.
Thanks. Nice to have the word of a King scholar on that.