The New TV Season

[akashiver]

So I've had a chance to see the pilots for Homeland and American Horror Story. Both were pretty good. Both also clearly bear the seeds of badness within them. I'm curious to see how long Homeland can go without moving into the implausible excesses of 24, and how long American Horror Story can go before it a) kills everyone b) crosses over with Supernatural or c) just makes us tired of all its freaky shit.

American Horror Story: I liked the creepy teen boyfriend, the creepy busybody neighbour, the “don’t make me kill you again” line, the time distortion, the bodysuit.

I disliked: the fact that this family is portrayed as so dysfunctional from the start that I don’t think they have a chance of surviving. Also, while I’m sympathetic to their massive problems, I don’t find any of these characters likable.

I am indifferent to: the cabinet of curiosities in the basement, the mad doctor figure, the opening scene.

None of this matters. AHS is all about throwing MOAR STUFF at the audience, and as long as a high percentage of that stuff is interesting, I’ll watch.

Homeland, like S0 1 of 24, starts with a compelling premise: a CIA agent suspects that a freed American POW is now working for the terrorists. Unlike Jack Bauer, however, the CIA agent in question is struggling with a mental illness and may be psychotic. If 24 posited a vigilante American protector who is always right, Homeland posits a paranoid, delusional American protector who may be persecuting innocent people in the name of national security. Clare Danes turns in a fine, twitchy performance as the CIA agent, and it's nice to see her have a role that gives her something to do.

But on watching the pilot, I have a couple of gender-issue questions. The first, which may just be unfair, is "isn't it interesting that the first time we have a woman in the Jack Bauer role is also the first time we portray that role as untrustworthy and mentally unstable?"

Maybe this wouldn't strike me as much if the POW/terrorist suspect didn't appear to be from the stoic school of manly manliness. He's been incredibly emotionally damaged, you see, but in the pilot, at least, he's keeping it all inside. Also, if the 24-storytelling genes breed true, he's going to be revealed as innocent by the end of the season.

And then there's the appearance of the female characters. Morena Baccarin (Inara from Firefly) stars as the POW's wife, and she looks perfect. Really. In her second scene she returns to her home after a tryst with her lover looking like she's ready for a model shoot: every hair's in place, her makeup's perfect, her clothing's impeccable... And much though I love Baccarin and thinks she looks gorgeous, I wanted to laugh out loud at that scene. Honestly, she's supposed to be a single mother at the end of a long day, plus she's just got her hair mussed up having wild sex and... really? That's what she looks like?

I was irritated at that scene mainly for plausibility reasons -- her model-perfect appearance was so over-the-top that it made it hard for me to buy her struggling single mom character. But when Clare Danes came back on screen, I realized why the CIA agent character hadn't been bothering me so much. Danes' character, you see, looks (to my mind) like a regular working woman. She looks good, don't get me wrong, but she also looks like she got out of bed, got dressed, and went to work at a non-modeling related job. Her roots are showing, her hair is sometimes stringy, and it's certainly not shellacked in place for a photo shoot.

I'd taken Danes's appearance as "normal," but after seeing Baccarin I wondered whether I wasn't supposed to read "roots showing" as Sign That Character Is Crazy. Clearly, in this universe, women who have it together -- however difficult their lives -- have appearances that reflect that. And those who don't, don't.

Eh. That's just my thoughts on episode 1. Maybe subsequent episodes will make me feel churlish for having doubted the show. Or maybe not. Only time will tell.

Comments

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Do you follow Sinfest? Post made me think of today's comic, which is Nth in a series for some small value of N:
http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=4051

[akashiver.livejournal.com]

Totally appropriate.