I'm glad others found this season enjoyable; I didn't, mostly because it seemed like a bunch of missed opportunities and instances of the writers trying to convince us of things rather than making us suspect them ourselves. They over-used some characters (like Will -- he is still undefined and has no real role other than everyone insisting he is good enough to take over the Sanctuary network when Helen isn't around... WHY?? where has he grown? what has he done? what has he ever said that makes him qualified?) and under-use others (like the remaining members of the Five), and the plot arcs are just...
Here are a few of my complaints.
If one of your primary actors wants out for some reason or another, does it not make sense to use him in a character that is a fan favorite rather than a background figure? I'm speaking of course of Christopher H., who wanted to do limited episodes this season. Why Bigfoot and not Druitt? Why not explore what happened to Druitt in the explosion? Is he dead? Christopher believes so, but Amanda isn't so sure. Still, if he IS dead, it would have been nice to have Helen deal with that emotionally, or have some kind of conversation about it. It's like he never existed.
Tesla. I cannot figure out why when you have an actor that is this funny, this quirky, and this much on the mark, playing out a character that is flat-out hilarious, sarcastic, bitchy and rude, that you would not use him more and to a greater extent. I realize Jonathan is busy with theater but they could involve him more -- and should, because other than my fondness for Helen as a character, Tesla is pretty much my main draw to the series. (I admit it, I'm biased -- I love the Five way more than any of the Scooby Gang.)
This show has a long history of ignoring brilliant plot arcs in favor of one-shot episodes. Back in season one when they went up against the Cabal they had a golden opportunity to enthrall an audience with taking down this massive, evil organization -- and then it all happened off-screen. Another week goes by and it's life as usual. Where was the drama? Where was the action? Where was dealing with the repercussions of grief and violence and seeing John go off the deep end? How about dealing with his psychosis after doing something like that?
Taking down the Cabal could have been the primary arc for an entire season, with a backdrop of other investigations and things going on... why not use it??
The thing is... they keep on doing doing stuff like that. Sending Helen back in time was a brilliant opportunity to completely rework the show, work with a new historical settings and characters, and a week later, Helen's back and totally seems normal, even though she hasn't seen any of them for 100+ years? WHY??
And then there are the unexplained things we are supposed to agree with, with no proof. Will says that Helen has been acting suspicious and secretive and weird -- has she? I didn't notice anything other than him accusing her of it. I spent half of that episode where they are trapped in the cave wondering what his problem with her was.
I hate that I didn't enjoy this season much. I have loved the show from the start and it was my favorite thing on television for three seasons. But something changed this year. Either the frustration of constantly hoping for it to live up to its potential finally wore me out, or it just wasn't the right plot arc for me. I'll give it another watch on my DVR but I don't think I'll be adding it to my DVD collection -- and that makes me kind of sad.
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obsessedwdrama
12 years ago
Even though I am a bigger fan of the Sanctuary gang than the five, I still feel your pain. I feel there have been things in all seasons that have been left unaddressed, but I am usually okay with that because they usually eventually circle back around to things. Also I kind of like that things aren't always tied up in a neat package, that sometimes we're left to wonder. I do wish they'd address the Druitt situation as well. I was very perplexed when Chris H. indicated in an interview that Druitt was dead. I really love him in Jack the Ripper mode and think he makes a great villain/chaotic neutral ally, but with the direction they have been taking the series I don't see much of a use for his character besides flashback episodes about the five maybe. I'm sure there are plenty of possibilities out there for all the characters, but I did find what they did in season 4 for the most part to be very interesting.
I disagree about Will. I personally have seen a lot of growth in his character, but most of it has been from the hard truths he's had to face as a result of his position at the Sanctuary. He is still not as competent a fighter as others, but his strengths lie elsewhere and that's okay. I don't want each team member to be a clone of the others. Also, the fact that he has the guts to challenge Magnus, his mentor/boss/friend who has centuries of life experience, is pretty darn impressive. He has shown good leadership abilities throughout the series as well.
I actually did see a real shift in Helen's character this season. Some of the changes were relatively subtle, but they are definitely there. She was very guarded and seemingly much more unattached emotionally, but then at times there would be these cracks in that veneer and we'd get a glimpse of what was going on underneath. I thought Amanda did such a beautiful job with this. I think it was the point to be subtle, not to tip off the audience that she was hiding something right away, but still feel like something was off. She was also way more flirty with Tesla this season which I actually wasn't a big fan of. I have always really enjoyed their dynamic, but this season some of the flirting seemed contrived and annoying. I like gaining new insights into their past and their friendship, but some moments really came off as "we're acting flirty now because we think it will make fans happy".
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this season so much. Hopefully your second view will make you feel a little better about it. Hopefully we'll get a season 5 and all those burning questions will get answered.
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chakramstrike
12 years ago
Don't know if it was said but Christopher H. is in the new show on AMC Hell on Wheels, so maybe that conflicted a bit with the Sanctuary schedule? as for the show i may be one of the few that actually enjoy the and find no problems with it.
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