Category: television

daisy jones and the six

Posted on by empty williams

I’m sure Daisy is supposed to be the hero and Billy the villain, but I’m not sure it’s that simple. Billy has an ego and can be very controlling, sure, but there’s something so unbelievably manipulative and selfish about Daisy’s character that she’s just unlikable all around, in my opinion. She intentionally pushes all the buttons she can, and why? Control. She’s no less controlling than Billy; she just plays the victim around it, the persecuted, even as she tears things apart.

Of course, the other issue is that shows about fictional bands always have to make up their own music, and since it’s all written for a script, instead of from the heart, the show inevitably suffers from the lack of suspension of disbelief, because it’s hard to buy that they’re the biggest band in the world, when the music is mostly generic and tepid. It doesn’t help that the rest of the soundtrack being so good acts as an ultimate comparison, to which the band doesn’t exactly live up.

Then again, asking a bunch of studio writers to one-up not once, but repeatedly, some of the best music that generation has to offer… that’s a tall order.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 1580 words, novel: Father Lightning

lazy sunday

Posted on by empty williams

Why not? We’re on the tail end of COVID, tired after a long journey, trying to get back into the swing of normal life.

Writing. Reading. Comics. That’s all I really need. Exercise and meditation for the body and mind. Music for the spirit. Cooking as an alternate outlet for creativity and experience.

Anything else is gravy. Movies, television, video games, sex, travel, other various storytelling mediums… gravy.

Target: 1300 words
Written: 2326 words, novel: Father Lightning

lost in space

Posted on by empty williams

There are certain shows and stories that, for whatever reason, hit me so hard that the endorphin spot in my brain explodes in a shower of “holy shit”.

Lost In Space, the Netflix version, did that for me. I felt like the writers really understand the concept of put your characters in danger and keep them there. The tension was palpable, right from the start. The magnetized aliens, Penny and Dr. Smith in the box, Judy in the water, it goes on and on. Terrifically done.

One of the best series I’ve seen in this new “golden age” of television. Beginning to end. Great characterization, well done weaving all the threads together, good mix of tension, humour and conflict.

I like when a story really sucks me in. Like the way you can feel the Alabama sticky in Jasons Aaron and Latour’s Southern Bastards or the chill vibe of Dazed And Confused. There’s a reason I don’t limit myself to certain genres. It’s all about experience and empathy, and that can be found in stories about elves or stories about football. It can live in a love story or a revenge kick.

Creating closer connections and greater understanding (or at least, having a good time trying) is the whole point of art. Exploration. Understanding. Joy in the thing, even if it’s insanely dark.

As always, the day I decide to up my target is the day I miss it. I hope I’m retired in twenty years so these ever increasing targets don’t grow out of my reach.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 764 words, novella: The Mungk