[Da Vinci's Demons - General Discussion]

Safe to say, I didn't see the mum reveal coming. Probably because Leo doesn't look even remotely mixed-race.

 

On the other hand, Nicco revealing himself as Machiavelli fell down flat since I had no idea it was meant to be a secret. On various boards (including this one) it seemed to be open knowledge, and I assumed I'd simply missed the scene where it was confirmed on the actual show.

 

Vanessa becoming the ruler of Florence seems utterly absurd, but having her and Nicco at the helm might well prove to be fun. At least the actress will get more to do than just be pregnant. Little disappointed that Clarice just up and left, but I suppose she's had a really shitty time of it.

 

Lucrezia gets a lot of hate, but I thought she was fantastic in the scene when she finally gets to face-down all these men who have dictated her life (sans Riario, sadly), spell out how they've all been played by the fake Pope, and announce she was doing it all for her sister.

 

From certain angles Ippolita looked exactly like Natalie Dormer. Then the light shifted and I was left wondering what I was thinking.

 

And coincidentally or not, it ends exactly as the first season did: with a fuse about to explode. I enjoy this show well enough, but I hope next season is the last. The longer the Book of Leaves remains out of reach, the less I care about it, and I feel the story and characters would be better served if they get closure and wrap-up sooner rather than later.

[Da Vinci's Demons - General Discussion]

Oh Carlo, I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you! Still, Leo saved his life this episode and he seemed to be genuinely fond of Clarice (unless that scene in which he touches her chin was just a ruse - but for whose benefit?) so perhaps he can be swayed back to the other side.

 

I'm assuming these Enemies of Men are going to be the main antagonists of next season? And judging by their name, I'd assume that it's only a woman that can defeat them, a la Eowyn and the Witch King, but I doubt that's occurred to any of the actual writers.

 

Get over yourself, Riario. I'm glad the real Pope didn't let him off the hook for just standing there as an eleven year old was murdered and forcing Lucrezia to (in his words) whore herself out to keep her father alive.

 

Lara Pulver was great as Clarice; just barely keeping it together and then not hesitating when it came to executing one-eye. Where are her daughters, though?

 

Two psychopaths down in this episode, one more to go (Alfonso). Hopefully his wife will take him down, she's been doing most of the grunt-work in Naples.

[Da Vinci's Demons - General Discussion]

Is the sight of Riario murdering all these women meant to make me feel sorry for him? Because no.

 

And did Lucrezia's entire plan just fail because she forgot to mention that Pope Sixtus is an imposter?? There's got to be more to it than that; no writer makes their character THAT stupid.

 

Oh, and when did the Inca civilisation suddenly become reliant on the Books of Leaves for its salvation? That hasn't come up before, has it? Yet here it seemed to be the most important thing on their agenda.

 

This was an okay episode, though I'm glad Leo is headed back to Florence with his mother's mechanical head in-tow. Presumably he's going to find a way to fix it and find the new hiding place for the Book, though I do wonder how she managed to set up that whole contraption in the first place.

 

Looking forward to Prince Douche (Alfonso) dying. Please don't tell me he's protected by historical precedence.

[Da Vinci's Demons - General Discussion]

I think we're supposed to be cheering Clarice on in her newfound resolve and independence, but I'm not entirely sure "whatever I damn well please" is the right attitude to have while desperately trying to keep together an excommunicated city. Another sex scene, another totally naked woman and totally clothed man.

 

The obstacles on the way to the vault were very Indiana Jones, but with added fun considering Zo was at hand to point out just how stupid and pointless the whole thing really was. I mean honestly, did they really have to sacrifice that poor llama? Interesting scene when Niko manages to talk about Riario, with Leo looking on in shock. It's always a nice moment when the Load of any group manages to achieve something that's beyond the ken of the mastermind.

 

Talk about an anti-climax though - all that work to get into the vault and we're left with a statue and a pleasant view.

 

Some fantastic editing/musical cues in this episode, first with Leo opening the vault intercut with what's-his-name in the Vatican vaults, and then with Leo's arrest intercut with Lucrezia's. Nicely done, even though I'm still not that interested in Lucrezia. Laura Haddock is a beautiful woman, and I hate that they slaver so much make-up on her. Less is more, people! 

[Da Vinci's Demons - General Discussion]

This show keeps getting weirder. I guess the theme for this episode was "arbitrary tests of character that men have to suffer through because they're surrounded by psychos." There was plenty of unintentional laughter while watching Riario go bonkers in a corn field; somewhat less narmful was Lorenzo's discussion about who he hates with his dead brother. (All weirdness aside, that sequence with the rope and the horse was pretty spectacularly shot).

 

Nice to see Guliano again (no idea how to spell that), and his request that Vanessa be looked after was surprisingly touching, though I wonder whether his ability to appear to Lorenzo was somehow brought about by Leo mucking around in the underworld. I'm also not sure what to make of Leo glimpsing the Abyssinian as he left, despite the Abyssinian talking to Lucrezia in "real time" just a few minutes before. All the time travel stuff was fun though, despite the fact that their attempt to create suspense by older!Leo warning young!Leo that he might well die in Macchu Picchu fell utterly flat. Give it up show, we know he's not going anywhere.

 

The appearance of the Mona Lisa makes me suspect that the show will eventually try to unravel the mystery of her identity. As long as it's not Lucrezia (who I like, but I hate all this OTP with Leo nonsense) then I'll await amazement.

 

All in all, I think I'd be able to embrace the show more were it not for two glaring problems; the first that every woman so far has been made to slowly strip for the camera whilst all the men get to keep their pants on - even during sex scenes; and the second that despite the diversity on display, all the POC seem to exist either to serve white folk, obsess over white folk, or die nobly for white folk. Zita encouraging Riario to stab her to death because she knows the Book of Leaves is totally important to him was probably the most gratuitous thing in an episode filled with heads popping off and blood spurting everywhere (and of course, she sends her forgiveness to him via Da Vinci on her way to the afterlife because even when dead it's STILL all about him). So I'm not really feeling Riario's agonised mainpain when he should have just said "fuck this" and galloped off into the sunset with the only person in the world who (for some reason) gives a damn about him.

[Da Vinci's Demons - General Discussion]

As if to make up for the filler of last week, this one was full-on progression in nearly every subplot. I'm quite amazed that they've gone ahead and placed their lead character on an entirely new continent while the likes of Lorenzo, Clarice, da Vinci Senior and so many others remain in Italy, but you can't say it's not unique.

 

And of course the Incan settlement would be full of nubile young beauties with shaved legs wearing gold-plated coconut bras, though I wonder if every newcomer to their kingdom has to go through the same completely arbitrary test to see if they know how to sow corn. Did the same thing happen to Riario and Niko? Ludicrous tests of character seem to be the theme of the episode considering Lorenzo apparently has to do something similar to impress the psycho king of Naples. There was so much gore involved I spent most of the episode with my eyes screwed up.

 

Clarice - hey, get it girl. It's not like your husband is particularly faithful, but I'm not sure you should be 100% trusting this new guy either. She got lucky that he threw in his lot with her, but she's going to have to start making some moves of her own if she wants to keep Florence under her control.

[S08.E03: Robot Of Sherwood]

Fun but silly, and most of my enjoyment stemmed from my abiding love for the Robin Hood legends. And I may be lambasted for this, but a part of me is disappointed that they didn't take the opportunity to reunite the cast from the 2006-2008 Robin Hood series (even though the outlaws and Marian would have been totally wasted in this story).

 

There was one representative though - the guy who played Will Scarlet also appeared on the old Robin Hood as Carter.

 

I can't say I'm hugely invested in Doctor Who at the moment; I haven't been for a long time now, so for the most part I just try to relax and enjoy the fun. Clara in a cute outfit, robots with exploding heads, plenty of in jokes, an attempt at poignancy and depth by comparing Robin/The Doctor's life stories, a reunion between lovers that we had absolutely no time to invest in - it's all fine. Not good, but fine.

[Da Vinci's Demons - General Discussion]

I'm pretty sure this episode was 90% filler. Da Vinci tries to convince the slaves that he knows what he's doing, only for them to kill themselves anyway. Lorenzo comes across a couple of religious opportunists, is attacked, and quickly dispatches them. Riario and Niko exchange barbs with each other before the ship heads into a storm.

 

Really, the only important/interesting bit was Lucrezia, whose appeal as a character seems directly proportional to her proximity to Da Vinci. So glad they've decided to give her a storyline of her own, and I liked the way her flashbacks were staged, shifting between her memories and her discussion with her father.

 

But honestly, the pacing in this episode was awful. The stuff with Lucrezia in the palace only seemed to take place over a couple of hours, yet it was interspersed with days (if not longer) passing in all the other subplots. 

[Da Vinci's Demons - General Discussion]

I've been casually making my way through this show, and I never really know what to make of it. There are three plot-threads going on at any given time and none of them feel as though they belong on the same show: you've got the Medici political drama in Florence, the pseudo-supernatural cult treasure hunt across the globe, and the frankly ludicrous "biographical" element in which Da Vinci comes up with a before-its-time invention to solve a problem every week (this episode featured the submarine).

 

I quite like the first two plots, but the last feels more like an inspirational children's show (albeit with sex and boobs). I keep expecting Doctor Who or Mrs Frizzle or Wishbone the dog to show up, and I find Leo's friends (old guy, hot guy, cute girl and Neville Longbottom) far more likeable and interesting than him - though between Tony Stark and Sherlock Holmes I think I'm just feeling oversaturated with grown men who are just so intelligent that they have no time for things like basic common courtesy.

 

Luckily everything else is interesting enough to keep me going, even through the gratuitous rape scene that was more pointless than anything seen on Game of Thrones. Though I quite admire the fact that the writers have gone ahead with removing Leo from Florence and putting him in a race to the New World; it demonstrates a lot of faith in the audience's interest/sympathy in Lorenzo and Clarice to keep the political plot-thread relevant.   

 

I'm always up for a little slave mutiny, though I think a near-identical plot was handled better on Black Sails (of all shows) in which the slaves actually realize their ship is being overtaken and deliberately signal their willingness to help overpower the original crew (taking the chance that it'll led to their liberation).

[The Musketeers - General Discussion]

thuganomics bet me to the Merlin allusion (Aramis and Helene were Lancelot and Queen Ygraine), but what makes it extra amusing is that Queen Anne was ALSO on Merlin in a fairly small but pivotal role - and the idea of her Merlin incarnation sleeping with Lancelot is even more bizarre. Come to think of it, there's has been more than a few Merlin faces popping up on this show.

[S01.E13: All Fall Down]

I don't think I've ever been so torn on whether or not I like a show. I was prepared to be offended at first, what with it taking the very real lives (and deaths) of people who endured the Salem Witch Trials and throwing them into a weird sort of supernatural gore-fest, but after the struggle to put all that aside, there were bits and pieces that I really enjoyed. Mary Sibley is an all-too rare example of a not-really-good but not-entirely-evil female character (and it's nice to see Janet Montgomery FINALLY get a break in her career), and Increase/Cotton Mather were more entertaining than they have any right to be.  

 

It's a pity that the Hale parents are dead, but Anne tapping into her hereditary powers could turn out to be an interesting development. Does this make her more powerful than Mary Sibley? And since she seems so determined to side with Salem, does this mean she'll be fighting against the coven?

 

Mercy on the other hand, is a complete headache. I suppose every teenage girl goes through that phase where they plan on fighting for the rights of everyone else as a form of self-expression (with themselves as the beloved and self-proclaimed Queen of the movement, naturally), but Mercy manages to be even more annoying than my little sister (and myself no doubt) in actually doing it.