Right, well, I'll go back and post my thoughts on Stiletto a little later, but I'll comment on Beast first, because of got a lot less to say about it.
On these boards, the term "soap opera" is often used in a derisive reference to poor writing or acting. From a British perspective, this can seem a little harsh: Coronation Street and Eastenders have both employed a number of good writers and actors over the years, and both soaps are capable - on a good day - of producing excellent drama. But equally, both have their share of hackneyed, cliched writing and wooden acting, and although the dreaded Crossroads may be long gone, the rest of the soaps provide ample proof as to why this branch of television drama has been looked down upon for so many years.
Why the discourse on soaps? Well, because Beast plunged firmly into "bad soap" territory. Actually, before I get into why this episode was so poor, I would like to praise Aaron Ashmore: the "Jimmy is a junkie" storyline is pretty abysmal, but my goodness, he did a sterling job of getting a decent performance out of the garbage he was lumbered with. Elsewhere, it was like watching Hollyoaks during a bad "event" storyline - those strangely improbable episodes when a serial killer is suddenly on the loose, or the build-up to somebody blowing up the pub (killing everbody whose contracts aren't being renewed). A plot that doesn't make sense combined with characters who have less intelligence and emotional depth that a three-year-old. Jimmy goes to Oliver for help - despite the fact that the two barely know each other; Clark and Oliver indulge in some crude posturing over what to do with Davis (at least Clark's idea has some merit); Chloe intervenes to stop Clark throwing Davis into the Phantom Zone on dubious moral grounds, and goes on the run with Davis in a feeble attempt to keep the Doomsday storyline going when it's dead in the water. The trouble is, in the process, all the characters have ceased to be remotely interesting or engaging. Jimmy is a junkie; Ollie is a jerk; Davis has gone from initially likeable to needy and charmless; Chloe's intelligence is dropping in inverse proportion to the rise of her "I know best" attitude; whilst Clark comes up with a good idea, then stands around doing nothing when someone gets in the way. Put it all together, and you get that dreadful final phone call - classic bad soap opera - in which Chloe tries to clobber Clark with bathos ("I must've thrown away a million green rocks, but I've never truly saved you"), whilst he in turn does the superpowered version of the soap "let's show emotional intensity by having the character smash some furniture". Classic bad writing by someone who doesn't realise that having Clark put a fist through a filing cabinet, far from indicating the depth of his despair, merely makes him look like a moron.
I'm going to watch Stiletto again - it may not have been perfect, but it was way better than the dross that was Beast.
On these boards, the term "soap opera" is often used in a derisive reference to poor writing or acting. From a British perspective, this can seem a little harsh: Coronation Street and Eastenders have both employed a number of good writers and actors over the years, and both soaps are capable - on a good day - of producing excellent drama. But equally, both have their share of hackneyed, cliched writing and wooden acting, and although the dreaded Crossroads may be long gone, the rest of the soaps provide ample proof as to why this branch of television drama has been looked down upon for so many years.
Why the discourse on soaps? Well, because Beast plunged firmly into "bad soap" territory. Actually, before I get into why this episode was so poor, I would like to praise Aaron Ashmore: the "Jimmy is a junkie" storyline is pretty abysmal, but my goodness, he did a sterling job of getting a decent performance out of the garbage he was lumbered with. Elsewhere, it was like watching Hollyoaks during a bad "event" storyline - those strangely improbable episodes when a serial killer is suddenly on the loose, or the build-up to somebody blowing up the pub (killing everbody whose contracts aren't being renewed). A plot that doesn't make sense combined with characters who have less intelligence and emotional depth that a three-year-old. Jimmy goes to Oliver for help - despite the fact that the two barely know each other; Clark and Oliver indulge in some crude posturing over what to do with Davis (at least Clark's idea has some merit); Chloe intervenes to stop Clark throwing Davis into the Phantom Zone on dubious moral grounds, and goes on the run with Davis in a feeble attempt to keep the Doomsday storyline going when it's dead in the water. The trouble is, in the process, all the characters have ceased to be remotely interesting or engaging. Jimmy is a junkie; Ollie is a jerk; Davis has gone from initially likeable to needy and charmless; Chloe's intelligence is dropping in inverse proportion to the rise of her "I know best" attitude; whilst Clark comes up with a good idea, then stands around doing nothing when someone gets in the way. Put it all together, and you get that dreadful final phone call - classic bad soap opera - in which Chloe tries to clobber Clark with bathos ("I must've thrown away a million green rocks, but I've never truly saved you"), whilst he in turn does the superpowered version of the soap "let's show emotional intensity by having the character smash some furniture". Classic bad writing by someone who doesn't realise that having Clark put a fist through a filing cabinet, far from indicating the depth of his despair, merely makes him look like a moron.
I'm going to watch Stiletto again - it may not have been perfect, but it was way better than the dross that was Beast.
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