S1x1: Birds of a Feather

[terioncalling]

Hrothberty goodness can be found at the end of this video that Paige found:
http://video.scifi.com/player.html?dlid=56789

Uuber squeeage!

Try to imagine if Batman's Alfred had been played by Tim Curry with dialogue by John Cleese.

That description is awesomeness itself.

[Simon Hogwood]

Opening Teaser Gut Reaction: Cool!

Nice quick intro, with Harry having a dream about his dad, then a brief conversation with Bob that mentions Justin.

And, speaking of Bob, so far he rocks. "You Self-Defenced him to death" indeed. Also, the skull prop not only has an axe mark in it, as reported, but is covered in runes and such - was this mentioned before?  OH! It's Back!

[Donna]

Well done, well done!  Good acting, good effects, good story (so far).  Production looks classy.

Got to watch the end.

[DedraToo]

YAY! YAY! YAY!  I LOVED IT!!!

Where there's kids...theres snot.  to funny.

I loved everything.  It was awsome.

The only little negative was, I didn't like the make up on the Ravens, but the thing with the eyes was really cool.  Should have didtched the makeup.  A little thing, no big.

SQUEEEEEE 

[Donna]

Had me right until the end, when they left a huge question unanswered. Did I miss something?  Who hired the skinwalker?  And if Harry doesn't know, why does he think the boy is safe? His mom won't be able to protect him, any more than Harry's father could take on Justin.

Other than that, it was wonderful.  Bob's my favorite Dresden Files character (next to Harry) -- wonderful snarkiness and, despite his obvious caring for Harry in this episode, he still gives off vibes that he might do something detrimental to Harry if it meant getting free.

[Stormybard]

LOL -- "Where there's children, there's snot".   Still laughing at that earlier line from Bob.

I really like this first episode.  It moved at a good, fast clip.  I can not believe an hour has passed.

Like Bob as a ghost, love the quips and his soft spot for Harry.

Very nice touch with the scenes of Harry and his father.

Ugh, even well-dressed and coiffed, Justin oozes slime and creepiness.  Loved Harry's father standing up to him and protective of his son.

I did not expect that ending, i.e., the Skinwalker's boss.

So, Murphy has a 9-year old daughter, named Anna (I believe that's the name I heard).

(this is my third attempt to post, hope it works)

[Abstruse]

This is my stream of consciousness during the show.  I just typed out what I was thinking while I was watching it.  Now I want to preface this by saying that a lot of what I have to say is negative.  However, I'd like to say that I did enjoy the show despite all the problems I had with it.  It's meant to be both constructive criticism as much as it is me just venting.  I WILL continue to watch the show and I WILL continue to sell people on the gospel of both the book as well as the TV Dresden Files...but I do feel there is a lot of room for improvement.  More comments from after the show follow after the list.

*Edited for language because I didn't realize how much I was cursing in this...told you, stream of consciousness*

1) How do you have the first scene with Harry have him in bed with a woman?!

2) Who the F*** is Laura??

3) Theme song sucks.

4) Bob is an asshole, he needs to be snarkier and more perverted.

5) I don't mind the corporial Bob since he's still bound to the skull.  Would prefer a talking skull, but I can deal with this.

6) What happened to the pentacle?  Too the-average-moron-American-will-think-it's-devil-worship?  Then again, those people wouldn't be watching a fantasy show about a modern-day wizard anyway.

7) Why wouldn't Harry believe the kid?  "I'm a wizard, but monsters don't exist."

"Carmichael" or whatever he's called now is a bit TOO much of an asshole.

9) Not enough set-up for the magic...it should've been a big reveal for the pilot.

10) Right there, when Bob's trying to talk Harry into taking the case, he should've said something about "The kid's mom could be hot."

11) Who the F*** is Melissa?!

12) The "Place/Time" tags are too CSI for my tastes.

13) THERE's a little bit of Bob snark..."Where there's children, there's snot."  Still needs more though.  Bob's WAY too cold too.  Seems like a great Kemmler Bob, but not Harry Bob...

14) Goddamn commercials!  LESS COMMERCIALS!!  MORE DRESDEN!!

15) Off topic...Quiznos commercial..."<about Quiznos sub> Look at all that meat!  <about Subway sub> You can barely see the meat."  Fine print: "Comparing Subway regular BMT to Quiznos Double-Meat Italian"...well of fucking COURSE the Quiznos sub is going to have twice as much meat!  It's a DOUBLE MEAT sub!!

16) Kinda off topic...a commercial for pain reliever on The Dreden Files...considering how much Harry gets his ass kicked, I find it funny.  Would make for great product placement.

17) Wouldn't the threshold be good enough without a stupid little protection symbol?

18) Harry looks really good next to the girls...about the perfect height.

19) Ah HA...THERE'S the threshhold!!  *Edit* It wasn't, it was the protective charm doodle thingy...

20) I just realized...Harry doesn't have much snark.  "Carmichael" has had the best smart-ass line so far...

21) The fade to washed out B&W before commercial breaks are pretty cool.

22) Off topic...I can't WAIT to see the next episode of Monk!

23) I thought Harry's dad was ignorant of the wizard thing...or am I wrong about that?

24) <singing> Harry's hiding stuff from Murphy!  Harry's hiding stuff from Murphy!

25) Grrr...Bob never asked if the mom was hot!!

26) Okay, I WAS following everything pretty well except not knowing who the hell Melissa is...but now Melissa's dead?  Or was that not Melissa knocking away his bracelet?  Or...I'm just totally lost...is that Laura walking in the door or is that the teacher chick?

27) Harry's dad is supposed to be a GOOD magician...what's he doing in a tux doing the stupid three rings bit?

28) FINALLY Harry's getting his ass kicked!  By a girl no less!  THIS is what I wanted!

29) Ah ha, Karrin -- err, Connie's daughter lives with dad.

30) This is, what, the second? third? time Harry's used a phone and no static or line noise?

31) Dear god, guys, Bob is COMIC RELIEF as well as EXPOSITION!  He has to be BOTH to work well, otherwise he's just f***ing Giles, especially with the accent.

32) "Justin DuMorne" looks like an insurance salesman!!  That's interesting...

33) Okay, Harry next to a guy, he doesn't look tall enough.  Give Paul some elevator boots!

34) Where the f*** did this Doom Box thing come from?  A leftover prop from Hellraiser 13: Electric Boogaloo?

35) No staff or blasting rod?

36) Did Harry just break the First Law?  Or is this skinwalker thing not human?

37) Hmmm...why does Harry have lamps and electricity?  I mean I know it's harder to pull off natural-looking lighting and all, but that's what the off-camera lights are for.

38) Harry is getting WAY too much play in this...he's got whoever the f*** this Laura person is f***ing him and he could get the mom if he wanted to.  BOB DIDN'T MAKE ONE PERVERTED COMMENT!!  NOT A SINGLE F***ING ONE!!  What the f*** man?!  So it was the teacher in the office or lab or whatever that was...the geography wasn't laid out well. 

Ending Credits of Dresden/opening credits of Battlestar Galactica thoughts: It's obvious from watching this that it's not meant to be a pilot episode.  Not nearly enough stuff and not nearly enough of the characters were set up properly.  There was no "big reveal" that was needed to show that Harry really is a wizard and that magic is real in this world.  What magic there was was too subtle except for the Doom Box thing, which BTW was rather lame.  It goes from a theory Bob's toying with to a completed working model WHILE all this stuff is going on?


Okay, now I've had a bit of time to process it all.  It's not that bad for a mid-season episode, but it's incredibly weak for a pilot.  None of the characters are properly introduced, we don't know what the hell Bob is, we don't know who Laura is and we only see her in three scenes, we have no clue who Melissa is and she's dead before the episode's out, we aren't told what SI is, we don't know who the hell anyone is really.  We've got too much thrown at us far too quickly.  Again, if this were episode 5 or 6 or whatever, it'd be fine.  It's okay to have a weak-but-still-not-bad episode.  But it's not a good thing that this was the first episode shown.  Like I said, I wanted more, but I'm satisfied with what I got.  Hopefully, the episodes will get stronger from this point on.  And I will be sticking around to make sure they are.

The Abstruse One
Darryl Mott Jr.

PS. My roommate made a good point...while the theme song may kinda suck, at least it's not as bad as the Psych theme song...

[Shiggy]

Ok, I have returned home from my viewing party. Overall impressions to follow:

Harry - I'm sold. Paul nailed it. Light snark, beating, etc.

Murphy - Ok, I new she had a kid, though I didn't realize they'd bring her up in the first episode. I'm reserving judgement on that part. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed Valerie's performance.

Bob - I want the 16th century showtunes! And I think it'll be interesting to see how TV!Bob interacts with Harry throughout.

Flashbacks - I wasn't sure what to think of the thought of flashbacks when I first heard about them. Now, I like them, but I felt they overran this particular episode.

Misc - I'm one of the ones that didn't particularly like Harry getting laid in the first episode. But they did say he was going to get more action than the book Harry. Maybe it'll be more interesting when Susan actually shows up.

Enjoyed the theme music.  Made me wish the beginning credits were longer.

Those are just my basic thoughts. One of our viewing party was grumpy and kept making little comments which almost ruined the entire thing for me. Good thing I taped it, so I can re-watch it here at home without interference.

[Highlander_II]

I loved it. 

The slightly more coherent notes are over in my LJ.

But I was impressed.

The only thing that still flips me is - 1981?  Why is Harry's dad still around?  Unless they've pushed back and Harry's not orphaned until he's about 10 or so.  It's one of those things they can't really ditch, b/c it's a big part of who Harry is - IMO.


As for Harry's dad - I don't recall the books saying he was 'draw the big crowds' good - but the 3 rings trick?  That's an old staple of stage shows - even if you know how it works, if the sleight of hand is good enough - it's STILL hard to tell how it's done.  Also - it's a simple trick for the stage on TV - that or the folks behind the scenes are just not that imaginative, but - eh - it works.

And Justin - he TOTALLY reminds me of LaCroix from Forever Knight - creepy guy w/ an ugly nose.  The cane is more amusing than sinister, I think.  It's not how *I* pictured Justin, but so far, he works.

Speaking of - anyone else see the 'assumed' deceased Justin getting into the car at the end of the show?



(if this posts more than once - very sorry)

[BigMama]

Yes,  I thought Justin was dead--D E D, but he is now showing up as a villan hiring someone to beat Harry up. Hmmm...
Again, while I know that Harry is supposed to like ladies, I did not expect that it would get that much emphasis--I don't like that in the first scene we see him in bed with someone.
I generally liked the show, although I thought the script was extremely simplistic and did not do nearly enough exposition for a premier. Even as a reader of the books, I was a bit confused, so I imagine those who haven't read them were lost.
I like the overall look of the show, although Bob is too prone to panic and is much too judgemental toward Harry.
The "tearing down" of the wards around the door was a WTF moment for me. This implied that you simply had to tear down the curtain and anyone could walk in. Hello, this is a powerful wizard here! In addition, apparently we are going to be much more open about our use of magic. The little scene in the cafe where the wizardly chick checked out for a moment or two was kind of weird--not what I would have expected of an apparent agent of the High Council.