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Post by GL on Oct 10, 2013 11:26:11 GMT -5
Okay, I think we all know I'm not really into this kind of thing, but I have to say there's a few things going for this one:
1. I've always loved witchcraft, black magic and the occult and really feel those topics are grossly underutilized in horror today.
2. My most recent movie watched, Paranormal Activity, was on to segue into this as it aired right after it.
3. My girlfriend really loves the cast for once (she loves Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates, while I've got a crush of sorts on Emma Roberts) so there's that.
All told, there's enough going for it that I wanted to check it out and thoroughly enjoyed this one. The set-up with the backstory in the old New Orleans plantations is creepy, the facility for harboring witches is admittedly a new concept I haven't seen used yet, and there's a lot to work with here in terms of where the story goes. Not knowing anything about the past shows, this one can go in numerous ways and that's quite important for me so that there's a lot it can do to wow me, so I'm looking forward to it.
Anyone else caught this?
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Post by Jen on Oct 14, 2013 12:01:06 GMT -5
I'm a big fan of this series, LOVE Jessica Lange. Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett are great additions to the cast. Really enjoyed the premiere, the only small issue I had was the awkward dinner table conversation where the girls are bickering and discussing their powers. It was too obvious. But thought Bates and Lange were marvelous.
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Post by GL on Oct 16, 2013 9:39:53 GMT -5
Well, it was a lot better than the prank they used to set up the other girls already at the coven (I know they wanted a cheap scare, but the traditional make the newcomer almost wet herself then, surprise, it was all a gag type of scenes just make me root for an immediate beheading of all who participate in such thinking) but I did think it went by a little quickly. We're trying to know who they are, give us some time with them to figure out who they are and why they're there. Since the new girl doesn't know any of her powers yet, whereas they should, a more formal introduction to them would've been a lot nicer but we'll see where it goes from here.
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Post by Jen on Oct 16, 2013 11:16:01 GMT -5
Looking back, I see your point about the prank. Especially since, based on the rest of the episode, only one seems like enough of a jerk to participate in something so petty toward a new student. So it is kind of forced and cliched.
I think they could have taken their time introducing the abilities. For instance, I think we would picked up on the clairvoyant without being told outright.
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Post by GL on Oct 17, 2013 11:04:32 GMT -5
Well, after last night's episode, I think this might really be onto something. I thought it was really good.
First, the set-up with the raiding the morgue for body-parts, something that I love as it adds a grotesque-ness to the whole proceedings, was pretty grim and uneasy to watch, especially the comfort with which the one displayed towards being there. The whole thing reeked of a customer at a grocery-store deli counter ordering a meal for a family gathering simple picking parts up at random, and tying it in with the accident from the first episode was quite nice. Frankly, him being up-and-about was a little early for my tastes, since that seems like a perfect way to handle their powers as the season goes on where learning of their true natures gives them the ability to reanimate him completely, so we'll see where this goes.
I absolutely loved Lange's and Bassetts' interactions as well, the story about their meeting is quite chilling knowing that the powers of a witch and a voodoo priestess are going to come into play at some point with a perfect tease in the hair salon. Dropping a little bit here sets it up nicely that they're going to come to blows, but not really sure who to root for (Lange's character is the main villain but Bassett is a practitioner of dark, evil magic moreso than Lange) so this is really getting me excited about where its' going.
Not knowing where to really put it, but the inclusion of the meeting with the burned witch from the first one is a tad confusing, for while it provided some nice gore at the beginning where she takes out the illegal hunters the ham-fisted way she's introduced back at the end with the reanimated boyfriend is just out of nowhere and doesn't really make any sense, though perhaps that's got more to do with the fact I didn't like him out like that this early more than the fact she shows up out of nowhere and doesn't act like it's a big deal.
Frankly, only two small complaints about this one. The storyline about the good sister trying to get pregnant and going into the dark arts seems a little clumsy, as there's no real set-up from the first one to make it seem like an option this early on, and it seemed more so to get the visual of them screwing in the ring of fire more than anything else, and the whole thing was a huge turn-off. As well, Bates is way too modern-sounding for my liking. For someone imprisoned back during the days of legal slavery (I think I read a card in the first episode that said 1840 or something like that; I don't know why that date is sticking with me when thinking about this so that might be it) she has none of that Southern drawl women from that area usually have and seems to know modern slang far more easily than someone from that time would seem to be, and the fact that she was buried under a concrete walk-way would've made it impossible to hear any sounds from the outside world seeping in so she just looks the part but doesn't really sound like it for me.
Overall, though, this seems like a lot of fun so far.
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Post by Jen on Oct 18, 2013 15:42:06 GMT -5
Loved the interaction between Lange and Bassett, very well done. I think it's clear they are both powerful and ruthless, and it should be very interesting.
As far as Misty goes, I assumed the reason she was drawn to Kyle and Zoe was because it was a resurrection spell that was used. And that is her natural ability. Seems reasonable to me that she would be drawn to the energy of healing or resurrection magic. Speaking of Zoe, what a crap deal she was given when it comes to power....lol.....though it resulted in one of the most dark and disturbing moments in the first episode for me.
I agree about the ritual that Cordelia and her husband performed though. There wasn't enough build up for it, in my opinion. But this has been my biggest issue with the series from the beginning. They try to do way too much in too little time. It's ambitious, but sometimes feels forced, or as you said GL clumsy, at times. I liked the visual of it actually, but without the build up and more character development, it didn't fit.
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Post by The Walking Dude on Oct 19, 2013 18:06:34 GMT -5
I haven't watched the 2nd episode yet,but it looks like we have another winner in season 3. What I really like about this series is the anything goes approach.You can never be sure which direction it's gonna take next, Asylum sure showed that. I'll try and get to ep 2 today sometime and report back.
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Post by GL on Oct 21, 2013 10:11:39 GMT -5
That does seem logical, Jen, about witches being geared toward those using similar powers of her own but I don't think it reality it would've worked that easily. For a witch to use regeneration, like Misty, she would be ping-ponging across the world in utter madness whenever something like what Zoe did would play out. Living in Wisconsin, you resurrect a family member to learn a grave secret about your past, bam she's there. Someone in China manifests their uncle to finally say good-bye to them, she has to get there. Seems to me that'd be a really terrible way of living just zig-zagging across the planet like that.
Unless of course the powers only work on localized pretenses. After a certain point of distance away from you, for example, you'd feel it but not be drawn to it. If you're close enough, you'd want to check it out but when you're not, you can tell it's happening but not be instinctively guided to it.
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Post by Jen on Oct 21, 2013 11:49:06 GMT -5
I don't really get the impression from the show that there are all that many practicing witches, so I don't think it would be much of an issue. Also, I did kind of assume that it was at least partly because they were close.
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Post by GL on Oct 22, 2013 10:03:21 GMT -5
Yeah, I know it wasn't that clearly spelled out but it should be fairly safe to assume you need to be in the same general vicinity to be able to read the powers being utilized. A little hard to tell from the episode itself but it is there to some degree.
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Post by GL on Oct 24, 2013 10:28:09 GMT -5
So we got episode 3 last night and thought it somewhat stumbled a bit. There's a lot of stuff about the details of coven hierarchy that really felt forced for no reason, about the draining of the powers and how that affects both parties involved that makes little sense. Surely once a new Supreme is found, it would make more sense to have the switch-over be immediate instead of dragging the process out for a while and tend to revert the current one into a normal aging old woman, a plot-point that makes very little sense. It makes very little sense and seems more like a thread that makes her seem more power-hungry for no reason since she already has the beef with the voodoo priestess. That alone should've been enough to carry for a while but not this just seems thrown in rather clumsily.
As well, the Zoe and Kyle stuff with her mother was completely obscure, thrust in with the abuse angle to have a controversial figure simply because they could. Not that there's no realism there, but more so for just how random it is to have happen and trying to hit a controversy button because it's on a channel that allows that. Even before that, the decision to go there is lame and without any motivation, the scenes there are just bland and overall it serves up controversy for controversy's sake and a bloody, gory death.
Now, the reanimated lover with the bull's head I feel I should feel uneasy about because it just came out of nowhere, but for some reason I got a feeling his story is going to be explained in future episodes so he gets a pass, as well as for taking out the one member of the coven that really didn't belong there.
That said, the rest of the episode was alright. Madison's awakening powers angle is handled nicely with the family visit next door and the on-going angle with the coven leader throughout is got pretty creepy at times, Bates definitely got a few laughs from her indignation over the culture shift from the time-travel and though it never happened the voodoo ritual was definitely enjoyable and the sort of scene you couldn't really get away with anywhere else but here.
Though it tended to simply set-up plotlines for later, overall I thought it was pretty hit-or-miss.
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Post by GL on Nov 7, 2013 11:29:41 GMT -5
So, having missed being here last time to report on the previous entry due to my wonky computer, this time I made it through which is quite possibly one of my favorite TV episodes so far.
The main thing that made me into this one so far was the action that took place in that memorable and awesome zombie battle during the first half. Not only was the set-up perfect with them standing silently and unmoving while the voodoo ceremony was preceding elsewhere, leaving the whole thing quite eerie and chilling until the attack order which showcased the greatness of zombie-inspired mayhem with tons of gore in the splintered body but also the suspense as they try to get at the trapped couple in the car and slowly make their way inside the house. The battle plan against them was quite good and fun overall, making for a highly impressive and fun scene all around.
Beyond the zombie carnage, the continuing storyline of Fiona doing everything in her powers to keep her position in her declining state, carried over from last week but never had a chance to be reported, served itself very well. The council getting closer and closer to the truth is making for some fun times since they shouldn't know the full-truth yet, this just merely serves as a pleasing appetizer for her eventual downfall. The framing tactics just prove that point right now quite wonderfully, the burning of the innocent was really chilling for it's brutality and the fact that the voodoo clan is left in the wings waiting for its payback serves as great notice.
Again, the only thing I had a real problem with was the angle with the daughter, only now she's become blinded and helpless in the hospital which doesn't really do anything of any importance to anyone. We've already got the manipulation of the girls to prove her stranglehold on the title, messing with the daughter doesn't prove anything we don't already know, and beyond that the fact that there's a potential adultery angle thrown into the mix as well makes no sense and seems placed there to make it more scandalous only because it can be. There's no proper motivation for it, the scenes are tedious and repetitive, and overall I'm not too sure where it's going.
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Post by GL on Nov 14, 2013 11:58:45 GMT -5
So, last night's episode was one of the weirder ones in the storyline so far, and while I enjoyed it, three straight non-responses make me question why I'd want to go into a lengthy detailed write-up if I'm just talking with myself. Love to know what you guys think.
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Post by Jen on Nov 14, 2013 12:59:39 GMT -5
Sorry GL......we are behind so I have been avoiding this thread. Hopefully we will get caught up this weekend. We watch too much....
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Post by GL on Nov 15, 2013 12:11:51 GMT -5
Well, I don't mind that happening, it's certainly something I'm guilty of as some of the episodes were watched on re-runs so I'm not putting that down. What I'm more getting at is the practice of logging into the forum but not posting or saying anything. HNT, TWD and you log in at least twice a week sometimes and it's lucky to have one post between the three of you guys combined for every appearance. I enjoy talking to you guys, but it's the constant tease of seeing someone to talk to and not getting it, that's all.
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