Obligatory TiW post
Apr. 27th, 2005 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daemonlunaI am... ambivalent about the season finale of This is Wonderland.
I think the plotline about the two brothers whose names now escape me (maybe because I keep filling in "Victor" for the one) should have been tied up last episode. It really didn't need to drag out into a two-parter, let alone the season finale. Likewise, I would have liked less time on the woman who threw the crib and more on Alice's reactions. I recognize that TiW isn't focussing on the emotional lives of the recurring cast, but given the set-up from the last episode, it seemed a lot of screen-time on something relatively trivial.
That being said, Elliot's continuing storyline with Gordon and Gloria and the "hypoglycemic" unnamed phone guy has a lot more substance to it. The character's getting a chance to develop some emotional depth, and the courtroom scene was great.
And Zona Robinson quit. (The character, who's duty counsellor, quit on the show, not the actress.) I wonder if we're going to see her around still, since she is opening her own practice, and who will replace her.
But. Nancy and Alice. Nancy was so very upset over what happened to Alice. And Alice seems to be exhibiting control issues. Obviously, she's been through a traumatic situation, and she's dealing. It;s been less than twenty-four hours, but she refused to stay away from work, and I suspect is over-compensating for any of the irrational guilt she feels for being attacked, and the anger at her attacker, and insists that he shouldn't go to jail, and bullies Nancy into defending him (though she does a truly admirable job considering the circumstances).
She's obviously in physical pain. She hasn't started to deal with what's happened to her. Everyone around her is getting upset and indignant on her behalf, and she wants to to think that it's no big deal, and she's doing her best to hold it all together, just like she always does. And when Nancy breaks down, Alice just can't cope with it. She's angry at Nancy because she's not letting herself be angry at the guy who attacked her. And there's cop-guy Ian, offering sympathy, and not falling apart. She's looking for comfort, she's looking for a distraction, and someone who isn't asking anything from her. So she sleeps with him.
I, of course, through my slash-coloured glasses, am convinced that she's going to regret it. And there will be repression and angst and reconciliation with Nancy and apologies. And make-up sex.
I didn't hate the end of the episode, from a storytelling point of view. Didn't like the direction it went, of course, but Alice's actions did make sense. I didn't like the lack of emotional resolution between Nancy and Alice, and am hoping that we'll get some next season.
I gotta admit though, I did shout at the TV. A lot. I'm hoping she'll come to her senses, and cop-guy Ian will go off with CA Tamara Rogan, and there will be much subtexty Alice/Nancy goodness.
Until then, however, I will be plotting all sorts of fic in my head to get Alice and Nancy back together. In fact, I think the half-finished Nancy POV fic that I haven't been able to get past the awkward kissing scene might mutate into something post-finale second season.
I think the plotline about the two brothers whose names now escape me (maybe because I keep filling in "Victor" for the one) should have been tied up last episode. It really didn't need to drag out into a two-parter, let alone the season finale. Likewise, I would have liked less time on the woman who threw the crib and more on Alice's reactions. I recognize that TiW isn't focussing on the emotional lives of the recurring cast, but given the set-up from the last episode, it seemed a lot of screen-time on something relatively trivial.
That being said, Elliot's continuing storyline with Gordon and Gloria and the "hypoglycemic" unnamed phone guy has a lot more substance to it. The character's getting a chance to develop some emotional depth, and the courtroom scene was great.
And Zona Robinson quit. (The character, who's duty counsellor, quit on the show, not the actress.) I wonder if we're going to see her around still, since she is opening her own practice, and who will replace her.
But. Nancy and Alice. Nancy was so very upset over what happened to Alice. And Alice seems to be exhibiting control issues. Obviously, she's been through a traumatic situation, and she's dealing. It;s been less than twenty-four hours, but she refused to stay away from work, and I suspect is over-compensating for any of the irrational guilt she feels for being attacked, and the anger at her attacker, and insists that he shouldn't go to jail, and bullies Nancy into defending him (though she does a truly admirable job considering the circumstances).
She's obviously in physical pain. She hasn't started to deal with what's happened to her. Everyone around her is getting upset and indignant on her behalf, and she wants to to think that it's no big deal, and she's doing her best to hold it all together, just like she always does. And when Nancy breaks down, Alice just can't cope with it. She's angry at Nancy because she's not letting herself be angry at the guy who attacked her. And there's cop-guy Ian, offering sympathy, and not falling apart. She's looking for comfort, she's looking for a distraction, and someone who isn't asking anything from her. So she sleeps with him.
I, of course, through my slash-coloured glasses, am convinced that she's going to regret it. And there will be repression and angst and reconciliation with Nancy and apologies. And make-up sex.
I didn't hate the end of the episode, from a storytelling point of view. Didn't like the direction it went, of course, but Alice's actions did make sense. I didn't like the lack of emotional resolution between Nancy and Alice, and am hoping that we'll get some next season.
I gotta admit though, I did shout at the TV. A lot. I'm hoping she'll come to her senses, and cop-guy Ian will go off with CA Tamara Rogan, and there will be much subtexty Alice/Nancy goodness.
Until then, however, I will be plotting all sorts of fic in my head to get Alice and Nancy back together. In fact, I think the half-finished Nancy POV fic that I haven't been able to get past the awkward kissing scene might mutate into something post-finale second season.
