An entire season where Daniel never interacts with the other main characters?
Ends with him and that awful actress with which he had ZERO chemistry?
Pathetic.
Daniel interacted with Janet, ted sr, and jon stern in person, and amantha, teddy , and tawney by person,
chloe and daniel had chemistry, it just wasn't sexual
The finale had many terrific scenes. Superior work even if not the best of the series. Because that's a high bar indeed. There's no way it's an awful finale.
It's possible that the chemistry between Daniel and Chloe has been misunderstood. Not saying it has, only that it's possible.
"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson
The actress is very talented. She's just come off an outstanding 4 year stint on Masters of Sex. She's good at lifting bad material, but here what she was given was too awful even for her capabilities. And the chemistry issue is important too. I mean, has the casting director never heard of a chemistry read??
shareI thought they finally had some chemistry in 407 when Daniel sat down and took her feet in his lap, their interplay when he was trying to get her to pack, and especially their slow dance. But it still wasn't enough to set me up to be deeply moved by their supposed connection in the field in the very last image. If they'd had chemistry all the way through S4, that daydream could have been devastating rather than simply decent.
To borrow Pequod's word, she was sanded smooth. I think one reason I detected some chemistry in 407 is because she was actually showing a little complexity with the resistence to leaving. Otherwise she was pretty much the uncomplicated ally.
If Daniel hadn't been given someone so incredibly amenable to his needs, it would have been more challenging to get him to reach his relatively grounded state of mind by the finale. But it would have been more interesting for the audience.
"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson
I think Chloe -- or the actress, not sure which -- was paper doll thin. If she turned sideways you couldn't see her at all. There was never enough to her and what there was often didn't make great sense (yes, I still have issues with that stupid gelato scene).
Most of her arc was Daniel's "fix" on her, which seemed too sudden, too incautious, too unreal (speaking as he often did of what is "real" and not "real") and too "writerly". She was a prop, she served a purpose: she was Hope, personified. In fact, they should have just gone the whole nine yards and named her Hope. Pregnant Hope! How symbolic can one character be?
She represented everything good in life that Daniel had missed out on but that is waiting for him to embrace: art, beauty, the future (the life she carried inside her). She also represented knowledge and compassion (her "truth", telling Daniel she couldn't save him but could hold him). She was Everything he had lost and the Promise of all that he could regain. She was The Message that many of the other characters had been trying to deliver to Daniel; one he could not understand until he met her.
And that's why she was added to Season 4.
I agree with you. Call it cautious optimism :)
If only he'd had to earn anything with her. If only she weren't so amenable. If only her character had been treated, like all characters who seem vitally real to us, as the star of her own story. Not as if she could act mainly as an ideal companion to the "real" star of the show. In the story world, there is no star. Chloe seems to me written from the outside-in.
Words are even put into the character's mouth implying that she is a cipher: "I didn't know that I had to have a deal... I don't have myself completely figured out yet, so I can't ascribe a clear motive to my every action and desire." When I heard her say that, a curmudgeonly voice in me blurted something like, "Gaak." Really, her primary motive was to be Daniel's ally.
Tawney was hardly an ideal ally for Daniel, and I think that is where a lot of their chemistry came from.
There is no reason why Chloe could not have been representative of everything good that Daniel had missed out but is waiting for him to embrace, as long as, by nature, she forced him to earn those benefits to a significant degree. Life's inconvenient parts, so frustrating, so fearful, often lead to insights and down paths you'd ordinarily avoid that open up onto good things you could never see coming.
Fate that feels truly real, that provokes awe, is complex, unpredictable. It's only appreciable - though not understandable - in hindsight. With a blatantly "representative" character like Chloe, fate feels fake -- as you say, "writerly." It's false, a kind of lie. Which I don't consider in the spirit of Rectify through 3 seasons.
Life isn't representative or symbolic except as one might make individual meaning from some aspect of it. Chloe isn't really custom-made for Daniel in the messy, complex, unpredictable way we experience these figures in our own lives. She's actually generic, someone who'd be terrific for just about anyone having a hard time of it.
Chloe is one of those characters I think, "Only on TV." And that is SO un-Rectify. There is no social application. Man, who couldn't have used a Chloe when they were down and out? It's a jive rip-off.
"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson
If only he'd had to earn anything with her. If only she weren't so amenable.
...........
There is no reason why Chloe could not have been representative of everything good that Daniel had missed out but is waiting for him to embrace, as long as, by nature, she forced him to earn those benefits to a significant degree. Life's inconvenient parts, so frustrating, so fearful, often lead to insights and down paths you'd ordinarily avoid that open up onto good things you could never see coming.
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I hate to say it, but I liked the finale a whole lot less than I wanted. Granted, I have sometimes found I liked something the second time viewing it, however, when the final scene ended I felt like I was left hanging.
~Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is not insanity. It's practice.~
I understand what you're saying. I don't think the finale was awful, it did have good moments. But for me it would have been nice, with the extra viewing time that was added, to do a flashback about just what happened on that fateful night with Hanna. But they would have had to bring in new, younger actors for that. I can't imagine, even with Hollywood tricks with lighting and makeup, that all the men involved could be made to look 18 years old.
sharea flashback about just what happened on that fateful night with Hanna.
Eeew. And violate the spirit of the story, its tension between not knowing to a certainty and the need for justice, and so on. A slap in the face to viewers who found this series that rarity of rarities to not cave in and take viewers by the hand and give them crystal clear clarity so they can have so-called "closure." My God, as if there aren't enough of those stories to choose from. Same old wish-fulfilling falsehoods about life.
The choice to not do that was itself a belief about life, a personal value, that the writer wanted to communicate. To turn around and wrap it up with a big bow would run completely counter to that desire. It would be selling out.
"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson
The choice to not do that was itself a belief about life, a personal value, that the writer wanted to communicate
What you were talking about the other day was a speculation about office politics, which is neither here nor there. It can be fun, but it's not the main game. By contrast in this case a particular value has been emphasized consistently throughout the story, and evidently the choice was made to continue to serve it in the end, eschewing the perfectly neat bow. The resulting ambiguity, including the feeling of frustration, is part of the meaning communicated from the beginning. It is a way of seeing the world. Same thing with other qualities, such as slowness, an emphasis on the little things.
"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson
What you were talking about the other day was a speculation about office politics,
He said himself that he would have been happy with Rectify ending at Season 3.
Indeed, and I even provided the quote. But based on that it's neither here nor there to speculate about his possible thoughts about his future in TV. That's why I think it's more productive to speak only to possible influences on story content actually produced. And what was actually produced, S1 through S4, reflected a consistent way of seeing the world. He didn't give that up, thankfully, gelato notwithstanding. It was a glitch in the gears, not a wrench.
"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson
But based on that it's neither here nor there to speculate about his possible thoughts about his future in TV.
Except you're the one who just brought up the subject, recalling it from another thread where I plainly stated that I didn't want to indulge that kind of speculation. Just let it go, please.
"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson
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Ehh.
While there were some flaws this season, like the overbearing music and the lack of subtlety for some key moments, your first point is a rather weak one. Daniel has to learn to move on and live his own life, and so do the other characters. Just refer back to the first season and see just how clingy some of his family members were.
Also, three of the core castmembers did in fact visit him, so you're just spouting hyperboles.
Reported for doody.
I liked the season. I love the first three seasons, and I was fascinated by Daniel as a an interior and isolated person. I also care about Daniel as a character and he was severely stunted by being around his family, putting him far from them was the best thing they could have done in terms of allowing him to grow a little.
Removing Daniel from the equation allowed for some real movement and interaction between the other characters who up until this point had mainly been cautiously circling him. I loved the Amantha and Teddy friendship sort of blossoming, the strain on Ted and Janet's marriage, Teddy's separation. None of that would have happened in Daniel's orbit.
Chloe. My jury is out on Chloe. She's a type...and not a type I enjoy watching on television, but she had a couple of moments. I wish writers would give up on this trope that only a certain kind of woman can break through the recalcitrant man's exterior. I don't know. Maybe it's a cliche because it's true.