Been catching up on my television stories lately and thusly I was a bit late to a couple of finalé parties. But as it happens being late to The Good Wife finalé and being right on time for the Penny Dreadful finalé (both series closers) gave me a chance to compare the two. But why would I do such a thing? They are both so different, right? Well, despite the fact that one show is set in modern day Chicago and the other in Victorian England, the lead characters share many similar traits.
1. The lead characters are women forced to carry near unbearable burdens.
2. They are both surrounded by a team of people who support their endeavours.
3. They are both immensely powerful.
4. They are both constantly under attack.
5. They are both creatively sneaky in a fight. Vanessa Ives (Penny Dreadful) will turn to evil to do God's work. Alicia Florrick (The Good Wife) will use her popularity to influence a jury...
6. The "love interests" are deeply flawed in each show.
7. They spend a lot of time trying to isolate themselves from people who might actually make them happy.
Other similarities? Eva Green and Julianna Margulies are both astounding actors. Green's casting as Vanessa Ives was pure genius. When just having a normal day she is utterly charming, we like her. When in fight mode she is required to dominate the screen and really sell a demonic side to an otherwise charming woman. There were times when her screen chewing antics literally took my fucking breath away.
Actually I should mention that above clip is from an episode spent nearly entirely in a cell, features three actors in the entire episode and it's astounding!
Margulies casting as Alicia Florrick was equally effective. When it was required or when cornered Alicia Florrick channelled some inner demons of her own and let fly. But she was always at her best when keeping her cool with a quiet dignity in the face of vicious adversity. This one was quality:
Margulies casting as Alicia Florrick was equally effective. When it was required or when cornered Alicia Florrick channelled some inner demons of her own and let fly. But she was always at her best when keeping her cool with a quiet dignity in the face of vicious adversity. This one was quality:
Both these women faced a never ending stream of shit, horrible odds and little comfort. But they faced it all nonetheless. And this is why we loved them. How they look didn't hurt either (yes I find them attractive, sue me). How they were written was, of course crucial. For the most part, The Good Wife absolutely nailed Alicia's arc. She starts out the victim, quickly turns things around and eventually goes on the offensive. Penny was also a victim but embraced the best and interestingly the worst of herself in order to fight and eventually overcome her obstacles.
And so to the finalés of these two stellar shows. First up: The Good Wife. Season 7 was doing it for me. It wasn't the strongest season but it was holding my interest nicely and I liked where it was going. I liked the new investigator, Jason Crouse who was Alicia's new love interest. So what are my issues?
Cary Agos (arguably Alicia's closest friend whether she'd admit it or not) left his job as the politics within the office began to wear him down. Cary is told he has to testify in the case against Peter and it really should have been a bigger deal. It was barely a footnote in the episode and he went out with a whimper. Pity. He deserved better than being wrapped up in a teaching gig or whatever the hell that was...
While on the stand Diane's husband, Kurt is accused having an affair with a former student of his. She's a gorgeous blonde gun enthusiast who does the same job as Kurt and is trying to buy his business. This is just a terrible development shoehorned into the finalé and I cannot understand why, especially since we never get to know whether the alleged affair actually took place or not. Alicia is responsible for bringing this to light. Not only is she responsible for this but she gets her friend Lucca Quinn to do her dirty work. Now, you're either the kind of person who's fine with this or you're the kind of person who is wondering where the fuck this side of Alicia came from because in one fell swoop she fucked over Lucca, humiliated Diane and may have destroyed a marriage and she did it for a man she's divorcing. A man who has caused her nothing but pain since the inception of this show. Jason Crouse was nowhere to be found at the end of the episode and you can't really blame him. Run Jason, you can do better.
In closing, I'm okay with the idea that Alicia turns into the thing she hates. I think I would have enjoyed watching that show. But this is NOT that show and this finalé felt entirely out of place. Maybe if she'd gone to work for Louis Canning (a constant highlight in the show) and really sold her soul in an earlier season, this ending may have been more palatable, maybe.
And so to the slap. I know people were upset by the fact that the show ended on Diane slapping Alicia in the face. Honestly I was too baffled by the character developments to care. Alicia regains her poise and walks off into the corridor and we're right back where we started in the very first episode. Whatever about the viewers, the fucking show deserved better. Finalé score 3/10.
Penny Dreadful: Apparently the writers decided some time ago that Penny Dreadful would end in its third season. I found season 2 to be the strongest season. Perfectly paced, great acting and it looked absolutely gorgeous. But then this show has always looked gorgeous and while it changed flavour from time to time it never lost its tone. So while Ethan is gallivanting around the deserts of America trying to decide what he should do with his inner demon and indeed with his father, the flavour of the show is very different but the tone was always recognisable.
There were endings for all over this episode but I'll mainly focus on Vanessa for the purposes of the comparison with Alicia.
The finalé found our heroes going up against Dracula. Having already dealt with Lucifer in the previous season, Dracula was the big bad in this one. This may seem like they've done things backwards but the show had established Lucifer as a spent force and Dracula as a far greater threat. Vanessa, as ever, runs straight at the danger... and succumbs to it. She surrenders to the charms of the dark prince and with these two now in league, the world is plunged into the darkness of an insidious, poisonous fog. Hurrah! Our heroes return to rescue Vanessa and save the world... at least, that is the plan. Dracula sends his minions to deal with them but Ethan and co are old hands at this demon slaying. They also have a new recruit, Cat, who is basically Buffy, but hotter. Dracula is worried. There's a wonderful moment where Vanessa places her hand on Dracula's shoulder asking him what is troubling him (see pic above). He reaches out to hold onto her hand. Before they touch, Vanessa pulls away from him. She is powerful beyond Dracula, beyond all evil and she knows it. The question is, will she end it all or sacrifice herself to save the world, we already know the answer. We know the answer because the writers stay true to the show and the character. But we watch anyway, spellbound by these characters and this insanely beautiful looking show. It all ends with Ethan and Vanessa holding each other. Ethan kills her and almost immediately the darkness that engulfed the world lifts. She dies in his arms as we always knew she would. "Oh Ethan, I see our Lord"... She finally has peace. Ethan had wanted to do it the old fashioned way. Fight to the last breath and see if it's enough. It wouldn't have been. Vanessa has saved her friends and the world. The funeral is a very sad affair. They miss her, we miss her and television is a little poorer for the loss of this show. Finalé score: 8/10.
Penny Dreadful is not a perfect finalé. It feels ever so slightly rushed but it stays true to its main character. There's no WTF moments shoehorned in here, there's just confident writing and rock solid acting from an attractive and talented cast. By comparison, The Good Wife is nothing but WTF moments. I didn't even mention the "ghost" of Will Gardner telling Alicia to go forth and be happy. Not a great plot device as you are left wondering if Alicia is crazy... Perhaps an old letter from him or a simple memory would have been better. Seeing him there was just mental. They did this on Ally McBeal but, to be fair, she fucking was crazy.
Cheers,
G.
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