Ten Statements About....THE FADES EPISODE TWO (2011)

Forget all the gore-smeared monsters in this show...this
gal's the scariest thing in here...

"Your sister was naked?"
"Well, the important thing was that she was dead."

1) I give this show credit for coming up with a fairly unique way of doing the 'previously' pre-credit recap. By making it a sort of video diary from Mac, we not only get a more flavorful recap, we get a definite sense of the show's voice right off the bat, so we can decide if it's for us or not.

Of course, considering Mac continues to be a second rate Xander dropping random pop culture references, I wonder if new viewers might choose the 'not for us' option.

2) Was it wrong of me to wish that the sight of a dead Anna meant we wouldn't have to deal with Lily Loveless' tone-deaf acting this episode?

(Sadly, I did not get my wish, and the world is poorer for it.)

3) Given the girl on the toilet last episode and the rather protracted incest riff in this one, I have to really wonder if writer Jack Thorne perceives this as the kind of humor that'll appeal to an American audience, or if he's just really, really, really peculiar.

4) The sequence in the orphanage may very well be the first thing this series gave me that doesn't smack of Whedon. Yeah, it's all a set-up to get us to another Giles-like character, but there are touches--the ghost Natalie and her bi-polar attitude toward Paul, the way Niel communicates with his now-dead mentor by writing in his hand, each letter remaining as a burning after image for a second--that seem to indicate the series does want to become something other than British Television's nineteenth Buffy rip-off.

Yeah, there may be ghosts/monsters hanging around Paul,
but asking him to talk to a girl?  THAT'S scary....

5) You know what I like about Sophie Wu's Jay? Yeah, she's obviously meant to be the romantic interest for Paul, and Wu doesn't bring anything interesting to that role...but the style sense of the character, with her penchant for what appears to be psuedo-60's modwear implies there's a story there, a reason why she is going to end up standing with outsider Paul as opposed to the more conventional Anna other than the script needs her to...plus it makes her stand out in the sea of chav-wear that is the show's school-set sequences.

6) Okay, first the pissing, then the incest, now necrophilia? I'm willing to call it--the humor on this show is waaaay too icky, and must go.

7) Admittedly, another thing that sort of works is how there are sequences that feature some of the now-dead cast members walking along with their loved one, playing silent witness to what's going on in the real world. One scene in particular, with the dead Sarah following her husband home and witnessing his bedding of another woman, is made all the more atmospheric by the way Natalie Dormer's expression never changes; it's as if the director is inviting us to read our own impressions into Sarah's face.

8) Okay, Johnny Harris' Neil is growing on me. I find it fascinating how Harris is creating a sort of tension between his rough look and his attitude. You get the impression that Neil wants to be a gentle, kinder teacher but doesn't have to tool set to ease this kid into the job he has to do. It's another sign of the show wanting to move away from its Whedon-esque remit into something more original.



Apparently, these ghosts get their
special effects from the same place
Time Lords do.



9) Every time I think the series has found the right track, emphasizing the subtle as opposed to the overt (the scare scene involving the mangled soccer ball was particularly impressive), I get dragged back into the belief that there's not many good ideas in the show's head. After emphasizing the show is about ghosts for an hour and change, it brings in this new angle that makes the Fades into not-quite-zombies, and it's back to following trends.

10) I don't care about the ghoulish, red-eyed, pakour-ish ghosties that are the bulk of the creatures in the series--Natalie is proving to be the scariest thing within. Jenn Murray's body language gives her a sort of personality that's one half impish and one half fucking insane. I want to see more of this actress.

Overall...there is some improvement in the show, as it struggles to gain an identity separate from the show the BBC wants it to emulate. Whether it ultimately succeeds lies with whether it can step out of the shadow of Joss Whedon and into a more nuanced and subtle style of storytelling.

Ten Statements About....THE FADES EPISODE ONE (2011)

"Yep...riding bikes indoors...'cause we're DAREDEVILS!"

"Do you think I'm mad?"

"Well if you're mad, we'll find a way to cope with it. But it's equally possible that what we're seeing is what other people can't, and you're, you know, special."

1) Well, this is a much different version of estate living than we got in the Davies-era Doctor Who, that's for sure. This is a much more broken down environment for our hero to play in. But then, given that this show makes it clear that it's a horror show--from its earthy color pallet to the skittering figures in the background to the shot of series lead Paul (Iain De Caetecker) doing his best Anthony Perkins upon seeing the ghostie of the week--the show's background is appropriate.

2) I know Mac, assayed by Daniel Kaluuya, is meant to be the Xander to Paul's Buffy--you know, the wisecracking comic relief guy who can get truly annoying--but the guy won me over fairly early on. The the way he sells his rationalization of the gunfire he heard as 'they can't be real gunshots. We're in England' won me over in a flash.

3) Eyeball licking monsters...ewwwwwww.

4) Somehow I can't imagine an American horror or suspense show that makes such a big deal about the hero peeing his pants. A comedy, sure...but a deadly serious show about ghosts infringing on the real world...

(But then, given the girl on the toilet in a later scene, I'm beginning to think the producers of this show have an obsession with urine.)

THIS is the true horror of The Fades....

5) Wow...so I see overacting teenagers confusing brattiness with psychotic behavior isn't confined to the United States.  Thanks a lot, Lily Loveless...

6) Am I the only one who wonders if Tom Ellis was hired solely for his remarkable resemblance to Dylan McDermott?

7) I have to say...of all the characters, I think I like Daniela Nardini's Helen the best. She's got an edge of ruthlessness and practicality right from the start...and there's there's definitely a sense that her hard bitten nature is not derived from her losing faith--that it may actually be there because of her faith. Pity I suspect she won't be around for Episodes two through seven.

8) You know, the script by Jack Thorne plants in our heads the idea that having organic matter pass through the fades burns them...but the surprise in learning that it isn't a metaphor, and that a fade will burst into embers and ash once you walk through it, is one of the better supernatural moments of the story.

Boy, the Ghost Busters sure fell on hard times....

9) Okay, the constant pop culture references are beginning to get on my nerves. They're forced, and only serves to remind me that this is yet another attempt by the BBC to get a second lil' Whedonverse-esque merchandising machine up and spitting out cash.

10) You know, now that I've got a better look at it, maaaaaybe I'd be more freaked by eyeball licking monster dude if he didn't look like Andy Dick after a few too many nights of partying.

Overall...this is better than some of the earlier attempts British television had made to recreate Buffy (I'm looking at you, Hex and Demons)...but I don't know if there's enough there to raise it up above being nothing more than a pale imitation of Joss Whedon's baby.

Of course, I have to also wonder why a nation with such a rich heritage of horror fiction keeps looking to a series over a decade old for inspiration for their own television genre shows.