30 Days, Day 3: An unpopular/cracky opinion you hold

[clocketpatch]

I actually like Moloch (please don't hit me).

Yes, the Ben Steed awfulness is on full display, and it is some of the worst that he wrote, but... it's not boring, the plot makes sense, there are some near scifi ideas, and none of the main cast seem to have ingested OOC pills that week. The five minutes of Vila and Servalan is hilarious. Tarrant always looks nice in a Federation uniform. And... (please don't hate me) Doran is weirdly likeable. I kind of wish he hadn't died at the end, because it would have been fun to watch him fumble about as a member of the Liberator crew (and ultimately be killed by Dayna and Cally, probably.) Objectively, he is a terrible, disturbing and upsetting... but everyone (including the actor playing the part) seem to be aware of this. Doran's a really skeevy person who the other characters alternatively pity and are skeeved out by. And then he dies. And no one stands around adulating him. My guess is that they're all secretly relieved that they don't have to deal with him.

Probably Steed thought Doran was wrongfully imprisoned or something and was trying to get us to pity him for that. Um, no. But I think he's an interesting look at the kind of people the Federation produces, and who Blake, Vila, Jenna, and Gan probably spent several months in close quarters with on the London.

There's also Gross and Lector, the incredibly creepy and misogynistic section leaders who make incredibly disturbing jokes about cannibalism... but, they are also not adulated, and are on about the same level of awful as Raiker in Space Fall.

Plus the Muppet is funny.

...

*crickets*

...

Other random unpopular/cracky opinions I have, in no particular order:

- Avon didn't sleep with anyone during the years covered by the show. He didn't realize that Blake was even a possibility, Cally said no, Dayna was too young,  he knew that Servalan was a bad idea, and Soolin told him that wasn't in the contract.
- Servalan was messing with Avon's mind the entire time he was on Earth during rumours in order to prep him for her plan to steal the Liberator on Terminal.
- Gan wasn't a terrible person pre-implant, but he wasn't a particularly calm person either, or any good at impulse control
- Cally trained to be a doctor on Auron prior to going off and being a resistance fighter, which is why she took over the medical equipment and the health-and-wellness activity schedule on the Liberator
- Tarrant did have Federation conditioning and was spying on everyone on the Liberator up until Deathwatch, when he stopped. But he didn't say anything about it to anyone else on board for obvious reasons.
- Dayna, Vila, and Tarrant got drunk one time and staged a small concert on the flight deck. Orac helped. Everyone else was very confused.
- Orac deliberately withheld information about Terminal and Gauda Prime because he was jealous about Avon still looking for Blake
- The main reason Tarrant wasn't chucked out an airlock in early series three is because Avon, Vila and Cally all get that he's a cocksure, arrogant kid who hasn't had a chance to grow up yet. And even though he annoys the hell out of all of them, that's not a reason to kill/abandon someone. And he's a good pilot, and trying (badly) to be a better person. Also, Dayna like him, and they all like Dayna and don't want her to have another person she loves die.
- I don't really like Duel. It's got some great moments: Avon talking about Blake and Travis throwing nuts at each other, Avon talking about how he doesn't need to prove that he cares about Blake, Blake and Jenna having their conversation about the Federation... Actually, no. That's all one moment. I like the bit where they're in a tree, but other than that I don't like Duel.




I'm going to be lynched by fandom for this, aren't I?


1. Favourite episode
2. What you wish happened
3. An unpopular/cracky opinion you hold
4. Your song/fan mix for the show
5. Most Romantic moment?
6. Favourite photo/screenshot
7. Favourite non-romantic OTP
8. Crackiest moment?
9. How would you convert someone to your show?
10. What show related fan works you would like to see?
11. Worst decision
12. Scene that made your heartbreak?
13. Best use of a hoary old trope
14. Most woeful use of SFX
15. Best scene involving eating/drinking
16. Something that made you Think
17. Something that made you Laugh
18. Best series opener
19. Best season finale
20. Which character would you like to go to lunch with?
21. Crime against fashion
22. Favourite quote(s)
23. Favourite costume/clothing/accessory
24. Favourite character moment
25. Biggest BAMF
26. Something from your head fanon
27. Least Favourite episode
28. Which character would you be?
29. All the pairings you ship
30. The coolest thing

Comments

[aralias.livejournal.com]

ahha. i tell you what - i think you HAVE managed to find some unpopular opinions. or maybe i shouldnt' say that - maybe they aren't. what i mean is... that i disgaree with at least some of them ;)

wellharkather likes moloch, but i just find it so boring. i do agree that the sexist characters in this one are actually serving a purpose and making the script interesting, rather than being valorised and that is a difference between this and other ben steed's, but it's also really unpleasant to watch. and as i said - so boring. and it's weird for me that vila doesn't manage to shake doran off and he's still wandering around as a sort of comedy sidekick after he shows vila to the rape barn. the death just sort of HAPPENS, and i do like your interpretation, but it's also a bit like... wow, that was quick.


- Avon didn't sleep with anyone during the years covered by the show. He didn't realize that Blake was even a possibility, Cally said no, Dayna was too young, he knew that Servalan was a bad idea, and Soolin told him that wasn't in the contract. this is true
- Servalan was messing with Avon's mind the entire time he was on Earth during rumours in order to prep him for her plan to steal the Liberator on Terminal. i quite like that she got overthrown but i don't discount this
- Gan wasn't a terrible person pre-implant, but he wasn't a particularly calm person either, or any good at impulse control you write a very interesting gan, and i'd definitely like to see more. i think you are probably right, but i'll probably continue to write a straightforwardly super nice gan
- Cally trained to be a doctor on Auron prior to going off and being a resistance fighter, which is why she took over the medical equipment and the health-and-wellness activity schedule on the Liberator i think fandom has brainwashed me into thinking she is the doctor when actually she hardly has that many scenes doing doctory stuff. but - this may also be true
- Tarrant did have Federation conditioning and was spying on everyone on the Liberator up until Deathwatch, when he stopped. But he didn't say anything about it to anyone else on board for obvious reasons. this is intriguing, but i'm inclined to believe him - i also think this gives him too much credit ;) i'm very much on board with your other point about tarrant
- Dayna, Vila, and Tarrant got drunk one time and staged a small concert on the flight deck. Orac helped. Everyone else was very confused. not this one. although i like that it is a strongly held conviction ;)
- Orac deliberately withheld information about Terminal and Gauda Prime because he was jealous about Avon still looking for Blake. relatively happy to go with this in the space of a fic or whatever and i do think orac is capable of lying - i don't think it's IMplausible, but i dont think the show strongly drives this interpretation. it is definitely possible though
- The main reason Tarrant wasn't chucked out an airlock in early series three is because Avon, Vila and Cally all get that he's a cocksure, arrogant kid who hasn't had a chance to grow up yet. And even though he annoys the hell out of all of them, that's not a reason to kill/abandon someone. And he's a good pilot, and trying (badly) to be a better person. Also, Dayna like him, and they all like Dayna and don't want her to have another person she loves die. this is pretty much trufax.

[thisbluespirit]

I like Moloch, too, or at least in comparison to the other two Ben Steeds. (I also like it for Avon holding up the dead mouse and thinking of Tarrant. It cracks me up so much, I don't know why.) But, yes, to pretty much all of that. Kairos ought to be as entertaining once you get over the shock, but it's so boring except for the few Servalan/Jarvik WTH moments, the giant ant and the pet rock, and then Power has pretty much nothing going for it, except some moments of horrified fascination. So, yes.

:lol: Not so sure about some of the others, but that's the fun of fandom and fic and where all that comes into play.

(I'm not sure Avon didn't sleep with anyone. I'm inclined to speculate about all those hours alone with Soolin in Warlord, for instance. And she's the one who engineers it, too... But mostly, yes, really. Just to make up for fic, in which he sleeps with everyone so much Avon/Everyone is allowed to be a canonical tag on AO3.)

:-)

[lolmac]

Hee -- I get a kick out of Moloch, and I was actually startled to realise it was by Steed. It only has a small ratio of insanely horrid crap. Maybe someone else got in after him and inserted all the good bits?

I don't agree with most of your other opinions, but that's no big deal. I like your reasoning about Avon's non-sex life: I would add that Avon dislikes emotional complications, and sex with a crewmate is a complication. Also, soooo tired of Avon/everything-that-moves fic.

I love the notion about Gan: that would make him a hell of a lot more interesting!

I can absolutely see the concert happening.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Avon didn't sleep with anyone during the years covered by the show. Hey, I argued for years that the reason they were all so bad-tempered was that none of them were getting any...

[lycoris.livejournal.com]

No lynching here - I don't actually hate Moloch (although I prefer Harvest of Kairos - I know it's terrible but it's so, so terribly funny!) As you say, the bit of Vila and Servalan is PERFECT and makes me wish I could see more of them. Doran was quite interesting, there was stuff there that was quite interesting. I think Bed Steed and I aren't viewing the character the same (I hate that we're supposed to be sorry he died. No, Ben Steed, he wanted Vila to rape Servalan, I am NOT going to be sorry about that) but yeah, there's interesting stuff twisting aroundin Moloch.

*grins* I agree about Avon's sex life (also, technically, he does say to Anna that there hasn't been anybody else, which doesn't preclude sex necessarily (you can have sex and not love somebody after all) but I do think maybe it does suggest it. Although you did not explain why Avon isn't sleeping with Vila. YOU FORGOT THE OBVIOUS OTP. :)