Thursday, October 02, 2003
Only twice has my own writing moved me to tears — not tears of frustration or anger, but tears of genuine sorrow. The first time was last August, during a scene near the end of Low Red Moon. And the second time was yesterday, after having completed a scene in Chapter Eleven of Murder of Angels. It hit me hard and is probably the reason that I only wrote 1,321 words yesterday, instead of the 2,000 that I'd aimed for. But today I will finish Chapter Eleven, I believe, and tomorrow I will write the epilogue, and make an end of this thing.
And I may have decided to change the title after all.
Last night, I saw the first episode of Enterprise which I've actually found interesting. There's been a lot of hype about the changes to the series for this season, but until last night, so far as I could tell, it was only cosmetic. Last night, though, even Jennifer and Spooky (who've both really hated the show and been baffled by my willingness to sit through it, week after week) had to admit it was an improvement. There was drama and action and even a bit of wonder. There were aliens who seemed alien (i.e., something more than prosthetic foreheads) and there was even, almost, sex. And here's the thing — it should be obvious to anyone who's a fan of (or just very familiar with) Farscape that a lot of the changes that have been made to Enterprise have been modeled on the look and feel and "voice" of Farscape. Which is a little ironic, considering the show's cancellation, but I think it's clear that someone in the Enterprise chain of command recognized the series' innovation and genius and, either consciously or unconsciously, followed its lead. After all, Farscape is a critics' darling and Enterprise has even turned off the hardcore Trekkers. So, it makes sense, and that's not a bad thing. I think Farscape fixed a lot of the problems that have always existed in TV sci-fi, including the various incarnations of Star Trek (of which ST: TNG and Deep Space Nine were actually quite good). Suddenly, Enterprise has a story, something beyond the boldy-going in a clanky proto-starship business that was interesting for exactly one epsiode ("Broken Bow" 1:1). It has genuine conflict which carries from one episode into the next, and the actors (an uninteresting lot, sadly) are being given the opportunity to act. Captian Archer's vindetta against the Xindi has unlocked him, made him something more than the stodgy captain of the first Enterprise. Indeed, he's becoming a portrait of a man who's lost a grand naivete and is perilously close to fullblown xenophobia — and that might lose him a place as the sparkly-clean hero on on Wheaties boxes, but it makes him someone worth writing about. He is now conflicted, as is Sub-Commander T'Pol, distanced now from Vulcan High Command. It's still a long way from great, but I do think that Enterprise is finally headed in the right direction and I'll stick with it. If I'm right and Farscape played some role in this shift, imitation being sincere flattery and all, then that's another feather is Farscape's already feathery cap.
Also caught the season premiere of Angel. Not too bad. The show still has potential, though I was, as always, annoyed by Joss Whedon's trademark comedic stumblings. Hopefully, he will not write many more episodes.
Okay, it's getting late and I gotta go write.
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