catching up with some tv

[amovingtarget]

Les Miserables
watched 31 January - 09 February

- I loved this to pieces, stunningly well made in my opinion, some of those last shots of the barricade looked liked classic paintings. Speaking of which, I didn’t feel much emotional involvement with Les Amis until they started marching, at which point it pretty much went through the roof. The last scene with Grantaire and Enjolras facing their execution together, broke my heart in the best way.
- So did everything about Fantine, literally selling herself piece by piece to earn money she was just being conned out of. And then Jean finding out, and trying to make it right, only to end up turning himself in because he couldn’t let an innocent man pay for his crimes.
- And then there was everyone implying that Jean was into Cosette, Thenardier asking if she should be sent up to his room, the landlady who was skeptical of their relationship, the dresser to peeked open the curtain while she was changing so he could see her. I did peek at a few of the tropes pages after, an apparently some adaptations really play up this part, but in this one he just seemed deeply uncomfortable by it. It still… pressed some id buttons, though.
- And speaking of Jean, of course I relate to the character who thinks he’s a monster and utterly unworthy of love, but it was still something to hear him say those actual words in the last episode. There’s a controlling aspect to him in this one that apparently isn’t in other ones, but I like it, I think. I think it makes his letting her go more of a struggle, when he saved Marius at the barricades instead of killing him like he was tempted to do.


Call the Midwife Episodes 1-4
watched 09 February - 10 February

- Two new nuns on the team this season, it’ll be interesting to get to know them. I keep feeling tempted to rewatch older seasons because I miss some old faces, but I can’t think of another show that handles a changing cast as well, and maybe it’s what helps the show avoid some of the stangnacy that affects some other long running shows? I also want to rewatch because I want to watch Shelagh and Patrick fall in love all over again, I do adore that family.
- Two episodes had women getting back alley abortions which was pretty harrowing, but watching the nuns and nurses struggling with the fact that abortions are still illegal, and trying to be as supportive as they could anyway was so heartwarming.
- I love watching them learn about things that are known to us now, but new to them at the time. Some things that are new to me too. If I ever learned that sickle cell anemia affected Africans in particular, I totally forgot it. And such tiny adorable moments like Tim asking to study in the convent and Sister Julliene giver him her office. And the play beach for the bank holiday!
- There was a woman who didn’t know she was expecting triplets until they were born, because the last one had been hiding under her siblings, and had a pretty tough time of it. I got so emotional when they managed to get her breathing, I’m such a fiend.
- And there was the suffragette who became a hoarder, speaking about being on a hunger strike and being forcefed, and Lucille helping her see that she needs to go to a care home saying "a woman of substance can make a home anywhere", helping her go with kindness and dignity. I do wish we had more community care workers like that. The ones who came to flush my niece's central lines during her chemo were always really nice (I only met one myself) but it was always someone different.
- And the episode with the measles vaccination trails, which brought up a new mum’s fears that she would lose her second baby the same way as the first one, unexpectedly and for no reason, and how important it is to be able to grieve and to talk about loss, instead of having to hide it.
- You know what, I should just keep a little file of all the opening and closing narrations, they're so moving.


Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
watched 09 February - 10 February

- This show is so soft and wholesome, apart from my getting worried at couples being snippy at each other. They’re so happy in the end. And when I first read about it all years ago, I thought that thanking your house and your things seemed a bit silly but okay, but seeing them do it feels a bit different, like you totally should thank your house and your things! Why don’t we all do that?!
- The thing that I like most thought, is after it’s all finished, and there’s so much space that even on this side of the screen it feels like I can breathe -- that there’s breathing room, like it’s space for you to actually exist. It’s not space for stuff, it’s your space. I would really like to have space for myself, I think.

Comments

[amovingtarget]

0:D

A giant fiend needs space to exist!