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kindkitI've been catching up on Shetland (turns out I was 2 seasons behind, not 1) and I'm now on S06x05. Heroically resisting watching the final episode of the series tonight, since I have to go to work tomorrow.
Anyway, a couple of spoilery observations under the cut.
Jimmy and Duncan are so very married. None of the emotional arc of this series make sense otherwise. The way it's played is exactly "villain targets their enemy's beloved." Donna establishes that Jimmy and Duncan are . . . whatever the hell they are, makes portentous comments about how Jimmy would be lost without Duncan, makes trouble between them for her amusement and then gets the real trouble rolling. (Because whatever was in the letter, it wasn't her will, right? She probably accused Duncan of planning to murder her, or maybe even just told the truth about what she guilted him into doing. It'll still be enough.)
And now Jimmy's risking his career and his freedom to help Duncan wiggle out of the consequences of his own stupidity. (Duncan, I've always liked you, but from now on you're not allowed out of the house except under Jimmy's supervision.) Jimmy doesn't even hesitate!
But I think the moment that most broke me was when Jimmy asks what happened to selfish!Duncan, who might come in useful, and Duncan says, "You reformed him."
Married. So married.
And then there's what's hopefully the show's last attempt at keeping Jimmy straight: Meg. I like her. She's nice. But mostly she's useful, not only as Jimmy's heterosexual credentials but as a caretaker for Jimmy's dad. And, besides my opinion of pasted-on straightness, I don't want to see her in the role of Jimmy's unpaid home help. Once as a favor is fine, but it would be pretty icky if the show had Jimmy just offload most of the exhausting, emotionally wrenching work of looking after a parent with dementia onto a new girlfriend.
It does intrigue me that a show with such a variety of really interesting women characters still feels compelled to write in a shallowly-developed Love Interest for Jimmy every season. It's like it can't quite manage to be a modern show, although it's trying very hard. It's still, weirdly, got one foot in old school cop shows, though at least Jimmy's girlfriends get to stick around for longer than an episode.
As for the rest of the show: the plot's a bit over-egged, which gets in the way of the really compelling stuff: Jimmy's grief for both his mother and his father, his need to rely on and protect Duncan and Duncan's need to help Donna. The stuff with Sandy could also be good if given more development. It's a shame that a super-twisty plot has been allowed to obscure the real story, which is the emotional one. (Yes, I continued to be the enemy of plot, because too often plot is the enemy of story. No plots, no masters!)
Anyway, a couple of spoilery observations under the cut.
Jimmy and Duncan are so very married. None of the emotional arc of this series make sense otherwise. The way it's played is exactly "villain targets their enemy's beloved." Donna establishes that Jimmy and Duncan are . . . whatever the hell they are, makes portentous comments about how Jimmy would be lost without Duncan, makes trouble between them for her amusement and then gets the real trouble rolling. (Because whatever was in the letter, it wasn't her will, right? She probably accused Duncan of planning to murder her, or maybe even just told the truth about what she guilted him into doing. It'll still be enough.)
And now Jimmy's risking his career and his freedom to help Duncan wiggle out of the consequences of his own stupidity. (Duncan, I've always liked you, but from now on you're not allowed out of the house except under Jimmy's supervision.) Jimmy doesn't even hesitate!
But I think the moment that most broke me was when Jimmy asks what happened to selfish!Duncan, who might come in useful, and Duncan says, "You reformed him."
Married. So married.
And then there's what's hopefully the show's last attempt at keeping Jimmy straight: Meg. I like her. She's nice. But mostly she's useful, not only as Jimmy's heterosexual credentials but as a caretaker for Jimmy's dad. And, besides my opinion of pasted-on straightness, I don't want to see her in the role of Jimmy's unpaid home help. Once as a favor is fine, but it would be pretty icky if the show had Jimmy just offload most of the exhausting, emotionally wrenching work of looking after a parent with dementia onto a new girlfriend.
It does intrigue me that a show with such a variety of really interesting women characters still feels compelled to write in a shallowly-developed Love Interest for Jimmy every season. It's like it can't quite manage to be a modern show, although it's trying very hard. It's still, weirdly, got one foot in old school cop shows, though at least Jimmy's girlfriends get to stick around for longer than an episode.
As for the rest of the show: the plot's a bit over-egged, which gets in the way of the really compelling stuff: Jimmy's grief for both his mother and his father, his need to rely on and protect Duncan and Duncan's need to help Donna. The stuff with Sandy could also be good if given more development. It's a shame that a super-twisty plot has been allowed to obscure the real story, which is the emotional one. (Yes, I continued to be the enemy of plot, because too often plot is the enemy of story. No plots, no masters!)
