{ no, you can never have my fortunate son, no, no. }

[delga]

Miraculously, the internet came back just as I finished watching the last episode of Taken. \o/ (Um. Naturally, I bawled through most of this.) But, anyway, the one thing I wanted to say was that I didn't really like Chet Wakeman the first time I saw this, and this time I adore him. I mean, I think because I had a different take on his relationship with Mary (which, let's face it: a total kink for me), I was suddenly totally invested in him. And also because, you know, Chet's been on the side of the 'bad' guys all along, but those lines aren't so black and white in this mini-series, and ultimately, he may have been a bit of a prick at times, but he believed in the science of it all, the beauty. He always saw the big picture. That video he sends to Mary, "See, I knew you loved me," that just breaks me because his love for Mary is what makes him sincere. That's the only time he's really all that kind, when he's in love with her. And he knows it's coming, this death that she's going to hand to him, he knows, and he doesn't do anything because he can't. His character is a real joy to rediscover.

The ending was so gratifying to me (I'd forgotten the rigmarole to get there); Allie had to leave because that's the reset button - taking the end out of the equation. The grief there is so fitting, and yet, the hope, too, because Allie is an amazing thing, even though in some sense she is so unnatural that she can't stay. All that pain in Charlie's family, all that anger in Mary's, and all that fear and wonderlust in Lisa's, it comes together in Allie who touches and teaches everyone she meets. But really, the story isn't about Allie (her character is horribly didactic at times, which is such a shame; the child as saviour is really too easy) but about people like Charlie and Mary who got caught up in the whirlwind of destruction that John's well-meaning (I'm guessing? He didn't have a concept of the right and the wrong of things, though, did he?) set off. I wonder about the peripheral characters like Becky Clarke and Amelia Keys. I guess Charlie and Lisa can go back to them now, and Mary has to pay for everything that she saw through. Which is what she wanted to a point. She has nothing - no father, no lover. Her mother is about somewhere but like most of the mothers in the show, Julie Crawford gets left behind, like Anne Crawford and Kate Keys. And even though the Clarke women fare a little better, ultimately Lisa gets left behind, too. There's something in that, but I haven't wormed it out yet. But seriously, what an epic story; every character is so compelling. I'm going to have to watch it all again, naturally. Naturally.

Excuse me, I have to go BAWL some more.

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Tomorrow's screening is Badlands; I need to take time out to book my train ticket home. I also need to sort out the papers I need for the two tutor meetings I have this week (ugh). I'm pretty knackered, though there's no good reason for it. It's been a long, odd week.