Poldark - Misc thoughts
Nov. 9th, 2021 09:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuuagoFinally finished season 5 of Poldark. Now I'm finished with it, and not going to lie, I kind of want to rewatch it. Pretty costumes, drama, history and politicking, spying - man, it has a little bit of everything. It's like fancy popcorn, and I had a great time gobbling it up.
- It seems like Caroline didn't get as much to do in this season. She was present, but less active, which is mildly disappointing to me because I like her so much. And I wasn't really buying the "jealousy toward Kitty" angle. It did make a little more sense after she explained that the real issue was using that as an excuse to cover up her more complicated feelings etc, but I feel like the execution of it wasn't what it could have been.
- Though speaking of Kitty, man, I like her a lot. What a character! What a sturdy, level-headed lady. I would watch a whole series just about her, to be honest. I'm nnnot so crazy about Ned Despard, but they're kind of a package deal. If Ned weren't quite so much, they would balance each other out quite well.
- Speaking of those two, I was watching the little bonus extra about costume design, and really enjoyed the explanation of the costuming choices. They chose lots of warm colours for Kitty and Ned, and made the clothes look a bit sun-worn and washed out, to fit with the fact that they're from the tropics etc. I thought that was cool.
- On a technical level, there were bits of both s4 and s5 that didn't work for me. Less anything specific and more - due to being split between Cornwall and London, I felt like the pace was a little too quick, and it was hard for me to keep a good grasp on things like the passage of time. It was like the series didn't have as much room to breathe as the earlier seasons did. It's possible that this is due to constraints re: episode length and series length. If the seasons were just slightly longer, that might have helped. I wonder if the pacing works out more effectively in the novels.
- I intensely dislike Tess and I'm glad that she didn't get any of the things that she wanted. She comes off as kind of uhhh cartoonishly wannabe revolutionary. Then again, pretty much everyone is a little cartoonish in this drama.
- That final episode was quite a thing. George Warleggan coming in to save Ross Poldark?! Never thought I'd see the day. Guess you did have a bit of honour in you after all, Georgie. ;V
- Speaking of George, he's so very... like, he's horrible, but at times he's sympathetic. It's both interesting and a little frustrating. Like, he'll do or say something to make one feel for him (usually relating to his grief over Elizabeth) but then in the next scene he'll be discussing deals with slaveowners or something and it's like. Ah yes, you're quite the villain, aren't you.
- In some ways, George Warleggan makes me think of Prince Yu from Nirvana in Fire. They're similar "horrible upper-class villains who are occasionally sympathetic" types. Except the on-screen scale of their actions is different. George's rivalry with Ross is largely interpersonal, so all of the actions that he takes to ruin him come off as very petty. He doesn't want to rule the world; he just wants to see Ross Poldark go down, because he hates him. The small stakes make him seem much more horrible, especially when, on account of this rivalry, he mistreats people in his personal life who don't have a lot of power (ex. Elizabeth, Aunt Agatha, Valentine, etc). Whereas with Prince Yu, his attempts to take down Prince Jing and Mei Changsu relate to wanting to rule the kingdom etc - it's on a large, grand scale, there are palace politics involved, the future of the empire is in question and it's all very... like a classic novel or a Shakespearean play. But they're cut from a similar cloth, I think.
Anyway! This series was fun. I might need to see if I can get the novels via inter-library loan or something.
- It seems like Caroline didn't get as much to do in this season. She was present, but less active, which is mildly disappointing to me because I like her so much. And I wasn't really buying the "jealousy toward Kitty" angle. It did make a little more sense after she explained that the real issue was using that as an excuse to cover up her more complicated feelings etc, but I feel like the execution of it wasn't what it could have been.
- Though speaking of Kitty, man, I like her a lot. What a character! What a sturdy, level-headed lady. I would watch a whole series just about her, to be honest. I'm nnnot so crazy about Ned Despard, but they're kind of a package deal. If Ned weren't quite so much, they would balance each other out quite well.
- Speaking of those two, I was watching the little bonus extra about costume design, and really enjoyed the explanation of the costuming choices. They chose lots of warm colours for Kitty and Ned, and made the clothes look a bit sun-worn and washed out, to fit with the fact that they're from the tropics etc. I thought that was cool.
- On a technical level, there were bits of both s4 and s5 that didn't work for me. Less anything specific and more - due to being split between Cornwall and London, I felt like the pace was a little too quick, and it was hard for me to keep a good grasp on things like the passage of time. It was like the series didn't have as much room to breathe as the earlier seasons did. It's possible that this is due to constraints re: episode length and series length. If the seasons were just slightly longer, that might have helped. I wonder if the pacing works out more effectively in the novels.
- I intensely dislike Tess and I'm glad that she didn't get any of the things that she wanted. She comes off as kind of uhhh cartoonishly wannabe revolutionary. Then again, pretty much everyone is a little cartoonish in this drama.
- That final episode was quite a thing. George Warleggan coming in to save Ross Poldark?! Never thought I'd see the day. Guess you did have a bit of honour in you after all, Georgie. ;V
- Speaking of George, he's so very... like, he's horrible, but at times he's sympathetic. It's both interesting and a little frustrating. Like, he'll do or say something to make one feel for him (usually relating to his grief over Elizabeth) but then in the next scene he'll be discussing deals with slaveowners or something and it's like. Ah yes, you're quite the villain, aren't you.
- In some ways, George Warleggan makes me think of Prince Yu from Nirvana in Fire. They're similar "horrible upper-class villains who are occasionally sympathetic" types. Except the on-screen scale of their actions is different. George's rivalry with Ross is largely interpersonal, so all of the actions that he takes to ruin him come off as very petty. He doesn't want to rule the world; he just wants to see Ross Poldark go down, because he hates him. The small stakes make him seem much more horrible, especially when, on account of this rivalry, he mistreats people in his personal life who don't have a lot of power (ex. Elizabeth, Aunt Agatha, Valentine, etc). Whereas with Prince Yu, his attempts to take down Prince Jing and Mei Changsu relate to wanting to rule the kingdom etc - it's on a large, grand scale, there are palace politics involved, the future of the empire is in question and it's all very... like a classic novel or a Shakespearean play. But they're cut from a similar cloth, I think.
Anyway! This series was fun. I might need to see if I can get the novels via inter-library loan or something.
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.