I know this is old news for you guys, but I had to articulate this madness. I'm watching Alias, season four right now. (I think it was best before they destroyed SD6. And yet, I continue to watch...) The thing that drives me crazy is the whole multi-national Derevko women.
How, in one family, can we have one Russian sister (I'll give them Irina, since they cast her first...though she doesn't sound Russian), one Italian sister (there is no way Isabella Rossellini is Russian) and one sister from Brazil (apply previous parenthetical remark to Sonia Braga)? What gives? This is a blatant case of casting names and playing to desired demographics while completely ignoring the story. And, while we're on the subject, how does living in Argentina make Sydney's half-sister actually Argentinian? Okay, so it accounts for the accent, but how about for her ethnicity? Poof? Magic? Amazing assimilation? Something in the water?
Nope. I just don't believe it. An audience member is asked to suspend disbelief for the duration of a play, or, in this case, a television show. This is asking me to suspend too much.
29 June 2007
i don't buy it
9 comments:
Delurking to shamefacedly admit that S4 is one of my favourites simply for the utter crackiness of it. Meaning, the writers were totally on crack. Plus, Vaughn's got the surly, grabby thing going on, and he loses that in S5, so I always appreciate S4. Last time he really gets to be all ... sexy like that. Except for the stubble near the end of S5. And my favourite ep of all time is Welcome to Liberty Village, so ... I gotta love s4!
That said, I see where you're comng from about the ethnicity (others have noticed it too) but personally I think Nadia looks way more like Irina than Sydney ever did. She's got the same bone structure, really- that strong, vaguely heart-shaped face, and of course, like Lena Olin, Mia Maestro is a stunner (not that Jen's not pretty too, but she's more of a down-to-earth, sweetly pretty type of girl. Mia and Lena are ... exotic) But yes, I agree, her colouring is very Argentinian. Of course, you're in Russia right now- you must see there's some mingled ethnicity around you. Without ever seeing the (Derevko sisters') parents, it's hard to know what when into the gene pool there (but I do agree Elena was a poor casting choice. I think they really messed up there. I can buy Irina and Katya as sisters but Elena just doesn't mesh).
Whew . . . rambling much?! Sorry about that, but my friend and I are planning a S4 marathon (there will be much playful and embarrassingly adolescent shouting of "how can you like him?! he sucks!" at one another because she thinks Vaughn's a wimp and she is more than half in love with Sark. Not David Anders. Just Sark) so I am already in that mindset, and just had to comment!
~Andrea
Andrea, I'm soo glad you commented! I agree--it's a great show to watch with your girlfriends. Personally, I'm a HUGE fan of Will. And, since he's absent from S4...sad. Just sad.
Did *love* the liberty village epi!
I can't wait to see how it turns out.
I had to give up on Alias because I'd miss too many episodes and get too confused, but Derrick LOVES it, and has bought most of the DVD sets, so one of these days, I'm going to give it another try, at his urging.
BTW, did you read about how my sister surfed with (okay, next to) Matt and Ben in Hawaii? Of course, the first thing Derrick wanted to know was if they had seen Jen Garner too. My sister saw her one time, briefly. She said she's much smaller in person than you'd think, and very wirey and muscley....must still be keeping up with those Alias work-outs.
i'll have to take your word for it... as i've never seen the show.
i'll be on your continent in less then 48 hours!
I never watched Alias on "regular" tv, but watched it for a bit when TNT showed it during their "Prime time in the day time" hours. It didn't last long, so I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I do have to chuckle when TV execs cast people into roles that just DO NO make sense! It's usually a "name brand" thing!! Those Gap snobs! LOL! But I may just have to add them to my Netflix list so I can watch them in order. That might be a fun past time after my dossier is submitted and I'm forced to wait.
I know what you mean. I never got it either but Sydney sure does kick butt! I love that show!
-Penny
Returning to add that I think the reason I do buy the idea of Irina and Katya as sisters is because their facial structures are vaguely similar. Plus, the actresses do share a nationality- half of one, anyway. Lena is Swedish, and Isabella is half Swedish (her mother was Ingrid Bergman) so I guess the casting people thought they were making an effort . . . Just watch out for the trainwreck that is S5. That's when it all goes to pieces.
*runs back to her S4 marathon*
andrea, i still don't buy it. i tried, but just can't. I think that throwing sophia varga in there made isabella and lena's sisterhood less likely. if they'd cast elena better, i *might* have been able to buy katya...it was a stretch when they brought her on, but i was willing to go along with things. when elena came on the scene, it just blew everything.
interestingly (per your comment of mixed races in russia) you don't see much of that here in st. p. it's a very homogenous city...weirdly so. and, three children in one family is unheard of, much less three that different.
i'm only 2 shows into season 5 and i can already see the train wreck you mentioned. i don't really miss vaughn (personally, i think both he and sark are kinda wimpy mama's boys...and sark changes allegience at the drop of a hat...so you and your friend have no competition here ;> . i like will and weiss...marshall is endearing but not attractive...) but the show is weird w/o him. and all these new people...nope. should've stopped after s4. (but will still watch...) do you think that's due to a change in producers? or had it just run its course by then?
and--do you have a blog?
I really think the show started dying in S3 when JJ went to work on Lost. When he got back, he found it completely in a shambles, and nothing really saved it after that. If you talk to die-hard fans, who've been there since day one, you'll find S1 and S2 are the best-beloved. The fanbase changed after that.
My friend Ginny is very much a fan of Weiss, though she also likes Sark too. I think I like Weiss because he's the one character who really doesn't change at all- everybody else is all over the board. Will is great, but he's hardly in the later eps . . . come to think of it, Ginny was pretty much in love with him, too.
I agree, Sark doesn't really make any secret of his loyalties being "flexible," and when you get to the series finale, you'll see he pretty much says it outright. I also get frustrated with the ups and downs of Vaughn's character; I think S1 was a strong start for him, but he sort of deteriorated with time. S4 is the last time we get to see him with some real determination (except for one very brief spot in S5 ... you'll probably know it when you see it) and I agree, that was disheartening. It's like they couldn't make him good without making him wishy washy, which is extremely annoying.
Finally, I do have a blog. It's not terribly interesting, though! It's not linked to my Google ID so I'll just try to paste the link here with some spaces, and you can get it that way.
http :// andi-horton .livejournal. com
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