Watched "Kings" last night

[jayes_musings]

Hmmmm.

First of all, Ian McShane was wonderful. He can change from nice to very threatening just like that, and he's good in everything...from Death Race to Deadwood, back to Lovejoy and even The Great Escape.

But in all, I was a little disappointed in the show. Now, I didn't realize that religion would take such a prominent place, and I hope that it doesn't become some Bible Belt preachy show. The young soldier who saves the Prince's life was...weak. He just didn't convince me that he is the focal point of the show. I admit I was hoping that Silas (McShane) would understand Power and use it as a man in his position should and while he's manipulative and controlling, that just didn't come across, and there is certainly weakness there (in his character, not the portrayal). It's good to see that they have a gay main character, although I'm going to wait and see how they deal with that (re: the whole religion part).

By far the most interesting character so far is Silas' brother-in-law and defence contractor. He's the one pulling strings behind the scenes, and it seems he is the one who really holds the Power.

It could have been better, but I'll give it try again next week. And now, Silas is not Hsu-like as it seemed to appear from the trailers. (whew!)

Comments

[arkadyevna.livejournal.com]

I was only able to catch the first hour of this (I'm totally obsessed with Big Love, and that comes on at 9!) but I agree with your reaction. I adore Ian McShane, but while he was predictably intriguing to watch, his character just didn't seem to be all that I'd hoped for (i.e. Hsu in Swearengen's body! *g*). David pretty much bored me, though my friend and I had a giggle-fit over the fact that he caused us to exclaim "poor man's Matt Damon!" at almost the exact same moment.

I find the biblical spin very interesting, but I'd hoped, on first hearing about the show, that it could be biblically-inspired without being preachy (or even particularly dominated by religion!). I really don't have a feel for which way it's going yet. I'll have to see if the episode is on On Demand, because I think I'd need to watch the whole thing before I decide whether to try again this Sunday.

The thing Kings did best, honestly, was make me yearn for Deadwood and Al something fierce!

[simplyjaye.livejournal.com]

To you last point there...so much word! I got into Deadwood and Al late, so I could really do with some more.

But also in definite agreement that McShane's character was not as strong as he should have been. There were glimmers, but they seemed to feel a need to counter it by showing his caring side. Hsu in Al's body would have rocked! And now you said that about Matt Damon, I totally see it! *g*

I'm still out on how they use religion in this, it could go either way right now. If it makes use of the mythology then it could get very interesting, if it just evangelizes, I'm bailing. Atm, the one character who shows some promise of being good...in an evil, manipulating way, is the bro-in-law.

[arkadyevna.livejournal.com]

And now you said that about Matt Damon, I totally see it! *g*

How weird is that?! It's most noticeable from certain angles, around the eyes and mouth, I think.

Yes, evangelizing = me running for the hills, both in pretendy-fun-time and in real life. And I'd be especially sad to see it go there because of McShane's involvement. Deadwood was the first I'd seen of him, honestly, but OMG -- made me a rabid fan on the spot. (This reminds me that I actually had a Swearengen muse in TM at one point! Unfortunately, he suffered from my sucktasticness as a reliable mun as much as my 637759 other muse attempts.)

You know, I don't remember the brother-in-law character! Was he more in the second hour? (Though my mind was wandering prior to that, which is why I really should go back and rewatch the whole ep, to be fair.) But evil and manipulating sounds promising!