Friday 4 July 2014

Fancy Things Friday: I don't think it's Fancy at all, except I do... but I don't... Dammit Kyle!!

Welcome to Fancy Things Friday, where I talk about things on a Friday that I think are fancy!!

So I had a really good Fancy Thing lined up for this week, but then last night it pissed me off, so I'm refusing to add it to my list now... I'm not even going to say what it was; so annoyed was I over the whole ordeal. 

However, due to this, I am now struggling to find a Fancy Thing to talk about. My usual technique of 'looking at what it is that I have been obsessed over this week and discussing it' has failed me, due to the above annoyance at this week's obsession. I also know I'm being petty about the whole thing, because it isn't even the Fancy Thing's fault that I'm annoyed... it's the network's fault for deciding this Fancy Thing no longer constitutes as a Fancy Thing and cancelling it way back in 2009. All that being said, there was no effort to tie anything up, it ends on a cliffhanger with so many open questions, and there is no closure for the obsession that has been my life... You might catch me asking my friend Kyle (X)Y has this happened??

Also, there was a thing that I wanted to happen from the beginning and it was finally starting to happen and I was all happy and excited about the happening of it, and now I'll never know if it actually happens and this pisses me off... 

Okay, screw it. My Fancy Thing (in the very loose sense of 'I will probably spend more time complaining about it than praising it' kind of way) is the TV Show Kyle XY.

It was once again a Netflix recommendation and I found myself under the weather and with little else to do on Sunday so thought I would indulge and see if it stuck. It did. To be honest, I freakin' loved the Pilot to this series. It's your classic high school supernatural (kinda) type show, but the pilot had something else to it as well... There were moments when Matt Dallas, who played the main character (surprisingly called Kyle) gave performances that blew me away. I could count 4 such moments that made me think 'this guy is going places.' He did give a few more throughout the series, but these did tend to dwindle... either that, or I just got used to him. He was never bad at the show, albeit sometimes a little on the cheesy side, but I missed the wows he gave me in that first episode, and he did mellow quite dramatically as the series went on. 

I liked the show a lot however. I was intrigued and, although it was never one that made me want to spontaneously combust throughout (*cough* Sherlock, Doctor Who and American Horror Story *cough*), I was still suitably in love with the characters and didn't ever get bored at any point... there was only really one character that irked me; Amanda, and she really shouldn't have as she played the love interest for Kyle from the beginning... but she walked around with this constant pout and holier than thou attitude that pissed me off most of the time. With the exception of her, the show suitably impressed me... however, I don't know if I'm prepared to put it down as a recommendation...

Don't get me wrong, when I started watching the show, I did my normal IMDB search to check how many series there had been and so I knew that it was no more after Season 3. Also, I guessed this because Caroline's mum from Vampire Diaries is totally one of the biggest characters in this series, so I knew that it had to have ended before Vampire Diaries started. I went in prepared that the show was cancelled. What I wasn't prepared for was that it would be cancelled without any tying up of storylines involved. 

Guys, I invested in this show. I created predictions of what would happen next. I willed on some characters and booed at others. I longed for relationships to develop and wished others would disappear. I put time and effort into the watching of this show, all the time holding the faith that at least they would do some kind of final thing that answered all the questions I had. They didn't. And, now that 5 years have passed, I doubt they ever will... not even in the form of a film like Firefly did. This makes me angry. This makes me annoyed. For me, where fiction is involved, it is the worst thing that any writer/performer/entertainer could do. 

You see, I am a girl who does get invested in the stories she is told. I enjoy the guessing and predicting and, most of all, I enjoy finding out that I was wrong or right and being able to get annoyed or excited about that. I probably get invested in fiction more than I should do, but I embraced this aspect of me a long time ago and have made my peace with it. The ending to Kyle XY was like Lost all over again. I know that Lost actually did end properly but they didn't tie up crap. I left that series feeling more confused than I had whilst watching it. At least with Kyle XY they don't pretend to tie it up, they simply stopped. Lost however... oh how my blood boiled... So much so that the finale of Kyle XY yesterday brought back all kinds of trauma flashbacks from my Lost watching days and I ended up going to sleep quite distraught and ever so slightly twitching. Due to this, I would like to sum up my feelings for this 'Fancy Thing' in the following letter. 

Dear Writers of Television Fiction,

Guys, we need to talk. We need to be very clear about a few key points. You guys might come up with these excellent ideas of TV shows and want to run with them, but please do remember that when they air, it's not just you and your brains watching the show and getting invested in your stories, it's the rest of us as well. Due to this, there are just a few points I want to make: 

1. If you have a really good idea for a mysterious cliff hanger or character quirk, for the love of all that is sacred, make sure you know the reason behind the mystery before you include it into your storyline. Don't just think it sounds cool and add it in, assuming you will come up with an answer to why it happened later down the line. You run the risk that way of not finding an answer at all and then having the thousands of people watching your show getting pissed at you and losing all faith in you as a writer. You don't want that, as I'm sure you would like to continue your career once this show has ended. 

2. If there is a very real possibility that you are going to get cancelled after the series you are currently working on, do NOT end the series with the mother of all cliffhanger lines whilst simultaneously hinting at further character developments and plot twists. I get that you're trying to build intrigue in the hopes that cancellation won't happen after all because people want to know what happens, but all you are actually doing is upsetting the fans who have spent days/weeks/months/years of their lives devoted to your show. My guess is that, by the time you are shooting that last episode, you are probably fully aware of which way the network is going to go in terms of cancelling your show, therefore be nice. Throw us a bone at least. 

3. You guys have the best jobs in the world. You get to make up hours and hours of entertainment for people all over the world and do it for years. Please remember how awesome your jobs are and that, even though a large section of the population will see fiction as not really that important and nothing that will change lives, there are a selection of awesome people who live for the moments when they can be transported to different worlds. You guys get to take them there, your stories matter to these people. Never take that lightly, never forget how freakin' awesome that is and how many of us would kill to be in your shoes. Therefore, please take it seriously and think before you write. Otherwise I'm going to get pissed and start booking tickets for LA (that's where you all hang out, right?) so that I can kick your arses into shape. 

and finally...

4. I have so many ideas, ones that actually have endings and answers to the questions I throw at the audience. As this appears to be a rare trait in some areas of your profession, give me a call and maybe possibly a job? 

Let me know

Love Lisa

...

So, in summary, Kyle XY is actually good but under no circumstances watch it, because it will just piss you off when you get to the non end... trust me on this. Watch Doctor Who/Sherlock/American Horror Story instead... and the many others from my Fancy Things Friday list

Have a great weekend everyone. 

Peace out my lovelies.

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