‘InHumans’ the TV series, (as well as the character
themselves) have found themselves going over the midpoint and into the final
stretch. In this week’s episode, ‘Something InHuman…’ the main focus was on
Karnak, as he and his new girlfriend battle the rest of marijuana
farmers/smugglers/whatever the proper noun was. Karnak is not very likable, but
it must be admitted that his character grew somewhat between the S1 beginning
and now: he is less arrogant and more considerate to the others (and their
feelings) than he was before. Credit probably goes to Ken Leung and his great
acting – as Karnak, just as Eme Ikwuakor did his best to make Gorgon likable.
The problem is still in the budget – for example, in this episode, Ken and Eme
had to play both the adult Karnak and Gorgon and their younger versions, (as
they argue about the U.S. flag on the moon), and it does not really work.
The same problem, namely the budget, is the probable reason
as to why Karnak’s human girlfriend had to leave at the end of this episode,
while another InHuman – Locus – just dies, after forcing Medusa (and maybe
Black Bolt) to admit that maybe the InHuman society needs reforms, and either
Maximus delivers them, or they do, (or someone else – see below). Even Karnak
was confused by Locus’ demise, as he admitted that her wounds were not fatal.
So why?
…Whatever in-universe reason they will give on the show, in
RL it’s probable the fact that ‘InHumans’ couldn’t pay both Sumire (Locus) and
JGH (Jen, Karnak’s girlfriend) to stay in ‘InHumans’ full time, so they are
cutting them out. In AoS, the plotlines got shuffled and rearranged on a
regular basis, which has led to lower ratings. In ‘InHumans’, this is not the
case – the plotline is consistent, but also bone-thin, metaphorically speaking.
In AoS, because of the reshuffling, characters came and went depending on
whether or not they were required, and maybe whether or not they got along with
the rest of AoS crew, (it is possible that they did not). This, plus the
general disrespect of the show’s characters, caused the numbers to plummet. In
‘InHumans’, the characters are respected, but the show is apparently on a
tighter budget than the IMAX premiere could have suggested, plus…
Plus as it was already discussed in an earlier episode, the
plot feels rushed, especially in places. The first two episodes moved very,
very slowly, so to compensate for that, the current episodes, (IV and V), are
moving much faster, on occasion forcing the characters and actors to rush
through plot development points, diminishing the whatever good will the ‘InHumans’
TV series have accumulated so far.
The other negative impact that the tight budget is
inflicting on ‘InHumans’ is the relatively tight cast that ‘InHumans’ are
supporting: there’re the core cast – the Royal family and now Louise – there’re
the supporting characters, such as Declan and Sammy – and everyone else, who
comes and goes, like Gorgon’s new friends, who appear to have vanished sometime
between the last episode and this one.
Now, this does not need to be a handicap: ‘Agent Carter’
(AC) too had a very tightly knit cast, especially in the first season, but AC
was a different show from ‘InHumans’: it was essentially a spy show, with some
elements of a mystery, while ‘InHumans’ are trying to be something else, maybe
a sci-fi/Marvel™
version of GoT…but you cannot do this on a tight budget, and establishing a
believable universe in just 8 episodes isn’t easy either. Consequently, in this
episode, we had a rushed evolution of Maximus’ character into a villain, and
are already introduced to some rebel group that is planning to get rid of
Maximus and the rest of the Royal
family (and establish a republic or something else).
Now, on paper, this sounds interesting, but again, the lack
of extras will be telling in the last 2-3 episodes of ‘InHumans’ S1. For
example, in the nest episode, (‘Gorgon’), Gorgon and Karnak will be fighting
Auran’s InHuman army…but so far Auran doesn’t have an army: there’s her, there’s
Mortius, and…some other InHuman, a woman, who can manipulate plants. Basically,
3 against 4, if BB and Medusa join Karnak and Gorgon, and if Sammy and Crystal
(and Lockjaw) join as well (in the next episode) then it’s the villains who are
outnumbered…making it hard to sympathize with the heroes…and the same goes for
the eventual showdown with Maximus himself: unless he had acquired some sort of
InHuman powers himself by now, he simply won’t be a challenge for BB…so why are
we supposed to root for the Royal family, exactly?
This is a question
without an answer but again – it is the actors’ acting that makes ‘InHumans’
palatable at all, (even Isabelle and Chad’s lukewarm Crystal and Dave come
across as somewhat likable in this episode), so no blame goes for them. Therefore,
let us part ways for now and wait for next time, and the next subject (for the
next journal entry).
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