Warning. Spoilers ahead. Proceed at your own risk. And we
begin-
-With ‘Reverie’. One of the new TV shows that have appeared
this May/June, (2018). What is it?
Apparently, it is a sci-fi drama. It consists of the main
character, Mara Kint, going forth into the ‘Reverie’, a VR gone over-the-edge
mad science and rescuing people who have trapped themselves in there, while
dealing with her own past tragedies, failures and internal demons. Not a bad
premise, really, so-?
So nothing. The first episode of the series, ‘Apertus’ aired
last night, and it established ‘Reverie’ as a solid TV series, whose main
advantage so far are the special effects. They are really bizarre but also well
crafted, such as Mara Kint’s first entry into the VR world, where she has to
deal with fire and water, (and all that is missing are the copper trumpets of
fame…sorry), and they actually raise a couple of unusual points.
One is that that scene, of Mara finding herself in a lovely
British Columbia forest, is reminiscent of several chapters of ‘Aru Shah and
the End of Time’ novel. That novel is worth mentioning because its’ author is
involved with Rick Riordan somehow – yes, that Riordan. ‘Aru Shah’ appears to
be a different take on Riordan’s novels for children and young adults, one where
the titular heroine and her new best friends, Boo and Mini, has to go save the
world. For a change, this world is set in Hindu mythos, rather than the
Greco-Roman, Norse or Egyptian as Riordan has done. What is more, Riordan
himself either is a co-author of the novel, or plays some other role, as he had
written a ringing review/introduction of ‘End’. Indeed, it is so chipper and
positive that comes across as over-the-top, kind of fake and shallow, but-
But nothing. Let us go further down this road, and look at
Riordan’s own novels, especially the latest ones. His series about ‘Magnus
Chase and the Gods of Asgard’ feels abbreviated, especially the last novel. It
comes across as several novels compressed into one, and it shows by having a
rushed plot. Moreover, it comes across as a rushed imitation of Riordan’s
second plot arch, one that introduced Piper, Jason, Leo and the others, which
is sad. And speaking of Piper, Jason, Leo, the others and sadness – ‘The
Burning Maze’. Trigger warning: Jason dies there, but…
But for a while, especially in ‘Magnus Chase’ series,
Riordan tried include all sorts of various references, including ‘Marvel’,
(such as ‘Jessica Jones), and, well, he engaged in depicting all sort of
alternate characters, including Alex, the child of Loki, who’s gender-fluid (or
whatever you want to call it). It was very modern, very politically correct,
but ‘The Burning Maze’ has none of it instead. Rather, it focused on Apollo and
Meg helping the local dryads and satyrs in defeating Caligula and Medea…with
the help of Piper and Jason – and that was why Jason died.
To make matters worse, from a literary P.O.V. ‘The Burning Maze’ is flawed. Ever since Medea
appeared in the above-mentioned plot arch – ‘The Last Hero’, I believe – she
had some interest in Jason, because it was ‘a’ Jason. Riordan here took a
straightforward idea – Medea was the villain in the ‘Golden Fleece’ mythos,
even though in reality that was not quite the case; if you read the Antique
tragedies written about Medea and Jason, then you will see that while Medea does get the brunt of it, Jason is not
such a nice man either – but we digress. The point is that ‘The Burning Maze’
did a half-hearted attempt to set Jason/Piper
and Caligula/Medea as some sort of good/evil counterparts, but it did not take.
Yoda’s statement of ‘do or do not, there is no try’ is something of a truism
nowadays, but the old boy was onto something here, it seems, as this
half-hearted attempt just undercut ‘The Burning Maze’, in a manner not unlike
how AoS had undercut its’ S5 finale. Coulson may be dying, but AoS made it look
as if he and May have retired instead; Fitz is dead, only he is not; he is also
alive, floating in space. So what made the S5 finale special, then? The special
effects? ‘Reverie’ has them too, but-
-But special effects on their own do not work. AoS did not
rely on them too much, especially in the first seasons, when it was better, AC
didn’t rely on them too much, (but got cancelled just because real life sucks,
it seems), while ‘Reverie’ does rely on special effects, both CGI and just
visual, and the result isn’t as good as ‘Reverie’ wanted to; the show feels…
confused.
On one hand ‘Reverie’ is trying to go sci-fi with the VR
world, though all the oneiro/onira-based imply that it is a realm of dreams; ‘oneiric’
is a fancy word (adjective) for anything related to dreams; Willie Wonka used
to talk about the ‘realm of pure imagination’; ‘Reverie’ has made his song a
reality, by creating a machine that makes dreams come true-
On the other hand, it is some sort of a detective story, a
mystery story, as Mara Kint has to unravel each subject’s secret issues,
(revealed, in a hidden way, in their dreams), as a detective would. Who knows
why Mara had to be a former hostage negotiator; so far, her first case was
largely civilian: the subject felt guilt for being high and causing an accident
that killed his wife, and so he is staying in his dreams, hiding from his
guilt. There is no terrorism, no politics…so far, but still.
…Yes, ‘Reverie’ the machine is influenced by AoS; ‘Quantico’
and ‘Blindspot’ focused on the team-building aspect of the show, ‘Reverie’ – on
the framework, device and mini-plot arch, but, regardless, here we are. This
means that there going to be ‘sneaky subplots’ or whatever you want to call
them; they worked for AoS, but only to a point; it did get renewed for S6, but we’ll
still have to wait and see as to where they are going; and ‘Reverie’? So far,
it feels somewhat bland, confused, a show that does not know where it wants to
go…but it does show off the legs of Mara Kint, (aka Sarah Shahi) on a regular
basis – and that is the other weird point.
Sarah Shahi had a very impressive career/resume, but a leg
model she was not. Ergo, those shots that focus on her legs, feet and shoes as
she’s walking around, can be not just her showing off, but also the show’s cast
and scriptwriters getting fancy, or even – product placement. Are Mara Kint’s
shoes somehow special?
…Well, this is it for the moment. ‘Reverie’ has made its’
debut and is not leaving anytime soon. See you all in the future!
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