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Yes, it's another Sanctuary post *g*
Okay, I actually am enjoying Sanctuary quite a lot, despite all the complaining *g*, and I have even enjoyed some episodes, like "Fragments", that a lot of my flist didn't seem to like. But the most recent one I watched (Next Tuesday) pushed me riiiiight over the edge into active annoyance, because there is only so much I'm willing to tolerate of the characters making stupid decisions because the plot requires them to.
There were a lot of little things about this episode that bugged me -- a whole lot of instances where the characters made small decisions that annoyed me because of their lack of foresight and planning (like, say, not securing vital equipment, or not making better use of things like the flares and spear gun that they later turned out to have). But the big thing that got to me in this episode was this:
The Sanctuary network is apparently quite large and well-funded, and has been going for at least a century or so. And, from what we've seen, a regular part of their job is going into remote, dangerous locations to retrieve dangerous animals (or at least, animals who by definition have unknown and extensive capabilities).
So why, why, WHY do they not have a regular system in place for check-ins and emergency retrievals? How is it POSSIBLE that they can seriously be so disorganized and bad at planning that they send a team to a remote location over the ocean to capture a large, dangerous wild animal, and their entire emergency plan is basically "maybe someone will notice we're missing if we don't show up after a couple of days"? I ... I just can't even ... I mean, that is such a basic level of survival!fail that I just don't have words. Lying about the flight plan seems like an odd set of priorities -- the secrecy of the mission is more important than anyone's life? -- but when combined with the fact that they actually have no other emergency backup plan AT ALL, I'm just left flailing in despair. GAHHH WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.
That episode was not by any means devoid of fun (it was a neat premise with lots of exciting bits, and I like how they keep revisiting Ashley's and even Clara's deaths this season), but I was just too stuck on the sheer implausibility and stupidity of their lack of planning to really enjoy it. I mean, either someone seriously fell down on worldbuilding in the writer's room, or Helen is the most irresponsible and scatterbrained boss who ever lived, and she's not supposed to come across that way, you know?
This entry is also posted at http://friendshipper.dreamwidth.org/309662.html with
comments.
There were a lot of little things about this episode that bugged me -- a whole lot of instances where the characters made small decisions that annoyed me because of their lack of foresight and planning (like, say, not securing vital equipment, or not making better use of things like the flares and spear gun that they later turned out to have). But the big thing that got to me in this episode was this:
The Sanctuary network is apparently quite large and well-funded, and has been going for at least a century or so. And, from what we've seen, a regular part of their job is going into remote, dangerous locations to retrieve dangerous animals (or at least, animals who by definition have unknown and extensive capabilities).
So why, why, WHY do they not have a regular system in place for check-ins and emergency retrievals? How is it POSSIBLE that they can seriously be so disorganized and bad at planning that they send a team to a remote location over the ocean to capture a large, dangerous wild animal, and their entire emergency plan is basically "maybe someone will notice we're missing if we don't show up after a couple of days"? I ... I just can't even ... I mean, that is such a basic level of survival!fail that I just don't have words. Lying about the flight plan seems like an odd set of priorities -- the secrecy of the mission is more important than anyone's life? -- but when combined with the fact that they actually have no other emergency backup plan AT ALL, I'm just left flailing in despair. GAHHH WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.
That episode was not by any means devoid of fun (it was a neat premise with lots of exciting bits, and I like how they keep revisiting Ashley's and even Clara's deaths this season), but I was just too stuck on the sheer implausibility and stupidity of their lack of planning to really enjoy it. I mean, either someone seriously fell down on worldbuilding in the writer's room, or Helen is the most irresponsible and scatterbrained boss who ever lived, and she's not supposed to come across that way, you know?
This entry is also posted at http://friendshipper.dreamwidth.org/309662.html with
Re: A Dresden question ...
But I can put it in a comment for you! Well, possibly more than one. You may regret that you asked. :D
Here's what I had written down when I got burned out and quit on the blog post I was making:
404 pages
43 chapters
average 9.4 pages per chapter
8.9 pages not counting last chapter (which is really long)
8.4 pages as of ch. 32 (the chapters get progressively longer)
Basic plot:
Someone is murdering women in Chicago who possess magical ability. Harry's brother is a suspect, but turns out to be helping instead, by rescuing & hiding victims. The killer is unmasked and killed, but turns out to be part of a deeper conspiracy that involves power politics among the vampires. Harry & co. crash a gathering of vampires and challenge the person behind the conspiracy to a duel, eventually killing him and establishing a new balance of power.
Emotional or plot high points:
Harry learns Thomas is a suspect (50)
Elaine turns up (89)
Thomas revealed to be a good guy (156)
The Skavis unmasked (240)
Harry has a plan - launch last third of book which composes finale (270)
I initially had a lot of trouble figuring out where this book's major plot turns are located. Eventually, going mostly by page count, I decided to diagram this book as breaking into three parts:
First third: Thomas is a suspect; Harry pursues leads & eventually tracks him down & learns that he's not the killer. First mini-climax when Harry sees the picture of Thomas at Anna's apartment, thus confirming his suspicions about Thomas; this leads directly to the fight with Thomas & the ghouls at Thomas's boat. This reveals that Thomas is not the killer and Madrigal Raith is one of the major baddies.
Second third: Finding the real killer - the Skavis - and fighting/killing him. Mini-climax in the fight w/the Skavis and Elaine being hurt. During these two thirds, all the pieces are set up for the reveal of the conspiracy and the final confrontation in the Deeps.
Final third: Confronting and fighting the real baddies (the White Court) culminating in a huge battle sequence & then the falling action.
But the middle "third" is shorter than the other two, and something just wasn't working here. It clicked when I started diagramming "Blood Rites", which is somewhat more obvious in its plot structure, in that it has a huge turning point halfway through the book. I started flipping through several of Butcher's other books and noticed that they ALL do that -- there is a really big turn located more or less in the middle. (
Anyway, going back and looking at White Night, I realized I'd been going about this all wrong. I'd been looking at page count, but it breaks completely differently if you look at it in terms of chapters, which is, after all, how the author probably had broken it down in the original outline. (The chapters get progressively longer as the book goes on, which makes the first "half" deceptively shorter than the second.) But looking at it in terms of chapters, suddenly the pattern snaps into focus:
First half: Someone is killing women and Harry's brother Thomas is the prime suspect. Harry pursues leads & eventually tracks him down & learns that he's not the killer, revealing that there must be another hitherto-unknown killer.
Second half: The real killer, the Skavis, is tracked down and killed, catapulting us into the final confrontation & climax.
Re: A Dresden question ...