Season 35 - Bleak House (2005-2006)
The Gillian Anderson version of Bleak House first aired as I was just getting back into Masterpiece. It's not that I'd taken time out from the show per se, it's just that life, combined with school meant that several seasons of Masterpiece were seen by me after the fact when my friend Jess would tell me to rent a specific show from Netflix. Yes, this was when Netflix was still only discs you sent away for. So I'd often spend the summer vacation watching the notable shows that had aired on Masterpiece earlier in the year and had now been released on DVD. The other reason I got back into Masterpiece was perfect timing. I could never watch the eight o'clock broadcast because other family members had the television at the time and for some reason our second PBS station decided to re-air that night's episode of Masterpiece starting around midnight. That meant I could finally curl up with my cat and be assured we wouldn't be accused of co-opting the television. So I settled in to watch Bleak House. The fifteen episode miniseries actually aired as eight on Masterpiece, so for eight weeks I was there for all the twists, turns, and explosive reveals of the people connected to the Jarndyce v Jarndyce case. And I kind of found it meh. I wasn't good at following the plot from week to week and just kind of forgot about it. Until I made a list of suggested viewings for a friend of my mom's and well, Nancy was VERY mad I didn't like Bleak House. Apparently it was her favorite. Therefore I had to give it another try. And yet she wouldn't give Poldark a second try!?! Just saying... So I sat down and watched all of Bleak House over three nights and you know what? I really liked it. I knew what was going to happen more or less so I was able to take joy in the characters, which is what this adaptation is all about. SHAKE ME UP JUDY! Also, Bleak House works better, in my mind, binged. Watching it over too long a period of time doesn't work. We are no longer in the age when we had to wait months for Dickens to actually write the next chapter, so why wait? That's right, why wait? Go watch Bleak House today. All of it!
From hearing the first strains of music as the picture faded in I fell in love with Poldark. The sweeping Cornish coastline coupled with the theme music created an ache in my heart that made me nostalgic for a place I have never been. While I enjoyed the complete series, especially the encroaching Regency fashions, and hope that it will one day return to continue the story when they are older, the first series remains my favorite. This show wallows in star-crossed lovers, from Elizabeth and Ross to Verity and Captain Blamey to Dwight and Keren these are just the tip of the iceberg before Demelza's broody brothers were introduced. But to me what makes the show work is coupling the heart with the humor. The overly melodramatic Ross needs someone as pragmatic and blunt as Aunt Agatha to balance his histrionics. Also George and his fantasies are always blunted by his Uncle, the magnificent Pip Torrens. Though the humor of the series can be summarized in one person, Jud. When Phil Davis left the show they lost a comic genius and one of the checks and balances that kept this show sailing smoothly. There's a reason why the show was good but never quite as good after that first season. George had more depth, the plots seemed more personal, and there was Ross and Demelza falling in love. The way Demelza healed Ross's heart after Elizabeth shredded it to bits (and yes I'm fully ignoring what happened later.) Oh my, be still my heart. The scullery maid got the guy! Yes, she did force his hand a little but he grew to love her and she became his rock. The forth episode of series one might just be ranked among my favorite television episodes of all time. In the episode Demelza and Ross go to Trenwith for Christmas. This could be disastrous. On so many levels. But Demelza shines and not only do the other guests see what Ross saw all along, but Ross also sees Demelza anew and realizes how lucky he is. This was the pinnacle of the Poldark passion and romance for me. The dress, the singing, the pregnancy, the love, oh, I feel a great need to go rewatch the whole first season again and perhaps this episode more than once.
