Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 96
May 29, 2021
The Mosquito Coast 1.6: What Kind of Brother?
An action-packed penultimate episode 1.6 of The Mosquito Coast up on Apple TV+ yesterday, with [spoilers ahead]
Bill Lee killing Agent Voorhees and one of his little helpers killing Agent Jones. I liked both of them, they were quirky characters, but the shoot-out and knifing made for a momentous scene, replete with Lee softly complementing his little assistant, after the kid knifes Jones, "muy bueno".
It was also good to see Margot pushing back on Allie as much as we've seen her do that in this series so far. But of course she doesn't leave him, because she understands that the two of them together are the best way to protect their kids. And, also, deep down, she really does love Allie.
Dina's memory raises an intriguing point in this episode. She recalls her father "bringing" Charlie as a baby to her -- introducing her to her baby brother -- but she has no recollection of Margot being pregnant. That in turn could mean that Charlie is her half brother, or not her brother at all. If the latter, where did Charlie come from? Other than Dina's memory, everything points to Charlie being a half brother if not a full brother. Certainly Allie and Margot treat him the same as Dina -- a beloved child they would do anything to save.
Next week we'll see the final episode of this season of The Mosquito Coast. That's a short series season indeed -- seven episodes -- and we've yet to know if the series has been renewed for a second season. I'm very much hoping that it is. It's a fast-paced, off-beat narrative, with original characters in compelling places and situations, and that will make for a good continuing story.
See also The Mosquito Coast 1.1-2: Edgy, Attractive, Enlightened, and Important ... The Mosquito Coast 1.3: Broadening Horizons ... The Mosquito Coast 1.4: Charlie and the Gun ... The Mosquito Coast 1.5: Charlie and the Gun, Part II
May 27, 2021
Podcast Review of Debris season one
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 178, in which I review Debris, season one.
Blogpost written reviews:
Debris 1.1 Debris 1.2 Debris 1.3 Debris 1.4 Debris 1.5 Debris 1.6 Debris 1.7 Debris 1.8 Debris 1.9 (no review Debris 1.10) Debris 1.11 Debris 1.12 Debris season 1 finale2010 History Channel interview
first starship to Alpha Centauri ... launched on basis of Iroquois legend
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
May 24, 2021
Debris Season One Finale: Fringe with a Vengeance
We'll no doubt be seeing more of Otto in season two, if there is such a season, which we don't yet know. And there were lots of other promising developments in tonight's finale. Finola's father is totally in with Influx. Bryan had some very early encounter with Debris, and he's been taking injections to ward off possible ill effects, which is exactly what happened tonight. And in the last minute or so of this episode, we see a clone or whatever in the works for and of Finola.
I'm still very partial not only to the show, but the Influx credo which Finola's father again eloquently intoned tonight: let the people not their governments decide what to do with the interstellar tech that has fallen to Earth. As I mentioned in a review of an earlier episode, I made essentially the same point at 1min24secs to 1min47secs in this 2010 interview on the History Channel:
But I do think Debris has been too diffuse this season, too slow to get to the punchline, though all of this took a sharp turn for the better with the two-part alternate reality episode a few weeks back. I say, give Debris another season to find its pace. Extraterrestrial technology is a hugely suggestive tableau, and I'd like to see another season of it realized.
See also Debris 1.1 Some Probability of Gems Among the Pieces ... Debris 1.2: Clones ... Debris 1.3: Trapped Out of Time ... Debris 1.4: Suspentia Belief ... Debris 1.5: Fine Tuning ... Debris 1.6: Fountain of Youth and Its Complications ... Debris 1.7: Ferry Cross the Moebius Strip ... Debris 1.8: Resurrection and Its Hazards ... Debris 1.9: Resets 1 ... Debris 1.11: Connections ... Debris 1.12: Happy?
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
Atlantic Crossing: FDR Bursts Through the Faded News Clips
My wife and I finished watching Atlantic Crossing on PBS last night -- episode by episode, week after week, the old-fashioned non-streaming way. We both really enjoyed it, and, I have to say, it was one of the most fascinating, appealing, informative historical dramas I've ever seen.
The main story is the role Crown Princess Märtha and her husband Crown Prince Olav played in the Norwegian struggle to keep the country and concept of Norway alive during the Nazi onslaught and occupation of Norway in World War II. And the heart of that story, as beautifully portrayed in Atlantic Crossing, is how Märtha's relationship with American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt figured in her efforts to keep Norway afloat.
We're told at the beginning of each episode that the narrative on the screen, somewhere between Platonic, flirtatious, and deep romantic attraction, is based on "true events". But, of course, what events and how true remains unknown. In Atlantic Crossing, FDR takes Märtha on car rides. They kiss, not quite on the lips. When, in the next-to-last episode, FDR asks Märtha if all the affection and attention she has been giving him was all to coax him into giving Norway a battleship to fight the Germans, Märtha says yes, but FDR, with a twinkle in his eye, says he doesn't believe her.
Speaking of that twinkle, we all know Kyle MacLachlan from Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, but I found his portrayal of FDR charismatically original and exciting. Roosevelt died a few years before I was born, but my parents and grandparents spoke of him as they would a beloved member of our family. They said that when he died in 1945, they suddenly felt lost and without anchor in the world, even though the Nazis were already well beaten. As a media theorist, I always attributed FDR's relationship with the American people, in at least large part, to his fireside chats via radio, which literally brought Roosevelt into America's homes. I've listened to many of those radio addresses -- you can find them online -- so I've come to appreciate the power and impact of his voice. But as for the visual -- what Roosevelt looked like when he talked -- the faded newsclips do not offer very much.
Kyle MacLachlan thus had something of a blank slate to fill, and he did that with memorable sensitivity and panache. I've seen at least half a dozen portrayals of FDR over the years, but none compare to MacLachlan's, and I like thinking that was the man my parents and grandparents loved so much, who got them through the monstrous war literally and figuratively, in every way.*
I'm glad FDR helped save Norway, too, whatever his reasons and whatever Märtha's true role. The Vikings were the first Europeans to arrive in the New World -- as I explain in The Soft Edge, that contact had no effect on the world because there was no printing press to spread the news, as it did for Columbus -- but the Vikings and in turn the Norwegians have always had a very special place in the USA.
Atlantic Crossing is a celebration of that place, an astonishing and satisfying portrait of FDR, and Crown Princess Märtha (wonderfully played by Sofia Helin), created and written by Alexander Eik with moving music by Raymond Enoksen, and I'm glad and grateful to have seen it.
*I should mention that I found the portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt, also a revered person in American history, somewhat problematic. The part was very well acted by Harriet Sansom Harris, but the Eleanor in Atlantic Crossing staunchly opposes FDR getting America involved in the war in the early days, which may be true, but was news to me, and disconcerting.
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's musicMay 23, 2021
The Mosquito Coast 1.5: Charlie and the Gun, Part II
The comparison between Charlie and the hitman who's stalking the adult Foxes in Mexico City is also worth noting. The hitman uses a silent knife as his weapon, and as we see in the first scene, he's quiet and deadly. He doesn't intimidate. He just kills. In contrast to Charlie, who so far has brandished his weapon just to impress and intimidate.
As I said in a review of an earlier episode, the kids in this narrative are in many ways more important than the adults. And with the ending of this episode, they'll have to fare at least a bit on their own. Alli and Margot are bound and hooded in the back of a truck, prisoners of some Mexican gang.
Margot, by the way, is becoming increasingly enigmatic. She tries to check Allie's wilder ideas and impulses, but almost always offers that smile of agreement at the end. Why is that? Does she know something that we the audience and Dina and Charlie don't yet know? We've seen Allie get out of all kinds of perilous predicaments, but those escapes have usually been due just as much to luck as to cunning. Surely, Margot's confidence in Allie is based on more than she thinks he's and in turn the Foxes are just incredibly lucky.
But The Mosquito Coast continues to be a lot of fun to watch, with the locale changing in just about every episode, and Dina edging ever closer to learning just what her parents have been really up to.
See also The Mosquito Coast 1.1-2: Edgy, Attractive, Enlightened, and Important ... The Mosquito Coast 1.3: Broadening Horizons ... The Mosquito Coast 1.4: Charlie and the Gun
May 21, 2021
Podcast Review of The Nevers, Part I
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 177, in which I review The Nevers, Part I (episodes 1.1 through 1.6)
Blogpost written reviews:
The Nevers 1.1: Never Say Never The Nevers 1.2: Song and Gun The Nevers 1.3: Mary's Melody The Nevers 1.4: Who Needs to Be Found? The Nevers 1.5: "Mindful of the Roses" The Nevers 1.6: Sporific TerrificListen to Sally Go 'Round the Roses
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
Review of The Nevers, Part I
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 177, in which I review The Nevers, Part I (episodes 1.1 through 1.6)
Blogpost written reviews:
The Nevers 1.1: Never Say Never The Nevers 1.2: Song and Gun The Nevers 1.3: Mary's Melody The Nevers 1.4: Who Needs to Be Found? The Nevers 1.5: "Mindful of the Roses" The Nevers 1.6: Sporific TerrificListen to Sally Go 'Round the Roses
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
May 17, 2021
Debris 1.12: Happy?
Well, the next-to-last episode of this season of Debris -- still not renewed by NBC for a second season -- was surprising for a penultimate episode of any season of any series that's not a sitcom: it had an apparently happy ending.
The coming attractions, of course, promised something much more perilous and sinister, but this 12th episode of Debris actually saw Bryan seeing the light -- as in understanding something about the Debris he wasn't getting before -- and consequently letting the Debris do their thing, and fulfill a destiny as a bright light in the sky on its way, presumably, to the cosmos.
Or maybe the mother ship. None of that is still not even the slightest bit clear at this point. But it has to be significant that Bryan is enabbling not opposing or riding herd on the Debris, and he seems to be pretty much in his right mind. And there's also the fact that many fewer humans than usual got killed in Bryan;s part of the episode -- in fact, I'm pretty sure it was just one.
But what this all means for the future of us down on Earth is uncertain. Anson Ash is free, and that's likely not good for our side, whatever exactly our side is. Maddox is getting slightly less trustworthy in each episode, and that can't be good, either. Finola's father George gave a rant against the government, which makes him closer to Ash than Maddox, but does that mean Ash is the hero and Maddox the anti-hero after all?
Ash likely holds the key to the decisive part of this, why else free him after all these episodes tonight. There's a lot be told and a lot to unpack with just one episode left to do it, and I'll be back here next week with a report.
See also Debris 1.1 Some Probability of Gems Among the Pieces ... Debris 1.2: Clones ... Debris 1.3: Trapped Out of Time ... Debris 1.4: Suspentia Belief ... Debris 1.5: Fine Tuning ... Debris 1.6: Fountain of Youth and Its Complications ... Debris 1.7: Ferry Cross the Moebius Strip ... Debris 1.8: Resurrection and Its Hazards ... Debris 1.9: Resets 1 ... Debris 1.11: Connections
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
The Mosquito Coast 1.4: Charlie and the Gun
I thought the most significant part of The Mosquito Coast 1.4 on Apple TV+ was Charlie and his hand on the gun.
He came very close to using it in defense of his father. His family doesn't yet know about it. But there's no doubt that, with this much attention given to Charlie and his gun, that it's going to play a major part in the narrative, likely sooner than later (again, I haven't read the novel nor seen the 1980s movie).
The Mosquito Coast is already about the Fox family, mainly the two kids, coming of age. After all this time, they don't know what their father did that put them on the run. For that matter, neither do we the audience. And it's just a matter a time, too, that we and they find out what Allie did.
He continues to be a blend of incredible MacGyver-esque savvy and almost a naivety about the evil in this world. He continues to provoke, wittingly and unwittingly, everyone he comes in contact with. And he continues to be unable to unify his family, in fact often doing things that sow more dissention.
In fact, if you think about it, the ultimate threat to the Foxes comes from Allie himself, and his barely successful attempt to keep the truth from from his children. Although they face deadly enemies on every leg of their journey -- ranging from American racists on our side of the border, to a Mexican aristocratic family on the other side who would kill you if you posed the slightest potential problem -- the ultimate threat to the Foxes comes from the Foxes themselves.
Margot could be a mediating figure, but so far she's just managed to keep the lid on. Dina continues to demand answers. And Charlie has his gun.
See also The Mosquito Coast 1.1-2: Edgy, Attractive, Enlightened, and Important ... The Mosquito Coast 1.3: Broadening Horizons
The Mosquito Coast 1.4: Gabriel and the Gun
I thought the most significant part of The Mosquito Coast 1.4 on Apple TV+ was Gabriel and his hand on the gun.
He came very close to using it in defense of his father. His family doesn't yet know about it. But there's no doubt that, with this much attention given to Gabriel and his gun, that it's going to play a major part in the narrative, likely sooner than later (again, I haven't read the novel nor seen the 1980s movie).
The Mosquito Coast is already about the Fox family, mainly the two kids, coming of age. After all this time, they don't know what their father did that put them on the run. For that matter, neither do we the audience. And it's just a matter a time, too, that we and they find out what Allie did.
He continues to be a blend of incredible MacGyver-esque savvy and almost a naivety about the evil in this world. He continues to provoke, wittingly and unwittingly, everyone he comes in contact with. And he continues to be unable to unify his family, in fact often doing things that sow more dissention.
In fact, if you think about it, the ultimate threat to the Foxes comes from Allie himself, and his barely successful attempt to keep the truth from from his children. Although they face deadly enemies on every leg of their journey -- ranging from American racists on our side of the border, to a Mexican aristocratic family on the other side who would kill you if you posed the slightest potential problem -- the ultimate threat to the Foxes comes from the Foxes themselves.
Margot could be a mediating figure, but so far she's just managed to keep the lid on. Dina continues to demand answers. And Gabriel has his gun.
See also The Mosquito Coast 1.1-2: Edgy, Attractive, Enlightened, and Important ... The Mosquito Coast 1.3: Broadening Horizons
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