There are spoilers, and then there are spoilers galore. This is a post with spoilers galore. You have been warned.
I’m cross eyed after watching Strike Back episodes 3 & 4. That’s not a slam. I usually get cross eyed after I’ve been on a roller coaster. This is even more intense because I usually close my eyes on a roller coaster, but for this I couldn’t look away.
Perhaps every post on Strike Back from here on out will be tagged PHWOAR. What can I say? The dude is sexy, and he’s sexy in just about any form I’ve seen him. Even as the shaggy looking John Standring. This man would look sexy in a burlap bag. But enough of that fangurling, I have serious matters to discuss. Such as his wonderful blood smears and splatters. Servetus mentioned how the camo paint went well with his eyes. I think the blood is a nice contrast. Especially on his upper body and sometimes on his pants, but of course pants are optional (more on that later).
Yeah, you’re right, this picture isn’t from Eps 3 or 4. It’s from Ep2, but will you and I ever get tired of looking at it? I doubt it.
Okay, now I really am going to be serious. Maybe it’s just me, but the one thing I cannot stand in an action flick is trying to inject a conscience where it doesn’t belong. Take this scene (SPOILER AHEAD):
Strike Back is more of a ride than a statement. If this show gets confused about that, it’s going to ruin it. Do we need a sanctimonious nun? Did we need a sanctimonious monk? How about we just let RA do his thing. He can play the killing machine and the conscience of the piece with superb balance. He’s that good in my opinion. It would have been so much more powerful if the Sister had prayed and stopped there. I guess it’s assumed that action flick audiences need the conscience stated, and that’s what I don’t like about action flicks.
But this scene was a wonderful reason to have him stand shirtless for an extended period of time. I just didn’t notice until I was writing this entry. ;-)
WARNING: Spoilers in this post especially including the video!
I would have said thoughts, but I have to use words like cogitation occasionally. Then I don’t feel guilty about how I’m using that expensive education my parents paid for (oops, another sentence ending in a preposition; good thing this blog’s anonymous).
So I’m watching Strike Back, and it gets to this scene (SPOILERS AHEAD!):
and I remember what I like about most action flicks. They have Alpha males! Oh, I know what you’re thinking. Alpha is the guy who smashes beer cans on his head and has little or no respect for women. No, no. You’re wrong. Alpha is not just the guy who needs a shag and likes to handle guns and is good at handling guns, and wants to do damage to someone with the guns. He’s also the guy who kicks the door in and saves the damsel, and the damsel loves him for it and thinks about following him to the ends of the earth. When John Porter says trust me, I do.
I’m so glad RA is getting to play an Alpha again. My first introduction to him was as an Alpha male — John Thornton. The character I’m most fond of is an Alpha male — Guy of Gisborne (when he’s not kissing the Sheriff’s ass). But Alpha isn’t enough, and those characters are not successful just being Alphas. What women want and most men have not figured out is that we want Beta too. John Thornton and Guy proved they had some Beta, and it only made them more attractive. Conversely, of RA’s characters who are primarily Betas, they are even more attractive when Alpha emerges: Harry Kennedy when he wants Geraldine to pay up on her “debt,” John Standring when he runs off Andrew, Paul Andrews when he’s manifesting Alpha in the most elemental way, Lucas North when he’s taking the rich guy down in the pool. Imagine how dull these Betas would be without Alpha.
I’m not so sure we’ve really seen John Porter’s Beta. Maybe just a little peek in the beginning when he’s interacting with his 10 year old daughter, and of course when he spares the Iraqi boy. But that’s not enough for an RA character. RA likes to balance these enough to make things really interesting. We don’t have enough of Porter’s Beta yet. We need a little more, but oh, don’t slack on the Alpha while you’re at it.
I stumbled on a blog that gets the importance of the Alpha/Beta mix. The blogger gets it so well that I had a fleeting thought it’s really a woman writing the blog. His name even sounds like a woman’s when you say it really fast (ducking in case he reads any of the links to his blog). He is so dead on that it’s scary. Oh, I don’t think he’s dead on about everything, but he’s got women figured out fairly well — at least what turns most of them on. Yes, it’s just my opinion. Feel free to disagree, and I know some women do. LOL!
Here’s what he says about Alpha/Beta mix:
I generally disagree with the entire Alpha = good, Beta = bad mindset. You really need to have both Alpha Traits and Beta Traits in a marriage to really hit the sweet spot of happiness and sex. The blog is still new, but believe me I’m going to sound like a broken record on this point as the years play out.
If you’re a decent Beta, the solution is to add Alpha traits, not reduce Beta Traits and add Alpha. It’s not a zero-sum game where you can be either Alpha or Beta, but not both. You can and must be both. You still hold a job down, play with the kids, listen to how your wife spent her day, do housework etc. That’s all vital comfort building goodness. She likes and needs that to feel comfortable, like you’re invested in the relationship and family. These things are not “turn ons”, but lacking them makes them “turn offs”.
I sometimes hear that Alpha females do not want Alpha males:
The alpha girl doesn’t need Mr Alpha to sweep her off her feet and buy her a condo in town; she has enough money to do that herself. She is successful, confident and she wants a caring man who can pick up some of the domestic slack.
Oh, a caring Beta is great, and I may not need an Alpha to sweep me off my feet, but I WANT ONE! and SO delivers. He flexes his Alpha enough that I know it’s not eclipsed by his wonderful Beta. I have several little SOs running around to prove that.
Speaking of SO, I think he’s going to love this show. Especially if it doesn’t make Alphas look like morons. Actually, to SO there is no such thing as Alpha/Beta. He thinks all of that is crap. To him it just means being a man who has the usual wants and needs of a man and of course the usual responsibilities. Okay, maybe there is no Alpha, but it’s fun to think about it, and certainly fun to watch it!
P.S. If Porter and Layla are not going to have some Alpha fun at some point, then I wasn’t watching the right show. Can’t wait to see how that plays out.
I knew I was right. Of course I was right. I always am — in my dreams. But I am right about something this time. Media producers need to get it. People don’t want to watch shows through nefarious means. Well, at least most people don’t. Of course there will always be some people who just want to steal. But most people just get frustrated at the difficulty of accessibility. It’s only due to this frustration that most resort to viewing shows through YouTube, P2P sites, etc.
I hope someone who can effect a change is reading this:
When asked if they would pay for a service which provided an advertising and DRM-free TV show, movies and music experience, an impressive 66.4% of respondents said they would be prepared to pay for that.
The prices they would generally be prepared to offer are $1 per TV episode, $2 for a movie and 50c per music track. ($1 AUD = $0.91 USD)
edit: The problem, my friends, is that media producers are trying to create a scarcity where there is none. This is done to keep the price point artificially inflated. It’s not going to happen. Now that average Joe Schmuck (which is how I think media producers, and I’m mostly thinking of Hollywood, think of us) has the means to manipulate the technology, it’s not going to go away. Once people got a taste of that, they’re not going to give it up easily. About the only way this could be controlled, and even then I don’t think it really can be, is if we have an international group that has the ability to exact punishment. We are moving toward that, but we’re never going to get there, and do we want to go? I know I don’t, and it’s not because I’m a law breaker but because that kind of control is not necessary. The short of it is media producers need to catch up. They are lagging far behind, and it shows and it’s going to keep showing unless they learn to deal with the competition. Okay, I’ll stop now because I feel a serious diatribe coming on about copyright and all sorts of related subjects that this blog SHOULD NOT be conducive to.
But before I drop this, I love the last paragraph of this piece.
Here’s my gratuitous pic, so this post is not entirely me bitching, and it’s the tricep this time:
WARNING: Spoilers in this post — specifically in the video.
The sane side of me reared its ugly head and came up for air.
Last week I feasted steadily on the interviews for Strike Back. Oh, it was good, and I felt really satisfied at times, but the hunger was back the next day. Finally, at the end of the week, I was sick from consuming so much. I needed time to digest.
This is helping me get back to my crazy self:
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t remember having quite so much press hype to gorge on with Spooks 8, and I was darn near starved to death with Robin Hood 3. Plus, RA seemed to be merely doing his duty promoting those shows, but I wanted to hear more of his take on character development, his personal development, and life in general. There was only one interview during Spooks 8’s promotion that stands out (more on that later). This time around I didn’t know which one to consume first and they’re still coming fast and furiously. Throw in some titillating comments from RA about possibilities, and it’s enough to make me pass out. A Guy of Gisborne spinoff?! I think that was either a crack or a crumb. Not sure which yet, and I’m not really sure it was for us fans anyway. I tend to think it’s for potential producers. He does mention a lot that he likes to work. Is there a producer crazy enough or creative enough to bring a Gisborne spinoff to the telly?
On a more serious note, I love Maria’s treatment of some of the interviews. I’m still digesting.
But what I know today is RA reveals a lot about himself to the point that I feel like a voyeur and a child. Sometimes he has a childlike quality in his discussions that evokes that response from me. Oh, I don’t mean he’s immature. If anything, he articulates his observations as an old sage, but it’s couched in terms of childlike wonder and a candidness that is seldom seen in adults, and certainly not in adults who are in the media. Again, the media types only seem to spin themselves for our consumption, so any childlike quality is designed merely to endear us to them and not because they really love to discover things about life. Maybe that’s what’s happening and I just like RA so much I don’t want to believe I’m being played. See what a cynic I am. I can’t just enjoy this. I’ve got to analyze it to death. I’ve got to question my reaction and his motives. SO has said many times that I question everything that moves and if it doesn’t, I kick until it does to the point where I beat the joy out of it. Maybe he’s right.
Oh, and my apologies for so many food analogies. I started a new eating regimen to accommodate my new jacked up exercise routine. I’ve returned to eating six meals a day, and it seems I can’t stop thinking about food even when I want to.
Next up: my thoughts on Episodes 1 & 2 of Strike Back, which I really am writing for myself. If you guys get something out of it, then goody. Otherwise, it’s placed here so the family doesn’t have to listen to it. LOL!
I have often found myself asking that question when I read an interview with Richard Armitage. His answers are almost perfect. Oh, my bias is showing. But let me explain. He gives answers that I actually ponder far longer than my reading requires. He also seems to have his profession in perspective and isn’t quick to believe his own press. As if that’s not enough to convince me he’s got his head on straight, he’s willing to admit he is still learning and his perspective is subject to change — more to ponder. This kind of thoughtfulness and candor is refreshing with anyone no matter what they do for a living. But to find it in an actor?
I guess I’ve been prejudiced in thinking actors are mostly caricatures and somewhat superficial and almost never thinkers. At least that’s how it seems when they’re confronted with an interviewer. Some of them state the obvious and never anything of interest that a casual observer couldn’t conclude. Kind of like the typical interview with a footballer who’s asked post-game how his team got the victory. He often responds, “We scored more points.” I would think they were making a joke, but their demeanor doesn’t suggest they’re being facetious at all. They usually have a wide eyed look about it all. I’ve often wondered if these athletes realize we already know that. Similarly, actors seem to think that they’re letting us in on something, but the reality is that we mostly get to witness their posturing, the spinning of their personalities for public consumption and hopefully increase in ticket sales or ad revenue or whatever it is that puts cash in their hip pockets. Whatever is actually happening, I almost always come away with a hollow feeling.
But I’ve never felt that with Armitage. With him I actually have to think at times. Quite simply he gives food for thought, and it’s because his comments make it clear that he thinks and mostly like a sane person and not someone inside the show biz bubble. Even this seemingly benign interview is interesting. Mostly for its unfailing honesty about the hassle to continually keep up appearances almost 24/7. Yuck.
From Times Online
April 27, 2010
The inside track: Richard Armitage
Fresh from filming the TV drama, Chris Ryan’s Strike Back, Spooks star Richard Armitage, 38, gives us his health report
Melissa van der Klugt
I’m normally one of those people who, unless you shove a sandwich in my hand, would forget to eat. The last diet I went on was in training for Strike Back and it involved six small meals a day to keep my blood-sugar level high. It was carbs during the morning and two shakes a day. I kept this up for 18 weeks of filming in South Africa, because you’re often on your feet for 12 or 13-hour days.
For Spooks I lost a stone.My character had just come out of a Russian prison after eight years. I had to weigh everything I ate and not eat too late.
I am always jumping off things on set, on an adrenaline high. At the end of a take people suddenly run up to me waving cotton swabs because I am bleeding and I haven’t noticed. Strike Back was the most physical role I have taken on and I had to work hard with an ex-military instructor to build up my physical mass and strengthen my ankles and wrists so that I wouldn’t injure myself.
I follow the Alexander Technique for 15 minutes each morning. It’s a way of helping my vocal production and control, but when my stress levels are high during filming, it gives me a break. I lie on the floor with a book over my head while I focus on the exercise. On the shoot in South Africa I fell asleep pretty much every time I did it.
I don’t take risks enough in my life. As I’m always under contract, I’m restricted by what I can and can’t do with myself, so skiing is my nirvana. I have been skiing for the past few years and being in the mountains is very therapeutic. You’re up above the clouds, it feels remote. When you’re skiing just faster than is safe there is a thrilling combination of risk and freedom.
Read the rest here ( if necessary, click again to make legible).
A new interview with RA is in TV.com. He says some of the same things but it’s not identical to the Sky magazine interview nor the Premiere interview. But even if it were, I’d probably review it more than once. LOL! It’s a wonderful interview.
What I’m trying to figure out is if Heather spent only 10 minutes with RA or this is supposed to take 10 minutes to read. If it’s the former, wow! that’s a lot in 10 minutes. If it’s the latter, then they have some slower readers in their audience. LOL! Okay, I know it’s just a catchy title, but words should mean something.
10 Minutes with Strike Back’s Richard Armitage
by Heather Hughes TV.com Staff Writer 04/28/10 06:03 AM
British actor Richard Armitage has been propelled into the public consciousness in recent years thanks to major roles in BBC dramas Spooks and Robin Hood. Six years ago, though, he was better known as John Thornton in period adaption North and South. That was his first lead part in a TV show and now he’s hoping to emulate his success by starring in another book adaptation–this time fronting Chris Ryan’s multi-million bestseller Strike Back. Despite being busy on the set of Spooks’ ninth season Armitage took some time out to talk TV.com about his new show and what’s to come…
TV.com: I’ve just watched the first two episodes of Strike Back and it’s incredibly intense. What was that like to film?
Richard Armitage: Oh, brilliant. Yeah, it was fast, exciting, and exhausting. But I think we knew that it had balls, if you know what I mean.
You had specialist military training for it didn’t you? What was that like?
That was one of the best aspects of it, I think, because you can get your head into that. I trained with a military guy here in the UK and then one in South Africa, and then we had three SAS advisors that were there the whole time. I think that when you feel you’ve got the real deal giving you advice it stops feeling like you’re playing at it and it feels like you’re doing it very seriously. When you believe that an SAS guy could sit and watch it, and that it wouldn’t be too farfetched, then that does help you to get into character.
And it was written by Chris Ryan who’s a former SAS soldier, which must’ve helped with the authenticity?
Yeah, absolutely.
The show’s based on his a bestseller. Did you, or any of the rest of the cast, feel under extra pressure because of its popularity?
Well, I really like taking stuff from literature because I feel that when people read a book they have a kind of response to it. I have a visual mind, so when I read a book I get an instant picture in my head and it’s very clear. I think that bringing that into reality is much easier than creating something out of nothing. Because it was Chris Ryan’s novel and, like you say, he was the military man I felt like [my character] John was semi autobiographical. I was really going through the book looking for every detail that I possibly could. The pressure to get it right is a brilliant pressure and I think everyone thrived on that.
You’ve starred in a couple of adaptations now. Is there one that you haven’t appeared in that you’d like to? Pride and Prejudice perhaps?
I wish! No, I’d like to do Crime and Punishment. I know it’s been done fairly recently but I love that kind of Russian, dreary, poverty-stricken grief.
But I can’t stand it; there’s too much to talk about, and this is the place for me to get it all out of my system. At least that was my original intent. Now? Oh, heck no!
Oh, God love him! Is he something else or what? Is he a bit of a writer and/or director in the making? Or maybe a lot of actors do this, and I’ve just never been aware of it? I don’t know, and really, I don’t care. This below is one reason I’ve got a thing for RA! I feast on this stuff. LOL!
Strike Back: Richard Armitage on John Porter
He’s an action hero, I suppose – But I’ve tried to make him as un-action hero like as possible because that’s an easy role to play and we’ve all seen the hero running out of a burning building carrying a child. I’ve tried to inject this character with something else that’s unique to his experience.
He’s SAS when the story starts and he has a wife and daughter. He’s been through the ranks and I’d describe him as a kind of killing machine who’s discovered quite a serious flaw whereby compassion kicks in and he allows his heart to rule his head. I think he has a conflict between operating within the theatre of war and then returning home to his family.
Preparing for the role…
I try to create a biography for every character I play. In the book, but not in the script, Porter has a problem with alcohol, so I’ve used that much earlier in his life. I wanted Porter’s father to be military, and this period of delinquency comes from Porter being absent when his father died. So his route into the military was to do with atonement for his father’s death and honouring his memory.
I thought I could rationalize! But it seems others are raising the bar.
“Maybe it’s just me, but I really don’t see SB as the typical “action” movie – and no RA is not clouding my judgement. I haven’t read the book yet (on my list – gotta get through “The Pillars of the Earth” first) but I would be interested in watching SB even if RA was not in it – the politics, the moral dilemma, the facing one’s past are all interesting to me – and a few sexy scenes and the occasional kicking in of doors is good too! And when you think of it, many of these same themes appear in period dramas/books as well…
Maybe I’m just being fooled by the trailers – heaven knows that happens all the time – but I just wish I had a chance to see SB when it airs in the UK…now where did I put “Pillars”…”tyme4t’s comment on “What makes a bunch of prissy period drama lovers become action fans?”
I must keep up!
She makes some good points. Period dramas and action flicks do have something in common, and I can name it in one word: romance. It’s the romance that we all love. I’m including the men. It’s romantic to them for some guy to kick ass whether it be a foreign enemy or one at home. But it doesn’t really matter if the enemy is personified as long as some guy is conquering something including something in his past. I don’t care how macho or seemingly mild mannered the man is, they all seem to love this, and a lot of women love it too. I know I love to see someone overcome something or someone (bad guy or problem guy). Really love it when it’s a good guy making things right even if it’s not all tied up in a pretty package at the end. It’s usually better if it’s not all tied up in a pretty package.
But I think most of us also love a good chess game even if it’s not on the chess board. That is fascinating, and what tyme4t was probably getting at with politics, moral dilemmas, etc. There’s an air of romance about catching someone before they catch you and especially if you’re having to deal with your baggage while doing it. Actually, that’s only romantic in a book or a movie. In real life it can be a bitch to deal with baggage while you’re trying to do something significant. I think that’s one reason it’s romanticized in books ’cause maybe we can fantasize that it’s romantic when we’re going through it. I would venture to say that all those SAS are turned on by the same thing — the romance of what they’re doing, the romance of the chase, and there doesn’t always have to be a girl involved. When it’s not about country of course. Whatever the case, I don’t think it’s all about patriotism.
Just for grins I did a search on Chris Ryan and the word ‘romance’. I actually came up with something. He wrote a romance novel. LOL! It’s under the pseudonym Molly Jackson (isn’t Chris Ryan a pseudonym?). Maybe that’s old news for some of you, but I got a chuckle out of it. I don’t know if the book is was worth a flip. It didn’t seem to have many reviews. But something motivated him to write that book, and I don’t think it was money. He’s too well established in his genre to venture out just to make money. No, it was something else. Not sure anything he’s said publicly would shed light on the reason, but it would be interesting to know his reasons (more useless crap for me to remember). All I know right now is if Chris Ryan wrote a romance novel, it’s not a far stretch to imagine him watching some period dramas. Yep, he’s one of us. I’ll claim him. :D
After reading up on Chris Ryan, I feel like he’s a buddy. We share similar tastes in drama, and on a much lesser note, two of his creations have featured RA. So I have to put up his picture.
In the “Strike Back” Premiere clip, Andrew Lincoln and Andy Harries, the producer, talked about Strike Back competing with America’s offerings. That’s great! I LOVE competition. It usually (not always but usually) gets the cream to rise to the top. Love it; can’t say enough good about it.
Given that, I can think of a really good way for the Brits to compete with us Yanks, and I’ll be glad to help them. If they could figure out how to get the shows to us more quickly, then I can assure I would do my part by watching many times in order to help their ad revenue or however it is they make their money. I’ll even tell lots of people about the shows! Could we just have access to Sky Player? As it is, I buy the stuff as soon as I can, and sometimes (I hate to admit it) I cheat and look at it before I can buy it. But I always buy these things I’ve looked at through other means than traditional broadcasts or dvds. It would be great to do it another way. Aren’t we in a global economy? What’s the hang up?!
I will probably rant more about this later.
I hope someone is listening.
Oh, I guess I can’t make this a complete tangent, since I want to comment on how RA has really put himself outside his comfort zone. Doesn’t he dislike going in the water? That’s really going in the water! Or is that a stuntman? On another note, how interesting that I know all of this useless crap.
RAFrenzy 
