The breathtaking beauty is fun to watch too, but we want the girl next door to get the guy. It’s about as cliche’ as it gets, but isn’t that who most of us still want to win? Or have I completely misunderstood this audience? I didn’t think so.
Really how can most of us not pull for Layla? We’re set up to pull for her. Danni doesn’t stand a chance against the quiet beauty who’s a patient seeker of truth and fiercely loyal.
Could we ever believe that Layla would not ferret out the truth and then try to see justice done? Yep, I knew it. So since most of us aren’t breathtaking beauties but we are patient seekers of truth who are fiercely loyal or that’s what we hope we are, we certainly relate to Layla. Plus, her big brown eyes look at Porter so beseechingly that I melt when I see them almost as much as when I see his eyes. Of course the keyword there is almost.
Dang! I’d forgotten how much fun it is to be manipulated.
Just in case someone who has the ability to mold this character is reading this, could you have Layla kick some ass too?
For those who want a more heady discussion of Danni and Layla, see Servetus’ blog. At the moment I seem to be stuck on this girl gets guy/guy gets girl scenario.
dénouement (n) Origin: 1745–55; < F: lit., an untying, equiv. to dénouer to untie, OF desnoer (des- de- + noer to knot < L nōdāre, deriv. of nōdus knot) + -ment -ment
— the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.
Not quite sure what to think of how Strike Back has left us. It seems that there are lots of loose ends, but really there are lots of loose ends with knots. There’s John Porter’s relationship to the military, and now Hugh is gone and Porter will not divulge that Hugh was the guilty party in the “Bratton extraction.” There’s the relationship with Layla, who knows about Hugh’s guilt and who obviously has a growing admiration for Porter. There’s the relationship with Danni. There’s the relationship with his ex-wife/dead wife, or more accurately, his dispensible wife, and then there’s his daughter.
Of course not to be forgotten is the whole Indiana Jones cum Christ figure thing going on. It all has my head spinning.
Maybe I should not even stop to ponder but just continue to take the ride. I would do that except for one thing that keeps niggling at me. Are the writers of this show good enough to deal with all of this so I will come away saying, “Wow! That was quite something,” or will they screw it up? My gut says the latter. Oh, I hate it when my cynical self rears its ugly head, but it sometimes just takes over and spoils the fun.
But, but wait. The whole question of whether or not he has chest hair can now be put to rest! Ahh. That’s better. Back to my insane self.
I loved how Porter and his sidekick of the week were driving along
and then suddenly they met the Burka Sisters.
I’ll keep my crack about what they wanted in case some of you are cheating and looking at the spoilers when you shouldn’t.
And of course, as any good little RA fan would, I thought of this.
Also, it was wonderful to have another tottie in the show. Could we have that on a regular basis? Doesn’t have to be every week but maybe every other week.
That’s all I can think of right now. Oh, and of course don’t forget about dealing with HD and getting that make-up looking realistic all the time. It wasn’t quite right in Episode 5. I’m available for the placement of facial hair if you need someone.
Screencaps courtesy of RobinHood2006.com and my own stash.
Strike Back. Strike Back. Strike Back. All I need is a Bic lighter.
MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS
Do you think Sky will make some more of these? I hope so. No, it’s not that intellectually stimulating and there are plot holes you could drive a truck through, but I don’t care! It reminds me of another show I used to watch called J.A.G. It alternated between shoot ’em up and pure schmaltz most of the time. Much more than this show. But I fell in love with the characters. Love of character can cover a multitude of sins. If I never was quite sure of that, I am after watching Robin Hood. So I would like a chance to love these characters. As much as I like RA, I don’t love his character or the other characters yet like I did Harmon Rabb or Mac or Bud or the one I really loved, Admiral Chegwidden, and certainly don’t love him like I do Guy and his bunch. But I might work myself up to it. ;-) Just need to see more of them.
But I have one piece of advice. Please, please, please don’t have John Porter cry anytime soon. It was bad timing and all wrong in this episode. I love RA’s acting, but that little piece of writing sucked. Porter needs to be taking names and kicking ass 98% of the time. Yes, I still want to see Beta but not like that.
I guess I have more than one piece of advice. Can the daughter angle just be completely done away with if the show continues? That really limits him. and I’d like to see him, uh, unfettered. I’m sure I’m going to catch it for that statement, but hey, do we want the show to continue or not? A single dad on the run all the time in God knows where? Really? There are writers good enough to pull that off? Somehow with this bunch I doubt it.
We need to see him getting out of scrapes
and messing with people’s heads
and, well, this post will have to be two parts otherwise it will take a week to load.
I thought RA was so fantastic looking in this episode that I didn’t even care about the plot. I mean I completely ignored the plot for my first viewing of this one. Well, that and I could not understand but maybe three words this guy said:
I think Bruce Dern had a fling with someone in Scotland and this was the result.
Then there was Toby Stephens. Toby doing the American thang. He really sounded American. I didn’t hear one bobble, and I even played this show again in slower motion so I could understand the Scottish guy. Toby’s got the American accent down. My only complaint is do we always have to be the bad guys? Can’t the British come up with something more original? Maybe that is original for them. But to many of us here, I think we’re sick of it. [off soapbox]
Thankfully, I was so overcome with RA’s beauty that I didn’t care what the Scottish guy said and wasn’t that interested in Toby or the Americans.
It can’t just be me and some of the rest of you who think that is one fine looking man. Would someone PLEASE give him a great role!! It’s almost too much to think he looks like this AND he’s a great actor too. Oh, I’m a little biased. Yes, I’m biased! But he is a really fine actor and fine looking as well. I don’t think that’s unrealistic at all.
One other thing about the Americans. Why do we always sound dumber than everyone else? Or am I getting a complex about this? LOL!
Oh wait. A closeup.
Okay my fangirling got a little out of hand, but since I’ve gone anonymous, I’m trying to make the most of it.
Deadgum! The Strike Back production needed someone to doctor the make-up on some of the actors, and I was nowhere around to volunteer (I’m a quick study).
Did you get a look at some of the beards?
I’m sorry this one is blurry, but if it were any clearer, it would look even more fake. I haven’t been to Afghanistan or Pakistan lately, well, never actually, but I’m having a hard time thinking the beards look like this. Or maybe I’m not well traveled, and really the guys there look like they have black Ferbies on their jaws.
I knew something was wrong when I was distracted from RA. He was looking mighty fine, and I still couldn’t keep from noticing the beards. Oh, the hazards of HD.
Here’s another one, and no, that’s not a scarf around his neck.
A few more so maybe you can become proficient in how a beard should not look. That’s in case you’re ever called on to be a make-up artiste any place within 100 yards of RA. Yeah, I realize these guys aren’t RA, but hey, would you care if he were standing somewhere nearby?
Okay, so this last one is starting to look a little real.
This one is definitely looking real. I had to post it. Love that jawline.
Spoilers galore for ‘Strike Back” in the video below
Notes to self:
Mantra: this show is a ride. DelicateBlossom gets it. Somehow I knew she would. Let’s hope the producers don’t mess it up by making an identity crisis where there should be none. The whole point of an action flick is to appeal to the viscera and not so much about thinking. It’s about going along for one helluva ride and feeling things rushing at you as you go. Don’t think so much; feel. I realize this is hard for some of us, but give it a chance. You might like it, and it might lead to a deeper meaning than all the thinking can derive.
Note to self: this may be the post that makes me glad I’m anonymous.
So I watched Episode 3 of Strike Back, and I got to see RA’s ass. I would say peaches, but hey, I’m anonymous, and there’s no point in a euphemism when I’m thinking ass and can say ass. Come to think of it, I would say ass even if I weren’t anonymous.
Terms aside, the reason I might be glad to be anonymous is that some of you might not be happy with me mentioning that I had a thought RA is a bit of a hedonist. Then again acting by its nature is somewhat hedonistic, so what’s the big deal? Hmmm. I don’t know except that I’m wrestling with this idea that he is a reluctant sex symbol, tottie, object. It’s kind of hard to believe that when I’ve gotten to look at him in almost all his glory on two occasions in less than a year. Not that I’m complaining. But since I’m sharing my innermost thoughts about all things RA, I thought I would throw this in as well. Oh, and I want to keep this blog “safe for work,” so I’m not posting the picture. Trust me there’s only a little left to the imagination. I’ll throw in a picture from before and after the scene.
By the way, this is the second program with RA that SO has watched, and it’s going to be interesting to see how or if he ribs me about the scene in question. He probably will since he loves to tease, and he’s good at it.
Just got done watching. Hopefully, he’ll tell me enough about what he thinks that I can post it here, and yes, he’s fine with me posting his review even though he doesn’t get to read the blog.
One thing I will relate is during the prison scene when JP is having a flashback of sex with Danni, SO was nodding his head and saying, “Yeah, that’s one of the things I’d be thinking about if I were stuck in a hell hole of a prison.” What a shock.
Screencaps courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com
edit: yes, exhibitionist is a better fit than hedonist, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to use that word at the time of this post. And I don’t feel that way any longer.
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. ;-)
See Diary Part 10 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.
Entry — almost two years ago:
Robin Hood Season 2 DVDs arrived today! Can’t wait to watch them. In the interim, I watched all of Season 1 again, and I cried again. What is my affinity for this character? Oh, yes, he’s sexy. Those faces he pulls and the way he stands and holds his head when he looks at Marian, and of course there’s his jawline. I did not know a jawline could be that sexy. But I’ve seen so many shows where an actor was sexy and wasn’t moved like this. No, this is something else because I don’t remember sexy ever making me cry.
A week later:
I still haven’t watched Season 2 yet. Season 1 keeps beckoning, and I keep running back to it. I’m having to watch it on the sly since the family has already seen it and thought it was okay, but nothing to rewatch. They would think I was an idiot for watching this lame show over and over. I’ll admit to watching a tv show more than once or twice, but this is getting ridiculous. Still haven’t topped my North and South viewings. Thank God! This might be because Robin Hood is a ridiculous show that doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up.
But there in the middle of it is Guy like a lost little boy begging for attention. Yes, the killing is unconscionable. How could it not be? It is by any definition, but anything that horrible always has me asking why. I can’t help seeking to understand why people do the things they do, and especially if there is a glimpse of humanity. Guy delivers from the beginning. From the first show, he begins to let us in just little bit on the boy who wants to be affirmed.
It begins when Robin presents himself as Lord of the Manor and Guy takes him to task for not respecting him in front of the “populace.” The scene isn’t much, but it’s the beginning of the puzzle that is Guy. Like a corner piece that gives just enough sense of the finished picture to prompt someone to put the entire thing together.
The vulnerable little boy really emerges when he comes to visit Marian and invites her to Locksley, his new Gisborne, his mojo. It’s painful to watch this scene.
But then in two sentences about a woman changing her name, the man reasserts himself. PHWOAR! There’s the real mojo! That is one sexy scene and no one is even close to removing their clothes. Okay, where was I?
The little boy alternating with the seriously sexy man makes my head spin. No wonder women are swooning over this character, and I guess I’m right there with them. Damn that Richard Armitage is something else!
RAFrenzy 
