#the essex serpent episode 1

[olemisekunst]

The Essex Serpent, Episode 1 (2022) dir. Clio Barnard

[feuervogel]

I posted 1,843 times in 2022

That's 378 more posts than 2021!

13 posts created (1%)

1,830 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sophiamcdougall

@edgeofpanic

@ironedorchid

@dirtyzucchini

@bossymarmalade

I tagged 1,824 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#cats - 98 posts

#lol - 72 posts

#art by op - 65 posts

#tumblr - 54 posts

#tik toks - 53 posts

#art - 52 posts

#memes - 46 posts

#humor - 33 posts

#uk politics - 28 posts

#hellsite (affectionate) - 28 posts

Longest Tag: 127 characters

#especially since my sister had a completely different relationship with her and wouldn't understand if i talked to her about it

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Recent media viewing

I decided to open up Netflix the other day and watch the Sandman adaptation. It's as good as everyone has been saying it is! And episode 5 has some gross bits that you'll see coming if you're paying attention (also, the nice black lady and her dog don't die, if you're worried about that). The Corinthian is EVEN CREEPIER in live action.

I spent a lot of time thinking "God, that actor looks and sounds familiar" whenever the Corinthian was on screen, but I looked him up and he wasn't in anything else I've seen, so I guess he's just got That Kind Of Face (or at least lower half of it, since he's got dark glasses on 95% of the time.)

While I was on Netflix, they showed me recommendations, as algorithms do, and I browsed the anime selection to see if there was anything to add to my (extremely long) watchlist.

I decided to watch Tekken: Bloodline, because deep in my heart of hearts, I love 2D fighting games. Not at all because I've been a JinHwo shipper since the early 2000s, nope. Anyway, it's a Netflix original, originally voiced in English. The voice acting ranges from fine (Jin, Hwoarang, Nina, Paul) to cringe (Jun, Xiaoyu) to comical (Heihachi), and for some completely unknown reason, Heihachi's assistant uses weeb-Japanese and says "hai" when she could say "yes, sir." (Like, this is the ONLY Japanese in the show. I'm not counting uses of sensei, because that's been borrowed into English as a martial arts term, or the time Paul says "Mishima Zaibatsu," because that's been in the US versions of the game since forever.)

Is it any good? It's not bad... It's basically the plot of Tekken 3, with references to 1&2, with Jin finding out about his family and Heihachi being a total asshole (I mean, duh). The character designs are weird, like their faces are too small for their necks and chins are too pointy, and somehow Jin looks like Heero Yuy in profile. I laughed a couple times (Paul (or maybe Nina): You two are friends? Jin & Hwoarang (unison): NO!) and may be on the way to shipping Jin/Hwo/Xiaoyu because they're ADORABLE.

When I got my new computer for Xmas, it came with a free 3-month trial of Apple TV. I didn't do anything about it until they sent me an email that it would go away if I didn't use it, then I signed up. There's actually a good bit of good stuff on there, so I'm keeping it for 4.99 a month.

Severance: suuuuper creepy SF mystery/thriller? where people can sign up to get implants that sever their work lives from their home lives so they can work on something so secret, even their work-selves don't know what it is. Season 1 ends with a massive cliffhanger that was extremely brave, because S2 hadn't been confirmed yet. (It is now.) It stars the guy from Parks & Rec and guest stars Christopher Walken.

The Essex Serpent: based on a book, apparently. Tom Hiddleston plays a vicar who lives out in the wilds in the 1880s or so; Claire Danes is a recently widowed paleontologist. Hiddles is utterly charming, as always; Danes is a bit flat, as always (I've always liked her, but she has about 2 expressions: confused and sad). There's a doctor who wants to date her, and her BFF/maid ALSO wants to date her, but she's only got eyes for the vicar (who's married, of course). Anyway, she hears rumors of a sea monster in the river and goes to investigate it, which is where she meets the vicar and so on. You can tell it's going to be a romance, but that part is somehow not compelling.

For All Mankind: space race AU where the Soviet Union gets to the moon first and NASA has to catch up. A lot of the real-world timeline is changed in ways that are good (space shuttles! moon base!) and bad (USSR doesn't collapse). In season 3, there is an extremely honest depiction of Gay Life in the 90s and of the within-group politics of assimilation or not. I lived through it (before I knew I was queer, or admitted it anyway), and it still punched me in the gut. We've made so much progress in the last 30 years that it's easy to forget just how terrible it was back then and that Don't Ask Don't Tell was the progressive compromise. It made me think about all the puriteens here on tunglr dot com and the stupid discourse about ~flawed media~ and ~problematique~ stuff. They should watch it and maybe fucking learn some history.

The end of season 3 is dfjhadkjghk;djkhgojwhjdfxhvjh basically and season 4 can't come soon enough.

5 notes - Posted August 20, 2022

#4

G witch ep 6

That was extremely fucked up.

They're speed-running all the super fucked-up bits from UC and 00. Good job.

9 notes - Posted November 6, 2022

#3

I have a very specific request, and I'm sure someone here can point me in the direction of acquiring this. (These, I guess; there are two specific fannish things I've wanted for a while.)

The litany against fear, in its entirety, in calligraphy or similar. Not twee. (I'm not actually into Dune, but having basically cognitive behavioral therapy on my wall might help me with my stupid anxiety.)

The Discworld DEATH bit "to be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape", with or without the rest of the speech. (It's a long speech and would make the piece too busy.) Not twee. Potentially illustrated with silhouettes in the background behind the text.

I have no artistic ability nor any skill at graphic design, and I lack the patience for calligraphy. Thinking about embroidery or cross-stitch makes my fingers hurt. (My mom was an avid cross-stitcher and taught me when I was a kid. I could never hold the needle properly.)

Type of item: poster up to A2 size

Price: up to around 20 € each

13 notes - Posted September 5, 2022

#2

I can't be the only person who wants directors or whoever makes these decisions let Oscar Isaac have his gorgeous salt and pepper hair. A grown-ass man, silver at the temples, charming smile. Please?

Also I saw a comment about Dune that said they "aged him up" to play Duke Leto, and it took everything I had in me not to comment "oh, you mean they didn't make him dye his hair?"

32 notes - Posted January 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Been playing Disco Elysium and I tried on some new pants.

[ID: screenshot from the video game Disco Elysium

YOU - I like regular, normal things.

VOLITION - Mhm, I know you do. These interisolary pants are like wearing a perfect *compromise* in your nether regions. No one will call the Moralintern on you like this, that's for sure.

You're a little more moralist now, buddy. A little more *normal*. Even if you didn't want to be.

COMPOSURE [Medium: Success] - Makes sense. This is what wearing boring office trousers does to you.

end ID]

39 notes - Posted November 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[televinita]

TV I Watched In 2023

Before I can even begin to answer survey questions about it, I have to remember what I actually watched. I have been tracking it month to month, but since I rarely finish an entire series or even a season within a month, all that data is stretched and scattered throughout the year and it takes a post like this to bring it all together. Does this need to be public? Probably not. But it is anyway!

Broken down by categories that are not, for the most part, genre:

INSTA-QUIT

Animal Control: 1x01

The Terror: 1x01-02

Quantum Leap (2022): 1x04

The Triangle (2005 miniseries): pt 1

SAMPLED, WILL COME BACK SOMEDAY

The Ranch: 1x01-02

Trinkets: 1x01

What If…?: 1x03 & 1x07

CURRENT SHOWS (SCRIPTED)

Abbott Elementary: S2

Night Court (2023)

That 90s Show

Ghosts (CBS): S2

Poker Face

Daisy Jones & The Six

Loki (full series)

Alaska Daily

Good Omens: S2

Big Sky: S2-3

La Brea: S2

Goosebumps (2023)

NEW TO ME

The Exes: 4x17-22, finishing what I started last year

Scott & Bailey: S3-5 (and a rewatch of S1)

The Night Manager (which I completely failed to reblog anything about because I was overwhelmed with joy; so good)

The Essex Serpent

Return to Cranford

Litvinenko

Slasher: S1

REALITY & GAME SHOWS

Survivor: S44-45

The Amazing Race: S32 & 35

The Chase: S3

Celebrity Jeopardy

Celebrity Family Feud: Chenoweth vs. Najimy

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune: Abbott Elementary cast

Cook at All Costs

Snack vs. Chef

Best Leftovers Ever

Pressure Cooker

The Traitors (both US and UK)

Snake in the Grass

Squid Games: The Challenge

Special Forces: World's Toughest Test: S2 (and 2 of S1)

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team: season 15

(I can't explain why I will watch 7 junk food reality shows before I watch one genuinely good series when I have sooo many of the latter on my watch list. It used to be because I wrote about every episode of TV, and it's always hard to articulate positive feelings well, but now I guess I just have an emotional block about processing Great Stuff without even having something to show for it afterward.)

RANDOM REWATCHES

Various episodes: 30 Rock; Seinfeld; Friends; The Simpsons (S7 & 12 mostly); Community (S1-2 mostly)

That 70s Show: 1x01-19

Survivor: Gabon (S17)

The Amazing Race: S32

The Office: S9

CSI: 4x12

Primeval: New World: 1x01

Doctor Who: 4x01-02; 4x06; 4x12-13

[polovtziandance]

Objects and things in the first episode of The Essex Serpent.

[sothinky]

Like, I could go on forever about all the ways I ADORE the novel. But for me, the relationship between Will and Cora would be so HARD to adapt to screen. I’ve been interested in seeing what Clio Bernard would do with it, frankly, because it’s really quite complex on the page! 

What’s so hard to translate is that Cora and Will are like two kids who become besties because they are bookish nerds (in part). But they are also passionate and think they are right—often, they fight! And they’re such dorks that they end up finding their fights amusing. They spend a ton of time together just walking and talking and laughing and arguing. They are SOULBRAINS OKAY. 

That Fata Morgana scene in the second episode does quite a lovely job of portraying that! We see Will digging through his books, and Cora traveling to the library out of fascination at what they witnessed together. They are amazed, and it’s like when you find a fellow human who likes the thing you do. Like *really* likes it. In the book, that scene ends with them holding hands—but it’s like they are a couple of kids filled with sheer WONDER at the world. 

There’s no easy definition for what they are to each other, just as there is no easy way to describe Cora as a “society woman” or Will as a “country vicar” or Stella as a “vicar’s wife.” There are plenty of assumptions made about any of the characters, especially Cora and Will, and ways that these characters defy those attempts to put them into neat boxes and categories. 

As soulbrains they see each other as “minds,” not “bodies.” There’s even a point where Cora says to Will, “I like you much better on paper.” It’s when they can no longer ignore those distinctions that things get messy—when they remember their brains live inside bodies. Bodies who like each other, a LOT.

It’s easy to take the idea of a Victorian widow, toss in a sexy vicar, and just think these two simply fall in a forbidden, angsty love . . . But the thing is, Will isn’t as conflicted as you’d think about how he feels (he defies the stereotype, remember?). And Stella is not jealous, either, which is another aspect of the story that I think would be hard to portray on screen—it’s surprising in the book and wonderful. 

I think what’s really tough about adapting in the end is that show so far has an UTTERLY lovely feeling. The marshes and fog, the curved paths of Aldwinter versus the straight paved roads of London . . . Aldwinter is chilling and bleak and stunning. But within that (at least in the book) is great warmth and laughter and light, too. It’s hard to hit all those notes (to use Tom’s well-worn metaphor) in capturing these lovely characters. 

[hiddleston-daily]

Tom Hiddleston as Will Ransome | The Essex Serpent 

Episode 1

[oscarskirt]

THE ESSEX SERPENT episode 1 - directed by Clio Barnard

[lokitvsource]

'Loki' Creator and Tom Hiddleston on Covering 'New Emotional Ground' in Season 2 (Exclusive)

Following last year’s debut to critical and fan acclaim, Loki has been renewed for season 2. Now, as anticipation builds for new episodes from the MCU spinoff series, creator Michael Waldron and star Tom Hiddleston talk to ET about “getting the band back together” and peeling back even more layers of the titular mischievous superhero.

With production reportedly starting in June, just one year after the series debuted on Disney+, Hiddleston is eager to dive back into the world of the character he’s played since first appearing in 2011’s Thor.

“We’re starting very soon. Almost as soon as I leave this room. Not quite, but it’s around the corner,” the actor said while promoting his new Apple TV+ series, The Essex Serpent, in which he plays the pastor in a small town possibly haunted by a mythological sea serpent.

“We’ll certainly be going in the summer,” he continued, adding that he’s “excited to get the band back together.” That band, of course, refers to his season 1 co-stars, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Owen Wilson, both of whom have confirmed they’ll be returning as Ravonna Renslayer and Mobius M. Mobius, respectively.

Meanwhile, Waldron, who also wrote Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, teases what’s in store for the upcoming season, which he has dubbed in previous interviews as “emotional.”

“Without getting too specific, it’s just a continued evolution of the character. That’s what was always important to Tom and that’s what was important to me,” Waldron said when asked to elaborate on the emotional element of the new episodes.

“If we’re going to continue [the first season story] in a second season, we have to cover new emotional ground,” he continued. “And the great news is that that character keeps revealing new layers of texture and complexity.”

As for how the most recent film installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe influences the future of the Loki series, Waldron teased that after “everything that happened in this movie there’s probably some branches going all over the place.”

“I imagine Mobius is out there watching this on a monitor, having to light up a cigarette and saying, ‘Oh my god,’” he continued, joking that the Time Variance Authority agent might be bowled over by all the unexpected events. “I guess we’ll have to wait and find out what that means for those guys.”

Until then, Waldron said, “It’s really a joy to get to work with Tom and continue to bring Loki to life.”

[the-essex-serpent-tv]

Promo photos from episode 1 of The Essex Serpent.

[love-music-fashion-flawless]

The Essex Serpent 

Episode 1 : The Blackwater

[bigpeepee]

just finished episode 1 of the essex serpent. in case anyone was wondering, yes, i want to fuck the priest

[olemisekunst]

The Essex Serpent, Episode 1 (2022) dir. Clio Barnard

[insanityclause]

I was just listening to reviews of T:L&T. Normally i disagree with the Critical Drinker but I totally agreed with him on about 85% of what he said. Kermode's rant was excellent and highly accurate and there's a mini-rant about the film in a later episode of the podcast that was equally as good. Even my mom, who barely follows the MCU said Loki makes the Thor movies. Why would they make one without him?

Because:

1) He's dead in the main timeline (though movies use flashbacks, dreams, Valhalla, etc, so that's really no reason).

2) He was always scheduled to be filming something else at the time - first White Stork when they were planning for Fall 2020, then The Essex Serpent when they actually filmed last spring.

3) Because I'd guess Taika & Chris don't want to. They'd rather have Korg as the sidekick. JMO.

[shameless-notashamed]

9 people to get to know better…

Tagged by @jomilky @look-i-love-u @milkovetti @suzy-queued — y’all put a huge smile on my face. Thank you and tons of love for you. 😘

Last Song: California Gurls by Katy Perry. It’s stuck in my head and it won’t get out.

Last Show: Stranger Things S4. Love love loved it!

Currently Watching: I’m trying to get into The Essex Serpent on AppleTV, ‘cause Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston, yes please, but I’m only two episodes in and it’s not really holding my attention.

Currently Reading: Technically I’m currently re-reading it, because it’s so so good, You Can Bite Me by @goodkwuestion. And I also just started reading These Undomesticated Wilds by @arrowflier.

Book: Heartstopper Vol. 1. Just waiting for Vol. 2 to get here…any day now.

I’ll be tagging: @dramaticviolincrescendo @squidyyy23 @surviving-maybe @sweetbee78 @mikhailoisbaby @annatrow @sisitrip @celestialmickey @gardenerian — but only if you feel so inclined. 💖

[twh-news]

The Essex Serpent: such a slog surely no one will get past episode one | review | The Guardian

It has monsters, hysteria and Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston indulging in weird theological flirting … but it totally lacks the magic that makes great TV

There’s a bit in episode two of The Essex Serpent on Apple TV+ – I am one of the few people on Earth who will ever make it to episode two, so I can tell you this safe in the knowledge that you will never bother to watch as far – where Claire Danes’s Cora and Tom Hiddleston’s Will experience fata morgana, a mirage out at sea.

The central struggle at the heart of The Essex Serpent – or one of the 12 or 14 scattergun themes it has – is Cora’s naturalist, reason-based logic versus preacher Will’s more measured, conservative, faith-based beliefs, and how they weirdly flirt with each other by reading intensely through library books and tiptoeing around whether God is real. The mirage itches that scratch for them both: she has something she can research all the magic out of; he has something he can remember reading about romantically in one of his leather-bound books. They’ll bond over this, eventually, but I won’t watch that far. No one will.

There’s an analogy in here, and I am getting round to it: good TV is a random accomplishment that demands magic as much as it demands the exact right atmospheric conditions. It makes no sense that good TV ever really exists. Everyone involved – the costume designers, the lighting people, the sound recordists, the set scouts – have to get their job exactly right to produce one convincing scene as part of a far wider whole. It requires child actors who can actually act. There are so many whirring parts to make even one frame of legacy television. And as The Essex Serpent proves, even if you get a lot right, it can still be wrong.

Let’s start with the good bits: it is satisfyingly moody – lots of beautiful high shots of flat marshes, fog and, hark, there! Movement in the water! Also, it’s excellently cast: Claire Danes is, as ever, amazing; Frank Dillane is especially good as a slimy, wry, cocky rewritten version of the book’s Dr Garrett; Hayley Squires brings a huge amount of life to what could very easily be a useless side-character who just says “Yes, m’lady” a lot; Tom Hiddleston, as ever, puts in a perfect shift as Tom Hiddleston, where his performance really always relies on whether you can look past the fact that Tom Hiddleston is doing it, which I personally cannot. It looks beautiful. It feels “of a time” in exactly the way the source material demands: Victorian Essex on the verge of an era when old English villages that ran on folklore and hysteria started to cede to the big city sprawl.

But there is something missing at the heart of this one – that 1% of magic that every good TV show demands – and its lack makes this programme a great, long slog. It’s hard to put your finger exactly on what’s wrong: one thing is that the central fear the village is experiencing, the ancient horror of the mythological Essex Serpent, is never really set up enough for you to get why everyone’s hysterical. Maybe it’s because Hiddleston and Danes’s theological squabbling, the dynamite that explodes the entire story, feels less like two intellectual titans locking horns and more like a nervous University Challenge team trying to diplomatically figure out what order they’ll sit in. Maybe it’s too obsessed with being legacy TV to actually be good legacy TV: everyone’s always giving each other very poignant weird gifts, or gazing at one thing while crying about another, or heroically saving a life. And some of the dialogue – Claire Danes wakes up from a traumatic nightmare to be hugged instantly by a maid, who instantly says: “It’s OK. Michael can’t hurt you any more” – I mean, come on. Subtlety exists, Apple! I am begging you to use it!

Listen, I get it. It’s hard to keep making these big-budget limited series where absolute A-list actors agree to come down from film to TV. Every actor wants their Mare of Easttown moment, and every channel and streaming platform wants to give it to them. You buy the rights to the bestselling books and you cast the big-face actors and you get a talented director and you throw millions of pounds at it and you hope that’s enough. But, as The Essex Serpent proves, you still need something else: God, magic, luck, science. Whatever it is, this doesn’t have it.

[uhlikzsuzsanna]

Mark Kermode reviews The Essex Serpent | Kermode and Mayo's Take - 2022.05.13

Note: contains spoilers about episode 1-2

Kermode and Mayo's Take