Moonlight Episode Discussion - Ep 16: Sonata

[allegrita]

Um... yeah, it would.

[LoveBite]

Well, I was totally taken aback tonight ... was all prepared for Fated to Pretend - from the morning toothbrushing scene, to the heavenly beach-walking scene, then the tear-streaked re-turning scene, etc. etc. New ML fans probably don't know what in the hell just happened. As much as I'm grateful to the CW for airing Moonlight at all, I was truly disappointed tonight. BTW, I too loved watching it on TV again ... even though I bought all the eps on-line and of course have the DVD, it just seemed "real" watching the show on broadcast TV each week.

The only weird thing that occurred to me was something about Simone - if she was Josef's "willing freshie" a couple of times a week, how did her wrists/forearms heal? Getting fang-type puncture wounds would take its toll on the human body. Just sayin.

Any whoo, the last 13 weeks have been superb ... marred only by the fact that it's heart-breaking knowing there was so much more Moonlight to be experienced.

[librarian_7]

Oh, I could go on FOREVER about the problems with Simone over-donating. Those wounds are ridiculous....and you're asking us to believe that when she was arrested, no one would have seen those honking big FRESH punctures and ask some very searching questions.

Even if a vampire were taking only a few mouthfuls, maybe a half cup or so, at a feeding, it still would be unrealistic for someone to be bled that much twice a week for any length of time.

There's a reason why, in fanfic, Josef has a sizeable stable of freshies at his beck and call.

Lucky

[allegrita]

You're right. You're absolutely right.

But you know what?

It doesn't matter. That's the amazing thing about the show. It sold itself, despite the dumb continuity errors, the mistakes, the bad calculations, the lack of research, the silly sound effects (the "crunch" sound of Josef's bite into Simone's wrist comes to mind).

I don't care. I don't freaking care. I believed it all. I just opened myself up to the Moonlight gestalt and accepted it all. That's the beauty, the magic, of this show.

[francis]

Both because this episode still makes me sniffle AND because the CW decided to miss out 3 episodes. Such a bad move.

There's a lot to love for me here - and a lot to dislike, I'm afraid. I loved Josef throughout this ep and was intrigued that he deferred so much to Mick (kinda turned a lot of fanfic on its head). Loved take-charge Mick and the whole rescue was fabulous (I thought the way they played it out while Mick's voiceover explained how it was going to go down was very well done). I loved Jackson and Emma - I found their love story (and her reasons for being unfaithful) believable and compelling.

But there were two major plot flaws and one major character flaw in this that irritate me, even now. Simone being a suspect (to the point of being taken into custody on the spot) just because she found the body. And then the drama with Emma about to get arrested and could they get to her in time to prevent it... dun dun dunnnnnn. Um, why didn't someone just pick up the phone and tell her to get the hell out of her office 'cause the cops were on the way?

And then finally: Beth. They gave her some terrible, terrible moments here. This wasn't the fearless reporter who walked barefoot through a freezing fountain at 2 in the morning. Nor was it someone stricken with grief and doubts about the future (which would have been credible). They just made her kinda feeble and I HATED that.

The big redeeming feature for me is the ending though, romantic that I am. Mick's head against the wall moment in Beth's hallway is perfect and I will be forever grateful that Mick turned around, went back, and delivered that lovely "Right here, right now" line and we (mostly) got an ending we could live with.

Red

I agree with everything you said, especially the Beth thing. There were a lot of flaws, it was as if they tried to do everything at once knowing it was the last episode, but making it a mess in the process. I loved the Emma rescue just for the Logan moment, but the plot was all over the place. Simone a subject, come on, they could have arrested Josef for giving a party. Emma leaving the body like this was a flaw from the get-go, but there was just no way this could be linked to a vampire, except for the frat boy witness. Beth wasn't Beth. I hated the whole Basketball flirting with Lisa scene. Added nothing except her giving Emma away, which could have been done in a much more believable way.
I hated that Josef dedicated the sports arena to Sarah Whitley. What happened to secrecy? Wouldn't someone ask questions who that woman was and what Josef's connection was? How can you dedicate a L.A. college arena to an unknown woman from NY that vanished in the 50s at the age of 18?
The redeeming factor was the ending. I read somewhere that Alex came up with the head on the wall moment on his own. It was genius. Nothing else made sense in this whole episode except for Mick.

[wpgrace]

Yeah, I hear ya francis, but the Mick in this ep is DIVINE. Alex was working super, double overtime or something...
And yes, HM... The Voice in this ep should get its own Emmy, or some award, cos he's never sounded sexier...
And yes, Alle, many continuity and logistical and logical errors, but I'm with you... I surrendered totally.
Which is saying a lot, cos by this point in the series, I didn't even really care much for Beth anymore... but if Mick ended up happy, who am I to second guess?

[jen]

Completely agree, and I think that is what is so remarkable about this show.

We were willing to accept the flaws. The airways are full of shows where we see characters that we really don't care about mtcarefully crafted situations, but if you don't care, you don't care. This either happens in a show, or it doesn't. It is a combination of writing, acting, other production values and an intangible that I'd just call magic. If it were simple, they would have figured it out by now, but guess what? We still are treated to a series of characters that people don't care about and contrived situations.

The fact that there was so much magic and potential here...

Shutting up now.

Jenna

[jen]

Just saw the numbers for Sonata over at TVbythenumbers

Time Net Show 18-49 Rating/Sh Viewers (Millions)
8:00 CBS Big Brother 12 2.7/10 8.18
ABC Wipeout (R) 1.9/6 6.29
FOX Bones (R) 1.2/4 4.37
NBC Community (R) 0.8/3 2.82
CW Vampire Diaries (R) 0.6/2 1.57

8:30 NBC 30 Rock (R) 0.8/3 2.40

9:00 ABC Rookie Blue 1.7/5 6.17
CBS CSI (R) 1.4/4 6.63
NBC The Office (R) 1.1/3 2.80
FOX Fringe (R) 0.9/3 2.66
CW Moonlight (R) 0.5/1 1.36

9:30 NBC Community (R) 0.9/3 2.29

10:00 CBS The Mentalist (R) 1.5/5 7.01
ABC Nightline Prime – Secrets of Your Mind 1.2/4 4.36
NBC Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (R) 1.0/3 3.64

[diane31]

Well I just realized that it was Sonata on last night!!! I spent yesterday driving back from LA and its Moonlight Magic (right Alle?!), and I had planned on watching FTP tonight. Guess I'll be watching Sonata then, but I have to admit that I am quite upset about this. I really wish they had ended with FTP then, even if they didn't have the scheduling time to show Click WLB and Sonata. The re-turning scene in FTP is just so incredible, such a jewel, it's just such a pity that they didn't show it. And new viewers have now seen the end before the other 3, that makes no sense, they should have let them get hold of the later eps from the DVD or wherever then, but not that. Sorry, I just found out, so... yeah, I'm a bit riled up about it. I mean it is so cool that they aired the eps in the first place, I just wish... you know!!! Ok, end of rant and onto Sonata then.


It's always been difficult for me to know how I feel about Sonata. I don't know how else to say this that it felt strange, almost like part of an AU when I first watched it. I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with the emotional state I was in, as indeed by then we knew ... what we know, it was a totally different experience. I watched it in a daze, a mixture of pain and numbness, and it felt like watching a show, being outside looking in, not like being in their universe feeling what they did.

That being said I'm kind of glad I'm not alone feeling funny about Beth in this one. I know many of us enjoyed very much the little moments of tension in their relationship that made it more realistic, etc..., and there are some thing I liked about them, but overall, I have to admit they annoy me The scene with Mick feeding on Simone and how angry Beth is afterwards does feel believable to me. Mick flirty with cheerleader girl... that's overdone to be Mick I feel. The bonding moment between Josef and Mick... I looove their interaction, their chemistry. But the commitment comment, to be honest... I still can't believe my ears. Mick and Josef are very different, that's what makes their chemistry I think, and that comment is a Josef thing to say allright, but I don't buy it for Mick, especially not referring to Beth... and Mick whining about Beth to Guillermo... nah!
But especially, I too feel Beth is well, yes... who's this girl?! As far as some aspects of her personality are concerned, she may be many things at once and that's what I love about her, but another thing I love is how she always wants to understand Mick, not judge him. She knows he's murdered innocent people for goodness sake, and she may choose not to think about that, but that's precisely because she's not interested in judging him. And now all of a sudden, in the middle of a romantic evening together, in a public setting where it is clear Mick doesn't have the opportunity to explain whatever he may need to, it feels like she's actively trying to find him at fault. At least that's how it feels to me, like she's almost trying to pick a fight. I don't know, it's true that being the die hard MickBethshipper I am, I might be idealizing their relationship, but that type of situation just doesn't ring true to me, it just seems silly and not like her. It feels like someone was trying to portray the "go-getter" "wants answers" Beth that she is indeed, but somehow missed the mark, because Beth would do that in a non-judgmental way, to know the truth, not reveling in trying to find Mick at fault, and to me it feels like that's the way it came out.

I really love the fact that Beth gets to identify with Emma, up to a point at least. Between Simone and Emma, we have two different people who get Beth to imagine what the long term may hold between her and Mick. Simone being human is like a mirror to who Beth is now, and Emma to who she could be. I'm not entirely sure why I like Beth's relationship with Emma more than with Simone. Perhaps because it feels less condescending in some way? I guess Simone's remark regarding drinking not being as intimate for vamps as for humans annoyed me. Even the way Beth refers to what happened in Fever does in fact, even if it is justified by the situation, because that event is holy to me. I didn't like seeing it "trivialised." But anyway, I really love the part played by Emma there. So I wish they had developed it more.

I actually loved the action scene, and Logan's unexpected dash. That made me laugh, and under the circumstances I was awed by that.

And yeah, I really like the way they portrayed vampire organization. That actually rings true to Moonlight's universe I feel, which is something difficult to achieve when you start going into the details of a world that obeys different rules from ours. But this felt like the right balance to me in terms of organization and hierarchy. I've always loved the fact that the vamps stay out of each others hair as much as possible, that we see practically no hierarchy among them, no official one at least. The rules Mick alluded to before seem restricted to the minimum necessary to protect the community's secrecy: you make a mess that would look suspicious to the humans, you're responsible to have it cleaned up, but beyond that no questions asked; you turn someone, you're responsible for him/her... It's not that I'm a die-hard fan of the wild west attitude in RL, but that's always made sense to me for lone predators like our vamps. What's going on in Sonata seems to me to respect that. We see the Cleaners in their cops role like we got a glimpse in DF, but it's not like they make all the decisions. All the vamps involved agree on what's to be done... and of course the fact that Mick comes up with the plan and they all play along, trusting him to call the shots is... satisfying. Sure it's Emma who put him in the hot seat to begin with, but beyond that he is respected and trusted by the others, the Cleaners included. I really love the way he is portrayed there, and especially when Emma and Jackson die. Implicitly or not, they've all agreed they need to go through with this, but when even Josef himself would rather not watch, Mick wants to. He refuses to make it easy on himself, and wants to face what they are doing to Emma and Jacskon out of respect for them, like something he owes them. It's totally in keeping with what he did in DF yes, but somehow it's even more powerful in Sonata.

Which is saying a lot, cos by this point in the series, I didn't even really care much for Beth anymore...

Just curious Grace... why not exactly? I mean, I could think of several reasons, but... just curious.

[cassysj]

I'm sure this has been discussed ad infinitum in the past but I honestly just noticed it. In the scene of the list, Lola's name isn't crossed off yet they had up to date info about the Emma. It would imply to me that the source didn't know people Mick killed personally.

[librarian_7]

Good spot, cassy, especially since two other names jump out--both Mick kills. Donovan Shepherd and Jeff Pollack (and who even knew they were turned???)

Lucky

[allegrita]

Oooh... that really IS interesting!

[kath40]

I agree that there should be more of those names crossed off.

Jeff Pollack Incinerated by Mick
Dolores Maxford Whitaker (aka Lola) Mick paralyzed then blew her up
Calvin Smith was blown up with Lola not to mention having been partially drained and soaked in the paralyzing silver water by Lola first.
Donovan Shepherd Beheaded by Mick
Hank Mottola Ok he could still be alive as Mick left him bleeding by the pond to chase Morgaline

I don't think CBS or the WB ever thought we would be so hooked on this little show that we'd be combing through every detail before during and after it's cancellation.

Just my 2cents. :curtesy:

[librarian_7]

Mottola was definitely alive (okay, undead). He was well enough to get up and vanish before Mick ever took off after Morgan/Coraline. Personally, I consider Mottola a HUGE loose end in that ep. They never really explained anything about him.

Lucky

[Moonlightsonata]

This is really interesting. Thanks for posting.