Somehow the 'icky TR stuff' bothers me less now (the first time I saw it? HORROR!) now that I 'know' it is, at least in part, an 'act.' Instead I find it really interesting and powerful that Paul and Madeline were willing to play it out that far.
So -- I'm left with nothing but agony over the whole Greg thing. Which isn't really 'new' to TET, as Paul seemed inordinately pleased with Greg from the moment he met him --- for no good reason that I could determine other than Greg =/ Birkof, for whom Paul has nothing but contempt, and again, for no good reason.
Hoisting my DON flag:
Yes - it would have made more sense to kill Nikita soon after the whole Adrian thing.... in fact, they were headed that way... but meta - couldn't have done that. Of course, without meta - Paul would have died when shot point blank by any half-assessed operative, and not lived on. Same with the guy who 'created' Abby. And Madeline stopping and restarting her own heart, in two different episodes? With, apparently, no further health consequences? So - um - long live plot needs? LOL!
Back within the Universe of the Show - I thought Paul made stupid mistakes from the beginning, he just got away with it more often than he should have. So, I tended to see/understand the slow spinning out of control at the end of S3 and most of S4 as .... amplification of earlier trends, and not something out of the blue. (As for the vile things - I thought most the vilest things Paul ever chose to do were in fact really stupid choices that almost inevitably turned back to bite him in the face. Vile acts tend also to be stupid ones, IMO.)
I also don't think Paul is detached at all. He is driven almost entirely by his emotions. So I don't see Nikita's 'emotionality' (which has taken a lot of hits by the end of S4 anyway) as making her meaningfully different that Paul.
As for desiring Section -- there is a whole, and ancient, school of leadership that teaches/posits that to desire to lead something is in itself a sign that this person should not be the one in charge, because desire messes up your ability to judge/direct that thing clearly.
And in any case, I never thought Paul desired Section particularly - just having been dragged there against his will, he would prefer, all other things being equal, to 1) live, and 2) be the boss.
In any case -- most of my DON argglebarggling comes from the position that if you operate within the show universe - you have to take the good and the bad, and the bad includes all the TR choices we saw, including the stupid ones. So, sure, Nikita will never be 'as good as' Paul/Madeline if you get to ignore every stupid thing they ever did! ;-)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-05-01 10:36 pm (UTC)So -- I'm left with nothing but agony over the whole Greg thing. Which isn't really 'new' to TET, as Paul seemed inordinately pleased with Greg from the moment he met him --- for no good reason that I could determine other than Greg =/ Birkof, for whom Paul has nothing but contempt, and again, for no good reason.
Hoisting my DON flag:
Yes - it would have made more sense to kill Nikita soon after the whole Adrian thing.... in fact, they were headed that way... but meta - couldn't have done that. Of course, without meta - Paul would have died when shot point blank by any half-assessed operative, and not lived on. Same with the guy who 'created' Abby. And Madeline stopping and restarting her own heart, in two different episodes? With, apparently, no further health consequences? So - um - long live plot needs? LOL!
Back within the Universe of the Show - I thought Paul made stupid mistakes from the beginning, he just got away with it more often than he should have. So, I tended to see/understand the slow spinning out of control at the end of S3 and most of S4 as .... amplification of earlier trends, and not something out of the blue. (As for the vile things - I thought most the vilest things Paul ever chose to do were in fact really stupid choices that almost inevitably turned back to bite him in the face. Vile acts tend also to be stupid ones, IMO.)
I also don't think Paul is detached at all. He is driven almost entirely by his emotions. So I don't see Nikita's 'emotionality' (which has taken a lot of hits by the end of S4 anyway) as making her meaningfully different that Paul.
As for desiring Section -- there is a whole, and ancient, school of leadership that teaches/posits that to desire to lead something is in itself a sign that this person should not be the one in charge, because desire messes up your ability to judge/direct that thing clearly.
And in any case, I never thought Paul desired Section particularly - just having been dragged there against his will, he would prefer, all other things being equal, to 1) live, and 2) be the boss.
In any case -- most of my DON argglebarggling comes from the position that if you operate within the show universe - you have to take the good and the bad, and the bad includes all the TR choices we saw, including the stupid ones. So, sure, Nikita will never be 'as good as' Paul/Madeline if you get to ignore every stupid thing they ever did! ;-)