Season two ending

[TheAngel]

I 've finished seeing tonight the second season again.... I had forgotten when Frank had left it white the hair, it's a great scene. My grandfather he was about to die in the spanish war (he was of the international brigades) and I remember as him he explained to me how the impotence it leave him a white hair too for a long time.

It's just one of the best episodes due to the lot of pain that Frank , Peter & Lara they make to share with them. You forget that only is a TV show and you live it that as if it happens to you.

I'm not able to remember which another show has moved me like Millennium in these precious moments. After all these years it's carry on being the best show ever filmed.

The time is near....This is who we are

[The Old Man]

Agreed in every way, the ending to Season 2 was superb!

[Guest Jim McLean]

I'm one of the few who wasn't as keen on part two. I guess I was never a fan of Laura Means (aside from her excellent work on Anamnesis), so the long music montage really didn't hold much character draw let alone relevant symbolism. That said, acting was as strong as ever, and it was a gutsy choice to run the montage. Just went on too long for me. Other than that, it had a beautiful script and the ending with Catherine was touching without being indulgent, and that was a choice I did very much respect.

Not a bad episode in any way, though I felt the Forth Horseman was stronger in all respects, and I'm surprised that as an overall episode, TTIN gets such acclaim. I really felt the Laura montage was a waste of valuable time (could have been half that length, and that space of even a few minutes can be valuable so far as drama or dialogue is concerned) and a hindrance to the general pace of the episode.

[hippyroo]

I thought the writers were just being lazy and filling in as much time as they could with old footage from one of those 1970's anti drug films trying to show what dropping acid was like. This was too good of a show to have so much time on Laura's freaking out scene.

[Guest Jim McLean]

LOL, the scene is a masterpiece I tell you, a MASTERPIECE!!!! Seriously though, I guess it is the kind of thing you either love or hate. I thought it was a highlight of season 2, and therefore the entire series, but I can respect those who don't care for it. It's all a moot point though because our very own Old Man (Graham) as already spoken out and called it brilliant, and what the Old Man says goes. It's indisputable, the scene is genius and that's that.

I don't care what The Old Man says, I defy the Group! It's all about control, etc.

Seriously, it was a good choice of song, and some interesting editing, but overall, it was too damn long. I was starting to wonder if it would ever stop, and I think that's a point when it should have, well, stopped. Half way through, the point had been made, and I think in a finale, when people are thirsty for information, such... indulgence just turns people off. A tighter cut could have allowed some more narrative/dramatic expansion in the story. I'd have preferred a little more drama and a little less art in this finale.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

I agree with Laredo and hippyroo. It was far too long and a waste of screen time. It took up an entire act. An entire act. Writers' laziness, director's delight.

[Guest Jim McLean]

I agree with Laredo and hippyroo. It was far too long and a waste of screen time. It took up an entire act. An entire act. Writers' laziness, director's delight.

I recall the trivia implies this was an act of love rather than necessarily of rationale, and one they really couldn't fix into the budget. It does strike me as being indulgent, simply because it is too long; as if it carries more personal weight that if offers narrative benefit.

Not sure whether its writer's laziness, more writer's wanting to break boundaries and failing dismally. I think they should have invested more drama/information into that act. I'm guessing was an idea which looked cool on paper, and quite novel (taking up an entire act with such out of place psychedelic imagery), but the reason it's novel is because the end result creates an inverse relationship between artistic effect and audience attention span. So writers avoid such indulgences. Makes you wonder whether this is an example of what happens when those who are left in control of the show have too much control. :)

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Not sure whether its writer's laziness, more writer's wanting to break boundaries and failing dismally.

I think it is lazy. Put it this way, an act is a quarter of an episode. By taking out all dialogue and handing it all over to a montage of psychedelic images, they effectively spend 25% less time at their keyboards. Lazy.

[Guest Laurent.]

Yeah but on the other hand it takes longer to prepare, shoot and edit 6 minutes of psychedelic mayhem than shoot one or two regular dialogue scenes.

I also think that the scene was a tad too long, kind of distracted me from the "it's all going to Hell" and it brought the adrenaline level down... I just don't think it was a "lazy" decision, just a risky one. But I'm pretty sure the execution of the idea could have been better though.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Yeah but on the other hand it takes longer to prepare, shoot and edit 6 minutes of psychedelic mayhem than shoot one or two regular dialogue scenes.

But that's nothing to do with the writer. All that extra work is for the director and the guys on set and in post.