John instantly formed a strong attachment to Aeryn because she was the only other human-shaped figure in his desperately homesick and disoriented world, and Aeryn grew close to him because he was the only person in her exile who didn't look at her and see a Peacekeeper...circumstance threw them together and something blossomed out of it that wasn't less real because of its constrained origins.
This is an excellent point, and very well put.
For me, this is all mixed up with a different frustration I had with the early seasons: all the characters were constantly talking about how John wasn't very smart and he didn't know anything and he always had terrible ideas. This would be great except the narrative kept undermining it by having John step up to leadership time and time again, and come up with plans that, even if they had to be changed midway through, ultimately succeeded. And so Aeryn falling for John even as she constantly (teasingly) berates him for his incompetence felt like part of that pattern. So even though I can intellectually recognize that John plays a big part in Aeryn moving away from being a Peacekeeper, emotionally it just doesn't grab me. And it's all very much wrapped up in my overall ambivalence toward John which perhaps should be a separate post!
Also I knew going in that they were going to do a long, drawn out "will they/won't they" thing with Aeryn/John, which automatically predisposed me against it. However I was recently spoiled (to a small extent!) on how their relationship is resolved and I think it might give me a different view when I rewatch.
Yes, I love Aeryn learning to do tech work, I can't believe I forgot about that! It was one of my favorite parts of the show actually. I love it for all the reasons you say, and additionally I love it *because* it's difficult and tedious and not just flashes of brilliance and everything working easily because genius tech person. That was so refreshing to watch.
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momijizukamori
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Date: 2014-10-08 11:25 pm (UTC)This is an excellent point, and very well put.
For me, this is all mixed up with a different frustration I had with the early seasons: all the characters were constantly talking about how John wasn't very smart and he didn't know anything and he always had terrible ideas. This would be great except the narrative kept undermining it by having John step up to leadership time and time again, and come up with plans that, even if they had to be changed midway through, ultimately succeeded. And so Aeryn falling for John even as she constantly (teasingly) berates him for his incompetence felt like part of that pattern. So even though I can intellectually recognize that John plays a big part in Aeryn moving away from being a Peacekeeper, emotionally it just doesn't grab me. And it's all very much wrapped up in my overall ambivalence toward John which perhaps should be a separate post!
Also I knew going in that they were going to do a long, drawn out "will they/won't they" thing with Aeryn/John, which automatically predisposed me against it. However I was recently spoiled (to a small extent!) on how their relationship is resolved and I think it might give me a different view when I rewatch.
Yes, I love Aeryn learning to do tech work, I can't believe I forgot about that! It was one of my favorite parts of the show actually. I love it for all the reasons you say, and additionally I love it *because* it's difficult and tedious and not just flashes of brilliance and everything working easily because genius tech person. That was so refreshing to watch.