(03-04-2012 11:14 PM)bardgal Wrote:  

(03-04-2012 09:35 PM)Nitrus Wrote:  I think you're reading far too much into this.

It's not a sodding documentary.

No it's not, it's an award winning drama series that prides itself for being up on current world political events in present day Earth.

I disagree. It doesn't pride itself on being current or prescient. It has always promoted itself as "high octane hokum" at most hyper-inflating current affairs to the nth degree and/or taking blind stabs on what could possibly, maybe happen in the future. When they did hit the mark rather closely, no one was more surprised (and creeped out) than they.

As for that particular gaff, I have always thought that it was intentional, specifically to keep plot clearly out of the realm of actual reality. The overall plot-arc of S8 in general is pretty far-fetched, IMO. It's allegorical, not reality.

Or it was simply just a mistake. They make them all over the 10 series if you fan-wank it enough. After all, while Secretary Clinton was sworn in during January of '09, the writers start writing S8 long before that. By all accounts, soon after the prior series wraps. They just missed it. I have forgiven them much worse.

(04-04-2012 02:52 PM)A Cousin Wrote:  

(03-04-2012 11:14 PM)bardgal Wrote:  

(03-04-2012 09:35 PM)Nitrus Wrote:  I think you're reading far too much into this.

It's not a sodding documentary.

No it's not, it's an award winning drama series that prides itself for being up on current world political events in present day Earth.

I disagree. It doesn't pride itself on being current or prescient. It has always promoted itself as "high octane hokum" at most hyper-inflating current affairs to the nth degree and/or taking blind stabs on what could possibly, maybe happen in the future. When they did hit the mark rather closely, no one was more surprised (and creeped out) than they.

As for that particular gaff, I have always thought that it was intentional, specifically to keep plot clearly out of the realm of actual reality. The overall plot-arc of S8 in general is pretty far-fetched, IMO. It's allegorical, not reality.

Or it was simply just a mistake. They make them all over the 10 series if you fan-wank it enough. After all, while Secretary Clinton was sworn in during January of '09, the writers start writing S8 long before that. By all accounts, soon after the prior series wraps. They just missed it. I have forgiven them much worse.

You're right. I 'know I'm being anal. I'm in the industry and sometimes things just stand out as weird. A friend of mine gets bitchy when people shoot on film and video in the same piece, (too green or not too green) or forgets to give someone an eye light... I don't notice that stuff thankfully.

For me it was just one of those weird out of place things that pulled me out (listening too much to exposition...) Like a 50-star US flag in a film set in the 40's (or pre-'59 when the flag changed from 48 to 50 - the star field layout is completely different.) I tend to catch continuity and anachronistic stuff.

By your comment I guess I'm not being too picky since this is the first time in the entire series that I had a WTF moment. (well, aside from a blood spatter moment that made me laugh pretty hard, and I had to re-watch about ten times - but that was purely that actor's instinctive reaction and I sympathize completely. I blame the editors and the prop crew for making fake blood so tasty.)

I just really love the show, and with every episode I watch I grow more depressed that the end is near. What the hell am I going to watch next????

This is one of those things that the show's writers and producers ignored or embraced when it suited them. For example, all Home Secs (and Foreign Secs) were fictional characters, but there were times when dialogue clearly pointed to Blair as being PM (think Harry's comment about drafting in Jamie Oliver in season 4). There was also a strong indication in season 9 that there were new administrations in both the UK and the US (Obama's trip to the UK, codenamed 'Lighthouse' and the new Home Sec and his 'new crowd' - remember that when season 9 was being put together Cameron was a shoo in, although of course that race ended up being much closer than was first indicated).

I'm OK with this. It grounds the show in some reality while fictionalising what they had to. I probably would have preferred they get the gender right here for the pronoun too, but it doesn't bother me the way it does you, bardgal. There are fictional universes that don't stick together anywhere near as well as this one, and I can't be accused of bias here being Australian. It's close enough that it remains believable when it needs to be.

(07-04-2012 05:29 PM)JHyde Wrote:  There are fictional universes that don't stick together anywhere near as well as this one, and I can't be accused of bias here being Australian. It's close enough that it remains believable when it needs to be.

Totally agree.