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Post by killerbananas on Mar 16, 2008 21:04:17 GMT 9.5
I know a few of us watched 'Jekyll', and although it's just wound up, I was thinking we should discuss what we thought, what our theories were, or even what vibes we got. XD
I thought it was quite good, and was excellent for little injokes for people who know the story of J&H. Wouldn't have minded it being a little longer, maybe only by 2 or so episodes, but I was quite happy with how they managed to turn what initially thought would be "fanfilm" into a well developed storyline.
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 16, 2008 21:11:30 GMT 9.5
Yay! *glomps the thread* Mar, don't click the following spoiler tags. They are actual spoilers. XD So from what I gathered: Jackman's mother was the descendant of old!Hyde's bastard. Jcakman (I keep misspelling that name) Tom kept professing that his family had no connection to the Jekyll line, but how did he know this? I thought he had no clue who his parents were in the first place so I imagine that would make it difficult to track the rest of his family tree! I was quite impressed/shocked with the whole, "There is no potion," concept. That's something I didn't see coming. Something I did see coming was Hyde taking the damage for Tom at the end... though it didn't make it any less sad.  There's more, but that'll do for starters. |
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Post by killerbananas on Mar 16, 2008 21:18:37 GMT 9.5
Ditto for the "spoiler is actually a spoiler"
I picked that he was a decendant of old!Hyde, but it took me ages to figure out how Lady J&H (aka Jackman's mother) was really connected. After all, didn't they call her "Mrs Utterson" in the first double ep? The end really threw me when she went all transformation on him though!
The thing I really loved was that they didn't "dumb it down" for real J&H fans- the injokes of the institute name, and the names of Jackman's kids really had me grinning. The "no potion" really had me hooked- that was a nice twist.
I had a thought halfway through the ep- wonder if Ant watched it? |
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 16, 2008 21:27:03 GMT 9.5
So I'm right? She's old!Hyde's descendant and Jackman's her son, hence technically he's not Jekyll's descendant?
Did she actually have a name? If not, I'm gonna start referring to her as Mother.
Now was it Mother who was locked in that room by Benjamin or was it Freaky Scientist Lady (the one who cloned Claire)? Because if it was Mother, it makes sense -- I can't think of any way a normal person could've escaped but if she went all Hyde Treatment on the door...
Oh, and despite being somewhat stilted by all the interaction with the wife, I did still have a field day with Tom's message: "We are coming."
I know I keep saying it, but so many homosexual undertones. XD |
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Post by killerbananas on Mar 16, 2008 21:44:12 GMT 9.5
Hang on, you've confused me- The Freaky Scientist Lady is the old woman with rank hair, right? She's the same person as curly-haired-lipstick-of-doom-don't-shoot-him.... right, my mind's sorted this out.
I'd say she have to be in her Hyde Treatment stage, because the only way to get out of anywhere was to either have a code or be Hyde- in her Hyde stage she has both the strength, as well as all the codes. *phew*
I feel the urge to text everyone with "Run If You Want To Live". Don't think they'd understand though XD
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 16, 2008 21:48:11 GMT 9.5
Yes, the one with the rank hair. Was she the person who worked on the Claire cloning experiments as well as Tom's biological mother? I'm confusing myself; I thought they were two different people. o.)O Lookie what I found! "Chipper" slays me. XD |
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Post by killerbananas on Mar 16, 2008 22:04:36 GMT 9.5
Oh! I love em!
The rank haired woman was the same as the don't-shoot-him woman. Rank hair was the Jekyll while Don't-Shoot was the Hyde. That was what happened in the final scene, when she revealed she carried the J&H gene, and went from nice old biddy to psycho control freak demanding a kiss. Caught me a bit unawares!
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 16, 2008 22:08:39 GMT 9.5
"Don't-shoot"? I don't seem to recall that part. ^).^;;
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Post by killerbananas on Mar 16, 2008 22:14:08 GMT 9.5
When Hyde was walking along the passage to turn the power back on and save the kids, the woman in the group, with the curly hair and bright lipstick kept yelling "don't shoot" because she wanted him turn back into Jackman then they could shoot because they wanted Hyde alive and Jackman dead.
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 16, 2008 22:20:47 GMT 9.5
Orly? Wow, I totally missed that part. Funnily enough, in this series I felt more for Hyde then "Jekyll" whereas on the recording I'm completely taken with the doctor. When Hyde couldn't shoot himself I just wanted to give him a huge hug, and again when he overcame his fear of death and embarked on his Bullet-Riddled Walk of Doom. They fleshed him out more. Ant's Hyde is just evil, but this one I felt sorry for.
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Post by killerbananas on Mar 16, 2008 22:26:21 GMT 9.5
I agree- I was in tears during the Walk Of Doom. I was near tears a few times, because I really didn't want him to die. Plus although I thought he was a total a**hole to Claire at first I really started to see them becoming attached to one another. Which then had me annoyed at "I'm a fully qualified psychiatric nurse".
I was just thinking about the flashbacks to old school Jekyll- did you see any of that coming? |
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 16, 2008 22:34:36 GMT 9.5
Nope. I was half-expecting Stride or Lucy or someone to come bursting onto the scene.
Did you think Hyde was going to murder Claire after his encounter with old!Hyde? I thought his previous actions (e.g. killing the lion, not opening Claire's stomach to get that key) were done simply for pleasure or because he enjoyed the power. I wasn't expecting him to go all noble and "family man". Hyde/Claire make such a cute couple though. ^).^ |
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Post by lauren on Mar 17, 2008 14:46:50 GMT 9.5
i actually picked jackman being a decendant of Hyde, after the first 2 or so episodes where hyde goes out with hookers and he said he only used protection 'cause jackman made him. That got me thinking about if oldschool hyde would have bastard kids, and then when they kept emphasising the "not a decendant of jekyll" part, i got it. and unwinding im toally with you in feeling more for Hyde, i just love his creepy smile and him being like a child, especially when he does the whole "daddy" thing XD |
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Post by killerbananas on Mar 17, 2008 15:52:17 GMT 9.5
The "daddy" thing always made me grin- I also liked how he referred to Jekyll with the "Grand-daddy? Great grand-daddy?" line.
Unwinding, I kept accidently calling Alice/Claire "Lucy" in my head, and thought that Robert Louis Stevenson was either going to be Utterson or Hyde- especially when he was talking to Alice about the man that called early in the morning.... I've got to stop looking too much into things. XD
The bit that had me thinking what a couple they were was when Claire said "Call me Mrs Hyde"- it was her really giving her support to Hyde, which is good. I think a reason I liked Hyde more than Jackman was because Hyde had all the good lines, and sometimes Jackman was a little too nerdy.
Still recovering from the "no potion" twist. The whole start of 'Transformation' on the Concept Recording seems different now.
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Post by sanderella59 on Mar 17, 2008 16:48:10 GMT 9.5
Now I've had time to think about it, I think that it was one of the best series I've ever seen. James Nesbitt has always been a favourite actor of mine after seeing him in Cold Feet and I think his portrayal of all the different characters (four in all, I guess, plus those horrible mutants) was oustanding. And Gina Bellman (Claire) I had only ever seen in a straight comedy role - she played the dippy Jane in Coupling, also written by Steven Moffat - but she showed herself to be a fine dramatic actress as well as a gifted comedic actress. I loved the way her character got bolder and ballsier when she was interacting with Hyde, as though they had sparred like this before, which we found out at the end they had. I must admit, I picked the split mother quite early on, she had such a distinctive face shape, and they also kept making the point that Jekyll had no descendents, yet it was Hyde that was rooting like a rabbit (and there were no condoms in those days) so Jackman/Hyde must have been a descendent of Hyde, and as he didn't know who his father was and his mother was such a shadowy creature, it must have been through her line and not his father's.
And when he was looking at the palm of his hand and pondering that he didn't suffer the same injuries as Hyde that made the ultimate ending a bit more obvious to predict. But the whole Alice/Claire as the catalyst instead of a potion was very unexpected, yet made perfect sense. It was the ageless story of a strong man being susceptible to the power of a woman and thus being rendered powerless to give her up. It's happened time and time throughout history. And I also liked the notion that Hyde represented "Love" rather than "Hate" or "Rage". I think "Love" is the most powerful emotion there is and can make ordinary people capable of extra-ordinary things. I liked the analogy of the mother comparing it to Claire's love for her children. It's the whole Lioness thing that mother's feel when their cubs are threatened. They become capable of acts of great courage and daring. And did anyone else think that the fact that Claire and Jackman had twins mean that the two personalities at last occupied separate bodies. I think that's what they meant us think at the end!! |
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Post by lauren on Mar 17, 2008 19:46:28 GMT 9.5
james nesbitt did a brilliant job, his character changes were very believable and his hyde is right up there with my fave characters. And for some reason i kept having the thought that it would be interesting if claire had some kind of hyde side herself, but she kind of did anyway like when she dealt with hyde and when they threatened her kids. And im with you sandy on the separate personalities being separate in the twins, bit weird though with the whole "they-switched-in-the-box thing... |
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Post by killerbananas on Mar 17, 2008 20:15:14 GMT 9.5
I loved the little joke with the twins names- Harry= Henry, Eddy= Edward, and how it showed that the linage will continue, and gave an idea of what the "scientists" meant when they talked about the perfect balance of both Jekyll and Hyde within Jackman, not one outweighing the other.
Sandra, I also really enjoyed how they made Hyde the personification of love in its strongest form, and showed how that emotion develops through Hyde's natural character development. That's where some of my emotional connection to Hyde came from- I'm a hopeless romantic!
On another tack, were there any other characters which intrigued you?
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 17, 2008 20:44:29 GMT 9.5
Now I've had time to think about it, I think that it was one of the best series I've ever seen. I loved the way her character got bolder and ballsier when she was interacting with Hyde, as though they had sparred like this before, which we found out at the end they had. I loved that too. Hyde seemed to bring out the fire in her and there were those priceless moments where Claire was acting as his conscience. ("No more killing people!" and Hyde's like, "*sigh* Fine," and knocks the guy out. XD) Eddie has evil written all over him. I suspected him straight from when he was picking his nose! But the ending was weird. Can't remember exactly what he said/did but it was almost as if he was Hyde. o).O |
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Post by killerbananas on Mar 17, 2008 20:49:20 GMT 9.5
I loved that too. Hyde seemed to bring out the fire in her and there were those priceless moments where Claire was acting as his conscience. ("No more killing people!" and Hyde's like, "*sigh* Fine," and knocks the guy out. "That should give us 20 minutes.....let's take the full hour" XD Hyde got all the good lines.... |
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 17, 2008 20:56:12 GMT 9.5
^ And don't forget, he likes Disney! (Wonder what he'd think of the Eric statue?) Other characters that intrigued me... I had mixed feelings regarding, um, Tom's friend. The guy who worked for Klein and Utterson. The one who I keep wanting to call Simon. (God, I hate how I have such a bad memory...) At the end where he had his little drink with Tom and got to explain himself, I could see where he was coming from, selling his friend out but for the "greater good" (though I kept wishing he'd refrain himself from overusing that particular phrase.) Did he have a thing for Claire or am I just imagining this? Because, you know, in my mind he was Simon Stride. For some reason. XD Edit: His name's Peter. Wikipedia is my friend. |
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Post by sanderella59 on Mar 17, 2008 21:13:34 GMT 9.5
The friend was called, Peter, I think. And I empathised with him a bit in the fact that befriending Jackman initially was his job, but in the end, it became a bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy in that Jackman was his only friend. I also empathised a bit with Cathereine, the "fully trained psychiatric nurse", because she ended up in the classic co-dependent nurse/patient relationship, but still managed to maintain her dignity right up to the end, and yet portray the poignancy of her situation in very few lines (I'm thinking especially about the bit right at the end when he asks her to make him a cup of tea). I also loved the by-play between the Detective and her pregnant lover. Some very funny and subtle lines for both of them. Steven Moffat is a very witty writer. I hope Mars watches the final episode soon!! This spoiler button is getting a right workout!! |
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Post by Marie-Cris on Mar 18, 2008 13:59:44 GMT 9.5
You didn't have to, you know; I haven't even looked in this thread until now.
And because it's been so long before I could watch it ((still have no idea to references in the first episode; wish I had taped it)) anything I could have said has already been said.
Except that in reference to the Alice / Claire "Lucy", I thought of her as "Lisa" instead. I thought of his secretary as Lucy.
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Post by sanderella59 on Mar 18, 2008 14:25:09 GMT 9.5
Might have to check and see if this is out on DVD yet and put it on my wishlist for my birthday. I don't think one viewing will be enough for me!!
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Post by Marie-Cris on Mar 18, 2008 14:45:00 GMT 9.5
Ditto; lots of good icon opportunities too. I would have liked to have seen more of the boy's transformations though.
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 18, 2008 16:32:27 GMT 9.5
Is there a second series? That ending seemed to just... dangle.  and i refuse to accept hyde's dead |
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Post by lauren on Mar 18, 2008 17:14:01 GMT 9.5
^ to me hyde will never be dead! |
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Post by unwinding_fantasy on Mar 18, 2008 17:18:31 GMT 9.5
^ "I'll live inside you forever!" XD
Oh, and more good lines?
Nurse: "What's this?"
Hyde: "Completely up to you, but I'd say front of the queue."
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