Post by Jack Jefferson on Sept 12, 2009 9:39:47 GMT -5
“I'm Running Out of Names For These” (Thunder Train) – This segment was just plain random, even for Train. Breaking Kayfabe isn’t out of the norm for ACW but it’s usually in the description/italicised part of segments and to be honest I’m not sure how good an idea breaking it in dialogue is. The segment did a good job of setting up Train wanting a title shot but I think it could’ve been done much better, especially considering the write. Also, Gingerdude crying for no apparent reason didn’t sit too well with me; it was completely out of character.
“On the Farm” (VorteX) – Encoding messages into walls huh? Wow, I guess Tex really is into his sci-fi mumba jumbo. It’s not really my thing but that doesn’t mean I instantly think this is a bad segment. In fact, quite the contrary. While the premise might not have been “my thing” I still enjoyed the segment. The relationship, especially the dialogue, between Winters and Felicity was damn near perfect and it made for a really good segment.
“One Last Shot 3/7” (Chris Phenomenal) – This segment fell far short of what it could’ve been for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the description was very brief to the point where it sounded like a short summary someone would give you about a sequence of events that just occurred on a TV programme. You know the kind of thing, “He walked up to the house, she said come in, they started agruing, blah, blah, blah.” Secondly, while I liked the idea of the view being that of a CCTV camera it was poorly executed. The ending being a view of a blank hallway was a nice touch but it was rendered moot by a hypothetical description of what was in the secret room. Unless the camera was placed where it could view the interior of the room it wouldn’t be able to see what was in there. I think my evaluation of this segment might’ve been a tad longer than the segment itself...which can’t be a good sign.
“POSITIVE | NEGATIVE” (Rena / Rep) – This was a really good segment. Rena’s despair was captured brilliantly and although the storyline is giving me a very “soap opera” vibe I still think it has a lot of potential. I’d liked to have seen some confliction in Jake’s reaction, however slight, but I suppose his reaction served the purpose of deepening Rena’s despair. I hope this angle lives up to its potential and doesn’t end up as some cheesy clichéd soap opera rip-off though.
“IF YOU WANT MY BODY...” (Mickey Martin) – I’m a big fan of this type of character and I can see Mickey Martin being one that I really enjoy. His extreme cockiness really shone through here, I hope he’s incredibly misogynistic. The way Mickey speaks was a great fit for how I envisaged this character so that was a huge plus. The black text has to go though...
“Intelligence FTW” (Dave Shadow) – Hardly groundbreaking stuff from Dave here but there’s only so much you can do with the standard interview setup. Dave does a very good job of pointing out his advantages in EOTR and his pleasure at exploiting said advantages. I liked Charlotte’s sarcasm, often her personality is ignored in segments. Finally, very few people pull off the self-absorbed, arrogant, and obnoxious as well as Dave Shadow and this segment was another example of him doing that.
“THUNDERKISS: REBORN” (Thunder Train / Thunderkiss) – I said it before in the rumours thread and I’ll say it again here...poor Gary! (That’s where you read it TRP, not last show) I’m actually glad that occurrence was made into a segment and the addition of Thunder Train was a great one. The Thunderkiss vs. ACW stands to be a brilliant one and I love that he’s trying to get Train on his side, I actually can’t wait to see what Train’s answer is. Will he keep true to his word and stand on his own two feet or will he revert to his old ways and the comfort of TK’s shadow? I personally know which would be my favoured option, despite my love of the Thunderkiss/Train combo I’d much rather see Train strike out on his own a truly ascend to the top of ACW.
“Meeting the man” (The Red Panther) – I’m really confused. To the best of my knowledge Panther is a heel, but he comes across as a face. This segment started well, I’m liking the Jimmy Winner character (he does, however, make Panther seem more of a face by way of their lack of relationship), but it went downhill when we got to Gingerdude’s office. Firstly, Ginger wouldn’t care if Wing was manipulating Panther and Winner. Secondly, this angle could’ve been handled much better, no need to reveal Wing’s manipulation just now...why would he? It would’ve been much more realistic if Wing simply acted very pally towards Panther, telling him that Winner would be great for his career and doing the whole “have I ever steered you wrong” routine. Winner would be easier to placate, just tell him he’ll make much better money in ACW than anywhere else. One final thing – I don’t understand exactly how Winner would instantly turn Panther into a cash cow. He’s an obnoxious, arrogant heel that no-one likes, let alone would buy into.
“The Re-re-debut” (JJB) – I really don’t know what to make of this character. I understand it’s supposed to be a pisstake but a minstrel wandering around saying “Masa” and talking about people getting lynched just isn’t funny. The majority of it was nonsensical rambling that only served as padding. Oddly JJB acknowledged this through Kevin Anderson which just leads me to wonder...what exactly is the point?
“Reggie Rawls vs. Chris Wallace” (JJB) – This started out well actually, with Rawls playing the classic heel facing a crowd member. It soon went south though, why would Wallace wait for three whole minutes for Rawls to finish him without so much as trying to fight back? Bizarre to say the least.
“Turning Away” (Sarin / Yoko / Rattlesnake) – I’ve always enjoyed the interactions between Sarin and Snake. I mention it a lot, but natural dialogue always gets me hooked into a situation and this was no different. The strain Flower Power has on their relationship is going to be something worth looking out for.
“Turning Back” (Sarin / Yoko) – I liked the quick switch from Sarin’s bed to Yoko’s here, nice touch. This, once more, contained some very nice dialogue and you could really feel the emotion from Yoko and the feeling of having something missing in her life without Sarin. The resentment towards her from Jade, and Yoko to an extent, was very well done and I’m intrigued to see how that affects Flower Power as a team. Will the indestructibles implode and save people a lot of work?
“O Horrible, O Horrible, Most Horrible!” (Dave Shadow) – Brilliant stuff from Dave here. Normally I’d say a dream sequence would be overboard and cliché but this just felt like it fitted. Also, it was interesting to take a look into Shadow’s psyche and see how he’s truly feeling about his brother’s attack. The part about him having a plan of attack but banging his head was classic, its little details like that which make a segment in my opinion.
“Can’t Help but Laugh” (Dan White / Chris Phenomenal) – Dan really does seem to have his hands full and a huge target on his back. Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a World Champion. This segment was really good; I think these two gel well as a writing team. Dan mocking Chris was funny but ultimately Chris got the upper hand with his mysterious envelope (although I don’t think he had to say “manila” when he talked about it). Looking forward to what stems from this.
“Down but not out. (Round 2….FIGHT!)” (Jonny Spade) – This is the only way a Gooey Garth vs. Jonny Spade feud can go down. Mortal Combat, bad ambushes, and ending by playing video games with some random techie. Funny stuff.
“YOU TOOK MY SMILE. NOW I TAKE YOURS” (Thunderkiss) – So Thunderkiss’ war against ACW steps up a notch. I really like the way he’s doing this angle, many would go about it another way about it but I love the fact that TK is starting to cause trouble from the outside before he even tries to get in. One thing I would question, however, is whether McNally and Edison should be questioning if things are “scheduled”. I understand that you wanted to create that chaotic feeling but you could’ve done it without breaking Kayfabe.
“Bam Bam and Pebbles” (Dan White / Thunder Train) – I like the fact Train is actively putting himself into contention for the World Title, it’s about time he stepped up and threw his name into the hat. Not really a great deal to say about this segment really, it was solid but it was just your standard post-show attack. I liked the idea of Train standing over Dan and laughing menacingly though, those kind of details will help make Train into a true monster heel should he want to take that route. One thing that irked me while reading this though, how can blood flicker to the ground? Surely splatter would be a better word?
“On the Farm” (VorteX) – Encoding messages into walls huh? Wow, I guess Tex really is into his sci-fi mumba jumbo. It’s not really my thing but that doesn’t mean I instantly think this is a bad segment. In fact, quite the contrary. While the premise might not have been “my thing” I still enjoyed the segment. The relationship, especially the dialogue, between Winters and Felicity was damn near perfect and it made for a really good segment.
“One Last Shot 3/7” (Chris Phenomenal) – This segment fell far short of what it could’ve been for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the description was very brief to the point where it sounded like a short summary someone would give you about a sequence of events that just occurred on a TV programme. You know the kind of thing, “He walked up to the house, she said come in, they started agruing, blah, blah, blah.” Secondly, while I liked the idea of the view being that of a CCTV camera it was poorly executed. The ending being a view of a blank hallway was a nice touch but it was rendered moot by a hypothetical description of what was in the secret room. Unless the camera was placed where it could view the interior of the room it wouldn’t be able to see what was in there. I think my evaluation of this segment might’ve been a tad longer than the segment itself...which can’t be a good sign.
“POSITIVE | NEGATIVE” (Rena / Rep) – This was a really good segment. Rena’s despair was captured brilliantly and although the storyline is giving me a very “soap opera” vibe I still think it has a lot of potential. I’d liked to have seen some confliction in Jake’s reaction, however slight, but I suppose his reaction served the purpose of deepening Rena’s despair. I hope this angle lives up to its potential and doesn’t end up as some cheesy clichéd soap opera rip-off though.
“IF YOU WANT MY BODY...” (Mickey Martin) – I’m a big fan of this type of character and I can see Mickey Martin being one that I really enjoy. His extreme cockiness really shone through here, I hope he’s incredibly misogynistic. The way Mickey speaks was a great fit for how I envisaged this character so that was a huge plus. The black text has to go though...
“Intelligence FTW” (Dave Shadow) – Hardly groundbreaking stuff from Dave here but there’s only so much you can do with the standard interview setup. Dave does a very good job of pointing out his advantages in EOTR and his pleasure at exploiting said advantages. I liked Charlotte’s sarcasm, often her personality is ignored in segments. Finally, very few people pull off the self-absorbed, arrogant, and obnoxious as well as Dave Shadow and this segment was another example of him doing that.
“THUNDERKISS: REBORN” (Thunder Train / Thunderkiss) – I said it before in the rumours thread and I’ll say it again here...poor Gary! (That’s where you read it TRP, not last show) I’m actually glad that occurrence was made into a segment and the addition of Thunder Train was a great one. The Thunderkiss vs. ACW stands to be a brilliant one and I love that he’s trying to get Train on his side, I actually can’t wait to see what Train’s answer is. Will he keep true to his word and stand on his own two feet or will he revert to his old ways and the comfort of TK’s shadow? I personally know which would be my favoured option, despite my love of the Thunderkiss/Train combo I’d much rather see Train strike out on his own a truly ascend to the top of ACW.
“Meeting the man” (The Red Panther) – I’m really confused. To the best of my knowledge Panther is a heel, but he comes across as a face. This segment started well, I’m liking the Jimmy Winner character (he does, however, make Panther seem more of a face by way of their lack of relationship), but it went downhill when we got to Gingerdude’s office. Firstly, Ginger wouldn’t care if Wing was manipulating Panther and Winner. Secondly, this angle could’ve been handled much better, no need to reveal Wing’s manipulation just now...why would he? It would’ve been much more realistic if Wing simply acted very pally towards Panther, telling him that Winner would be great for his career and doing the whole “have I ever steered you wrong” routine. Winner would be easier to placate, just tell him he’ll make much better money in ACW than anywhere else. One final thing – I don’t understand exactly how Winner would instantly turn Panther into a cash cow. He’s an obnoxious, arrogant heel that no-one likes, let alone would buy into.
“The Re-re-debut” (JJB) – I really don’t know what to make of this character. I understand it’s supposed to be a pisstake but a minstrel wandering around saying “Masa” and talking about people getting lynched just isn’t funny. The majority of it was nonsensical rambling that only served as padding. Oddly JJB acknowledged this through Kevin Anderson which just leads me to wonder...what exactly is the point?
“Reggie Rawls vs. Chris Wallace” (JJB) – This started out well actually, with Rawls playing the classic heel facing a crowd member. It soon went south though, why would Wallace wait for three whole minutes for Rawls to finish him without so much as trying to fight back? Bizarre to say the least.
“Turning Away” (Sarin / Yoko / Rattlesnake) – I’ve always enjoyed the interactions between Sarin and Snake. I mention it a lot, but natural dialogue always gets me hooked into a situation and this was no different. The strain Flower Power has on their relationship is going to be something worth looking out for.
“Turning Back” (Sarin / Yoko) – I liked the quick switch from Sarin’s bed to Yoko’s here, nice touch. This, once more, contained some very nice dialogue and you could really feel the emotion from Yoko and the feeling of having something missing in her life without Sarin. The resentment towards her from Jade, and Yoko to an extent, was very well done and I’m intrigued to see how that affects Flower Power as a team. Will the indestructibles implode and save people a lot of work?
“O Horrible, O Horrible, Most Horrible!” (Dave Shadow) – Brilliant stuff from Dave here. Normally I’d say a dream sequence would be overboard and cliché but this just felt like it fitted. Also, it was interesting to take a look into Shadow’s psyche and see how he’s truly feeling about his brother’s attack. The part about him having a plan of attack but banging his head was classic, its little details like that which make a segment in my opinion.
“Can’t Help but Laugh” (Dan White / Chris Phenomenal) – Dan really does seem to have his hands full and a huge target on his back. Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a World Champion. This segment was really good; I think these two gel well as a writing team. Dan mocking Chris was funny but ultimately Chris got the upper hand with his mysterious envelope (although I don’t think he had to say “manila” when he talked about it). Looking forward to what stems from this.
“Down but not out. (Round 2….FIGHT!)” (Jonny Spade) – This is the only way a Gooey Garth vs. Jonny Spade feud can go down. Mortal Combat, bad ambushes, and ending by playing video games with some random techie. Funny stuff.
“YOU TOOK MY SMILE. NOW I TAKE YOURS” (Thunderkiss) – So Thunderkiss’ war against ACW steps up a notch. I really like the way he’s doing this angle, many would go about it another way about it but I love the fact that TK is starting to cause trouble from the outside before he even tries to get in. One thing I would question, however, is whether McNally and Edison should be questioning if things are “scheduled”. I understand that you wanted to create that chaotic feeling but you could’ve done it without breaking Kayfabe.
“Bam Bam and Pebbles” (Dan White / Thunder Train) – I like the fact Train is actively putting himself into contention for the World Title, it’s about time he stepped up and threw his name into the hat. Not really a great deal to say about this segment really, it was solid but it was just your standard post-show attack. I liked the idea of Train standing over Dan and laughing menacingly though, those kind of details will help make Train into a true monster heel should he want to take that route. One thing that irked me while reading this though, how can blood flicker to the ground? Surely splatter would be a better word?