AUTHOR'S NOTE: Episodes eleven through fifteen. I thought about waiting and posting after episode twenty, but as we are actually getting into the story the reactions and reviews are getting longer. You can click on the "cmc" in the tag section of the post and find all of the posts on Cate Morland Chronicles.
EPISODE 11
Cate is sick... Isabella video calls her... The set up for the mishaps with John has been created! Okay, I'm not excited about the stuff that is going to happen with John because it angered me as I read it and in every single form I have seen it take. John is that piece of the plot that I wish could just go away, but it is somewhat crucial to Catherine's growth.
For the record, "swooney" is not the word I'd ever use to describe John Thorpe. Unless the creators of this web series pulls a surprise like the creators of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries did with Mr. Collins - where the character is created in such a way where you can't help but like the guy that you know you're supposed to hate.
EPISODE 12
John seems to lack a lot of character, which isn't entirely a bad thing. The lack of character makes it that much easier to ignore him. All I got from this episode is that John just cares about cars - that's it. No real understanding of what it is that he does for Persona, which probably would have helped set up whatever stupid stunt he'll do later (because trust me, it's gonna be his fault). No sense that he actually cares about anything at all - yes, he talks about cars, but I don't really get the sense that he is as passionate as others are saying he is about cars.
The exchange he and Cate have didn't stir anything up in me, and maybe that's because I half expected him to have that type of opinion about The Mysteries of Udolpho. I was hoping that they would have created The Monk, another novel that is mentioned in Austen's novel, into a TV show and have it be John's television interest. He states that he is in to stuff that is very dark, and The Monk is a very dark novel. There is still time for that to happen, but I was hoping that it would have been brought up here.
The interactions between John and Cate, when James leaves the office, don't seem to set up for what I think is supposed to happen if they stay true to the novel. They could surprise us and pull something entirely different, but I'm not sure if there is much of a point to John being present if they don't go that way.
The following comment may be an unpopular opinion - I don't see how James Morland's sexual orientation moves the plot along, therefore the hint at it seemed unnecessary to me. It also just seemed tossed in, like "here have this character who is a part of this community". But it didn't seem to be in there with purpose - a little bit more of an after thought. Other than that, the relationship between James and Cate is very believable and I think it sets up well for what I know is coming on down the storyline.
EPISODE 13
It's apparent that Cate is trying to give John a chance to be perceived as a nice person.
Isabella's "flirts with any guy that breathes" aspect pokes its head out for a moment.
We get to meet Eleanor! She seems to not have a whole lot of emotion. I'm not entirely sure. I just felt that the dialogue could have felt less read off the page and more expressive and have actual emotions. The choice to make Eleanor Henry's agent instead of his by-blood sister is an interesting one. It definitely makes it easier for Cate to think that there is another woman in Henry's life, but that is such a short-lived blip on the storyline that I don't know if this choice was crucial. But because they made this choice, the mini-exchange on Eleanor's sexual orientation does help move the plot along.
EPISODE 14
This one felt like it was another set up episode.
Mrs. Allen seemed a little flat in this one. There just seemed to be nothing more to her than her being the "voice of the Cate's Corner Fandom".
Yeah, we got a little more exposition on Henry's father, but that information probably could have been revealed later and been totally fine. I don't know. This episode just felt very flat. I hope that it'll prove to be worth something later, but right now...nope.
EPISODE 15
WHY IS ELEANOR SO LIFELESS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I understand having a certain amount of cynicism about you after you have been around a certain atmosphere for so long, but does Eleanor really have to be so gosh darn two dimensional? When she first appeared in this episode there seemed to be promise of more character behind the character than we got to see in her first appearance in the series. But as soon as Cate started asking about Henry actually being present, Eleanor's sense of feeling walked on ahead on the red carpet with out the body. I honestly cannot imagine this character not having some kind of emotion. The writer of this series even went in a different direction from the novel, and I think that would encourage some different emotions than the character expresses in the novel - but that doesn't mean NONE.
The red carpet is really a great spot to point out the childlike-ness that Cate possesses. Yes, we all know the actors who play our favorite characters - but I agree with Cate in that it is more fun to pretend that the characters all exist in the same world.
Dele Opefia (Henry Tilney) does such a great job of bringing Henry's playful professionalism to life. He is definitely geeking out with Cate but he has composed himself in such away that he still appears professional - which is fan-freaking-tastic!
Okay...by the end of this episode Eleanor seemed to have found some sense of life. So there is hope! And it looks like Eleanor and Cate will have the beautiful, healthy friendship the characters are supposed to have - and that makes my heart happy.
GENERAL SERIES NOTE
Let's take a moment to chat about the editing.... For the most part it hasn't been too terrible. As the series is in vlog-style, there is some expectation that jump cuts will exist because that is the style of a vlog. But they still need to be well timed. Some of the cuts aren't as bad as I have seen in other series. I have seen, in a different series, where they decided to cut mid-sentence - NO! Mid-sentence jump cutting is SUPER TERRIBLE.
Some of what I'm seeing in this series is cuts to adjust the framing of the shot. It takes some of the magic of the vlog away, I think. It is a rather glaring reminder that this is a 100% scripted thing and not a twenty-something who is making videos about her new life. These frame adjusting cuts do not add anything to the experience of the vlog, and it just doesn't feel natural. It would be one thing if Cate reached and adjusted it herself, but even that wouldn't really feel natural. But it would be better than what is presently happening.