Episode 4: The Eyes of Texas

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raggedyman79

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
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Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
Another fairly solid episode. I liked it because it focused mostly on Jake and Sadie and sidelined the Oswald stuff. As I suspected, Bill and Marina is a thing that is happening. I'm okay with it as long as it's organic to the story.

Sarah Gadon is luminous as Sadie. When Jake mouths "I love you" to her, her smile lights up the whole screen. T.R. Knight also does great work as Johnny; he's creepy and weird and virtually unrecognizable from his days on GREY'S ANATOMY.

The bit I didn't like was the trip to the brothel and Deke having to bail them out. Jake is already keeping enough secrets from Sadie; this just seems like one complication too many to add to the pile. The book established the friendships between Jake, Deke and Mimi so that their acceptance of his secrets felt much more natural, and that they were still friends afterward. Here it feels like both of them kind of turned on him.

Oswald is still boring. I guess it's hard to make someone interesting when you're bound by their actual history.

Oh, and of course Johnny's driving Christine.
 

80sFan

Just one more chapter...
Jul 14, 2015
2,997
16,167
Pennsylvania
Another impressive episode. The LHO character seemed more real than in previous episodes. Or maybe I'm just getting used to him.

My favorite scene from last night was...
Jake's Witness Protection story involving his friend Fredo who was killed by his brother on a fishing trip.
 

Patricia A

ReMember
Jul 10, 2006
12,887
13,846
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Puget Sound
I'm loving this. Last night's episode was really good. I like where it's going with the Oswald business. An aside point about this series is the nostalgic value it holds for me. I was three years old in '63 but so much of it reminds me of how things looked and felt in the early 60's. From the cars to the cloths and buildings, it's spot on.
Sort of in the way Mad Men was, with the exception of big black bugs and time travel. I don't remember big black bugs and time travel.
 

carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
I'm loving this. Last night's episode was really good. I like where it's going with the Oswald business. An aside point about this series is the nostalgic value it holds for me. I was three years old in '63 but so much of it reminds me of how things looked and felt in the early 60's. From the cars to the cloths and buildings, it's spot on.
Sort of in the way Mad Men was, with the exception of big black bugs and time travel. I don't remember big black bugs and time travel.
Depends on where one grew up! ;)
 

JasonLight

Member
Feb 16, 2016
6
18
52
After the first episode I was concerned, as expressed in the thread for The Rabbit Hole, that the series lacked some of the charm of the book. I guess that's always going to happen because it's subjective, but over the last two weeks especially, I've gotten over that in a big way. The series has taken on a life and a charm of its own and I think it's riveting. I'm loving it!

And yeah, Christine. I wondered when she was going to show up.
 

M&P15 2

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2016
628
573
I'm rapidly losing interest.

They have 6 hours to retell this story and they are ruining it with unnecessary changes. The Green Mile was more faithfully retold even though it was crammed into a 2 hour movie.

Either I am too much of a King fan to think they should let the real story stand on it's own or I'm not enough of one to think him giving it his stamp of approval makes it all great.

Oh well, at least I can look forward to Better Call Saul on Monday's.
 
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JasonLight

Member
Feb 16, 2016
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The Green Mile was three hours, wasn't it? Although, that's nitpicking, I guess, because I understand your frustrations. I shared them throughout the first episode, and even a little since then, but I've gotten over them for the most part. I've definitely enjoyed it the longer it's gone.
 

M&P15 2

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2016
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The Green Mile was three hours,

Indeed it was. My mistake.

It's just one man's opinion, but this is one of my favorite books, and I think the changes are garbage and in no way improve on the story, even as to how it translates to the screen.
 
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raggedyman79

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
126
602
44
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
Why do so many fans get so critical of SK for approving of changes to adaptations of his work? He approves of them because he knows that no matter what, his written work will stand on its own, independently of any adaptation. If you want his version of the story all you have to do is read it.

"Adaptation" is the key word here. It's taking source material and changing it to suit a different medium. It should be judged on its ability to tell its own story, not how it compares to the source material. I have pointed out changes I didn't like in my reviews, but I'm not letting those changes affect my overall enjoyment of the show. As SK projects go, this is far from the worst. Everybody chill and just enjoy the ride.
 

M&P15 2

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2016
628
573
The point is that it can be done better. The Green Mile and Shawshank were light years ahead of this. They really captured the story. This series just re-writes it

So many changes here do absolutely nothing to suit the film medium better than the original work. I'm actually surprised they got the casting about 1/2 right. Jake is ok, Al was good, Frank and Harry Dunning were good. Bill Turcotte wasn't even close but they needed to do that to completely change the whole damn story.

Sadie is pretty good, but I'm kind of surprised they didn't change her to a brunette just for no reason at all.

TR Knight? Really? George O'Malley? How many of us when first seeing him in the previews thought "yeah, he must be be the one playing Sadie's psychotic ex." LOL