Ghost Whisperer thoughts
Jun. 22nd, 2007 08:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethGhost Whisperer had an interesting pair of episodes. One where there was a crash and the paramedic-husband got hurt, and the one after that where the guy he was transporting who died haunted him. That was nifty. The first one was about guilt and blaming yourself and secrets and putting the blame in the right place and the second one was about forgiveness even when people are actually doing the bad things and it was interesting because they didn't all hug and share and end up happy, half the people wanted the ghost to be tormented and the family just kind of agreed that he did bad things but now it was over. And the ghost agreed that his son protecting his mom was the good thing to do, even though the knock on consequences included ghost. Not waving away blame, just accepting it and moving on.
So it was very themey and philosophical. And also didn't make me cry.
And it brought up the idea of a malign spirit and how Melinda doesn't know how to get rid of those. I bet that'll bite later. I mean I saw the last episode but I've missed a bunch in the middle so it just seems like a dangly plot thread to play with.
Her talents are introduced from the start but her problems sort of build up as we go along. It feels like a slower build up than typical? I don't quite know why I think that though.
A bit I liked was when the first ep in the pair seemed to be all "everything happens for a reason" and suggesting the guy dying saved lives, but the second ep showed that to be totally not the case. It's a nice subtle way to play with the fate vs destiny thingy. It leaves the accident meaningless or even totally bad even though it kicked off a string of good consequences at the hospital.
I also like how I don't always spot the ghost. There was a bit where Melinda was talking to a doctor's wife and found out he had dementia and then she went to see him and told him she told her and he said she'd never do that and Melinda said "Your wife's been dead for two years" and the surprise-kick really really worked. And you could see the look on his face too. Just, boom - if you can forget that you're not going to fool anyone.
I started out watching this because I'm attempting to write ghost stories. But these are a very specific kind of... shiny crystals?... talk it through kind of ghost stories. When I'm starting with a main character who can do martial arts and stuff then that isn't always the solution that will best showcase his talents.
Which makes me realise stuff to do with the plot for my next fic. Have to start with the skills of the individual characters as well as their emotions. Otherwise the plot half gets a bit floppy.
See, I'm working on fic!
... you know, in a purely theoretical sense ...
So it was very themey and philosophical. And also didn't make me cry.
And it brought up the idea of a malign spirit and how Melinda doesn't know how to get rid of those. I bet that'll bite later. I mean I saw the last episode but I've missed a bunch in the middle so it just seems like a dangly plot thread to play with.
Her talents are introduced from the start but her problems sort of build up as we go along. It feels like a slower build up than typical? I don't quite know why I think that though.
A bit I liked was when the first ep in the pair seemed to be all "everything happens for a reason" and suggesting the guy dying saved lives, but the second ep showed that to be totally not the case. It's a nice subtle way to play with the fate vs destiny thingy. It leaves the accident meaningless or even totally bad even though it kicked off a string of good consequences at the hospital.
I also like how I don't always spot the ghost. There was a bit where Melinda was talking to a doctor's wife and found out he had dementia and then she went to see him and told him she told her and he said she'd never do that and Melinda said "Your wife's been dead for two years" and the surprise-kick really really worked. And you could see the look on his face too. Just, boom - if you can forget that you're not going to fool anyone.
I started out watching this because I'm attempting to write ghost stories. But these are a very specific kind of... shiny crystals?... talk it through kind of ghost stories. When I'm starting with a main character who can do martial arts and stuff then that isn't always the solution that will best showcase his talents.
Which makes me realise stuff to do with the plot for my next fic. Have to start with the skills of the individual characters as well as their emotions. Otherwise the plot half gets a bit floppy.
See, I'm working on fic!
... you know, in a purely theoretical sense ...