Where Did That Come From? (Scott/Chloe Relationship)

[Harvey]

State of Play gutted most of the secondary characters of the far superior British series (James McAvoy's character is completely eliminated). I assume you're referring to Dominic Foy when you mention "the central gay relationship." He's in the film, played by Jason Bateman, but his role is dramatically reduced.

 

[Pauln6]

State of Play gutted most of the secondary characters of the far superior British series (James McAvoy's character is completely eliminated). I assume you're referring to Dominic Foy when you mention "the central gay relationship." He's in the film, played by Jason Bateman, but his role is dramatically reduced.

Ah ok cool - I guess editing is a must when making a movie of a mini series but I thought Traffic was a fair effort in that regard so I'll watch the movie with interest.

Foy's gayness had pretty much nothing to do with the plot anyway, it was just thrown in there for kicks and that's the way I prefer it personally. US tv in particular has a lot of homophobic overtones and angst-ridden teens or businessmen are so unrepresentative it gets tiresome. I might even prefer it if the gayness just inferred rather than overt like Torchwood. In many ways the nudge nudge wink wink is more fun as long there's no angst. Enough with the angst already.

 

[Harvey]

I haven't seen the original version of Traffic, but I thought the American version wasn't nearly as smart as it wanted to be, and even a little heavy-handed.

But in the case of State of Play, it really is quite a condensed version of the original. It reminded me of The Departed's take on Infernal Affairs in a number of ways, actually. Change the setting, include a great cast, but tell the exact same story in far less time. I might have liked both if I hadn't seen the originals.

But I've let things get off topic a wee bit, so...carry on.

 

[FPAlpha]

I thought this must have been the woman he did in the pilot.. I guess not. They're all rather non descript to me.

Also I thinky the geeky one likes her. The way he looked pained as they went off together, and the way he was tetchy when they came back after doing it.

I want to point this out, because it was VERY subtle and most of us viewers wouldn't pick up on it.

Don't know if it is sarcasm or not but it was very obvious.. camera focus on him and his face while the others almost make out in the hallway and the way he reacted when they returned (many of us know the feeling when you start to entertain the thought of doing something about the girl only for her to do the other guy and then return to you to tell how awesome it was).

Personally.. it was the WTF? moment of the entire show. If it was a one night stand, a "We'll die and i want to fuck before i go" i may understand it but then there's been too little explanation for it and definitely shot the wrong way because those two "made love" as opposed to just "f.. the brains out".

If it's a beginning relationship that it's been handled wrong.. it came almost out of nowhere.

Best course of action.. Lt. Scott just did her and she thought it meant more so we get some drama off it.

Either way.. i am not a big fan of the scene because it didn't really fit in.

 

[Pauln6]

I thought this must have been the woman he did in the pilot.. I guess not. They're all rather non descript to me.

Also I thinky the geeky one likes her. The way he looked pained as they went off together, and the way he was tetchy when they came back after doing it.

I want to point this out, because it was VERY subtle and most of us viewers wouldn't pick up on it.

Don't know if it is sarcasm or not but it was very obvious.. camera focus on him and his face while the others almost make out in the hallway and the way he reacted when they returned (many of us know the feeling when you start to entertain the thought of doing something about the girl only for her to do the other guy and then return to you to tell how awesome it was).

Personally.. it was the WTF? moment of the entire show. If it was a one night stand, a "We'll die and i want to fuck before i go" i may understand it but then there's been too little explanation for it and definitely shot the wrong way because those two "made love" as opposed to just "f.. the brains out".

If it's a beginning relationship that it's been handled wrong.. it came almost out of nowhere.

Best course of action.. Lt. Scott just did her and she thought it meant more so we get some drama off it.

Either way.. i am not a big fan of the scene because it didn't really fit in.

It was obvious in that we were expecting some reaction from him and the camera focused on him to show that reaction. It was subtle because in focusing on him and showing very little it leaves lots of unanswered questions (e.g. do we finally have an American officer capable to acting profesionally in a crisis - shock horror - or does this mean something about the depths of his feelings for her?).

The sex didn't come out of the blue though - we had several scenes in previous episodes where they had heart-to-hearts and they both thought they might die shortly giving the writers an excuse to move things along swiftly.

And yes the angst of Eli is something that many people can understand - spending hours chatting to someone at a party or a club only to have them shag the cute guy who somes along and sticks their tongue down their throat in the last half an hour.

"Is this guy boring you? Why don't you come and talk to me? I'm from another planet."

In fact studies have shown that this is evolutionary behaviour. The woman is attracted to the alpha male because his aggressive hunky genes are desirable. However, the intelligent, sensitive male makes a better long-term partner and father figure for the offspring. So maybe the point is to get her pregnant so that Eli can step up?