Forum - View topic91 Days (TV).
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2841 |
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#4
Part 1 of the two-man roadtrip into the interior of the United States. The assassin Orco hired at the end of last week shows his hand, but he certainly lives up to his Goliath epithet with the amount of punishment it took to finally stop him. Viewers know Nero was a terrible shot from week 1, so seeing him miss almost an entire round of bullets on a huge target wasn't all that surprising. At least the farmer who finished the job kept his cool and his aim! The little sideshow involving Nero and Angelo at the camping ground showed off unseen talents from the odd couple, but the campsite scene gives viewers more of an insight into Nero Vanetti and his motivations. Obviously Nero's dad didn't give him the whole story regarding Angelo's dad which brings an expected reaction from Angelo (which his partner is oblivious to). Were all hick-town sheriffs as corrupt as the one portrayed this week? A painful way to die, but at least his funds didn't go to waste. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Interesting reveal is that there was a fourth man, which has me wondering if this fourth man is the mysterious friend.
Moments like them hitting Goliath with the car was pretty funny. |
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Episode 4
Wow, this episode was great. Very simple yet effective storytelling imo with the two main leads. The balance of the mood that went from a cheerful camping to fighting for their lives is also really quite something. Their adventures really can take them to meet all sorts of people. Character chemistry wise, I find that Avilio and Nero are so different yet can co-exist alike as well. Furthermore, the episode had some nice background storytelling. Good episode, this show is what I consider a sleeper hit this season. |
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HelloBucket
 Posts: 477 Location: Upstate New York |
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episode four
It's nice to see the production quality recovering a bit after last episode. Except that the cars are all still terrible in motion. I can't recall if it was this thread or the review thread, but someone was commenting that Fango felt like a merging of the American gangster and cowboy tropes. It looks like the whole conflation goes deeper than that with this whole episode taking on more of a Western style, complete with a giant Mexican villain. So much for the show being a master of tone and atmosphere. Which, leads me to my big complaint: I liked the idea of Nero and Avilio on a road trip and a lot of the ideas were strong, but the execution just kept feeling awkward. The characters, and really the show in general, doesn't have the natural sense of wit it takes to make things like this work. It alternatively beats you over the head (obviously Avilio couldn't be reminded of his childhood unless the kids looked exactly like he and his brother did) and wasting its time accomplishing nothing (the scenes leading up to the Goliath confrontation were too goofy to take seriously yet not clever enough to actually be funny or entertaining). I wish the show would move past being a collection of homages, figure out what it's own thing is and then be that. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2841 |
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It's not limited to physical resemblance. Watch the OP animation, Avilio hallucinates frequently about himself and his brother when he was young just by watching random kids moving around in the street. |
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HelloBucket
Posts: 477 Location: Upstate New York |
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^
I've watched the OP, and it could easily be a hallucination in the episode, it just isn't relevant to my point. Whether those two kids actually looked like Avilio and his brother or not doesn't really change the heavy-handedness of it, which is my criticism. It isn't about what it takes to remind of Avilio of his childhood, but about the way that's communicated to the viewer. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2841 |
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How would YOU have gone about it then? The producers want to make a point about Angelo and they've chosen that approach, but for all the griping (which has been a lot for this show yet you still watch it for some reason or another) you've served up I can't really think of an alternative so please present one for this viewer who lacks theatrical imagination. |
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HelloBucket
Posts: 477 Location: Upstate New York |
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You honestly could have just had Avilio watching the two brothers minus the resemblance. That's it. That's still clear and communicative, but it doesn't hit you over the head with its importance. I don't know if I'd want to do more than that. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a way to restructure the scene without subtly changing meaning. For example, if Avilio doesn't really notice the kids until Nero forces him to slow down and interact with them, this would imply that Avilio's desire for vengeance has started to become distanced from its original motivations and become a motivation entirely of its own. I think the shots themselves could have been done better. I have a thought on how that could have been improved, but it'd be a beast to type out.
I don't hate the show. I just think it's mediocre. I almost dropped it due to episode three, but this episode was significantly better. I may regret this because I could always be wrong about it having a solid, well-written core which is let down by inconsistent execution and maybe it's just confused the whole way through. I'm hoping not, if only because it is a really unique show and I'd prefer to see projects like it succeed. I had almost written much of the above in my original post on episode four, actually. I stopped myself because I felt my post was getting long and others had already posted about those elements of the episode I liked. I'm sorry if this made my overall stance on the show unclear. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2841 |
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Maybe it's just me but outside the OP this is the first instance of Angelo hallucinating about his youth when he watches children. Some may think the hallucination overblown (like HelloBucket) but if it's a symptom of Angelo actually losing his mind then it might feature prominently down the line.
From one person's whose opinion is absolutely worthless to another, you must have a lot of time on your hands to grip about a mediocre show which you are masochistically forcing yourself to watch despite complaining about the number of cliches and unoriginal homages in an animation produced by non-Americans. I'll just have to assume a mindset that every future post from you is going to be some gripe or another until the series is finished, that way I won't waste my time or yours responding to them. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2841 |
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#5
Quite a lot happens in this episode, multiple viewings might be needed to make sense of what went down when the duo were driving around the country. Driving up to the "Lodge", I couldn't help but be struck by the way they did the scenery on the way. How much did the United States during the prohibition era take to Impressionism? Now viewers know why Corteo was brought to one side during the wedding scene. Nero's little sideline isn't viewed favourably by his brother, but then again viewers know from last week that the two brothers aren't on good terms. This week only seems to confirm that statement with a surprising double-cross. Initially I thought Angelo had lost his mind when he said he wanted to do a deal with Fango, but taking emotions aside it really is the only way for Tigre to be saved if the rest of the city is under complete lockdown. Still, it's a huge gamble and a scheme which has zero guarantee of working, not to mention Fango being unpredictable and likely to kill everyone anyway if Angelo's assumptions fail to hold out. As for Angelo himself, he's going to be an empty shell if he does succeed in his great revenge quest. He's got nothing for him outside of the grand scheme, although it makes him the most dangerous of assassins when he has nothing to lose and doesn't seem too concerned about walking away once the deeds are done. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Lets break down the situation they are about to get into. Nero is wanted, so he is going to ask Fango to hide him, the same man Nero tried to get killed earlier, and the very reason that Nero is wanted. Angelo's idea of convincing Fango that they will bring in don Orco is also kind of hilarious as a cherry on the top of the crazy situation.
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2841 |
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When someone is surrounded on all sides, doing a deal with the devil being seen as the only sensible option? |
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HelloBucket
Posts: 477 Location: Upstate New York |
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episode five
I've come the conclusion that Fango is a bit of a spoiled kid. Not within the setting itself, but as the writer(s)' favored child. It explains both why he wasn't reworked to fit the setting/tone better and why things just keep coming up Fango. I wish they had put as much love into Angelo, because he's really starting to bore me. The farther we get in, the more our main character just feels like a plot device to move the real story along, rather than an interesting and fully developed character in his own right. Given that they've included a lot of Western tropes into 91 Days, I wonder if our lead is meant to be some take on the terse, grim, but clever protagonists that were prevalent. On an entirely different note, this episode gave me some time to ponder the whole David vs. Goliath theme from the previous and it's relevance, if any. If it has any meaning, rather than just being a neat little allusion, I'd have to say it's that the Vanettis are screwed. Don Vanetti is Saul, Ronaldo would be Abner, and Frate is Ish-bosheth. However, since neither Nero nor Angelo were able to actually slay Goliath, there's no David. Alas poor metaphorical Israel. Of course, this is for the better, since Angelo feels unimportant enough without his revenge plot being entirely overwritten by Biblical references. Or maybe that random farmer will come back and take over the family. |
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Stark700
Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Episode 6:
Ooh man, the part where Fango laughed like a maniac about the food and teasing his guests is priceless. He's such a manipulative and clever man. Thrilling episode this week. I'm surprised how well Avilio and Nero pulled that "fake death" tactic, almost fooled me there as well. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2841 |
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That scene when Fango asks Nero to lick his boots, I'm guessing that was Fango's way of seeing what sort of character Nero had and whether or not he could be trusted. Had Nero done what Fango had said, it probably would have ended with the whole party slaughtered one way or another. Considering how unstable and unpredictable Fango is, one virtue he probably does value is courage.
I was wondering what the chicken was for, but the events afterwards explained it later. For someone with little experience with firearms, Angelo managed to hold his nerve and get the shot in the right area to pull of the stunt. Even before Nero refused to drink the drugged alcohol, I had suspected it was a double-bluff from the start after Angelo had explained why he needed Nero to stay alive long enough to get his father to trust the lone survivor. Fango's decision to feed the ex-Orco executive the "special" lasagne was also another predictable development (the reaction of Corteo bringing out the food just about gave the game away). Now that one actor has left the stage, I'm wondering what the next few weeks will bring vis-a-vis the impending mob wars over the town of Lawless. |
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