rhivolution: Matthew Macfadyen is pensive, text: jeux sans frontieres (games without frontiers: Tom Quinn)
I got two vids this year, I am SO excite, you have no idea. And both are early Spooks/MI:5 and both are utterly bloody amazing.

Running Up That Hill is using the Placebo cover of that song, which is an automatic sucker punch to the gut, and it's about Tom and Zoe and Danny, which is like a second sucker punch immediately following that, knocking the wind out of you. Except the emotional resonance isn't cheap at all, the vid is amazingly constructed, and the topics are still relevant, nearly a decade on, particularly in light of modern issues in Britain.

Also, pretty. And heart-breaking. And with the best guest stars from the period (Tony Head! Siddig El Fadil!) As I said in my comment, this is the TomZoeDanny vid I wanted in my head, subconsciously.

Adagio for Strings takes Harry and Ruth from S1-S5 and plays with the facets of their interactions to a beautifully fitting wordless Tiƫsto track. While touching on the Harry/Ruth or Harry&Ruth relationship, I found the bigger point of this vid to be more RUTH IS FUCKING BADASS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN BADASS, which is just as cool as shipping and far less common of late considering where canon went.

The construction of this one is simply phenomenal. I wish I could make something half as good.

(Please note: The vidders did not provide warnings, but I advise wrt both vids that the nature of canon includes institutional violence, gun violence, and suicide.)

So yes, if you know Spooks at all, or even just know Modern British Drama at all, or in the case of Running, have any interest in what I think could possibly be a subtle critique of British institutional power structures or maybe I just think too much...go, watch, leave feedback.

And go watch other vids!
rhivolution: Kate Beaton's fat Shetland pony; text: ride like the wind (O HAI PONY: Hark a Vagrant)
Since I cannot talk about Sherlock because I have not watched it, and frankly if I see anything more about it on Tumblr, I will end up in massive squee/love-harshing mode which is not nice...

COLUMBO. Can we talk about Columbo? And how fucking awesome early Columbo is when it comes to deconstructing class issues in the US? I mean, actually deconstructing, not A Certain Person's idea of what deconstructing class is (ahem). If you don't know who that is, don't ask--it isn't you.

Basically, nearly every episode, Columbo plays the stereotype of being a working-class schmuck, in some way/shape/form; this last one, he pretended he knew fuck-all about wine so he could set up the killer. And the conceit is such that the audience KNOWS Columbo is messing with the perp(s), because that's Columbo's MO--he's clever and their biases will lead to their downfall. He'll play off all sorts of different stereotypes.

And the working-class guy always wins and is smarter, with more applicable knowledge and skill, than the people who think money and a half-assed plan will save them. This is a big deal for a US show--I could write a whole paper on it had I the access to an academic library.

Also, Peter Falk.

I need a Columbo icon.
rhivolution: Karen Gillian dressed as Amy Pond faces off against a TV camera (me versus the camera: Karen Gillan)
Right, after that Rather Good Doctor Who, I am compiling a 1969 playlist for the episode. Because I can.

As for the rest, terribly clever. I only have one point that makes me itch in a bad way...but I don't think I can review the episode properly (either formally or informally) until everything's resolved in this storyline.

And that is all I will say for now!

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