Live Watch: The Nevers (And what it shows about Whedon's Oeuvre)
It's terrible. But this is more about Joss Whedon than THE NEVERS which itself isn't remotely remarkable (literal meaning) on its own merits.
Curious to see if THE NEVERS went unnoticed because it’s bad or because Joss Whedon was “canceled” I decided to give it a watch. And having been a long time Joss Whedon fan it’s interesting. Because in how poorly written it is it kind of exposes the things Whedon keeps coming back to. In Whedon created projects there are a few different archetypes. The “crazy” or quirky lady. But the insanity is of a peculiar kind. And it’s more evident here that it’s less goth-manic. But is more like a child playing make believe/ word games. From Drusilla to River Tam to the villain in this show whose name I forget and the minor character of the girl who speaks every language except English. They’re reminiscent of children not crazy people. That’s right, Joss Whedon is a pedo. You heard it here first. Or maybe not.
The next type of girl is the femme tomboy who is either very virginal like Alyson Hannigan, Alyson Hannigan’s blonde girlfriend, the mechanic in FIREFLY, or the blonde sidekick to the main character in NEVERS. Or a dark haired tomboy who is aggressively sexual. Like the main character in DOLLHOUSE, that same actress when she played the other slayer who kept saying 5 by 5, the whore on FIREFLY. And I’ve yet to see her on NEVERS but I’m betting one of the characters will be this.
Oh and Charisma Carpenter is notably none of these. But it’s worth noting that she didn’t start out a main character on BUFFY. But was a relatively minor foil whose role expanded. And was deemed expendable enough that she could be safely shipped off to the ANGEL spinoff without a loss to the main show.
Main character guys come in two flavors as well. Nerdy guy who’s both bad with women but also gets a girl. Not the main girl. But a side girl. Xander, Wesley, the pilot from FIREFLY, the dark haired guy from NEVERS. And roguish villain who may or may not have a flirtation with the main girl. Which you see in DOLLHOUSE and Alan something who was the pilot in FIREFLY, obviously Spike, somewhat in Angel but he was a more brooding version until Whedon landed on the Spike template, and the bisexual aristocrat who is running the sex club and is almost certainly going to be the villain.
It’s a shame NEVERS is so bad because it’s kinda interesting to see Joss Whedon doing a soft R
It does have the feeling of a WB superhero show (I’ve seen clips). Whedon spent too much time in network.
I’ve never understood shows including unsexy nudity. You avoid the vocal offense. But not the drop in prudish viewers. But none of the upside of drawing prurient interest. The vocal offense is just sound and fury signifying nothing. So what if 100 blog writers pretend to be offended? People will talk. No one will care. People hated GAME OF THRONES when it was poorly written. Not when people were talking about sexposition. That was the show's height.
I feel like Joss Whedon should never write female protagonists again. It seems like he’s said everything he has to say with them. Making 2D male protagonists interesting seems to be a new field for him (Captain America, Superman).
NEVERS is like if an AI was tasked with writing a Joss Whedon show. It reminds me a bit of when Clive Owen(?) was doing THE KNICK and said he was worried about doing a series because people will pick up on your tricks if they see you do your thing every week. This feels like Joss Whedon giving away his tricks. Or maybe I should say “turns”. Which you wont get because no one watched this show.
Between NEVERS anti-union good guy and the libertarian themes in FIREFLY I’m feeling more confident that Joss Whedon is a closet libertarian.
Oh, I didn’t comment on the deus ex machina exposition hooker. But obviously I noticed she was a deus ex machina exposition machine.
I mean the ripoff of THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY origin story is already blatant enough. But the gay detective storyline is just so forced. Like everyone starts out with all these interconnected storylines. Like a good show you start out and have a period where the characters meet. They you have a period where the audience knows the characters. Then a period where you’re building off the backstory. And that’s 5 - 10 seasons. But starting with an interconnected backstory involves is like starting off in the 9th inning.
Two episodes and I’m throwing in the towel. Never watch THE NEVERS… I’m sorry saying that.