Fading In

I have to say that, whenever the BBC announce any kind of Supernatural/Paranormal drama series - other than Being Human - a chill runs down my spine for all the wrong reasons.

The BBC is shit at producing 'Supernatural/Paranormal drama' - other than Being Human.

So, when I read about The Fades in the brochure for the London Expo at the beginning of the year, and decided to sit in on the panel (three stars, the writer (I think) and a couple of other production staff), I was curious, but not very optimistic... and the early stuff they had on show wasn't inspiring.

At all.

But that was early in the year, and the show was due to air this month - started tonight, actually - so I figured I'd wait and give it a chance.

On balance, I'm pretty impressed.

The main character was a little weak in this first episode, but that's not uncommon... Protagonists can be difficult to introduce at the best of times, and this 'mixed up teenager who sees dead people' sounds almost painted-by-numbers. Given time, I think the script and the actor will flesh him out. The best friend is truly amazing, though. The last thing I expected from this show was for any of the characters to have me laughing out loud, so the fact that it happened several times as a direct result of his dialogue - and for all the right reasons - was a huge bonus to the show. As a character, he had a lot more to work with in terms of script... in fact, he probably had the most dialogue in the whole show because he's such a motormouth.

My only real complaint was the very beginning... which presented a woman out on the streets, on her own, walking over to a crumpled heap of possibly-person in an alleyway, asking "Are you alright?" Surely, in this day and age, anyone but the most terminally stupid (or naive) would walk away unless they had someone with them, and would be far more cautious even then..?

There's a subtle hint of Silent Hill to it - dreams filled with clouds of falling ash, rubbery monsters in the intro - and it wasn't especially scary... but it was certainly creepy, foreboding and well worth another look next week.

Played even further into Xenoblade today - I've put in almost a full day now (just over 22 hours, by the game's count). As a means of getting into Colony 6, heading to the very bottom of a mine inside what must surely be Bionis's groin seems a little counterintuitive, and my RPG Gamer's sense tells me there will be a massive Mechon waiting for me right at the bottom, but the scenery getting there has been exceptional... Some of the mine was confusing - the map is small while in walkabout mode, and the area map isn't especially helpful when area labels appear over tunnel junctions, but I didn't get lost for long...