grimorie | Loving Life

So here was the agenda for the weekend:

a) watch classic who
b) write Lois meta
c) finish Rose Tyler story

But quite unfortunately, unexpectedly, I fell in love with a new show. A lovely, lovely new show (and how much do I love our new DSL connection? So very, very much). And guys, I didn't expect to fall in love with a new show. I was satisfied with Smallville and Doctor Who was in that place where it's sitting comfortably until the next cycle begins.

I still like Bones but unfortunately I haven't had the motivation to finish season 2 and my love for Supernatural sort of petered out.

And then Life happened.

The show I mean.

I always liked procedurals but I love arc-y, character focused procedurals more. It's why I loved Bones. As long as the plot wasn't outrageously riddled with holes I can quite happily ignore the plot holes.

Life is about Charlie Crews (Damian Lewis) a cop falsely accused for triple homicde and was sent to prison for 12 years, after being exonorated and winning a settlement against the City of Los Angeles Charlie is once again reinstated to the LAPD as a detective. Unlike the hundred and one procedurals on TV Life isn't just be another brooding, noir-ish procedural.

In fact, it has more in common with Veronica Mars with its focus on characters and a long season arc.

I've heard about Life because Claudia Black was supposed to be Charlie Crews' (Damian Lewis) ex-wife but she was pregnant so she had to back out. So I thought my involvement with the series ended with that and that if I did watch it it will only be because of Damian Lewis. Then I read vonnie_k's post on the show, then I read her quest for a song in the one episode and became curious enough to search for an episode and happened to see the first few minutes of Farthingale.

And I fell.

The cinematography was nothing short of amazing and the musical choice (One by Aimee Mann) was fantastic, the start was quirky and... it had a wonderful female character. There and then I decided to get all the episodes ASAP. I mainlined the eight episodes during the whole weekend and have been obsessively rewatching all the episodes.

The beautiful, beautiful thing about this series is that it isn't just about Charlie Crews Life is populated by interesting characters and people. See, the thing about me (and yes, I'm going to say it again) is that I really can't be invested in a series unless I have a female viewpoint character -- John Crichton's an exception because: John!

Characters

Detective Dani Reese (Sarah Sashi), it was actually vonnie_k's rec to nestra's rec post and their write up about Reese Life that made me consider the show but I didn't really know that I would love the show or Reese. Reese is Crew's partner, a former undercover agent and a recovering addict Reese has issues (or should I say ISSUES?) that is totally separate from Crews. Reese is complicated and has her own motives and agency and despite her issues when she's at work she doesn't let that affect her. In fact I'd go as far as to say there are two Dani's the cop!Reese and the still-in-recovery!Reese.

Also, she thinks Crews is kinda insane. I love her expressions whenever she's with Crews: annoyed, irritated, disbelief, dumbfounded, eye rolling and: 'The only reason why I'm not shooting you is because I'm under probation' look. But despite her long suffering attitude towards Crews she recognizes that Crews does have a method to his madness. And she has one hell of a poker face. I also like how she thinks Crews is her goofy sidekick.

Because of her past Reese has built a fortress around her and is very close mouthed about her personal life, she's prickly and sarcastic and very good with her gun. I also loved that the writers decided to incorporate Shahi's heritage and made Reese part Persian.

But most of all I love how slowly Crews and Reese's partnership is growing, it started with Reese just tolerating Crews because he was assigned to her and its worked now that both have mutual respect and trust for the other. As for shipping them I'm really two of minds about this because I think in this point of time they're better off as friends than lovers. They both have issues to fill the Grand Canyon (although that is part of the appeal) and they're still just trying to see if they really could trust the other.

Ted Easley - Crews saved Ted during his time in Pelican Bay and saved him again when Crews found Ted living in a motel room alone and broke.

Constance Griffiths - Crews' lawyer and the person instrumental for his release. She fell in love with Crews while he was in prison and now that he was outside she found that Charlie Crews no longer belonged to her. I'm unsure with her character but I don't actively dislike her.

Lt. Karen Davis - Another complicated character in the series, at first I didn't know what to make of her, she seemed eager to kick Crews off the force even to the point of subtly blackmailing Reese to drop Crews but as the series progressed it seems despite the politicking she is a good cop and recognizes that despite everything Crews is also a good cop.

And just to round things up, I'm adding a few photos of Reese and Crews.

This is Detective Charlie Crews

and this is Detective Dani Reese.

And together they will pwn you.

Did I also mention that another reason why I love this show because they both look hot with the bulletproof vests and guns? And that in one episode they donned the vests at least three times?

Another pass at the bullet proof vest:

Recs:

Vid:

via vonnie_k a fanmade opening credits for Life, which in my head is now personal canon because it works so well.

A fabulous Life promo by tzegha - Meditation.

Picspam:

Charlie Crews and Dani Reese picspam - fourteenlines

Bill and I are on a break - by squeelated
Reese. Gen. Ficlet.
Spoilers up to Powerless
She thinks he knows.

Orange by sloanesomething

He forgot that fruits were still seasonal, and for two weeks in October he has a lot of mushy mangoes. He gives up, switches to oranges.

One morning they get into the car and he turns around looking for a guy in the backseat, he can smell some guy in the car with them, and when Reese keeps her eyes straight ahead, hands flexed on the steering wheel, he figures out where she picked up that shampoo smell. All the hotels have shampoos like that.

All the hotels.

“I dropped my pen,” he says, faces forward.

“Sure,” she says, starts the engine.

For a pairing I don't actually want together on screen (yet) I do love their potential in fics. They're both so messed up and broken in interesting ways that you can't help but wonder... plus their partnership is a thing of beauty. They really are so lovely broken.

The Edge Of by piecesofalice
Charlie/Reese.

“This didn’t happen.”

“Well, it did happen.”

“It didn’t, I mean that.”

“It’s impossible to say something didn’t happen, when it obviously did, considering that-"

“If you continue that sentence, I will throw you out, hide your clothes and call the SWAT team.”

Pop, Chew, Swallow by zerodetorresCharlie/Reese friendship. Spoilers up to Powerless.

She sighed. "Why are you following me?"

"Am I? Or perhaps we have the same destination." He raised his eyebrows in emphasis.

"My destination is my car," she replied pointedly, annoyed.

"But in life," he commented calmly, "our destinations are all the same." He smiled slightly, looked up and squinted at the sun.

Stakeout by imsanehonest
Charlie/Reese friendship. Spoilers up to What they Saw
There were certainly worse things Dani could be doing with her Saturday than being on a twenty-four hour stakeout with her partner at a suspected drug den, even if she couldn’t think of any the moment. Crews spitting out zen haikus had a tendency to do that to a person.

And on a very last note, GIP! Icon made by art_in_disguise.