You see, I have recently read a pair of books (of a trilogy - the third part has not been completed yet) and watched a TV series that have both invoked the Magnusson Protocol, the former being a good example of sticking with something, the latter less so. Let me explain.
Stephen Kotkin's Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878 - 1928 and Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1928 - 1941 are, without doubt, two of the most exhaustively researched and highly detailed accounts of the life of Stalin and the Russian Empire/Soviet Union I have ever read. Not quite as personal as Simon Sebag Montefiore's superlative duo of tomes, Kotkin's work is truly on an epic scale while, at the same time, maintaining a personal focus on Stalin and those around him. For those who measure such things, the hardback second volume contains 900 pages of densely packed type before you get to the notes and bibliography. They take up another 200 pages of even smaller type.
It took me a good month to get through the first volume in paperback and I approached the second with some trepidation, knowing full well this would be a long slog to the end. There is nothing wrong with the style of writing, nor does it need any editing - there is just an awful lot to read and the second volume took about six weeks to wade through. If I were to complain about anything, well, that would be his propensity (as an Yank - sorry, American) to refer to the British as Brits (and individuals as a Brit) in volume one. It's a smidge annoying and he only does it once in volume two so I'll leave it there, but you know, no one else gets the shortened nationality so why should we...
Educational, informative and enlightening, I am pleased I stayed with these books and I will read the third when it is published. That is not to say I actually enjoyed reading them. That is something entirely different, but the knowledge I gained from completing the two volumes has, in my opinion, outweighed the struggle of getting through them. It was good to finish, as indeed I had started. If you have an interest in the period, by all means give them a go, you may find them an easier read than I did.
The TV show that also invoked the Protocol was Luke Cage. Now in its second season, this show had built up a decent base of expectation, with its soul, character and writing. True, there were issues with pacing and the musical accompaniment that made each episode feel like a riff on "Opportunity Knocks", either that or some record label paid a lot to have their bands perform in the show, but overall, season one showed promise. All season two had to do was provide a decent story and improve on the weaknesses. It didn't.
Season two has all of the faults of the first: the pacing is glacially slow and doesn't really kick off until episode 5. Yep, episode 5 of 13. It feels like once again, the writers of a Marvel show have a cracking set of storylines to fill eight hours of brilliant television and then get told that the network have booked a 13 episode season - but since the budget was for the 8 hour story, they have to stretch everything out to cover the mandated air time - and that means the pacing goes all to hell. The show still has the musical interludes, covered as acts performing in one of the main locations, so you have between five and ten minutes (of a roughly 55-60 minute episode) of bands/groups/solo artists performing. Why? Well, why not? It fills in the run time. Except that even when these sections are woven into the story telling, they drag the episode to a halt, destroying any pace built up and making even those short hours feel like they are a lot, lot longer. Ignoring the advertising function of these sections, they add nothing else to the show.
Not that the negatives end there. Oh no. The Netflix/Marvel TV shows have always tended to look right, that enough money was spent to make sure that, whatever other faults they had, they didn't look cheap. Well, this season of Luke Cage might be the tipping point. I understand that location filming in New York is expensive but when most of that location shooting is in an old warehouse, on a dis-used wharf or in some generic back street, you might want to consider your future options. It also affects the balancing act that every superhero TV show and film has to make - swinging between drama and over-the-top antics. Whereas the likes of Jessica Jones veers towards drama, if a little dour at times, and Daredevil keeps us knee deep in red leather, Cage is hitting that OTT limit, even when it doesn't mean to. From the overuse of slow motion camera work in fight (and walking) scenes to the visibly fragile props (tables, walls, padlocks - they all look like they were made on Blue Peter), the show is heading dangerously close to the 1970's Spiderman TV show in the levels of naffness and I can't help but feel that the show's budget needs a bit of a pick me up if they want to keep the New York filming.
Direction is leaden despite the regular change over of directors and this impacts the acting too, as most of the regular cast aren't that bad, or at least they weren't in season one. Now, however, Alfie Woodard's scheming villainess starts at Pantomime dame levels and camps it up higher and Theo Rossi's Shades is just a pastiche now - all sharp, too-tight suits, whisper level delivery and sunglasses at night. Even Mike Coulter, as the titular character, seems to be phoning it in, either gruff and bored or gruff and angry whilst looking bored. There is only so much broody-face you can get away with in one episode, yet this spans the whole season. I am presuming the tone of the characters was a conscious decision by the showrunners but for the most part, the cast come across as caricatures at best and lazy stereotypes at worst.
If, by reading all of the above, you may think I don't like the show at all. To be honest, it's not about liking it, more in being terribly disappointed in it. There were some good points - the best being the one episode cameo by Iron Fist who, surprisingly for his character, isn't annoying. It does give me some faith that Iron Fist season two might atone for the sins of the first season. Maybe...
So, back to the Magnusson Protocol. When telling a friend about the issues I was having watching Luke Cage, he commented that I should give up on it, that it was a waste of time if I wasn't enjoying it. I can see the point he was making and on a level, agree with it. However, if I had stopped half way through, I would not be in a position to make a fully informed comment on the show or make a judgement as whether or not to watch another season if one is made. It's a personal choice, as with all things leisure time related, but I think that there is something to be said for not giving up just because it's not really working for you at the beginning. In the case of the books, they fulfilled their purpose albeit with a bit of a struggle. With the TV show, it failed to be entertaining but knowing why it wasn't and what I feel didn't work, I will know better in future.
