Hee! Vonnie I've been singing that same part over and over today.

Hee, Shir, I think it just may be the wall thing. Well, wall and the agony, like you said. The beginning of that bit when NPH *throws* himself to the wall -- OK, I find that hotter than anything in the whole show. And the way his voice goes for broke when he sings "evil inside of me"? Day-um. And the clever, clever lyrics. I particularly love the way Billy's line of "how the world's full of filth and lies" and Penny's "how the world's finally growing wise" start together, diverge, and come back on that final "-ise".

I've seen that wall duet scene before. Was it West Side Story ?

I watched Act III earlier today, and was completely caught off-guard by the ending. The tonal shift just smacks you upside the head.

I just re-watched all the way through, and the tonal shift still seems rather abrupt. However, part of me wonders if it is Joss sort of saying "Hello, you're rooting for the bad guy! What exactly did you think was going to happen?"

I don't know. It still seems a bit off, somehow. Overall, I think that Act II is my favorite of the three.

That said, Bad Horse actually being a horse fills me with glee for some reason. I wonder if that's just Joss being goofy or it's a joke aimed at all the hyper-intelligent evil gorillas that exist in comic books.

Overall, though, I completely agree with the assesment that NPH is made of awesome in this.

I just caught that the Wonderfluonium case says, "DO NOT BOUNCE."

Well, I have no idea where and if I've seen the wall duet before, but I now declare myself as a "Wall of Agony" genre fan. Two people (or more!), one wall, tons of agony, possibly singing. You just can't go wrong with that, you know?

I dreamed the music all last night -- no tthe words, just the music. Of course, there was a red tabby kitten named Harriet in my dream. and some world saving. I guess I needed a sound track

The Watcher's interview with NPH: [link]

A teensy bit spoilery, but nothing for Act III.

Dr Horrible has two copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I've been thinking about the "woman in the fridge" trope. I understand the criticism of it, but I don't see Penny's death as being that.

I look at the whole story as a morality play. It's very greek, even down to the (two) greek choruses, the one egging Dr. Horrible along and the cult of Hammer/Horrible. We had the deus ex machina in the exploding death ray. Greek plays were all about doing the right thing or the gods will punish you. I'm thinking pretty much everyone got well-punished in this one.

What I take away from Penny is that, as Capt. Hammer sang (and he's not wrong, even if he's an ass), everyone is a hero in their own way. Penny was a hero for the homeless, but she couldn't see herself that way. Even though she knew Hammer was a skeeve, at the end she looked for him to be her hero. She wasn't an unknowing victim, she knowingly and willingly chose to let someone else be the hero, she was just another sheep.

In the end, it's all a "be true to thyself" play. Penny died because she couldn't be the hero in her own story. Billy saw himself as a hero for trying to change a status that was not quo, even if he was doing it in a villainous way (the ends justify the means) and is disappointed when he is actually seen as the villain (the nightmare is real, I won't feel...a thing.) Hammer believes he's a hero, but he uses his strength carelessly and ultimately causes Penny's death (with great strength comes great responsibility), we see in the end he's a coward and a fool and he knows it, now, too (unavailable for comment.)

So, anyway, I enjoyed it tremendously. The more I watch it, the more I get out of it.