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.

I was extremely unimpressed by Dr. Horrible.

I don't think being a spoof gives an unlimited pass for one and two dimensional characterizations, over all klunky dialog (in spite of occasional great lines). And I did not see any brilliant ideas either. Wanting to stop injustice, save the world and impress girls is not a good enough reason to try to take it over? Cops/Superheroes/Presidents who care more about their image than helping people are not helpful, and are kind of villainous themselves? That villains are people themselves and may turn evil out of frustration with how badly things are run plus frustration over social awkwardness and inability to get laid? This is not a critique, because I felt like I totally did not "get" Dr. Horrible. Don't think I'm going to change my mind and start loving it, but maybe someone could point out what I'm missing so I could understand what other see. Cause my opinions have differed from Buffista norm before, but usually I at least understood what people saw stuff. Don't know though, if Nilly's spicy essays did not help me see it, I don't know how much effort it is worth for anyone else. Is it just the music? Cause I liked the music, just not enough to carry the rest for me.

And Sail helps with the Xpost. Does not ping me the same way, but it makes sense to me.

::goes to sit with Sail, who is apparently speaking for my brain today::

Typo, I don't know how many musicals you've seen, but a lot of the things you point out are kind of par for the course for the genre. Also, I don't know that Joss was setting out to say anything that hasn't been said before, but rather trying to give that his own spin.

That's just my pre-breakfast $0.02, though.