what the actors bring, what direction brings, what the effects bring

Oh, absolutely. Especially since I know practically nothing about the whole process, so experiencing it this way can really point at the differences that all the steps from word-to-show actually make.

When Alex has Allan in the bathtub (boy does that sound slashy) and comes to the door, he asks Corinna if they got the call yet. They haven't. Presumably this means Corinna has the race phone. But then later, without them having had contact again, Corinna asks Alex what's going on, and he tells her they just got the call. So Alex had the phone, right?

Corinna had asked him if they got the call, after she gave him the food. Alex was all no sleep and distracted, and he made the comment about the screaming keeping him up.

Which, by the way Allyson, that was a very Tim moment for me. It called back to Webb and the rubber gloves (and how funny would that have been?), and also to your jokes about Tim and his compound. I think Alex is pretty much all Tim's, with the snark and the, you know, kinda freaky.

There were a couple of lines last night that really caught my attention - I guess gecause they were funny in sort of a bad way. Of course, I am totally blanking on them now.

I liked the "I don't have issues, I'm not white" line. It reminded me of a Jane Espenson blog post a while back on what makes things funny (like, reversing the two phrases would have made it way less funny).

If Alex ever got his wife back, he'd be shortly hit by a bus...or an ambulance. That's classic Minear.

I am a leaf on the wind . . .

*sob*

I think a lot of Tim's leading men echo Indiana Jones in a lot of ways, constantly getting the shit kicked out of them, pulling out the gun, finding it unloaded and running away to hope the bad guy gets shredded by a propeller in a stroke of serendipity.

There are several moments where Tully resembles Mal Reynolds. To quote my wife, sort of a "Capt. Tightpants meets 'A History of Violence.'"

I don't mean that as a bad thing ... I'm actually rather captivated, and Nathan Fillion does it so damned well.

But yeah, there's a lot of "Drive" that I'd see as classic Minear ... characters dying (the bit with Susan surprised me, although I hadn't gotten to know her so well that I was terribly affected yet. Whereas John Trimble's inevitable death? I'm already braced for that.) Quippy dialouge that doesn't sound like Joss' quippy dialouge, and characters that reveal themselves under Niska-like conditions.

The pace, however, is faster than anythign I've previously seen by him. (And neither "Firefly" nor "Wonderfalls" were slow IMHO. After the premiere, my wife said "Tim never wants to hear the words 'there's not enough action' from a network exec again, does he?"

Alex often resembles Angel more than Mal to me. Obviously, not physically.

Maybe physically too, if Nathan would just wear leather pants. (Did I just say that out loud?)

And spike his hair.

Alex often resembles Angel more than Mal to me. Obviously, not physically.

See, I see more Mal, and not just because it's the same actor. It's a bit of the "I'm confused ... I'm angry ... and I'm armed." The little bit folksy, with a deep-seated rage underneath, and a desire for nothing more than to be left alone, whereas Angel was very much caught up in the "I'M A CHAMPION!!!" bit.

I will admit that when Alex made the quip about it not being the same car, and then pulled the knife out of the glovebox I yelled "MAL!" but for the most part I try to keep them separate.

Although I will say that Wendy's "This is a gianormous mistake" sounded rather Fred like.