antigwenallies | Imma gonna rant about the Satellite Awards like a crazy woman and cry for Anna Torv

So Eve Myles got nominated for an award. Now I really shouldn't judge because I couldn't be bothered to watch Miracle something or another, but my first reaction to the news was much like Michael Bluth's reaction to Anne: "Her?" Of course, my reaction merely reflected the sadness I felt because the nominations for Myles and Torchwood seem to validate the series that should never be spoken of again.

Ultimately, I wondered why Anna Torv didn't get nominated instead, especially since she had to play five different versions of her character, and because that wasn't enough, she had to impersonate Leonard Nimoy for three episodes, which she did remarkable well. But what it all boils down to is that while Eve Myles is a good actress, Torv has the greater challenge in having to play the fully realized, very complicated Olivia Dunham.

While RTD believes that a writer should not "rape Snow White," Olivia survived an abusive childhood. During that childhood, she endured trials for an experimental drug that relied on fear to work. Her lover was killed, and when his memories were implanted in her brain, she found out that he was keeping secrets from her. She survived being propelled through the windshield of her SUV, and that was right after she made a trip to an alternate universe. She killed the shapeshifter who had assumed the identity of her dead partner. The man she loves unwittingly slept with her doppleganger from another universe; this occurred while she had been kidnapped and almost had her brain removed. There's more to the kidnapping story, but it involves a whole lot of crazy shit she had to endure. Clearly, Olivia isn't being treated with kid gloves, while Gwen... well, she's lived through some horrible losses, but the idea that she should be treated like a Disney princess implies that she's too fragile to deal with the really heavy stuff. But you know, all the crap that Olivia has been through makes her an interesting character because it colors how she proceeds with a case. She's not just blindly going forward because of some notion about the way the world works. She's always thinking and processing, and you can see that on Torv's face.

And goodness, Torv is so good when Olivia is vulnerable. Sure she's had to do these big emotional scenes, but she has this quiet, understated way of expressing pain and loneliness. It's not about emotion that can't be contained and therefore spews everywhere. It more about all of these feeling that are just seeping through the cracks no matter how reserved she's trying to be. Torv is such a nuanced actress (no bug eyes in sight), and I connect with her completely.

Olivia sometimes questions her boss, but she isn't going to scream to get her way. In a scene in "One Night in October," she pulls her boss out of a meeting so she could explain her misgivings about a case in private. She had to go through with things her boss's way, but she understood the chain of command and acted accordingly. However, in other episodes, we've seen that her boss also trusts her enough to let her do things her way when he feels that she is right. It's kind of nice to see characters have a mature relationship onscreen based on trust and experience rather than the tired back and forth we see between Jack and Gwen. Maybe it's just me, but yelling doesn't always mean good drama, and more often than not it makes me uncomfortable and lose empathy for the characters.

Really, I shouldn't compare Myles to Torv since I haven't watched Miracle Whatever. I suppose this is my knee jerk reaction to this nomination which mirrors one of my criticisms of the show: why is it always about the flashy characters? But perhaps I should be happy that an actress from a sci-fi show was recognized at all. Maybe Eve did get a richer character to play this time around. I don't know, but Gwen lost my interest a long time ago. Olivia had me at hello and continues to fascinate me. She is my strong female character. She is my Wonder Woman.

Of course, if Eve is nominated for an Emmy and Torv isn't, I may lose my shit.

Current Mood: cranky
Current Music: "Fade Into You" -- Mazzy Star