The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 18, 2017 — 6A
Arts
THE CW
‘Jane the Virgin’ becomes
Adam the Virgo in S4 shift
Ah, friends. We begin again
with our Jane, or wait a second…
our Adam? Season four of CW’s
“Jane the Virgin” opens not with
the show’s namesake, but with
one Adam Eduardo
Alvaro
(Tyler
Posey, “Teen Wolf”)
instead — Jane’s
teenage love, with
his
own
sultry-
speaking
narrator
in tow. Viewers met
Adam in the season
three finale when
he
brought
Jane
(Gina
Rodriguez,
“Deepwater Horizon”) a letter
Michael had written for her and
stuffed away in the floorboards
of their old house. Season four
now premieres with our new
female narrator, voiced by Vanessa
Marshall, setting the scene for Jane
and Adam’s romance from his side
of the story.
Adam was a tenant of the house
Jane and Michael (Brett Dier,
“Ravenswood”) once lived, where
he discovered what he believes
to be a stranger’s love note. Cut to
three years later, Adam discovers
that this letter was written to none
other than our Jane, who, as Adam’s
narrator mentions, he proposed to
when he was 19 years old.
A season premiere beginning
with a brand-new character in the
place of the protagonist — even
going as far as to replace her title
sequence with his own, “Adam the
Virgo” — seems jarring as a season
kick-off to a show named for its
main character. However, I believe
the writers knew they needed to
give this new love interest a grand
entrance to nestle him in the hearts
of viewers.
Once Jane’s narrator regains
the reigns on the episode, we find
out that Jane and Adam decide to
get engaged when he receives his
acceptance to NYU — only to have
their love story cut short when
Adam calls off the engagement
on
their
wedding
day.
They
don’t see each other again until
they’re
reunited
by Michael’s letter,
almost
10
years
later.
The
existence
of
this
new
heartthrob
and
this
novel-worthy
tale
of,
“finding
their
way
back,”
seems to blossom
out of thin air. 65
“chapters” in, “Jane the Virgin” has
stretched each character’s plot line
so thin, the writers were forced to
backpedal and retroactively create
a new gamechanger: Jane’s real
first love.
While telenovelas don’t always
adhere to the realm of believability,
the torrid tale of teen Jane and
Adam was out of character for our
protagonist, who was laboriously
painted as responsible and even-
minded
throughout
the
past
seasons – even in her childhood
flashbacks. The fact that Jane’s
relationship with love thus far in
the show was seemingly unaffected
by a broken engagement in her
teen years is quite a reach in her
character build.
The one saving grace of the
Adam plotline, however, is the
introduction of his female, sharp-
tongued narrator. The show’s
main narrator usually provides
comic relief from the sometimes
emotionally exhausting pace of a
telenovela and, as he says himself,
helps “shape the story.” With
Adam’s narrator playing catch up to
all the entangled storylines, she acts
as the voice of the skeptic viewer.
She adds an air of self-deprecation
to the show, helping the show mock
its own downfalls, like highlighting
the use of classic telenovela ploys.
“You led me to believe Rafael was
into Jane, with all the misleading
push-ins and long glances,” she
shoots at the male narrator.
Sometimes when a show is too
self-aware, it can feel too much
like you’re sitting in the writers’
room, hearing their gears turn; this
narrators acknowledgment of the
soap operas downfalls, however,
keeps the show treading the line
between good TV and your
grandma’s soaps.
Another
way
that
Adam’s
narrator underlined an inherent
weakness in the Jane empire
was by speaking for the first time
viewer, trying to conceive such
long winded, twisted character
arcs, since she is brought in three
seasons deep. As I sat watching
the premiere with my mother —
who tuned out at season two — I
had to pause consistently to have
sufficient time to explain how our
characters had gotten here.
My continuation with the show
is, in no part, thanks to these now
overused tangential plots, but
rather that I’ve come to want the
best for Jane as if she was a dear
friend. And there is something to
be said about writing that makes
you tune in again solely to feed
your attachment to a character.
While my loin-driven loyalty will
always remain with Jane’s baby
daddy and their happy ending,
perhaps
if
Adam’s
emphatic
introduction is any sign, I could
learn to love again. After all,
there’s one thing this season
premiere laid out for certain – at
least for one strand of the greater
thread of Jane’s world – we will
see more of Adam.
It’s
October,
and
we’re
quickly
coming
up
on
Halloween.
That
can
only
mean one thing…
Just
kidding.
It
means
a lot of things. There are
the
changing
leaves
and
landscapes, and the familiar
tastes of fall flavors like apple,
pumpkin and cinnamon. If
you’re like me, though, what
you’re really thinking about
these days is horror. Scary
movies, scary costumes and, of
course, haunted houses.
We’ve seen a lot of haunted
houses in horror fiction. Even
when the narrative doesn’t
revolve
specifically
around
the house, it’s often there, or
there’s some part of the story
in which the characters have
to enter one. It’s one of the
narratives that those of us who
enjoy horror usually enjoy the
most: a creepy, isolated house
full of closed doors, dark
rooms and basements, creaky
floorboards and secrets.
One of the most enduring
haunted house stories is The
Haunting of Hill House by
Shirley Jackson. You might
know Jackson already from
“The Lottery,” that grim short
story a lot of us had to read
in middle or high school. In
The Haunting of Hill House,
she constructs a mesmerizing
story about an evil house
with an evil history, and the
dark events that unfold when
four very different people — a
scientist, a thief, a flamboyant
artist and a quiet woman with
a dark past — spend a week
there together.
Like many other frightening
stories, this book can best be
understood as an accumulation
of
horrors.
There’s
your
typical fun pack of ghost-
story scares: ominous writing
appearing on the walls, doors
slamming shut for no reason,
clothes
appearing
covered
in blood. These are all scary,
but strangely, none of them
hit home quite the way the
book’s psychological elements
do. The nighttime scenes and
interactions
between
the
characters propel the readers
to ask disturbing questions:
Whose hand was the character
holding in the darkness, if not
her friend’s? Can the narrator
even be trusted, or has she
fallen
too
far
under
the
house’s influence? In terms
of psychological horror, it
doesn’t get much more spine-
tingling than that.
Of course, as I said, there
are a ton of different haunted
house stories out there. The
reason I’m choosing to focus on
this one is because it’s a great
example of horror literature,
and there’s no better time to
talk about horror literature
than Halloween season.
Shirley Jackson is one of
a host of writers — Bram
Stoker and Mary Shelley are
good
historical
examples,
Stephen King if you’re looking
for someone more recent —
whose names are very much
tied to the genre of horror.
The names are famous and
widely recognized, but it’s
this
attachment
to
genre
that fascinates me. There’s
a
tendency
among
people
to look down upon famous
works and writers of horror,
sometimes
without
even
realizing that they’re doing it,
because horror is considered
genre fiction. It falls alongside
science fiction and fantasy; it’s
good, maybe, but it’s not great
— it’s not “literary.” Its quality
derives from the fact that it’s
pulpy and popular.
Of course, to dig into this
issue, one sort of needs to ask
the question of what “literary”
means to begin with, which
is an enormous rabbit hole
all on its own. To me, though,
it seems clear that works
like The Haunting of Hill
House are meritorious and
impactful. It was published
in
1959,
which
makes
it
relatively recent as far as the
ghost stories of history go,
but it still provided a template
for many terror-based and
psychological haunted house
stories to come. Even on a
broader literary scale, it tells
a captivating story that delves
deep within the psyche of its
narrator
and
convincingly
captures emotions like envy,
hatred, hope, uncertainty and
distrust, which all affect us in
our everyday lives.
The debate could go on for
years — and, to some extent,
already has — as to whether or
not works of horror are worthy
of serious literary attention.
My recommendation is to pick
a dark and rainy afternoon
sometime this October, curl
up with a library copy of The
Haunting of Hill House and
simply decide for yourself.
Shirley Jackson and the
legacy of haunted houses
LITERATURE COLUMN
LAURA
DZUBAY
TV REVIEW
SOFIA LYNCH
For The Daily
RUN FOR COVER
Citizen to perform release
show at St. Andrew’s Hall
ARTIST INTERVIEW
At this point in their career,
Citizen has reached an almost
cult-like status. With roots in the
angry, aggressive side of pop punk,
fans quickly flocked to the band.
However, each of their releases
has marked growth for a band
unwilling to remain stagnant, and
on their third album As You Please
we find Citizen in a full melodic
bloom. Where sophomore record
Everybody Is Going to Heaven,
while gorgeously arranged, was
sonically
demanding,
As
You
Please feels less jarring, more fluid
and effortlessly captivating.
This Thursday, October 19th,
Citizen will be headlining a record
release show at Saint Andrew’s
Hall in Detroit while on tour with
Sorority Noise and Great Grandpa.
The Michigan Daily recently spoke
to guitarist Nick Hamm about the
tour, changes to their live show and
the reception of their phenomenal
new record.
The Michigan Daily: I keep
seeing the Detroit show referred
to as the record release show. Do
you guys have anything special
planned for that date?
Hamm:
Oddly
enough,
we
generally do our record release
shows in Toledo, but this time
around logistically we weren’t able
to. So, we decided to do the record
release in Detroit, but we’re going
to donate a portion of the proceeds
to the Toledo public schools
foundation. And I’m excited about
that, because we feel a bit guilty. So
many shows pass over Toledo, so
we’re excited to be able to, I don’t
know, make up to Toledo a little
bit. So that’s probably the most
special thing we have planned
for it. It’s also going to be the first
show that we’re showcasing, like,
some production that we’re doing
that’s nothing we’ve done before.
We’re kind of excited to break in
this new kind of style of Citizen
show.
TMD: Could you touch on
specifics? Are you adding lights to
the show or instruments for the
production of the album?
Hamm: The most noticeable
difference with the new album
and the new live show is that we’ve
added keys into the mix. So now,
you know, that’s a very new thing
to see Mat (Kerekes, vocalist) up
there playing a keyboard. And
additionally, we have some lights
and things like that that we’re
going to be trying out. Hopefully
there’s no bumps in the road as far
as that goes. We’re excited about it,
so hopefully people enjoy it.
TMD: In your recent interview
with New Noise Magazine, you
said that there was a pushback
on the new sound on Everybody
Is Going to Heaven. How has the
reception with As You Please been
compared to your sophomore
record?
Hamm:
It’s
been
overwhelmingly positive. I really
don’t think we’ve ever released
anything that has had such an
immediate
positive
response.
Touching back on the Everybody
Is Going to Heaven thing, you
know, we had a very clear vision
for that album and a very clear
sense of how polarizing it might
be, coming off of such a different
record with our debut. This time
around we knew people would
— you know, it’d be a little less
polarizing — we knew that people
would like it. But we really had
no idea that people would be as
receptive and as responsive as
they have been so far. So, it’s super
exciting after having an album that
people either loved or hated, it’s
kind of nice to have this record out
and seemingly anyone that hears it
is really excited about it.
TMD: With the tour starting
tomorrow, are there any songs
you’re excited or nervous about
playing live for the first time?
Hamm: Yeah, we’re doing a
new song called “Control,” and I
think ever since we first wrote the
song we’ve been really anxious
to be able to play it live. So, we’ve
been practicing that one pretty
diligently, just making sure it’s
perfect before we unveil it. That’s
probably the one I’m most excited
to play.
TMD: I know you’ve toured
with Sorority Noise a few times
at this point, and they were really
well received at your headlining
show with Turnover. Could you
tell me a little bit about your
touring experience with them and
the addition of Great Grandpa as
the opener?
Hamm: So we first toured
with Sorority Noise in 2016 with
Turnover, and we didn’t really
know them at that point. We
knew their singer Cam (Boucher)
through mutual friends, but we
just really love touring with them.
They not only are just a really cool
band, but they’re great people.
They also just know everything
about gear, and they’ve helped us
with little things like that along the
way. If I’m having technical issues,
I just ask one of them about it and
they generally know what it is.
They’re super fun to have on tour
with because they’re so positive
and friendly. But they’re also just
so helpful, and they don’t ask for
anything in return. They’re just
really cool people to be able to tour
with. And as for Great Grandpa,
I had not heard of the before we
started routing the tour, and I’m
friends with their booking agent
Greg Horbal, and he suggested
them so we all listened to them.
There were a few other options
in the mix, and we all just really
liked it and thought they were a
really cool band. Unfortunately
for them, they have to drive all the
way from Seattle to meet up with
the tour, but they immediately said
yes to doing the tour. Obviously, it
doesn’t always work out that way,
but immediately they were down
and it seems like it’s going to be
really cool getting to know them
and watch them every night.
TMD: How would you describe
a Citizen show to someone who
has never heard of Citizen before?
Hamm: I would say first and
foremost that it’s dynamic. I think
that describes it pretty perfectly.
There’s moments that are pretty
chaotic and loud, and then there’s
moments that are really calm and
really pretty, for lack of a better
word. So, I think that it’s something
that not every band offers, and I’m
pretty proud of the way we handle
the dynamics throughout our set. I
think that’s probably the best word
to describe it.
DOMINIC POLSINELLI
Daily Arts Writer
It’s October, and
we’re quickly
coming up on
Halloween. That
can only mean
one thing…
The debate could
go on for years
— and, to some
extent, already
has — as to
whether or not
works of horror
are worthy of
serious literary
attention
“Jane the
Virgin”
Season Premiere
The CW
Fridays @ 9:00 p.m.
Read more online at
michigandaily.com