Blogocentric Formulations

The Defenders

"Blog Harbor"  PROMPT (DAY 2): This time let's discuss that one show, with the character that just doesn't seem to fit. You wish you could just pluck them out of the show and replace them with someone else. What show is it and why don't you think they fit?

Don't get me wrong; I love Sigourney Weaver. Ripley is an icon. "There is no Dana, only Zuul!" She's brilliant in cult classics like Galaxy Quest and Heartbreakers. But the one role she just plain didn't pull off was Alexandra in The Defenders. I can see why the producers would want her (I mean, just look at her IMDB page for heaven's sake!), but it was really hard to buy her as the nearly-immortal, nigh-untouchable leader of a centuries-old criminal organization with its own army of ninjas.

Now, I don't think it's entirely her fault. This series had so many cringe-worthy, ham-fisted lines that I lost count. So I'm not sure it's entirely all Sigourney's fault when there's dialogue like this:

Alexandra: "Please tell your wife she makes it even better than they did in Constantinople."
Waiter: "I think you mean Istanbul, ma'am. Constantinople, this is its ancient name."
Alexandra: "Oh yes, of course."

Talk about hit-you-in-the-face-with-a-frying-pan blatant. If you want us to believe that she's an incredibly sophisticated, calculating, world-traveling, brilliant crime lord, how do you expect us to believe she's going to accidentally forget that Turkey's largest city underwent a name change in the distant past? "Hey audience! Did you notice that? She's way older than she seems because she forgot that it's not called Constantinople anymore! See? SEE??? Did you catch that?"

This show had a lot of flaws, and Sigourney Weaver's character was a major one. Even though I adore her as an actress and think (well, thought) she could do no wrong, her character was one that I wish they would have just scrapped and started over with. It felt like a situation where they tried to script a character to be worthy of Sigourney, when they should have written a more compelling character and cast it accordingly.