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Jul. 20th, 2008 07:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seldneiSo I was disappointed in the ending of Dr. Horrible (though the first two bits and part of the third are good, so still go see it), and Scott and I were discussing it, and I think I know how it ought to have ended.
Okay, everything goes along the same until the death ray explodes and Captain Hammer runs away crying. Dr. Horrible looks around and sees Penny, alive, perhaps grazed, and very obviously recognizing the guy from the laundromat as the supervillain. Dr. Horrible is totally freaked out, but Penny's surprisingly cool with the evil, especially since she knows he's nice and has found that Captain Hammer's kind of a dick.
Cut to the laundromat, they're eating frozen yogurt and Dr. Horrible is sorting through his mail. Or perhaps just reading a letter out loud: "... while character assasination was not quite what we were looking for, we admit it's a creative and highly effective means of eliminating a superhero. Unfortunately, your signature on a petition to save a homeless shelter has disqualified you from membership in the Evil League of Evil. We simply cannot risk that sort of charitable association. Imagine the headlines on the Drudge Report!"
Dr. Horrible rants for a couple of seconds, until Penny says, kinda shyly and flirtatiously, "Well, gee, ya know, maybe we ought to ... I dunno, overthrow the Evil League of Evil? Maybe we could instate our own, like, Eviller League of Evil?" Dr. Horrible is staring at her in disbelief as she goes on, "Well, come on, it looks like fun to be a villain. We could be, like, Partners in Evil ..."
Cut to a final song, Dr. Horrible and Penny, wearing full super-villain regalia, enjoying the Evil. And maybe sitting on Bad Horse.
The Origin of Evil Penny! Come on! How much fun would that have been?
Okay, everything goes along the same until the death ray explodes and Captain Hammer runs away crying. Dr. Horrible looks around and sees Penny, alive, perhaps grazed, and very obviously recognizing the guy from the laundromat as the supervillain. Dr. Horrible is totally freaked out, but Penny's surprisingly cool with the evil, especially since she knows he's nice and has found that Captain Hammer's kind of a dick.
Cut to the laundromat, they're eating frozen yogurt and Dr. Horrible is sorting through his mail. Or perhaps just reading a letter out loud: "... while character assasination was not quite what we were looking for, we admit it's a creative and highly effective means of eliminating a superhero. Unfortunately, your signature on a petition to save a homeless shelter has disqualified you from membership in the Evil League of Evil. We simply cannot risk that sort of charitable association. Imagine the headlines on the Drudge Report!"
Dr. Horrible rants for a couple of seconds, until Penny says, kinda shyly and flirtatiously, "Well, gee, ya know, maybe we ought to ... I dunno, overthrow the Evil League of Evil? Maybe we could instate our own, like, Eviller League of Evil?" Dr. Horrible is staring at her in disbelief as she goes on, "Well, come on, it looks like fun to be a villain. We could be, like, Partners in Evil ..."
Cut to a final song, Dr. Horrible and Penny, wearing full super-villain regalia, enjoying the Evil. And maybe sitting on Bad Horse.
The Origin of Evil Penny! Come on! How much fun would that have been?
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Date: 2008-07-21 03:41 pm (UTC)I definitely thought the end of Dr. Horrible felt like an "and then a tree fell on them" ending, and was only happy past that point by the appearance of Bad Horse. Yeah, it was a surprise and Joss is known for those, but when you've got people surviving cars thrown at their heads, it seems ... inconsistent?
Of course, I kept waiting to find out that Penny was Bad Horse, so what do I know from good plotting? ;)
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Date: 2008-07-21 04:35 pm (UTC)The ending's tonal change just didn't work for me. Joss is so good at the funny/dark balance, but Dr. Horrible started out so over-the-top funny that I didn't think the sudden swoop into tragedy worked--he didn't earn it. What he did earn was a totally goofy, over-the-top ending ... and he squandered it! Squandered! Mel Brooks would be rolling over in his grave, were he dead!
Plus, sorry, after Anya and Wash, I think he's maxed out his shocking-death credit.