The Webisodes

[Skydiver]

A one stop shop to discuss the 8 individual Webisodes that started a franchise.

[ClassicCouples]

Yay! I am so excited to rewatch these

[JanSam]

Webisodes 1-4
Webisodes-1-4-cover.jpg

I really like the darker feel of the webisodes. John being a very dark character and Helen and The Sanctuary being very mysterious all added to it. Although I enjoyed Will's character being used as a psychologist, I didn't like how he passed out when he saw Biggie (just gave me the impression that anyone with that severe of reaction would never be an asset out in the field). I could really do without the Barney TV, just didn't add to it for me. David did an excellent job with Tolson and I wish they kept at least his character for the Season 1 premiere (how they rewrote it just didn't work for me but we'll get into the rewrite when I do the Sanctuary For All comments). Webisode 4 has always been my favorite as the acting was done so well that you could feel the tension.

[Skydiver]

I watched it today too.

I loved will's back story. so much better than the other one with his mama and the monster.
In this version, Alexi's adoptive parents are all killed - they mention 4 more bodies coming, and I kinda find Tolson intriguing...and scary that a sociopath like him was on the loose.

Will in the shower was funny, so did biggie or helen put his shorts on him and get him some clothes?

druitt's facial scar is much more pronounced in this one and we get to see more abnormals than we do on the other zoo trip.

there is no henry in this.

Druitt seems to be under 'patient/doctor crush' in the carriage and Helen seems to be enjoying it, so it falls better in her 'first patient mistake' idea. Druitt's 'illness' is also different. In the webbies he goes mad because he zorts, which i do kinda like better than the other way. I kinda like powers iwth downsides (old comic book axiom, for every power there is a price to pay)

I like the catch phrase of Will's 'there's no such thing as monsters'..which is really a saying for the show, there IS no such thing as monsters, just different kinds of people.

there were parts I didn't like, Ash is a ball cracking snotball and yes, Barney TV seemed to be there for no reason, but over all I prefer this version to the reedit.

[fems]

I've just watched the first webbie for the first time. I must say I like the introduction of Will much better this time around and it makes me wonder why they changed him from a shrink to a forensic psychiatrist in the show.

In the show I never really warmed up to his character and as it went on I grew really tired of and annoyed with Will (especially seasons 3&4) but I must say I've missed the intelligent Will. He seems more capable here than he did in the pilot as well to me.

Helen's presence at the apartment's neighborhood and the hospital now also makes more sense than her just walking into the morgue (pilot). Much preferred this introduction to the one in the pilot too. It was refreshing to see her with much less makeup too! At least less eyeshadow than I'm used to, although I have to say I'm not sure if the makeup got more pronounced throughout the show or if it had been present since the pilot. Not that I'm against makeup or anything (she always looks great) but it was just such a change from what I'm used to/remember from her I had to comment on it.

It was nice to catch a glimpse of Ashley too. Following the boy on foot makes more sense than in the pilot as well. Looking forward to seeing more of John, who was now already following her.

The opening scene in 1888 was nice too, seemed much better than what I remember of the pilot (and other glimpses we've had in later episodes).

Old City overall looked more CGI too, sometimes it felt like I was watching a computer game but in a good way, since I understand the technology in this universe is more advanced than what we later see in the show... at least, if Helen's business card (so cool!) is anything to go by.

EDIT:
I think someone mentioned there was a difference between the original webbies and the DVD version? I'm watching the DVD version.

[fems]

Webisode number two.

I like how sneaky John used the boy here, very dark and evil of him. Gah, I've missed him.

Enjoyed watching Ashley go through the tunnels (which again looked very CGI) more this time around than in the pilot, although she sounded a bit odd when meeting up with Helen and Will. Also didn't like her funny hairdo.

It was fun to see Will pass out at the sight of Biggie, twice, and waking up in the Sanctuary. Hadn't expected Biggie and Helen to be so bold. I'm not sure what to think of this Helen, though. I think I like the mysterious air she has in the pilot more than the side of her we see her. She was also smiling a lot and while her lines sounded proper and were executed well, I think she was too modern in some ways. I liked how she apologized for her boldness and the apology combined with her posture was very Victorian to me. But for the rest I think I like the vague and more composed Magnus from the show better.

Oh and from the conversation of the maintenance guys it sounded like Old City was just a part of a much larger city/town?

[fems]

Webbie number three.

I kind of liked how Ashley had more attitude here in the opening scene, but felt Helen's lines weren't as convincing (not as strong or accent-filled as I'm used to) as she scolded her. The whole "Mom... seriously, who is this guy?" was much more credible than Ashley's behavior in the pilot though.

Wasn't too fond of Ernest, much prefer the other weapon's dealer in the show. The flirting between Ernie and Ashley felt kind of forced and the acting wasn't too convincing. Liked the gruesome blood though from John's weapon, don't recall the scene from the pilot being so bloody.

The whole thing with Alexei felt a bit unnatural to me. The quick progress Will had with him, I mean. The logic behind it was rather simple and I would have expected Helen (from what we know of her in the show) to have thought of this is as well, or at least not be so amazed by Will's work.

I liked the clues John used and how he kidnapped Ashley to where I assume he took her in The Five too. Made more sense than how he got to her and Helen in the pilot. I also got the feeling the whole Sanctuary thing isn't as well known on the streets as it was in the show (with John asking directions) and that it more of a prison for the abnormals rather than a safe haven. I understand Helen was joking to Will earlier about exercise not being for another two hours (or something like that) but I did have the feeling the abnormals weren't allowed to roam the Sanctuary as we saw some of the less dangerous ones do in the show.

I liked Ernie's reference to Henry and am wondering if we'll get to see him too in the webisodes, considering he wasn't there with the questioning of Alexei.

The flashback to the 1880s was nice but I got the impression TPTB hadn't really explored Helen's character as much at this time as they seemed to have done for the first season of the show. She was too carefree in my opinion and too modern in speech (having her "way with John") for someone from that time who managed to get a university to accept her and give her the title of doctor. But I did like seeing more of the happy times she apparently shared with John before everything went bad.

I'm looking forward to finding out if there are more details about Ashley's conception in regards to how John was aware of her existence yet didn't come find her earlier.

Oh, the car scene at the end seemed too computer-y in that it were very poor graphics.

All in all, I feel like the Ashley character was written better but executed more poorly here than in the pilot. For Helen the writing was okay and execution good (with some bad moments) but I prefer the show's version of her. I usually refer to her as Magnus for the show and only call her Helen when talking about her past self or if she's shown her softer side or something, but in this case I really feel like we're watching Helen and not Magnus.

[fems]

Numero 4.

Excellent intro with outraged John and Helen coming to the rescue! I imagine he was referring to looking for Ashley around the time she should have been born (late 19th century) while Helen had kept the embryo frozen for over a decade! How smart of her. Makes more sense than why she did it in the pilot considering John's ability is different here with him being able to travel through time, apparently.

I must say I find this version of events with Alexei, Will and John much better than in the pilot. The few times I've rewatched the pilot I always skip through the parts about the apartment and Alexei because they're so boring and I find Will annoying. With this version of Will his later 'development' in the show makes more sense than with the show's version of him, in my opinion. He's more normal here.

Oh and what I forgot to say in the previous post about the car scene was that this time Helen called John by his full name, which makes it more credible for Will to come to the conclusion he was Jack the Ripper, especially in combination with overhearing Helen talk about John killing innocent women and ending up as one of his whores.

I really liked the confrontation between Helen and John and it was a shame it was so short, but probably still more satisfying than in the pilot. Some of it actually reminds me of their interaction in Into the Black and the fight scene in Tempus. I also liked how she'd told Will (and Biggie) in the car in webbie 3 that John was her worst nightmare or something along those lines and that you could actually feel her fear and anger when he had Ashley (and Alexei) hostage.

Nice to know Alexei was taken care of and not just locked up in one of the many rooms of Sanctuary to never be heard of again. Not sure how much Barney added to the whole thing with the exception of mentioning 1932, unless there's more of him in the other four webisodes.

The last scene in Helen's office it felt like we were finally starting to see a bit more of her Magnus side and perhaps it was a more credible and natural turn of events than we saw in the pilot, with Will's hesitance and her opening up a bit yet remaining slightly mysterious.

EDIT:
Forgot about the Will/Biggie thing. I liked how they became friends in the end, after Biggie was wounded (nice to see that John move again!) but I don't like the explanation about scaring people/children in the city. I much prefer the version of events in the show.

[Skydiver]

I need to watch off the DVD and see if they're different or not, or if I'm confusing that with the heavy reedit of the pilot.

I like the menace of druitt, and yes, the secrecy of the sanctuary. makes more sense than it being a nearly open secret amongst the police etc.

Will's fainting was a bit overdone, but I did like them kidnapping him. Ash still got on my nerves with her brashness and almost aggressiveness.

As I mentioned, John's 'illness' is different here and I prefer it to the 'evil entity made me bad' in the show. seems more of a condition and less of a cop out.

I think one glaring 'error' that htey fixed in the reedit was Helen getting the phone call from ash to come to the tunnels. Cause if you watch it you're like 'ok, how the heck did they end up in the tunnels????' cause there's no transition.

There was the never explained story about old city. I always kinda got the idea that there had been some sort of natural disaster that wrecked the town, most folks picked up and started anew across the river, leaving behind the 'trash' that couldn't make it or couldn't afford to come over.....kinda like Beneath the Surface....where the 'better' folks lived up in the city while the 'lesser' people slaved away underneath.

[fems]

The fainting may have been overdone but fits with the character that looks like he's going to be sick when Helen's examining a slimy nearly-human corpse and his reaction to the piece of flesh (or was it an organ?) she was holding up later. It also kinda fits with him being a wuss, having a low pain threshold (compared to the others at least) and I thought he also wasn't good with blood in the show.

I figured Ashley's brashness and attitude came from John's ability since it seemed to have been implied that she inherited his aggressiveness etc. I also think it was better written here than in the pilot but even then I didn't much care for her attitude (but accepted that as part of her character) since I highly doubt a child of Helen Magnus would end up like that... unless they were estranged and she rebelled or something, but they seem to get on quite well.

Oh and I liked some of the mother/daughter lines, I also thought the one about her allowance (hand signal at crypt) was different here than in the show? If I recall correctly it was something about either working together or going solo there.

I never really bought the whole 'evil entity made me bad' in the show and I interpreted Magnus' behavior (and things like telling John to take responsibility for his actions) as her not buying it completely either; more along the lines of okay, that made him this bad perhaps but there has always been something dark in him.

If that glaring error of the phone is fixed in the DVD version then I'm watching the original webisodes because there wasn't any lead up to the tunnels. Just Helen telling Will the boy would go there (the catacombs I think she called it) to hide out since he's never had much interaction with humans and was rejected by them as well. Then Ashley appeared from the shadows saying it helped that she'd been tracking the little dweeb all night.

Oh and I've already watched the other 4 webisodes as well, couldn't really help myself when there was new material for me to watch! But I'll wait until next week (was it?) for my 'review' and perhaps watch them again.

[Skydiver]

This week is all the webbies so go on.

Webbie 1-4 became 'sanctuary for all' with added scenes to make it 2 hour long episodes (90 minutes) instead of one 60 minutish one

[fems]

Oh, okay. Well, I guess I'll have to watch them again to be able to tell them apart. I'll see when I get them up... am starting to feel a bit alone here, though. Where are the other rewatchers?

Hey Skydiver do we have to label spoilers here for the show? I wasn't sure since this is the basic concept of the show and thus tried to remain vague about the differences with the pilot in case newbies still have to watch the show...

[Skydiver]

I don' t see the need for spoilers other than season four, since the brits are just getting that on the air (although I understand they got the dvd's released this week or so)

I was going to watch 5-8 then got busy at work.. It's on my 'to do' list for today

[JanSam]

I loved will's back story. so much better than the other one with his mama and the monster.

Of the two, I also like this back story better but I won't say I love it .

In this version, Alexi's adoptive parents are all killed - they mention 4 more bodies coming, and I kinda find Tolson intriguing...and scary that a sociopath like him was on the loose.

Yeah I really like this storyline much better!

Will in the shower was funny, so did biggie or helen put his shorts on him and get him some clothes?

Will in the shower was funny it's the passing out later that was overdone imo. LOL Biggie or does Helen have men's boxers in Will's size laying around the Sanctuary .

there is no henry in this.

Boo for no Henry, I really liked his intro in the premiere...."Clean up in aisle 4"

In the webbies he goes mad because he zorts, which i do kinda like better than the other way. I kinda like powers with downsides (old comic book axiom, for every power there is a price to pay)

I agree with you, it added to the character imo.

I like the catch phrase of Will's 'there's no such thing as monsters'..which is really a saying for the show, there IS no such thing as monsters, just different kinds of people.

Yes, but I believe we can even add to that. Here the monster wasn't what we typically view as "monster". John was human but his killing made him the monster.

there were parts I didn't like, Ash is a ball cracking snotball and yes, Barney TV seemed to be there for no reason, but over all I prefer this version to the reedit.

I address Ashley in my comments for webisodes 5-8, her character was just a bit OTT in the webisodes but then they toned her down too much in the series imo.
I do prefer the webisode version too.

[JanSam]

I must say I like the introduction of Will much better this time around and it makes me wonder why they changed him from a shrink to a forensic psychiatrist in the show.

In the show I never really warmed up to his character and as it went on I grew really tired of and annoyed with Will (especially seasons 3&4) but I must say I've missed the intelligent Will. He seems more capable here than he did in the pilot as well to me.

I must admit Will was never a "favorite" but like you I became more annoyed with him as the show continued.

The opening scene in 1888 was nice too, seemed much better than what I remember of the pilot (and other glimpses we've had in later episodes).

Old City overall looked more CGI too, sometimes it felt like I was watching a computer game but in a good way, since I understand the technology in this universe is more advanced than what we later see in the show... at least, if Helen's business card (so cool!) is anything to go by.

If I remember correctly the 1880s scene was cut down and placed at the end of Sanctuary For All part 2.

I wasn't surprise that the CGI seemed more like a computer game since the artists for Stage3media came from computer game backgrounds. I still think they did an awesome job with these webisodes as they were the first to attempt it to this extent at the time. I believe people forget they pioneered using the Red Camera and creating the background graphics; if I remember correctly they were the first to do this. I do remember they were rushing to get the webisode completed so they could upload them on schedule.

Webisode number two.
I like how sneaky John used the boy here, very dark and evil of him. Gah, I've missed him.

Oh yes, is it wrong of us to like evil John lol

Hadn't expected Biggie and Helen to be so bold. I'm not sure what to think of this Helen, though. I think I like the mysterious air she has in the pilot more than the side of her we see her. She was also smiling a lot and while her lines sounded proper and were executed well, I think she was too modern in some ways. I liked how she apologized for her boldness and the apology combined with her posture was very Victorian to me. But for the rest I think I like the vague and more composed Magnus from the show better.

I'll agree but I do wish they left her and the Sanctuary more mysterious.

Oh and from the conversation of the maintenance guys it sounded like Old City was just a part of a much larger city/town?

My understanding was Old City and New City were separated by the river but considered one "big city".

[QUOTE=fems;13408061]Webbie number three.
Wasn't too fond of Ernest, much prefer the other weapon's dealer in the show. The flirting between Ernie and Ashley felt kind of forced and the acting wasn't too convincing. Liked the gruesome blood though from John's weapon, don't recall the scene from the pilot being so bloody.

I prefer Peter Deluise as Ernie but I'll agree the scene seemed a little off.
Yes well you can thank the American censors for less bloody; we're too sensitive for all that blood to be shown. /sarcasism

The whole thing with Alexei felt a bit unnatural to me. The quick progress Will had with him, I mean. The logic behind it was rather simple and I would have expected Helen (from what we know of her in the show) to have thought of this is as well, or at least not be so amazed by Will's work.

I took it that she was impressed with how fast Will caught on, not that she couldn't figure out what was happening with Alexi.

I liked the clues John used and how he kidnapped Ashley to where I assume he took her in The Five too. Made more sense than how he got to her and Helen in the pilot. I also got the feeling the whole Sanctuary thing isn't as well known on the streets as it was in the show (with John asking directions) and that it more of a prison for the abnormals rather than a safe haven. I understand Helen was joking to Will earlier about exercise not being for another two hours (or something like that) but I did have the feeling the abnormals weren't allowed to roam the Sanctuary as we saw some of the less dangerous ones do in the show.

I liked both storylines as to how John and Helen were reunited, but I loved the family reunion and how it was resolved more so than the Premiere.

I remember many commenting about how the Sanctuary was more of a prison than a Sanctuary when the webisodes were released. I believe that is why we saw some of the Abnormals roaming free in the Premiere.

I liked Ernie's reference to Henry and am wondering if we'll get to see him too in the webisodes, considering he wasn't there with the questioning of Alexei.

I adore Henry's scenes in the Premeire. He added some humor and I loved it.

The flashback to the 1880s was nice but I got the impression TPTB hadn't really explored Helen's character as much at this time as they seemed to have done for the first season of the show.

I'm looking forward to finding out if there are more details about Ashley's conception in regards to how John was aware of her existence yet didn't come find her earlier.

All in all, I feel like the Ashley character was written better but executed more poorly here than in the pilot. For Helen the writing was okay and execution good (with some bad moments) but I prefer the show's version of her. I usually refer to her as Magnus for the show and only call her Helen when talking about her past self or if she's shown her softer side or something, but in this case I really feel like we're watching Helen and not Magnus.

They definitely rethought everyone's back story and personalities. Wasn't everyone changed from these webisodes?

Numero 4.

Excellent intro with outraged John and Helen coming to the rescue! I imagine he was referring to looking for Ashley around the time she should have been born (late 19th century) while Helen had kept the embryo frozen for over a decade! How smart of her. Makes more sense than why she did it in the pilot considering John's ability is different here with him being able to travel through time, apparently.

John being able to zort through time gave him too much power.

I must say I find this version of events with Alexei, Will and John much better than in the pilot. The few times I've rewatched the pilot I always skip through the parts about the apartment and Alexei because they're so boring and I find Will annoying. With this version of Will his later 'development' in the show makes more sense than with the show's version of him, in my opinion. He's more normal here.

Oh and what I forgot to say in the previous post about the car scene was that this time Helen called John by his full name, which makes it more credible for Will to come to the conclusion he was Jack the Ripper, especially in combination with overhearing Helen talk about John killing innocent women and ending up as one of his whores.

I really liked the confrontation between Helen and John and it was a shame it was so short, but probably still more satisfying than in the pilot. Some of it actually reminds me of their interaction in Into the Black and the fight scene in Tempus. I also liked how she'd told Will (and Biggie) in the car in webbie 3 that John was her worst nightmare or something along those lines and that you could actually feel her fear and anger when he had Ashley (and Alexei) hostage.

"Each of us has our worst fears to confront, Doctor Zimmerman, John Druit is mine." I love this line so I just had to post it .

Nice to know Alexei was taken care of and not just locked up in one of the many rooms of Sanctuary to never be heard of again. Not sure how much Barney added to the whole thing with the exception of mentioning 1932, unless there's more of him in the other four webisodes.

The last scene in Helen's office it felt like we were finally starting to see a bit more of her Magnus side and perhaps it was a more credible and natural turn of events than we saw in the pilot, with Will's hesitance and her opening up a bit yet remaining slightly mysterious.

I agree with all of this!!

EDIT:
Forgot about the Will/Biggie thing. I liked how they became friends in the end, after Biggie was wounded (nice to see that John move again!) but I don't like the explanation about scaring people/children in the city. I much prefer the version of events in the show.

I agree