191 replies to this topic

[quentin312002]

I'm watching it now. I love the cast and I loves the costumes and sets but I also see some of the problems that critics found with it. The dialogue sounds like it's from advertisements from the time where the writers try too hard to use slang naturally.

http://www.theglobea...article2290088/

[RBK Premier]

I found it to be typical Canadian fare, but it did have one of the most disturbing things I've ever witnessed on TV in the scalping of that girl.

[quentin312002]

I really want to like this show. Not just because it is Canadian but my grandparents actually met working for a munitions factory during the war. This is a story that hits close to home and I would like to find my grandmother's story in these women. I wish she were around to see that this was made into a show.

But after shows like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire I think the bar for period pieces has been set very high. Not that I want this show to become as dark as those shows.
I guess I can just hope it gets better.

Edited by quentin312002, Jan 5, 2012 @ 7:51 PM.

[quentin312002]

Okay, I can see this thread is active as ever.

I just had to comment; aw, looks like Betty has a crush on Kate!

And thank God Lorna's husband was shown trying to help her out in the end. I was afraid that the show was going make every male character completely dislikeable. I didn't mind the scene were Lorna was kissed by the Italian guy from the factory. I usually hate those scenes where two people fight and one of them (or both sometimes) start kissing. Meg Tilly played Lorna's shock just perfectly in that moment.

[Turkish]

So far I'm really liking this show. Shame it's only six episodes as I think it could go longer like a Downton Abbey. All the girls are very likable and I'm already shipping Kate/Betty.

it did have one of the most disturbing things I've ever witnessed on TV in the scalping of that girl.

That scalping scene was disturbing but I've seen much on American tv. I guess I've become a bit desensitized to those sort of scenes.

[quentin312002]

The scalping scene was terrible, but I didn't find it as disturbing as many other scenes because it was an accident. If it was Boardwalk Empire someone would have been scalped by another person. Much darker. I felt awful when the scalped girl heard what the men in the hospital were saying about her behind her back. Considering the amount of disfiguring wounds people got in the First World War, you'd think these guys would be a bit sensitive. After all, they are at great risk of coming out of the war disfigured.

A thing that frustrated me was that the scalping scene and the other almost accident in the factory were started because the men in the factory were flirting with the women. As cheesy as the Suggestion box was I was glad that one of the comments in the box actually pointed this out as a problem in the factory.

I didn't comment on this before but I did think that the show had gotten better since the pilot episode.

[giftcard]

I've only seen the first episode but I thought it was awful, which makes me so sad b/c the idea has so much potential. But this is no Downton Abbey.

That scalping bothered me more than anything else that I've seen on TV.

Episode 2 is still on the TV waiting to be watched. I'll probably watch it and hope that it improves.

[jci]

I like this show. It's rare on film and even more so on television to see a production whose cast is primarily female and is so nakedly feminist in it's intent. The show has been very direct about the open sexism that existed and would have been on display especially in these munitions factories. No doubt it would have been very threatening to see woman doing just fine in a "man's" job.

Someone mentioned Downton Abbey. I like that show as well but it has many flaws and I think Bomb Girls stacks up just fine.

In the first episode, I was very struck by how the series made sure to show the women as sexual people and how their desires are then surpressed. Gladys was the most obvious, when she and her fiance were getting frisky it was her hand repeatedly heading towards the netherlands and it was Gladys that verbalized her desire for them to sleep together. His reply that he "I don't want to take something that you're not ready to give" was one of the most obnoxious, paternalistic reply's I've ever heard. She of course goes out and finds someone else who is willing :-) Best of all this isn't presented as dirty or wrong.

There was also Lorna who tried to be intimate with her husband and he pushed her away and even Kate has her hand just about crushed by her father when he spots her looking on wistfully after a man that had just smiled at her. Not to forget Betty who of course clearly desires another woman and is stymied by society's norms.

I found Gladys the most difficult character to warm to. She trully was saddled with some very bad cookie-cutter dialog in an already well worn story. I suspect that is what put many people off the pilot, but I was completely charmed by both Betty and Kate by the end of the episode. They got a little less screen time but their stories were told with a lighter touch and the two actors were very well cast. Betty is my favorite but I have to give kudos to whoever cast the actress who plays Kate. That kind of sheltered, fragile character could have been very cloying and anoying but I think she plays the part to a tee and makes Kate hard not to love. "Do you want to try a twirl?"

Like Betty, I enjoyed Gladys more by the end of the second episode and I felt they found a better footing with her as the smart and frustrated rabble rouser.

I'm looking forward to the next 4 episodes and I'm rooting for Betty and Kate :-)

[AlisonBlaire]

I'm curious about what year this is set in. Did anyone catch that? I was assuming it's the first half of 1940 as nobody in the munitions factory appears to have been conscripted to be there. But on the other hand comments made by James' friend over dinner suggest that it's after the Dunkirk evacuation and the active Canadian soldiers are stationed, reasonably safely, in Britain.

[quentin312002]

I think I kind of love these characters now. At least I felt that way watching the girls dancing to Billy Holiday. That and I know really like Lorna's husband. Seeing him poke at the canned spaghetti and ask "is it suppose to be so mushy?"lol Poor man, that's probably his introduction to pasta.

[emelle]

I believe the show is set in 1941; however, there was no Canadian conscription during WWII. I certainly am sharing the love for this show!

[AlisonBlaire]

Yeah, I guessed it was 1941 when they were talking about the beginning of the siege of Leningrad. There wasn't any Canadian conscription into battle at that point but there was conscription for men and women to necessary war work, like working in a munitions factory, from June 1940. So if Victory munitions had trouble getting (good) staff correctly qualified people could be moved there even if they didn't want to.

[Deathbyblonde]

I'm digging this show and, oh man, Betty just breaks my heart. They really kind of nailed it with that character for me.

[Turkish]

Betty just breaks my heart. They really kind of nailed it with that character for me.

Betty is my favorite as well. Especially after this last episode. I loved how they wrote Betty's disappointment at how she was being portrayed in that commercial. And I thought the actress really nailed all of her scenes throughout but my favorite moment has to be when Kate gave her that little pep talk that she didn't have to be liked by everybody. Betty just seems totally smitten with her.

[StarryDreamer]

I'm curious about what year this is set in. Did anyone catch that? I was assuming it's the first half of 1940 as nobody in the munitions factory appears to have been conscripted to be there. But on the other hand comments made by James' friend over dinner suggest that it's after the Dunkirk evacuation and the active Canadian soldiers are stationed, reasonably safely, in Britain.

It is 1941. The producers/writers thought that would be a good year because it was before anything big happened for Canada (before Hong Kong, before Dieppe, before D-Day) so they could write to those events. In the first episode, Gladys' fiance, who's American, mentions that his country has not even entered the war and he's constantly getting looks from locals because he's an able bodied seemingly good stock Canadian/Brit who should be in the war. Thus he was feeling guilt over it. I expect they'll cap this season off with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and/or the attack at Hong Kong (which was the Canadians' first foray into WWII battle).

[quentin312002]

I am very disappointed that this show has probably been judged on it's early reviews because this really is a case where it's gotten better every week. The acting has been great, the show has been really good with giving equal time to the characters without making it's parts drag. When one characters scene ends and they pick up on another characters storyline I am not groaning and wishing they'd just go back to the ones I like and find more interesting. I think they all are pretty interesting. This really rarely happens for me. Even in shows I like there are always storylines and plots I would ff through. I didn't expect that to happen, I thought I would be really dreading Gladys storylines because she was sort of a cliche 'poor little rich girl' in the pilot. I have been won over by her. I love that she actually ate some of the spoiled food herself last night.

While Gladys issues seem to have ended a little easily for my taste I am okay with that. A lot of people at this time would be understanding that life is pretty short (and so in this series!) so to hold onto anger when they had both been unfaithful would only hurt them both. Besides, I kind of like her fiancee at the moments when he realizes that Gladys can actually contribute to his work.

I thought Meg Tilly hit it out of the park in the fight with Lorna's husband. We have all been taught the side of the husband in history class, about how horrible his experience in the first war would have been but her husband is letting it ruin what ever good comes out of his life. I was especially irritated that his bitterness was making him downplay his own son's achievements. He made his son's medal sound like a prize in a crackerjack box!

Oh Betty! I can't wait to see what it going to happen next week.

ETA: I forget to mention how horrendous I thought Gladys father's attitude was towards the spoiled 3% of his tinned food for the soldiers was. This isn't even just a point of comfort anymore. What if someone can't perform at 100% as a soldier because they have food poisoning from that spoiled food? Or didn't eat at all? That is a risk not only to that soldier, but a platoon that needs that soldier to be alert and ready. Yes, Gladys' father doesn't have a son serving but he must be surrounded by men who remind him of this everyday! Or people who think it's convenient that his future son-in-law is safe in Canada.

Edited by quentin312002, Feb 2, 2012 @ 11:18 AM.

[Deathbyblonde]

Oh Betty!

This is basically my reaction to every episode. Can the poor girl please catch a break soon? My favorite part of the latest one had to be when Gladys noticed Betty's little head-nod-of-lesbian-acknowledgement and called Betty's friend "hip" and Betty, bless her, was all, "Hip?! What does that mean does it mean gay because I am totally not that justincaseyouwerewondering."

Edited by Deathbyblonde, Feb 2, 2012 @ 10:31 AM.

[Turkish]

I forget to mention how horrendous I thought Gladys father's attitude was towards the spoiled 3% of his tinned food for the soldiers was. This isn't even just a point of comfort anymore. What if someone can't perform at 100% as a soldier because they have food poisoning from that spoiled food? Or didn't eat at all? That is a risk not only to that soldier, but a platoon that needs that soldier to be alert and ready. Yes, Gladys' father doesn't have a son serving but he must be surrounded by men who remind him of this everyday! Or people who think it's convenient that his future son-in-law is safe in Canada.

I don't think Gladys' father cares about anything but himself and money. I'm still not over him slapping Gladys in an earlier episode. Her mother is just as awful. And I'm still not completely sold that Gladys' fiancee is really right guy for her or will be any different from her dad as the years progress.

Vera and Archie broke my heart. I was not expecting to care about Archie after he was such a little shit the first few times we saw him but I actually grew to like the guy.

Oh, Betty. You are so gay and about to explode with all your feelings. I don't know how much longer she's going to last. She practically has cartoon birds fluttering around her head every time she even looks at Kate.

ETA: Afterellen Interview with Ali Liebert. It just made me fall in love with her even more.

Edited by Turkish, Feb 2, 2012 @ 11:26 AM.

[quentin312002]

I don't think Gladys' father cares about anything but himself and money. I'm still not over him slapping Gladys in an earlier episode. Her mother is just as awful. And I'm still not completely sold that Gladys' fiancee is really right guy for her or will be any different from her dad as the years progress.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that Gladys and her fiancee has a love of the ages (in fact in the pilot Gladys sounded like her engagement came about by pressure from her parents) it comes off as a "right for now" sort of engagment. And at times they have found compromise that makes them both happy, usually when he listens to Gladys and makes her feel like she's not just a bystander in the family business and they are almost a team. This will definitely fade in the 50's as the memory of how fragile life seemed in the war becomes a distant memory and he expects Gladys to conform to the life of a model 50's housewife.
But we don't have to worry about the 50's do we?

[ybrik]

Just recently able to download all the eps so far. I had really wanted to see this when I first heard the initial outlines. I like historical fictions. I don't think there has been a series in the US based on the same time period. I remember a couple shows set at the end of the war.

I really like this show. All the characters are well thought out. Even characters like the husband and Archie, who usually are one note characters, come off as real people flaws and all.

Maybe it is my US filtered thinking, but I think Gladys and James making up seems awfully convenient considering that this ep was set at Armistice Day 1941. December 7 is just right around the corner.

I have to give credit to the actress playing Kate. A character who is so innocent/sweet/naive can come off wrong but she is just so likeable. She is so sincere in how excited she is to be experiencing all these new things.

Of course, she also has no idea how she effects Betty. I almost feel like I shouldn't have laughed at Betty this last ep. HOwever, I just couldn't help it. She has fallen so hard that every little thing Kate seems to do affects Betty so much. There were two or three scenes this ep where Betty's emotions did complete 180. Of course right now it is kind of funny and sweet, however, there are definite possibilites it wont end well.

And Gladys definitely suspects something.

[maraleia]

I wish I could see entire episodes of this show ( I live in the US ). Anyone know of legal ways I can make that happen?

[Turkish]

Interview with Co-Creator in which he confirms that Bomb Girls has been picked up for 12 more episodes. I'm so excited to be getting more Betty.

[quentin312002]

That is great news. Unfortunately after tonight I already miss Kate.

[Deathbyblonde]

Betty, oh my heart!

[Turkish]

My heart broke for Betty tonight. Ali Liebert continues to amaze. Please tell me Kate comes back next season and realizes the mistake she's made. I think she used her father as a way to get away from having to deal with feelings for Betty pr Betty's feelings for her. She's been swallowing that religious propaganda for so long that it's no surprise she had a gay panic and ran back to what was familiar but I really hope she comes back for Betty. I also loved that final scene with Betty and Gladys. It seems Gladys knows her secret and is totally fine with it. I hope they continue to develop that friendship too.

[Deathbyblonde]

Ali Liebert continues to amaze.

She really was an incredible find, wasn't she? She absolutely owns that character; I can't think of a single actress (even some of the best) who could play Betty better than she does. The acting in the scene where she's rejected by Kate is so wonderful. However, I was a little iffy about the writing there, as I wasn't sure what was motivating Betty to go for it right at that moment, especially in a public space.

[ybrik]

Glad to see about a second season especially considering how everything ended last night.

Gladys' father had a moment at the beginning of real human concern for Gladys. It was good to have that moment and also reminder about their son dying as a way to explaining his actions and attitude.

Of course, it helps that he looks like father of the year compared to Kate's. Geez that guy is just creepy.

James going off to war was expected but a nice little twist on why he is. He is obviously still jealous of Gladys being with that soldier as shown by him not caring at PDA after the soldier came by. Also it definitely seems he is more in love with her then she is with him.

Man Lorna is digging herself in deeper. Did she really expect Gladys just to sit by and do nothing? She is a paradox. I don't really like her but I don't hate her and it's not because I'm indifferent to her. It's just that when I think I might like her she does something that makes me change my mind and vice-versa.

Betty and Kate were both sad and sweet in this episode. Kate's concern for Betty when she got hurt and then rubbing her back. She also seemed very affected by Betty's love declaration. However, this is still the 40's and Kate's religious background pretty much guaranteed Betty trying to kiss Kate was going to end bad, at least for now. Who knows next season what will happen?

[Turkish]

I don't know when the new season is going start. I imagine around this same time next year but I don't know if I can make it that long. I swear the Tumblr fandom had a full on breakdown last night. I thought I was in the Glee fandom for a second. It was that serious. Betty really is the heart of the show and so many people have become so attached to her that seeing her go through that pain was really deep for some fans. I'm so glad the show got picked up because I would have been so pissed if it had ended on that note.

[Lord Kira]

Betty really is the heart of this show, which surprised me because she was so cold in the first episode. I felt awful for her when Kate thoroughly rejected her. Ouch.

I'm ecstatic that the show has been picked up for a second season; and a 12 episode season at that!

So, how long until the inevitable US adaption?

[georgiesmith]

I just finished watching the last episode of the season and I couldn't believe how far everything had come from that first episode. Only six episodes and they were packed with character development for everyone. I'm just stunned how much I enjoyed the show. No one was a cookie cutter - sometimes we cheered for them, sometimes we were disappointed in them, sometimes we were angry at them but I guess the point is that we always felt something. I have no idea how they're going to start with the next season but I'm already missing them on my TV.