That's what makes Sanctuary smart, imo. It doesn't fall into the trap of going with the familiar roles and patterns and it keeps you guessing. On the "keeps you guessing" front, I'll start by refering you to my icon. Henry Foss: tech geek, security expert, snarky comic relief. And they REALLY get you thinking that all there is to the guy. Then, ep 7 rolls around and they drop some info about him in your lap that has you going "Oh, do NOT try to convince me Henry's... WTF?!?!? What do you mean he... How can he... Don't you mean... Are you SURE? Well, fuck me, 'cause i did NOT see that coming." and you're sitting there after the ep going "Okay, that could explain a few things." and then you see the very NEXT episode and it's like "And that scene right there just explained everything else..." up to that point, i just LIKED henry. after those two eps it was like "Outta the way, Will! New favorite character ftw!!!"
Or when you find out that Magnus had a child by Jack the Ripper in ep 2 and are STILL surprised in ep 7 that she also went to school with another famous personality from that period (and, omfg, what they did to HIS character is just wickedly brilliant) and you wrap your head around THAT friendship and they drop two more in your lap in ep 12 and you're just sitting there lost in the grip of this ginormous geekgasm trying to wrap your head around a concept that SHOULDN'T work, but damned well DOES in execution. Also, which is REALLY hot for me on an intellectual level is that fact that something Druitt said in passing in ep 1 foreshadowed ep 13 pretty much perfectly (when the dialog from ep 1 was taken from a webisode written almost 2 years before ep 13 was shot)...
So the writers are doing some thinking. There's also a great deal of moral ambiguity running through most of the series. And not just "the monsters aren't always evil" thing. Although, they exemplify that perfectly in ep 1 with this exchange
Will: "I work with criminals, not monsters." Magnus: *raises an eyebrow* "You fail to see the irony in that statement?"
And they definitely get bonus points from me for being willing to go to that place in the first place but it gets better. Because the Sanctuary may operate with the best of intentions, but their methods are sometimes damned questionable. At one point, Will (a former police Profiler) believes that a man was murdered even though his death looked like suicide and Magnus refuses to let Will go to the police with his evidence because she's more interested in protecting her patient than she is in human justice.
She's got Will thoroughly compromised and I'm positive she knew exactly what she was doing. He's damaged goods, she damned well KNOWS it about him, and she uses it to her advantace. Her initial approach to him was VERY "strangers with candy". She walks up to him after he's had a professional upset, alone on a dark street, and she drops EXACTLY the right bait to get his attention. She knows what'll tempt him (not sex) and she doesn't have a problem dangling it there. Once he agrees to hear her out, she procedes with an epic mind!fuck that is best summed up by an LJ icon i can't find again, but that shows her giving him a reassuring grin. The caption reads "Please pardon my smile as I prepare to completely shatter your perceptions of reality." Between ep 1 and ep 3, she has transformed Will from "dedicated cop" to "guy willing to participate in kidnapping three unconscious women from Scotland, smuggle them into the United States, and then colude in thier continued capitivity" and he never even REALIZES.
And they do have the best of intentions, but there's no getting around the fact that these people kidnap, sometimes kill, hack, tamper with evidence, and lie to the police on a regular basis. Druitt accuses Ashley at one point of "kidnapping, maiming and killing whatever Mummy tells you to without regard for the consequences!" and that does kind of sum her up at times. You can't help but LIKE them, but I personally find the moral ambiguity really tantalizing. When you start accepting the idea that the ends justify the means, how are you really any better than the opposition (especially since said opposition ALSO firmly believes it's doing the right thing)?
Re: 2/2
Or when you find out that Magnus had a child by Jack the Ripper in ep 2 and are STILL surprised in ep 7 that she also went to school with another famous personality from that period (and, omfg, what they did to HIS character is just wickedly brilliant) and you wrap your head around THAT friendship and they drop two more in your lap in ep 12 and you're just sitting there lost in the grip of this ginormous geekgasm trying to wrap your head around a concept that SHOULDN'T work, but damned well DOES in execution. Also, which is REALLY hot for me on an intellectual level is that fact that something Druitt said in passing in ep 1 foreshadowed ep 13 pretty much perfectly (when the dialog from ep 1 was taken from a webisode written almost 2 years before ep 13 was shot)...
So the writers are doing some thinking. There's also a great deal of moral ambiguity running through most of the series. And not just "the monsters aren't always evil" thing. Although, they exemplify that perfectly in ep 1 with this exchange
Will: "I work with criminals, not monsters."
Magnus: *raises an eyebrow* "You fail to see the irony in that statement?"
And they definitely get bonus points from me for being willing to go to that place in the first place but it gets better. Because the Sanctuary may operate with the best of intentions, but their methods are sometimes damned questionable. At one point, Will (a former police Profiler) believes that a man was murdered even though his death looked like suicide and Magnus refuses to let Will go to the police with his evidence because she's more interested in protecting her patient than she is in human justice.
She's got Will thoroughly compromised and I'm positive she knew exactly what she was doing. He's damaged goods, she damned well KNOWS it about him, and she uses it to her advantace. Her initial approach to him was VERY "strangers with candy". She walks up to him after he's had a professional upset, alone on a dark street, and she drops EXACTLY the right bait to get his attention. She knows what'll tempt him (not sex) and she doesn't have a problem dangling it there. Once he agrees to hear her out, she procedes with an epic mind!fuck that is best summed up by an LJ icon i can't find again, but that shows her giving him a reassuring grin. The caption reads "Please pardon my smile as I prepare to completely shatter your perceptions of reality." Between ep 1 and ep 3, she has transformed Will from "dedicated cop" to "guy willing to participate in kidnapping three unconscious women from Scotland, smuggle them into the United States, and then colude in thier continued capitivity" and he never even REALIZES.
And they do have the best of intentions, but there's no getting around the fact that these people kidnap, sometimes kill, hack, tamper with evidence, and lie to the police on a regular basis. Druitt accuses Ashley at one point of "kidnapping, maiming and killing whatever Mummy tells you to without regard for the consequences!" and that does kind of sum her up at times. You can't help but LIKE them, but I personally find the moral ambiguity really tantalizing. When you start accepting the idea that the ends justify the means, how are you really any better than the opposition (especially since said opposition ALSO firmly believes it's doing the right thing)?