Public Blog of Skunque

Start dates

2011-08-08T06:42:00.000-04:00

Doctor Who Season 6.5 actually is starting in late August (the 27^th), not September as I'd thought. That means there'll be a few weeks of overlap with the last few eps of Torchwood: Miracle Day.

Also, the final 3 episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures is set to air in "October", so there may be overlap with Doctor Who there too. These are the first block of filming that was completed before Lis Sladen's death - so it will be only a half "season". The last bits of material filmed before her death, aired posthumously - I expect it will be a depressing viewing.

And I'm trying to think - do I even watch any non-Doctor Who sci fi? Everything else (SGU, V, Caprica) seems to have gotten itself canceled. And there's no First-Cylon-War era BSG spinoff to replace it, as was promised...

Tags: doctor who, sci-fi
Mood: tired

Torchwood Season 4, Episode 5

2011-08-06T19:20:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm certainly sorry to see that Dr. Vera Juarez might be dead/written off (although it was a cliffhanger, so who knows). She was probably my favorite of the American cast. And they certainly mananged to make the Malony character just about as creepy and unsympathetic as possible.

Still not getting the whole Oswald Danes as messiah/pariah. Surely there were slightly more inspiring demagogues than an unrepentant child rapist/killer. And the people wearing "Dead Is Dead" shirts, yet cheering Oswald? Are they confused, or are they hipsters wearing T-shirts "ironically?

Tags: doctor who
Mood: productive

Torchwood Season 4, Episode 4

2011-07-31T10:11:00.000-04:00

Mini review of 'Escape to L.A.' :

Chalk it up to bad timing, but given the events over the last few weeks, I really didn't want to have any more mention of the Tea Party to invade my TV-time. Even if said Tea Partier ends up crushed by a car compactor to live out eternal life as a twisted and broken mass of goo.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: frustrated

Torchwood Season 4, episode 3

2011-07-25T10:39:00.001-04:00

Ep #3 gets a little deeper into the main mystery of the "miracle", and why it might be happening and who might be involved. Seems the modern-day sci-fi boogeyman has morphed from terrorism (2000's) to health care (2010's). Anyway, I'll hold off an opinion until I know the full outcome, but I've been getting the hunch that we may be in store for a weak payoff with respect to the Evil Big Pharma and post-miracle palliative care.

But we'll see! I'll give RTD a chance to surprise me.

The other bit of confusion occurred during the (OMG seriously close to soft core) sex scenes. Huh? Rex is dating/sleeping with the hospital doctor who treated him? Did this happen during the course of on screen events, or before?

If before, she certainly can keep a cool head in a crisis (Rex being wheeled into the ER impaled by a metal spike). If after, well, she must like the bad boys because Rex is kind of a dick.

Torchwood: Miracle Day (#2)

2011-07-17T11:27:00.000-04:00

Mini review #2: "...Newman!

So I wasn't aware Seinfeld actor Wayne Night was in Miracle Day, because I didn't actually recognize his name. Oops. Just one of those holes in memory/knowledge that I'm just now getting around to plug.

On the other hand, I was well aware Dichen Lachman (Sierra from Dollhouse) was going to be making an appearance. A good role for her, although I would've prefered BBC/Starz/whatever had shelled out for the big-league CGI artists. I mean really - I don't think their aim was to have the audiences laughing in the walking-with-a-broken-neck scene, huh?

Also - I was holding off on saying this until I had a chance to see another ep, but: did Bill Pullman have a stroke or something? Or has he just turned into a really bad actor? Not to mention he's aged really badly since the last time I've seen him in anything - as opposed to Wayne Knight, who apparently has been kept in cryostasis since Seinfeld, only being thawed out for acting gigs.

Torchwood: Miracle Day (#1)

2011-07-10T10:22:00.000-04:00

Seeing as Season 4 of Torchwood is a 10-episode miniseries, I think I'll just do mini-reviews of each installment until the end, when I can give a longer overall summary.

Written by Russell T. Davies, it was a solid setup of what'll be happening in the series. Basically - no one on Earth dies, no matter what happens to them. Including a gruesome example of the worst case (a suicide bomber).

It's a good concept, although I'll say the chemistry of the show isn't quite as wickedly-tight as with TW: Children of Earth. The pacing/mood seemed a bit weird, like the show couldn't figure out if it were British or American.

Anyway, can't find anything bad to say other than that - hoping "Miracle Day" will find its groove in the next 9 eps.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: cheerful

Probably not a surprise to anyone, but...

2011-06-12T20:12:00.000-04:00

...Doctor Who has been renewed for a 7th season (half-season in advance)

Doctor Who, Season 6, Episode 7 (mid season cliffhanger)

2011-06-07T08:47:00.002-04:00

Without a doubt, this was the best episode Season 6 had to offer thus far. It had a pretty epic plot (to be continued, obviously) with interesting new* characters. I particularly liked the Madame Vasta + squire. Sort of a lizard/lesbian version of Captain Jack and Ianto? Those two should totally find their way onto Torchwood at some point. Also, I like how in S6 Moffat hasn't been shying away from Teh Gay as much as in S5. In fact, there were a couple of pages torn from RTD's book in this ep. I wish the rest of the season had been like this.

Then of course there's the big reveal, which I got blindsided by, since I was distracted by continuity and other things. Yes, Amy Pond is River Song's mother - which I am to presume means she's the Doctor's MIL? Creepy. The "baby exposed to the time stream makes it part Time Lord" explanation was a little thin, but it opens the door for a few things. River will eventually regnerate (or since she'ss backwards, someone will regenerate into River), so don't get too attached to actor Alex Kingston. Also, now that the big payload has been dropped, I wouldn't expect Amy and Rory are going to be on the show much longer. There's been no announce of a companion change in the near future, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did it on the down-low, even as soon as in the 2^nd half of the season.

But we will have to wait until September to find out. Enjoy your summer, and don't forget to watch Torchwood: Miracle Day, starting July 8^th!

* - but implied older. The Sontaran and Silurian actors were repeats, as those races reproduce as clones and clutch-sisters, respectively.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: and *now* I'm on hiatus

Doctor Who Season 6, episodes 5 & 6 (Late, I know!)

2011-06-04T20:39:00.000-04:00

Although Chris wasn't a fan of this episode at all, I was at least OK with it. Well, despite the fact that I saw the ep 5 "cliffhanger" coming from the moment the vat of flesh-goo made its appearance. And there were a number of other questions and issues* that weighed on my mind or otherwise made me laugh.

I guess I was just relieved that it wasn't a story about people trying to kiss one another. Sheesh.

It wasn't even the re-tread sci-fi concept of personal identity I got on board with - like I said, that's been done. I suppose I'm a sucker for continuity, and this ep hinted at setting up future developments. Rarely does a "mind fuck" or a "societal lesson" ep get under my skin anymore, but I do love my sci-fi universes to have a well-fleshed-out (pardon the pun) ensemble of villains, aliens, and independent agents. There was foreshadowing of later involvement both with The Flesh as a new player (I hestitate to say "adversary"), and of course the longer Amy/pregnancy arc.

So Amy was never really there this whole half season? Interesting. It's about time to tune in to the mid-season cliffhanger, so let's find out where this is going, shall we...?

* - Listed:

With the monster/door scene, why did anyone have to be sacrificed at all? Bad-CGI monster Ganger-Jennifer didn't seem quick enough to outrun the humans in a 15-foot sprint to the TARDIS, and in any case, she seemed to be in no hurry to break down the door (a whole conversation about the Doctor's true identity took place in between two "thunks" against the door).
TARDIS energy supposedly stabilizing The Flesh, yet the Doctor is able to "melt" flesh-Amy with the sonic?
I suppose I should just suspend disbelief and not ask why humanity went to the trouble of genetically and/or chemically engineering the flesh, instead of constructing remote control robots for the dangerous acid-mining work?

P.S.! - After reviewing tonight's Who, I'm going on a sci-fi moratorium until Torchwood: Miracle Day. That's right - no sci-fi watching or reviewing, new or old. I'm a bit burnt out on the genre right now, and I'd like to reboot my brain for Miracle Day.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: procrastinated!

Doctor Who Season 4, episode 4

2011-05-17T10:04:00.001-04:00

Despite the title and spoilers, "The Doctor's Wife" had nothing to do with the Doctor having a wife (or a mother, as carefully edited previews seemed to imply). But that is not a surprise, as I've gotten accustomed to the way new Who rolls.

I was sort of hoping that the Gaiman episode would be a little darker and less hyperactive than typical Moffat-era Doctor Who fare. I got the first half of that wish.

While the idea of transferring the TARDIS "consciousness" into an organic body is a pretty novel one (at least for Dr. Who continuity), with tremendous potential. I'm just not sure I got into the implementation. I really didn't like the casting or portrayal of Idris. Suranne Jones was the same actor who played the trash-talking Mona Lisa on one of the worst Sarah Jane Adventures ever penned. She was just as annoying here. Also, I would've found it immensely more interesting if she had played it more like a confused alien computer rather than a quixotic and lusty bar wench.

But everything's about sex in the new Dr. Who, so I shouldn't be surprised (it was Moffat's idea in particular to make this a love story).

Re: hyperactive - so the Doctor fashioned a partial working TARDIS in 13 minutes or so. With force fields, it seems, as he didn't get around to actually installing walls all the way 'round. Adventures in ADHD.

So basically the story felt like it had a hint of Gaiman, but heavily moderated/edited by Moffat et al. I'm afraid that my distaste for the Idris/TARDIS character prevents me from being more objective about the rest of the episode.

Also - I'd been holding off on saying this until now, but does anyone else feel like Matt Smith has visibly aged since the last series?

Tags: doctor who
Mood: tired

V has been cancelled

2011-05-15T16:24:00.001-04:00

As of a few days ago, V has been cancelled.

Not a surprise, but overall a disappointment. The show had potential, it just wasn't able (or allowed) to live up to it. Oh well.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: disappointed

Stargate Universe, Season 2, Episodes 19 & 20

2011-05-14T14:27:00.000-04:00

So, for the last two eps - hey, it could've been worse! Ending on indefinite cryo-stasis is a bit like an ending in some ways, and it suggests maybe there was some anticipation of cancellation amongst the SGU creative team. And hey, they're in there for 3 years, so that gives some breathing room for resurrecting SGU in miniseries/TV movie form. Hmm?

I'm just happy it wasn't a finale ending on a giant throw-the-kitchen-sink-at-you firefight. I believe the other season and half-season finales took something of this form. The hunted-to-desperation theme was a nice change of pace.

Bummer that Dr. Park was left blind - of the relationshippy arcs, hers (+ Greer and occasional competitive streak w/Volker) was the most interesting at the present time. Personally, I'm rooting for her to stay with Greer, since although he's kind of from a different world, they've bridged that to the point where they respect and "get" one another. Volker seems more like he's putting her on a pedestel, and even though they're (professional) peers, I don't see how that can really compete.

And since the series is cancelled, there's no one in authority to tell me otherwise! Volker will slowly come to the realization that he's gay, and that all his banter and arguing with Brody was only masking his true feelings. Brody and Volker pair off to become the quintessential bickering married couple, whose arguments fuel their passion for one another. Of course, all that can be had off camera, as those two don't have quite the quarter-bouncing potential of Park & Greer.

The rest of the fan-/slash fic, I leave to you. The series is over, so your voice is equally valid with anyone else's. Go nuts! ;-)

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: bouncy

Doctor Who Season 6, Episode 3

2011-05-10T20:44:00.001-04:00

Eh, not much to say about "Curse of the Black Spot". It wasn't a very complex story, especially compared to the season opener. The twist where the "siren" is actually a healer is something I saw coming about 5 miles away. The story also appeared to be a bit "sanitized" (won't someone please think of the children!). The pirates didn't appear to be particularly potent or believable (Hugh Bonneville is way too "modern" of a dad for pirate times). Speaking of unbelievable, perhaps it's best to not even start to address the "sail off into the sun~~set~~" ending.

Also, I don't get the resuccitation scene. Rory chooses Amy to administer CPR to him because she won't give up, and he only regains life after she...gives up? And the Doctor in his wondrous TARDIS can offer no assistance better than heartfelt encouragement?

Spleesh, sometimes the new Dr. Who can get just a bit too emotional/magical for my tastes...

Tags: doctor who
Mood: *eyeroll*

Doctor Who, Season 6, Episodes 1 & 2

2011-05-03T10:27:00.001-04:00

The story seemed to be very well thought out, but I must admit the two-part opener of Dr. Who's 6^th season was a bit hard to follow at times. I mean, I "got it" all in the end*, but it was such a fast-paced couple eps that I wonder how whether kids (or adults) were able to understand the full complexity of The Silence, the little girl, the foreshadowing of the Doctor's death, etc., or if it was "just a bunch of stuff that happened".

In other news, the companions have gotten more likeable. They're behaving a lot more like a team (dare I say, friends?) and not just a collection of bickering and/or jealous people thrown together.

In the continuity-I'm-supposed-to-be-ignoring bin are The Silence themselves. So they've been in a parasitic (possibly symbiotic) relationship with humanity until 1969? So in all of his pre-1969 adventures, these guys were in the background during every important event and the Doctor never noticed? It doesn't speak well of humanity, although it might explain a few things.

Interesting bit of trivia - the older/younger versions of Agent Delaware are played by an actual father/son duo, the latter of which of course is Mark Sheppard (Romo Lamkin in Battlestar Galactica).

* - with the exception, obviously, of the things meant to be addressed later in the season (how Amy's pregnancy unfolded, why the child appears to be a Time Lord, etc.).

Tags: doctor who
Mood: busy

Stargate Universe, Season 2, Episodes 17 & 18

2011-05-01T11:05:00.003-04:00

Doubling up, since life has gotten "full" again...

"Common Descent": Basically I had the DS9 episode "Children of Time" on my brain for the entire show, for obvious reasons. It's basically the same setup, although SGU takes a different view of temporal dynamics, and it's being incorporated into the larger story.

But the real question is: Who makes babies with whom? That will be answered in the next ep...

"Epilogue": More is learned about the Destiny descendents, including the prurient (with an Amish kind of flair) bedroom details of...
- Lt. Scott and Chloe (duh)
- Park and Greer (almost duh...alt-Volker died a few months in, since he never got the chance for the kidney transplant)
- TJ forsook her budding romance with Varro for the known-quantity in babymaking, Col. Young.
- Eli and ~~Med-Tech Extra #4~~ Corporal Barnes. Wouldn't Eli's downloadable girlfriend get jealous though??
- "2^nd choice" Varro and Lt. James. Awww, isn't that sweet, there's someone for everyone!
- Except for Brody, who opts to morph into Grampa Simpson.

Also, TJ finds out through the archival footage that she's destined to contract ALS. This is really harsh and not at all something to make fun of. So I'm moving back to bedroom proclivities!

One burning question in my mind. Two actually. OK, so how does Camille Wray have descendents if she was still only dating women? (and half-heartedly at that) Somehow I'm not led to believe that the destiny crew perfected gene-splicing and in-vitro fertilization within one generation on the planet! Also, how did she end up the last one of the original crew alive? I know people of Japanese descent have a higher life-expectancy than average, but isn't she like the 3^rd or 4^th oldest person on the ship?

Just two more episodes left! If you read my earlier post, you know to be prepared to be left hanging...

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: spying in their bedrooms!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

2011-04-28T14:27:00.000-04:00

SGU fans, from wikipedia: "The second season (and last) of SGU is planned to end as a cliffhanger. To resolve this a movie was being planned, however; due to timing constraints on April 17, 2011, Stargate writer and executive producer Brad Wright announced that the SGU movie was not going to happen."

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: blah

Stargate Universe, Season 2, episode 16

2011-04-17T11:35:00.001-04:00

For the first part of The Hunt, I was half expecting it to be a dream sequence, perhaps a delirium-induced vision of Greer's. I'd thought he was still laid up with an ominous infection setting in? Also, everyone's dialogue seemed a bit disjointed, and the lead up on why/how they were on that planet was nil.

So I was a bit distracted for a while waiting for this to be another Cloverfield. But no, they were actually there, Greer had apparently recovered from his wounds enough to be not only vertical, but on duty. And they're on a planet with super light speed stealth hunting animals. These "monsters" lay waste to the away team's base, and carries off TJ and Ensign Redshirt to its larder, to be eaten later.

Young mounts a rescue operation for those two, and manages to lose four crew in the process! But our flaxen-haired beauty is saved, and with the Redshirt to boot! Seems these animals are super smart, and also have a conscience - i.e., the monster thinks twice of killing its prey when it sees they've created fire, the "universal sign of intelligence". OK, that's nice, although I suppose the plastic explosives used earlier in the episode didn't register as anything derived from a sentient species?

In other news, we have some new romantic intrigue brewing. Poor Volker has a crush on Park, who is otherwise involved with Greer (the man who donated a kidney to Volker several episodes back). This ought to be a lot more interesting story than the current romances on the ship, including:
- Chloe/Matt (stable to the point of tedium)
- TJ/Varro (has been building for too long with too little traction)
- Eli/Ginn and Rush/Perry (on hold for a few eps while they figure out how to DL their girlfriends)

But the real question is - when will ~~Racetrack~~ Lt. James see any action??

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: awake

Review of Space: Above and Beyond

2011-04-12T12:42:00.001-04:00

Oooh, lordy. This one was rough, folks.

During the SGU intersession, but before V S2 started up again, I decided to fill some gaps of Space Opera knowledge through the wonders of Netflix. I settled on the 1995-6 series Space: Above and Beyond, created and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, of The X Files fame. However, despite a cameo by David Duchovny in episode #19, this was no X-Files.

More like, by the time I finished I felt like I'd just witnessed a 24-part Marine Corps circle-jerk.

So - The year is 2063, and the world is at war. Everyone's a tough guy. The men are tough, the women are tougher, even people bred in petri dishes ("In-Vitros") are tough. Everyone talks in deep, husky tones, presumably to appear more manly - but at some point I think the dialog actually dropped off of the human-audible frequency range.

The testosterone, it burns....

The war is against a shadowy unnamed race, dubbed by humans as "Chigs". If ever there was a made-up word to sound like a racial slur, that would be it. These "Chigs" are one-dimensionally evil, vile, and "alien" in every sense. Let there be no mistake, audiences were not meant to trouble their heads with any moral grey area when it comes to the enemy.

The interplanetary hostilities begin following a "Chig" attack on a human settlement, supposedly without provocation. The alien side is initially vastly superior, and so the situation for humans is desperate. The series surrounds the exploits of a handful of new recruits (who pretentiously dub themselves "The Wildcards") thrust into the midst of battle in an under-manned war.

Oh, and so there is no doubt, let there be no doubt everyone on this show loves, LOVES, LOVES being in the Marines. This is driven home in every freaking episode. All the characters volunteer without hesitiation for dangerous missions. They all go around shouting to one another how awesome their squadron is and how honored they are to serve together and how great it would be to die today. They sing themselves to sleep with drill marches, and quietly chant "Semper Fi" in times of stress and anxiety. I only wish I were exaggerating all this.

However, considering most "military sci-fi" shows tend to characterize the command structure closer to the Star Trek archetype*, it was interesting to see things go the other way. Even if all the shouting did tend to result in viewer-migranes by the end of the show.

Morgan Weisser, who plays Nathan West, gets top billing on this show. Which is a little confusing because really early on, the writers run out of stuff for him to do. I guess there's only so much to be done when the main character only joined the Marines to find his girlfriend, and no one will actually let him do that. Based on story focus, I'd say the de facto primary is a 3-way tie between Vansen (Kristen Cloke), Hawkes (Rodney Rowland) and McQueen (the creepy James Morrison).

There were some pretty decent side-storylines of the A.I.s (artificial life that rebelled against humans) and the In-Vitros (an only semi-believeable storyline about a slave race bred for warfare). Behind all the machismo, there was an honest attempt at fleshing out a real and textured world of the future. Space: Above and Beyond was nominated for two Emmys and a Saturn award (is there a category for over-acting?).

The series ends on a rather final, and depressing note. Three out of five "Wildcards" are killed on their final mission, and their commander loses his legs in an explosion. That's certainly one way to give the middle finger to the network that just cancelled you!

* - where the crew spent more time in the Holodeck and attending Klingon Tai Chi classes than they did actually manning their posts. Discipline? Forget it, they couldn't get Troi out of her catsuit and into a regulation uniform for at least 4 seasons, and I'm not sure any more success was had in getting Wesley on the bridge in something other than butt-flap pajamas.

Tags: sci-fi
Custom Friends Groups: DJ Skunque
Mood: fed up

Stargate Universe, Season 2, Episode 15

2011-04-06T22:46:00.001-04:00

Whoakay, so I gather this week's A story is drenched in SG-* continuity that I'm not up to speed on. Hence the rushed intro of Robert Picardo and the general political setup. I'll just take it without question that everyone is (or looks like) a human despite everything set in present day earth. The story held up on its own, it's just fairly clear that there's a back story on several of the characters involved.

Moving to the B-story, I saw the Ginn/Amanda "twist" coming a mile away, and I imagine the rest of you did too. And the resolution is a bit weak as well - partioning from the main computer? Well, I guess that means they're off the show...for a whole 2 episodes.

I suppose I should give credit for SGU actually showing Eli actually *doing* math for once (at a blackboard no less), instead of everyone just talking about how he's such a math sooper-dooper-genius. Sheez. Yeah, I just never bought the whole "Eli the genius" thing. I realize math and science aren't really TV-presentable, and that it's hard for actors to sound smart with technobabble. But the right actor can pull it off - witness Henry from Eureka, or, well, Rush! Yeah, for me Eli just never came off as anything other than the everygeek*, the scared D&D nerd.

* - I.e., extension of the "everyman". Everymen/everywomen irritate me - I view it as pandering, sometimes to the point of celebrating mediocrity. I'd much rather hear an interesting story or character sketch than be able to "relate" to or get validation from regular joes/janes.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: allergies

Stargate Universe, Season 2, Episodes 13 & 14

2011-04-03T11:24:00.000-04:00

Playing catch up on sci-fi reviews now that the workload has died down a bit (perhaps only a temporary lull, but I'll take it). Nothing too wordy here, just wanted to weigh in with a few thoughts on the shows that aired the past couple weeks.

Alliances: I'm glad SGU stopped and took the time to do this episode, Wray and Greer had unresolved issues for a while now. However, they didn't need the tearful scene at the end; I'm not buying that Ronald would go that far to open up to her, about his mom no less. But aside from that, definitely a watchable episode, with a guest appearance from one of my favorite Third Rock actors, French Stewart. Although French has definitely aged...his voice is the primary recognition factor.

Hope: Also a watchable episode, this time dealing with the larger SGU arcs. At some point I'm going to have to say something about the whole bit about people's consciousness being trapped in the void, and being saved-to-hard-drive (Destiny), but I'm waiting to see how this plays out. I get the impression the writers have this idea mapped out across future stories*, so although the religious/I.D. teases are slightly annoying, I'm going to wait 'til I know more. The big question is: Will we know more? There are 6 eps til cancellation - given the timing of the cancellation notice, what will be revealed before SGU is interred in the dark and musty catacombs of axed sci-fi?

* - unlike BSG, which set up mystery after mystery, with writers having no clue as to how those setups would later be resolved. Their 11^th hour attempt to tie together a dozen or so mysteries in a neat little bow fell flat, with a real stench of "O HAI GUYZ ARNT WE GR8 4 FIGURNG HOW 2 PUT ALL THAT SH!T 2GETHR?".

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: determined

BBC's Outcasts

2011-03-20T11:37:00.000-04:00

I didn't bother reviewing individual installments of BBC's Outcasts, as it hasn't been a widely-watched show amongst my friends, and the season (really, the whole thing, now that it's cancelled) was only 8 eps long to start with.

What would happen if the heroes from Battlestar Galactica had stayed on New Caprica, and the Cylons never found them?

That is the feel one gets from Outcasts. The desolate landscape, the wobbly shelters and harsh living conditions, the refugees of a once-proud democracy that had since fallen. The mother/father leadership of the political (Tate) and enforcement (Stella) arms of the government. The children who were engineered, and later rose against them (the A.C.s). Heck, even the planet ("Carpathia") is only a few letter-swaps off from "Caprica".

They even have an untrustworthy religious cult figure (with an accent!) as baddie. The name, Julius Berger, is so similar to Gaius Baltar in spelling/emphasis that frankly it's insulting that it would be taken otherwise. However, in Outcasts, Eric Mabius is no James Callis. It's impossible not to draw comparisons - compared with Baltar, this character was flat, non-charismatic, and one-dimensional. He's so clearly evil that one wonders why anyone goes along with him. Jack, Stella, etc., don't seem to actually like or trust him, yet they allow him to grab a seat on the council and (later) stage an armed coup. And the religious demagougery? Well, let's just say the British don't quite have the familiarity with this concept as us Yanks. Normally this is a good thing, but it doesn't make for interesting TV.

Anyway, the execution of the show was just a little bit unbelieveable or bland, take your pick. Witness: here's a civilization in the midst of a harsh environment, with a planet psychically attuned to kicking the colonists out, and everyone's going around drinking tea and speaking in hushed NPR-like voices. It's hard to believe they're roughing it. Everyone's just so...clean..for a planet that doesn't seem to get much rainfall.

And it didn't help that the first few episodes were kind of, um, boring. It may have something to do with how the show was directed and/or edited, but there were definitely times during the early installments that I'd wished they'd condensed the show from 58 minutes to 40.

One decent part of the show was the Cass/Fleur relationship. While it wasn't anything terribly *original* (two cops who have not-so-secret crushes on one another), the two actors managed to forge a believable and cute chemistry from day one.

Towards the end (last two eps) the action stepped up a bit, where:
1. Cass' secret past is revealed
2. Fleur's biological secret is revealed (she's an A.C.)
3. The psychic planet makes another attack on the colony via genetic disease C24
4. Julius Berger's cloaked invaders attempt invasion of the colony

These threads actually had some potential (as opposed to the floundering subplot of Rudy and the A.C.s in the badlands). Alas, no resolution will ever be had - BBC cancelled the series due to low ratings within a week of the finale airing. Hard to say if this is fair or not. Certainly Outcasts stalled in the beginning, but 8 stories is a darn short time to build/maintain a story (not to mention a fan base) before having to make the renew-or-wrap decision. I've always been mystified (not in a good way) by the British über-short seasons.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: busy

V Season 2, Episode 10 "Mother's Day"

2011-03-16T23:45:00.000-04:00

OK, so the V season finale wasn't so much a story, but a weird collection of "set ups" to keep us hanging for next season, including:

Lisa's almost-betrayal of Anna. Typical good-guy-chokes scenario.
A really DIY fake kidnapping of Lisa, resulting in Chad Decker being outed as 5^th Column (really, did 5^th Column not forsee the Visitors having superior audio decryption tech???)
Diana staging a coup, and failing. Her death beats out several others for the "most silly CGI" award. Seriously, just how long is Anna's tail? That made it look like she could stretch the length of a 747. Presumably this is the end to the poorly executed Diana thread, pity it didn't live up to potential.
Marcus apologizes for his betrayal, which was so subtle no one noticed nor cared.
Ryan getting his neck snapped by his age-accelerated daughter. This scene would've been a lot better had they cast a girl who could act.
Somewhere along the way, Hobbes just up and leaves. Mysterious secret, or is he just one of those guys that gets weird once things start getting all relationship-y?
Anna makes her newly hatched queen spawn look just like Lisa, which is creepy. She then instructs the little bugger to bonk Tyler's brains out, which is even more creepy. The result is that Tyler gets his neck bit off in a post-coital snack. Erica will not be pleased.
Erica's FBI cronies (remember, she has a full time job too?) rope her in to some super-secret black project staffed by Classic V alumn. I thought that "investigation" was for corruption, and that it was nixed anyway? Color me a bit confused on that one.
Anna finds out that Amy (kid-who-cannot-act), can "bliss" humanity. Game over. Unless you live in a bunker.

What a mess. Everyone's kind of up shit creek this time, except for Joshua. I wonder which one of the 3 main-character deaths will be permanent. I have no problem if they want to make this a by-season rotating main cast, but there's also a bit of overuse in the magical V healing tech too, so who knows. My guess would be Tyler's revived (otherwise there's not much for Lisa/Lisa II to do), Diana stays dead, possibly Ryan too.

Overall, I don't think S2 was as enjoyable as S1. It was less focused, having a hard time separating from the conventions of S1. It eventually escalated the action, but it was in awkward fits and starts. However, it's a space opera -- with emphasis on "opera" -- so it'll always be something worth gossiping/reacting to.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: tired

Stargate Season 2, Episode 12

2011-03-15T23:08:00.000-04:00

Is looting *less* or *more* satisying when it's your own stuff, but in an alternate timeline?

Well, we had doubles of various folks running around for most of this episode, although mercifully, no hi-larious jealous-of-myself subplots. Nor were there self->other->self three-ways, but that scenario may only ever occur in my head.

Moving on...

Whenever there's a "duplicate" episode on a sci-fi show, I wonder if anyone else will ever go the route of the "twinning" of John Chricton in Farscape*. Not so this time - by show-end, one Rush and one Telford have bought it. I wouldn't have thought the non-time traveling counterpart (Telford) wouldn't be overwritten in the new timeline, but chalk that up to wormhole fudge factor. Anyway, this means Telford's off the ship again...for now. That's OK by me, he was getting a bit shrill lately.

* - the rather unorthodox route of having the main character duplicated for a good chunk of one season, having Aeryn fall in love with one duplicate, who later died, and had a hard time viewing the remaining John as anything other than a "copy".

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: tired

Odyssey 5

2011-03-12T12:03:00.000-05:00

With the new J-O-B responsibilities, I really don't know how much longer I'll be able to review each and every episode (with current runs) or do series' reviews on the older stuff, but we'll see. I'll make the effort for as long as I can, then maybe prioritize in terms of show popularity and/or personal favorites. I actually don't have a problem finding time to *watch* the shows, as all this is done during the hour+ allotted for workouts each day. But the writing requires a certain block of sit-down caffeine time that is kind of in short supply right now.

So maybe later the review frequency might peter off. But for now, let's get to it.

This is another "one season wonder" Netflix back-fill. I never had the chance to catch O5 when it came out, as it was a Showtime program and those expanded pay channels have never held much interest.

So honestly I didn't expect much from this run, and thus was pleasantly surprised to discover a really well put together pilot. The rest of the series largely continued that momentum, albeit at a less urgent pace. I actually was rather impressed - the actors quickly found their characters' voice and made them believable (Angela was the last holdout, her sulky, guarded character was a bit harder to figure out until about mid season).

The premise of O5 is that in 2007 the Earth is destroyed (-->imploded) by some unknown cause, leaving alive only the 5 astronauts orbiting Earth. A mysterious non-organic being in a spaceship picks them up, informs them that this sort of thing has been going on all over the universe, and he doesn't know why. Earth was the only occasion when survivors were left at the scene. So, this alien has the power to send organics' consciousnesses back in time 5 years before the destruction of Earth. Their mission now is to discover and prevent whatever happened in the previous timeline.

However, it seems that the more they try to "help", the worse things get. Small victories come with larger costs to the new timeline. Most of all, due to the fact that these 5 people are trying to save the world and aren't living their lives like they normally would, their personal relationships suffer. Breakups, divorce, and the tragic death of Chuck Taggard's wife (personally, I thought it was too soon for such a major move, plus I liked Chuck and Paige's chemistry).

Sure, it was Showtime, the "adult" channel, so every episode found some excuse for T&A (usually T), and even the devoutly religious chracters swore like sailors, dropping F-bombs left and right. Getting past that, it really seemed like a show that was blazing its own path, i.e., not derivitive of other shows that came before.

The only nits to pick are the hokey intro montage (Peter Weller really doesn't sound like he wants to be narrating), and that perhaps the show didn't spend enough time establishing the nuances between Sentients, Synthetics, and what had been learned from previous episodes.

I wonder if that's part of the reason it was cancelled after only one season. Which really was a shame, since the "finale" was a doozy of a cliffhanger, where we find out that the team had it all wrong - "The Cadre" and "Bright Sky" are not working towards Synthetics' goals, but against them. They'd been inadvertently helping the bad guys all along! Also, Angela is kidnapped and we never find out by whom, although Kurt is mistakenly arrested for her "murder".

All this unfinished business - alas, 9 years later and the show was never resurrected. Sad when this happens to an idea with a lot of potential, that was just a bit different than all the rest of the shows out there.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: busy

V Season 2, Episode 9 "Devil in a Blue Dress"

2011-03-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

It's taken nearly the whole bloody season, but finally we have the old Joshua back. Seriously, that was the slowest-moving thread ever. Especially, since as reboot-Joshua, he never actually did anything other than flail about trying to extract ~~a metaphor~~ the human soul.

Also, the writers try to extract Ryan from the dead-end they left him in. 5^th Column would be fools to trust him, but trust him they will, eventually. But then again, this is a world where no one except super-smart scientist types are able to match the shapes of Concordia spires with the docking clamps on the ships. I do believe Anna invaded Idiocracy.

Otherwise, more potential intrigue with Marcus, who seems to be deciding which Queen to really support. He's got quite the choice as there's now 3 or 4 candidates (if you count the egg). Anna also develops feelings for Ryan's daughter Amy (they finally named her!), and that is cast in rather a sympathetic light. Where is this all going? That remains to be seen in next week's finale, which hopefully will garner enough ratings to warrant a 3^rd season, because you know we'll be left on a cliffhanger.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: hungry

Dr. Who Season 6 update

2011-03-10T15:08:00.001-05:00

FYI, 7-week half-season of Doctor Who will premeire 23 April, on BBC/BBC America.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: rushed

Stargate Universe Season 2, Episode 11

2011-03-09T23:06:00.001-05:00

SGU's back! Well, for whatever's to be had from the post-cancellation, lame-duck half season.

The "A" Story: Aliens, space battle, etc.- The odds are bad, but the Destiny crew pulls though in the end. Same ol' formula. In a deal that didn't make a whole lot of sense, Col. Young manages to barter back Chloe's humanity. Or so we're led to believe. Well, good for her, anyway. Bonus is that she got to stay smart, so that should give her more to do in the last 9 eps.

In other news, SGU castrates its most interesting character. Don't look now, but Rush has started being nice to people. Not only that, but he apparently softening up to be more inline with the superstitious, me-centric "everything happens for a reason" crowd.

Rush: "If you had said this to me a couple years ago, I'd have dismissed it as superstition, classic weak-minded response to the overwhelming complexity of the universe."

Chloe: "And now?"

Rush: "Let's just say, you're not the only one going through some changes."

Aaaaand this refutes your previous supposition HOW? Sorry your GF got killed, buddy, but Rush is just not the type to give up on reason just because life has gotten crappy. WEAK.

This had better be some kind of trick. Rush is a cagey bastard, and don't forget he was prisoner to the same aliens that tansformed Chloe. All I can say is if they're going to make Rush go godbot, then there'll be no tears at the SGU gravesite from me.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: tired

V Season 2, Episode 8

2011-03-04T18:19:00.000-05:00

Well, hey - Marcus' coma actually seems to be for some good reason. I've been waiting for that character to turn, and it seems like instead of betraying Anna for here-and-now reasons, he *might* be betraying her for the good ol' days of Queen Diana. Or his coma may have wiped his memory ala Joshua. Reaction shots were deliberately vague, so tune in next week

And…Diana is Ryan's mother? So that makes Anna his sister/half-sister? Or are basically all the Vs half-siblings or half-uncles and aunts to one another? Are Vs haplo-diploid like wasps and ants, where males possess half the DNA of females? I guess not, or Anna would've be able to procreate without the aid of an inseminator.

Also - sexy time with Erica and Hobbes! Kind of hot and oogie all at once. Of course, Hobbes is "the wrong guy" for Erica, and also symbolic of her parting of ways with Jack's mindset (who may or may not be "the right guy" now that he ditched the collar). So, enjoy it while you can, because it probably won't last long.Tags: sci-fi
Mood: cold

Reminders and stuff

2011-02-27T10:00:00.001-05:00

- Stargate Universe boots up again Monday March 7^th (a week from tomorrow) to burn off those last 10 episodes. Here's hoping that last-minute rewrites were possible, and that the show isn't left on a cliffhanger.

- V's season 2, which is only 10 eps (half the length of SGU), will wrap 2 weeks from Tuesday. Hopefully the current trajectory will continue and (ideally) intensify.

- Still no date available, but best guess is that Doctor Who will start its (ridiculously short) first half-season in the first week of April. Peeks into Season 6 include The Ood, travel to Nazi Germany, an ep penned by Neil Gaiman, and the return of Craig Owens (the "regular bloke" from 5^th season's "The Lodger").

- Torchwood's upcoming miniseries "Miracle Day" has a couple of interesting names on the cast: Bill Pullman and Dichen Lachman ("Sierra" on Dollhouse).

- For anyone watching Outcasts, it seems to have fared poorly in the ratings, and is being moved to Sunday late nights instead of M/T prime time. Also, probably just one ep per week from now on.

Tags: doctor who, sci-fi
Mood: awake

V, Season 2, Episode 7 "Birth Pangs"

2011-02-25T12:29:00.000-05:00

V snippets:
- Wow, just when you thought Tyler's hair couldn't get any worse!
- Perhaps last week was a bit of a game-changer for V, but only a bit. At least things happened, and we only had to hear of Joshua's ongoing effort to expunge ~~a metaphor~~ "the soul" once, and only in passing.
- I notice that detective has a perfect American accent - funny, that. Well, at least they didn't CGI the Hong Kong scenes like they did with the Vatican.
- A hint of Joshua branching out of his S2 role as "boring functionary". Please to be bringing back the real Joshua, K?
- Oh come on Lisa, you couldn't just suck it up and make out with the guy? Really, it's not that hard, just close your eyes and think of Tyler...

Also, from last week:
- OK, so Erica is no longer under a cloud of suspicion with her work chums, because she got taken hostage, and her husband died. Are these FBI agents or keystone cops - anyone hear of pyromaniac firemen, or rescuers who create the situations they save people from? Have their memories simply failed with regard to surveilance that proved Erica lied about visiting Jack Landry?

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: snippets!

V Season 2, episode 6 "Siege"

2011-02-20T16:29:00.000-05:00

Possible game-changing episode this week? It certainly could be, with Erica's ex/Tyler's dad killed at the end, along with Eli Cohn. I presume Ryan is still alive, since his death wasn't specifically addressed, but that's not a guarantee. Remember Val, who was billed as a main character, was killed off at the end of 1^st Season.

Erica's final words after assuming command of the global 5^th column network certainly indicate a certain intent to "step up" the action. But then, Red Rain had that same feel, and ended up being a major disappointment.

Also, any chance they can get Diana out of that dungeon and out of that watered-down role would be most welcome. Queen Bitchtresses don't convey well at half-strength.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: sick

SGU S2 resumes

2011-02-13T11:22:00.000-05:00

Just a quick general sci-fi update - the other half of (canceled) SGU's Season 2 will start up again on March 7th - FYI, that's a Monday, so be aware of the change of days!

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: headachey

V Season 2, Episode 5

2011-02-13T11:12:00.001-05:00

At least in this week's show, Anna's latest foisting of Trojan horses onto humanity results in a little action, in the form of an assasination attempt. But the word is leaked, Marcus takes Anna's place and is hit instead, with Tyler and Erica standing inches from the rifle blast of the two 5^th Column marksmen.

So good on V for stepping up the game a bit (although I'm going to be pissed if "Thomas" actually replaces Marcus as 2^nd in command*), but the series gets docked on logistical points. OK, so we all saw how Hobbes and Cohn made it through the security perimeter, but how did they make it out once the shooting happened? If their escape was merely "taking advantage of the chaos", it's more than Erica and her partner who were flubbing the security protocols. I mean, aren't assasination attempts the sort of thing high-profile security teams are trained to anticipate?

Also, it makes no sense whatsoever that Ryan would betray the team now. It's not like Anna's changed the game; she's just pulling the old trick of using his daughter's manufactured illness as a way of pulling his strings. Up until now, Ryan's been doing a pretty good job of leading her to believe he was working for her - and if he'd just held out for another day or so, Anna wouldn't be his problem. Ryan isn't naive - he knows his daughter's** affliction is manufactured, and with Lisa in charge he'd stand a far better chance of getting her cured, permanently. But he wusses out at the last moment, with no real justification.

At least the 5^th Column (well, Hobbes anyway) are quick to put two and two together, so we may be seeing a lizard beat-down next week. Although more likely Ryan will plead his case on parental weakness, Erica will cave at the last minute, and save him from a skinning. Which is OK, because I still mostly like Ryan, I just think he's not being written entirely believable on the daughter angle.

* - Or maybe the "injury" is going to be a gateway for the Marcus character to suddenly assume human emotion and later ally with the goodies? For that matter, what ever was supposed to come of the Marcus/Hobbes secret meetings in S1? Or the mysterious woman?
** - could they give her a name, please? Save me some typing?

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: awake

V Season 2 Episode 4, "Unholy Alliance"

2011-02-06T14:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I was kinda hoping the ep penned by Rockne S. O'Bannon (of Farscape and Alien Nation fame) would be a little more distinctive, but such as it was, it was simply another link in the chain.

This week Anna uses the velvet glove/iron fist routine with the Catholic Church, in the hopes of harnessing its significant power of social control. While there's no mention of recent (and ongoing) pedophilia scandals, the Catholic heirachy is represented as basically playing numbers game for power and converts. Which, they pretty much are, so at least that's realistic.

But anyway, it's the same song and dance as before. Anna plays chess the exact same way no matter what pieces are on the board. Sweet and deferential at first, and if she doesn't get her way, sweet and manipulative with the slightest hint of naked rage. This was just dandy for the first season, but I'd hoped for a game-changer (the most logical point would've been at "Red Rain"). A "game changer" meaning something comparable to what the "New Caprica" episodes were for Battlestar Galactica (although admittedly, they eventually took the fallout from that too far).

Somewhat related, nearly everyone on V is a credulous fool. Erica and crew for believing Eli Cohn's gunpoint "deal" (which surprisingly, Cohn actually honored) of giving up his own men as scapegoats. Tyler for the lust-fueled blind faith in the purity of the Visitors' agenda, which drives him to vandalize property of those he sees as his enemies (foolishly dropping his cell phone containing self-documentation of his crimes). And once again Erica, for allowing her connection to Jack to be so public. Heck, even her own son knew they were friends, should she really be surprised when her trained investigator colleagues at the FBI are able to make the connection too? I'd like to say at least Ryan and Hobbes still have their wits about them, but recall they did sign off on that Eli Cohn deal as well. Maybe there was a bit of dialog lost to the cutting room floor, that made that deal believable?

Anyway, V is a decent enough show with a good amount of potential, but it's slowing down, and they need to break out of the "formula" of the last 16 shows. Sure, stepping up the action past the point of no return (for example, open warfare breaking out between Vs and humans, or operating a police state, etc.) is risky, but I predict if something new isn't employed before the end of Season 2, audiences won't stick around for a season 3.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: bored

V, Season 2 Episode 3

2011-01-21T14:56:00.001-05:00

Whoah-kay, So this week's episode revolves around the "good guys" torturing to death newly-discovered enemy agent ~~Tori~~ Malik, in the hopes of gaining information about Anna's nefarious plans.

Um...okay, I know Tori's bad and all, and that she'd just as soon kill all humans as look at them.

But the goodies flayed the skin off her back. They threatened to use epinephrine to prolong her agony of bleeding to death. The "mercy" gesture, should she comply and give up information, was a sedative that would allow her to bleed out (chained from the ceiling) in an unconscious state.

And none of our protagonists really batted an eye at all this. Not even supposedly higher moral creature (i.e., devotion to imaginary beings is the universally-recognized criteria for having high ethical standards) father Jack. Sure, Jack was conveniently elsewhere when Erica, Hobbes, and Ryan interrogated, slashed, and injected Malik, but he was definitely there when the option was brought up. Not a peep of protest out of the "man of god" when the torture victim is a being not of his own kind.

The most "agonizing" that went on was whether Erica would press the "selfish" angle of torturing her former partner for info on her son, or the more "altuistic" notion of torturing her for information on larger strategic issues. Hmm, tough choice there.

If this is going the direction of a "we've lost sight of our ideals" teachable moment, they're certainly taking a while to get there. Basically, this is getting right at the precipice of making the show seem sympathetic to tactics used on say, Daniel Pearl, or in the Mexican drug violence. And really, I fear V just isn't sophisticated enough* to simultaneously explore the darkest depths of human nature and have the Visitor cast CGI-unhooking their lizard jaws and swallowing lab rats.

* - Exhibit A: Anna's "Shirley Sherrod"-ing of Jack really fell flat. Awkward and lame - that part definitely didn't come off the way it was intended.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: shocked

Mini reviews for the show with the mini title (i.e., "V")

2011-01-17T14:11:00.001-05:00

S02E01: Red Rain
As much as I was hoping for the Season 1 finale to be a game-changer, it seems not to be the case in "Red Rain". Anna isn't launching an all-out offensive just yet, just more of the bait-and-switch that characterized the first season. Red Rain gets explained as something miraculous (magic pollution scrubber in this case), and our credulous humans just lap it up. Minus our heros in the 5^th Column, of course.

Also, Joshua is back, but he's been brought back to life reset (i.e., "bad"). Which means Marcus probably didn't switch to being good either. But then, Ryan's change of allegiance to Anna was just a feint as well. And Chad seems to have been finally hit with the clue-by-four, but at this point no one trusts him. V sure likes having its double agents. Oh, and Diana is unveiled for like 2 seconds at the end. After 2 shows, I still can't decide if Jane Badler has aged phenomenally well, or in kind of a scary way.

S02E02: Serpent's Tooth
But in ep 2, we get to see Badler strut more of her stuff. Alas, the character doesn't quite have the edge of the old Diana, as the Queen-mother is on the pro-emotion team now. I'm hoping the writers will allow Badler the chance to bare more teeth and claws later on in the season.

Otherwise, much of this episode was mired in talk of souls, god, and other squishy stuff that made me largely tune out or get annoyed. Hey guys, please don't try to copy BSG with all the spiritual blah-blah, because that was the part of the show that didn't work! Or at very least, it never paid off on all the promises.

Lastly, it looks like agent ~~Tory~~ Malik's story is finally going the way of agent ~~Wash~~ Maddox's. But that is to be continued next time...

OK, hope to have a longer review for S02E03: "Laid Bare", now that I've caught up a bit. But this is likely to be a busy week, so no promises!

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: busy

Your MLK day sci-fi update

2011-01-17T13:32:00.001-05:00

Torchwood: Click here to read about this summer's long awaited continuation of Torchwood, now being called "Miracle Day". The synopsis is that Series 4 will continue in the miniseries format that allowed for the ultra-successful "Children of Earth" in 2009. Except this series will have 10 episodes instead of 5. There will also be new cast members (naturally, since virtually everyone's dead now). The rest is spoilers, so click through if you want to read.

V: After Tuesday, V skips a week for some reason. I'm sure there's some kind of special event like the Oscars or something, but I don't feel like looking it up, and I'm sure someone will let me know if it's anything important. Anyway, the point being - the show will return February 1^st with an ep written by Rockne S. O'Bannon! Devoted sci-fi fans already know he was the creator/writer of such shows as Farscape and Alien Nation. Should be interesting, so be sure to tune in!

Tags: doctor who, sci-fi
Mood: optimistic

Caprica Burnoff

2011-01-09T15:11:00.000-05:00

I'm going to review the Caprica burnoff as a whole and not individually, as they came rapid-fire Jan 4^th anyway - besides, I just won't have the time this month to make 5 separate reviews.

Unlike the rest (?) of you who went out partying Saturday night, I instead engaged on my own little Caprica Marathon while I was recuperating from Thursday's vision correction surgery.

The runup to Caprica's season finale (== gravemarker) was characterized by a sharp spike in intrigue (almost to the point of confusion), as well as a showcase of some truly vile behavior, by well, just about everyone on screen.

Whether it was in the name of patriotism, greed, or family -- the last few stories were a testament to the absolute worst of human nature. But, by far the biggest motivator for inhuman brutality was religious fervor. It could've been a walking advertisement for athesim, except in Caprica, religion is framed as something really important, crucial to the human experience. I suppose, but more often than not, it's the reason behind the body count.

Leaving that aside, even the mostly-secular characters are rotten. Everyone's trying to screw one another, and eventually - kill one another. The levels of barbarism across the board really is quite striking. And that, I believe, was one element in its demise. What I mean is, as characters, no one's very likeable. The cast is large, and although there are a few that are relatively (compared to the Guatrau, or Clarice) innocuous, even the Greystones and Adamas are lying and/or huring others to achieve their agenda.

The other (IMO) cause to Caprica's cancellation was that it moved too slow on the "history of the Cylon" angle. Season 1 piled on layer after layer of character ~~angst~~ development and interpersonal intrigue, but many BSG fans became impatient with the lack of movement with the Cylons themselves. Up until the end, the action was nowhere near explaining how the first Cylon war came about.

As it happened, RDM obviously was tipped off to his show's cancellation, and was allowed to furnish a parting montage filling in what obviously had been planned for future seasons. It's a pity that Caprica didn't pick up the pace to fit some of this material in to Season 1 - maybe, just maybe, fans would've held on long enough for a Season 2.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: vision stabilizing...

Final SGU review up now!

2011-01-04T16:11:00.001-05:00

S02E10: Resurgence

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: rushed

V & Caprica burnoff

2011-01-02T11:51:00.000-05:00


	Reminder: Season 2 premiere of V is this Tuesday, as well as the Syfy "burnoff" of the final Caprica stories. Alas, I won't be able to watch them on time (let alone post reviews), because I'll be busy getting stuff done in prep for LASIK Jan 6th. But the rest of you should watch! Tags: sci-fi Mood: nervous

Doctor Who Xmas 2010 special

2010-12-31T19:55:00.000-05:00

Finally, made time for this review. I wanted to put some temporal distance from the holiday, as I really can't stand Xmas and thus am biased against these specials. The 2-month-corporate-megapalooza masquerading as a quasi-religious holiday steeped with stolen/bastardized elements of earlier mythologies can't be over soon enough (to return in October!). And oh, the best part - ritual condemnation of anyone not in the Xmas "spirit", which I have yet to see in its advertized form (I do however, see an increase in rude and grabby behavior this time o' year).

The 2005-onward* Dr. Who specials largely indulges the Xmas wishful/masturbatory thinking, and thus I'm never quite as taken with them as compared with other eps. Now, having gotten my bile-spewing out of the way, I'll make an attempt at an honest review.

PRE-NOTE: Some months back, you may recall I posted a link to an IMDB page about this episode with certain odd and perplexing cast. I.e., Tom Baker and Matthew Waterhouse, a listing for "Kroll", "Omega", etc. Sadly, none of this came to pass in this ep. I am still not sure whether this was an IMDB hack, or honest mistake. Maybe it could have been a mistaken release of information to be realized in the 2011 season?

Overall, the story did manage to stay entertaining. Although the plot largely rested on skeleton of the classic Dickens tale, Moffat did manage to mix things up a bit with the fish, fog, girl in the freezer, etc. However, a lot of these elements are retooled from Moffat's older stories. The shark pulling the sled was cute though. The "Xmas present" segment with Amy was the weakest part, but mercifully also the shortest.

Bookkeeping point: considering Kazran and Abigail took at least 5 or 6 trips in the TARDIS, should they now be considered "companions"? Or does that title get bestowed only in alignment with the Doctor's timeline? Wikipedia still says Amy and Rory are the only 11^th Doctor companions.

After a while, one does start to sympathize with Kazran and away from the Doctor, as really, the Doctor is only messing with this guy's life so that he'll become willing to pull a switch in the present and save the Doc's friends. And then there are the massive plot holes when it comes to the fog-repelling machine, its isomorphic controls, etc. But what does that matter as long as everyone learns The True Meaning of Christmas™?????

* - Classic Who didn't do Xmas specials, or any other kind, aside from major anniversaries of its own run (10^th, 20^th, 25^th).

Tags: doctor who
Mood: busy

SGU 4 U!

2010-12-28T11:19:00.000-05:00

More Cavalcade reviews:

Malice (S02E08): So much for newfound f**k buddies.

Visitation (S02E09): Let’s Get Ready to (Metaphysically) Rumble!!

One more to go...!Tags: sci-fi
Mood: busy

Tron: Legacy

2010-12-27T13:23:00.000-05:00

Not going to write a whole lot on Tron: Legacy, but it basically lived up to my expectations. That being: it would be a pretty movie without a terribly taxing plot. Believe me, it could've been a lot worse in that regard - truly cringe-worthy moments were less frequent than I'd anticipated. And while it's been a long time since I've seen it, I don't recall the original being a whole lot more than a vehicle for special effects either, so it's not like it was all that bastardized from the original intent.

The 3D aspect was nice but wasn't necessary for the experience. If you do splurge, I recommend sitting two-thirds of the way back, at least. Wide angle motion plays havoc with the glasses and I'm wondering whether those sitting in front left with headache/eyestrain worse than we did (we were about halfway up).

Of course Daft Punk were the DJs at the Yes-We've-Seen-The-Matrix nightclub, and I enjoyed their music as well as the overall movie score. However, I had to L-O-L at the hilarity of Zuse explicitly waving D.P. to cue up "fight scene" music when the baddies arrived.

The movie could've written Bruce Boxleitner a bigger part, though. He was on screen for what, 4 minutes at the beginning and 2 at the end? B.B. has gone completely silver, but is otherwise aging quite gracefully.

I'll have to get to the Doctor Who review later. Just haven't had time to sit down and do this, but I'll try to put something out soon...Tags: sci-fi
Mood: busy

Torchwood S4

2010-12-25T16:48:00.001-05:00

I know it's a long way off, but in case anyone is interested in hearing about the long-awaited 4th series of Torchwood...(ETA 1 July 2011)
Tags: doctor who
Mood: procrastinating

Wha??? Stargate Universe Cancelled

2010-12-16T19:59:00.000-05:00

Syfy has not opted to renew Stargate Universe.

Well, that was a surprise. (it really is, not being sarcastic)

First Caprica and now SGU - Syfy has an odd habit of cancelling its banner sci-fi shows, yet Ghost Hunters lives on???Tags: sci-fi
Mood: surprised

More Stargate Reviews!

2010-12-16T10:33:00.000-05:00

Episode 6, "Trial and Error"

Episode 7, "The Greater Good"

And yes, I goofed and titled both episodes "trial and error". My bad, it was a long frustrating weekend on other counts, and it slipped by. Anyway, you know what I mean.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: rushed

Dr. Who changes broadcast dates

2010-12-12T10:53:00.000-05:00

This year, Dr. Who is following the lead of some U.S. shows*, and is breaking its 2011 season in half. The first 7 episodes of the new series will broadcast in its usual Spring slot, ending on a mid-season cliffhanger. The remaining episodes will air sometime in the Autumn. Which I guess means it's going to be running in parallel with The Sarah Jane Adventures.

I hope they don't do this with all the UK shows - their seasons are short enough already (it's not like it's SGU, with 20 shows a year). It would be ridiculous to try and keep track of 6 different half-seasons, consisting of siz, five, or three stories apiece. Fortunately, no word on this format being imposed on Torchwood or The Sarah Jane Adventures.

* - e.g., BSG, V, SGU, etc.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: confused

Stargate Season 2, Episode 5

2010-12-10T10:52:00.001-05:00

This is the first of my newer (aka backfilled) SGU reviews.

“Hey guys, is it safe to match ‘AB negative‘ with ‘Zork Broogle Bleep positive’?”

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: cold

Stargate Season 2, Episode 4

2010-12-08T13:59:00.001-05:00

Pathogen

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: rushed

Stargate Season 2, Episode 3

2010-12-06T11:33:00.000-05:00

My review for "Awakening" is now up on Cavalcade of Schlock.

Stargate Universe, Season 2, Episode 2

2010-12-03T08:43:00.000-05:00

New Cavalcade post on "Aftermath" is now up. SGU reviews are being published a bit more frequently than once a week, in a bid to catch up. Anyway, yeah - I was a little pissed when they killed off Riley. (since it's several weeks past, I don't have to hide spoilers)

Any additional issues in viewing the site? Let me know in the comments! I've been told that the glitch from earlier in the week was fixed...Tags: sci-fi
Mood: friday

Sarah Jane Adventures, Season 4, Episodes 11 & 12.

2010-11-28T13:14:00.001-05:00

Haven't been online in the past week, so obviously I wasn't able to post the final review for SJA S04, but here it is now:

Season 4's finale wasn't quite as exciting as some of the earlier adventures in the season. There weren't any visits from Dr. Who alumni such as Matt Smith or Katy Manning, no cool robots like in "The Empty Planet", and the story was a bit obvious, most likely even for kids.

In this episode, Sarah Jane meets her match in the form of a fellow savior of Earth named Ruby. The cool car, the brusque demeanor, the alien tech - it's all there, albeit in a woman about 15 years her junior. Initial jealousy gives way to camraderie, and Sarah Jane eventually brings Ruby into her inner circle. So much so that when Sarah Jane loses her mojo, resulting in dangerous mistakes, she confides in Ruby. Sarah Jane confesses that she's not what she once was, and makes plans to ride off into the sunset, leaving Ruby the keys to her kingdom.

So who amongst you is surprised that Ruby turns out to be an alien draining the life force of Sarah Jane?? I'd better not see any hands raised!

Aside from the main storyline being standard sci-fi trope, points of note include the return of Luke for the 2^nd half of the story, and K-9 (albeit via satellite). There wasn't really much to this story, and it's a shame the 2010 season had to end on a bit of flat note. Still, for kids' programming, it's one of the best sci-fi shows out there.

So that's a wrap for SJA, but rest assured, S5 is already in production, so we'll pick up the story in October 2011!

Tags: doctor who
Mood: busy

Sci-Fi updates

2010-11-28T12:26:00.001-05:00

Caprica - Although the Canadian channel SPACE has continued to air Caprica until its conclusion on Tuesday, I have not had time to follow this. Besides, none of you would know what I was talking about. For those of you that just have to know what happens in the final episodes, the Caprica DVD is to be released in December, but unless it's available on Netflix, I doubt it's worth it. Instead, most of you should be tuning in to the January 4^th "burn off" on Syfy, where we'll get one megadose of our canceled friends.

V - Coincidentally, January 4^th is when V S02 kicks off, so mark your calendar or set your Tivos.

Stargate Universe - goes on hiatus after this Tuesday's mid-season cliffhanger. I'll update when I get word of its return.

Doctor Who - BBC and BBC America will be in sync for this year's Xmas special, so now there's actually something to look forward to for Dec 25^th! IMDb seems to have changed its cast list, which gives me pause - makes me wonder if all that business with Tom Baker, Matthew Waterhouse, Omega, and Kroll was just some kind of hoax. Will be bummed out if so.

Red Dwarf - The latest update about a RD S10 in 2011. Will it actually come to pass? Who knows...

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: busy

Cavalcade Of Schlock reviews now online!

2010-11-28T11:59:00.000-05:00

I mentioned back in summer that I'd be writing for Cavalcade of Schlock, although due to a series of technology issues and a site-redesign, my inputs are just starting to get published this week. On the upside, my reviews now occupy two out of four spots in their "Featured Content"!

Anyway, here's what's online now:

Stargate Universe Season 2.0 premiere

An article I wrote over summer about B5's spinoff Crusade. (Disclaimer: I never managed to catch more than 1 or 2 episodes of Crusade during its first run, so my reviews are highly colored by 2010 expectations, and not that of 1999.)

More reviews will be coming. There are still 3 SGU reviews on deck, and I intend to use the month of December to play catch-up with the shows that have since aired.

Understand that I was not able to publish these reviews on my own blog ahead of Cavalcade, however I do believe that in the future (probably for SGU Season 2.5), the turnaround will be a lot closer to what you'd expect on my personal site.

Oh, P.S. - you need to access the Cavalcade site with any browser other than Internet Explorer (Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari). Sorry.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: busy

Sarah Jane Adventures, Season 4, Episodes 9 & 10 ("Lost in Time")

2010-11-13T19:33:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the delay in the SJA review, this time my tardiness was due to technology issues...

This week was (as is obvious from the title) a time travel show, with our intrepid cast split between WWII, the middle ages, and Victorian times. Their objective was to delve into Earth's History to retrieve certain objects that somehow were causing historical events to have gone the wrong way (e.g., Lady Jane Grey being assassinated, Germans winning WWII). A mysterious alien sends them back for these objects to prevent some (ill-defined) temporal threat to the Earth, in the modern day. If I'm having trouble explaining the premise here, it's because the overall plot justification was flimsy to nonexistent. There appeared to be no alien influence behind the timelines being out of whack in the first place, they just were. The nature of the present-day threat was never addressed, nor was the real-time unfolding of their actions in the past, and the current-time urgency.

Ignoring the plot holes you could drive a semi through, it was an OK episode, but not thrilling. The WWII time period (the one Clyde was dumped into) was probably the best subplot of the three. The other two (Sarah Jane in 1889, Rani in 1553) were bland but watchable. The resolution at the end, with the key passed down to the granddaughter (finding Sarah Jane via time-traveling news clipping) was a nice touch. But overall it wasn't quite as tight an episode as some others from this season.

Next week: SJA season 4 finale!

Tags: doctor who
Mood: okay

Sarah Jane Adventures Season 4, Episodes 7 & 8

2010-11-04T19:42:00.001-04:00

Just a quick word on "The Empty Planet". Obviously, since this story involved everyone in the world disappearing except Clyde and Rani, there wasn't much of the other characters figuring in this week. However, all things considered, the actors and the writing carried the story well enough. The story itself had a long buildup but a quick resolution, and that might seem a bit unsatisfying to some. However it was made up for with some REALLY COOL ROBOTS. Either the Red Robot or the Yellow Robot would've made a kickass Halloween costume. Well, for someone possessing studio-grade costume making skills. Please tell me there's going to be a Sarah Jane Adventures auction soon?

Tags: doctor who
Mood: robotic

Caprica, Season 1, Episode 13

2010-10-31T13:12:00.001-04:00

Pity that the impromptu last episode of Caprica wasn't more memorable. I wish it'd been a bit more epic, but it's only to be expected given the circumstances (abrupt cancellation of the show, rescheduling the remaining episodes for 2011). Perhaps a more appropriate title to the show would've been "Miscarriage".

We ended on an intermediate episode, one that advances main plot threads a tick. It also opened up one new thread involving the robot and Sam, the assassin. However, aside from the use of the robot, it's all recycled mafia-genre storylines. From the ambush on the hearse to the robot offing the rival gang leader, there weren't too many twists the viewer won't see coming.

A few threads are shelved for the week, and thus we don't see Lacy, Zoe, Tamara, or any of the teen scene, meaning they won't be doing anything until the show reboots in 2011 for its final "lame duck session".

The one upshot to ending on middle episode is that there really isn't anything critical left in suspense. The only thing I'm vauguely curious about is concerning Amanda. At the end, she reveals to the DDG investigator that she lied to gain Marbeth's trust and be allowed to stay in the STO polygamist household. The question is, lied about what - envying Marbeth's family? Having post-partum depression? Getting over post-partum depression?

However these are small concerns, no more than soap opera prurience. But Caprica always leaned harder towards the "opera" part of "Space Opera" than the "space". Sci-fi was more of an afterthought, or a distant backdrop, and probably had a good deal to do with its cancellation.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: crappy

Caprica Cancelled

2010-10-27T20:35:00.000-04:00

I'm sure it won't come as a shock, but Caprica has been cancelled. In fact, they're yanking it immediately, yesterday's episode being the final airing until Spring, when presumably prime-time slots are at less of a premium.

Hmmm...now, they better not have gone and made things get really good in those last couple eps, or I'm gonna be pissed (and for once, not at Sci-Fi itself).

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: cynical

Sarah Jane Adventures, Season 4, Episodes 5 & 6

2010-10-27T20:18:00.001-04:00

With guest appearances by Matt Smith (Doctor #11) and Katy Manning (Formerly 3^rd Doctor companion Jo Grant, and immediate predecessor of Sarah Jane Smith). Writing for his first time on SJA since the pilot was Russel T. Davies.

The plot was rather straightforward (rogue aliens trick Sarah Jane and friends into believing the Doctor was dead, but they are discovered and defeated), but that wasn't why anyone was tuning in this week.

This story was a Who-franchise nexus, sewing together strands from SJA, classic Who and new series. Beyond Katy Manning's (who is looking pretty decent these days, although I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been under the surgeon's knife) reprise of Jo Grant, there's continuity galore. Too much to list out individually, but references (+flashbacks) to former adventures with incarnations of the Doctor, aliens, planets, etc. RTD also went out of his way to mention other companions and what they were doing with their lives (including some for whom the actors have died).

RTD's writing was unmistakeable, from his focus on the companions, to his gentle pushing of ideas of equality. To his credit, he did a decent job writing dialogue for Jo; she is believable as the same clumsy and flaky girl we saw in the 70's, with added wisdom that one might imagine 40 extra years would afford.

RTD also shows his mischievious (in the latter case, a bit too mischievious) side as well. He has Clyde ask the Doctor point blank about regenerations, first with "Are you always white, or can you be other colors as well?". Possibly a tweak at Moffat for not choosing Paterson Joseph as the 11^th Doctor? Then Clyde asks the Doctor how many times he can regenerate, and he's answered with, "507".

Commence freaking out.

Anyway, I freak out so that you don't have to. It's all a "joke" - by the Doctor, by RTD, but the line was "not intended to be taken seriously".

That's one long, angry rant taken off the table by a bit of googling. ;-)

Tags: doctor who
Mood: cheerful

Caprica Season 1 Episode 12

2010-10-24T11:53:00.001-04:00

Thank goodness, the beard is gone!

Yes, the orange roadkill Daniel Greystone had been growing on his face has been banished, as he's stopped playing gangster and gone back to normal life as president and CEO of Greystone Industries. However, it's never quite that easy when dealing with the BSG-version of La Cosa Nostra, and loose ends like Tomas Vergis can't be left hanging. Adama (who is shaping up to be more of the "heavy" than co-protagonist) wants Vergis dead, but Daniel prefers to reason with him. So Greystone & Vergis secretly meet, and Daniel proposes an alliance against his mobster masters. However, in an amazing display of lack-of-self-preservation, Vergis tricks Daniel into impaling him with his own knife, rather than take chances with the Ha'la'tha. Caprica writers thereby kill not only Vergis, but a potentially interesting plot thread of scheming and double-crossing. Ah well.

We do spend some time in V-world this week, although really, it's a ho-hum, done-before cage match scene. Zoe and Tamara come in to the ring enemies, duke it out, have some words, and leave allies. It's supposed to be a pivotal point in the series, but it was just so darn derivitive, I couldn't summon up the enthusiasm.

Also, Clarice keeps Lacy prisoner in her attic, her husbands taking turns drugging and shoving her around until she cracks. Once Lacy gives Clarice the information on Zoe's avatar, she's shipped off to a terrorist training camp on Gemenon. Ah religion, it really does provide that "moral compass", eh?

So there was a lot going on in this week's Caprica, yet somehow the action still managed to drag. Perhaps the upcoming "other" prequel in the BSG franchise (a.k.a., "The life and times of Bill Adama"), set in the later years of the 1^st Cylon War, will be more snappy than this. Caprica only has 6 episodes left to prove its worth to audiences and network execs; so far it doesn't appear to have the trajectory to pull out of this nose dive in time.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: bored

Sarah Jane Adventures Season 4, Episodes 3 & 4

2010-10-19T23:43:00.000-04:00

"The Vault of Secrets" was actually kind of a fun, fast-paced story. At least for a kids' show.

There were a lot of elements involved, which helped to keep the action moving. The alien, Androvax, was a return from the previous season's "Prisoner of the Judoon", and is one of the more unique makeup and prosthetic jobs original to SJA. Also, alert viewers will recognize the android MIB "Mr. Dread" as continuity from the 10^th Doctor webisodes "Dreamland".

Being a kids show, the plot itself held no surprises - nearly every turn (Androvax faking his death, mind-wipe of Gita, etc) is easily anticipated by more experienced (=older) viewers. But at least there was a lot happening, and for once "love" or "friendship" wasn't the instrument used to save the world. *snerk*

There was a fair amount of humor interspersed, and while none of it was terribly edgy, it was kind of cute. I've always thopught Gita and Haresh (Rani's parents) were a good comic duo, and the B.U.R.P.P.S. crew also provided a laugh or two.

Being that the stage was so crowded, the team worked fine without Luke (who only appeared briefly in the beginning, in a video chat window). Also the foreshadowing of a Clyde-Rani romance is getting a bit thick; I'd expect to see something materialize before season's end.

Reminder: next week is the guest appearance of Matt Smith as the Doctor and (more interestingly) Katy Manning as Jo Grant!

Tags: doctor who
Mood: content

Change-of-Date for V S2 premiere

2010-10-17T10:44:00.001-04:00

ABC has moved the Season 2 premiere of "V" from November to January 4^th.

This is fine by me, as I've got *more* than enough to tide me over until then.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: awake

Caprica Season 1, Episode 11

2010-10-14T23:13:00.002-04:00

Caprica stock gains ground this week, with the action picking up a bit from the "perpetual grief" theme of weeks (months!) past. STO factions chase after one other, Daniel Greystone tries his hand at being a gangster (growing a ridiculous red beard for the occasion), and even Amanda Greystone is knocked out of her pity party when she suspects Clarice is using her for nefarious ends.

In all of that, there's very little that qualifies as "sci-fi". The robot, sure, but that's only seen for the briefest of moments, in its charred and lifeless state. The holobands, maybe, but they're just a tick beyond our current capabilities, and the interplanetary jaunts between colonies are treated in a way comparable to real-life overseas air travel.

However, at this point I'm not going to gripe - I'm just grateful these characters are up and about and *doing* something, and not mired in their own dysfunction.

Hopefully Greystone will lose that beard, though.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: hungry

Sarah Jane Adventures, Season 4, Episode 1 & 2

2010-10-13T12:20:00.002-04:00

The Sarah Jane Adventures has kicked off for a fourth season, starting this week. Much to my overloaded review schedule (already doing SGU and Caprica, and on Monday/Tuesday (Tuesday again!) to boot. Since the format is 12 episodes covering 6 stories, this series will be finished in late November.

Standard disclaimer: The Sarah Jane Adventures is a kids show. Don't expect deep plots, complicated characters or legitimately scary material. Also expect the humour to be a bit watered down, and the tone to be saccharine.

Historically, SJA seasons start on the weak side but build up over the course of the year. "The Nightmare Man" definitely had its childish elements - most notably the villain himself. Gah, that accent of his was like nails on a chalkboard. But the story also seemed a bit more grown-up compared with season-premieres in the past.

Perhaps it was meant to mirror the overarching storyline of Luke leaving for university a year earlier than his peers. After vanquishing the alien in an overly-sentimental way typical of SJA (which I'm not going into because it's just silly to subject a kids show to that level of analysis), Luke does head off for college, effectively writing him off the series, at least partly. K-9 goes as well, to "watch over" Luke (and minimise BBC paying royalties on the dog's use). Now the main cast is down to Sarah Jane, Clyde, and Rani, as there seems to be no one lined up to take Luke's place.

No Dr. Who continuity for this episode, apart from an odd mention of The Doctor. However, Who fans new and old are reminded that Matt Smith (11^th Doctor) and Katy Manning (Jo Grant, 3^rd Doctor's companion) will be making an appearance later in the season.

Caprica, Season 1, Episode 10 (yes, we're still on S1!)

2010-10-08T09:11:00.001-04:00

OK, so for about twenty minutes I allowed myself hope that Caprica would get better.

"End of the Line", the mid-season-cliffhanger-that-seemed-like-a-finale, was a fair improvement from the depressing, wallowing, dreck that most of Caprica had offered to date. After all, there was a robot jail-break, a bomb going off, and a main character jumping off a bridge. Seemed that Caprica might actually veer away from its 8-episode "tribute to grief" and get down to more interesting sci-fi.

The continuation almost seemed like it was going to continue on that vector. Mrs. Greystone appeared to really be dead (although you know Mr. Greystone was contemplating restoring her as an AI), another terrorist attack occurred, and it looked like there was another tick forward in the "How the Cylons came to be" back-fill.

But no - none of that was real. Amanda Greystone, the most singularly whiny character on the show, is not actually dead but holing up with Clarice "pedophile terrorist" Willow. I presume her lack of injuries mean she didn't jump off the bridge, which makes me wonder why the world thinks she did.

The terrorist attack wasn't real either, but the holoband's equivalent of a PowerPoint presentation...for terrorists. The monotheists' headquarters on Gemenon, and their clerical authorities appeared to have been transported directly from a Lord of the Rings set. It was hard to keep a straight face through all that, plus the icky seduction of Clarice's would-be assassin, and overdone murder of the cleric who'd ordered Clarice killed.

Other than that, our heroes on Caprica are feeling very dysfunctional and angsty. As usual! (The happiest, most well-adjusted character on the show is Sam...the assassin). There's also some more machinations with regard to Daniel's company that, despite involving a robot and the mafia, still managed to come off as rather dry and boring. At least for a TV show.

Unrelated P.S. - From now on, SGU reviews will go up on Cavalcade of Schlock, however there's a lag in publishing due to the fact that they undergo actual revision & editing by someone who's not me. I have a review for S02E01 in the pipeline, but I've no control over when it actually goes public.

Oi!

2010-09-19T22:25:00.001-04:00

FYI, got word on the air date of The Sarah Jane Adventures, S4 - it's 11 October. Fortunately it only airs 6 weeks, but those will be 3-per weeks (along with SGU and Caprica). Possibly with a 4-per, depending on what week V kicks off.
Tags: sci-fi
Mood: intimidated

Sci-fi news and updates

2010-09-11T13:15:00.000-04:00

A few minor updates and corrections:

Contrary to rumors about S 1.5 picking up in January 2011, Caprica will instead resume airing on October 5^th, exactly one week after Stargate Universe (S2) begins. Sci-Fi (Siffy), in the latest of a long line of brilliant scheduling decisions, is choosing to air both shows at the same time of year and on the same night of the week. Never fear if your Tuesdays are spoken for, because Sci-Fi will be repeating all shows ad nauseum in the days/weeks following.

V mercifully is waiting until November to start up its 13 episode S2, although that will be on Tuesdays as well, which means at some point my shows may be competing against one another. Here's a couple of minor spoilers on the season to come: "Lourdes Benedicto [Val] will not be returning for season two, as her character is indeed dead. Charles Mesure, who portrays Kyle Hobbes, has been promoted to a series regular. Jane Badler will appear in a recurring role as Anna's mother, Diana, the leader of the Vs. Badler portrayed Diana in the original V television series."

From Wikipedia, on the fate of Torchwood:
…Torchwood would be returning for a 10-part series and would be a co-production between BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Worldwide and US premium entertainment network Starz Entertainment. John Barrowman and Eve Myles, along with Kai Owen will be returning to the series which will feature locations from around the world. The series will air both in United Kingdom and United States in summer 2011. Writers for the series have been confirmed as Russell T Davies, John Shiban, Doris Egan, Jane Espenson and John Fay. It will reportedly feature the banner title of "The New World".

Yikes! With The Sarah Jane Adventures booting up most likely in October, I am going to be really busy with reviews in 3 weeks' time.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: busy

Get ready for the autumn/winter rush

2010-08-05T09:47:00.001-04:00

First - the hard date: Stargate Universe is set to continue with its second season on September 28^th. This is only slightly weird, because although S1 wrapped in June, it started in Oct '09. These darn half-seasons.

Second - the soft dates:

(A) Caprica, which had been rumoured to pick its half season up in September, has now been pushed to January, a full year after its kickoff (not counting the DVD pilot which was out in October). So if they keep up this rate, we'll see a full season complete every two years.
(B) V is set to return "November 2010", undoubtedly with a mid-season break like last time.

Third - the no-date: No further word on The Sarah Jane Adventures other than the nebulous "Autumn 2010" label. We know it's happening, we also know they're already renewed for 2011. And this year's has added incentive of guest stars Matt Smith from the new series and Katy Manning from the classic series. Doctor Who, of course, will not be back until the 2010 Xmas Special, preceding its usual Spring start date.

Fourth - the next-year: Torchwood, as we know, is still pushed off until summer 2011, but it will be a 10-part regular (well, slightly shortened) season vs. another miniseries.

*whew*, keeping track of TV scheduling is more complicated than it used to be.

Tags: doctor who, sci-fi
Mood: nerdy

w0t?

2010-07-20T00:25:00.000-04:00

Did it somehow jump to April 1^st without my noticing??

IMDB is reporting that Doctor Who's Season 6 kickoff is somehow going to involve "Cyber-Daleks", the return of Matthew Waterhouse as Adric's Ghost, Brian Blessed as Omega, Kroll (as in the giant cephalapod from the Key to Time segment "The Power of Kroll").....

...and Tom Baker as The Doctor alongside Matt Smith.

Whoah. Just Whoah.

This is either (1) hacked (2) batshit crazy or (3) batshit glorious.

Or some combination of the above.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: w0t?

Doctor Who Season 5, Episode 13

2010-06-30T09:45:00.000-04:00

"I don't trust that Richard Dawkins"...

PSA - The 2^nd half of Season 5's finale is an even more complicated tale than the first half, so make sure to be adequately rested/caffeinated before viewing. Let's see if I can explain, following our cliffhanger: (Doctor locked in the Pandorica, Amy shot by Auton Rory, all stars in the universe going supernova [for some reason])

Future-Self Doctor pops into existence and briefs Auton-Rory on how to free Present-Self Doctor and use the Pandorica to regenerate Amy. This involves a lot of flitting back and forth through time, to a rewritten reality, no less.

This new reality has no stars and Earth alone exists in the universe. Alternate-reality *child* Amy Pond must be contacted to activate the Pandorica and save Orginal Amy Pond via DNA transfer/activation, or something like that.

Auton Rory doesn't travel through time but stays guarding Original Amy in the Pandorica, and helps out when the box accidentally activates a fossilized Dalek left over from Stonehenge. The Dalek shoots the Doctor, who then pops back and forth some more time and then sends himself off in the Pandorica straight at the sun. Except it isn't the sun, it's the TARDIS in time-looped explosion*. Apparently throwing one magical object at another will re-create the entire universe via a "new" big bang, and seal up the "crack" in time and space. But it requires the Doctor sacrifice himself, being written out of history.

But that's OK because he has an Ace (whoops, wrong companion -- Amy) up his sleeve. While time is rewriting itself, he plants seeds of memory in Amy's mind. Apparently Amy's proximity to the crack gives her the power to "remember" people into existence, including her parents and the Doctor. So, after the Doctor allows time to be written over again, Amy brings him back at her wedding reception (Rory was restored when the universe was rewritten, Auton Rory is presumably lost) through some sort of Doctor Who voodoo.

In the end, Amy (and Rory) run off with the Doctor on their wedding night. Um, not going to touch that one.

So, for the first time the Doctor will have a married couple for companions. Erm, not going to print any followup thoughts on that either.

In any case, rest assured that marriage, death and rewriting of time have left Amy and Rory's maturity level untouched, so expect more Cramden-style bickering in Season 6!

For maximum enjoyment, it's probably best to focus on the "fi" and not the "sci" aspect of "sci-fi" with regard to this episode. You'll only be frustrated if you dwell on the plethora of unanswered (possibly not intended to be answered) questions. Like, who was the voice that said "Silence will fall"? I sort of expected an intelligence to be responsible for the crack. Then there's all the whys and wherefores of the crack itself (and its effects), not to mention the coalition of baddies (which basically got dropped after the cliffhanger except for the onetime Dalek threat to throw some jeopardy into an otherwise dialogue-heavy scene).

Taken as a whole, Season 5 of Doctor Who didn't depart from previous years quite as much as I expected given a new Doctor, companion, and (most importantly) executive producer. Most of the differences were cosmetic, to the point of change for the sake of itself. The more substantive changes IMO are:
1. Less of an "epic" feel than the RTD years. RTD was always trying to get the audience to "feel" the companions' plight, or to understand the gravity of what was happening to Earth, etc. Moffat is running a more encapsulated show which is probably more palatable to children, but it also frees up more air time for dialogue.
2. Story endings were more neatly tied up, and tended to be on the cutesy and/or magical side. One of the big detractors on S5 for me was that most of the stories had great setups but intellectually weak and saccharine endings. Especially if the setup was good, it could leave a viewer with a feeling of disappointment or disgust.

Overall, the changes represent a shift downward in target viewership age (as does the lowered age of the new Doctor/companion). Being 34, this doesn't really appeal to me, but if it doesn't descend any further I can live with it.

* - which shouldn't produce heat/light, but once again I'm committing the error of expecting things to make sense.

Anyway, that's it for Doctor Who until December's special, and sci-fi in general until September (when Caprica and The Sarah Jane Adventures start up again). See you then!

Tags: doctor who

Doctor Who Season 5, Episode 12

2010-06-23T10:40:00.000-04:00

Damn these short Doctor Who Seasons, we've started the finale already. Since of course this week's story ends on a cliffhanger, I'll reserve making a full review until next week, when it's completed.

Season 5's finale is of course involved in resolving the running threads concerning the "Crack" in time & space, and Amy Pond's relationship to such.

The buildup was pretty good, the usual unravel-the-mystery that personifies Moffat's writing. The Doctor is called back in time to Stonehenge by ever-smug River Song* where they find an almost infinitely complex prison called the Pandorica. River Song masquerades as Cleopatra to get some Romans to do her bidding, including Rory (more on that below).

But anyone who thought the departure of RTD would result in DW steering away from the impossibly "big" season finales was wrong. All the monsters and baddies (Daleks, Cybermen, Judoon, Nesteen, etc) get together to imprison The Doctor inside the Pandorica, and destroy his TARDIS (with the unfortunate River inside). For "the good of the universe", they claim, or at least out of self-preservation from some unnamed disaster/threat relating to the Doctor. That's where it's left at the cliffhanger, so we'll just have to wait til next installment to find out.

And then there's the Rory angle. Rory is mysteriously "resurrected" as a Roman, but it turns out it's just a construct in Amy's mind, engineered as a trap by the coalition of baddies (don't ask me how). I think the remembering/reunion was nicely done, and much more compelling than their actual relationship of bickering and name-calling.

So there's a lot of big setups, but will next week deliver? In some ways, I sort of want this to be a giant mind-fuck/hallucination episode. Mainly because of that coalition of monsters - I'm just not buying it at face value (remember what happened when Cybermen tried to forge an alliance with the Daleks in "Doomsday").

* - I swear, she had better turn out to be a Time Lord or I'm just going to be irritated. I really don't want her to be a human being.

** - continuity references: Classic-series monsters not yet seen on the new series (Draconians and Zygons) were referenced. Other monsters I didn't recognize were shown, perhaps foreshadowing future adventures.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: contemplative

Doctor Who, Season 5, episode 11

2010-06-15T00:08:00.000-04:00

"The Lodger" was all set to be a pretty decent episode. Nothing epic, but a good contained story. There was a nice buildup of action, nothing appeared to be too rushed or too slow. The Doctor was operating under a new and different scenario - on Earth, separated from Amy and the TARDIS, investigating the disturbance that had interfered with their flight. Even the "funny" parts of the Doctor trying to fit in as human were, well...actually funny.

Then they had to go and tack on a big sappy "love saves the day" ending. The menace turns out to be an alien ship programmed to find itself a pilot, regardless of the incompatibility costs (i.e., death). Ok, that's perfectly fine! But I could do without the saccharine resolution where "guys who don't want to go anywhere" are somehow anathema to the software. And then, after admitting his love to Sophie, their combined power of wanting to "stay put" destroys the ship? Oh barf, what poor systems designers these advanced alien life forms must be.

Oh, and seriously, have they gotten enough mileage out of "perception filters" yet? The damned things are the explanation for everything this season.

Anyway, the ending wasn't bad enough that it ruined the whole episode, but it did temper my enthusiasm.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: sleepy

Stargate Universe Season 1, episode 19

2010-06-09T08:54:00.002-04:00

Episode #19 really shouldn't have even happened if the blindingly incompetant Young had vented the gate room ahead of the invasion. You know, at the same point he had the crew evacuate & secure it. Instead, he waits, lets his heart strings get tugged and wimps out - now everyone's in danger. Sheesh. There's two space suits on board, so someone could've easily been on hand to watch the situation and pull out any valuable assets/prisoners.

Anyway, I am so not excited about most of those characters, and I'm running out of ways to say it. I'm tuning in to see what Rush and Greer do, mainly, and to see if any of the civilian bit players get developed into anything interesting.

Torchwood skips a year.

2010-06-09T08:53:00.002-04:00

Although I had just checked on this a couple days ago (in fact, it may have been last night), american_arcane found it first:

On 7 June 2010, it was confirmed that Torchwood would be returning for 10 part series and would be a co-production between BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Worldwide and US premium entertainment network Starz Entertainment. John Barrowman and Eve Myles will be returning to the series which will feature locations from around the world.[28]. The series will air both in United Kingdom and United States in summer 2011.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: okay

Doctor Who, Season 5, episode 10

2010-06-09T08:53:00.001-04:00

Even after executive producer changing of the guard (Russel T. Davies to Stephen Moffat), it appears the "go back in time and meet someone famous" story is going to be a staple of the new series, at least once per season.

It's a format I personally could do without (or at least reduce to infrequent levels). Forcing an alien menace onto random historical figures' path to greatness more often that not comes across as forced. It's also (understandably) hard to get the physical and emotional likenesses right. I don't think the actor (Tony Curran) quite captured the intensity I always pictured Van Gogh having, although it's clear he's trying to.

Also, I would've been more OK with the premise of Van Gogh alone able to see the Krafayis had it been better explained. What made him special in this regard - his epilepsy? The Bipolar disorder? The Thujone and/or Lead poisoning he supposedly suffered from? I realize technobabble can turn audiences off (at least when done at Voyager levels), but I think a quick word about the conditions surrounding his unique brain state would've been appropriate, particularly for younger audiences, or those unfamiliar with Van Gogh.

That said, I didn't hate the ep. It's not the worst "historical" piece they've ever done - better than "The Shakespeare Code" that so many of you seem to love. It's also not the worst of this season - "The Beast Below" (sci-fi boilerplate), "Victory of the Daleks" (a poorly paced marketing ploy), and "The Vampires of Venice" (just awful) are all worse. At least the monster's invisibility spared us all from having to watch actors react to a badly-done CGI beast, with the added benefit of preserving a bit of the mystery.

However, the ending was 10 minutes of indulgence I didn't need to see. The Doctor and Amy play god and take Vincent into the TARDIS to see the future, where his work is (of course) acclaimed as one of the best in history. Vincent weeps with joy, and the audience goes home happy that although Vincent's mental illness still caused him to take his own life, at least he knew that the future would hold the acknowledgement that escaped him during his lifetime...what a bunch of feel-good dreck.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: okay

Doctor Who Season 1, Episode 9

2010-06-02T23:03:00.001-04:00

After much delay, I finally got caught up on Saturday's Dr. Who!

The 2^nd half of the Silurian episode was pretty good; only minor quibbles with it. Of course, being about the Silurians, the plot could only go one of a couple ways; there's always a breakdown of the shaky negotiations with them, which leads to only the endpoints of either "tragic massacre" or "put them all back to sleep". Although the writers were careful not to paint the Silurians as no worse than humans, the Homo reptilia on screen were a bit un-nuanced. They turned out to either be "good" or "bad". The warriors were the angry baddies agitating for genocide, and the scientist and tribe elder/leader were way too quick to turn on their own kind. Also, why does everyone seem to forget by mid-episode that the kindly biologist Silurian had been performing human vivisections as part of his duties?

But otherwise it was a good episode, one of the better ones this season. Note the revamped Silurian gun - reminiscent of the old Sea Devil model from the 70's, complete with toxic gas.

Of course the big news is how they wrote off Rory. It's a big deal when a companion dies on Doctor Who, it's only been done a handful of times (only twice* in the 27 year run of the classic series, most notably Adric).

Although what happened to Rory isn't just death; he was killed, but he's also been wiped out of time (and Amy's memory). This is an interesting twist on the "crack" thread that's spanning Series 5, and could lead to any number of outcomes, including some form of resurrection down the road for Rory. But his departure from the show was probably necessary, given that Karen Gillan is set to continue on as companion through Series 6, and it would be kind of weird to have the bickering couple (bordering on verbal abuse out of Amy) on board all that time.

* - I'm not counting Kamelion since he was a robot, and was destroyed, not killed.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: sleepy

Doctor Who Season 5, Episode 8

2010-05-23T15:42:00.001-04:00

Like Stargate, this week's Doctor Who also reaches back to older canon. In this case, it's the Silurian/Sea Devil storylines established in the 1970s-80s, which I actually do know something about. So far, it's fairly consistent with the earlier material, which is good - with our new Skittles/gay pride Daleks, I'd wondered if the Silurian story would be bastardized in some way. But so far, no. The story is written by Chris Chibnall, whose sole writing contribution to Doctor Who was kind of unspectacular ("42"- basically sci-fi boilerplate), but he did write a lot of Torchwood episodes, in addition to co-producing.

Also like this week's Stargate, it ends on a cliffhanger, so I'll have to wait until next week to give a final verdict. But so far it builds well, no problems with pacing or the like. The Silurian's "new look" is a bit like green Minbari, but it's good to have them back in the Whoniverse.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: curious

SGU Season 1 Episode 18 (Subversion)

2010-05-23T15:19:00.000-04:00

This week's episode took on a different feel, which I imagine is largely due to the "Lucian Alliance" theme, which is something reaching back to earlier Stargate SG-1 canon. Thus, I can't say too much about that (other than Lou Diamond Phillips appears to be getting written out - or getting scaled back to "guest bad guy"), because I'm not familiar with the earlier lore. Also, despite not carrying a "Part 1" on its title, it ended on a pretty big cliffhanger. So a number of my questions about timing have to wait until…well, until the season's over. Next show really is the start of a two-parter, that of the season finale. Which undoubtedly will have a cliffhanger of its own, but hopefully a few critical points will be touched on in between.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: awake

V Season 1 Episode 12

2010-05-20T12:25:00.001-04:00

Well, that's it for V, until next year. Random trivia tidbit: Robert Duncan McNeil (Tom Paris on Voyager) directed this episode. Back in the day, the Star Trek franchise did a lot of encouraging of their actors to occasionally break out and direct shows, which was a path to a new career for several alum (Levar Burton, Roxann Dawson [B'Elanna Torres], and Jonathan Frakes, who I may have mentioned, directed VS01E07 aka "John May").

I enjoyed the finale for the most part, even though it did seem to suffer from pacing issues (i.e., parts were rushed and/or disconnected). They definitely stepped up the action, with:

~~Starchild~~ Val's baby is born.
Val is killed by Anna (so much for main character billing).
Joshua and his assistant are discovered as 5^th Column. Joshua is also killed, which bummed me out, because he was one of my favorite characters. But then, since it was only lead bullets that killed him, he's resurrected at the end, and I smiled. Yay!
Anna's soldier eggs are virtually all killed.
Anna flips out and initiates some kind of drastic climate-change upon the earth.

I'm wondering if they jumped the gun on having Anna get infected with human emotion so early in the series. I figured it would eventually happen, but now that it has, I wonder what the 2^nd Season can bring if Anna can't purity-control the ranks anymore. Have the Vs abruptly flipped from charming inflitrators to out-and-out invaders? The skies ablaze kind of makes one think that.

Also, major side switching and loyalty questions raised in this episode. Enumerated:

Lisa. She'd been wavering for several episodes, but finally made the decision to side with the 5^th Column. She seems to be positioning herself as some kind of "rival queen" to her mother.
Ryan. Life without Val has him reverting to his old ways, and Val's death drives it home. Anna has a foothold in deconverting him, which makes him an extreme information risk. Also makes one wonder how stable any of the Vs are in their hybrid physical form.
Hobbes. There's a complicated backstory that hasn't been fully revealed, professional and personal in nature. I still think he's making his deals in bad faith (as he's smarter than most characters on the show), but we'll see.
Marcus. Unclear in the closing scene whether Marcus was welcoming Joshua back to life to torture him, or as a member of a different faction of the 5^th Column. I figured Marcus would eventually turn on Anna, but that it'd be in S2. Anyway, the scene was sufficiently ambiguous I can't say for sure what he was doing there.
Chad Decker. The ridiculously naive newscaster finally gets hit by a clue-by-four and is most likely going to switch sides in S2. Hopefully this will go a long way to make him less annoying as a character.

Anyway, I'm enjoying the show (even if some of the dialogue & acting could stand improvement), and look forward to S2.

Tags: sci-fi

Doctor Who Season 5, Episode 7

2010-05-17T19:57:00.000-04:00

Amy's Choice was an adequate episode, I suppose - or at least, I'm sure the kids were entertained. Not the best in the acting department, with Matt Smith carrying the show when really, the story has him placed more as a supporting role for the Amy/Rory dynamic. But the chemistry between those two actors is anything but "dynamic" to my 34-year old sensibilities, they just seem like a couple of immature kids who have no business getting married before putting in a good decade's worth of time to grow up. Yes, you kids, get off my lawn!

The identity of the "dream lord" is a bit of a cheat if taken at face value, which is why I'm hoping it's not - prime suspects are The Toymaker (Troughton era) or Meddling Monk (Hartnell era). Hoping its the former and not the latter, as a while back rumor had it that Patrick Stewart was negotiating that role.

Next week are the new series' first attempt at addressing the Silurians. I did love the Pertwee-era tales of the Silurians and Sea Devils, and their unique position in competition with mankind for custodianship of Earth. I also can't forget the wonderful resurrection story done during Peter Davison's tenure, and its dark ending, his final line filled with shame and regret. I'm hoping the new series will adhere to this history while also finding new ground to explore.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: full

SGU Season 1 Episode 17 (Pain)

2010-05-16T11:23:00.000-04:00

I can't really say too much about this week's episode, as it was pretty much just sci-fi boilerplate - i.e., crew is possessed by vivid hallucinations after being exposed to alien parasite. *Yawn* It's been done, and it's been done better.

The only part worth bringing up was the very end, which confused me. So is Young supposed to be hallucinating when he orders people into the stargate? I mean, the ship is still in the intergalactic void, right?

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: unimpressed

updates on show renewals

2010-05-13T23:32:00.000-04:00

FYI, I recently read Stargate Universe has been renewed for a 2^nd 20-episode series.

As of today, ABC has renewed V for a 2^nd season as well.

Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures are both good for at least the next 18-24 months apiece, so no worries there.

It's a different story when it comes to Torchwood. Both UK and US versions have stalled in production. I'm conflicted on that, because while I love Jack and Torchwood and having more sci-fi around in general, "Children of Earth" was such a phenomenal sendoff the likes we rarely (if ever!) see with sci-fi TV shows. Part of me likes the idea of it being put to bed with a really big bang (and Jack isn't dead, anyway).

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: nerdy

V Season 1, Episode 11

2010-05-13T23:16:00.000-04:00

Despite a 5 day staycation followed by a bout of food poisoning, I'm now all caught up on my space operas. :-)

The penultimate episode of Season 1 is one of raised stakes. Anna plays the "taking our toys and going home" card, and no one calls her on it. Daughter Lisa almost breaks the cover story, but chickens out at the last minute. Not surprising when your mom's idea of helping you is beating you to a bloody pulp.

A potential magic bullet to stop the Vs is discovered, but "the system" is stacked against the 5^th Column - the last scientist involved in the production of the toxin is arrested on trumped up charges and handed over to the Vs, never to be seen again.

More interesting is how Hobbes figures in. Without telling his compatriots, he spirited away the computer drive of the now-likely-deceased scientist, and is now bartering with the Vs via Marcus to get his name cleared. Is he a double agent, just out for himself, or just a cagey bastard? My first guess was the last of the three, but the presence of a mystery woman giving him intel complicates things. She seems kind of like a law enforcement type, so maybe there's a 3^rd party in play that we don't know about yet.

So I'm hoping some headway will be made on that thread next week, otherwise it'll be a long wait to find out.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: sleepy

Stargate Universe Season 1, episode 15

2010-05-13T15:52:00.001-04:00

I generally avoid the term "meh" due to overuse by others, but that was my reaction to this week's follow-on of Human. It was okay, it held my interest, but given last week's setup (4 main characters trapped in catacombs while the Destiny forces the rest of the crew into FTL), I was sort of expecting/hoping for something a little more…intense.

The story was a bit unfocused, cluttered with threads (TJ's pregnancy, Lt. James' insecurity & heartbreak) that could easily have been pushed off to another week. There was also quite a bit of gate-hopping, a half-dozen sets, and a few monsters to boot. So it definitely wasn't a bottle show, but I think all the accoutrements only served to dilute the drama*.

The one thing I really did like was that only the one person is recovered at the end of the show - Greer, who was left for dead. For the rest, it comes down to the wire, and they simply fail to get back in time. This is good, because as it was, that timeline was getting darned unbelievable, and I would've been pretty annoyed had they picked up everyone in the nick of time**. Anyway, now Greer gets to deal with survivor guilt, and something has to got happen WRT steering Destiny, as it's currently headed into an intergalactic void. As Eli has already pointed out, anyone who can crack open an astronomy book knows that the expanse between most galaxies is just mind-bogglingly huge. Of course, who knows just what factor "F" is in Destiny's "FTL"?

* - Not that being a bottle show is a bad thing - some of my personal favorites were bottle shows: TNG's ("Chain of Command"), ST:E ("Shuttle Pod One"), Doctor Who ("Midnight"), etc.

** - not that being a minute or two too late is much better, but still - at least the end result is the same.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: full

Stargate Season 1, Episode 16

2010-05-13T15:50:00.000-04:00

I know SGU's all about the one-word titles, but "Sabotage" mentally locks me into Beastie Boys/Shatner mode. ;-)

Well, our missing adventurers are back on the Destiny again, albeit in the most anti-climactic way possible. There was a slight hint that something was "up" with their retrieval (and may be followed up on later), but it was subtle and could easily be missed or forgotten. But there was a lot (too much, actually) going on, and it was easy to get lost. I initially got confused as to why Destiny was even near a stargate, when they were supposed to be in the intergalactic void. I guess maybe it just wasn't out of range yet.

Like I said, there was a lot going on: retrieval of the away team, issues with the ship, Lt. James getting possessed, the awakening of Dr. Franklin, and of course the (disabled) visiting earth expert who has a history with Rush. I thought the parts with Rush and Amanda were just wonderfully done. I much prefer characters who bottle up their feelings into a repressed dysfunctional mess, rather than the whiners who let it all hang out in the open.

And then there was Dr. Franklin - at first I thought he was going to go all BSG-hybrid on us, then he turned into a cloud of energy/light (smoke? I was watching on a small screen). That's the mystery left for next time - did he sacrifice himself? Convert into a higher plane of existence? Or did he just get out of the chair when no one was looking?

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: sabotage
Music: Sabotage!

Doctor Who Season 1, Episode 6

2010-05-11T10:57:00.000-04:00

This week's Dr. Who was OK, I guess. It was a decent setup, but kinda fell flat in resolution. Taking the alien fish (insect?) method of reproduction as granted, it makes no sense why they'd waste time and effort to flood Venice if they could just schlep off to the oceans that cover 70% of the planet. Or, if they're freshwater fish/insects, the Great Lakes - or if that's too cold, Lake Victoria.

Also, why does the sonic screwdriver fail on the gondolier's door lock, but works on the countess'? There was no evidence the tower's gate was electronic, and anyway, if physical bolt locks weren't sonically-feasible, the Doctor wouldn't have made the attempt, right?

Maybe I missed something due to the sound issues I experienced. There was mismatch between audio & video, and it was also difficult to understand everything said. I had to rewind 4 times trying to discern out what Matt Smith says about the Library Card with William Hartnell's picture on it (btw, squee!), and still neither Chris nor I could figure it out. Foreign language? Mumbling?

We also learn how shoddily Amy treats people she supposedly cares about (i.e., Rory). Really, it's a rehash of the Rose/Mickey situation, except Rose was a bit more subtle about disrespecting her relationship. And Rose wasn't even the one getting married. Anyway, more respect to Martha and Donna as a result - Amy seems a bit ethically challenged.

There's also a lot of repeating that "time can be re-written". Wonder what that means - possibly a back-rewrite of the 10^th Doctor's storyline to make more sense WRT River Song? That would be one of the most potentially-satisfying outcomes, anyway. It could also involve the resurrection of the Time Lords, or to resurrect any number of formerly put-to-rest plot points or villains. Just so long as they don't dig Rose out of the parallel universe...

Tags: doctor who

V Season 1 Episode 10

2010-05-09T18:04:00.000-04:00

"Hearts and Minds" was a start-in-the-middle-of-the-action story surrounding The 5^th Column's botched attempt at blowing up a shuttle filled with V trackers (that would surely find & kill them). Problem was, Father Jack's conscience gets the gang into trouble when he warns double-agent Chad to stay off the shuttles. Chad of course relays the info back to Anna. Instead of just aborting the delivery of trackers, she decides fill the shuttle with human corpses and allows The 5^th Column to blow up the dummy shuttle, making it appear as though they are human-targeting terrorists. Public opinion shifts to sympathy for the Visitors, and outrage at The 5^th Column.

That all was fine until the point of the human-corpse reveal. What, now Anna doesn't have the stomach to send innocent lambs to the slaughter? I'd think not, considering what she does to her own daughter Lisa in the end. I mean, I realize that the corpses are the "out" so that our heroes don't have any real blood on their hands, but it doesn't make much sense this way. Where did they get these corpses? Wouldn't the police and media eventually figure out that they're all previously missing persons (or whatever)? Why make agent Tory go through all that rigamarole to cover up the forensics? It's just seems so unnecessary, when diverting a real human-filled shuttle would have been a lot cleaner of a plan.

Speaking of Tory, her being a non-human, secret agent of the baddies was not exactly the surprise of the century. Heck, it wasn't even a surprise for me when it was done on BSG.

Ah well - I look forward to next week's beating of perky-girl Lisa, and her subsequent disillusionment. Her getting decked by Morena Baccarin was one of the high points of the show. I do prefer the lizard character stories to that of the humans...

V Season 1 Episode 9

2010-04-30T20:15:00.001-04:00

As this week's ep was called "Heretics' Fork", I was secretly hoping to have a little Spahn Ranch in as a background track, but no such luck. ;-)

I thought this week's story was mostly good (I could've done without the cheesy goodbye scene in the smoky train station), although as usual, there's a lot that can be seen coming a mile away. Various threads were escalated, which hopefully means we'll learn something substantive on the larger mysteries before V's 12-episode season wraps in 3 weeks.

Not sure how this will progress, since our band of resistance fighters still hasn't grown any larger. Every time they make a contact, said contact is killed by show's end. The 5^th Column is mainly trading water; fending off Anna's attempts to knock them down, but not making any headway on the offensive.

Also, I'm still not sure what the difference is between a soldier and a regular V - they don't look any different or appear (yet) to have any super powers. Although the soldier seemed relatively unfazed by an axe wound, recall that Erica's partner Dale took several deep wounds to the chest yet wasn't actually killed until a much later date.

Random aside: I must admit I'm constantly distracted during the Anna scenes - I'm mesmerized by Morena Baccarin and how little her head is. With the shorter haircut, there's definitely no hiding that tiny noggin.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: awake

Stargate Universe Season 1, episode 14

2010-04-29T12:40:00.001-04:00

Given that I use new sci-fi as an incentive to do long stationary bike workouts (post-injury, my activities are still limited), expect that reviews will probably be on the late side. It's getting to be nice enough for outdoor biking, and well, there are only so many hours in the day.

This ep mainly focused on Rush and how he got to be such damaged goods, courtesy of Destiny's dangerous mind-melding chair. Getting into Rush's issues was a natural/necessary exploration, given he's such a central character, yet is so detached from the rest of the crew and fairly far removed from reality. I doubt he was ever meant to be anything like the "everyman" characters that abound on SGU, but the point is that he was a bit more functional/personable before his wife died.

B story: while Rush is on the psychoanalysis chair, an away team (suspiciously small and devoid of extras) is sent down to explore a planet. Greer (whose turn on the couch is next week) gets trigger happy and accidentally gets the group trapped inside some catacombs. After multiple failed rescue attempts, the Destiny crew is forced to leave behind the away team when the ship's autopilot goes to FTL. This probably means a bottle-episode next week, but it's not like SGU has a plethora of exotic sets or expensive CGI on a normal day anyway.

This also means that by the end of the next ep or so, someone is going to have to gain some sort of control over the ship, as four of the main characters are not going to be written off in one swoop.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: busy

doctor Who Season 5, Episode 4

2010-04-25T13:06:00.000-04:00

This week's Doctor Who was a significant bump in quality compared with the last two installments (which had pacing & acting issues and were otherwise kind of weak stories). This is the first of a two-parter involving The Weeping Angels and the ever-smug River Song. It's been an interesting watch so far, but it is borrowing heavily from Moffat's other story with River Song, The Silence in the Library. Lots of similar themes - River Song mysteriously summons The Doctor to aid her team's investigation; when faced with danger, the heroes find temporary safety in the light; monster re-animates the dead in some fashion. Whether reprising the Weeping Angels will take away the mystery (and therefore their menace) remains to be seen, but not as of yet.

Anyway, can't say too much more, since at present the story's incomplete - plus, the rain has cleared, so now I'm going to detach myself from the keyboard and go biking while I still can!

Tags: doctor who

V Season 1, Episode 8

2010-04-22T09:42:00.000-04:00

Things are progressing on V - Anna's got Chad Decker by the balls and has introduced a worldwide dependency on her mysterious "blue energy". The Fifth Column is being killed faster than they're recruiting, and it doesn't seem like Georgie's coming back from the dead either. Things are pretty hopeless - will our heroes get their shit together, like quick?

It's a wonder Ryan can concentrate on anything, since his girlfriend left him after discovering he had been holding secrets. She hasn't quite clued in that he's a Visitor, but it's a near certainty this will come out next ep. Hopefully she'll be a little more connected/involved from this point forward, because really, she's had too boring of a story arc to be billed as one of the "main" characters.

There's also a bit of angst and scheming aboard the mothership. I liked the part where Joshua is faced with the dilemna of whether to "out" Lisa on failing the empathy test and kill a potential enemy, or risk exposing himself to make an ally of her -- and he opts to save her butt & just blackmail her. Sweet! I think I like Joshua, even though he's still something of a minor part.

But back to our struggling and quasi-incompetant* Fifth Column cell. This week they set out to save members in other cells, and manage to get killed the one guy they had saved. That the assasain was a human actually wasn't a suprise for me - I suspected it after he (1) used a gun and (2) I saw the clothes he was wearing in the chase scene. Something about the stealth gear made me suspicious. Of course, from there I suspected that the supposed human Fifth Column member was instead an evil Visitor just pretending. But no dice, he was human too - and the obvious question left at the end was "Why are humans hunting the Fifth Column?"

* - as annoying as ~~Russel Crowe~~ the gun runner can be, I do sympathize with his frustrations.

Tags: sci-fi

wow!

2010-04-21T15:20:00.000-04:00

Jo Grant (companion of the 3rd Doctor) to appear in The Sarah Jane Adventures this year.

Some of these Classic Who companions hold up exceedingly well over time. It's been nearly 40 years in Katy's case..

Tags: doctor who
Mood: impressed

Stargate Universe Season 1, Episode 13

2010-04-21T15:19:00.001-04:00

In the aftermath of mutiny, Destiny's crew struggle to mend broken ties and move forward. Before that can happen though, out pops a strange and wonderful planet orbiting an impossibly young star; a surprise because it's not on the star charts. Said planet has clean water and kiwis, so, ignoring the astronomical disparities, half the crew go down and have a month long camping trip.

After their time is up, many of the campers want to stay, permanently, seeing how the new planet has better food and decor than Destiny. There's also some alien tech on the surface, which causes a number of the crew to display their intellectual laziness and conclude that the planet and sun must have been made for them, either by god or by godlike aliens that have a vested interest in their survival.

Because yeah, the universe revolves around you like that.

As an I.T. professional, I found it disappointing that the writers made Dr. Caine head of the mystic morons club. For counterpoint, there was also a curmudgeonly "atheist" character (not previously seen in the show), who went around ridiculing people and telling them their life was random and awful. This was a particularly tedious and un-nuanced faith-vs-science standoff, and it didn't need to be forced onto an otherwise complete story. I don't know why every sci-fi show feels it has prove its relevance by working the religious angle. How about this, writers: if you've got something valuable to say, then let come through naturally, otherwise don't worry about it?

In the midst of the alien god debate, we learn that TJ is pregnant, undoubtedly the product of a brief (and more recent than I'd thought) affair with the married Col. Young. Just as with the religion angle, I'm not sure this show particularly needs a baby-daddy-love-triangle, but maybe after dropping the drama-payload on Young, TJ will ingest a poisonous root which causes her to have a miscarriage.

In the end, reason (and guns) win out, and everyone piles back onto the Destiny. I'm assuming that the faulty shuttle was left behind, but it wasn't explicitly made clear. But it seems there are more divisions than ever, and you know the new aliens will show themselves eventually, but hey - everyone's eating a lot better. ;-)

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: sarcastic

Doctor Who Season 5, Episode 3

2010-04-19T22:42:00.001-04:00

Three episodes into the new season, and still I'm less than thrilled. Not a good sign.

Where to start? We could start with the obvious, where the Dalek genome gets resequenced with that of a pack of Skittles. Ugggghhh, this show is starting to get a distastefully cartoonish feel to it. And what's with everything on the show needing to change just 'cause Stephen Moffat's in charge?
The list of tweaks so far is:
- logo
- theme music
- TARDIS inside
- TARDIS outside
- sonic screwdriver
- Dalek design
You know, people who change things simply for the sake of change are no better than people who never change at all.

Anyway, moving on. So this episode really was nothing more than a vehicle for introducing the new Dalek design. It suffered from pacing problems and bad acting. I will say that apparently someone clued in Matt Smith that he was channeling David Tennant, because this week he's switched to channeling Peter Davison.

And the Pinnochio-esque ending of The Doctor/Amy defusing the Dalek bomb by getting in touch with the android's humanity?? Let's just say I'm glad I watched this episode at the gym and not over a meal. Retch. Total trite "feel-good" garbage. Not believable in the slightest - like the Daleks would build an android like that.

Next week is the return of the "Weeping Angels" and River Song. I will do my best to keep an open mind (repeat as needed).

Tags: doctor who
Mood: disappointed

V, Season 1, Episode 7

2010-04-18T13:05:00.001-04:00

More foot problems + a trip to NYC has put me quite behind in the reviews. Here's V, not quite a week late.

This week's episode (directed by Jonathan Frakes) had a bit more excitement than last week's "transitional" show. Anna gives birth, Tyler discovers his questionable parentage, Ryan's girlfriend learns his secrets (20 minutes before he was just going to tell her anyway), and really bad stuff happens to Georgie. And of course, more about the mysterious John May (Hyrid Anders is unplugged from the Galactica for that day's shooting).

Of course, I don't know whether to believe that Georgie and Anders are really dead-dead. Ryan was particularly evasive in describing the deed, and the past has shown he's clearly capable of holding back information. So I wouldn't be surprised if Joshua injected Georgie with a metabolism-slowing drug to get him off the ship, or if Ryan's "killing" John May is just a code-word for spiriting him away from public life.

I gather from talking to some of you (online or in person) that V isn't doing it for you. Besides those whose attachment to the OS makes them hypercritical of the "re-imagining", I'm wondering what the rest of you think. I recently noticed that I'm annoyed by almost all of the human characters, but have a certain fascination with most/all of the lizard/Visitor characters. I guess because they seem more "complicated"; several of them are playing their cards so closely to their chest that I like following their (gradual) character development. I predict Anna's 2^nd-in-command will eventually (maybe not this season, but further down the road) turn away from her. I have no idea what perky teen girl lizard is really thinking, and Ryan's story is undoubtedly the most interesting of all the protagonists.

So I'm curious - what aspects of the show are you most focusing on, and which aspects leave you wanting??

Now, off to the gym to get caught up on SGU and/or DW...

Tags: sci-fi

doctor Who, Season 5, episode 2

2010-04-11T22:36:00.001-04:00

This week was a rather unremarkable episode taken straight off of standard space opera boilerplate. Most of the "twists" I saw coming a mile away, and it's really not worth my time to go into the story details at all.

Matt Smith is still doing his best David Tennant impression, and the companion's "compassion" scenes are at odds with her previously-established cantankerous personality. Also, it appears that the show's target audience has shifted younger -- way younger. Lots of little kiddies running around, struggling to remember their lines. Sigh.

Oh, and next week we get the "O HAE WE CAN HAZ 5TH SERIEZ DALEKS LOL" episode. Damn, I knew WWII was a busy time, but Captain Jack, medical microbes making gas-mask people, and now Winston Churchill dealing with Daleks? The Whoniverse's cup runneth over.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: cynical

SGU Season 1 Episode 12

2010-04-11T14:47:00.000-04:00

Mutiny on board The Destiny! Well, kind of.

Taking advantage of yet another poorly chosen "away mission" consisting only of the 1^st and 2^nd officers, Rush and Rae lock out the military and seize partial control of the ship. Which of course pits friend against friend and colleague against colleague. Mutiny episodes are always a lot of fun*, however in this case the rebellion was watered down by a couple factors.

One being no one (including Rush) was willing to actually kill to preserve their position of power. Actual threats to life and limb were overcome only because neither side had the stones to let the "enemy" die - whoever was making the threat just backs down. The other factor was that halfway into the action, last episode's CGI aliens return and attack the ship, causing everyone to forget their gripes in favor of fighting off the real baddies.

Anyway, the military easily gains control of the ship after that, so the civilian revolution was pretty short-lived. It's a little hard for me to understand why anyone (except Rae and Rush) were willing to take such a dramatic step in the first place. For all the talk of "military dictatorships", the civilians didn't have it any worse than the soldiers. Sure, they had to get some (gasp!) exercise, and once (following a suspected homicide) everyone's quarters were searched. But otherwise, they enjoyed military protection without having to sacrifice anything (e.g., rations, water, etc) in return. Kinda made the civilians look spoiled and whiny.

In the end, Greer acknowledges to Young (and less perceptive audience members) that putting down the insurrection didn't resolve anything; that "it isn't over yet". It's good that the reset-button hasn't been pushed, because it means more development later (and would've been unrealistic anyway). Hopefully next time the undercurrents of resentment come to a head there won't be as many distractions.

* - The last BSG material worth a damn were the mutiny episodes The Oath & Blood on the Scales. ST:TNG mutinies were always good, although it was always the case that Picard/Data/someone got possessed by evil aliens. However, without the "out" of an no-fault influence, or the ability to write off a character, mutiny episodes also prove hard to follow. You can't "undo" insurrection so easily.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: good

V Season 1 Episode 6

2010-04-08T21:38:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to figure out what to say about Tuesday's episode of V, but I haven't come up with much. It basically advanced the plot threads one tick, but there wasn't a whole lot (good or bad) to draw special attention.

We find out a bit more about how Bliss relates to the Visitors' Fifth Column phenomenon, and Georgie gets himself into trouble again. And that Joshua's cooking the books with regard to Anna's empathy test. A mysterious woman is pulling the strings on ~~Russel Crowe~~ the gun runner, and annoying teen dude's dad is introduced.

Nothing was bad or boring or warranting any sort of criticism - other than I just got the impression that this week was used as a way to get from point A to point B. Hopefully "B" will be somewhere interesting.

Tags: sci-fi
Mood: tired

Who Report!

2010-04-06T00:43:00.000-04:00

In case anyone was wondering, being all of one episode into season 5, yes, Season 6 has been confirmed for broadcast in 2011, filming starting in July 2010.

As if that wasn't forward thinking enough, The Sarah Jane Adventures have Seasons 4 and 5 confirmed for 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Also, here's a more recent article on the dreaded US-version of Torchwood. It's FOX, even...*snort*.

Doctor Who, Season 5, episode 1

2010-04-04T21:08:00.000-04:00

A new Doctor, new companion and new executive producer all started up in The Eleventh Hour. What's different, and what's stayed the same?

In addition to the new cast and crew, the TARDIS interior has been reworked, as well as the theme music and logo. I like the new logo better, but am not yet sold on the TARDIS - it seems a bit "Mr. Magorium" to me. The music I'd have to hear a few more times before I form an opinion - the first time I listened the track seemed to change suddenly between styles.

The story was very good, as I've come to expect from Stephan Moffat, who penned winners such as Blink and The Empty Child. Amy Pond's backstory is a lot more interesting than "ordinary girl" tales of Rose, Martha, and Donna. There's a darker yet childlike quality to Moffat's work, not unlike Tim Burton in some ways. Now that he's exec producer, we should be seeing just under half-dozen stories written by him over the season, so we'll see just how he fleshes out this new feel.

For the Doctor himself, he's not so bad - he's a good actor, I'm just not [yet] seeing too much of a distinction between him and Tennant. Right now, I'm thinking he's not doing enough to break from the old mold. I don't think the Doctor should be the same eccentric personality with a different face and different catchphrase (Smith's is "Geronimo!"). Recall the differences between Pertwee and Tom Baker, and later Baker and Davison (or any of the preceding/succeeding Doctors, really). We have to mourn the changing of the guard and then move on, not keep the old personality on life support in a new body. Here's hoping that in future stories that Smith develops a distinct new persona for the Doctor.

And what's in store for the new season? Based on previews, we'll see a return of the Weeping Angels, Silurians (old series), Daleks, Cybermen, and the mysterious River Song. And of course there's the semi-infamous shot of the Doctor firing a gun. Only time will tell how (and how well) these disparate elements will be woven into the 2010 season.

Tags: doctor who
Mood: sleepy