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August 18 'Smallville' Adds the Wonder TwinsI really should just give up on "Smallville." But for some reason I just can't quit it.
The latest apparent misstep: the show is going to give us a live-action version of the Wonder Twins from the old "Super Friends" cartoon. You may remember "Wonder Twin powers activate!" Zan could turn into various forms of water and Jayna could turn into various animals. And then there was space monkey Gleek. Because what's a cartoon show without space monkeys?
Of all 80 or so years of Superman history to borrow from, not to mention the possibility of the "Smallville" writers' own creative efforts, this is what we get?
- posted by Raoul August 14 'Battlestar Galactica' Movie with Bryan Singer Moves ForwardWord on the virtual street seems to be that Bryan Singer, director of the two good "X-Men" movies and "The Usual Suspects" among other things, is attached to do a "Battlestar Galactica" movie that's on the fast track.
Moreover, that movie will have nothing to do with the recently completed series on what was then Sci Fi. It'll be closer to the 1970s version.
That generates mixed thoughts here. I'm of the mind that just about any "Battlestar Galactica" would be good "BSG." (OK, not a four-hour Starbuck/Apollo/Dee/Anders romantic quadrangle spectacular, but still...) And I admire most of Bryan Singer's work that I've experienced.
But I still have a bad taste in my mouth from "Superman Returns." And I think that it would be a shame and a waste to have all these talented actors and a critically acclaimed world and to blow all that off for something akin to a 70s series that was, let's face it, just a corny and cynical attempt to cash in on "Star Wars." And I say that as someone who played around with his own Cylon Raider back in the day.
Still, all of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again, right? So even if it's radically changed from either/both the 70s version and Ron Moore's version, there's enough room in the "BSG"-verse for multiple interpretations.
- posted by Raoul August 11 Somebody Saaaaave 'Smallville'Recently, the CW prez said she hoped "Smallville" would continue beyond its upcoming season, its ninth.
(For some spoilers as to what's in store for the show this fall, check out here and here.) Well, she's the prez, and she can probably make it happen if she wants to. Which is not necessarily a good thing. Giving a blank check to a series may encourage the writers to slack in a big way. Just think about how "Lost" was forced to tighten its act by the writers putting a cap on the series. (Then again, for a counter-example, think about "Battlestar Galactica.")
It's odd to think that "Smallville" could potentially unseat "Stargate SG-1" as the longest running American sci-fi show. In my view, the show definitely should make a number of changes to even potentially be worthy of that title. Here's a few friendly suggestions to take "Smallville" up, up and away:
- Have "Smallville" Clark Kent be more like comic-book Clark Kent. The show was always supposed to be about Clark Kent's journey from smalltown farm boy to the world's greatest hero, role model, moral center, beacon of light, etc. etc. And yet, too often the Clark we were presented with was almost the exact opposite of what the iconic Superman was.
For many of the early years of the show, he killed people. Or at a minimum, he certainly showed no particular regard for the welfare of some Krypto-freaks. He certainly risked injuring them by throwing people 30 feet. Clark constantly whined about his life. Because it's so hard being super-strong, super-fast, practically invulnerable, with model looks, a loving home, and a good circle of friends.
He obsessively mooned over Lana as if she were God's friggin' gift to humanity and fooled around with her while she was married.
He was lackadaisical in his heroism, only taking steps to intervene when Lana or one of his other friends or family members was threatened. He often showed the emotional intelligence of a carrot. And his selfishness was immense.
The writers should take some time reading some of the classic Superman comics and have their Clark act more like that Clark. He should be optimistic, friendly, the epitome of moral, selfless and smart.
- Show, don't tell. It's one of the first rules of writing, and yet it's routinely violated on "Smallville." We're told that Clark is busy saving people as the Red-Blue Blur, but we almost never see it.
Worse, what's often shown contradicts what we're told. We get exposition about how Lois is such a great reporter and gets all these great assignments, but then are shown scenes where Lois clearly can't write her way out of a paper bag and violates all sorts of journalistic rules.
- Have Lois experience a gradual makeover. The writers of "Smallville" did Lois, and the actress who plays her, Erica Durance, a disservice by often having her just show up and be about one-liners that don't quite work and showing off her body. It's time to give some more substance to the woman who we're supposed to believe is worthy of Superman. It's time to give her an arc that involves some gradual character growth and some hardship. She needs to be written more sympathetically and less stridently.
- Give Chloe a break. When you think about all the stuff that has happened to poor Chloe in the last couple of seasons, it sort of boggles the mind. She's found out she's a Kryptofreak, been kidnapped by Lex's minions (and for that matter, by some random psycho who wanted to test the strength of her love for "Jimmy" Olsen), lost her dream job at the Daily Planet, got possessed by Brainiac, got married to "Jimmy" and divorced after he became addicted to drugs, was forced to pretend to be a serial killer's buddy (and possibly more) in order to protect Clark, and finally saw "Jimmy" killed in front of her eyes just as she was about to potentially reconcile with him. There's probably stuff in there that I've forgotten. That's a heckuva lot. Can she just have one season of relatively smooth sailing? A normal boyfriend with whom she has chemistry? A friendship with Clark that doesn't seem like he's just using her to solve cases or trying to protect her?
- Pick up the pieces of past plots. There are a lot of things in past seasons that were just left by the wayside, lots of characters who it would be great to have the occasional cameo from. Wouldn't it be great to have Clark have phone conversations with Ma from time to time? You wouldn't even have to have Annette O'Toole on set. You could just record her doing her lines with Tom Welling and that would add a lot of richness to Clark. It would be nice to find out what Senator Kent has been up to.
- Get rid of Green Arrow. It was sort of fun when he first came, and it was great to have a pseudo-Justice League. But Ollie Queen has worn out his welcome. He's (seemingly) a killer who thought nothing of leaving Clark with Kryptonite nearby in the last episode. And we're supposed to believe they're going to get past that? Even if they were, there's no reason to have Ollie play such a big role in Clark's life.
- Bring on the Bat. Yeah, I remember reading that Warner Brothers or someone wouldn't let "Smallville" use Bruce Wayne or Batman for some reason. Well guess what? It's time to reassess. The "Batman" movie franchise is alive and well, and there's no confusion likely to happen if Bruce were introduced for an episode, or preferably an arc. The same goes for Wonder Woman and other big guns of the DC Universe.
- Idiotproof each script. So many times, people in "Smallville" don't seem to make sense. It's too hard to suspend disbelief when people blatantly do things that don't make sense. In just about every episode, there's usually one thing that makes you want to do a double take.
- Call in some adults. One of the things that was so great about the early seasons were the steadying presence of the Kents and Lionel Luthor. It made sense that there was interaction with mature people. After all, most people don't live life in a 20-something vacuum. (Yes, I know the show airs on the CW). I think the show should have a regular cast member who's a little older and wiser than the main crew. Whether it's the Martian Manhunter, Perry White, Emil Hamilton, Inspector Sawyer, or a new character altogether, it would be good to get some grounding and some gravitas for the cast.
- Say farewell to the town of Smallville. One of the things that doesn't really make sense is that Clark still lives on the farm and Chloe lives at the Talon. That's three hours away from where they work. Pragmatically speaking, the show keeps them there because it's easier than building new sets for Chloe and Clark's new places. But it's time for them to be full-time Metropolis residents. Tess, too, for what little it matters.
- Work in more Metropolis stuff. We haven't really gotten to hear or see as much about the big city as we might have, not only in terms of places but people. It might be good to work in some of the following: recurring Daily Planet reporters like Ron Troupe, Steve Lombard or Cat Grant. Rival reporters from the Inquisitor. Rose and Thorn. Black Lightning.
- posted by Raoul August 03 Did 'Defying Gravity' Rise to the Occasion?Sometimes you read a press release's decription of a new series and you just want to hurl. "Defying Gravity," which debuted last night at 9 p.m. on ABC, had that effect on me. I quote: "Four men and four women hurtle through space with nothing to do for six years and eight billion miles, except maybe solve a powerful and awesome mystery. Maybe, just maybe, some of them will even hook up. How cool is that?" Umm...not very? I gave the series a try, since the series would have to be better than that lame description of it. I think. Two hours later, I'm still not sure what to make of the show. It sees like it wants to be "The Right Stuff" meets "Lost" meets "Grey's Anatomy." But sometimes several great tastes don't taste great together. I was wondering who the show was trying to appeal to: soap fans, sci fi geeks or what. I happen to be a bit of all of the above. And while I might continue to tune in, it would be more out of confusion than love. The premise is that a bunch of astronauts are sent on a six year mission around the solar system about 30 years from now. They all have their various relationships with each other that presumably will develop over time. First and foremost was a McDreamy/Mere-like hookup between the lead and one of the actresses. That hookup resulted in a pregnancy even though the lead had a vasectomy. We also get to see "Lost"-esque flashbacks of them in training. And in the middle of it all, there's some deus ex machina alien/computer/artifact/whatsit called Beta that is pulling the strings, unbeknownst to most of the crew. Why the space agency behind all this thought that was a good idea, I'm not sure. Another thing that the show is reminscent of was Ron Moore's "Virtuality," in which a bunch of astronauts were going on an extended journey with only the virtual-reality system to keep them from going insane, until the virtual reality system started glitching. The difference was that "Virtuality," at least from the pilot, seemed poised to ask some deeper questions about life and the mind. "Defying Gravity" is far less substantial and yet seems to consider itself deep when it raises questions about whether people are destined to do things or make their own fate. Which it does in a particularly hamhanded way., and a number of times. That said, it seemed more superficially enjoyable than "Virtuality," which may explain why ABC is giving it more of a shot. Still, I think it might end up being a little too frothy and soapy for sci-fi fans, a little too nerdy for soap fans, and a little too straightforward for mystery fans. - posted by Raoul July 27 'Doctor Who' Gets Guinness Record as Most Successful Sci-Fi SeriesIt's enough to make you think someone at the Guinness Book of World Records is a big Time Lord fan.
Because essentially they created a world record for "Doctor Who" as the most successful sci-fi series of all time using a whole bunch of benchmarks.
I suspect that the figures they were using -- ratings, DVD sales, illegal downloads, iTunes downloads and book sales -- were skewed. I can't believe that "Star Trek" the original series or The Next Generation didn't do better on most of those fronts, let alone the collective franchise.
Maybe I'm just American-centric, but I think the average person here couldn't tell you very much about the Doctor's various incarnations, but just about everyone knows about Kirk, Spock and McCoy. And the various Trek movies should count for something as well.
The "Stargate" franchise might even have a claim on being the most successful, given its lengthy run all in one sitting. Doctor Who has been on the air for a longer time, but there was a break.
Maybe the record will inspire some network to start broadcasting some episodes from "Doctor Who's" rich history.
- posted by Raoul July 07 Should 'Warehouse 13' Be Shelved?Today Sci Fi officially becomes "Syfy," and to highlight the change, it kicks off its new series "Warehouse 13" at 9/8 p.m.
Stop me if you've heard this concept before: government/secret agents track odd scientific and/or supernatural phenomena that have the potential to do some real damage if unchecked.
Obviously, that's the premise of a number of shows: "The X-Files," "Torchwood," "Fringe," "The Eleventh Hour," and "The Middleman" all come to mind. Syfy's own "Eureka" is similar, except everything's contained in one high-tech town.
The tiny twist here is that all the artifacts encountered are stored in the titular warehouse, run by the federal government. Is there a purpose beyond mere storage? Why not destroy or exploit these items? Are there Warehouses 1 to 12 somewhere? We're not given a clear answer early on in the pilot.
What we get instead is an introduction to our leads, Myka (Joanne Kelly) and Peter (Eddie McClintock). They're both Secret Service agents who get recruited into the mysterious agency that runs Warehouse 13 after they intervene in a supernatural happening at a museum that threatens the president. Pete's intuitive (apparently to the point of possibly being psychic) and freewheeling and devil-may-care. Myka's anal and uptight. I really wish that at some point a drama would allow the female lead to be the fun, freewheeling one and have the guy be anal and uptight, or maybe have both or neither fall into those easy stereotypes. But I digress. Pete apparently has a drinking problem and lost his dad when he was young; he had a hunch the day dad died fighting a fire that it would be the last time he would see his dad again, but didn't act on it. So now he goes with his gut. Myka was ambitious and apparently had a previous partner (in all senses of the word) die on her in the line of duty. Both characters (and the actors who play them) have potential, but neither seems like anything you haven't seen a thousand times before.
We get introduced to a whole bunch of gizmos: stun guns made by Tesla, a cart made by Edison that runs on bio-energy, communicators that look old-school, a blood stone, a tea kettle that grants wishes and a neutralizing liquid that somehow magically douses the power of the various artifacts that our heroes might run into.
"Warehouse" is a pleasant enough way to pass an hour, but it's not anything special, judging from the pilot. It doesn't seem as scary as "The X-Files" or "Fringe," as funny as "The Middleman" or as sexy as "Torchwood." So what does it have going for it?
The standouts seem to be the supporting actors. CCH Pounder of "The Shield" plays Mrs. Fredericks, who seems to head the agency. And Saul Rubinek plays Artie, who is the guy who holds down the fort at Warehouse 13. I found myself wishing that the series was more about them than our putative heroes, which can't really be a good sign.
- posted by Raoul June 26 'Virtuality' Could Have Been a ContenderFOX today (Friday) is airing "Virtuality," what was supposed to be (and may still, if the stars align) a pilot for a series from Ron Moore, one of the honchos behind "Battlestar Galactica." "Virtuality" is about a crew on a deep-space mission with huge potential implications for the human race.
FOX is billing this as a two-hour telemovie, and being mum on whether it's just burning off something that they happen to have in the can, if they are going to for sure bring the concept back in some form, or something in between. Having watched a preview of it, I do hope Nielsen families out there give it a try.
The trouble is that the "Virtuality" pilot is, at the end of the day, a pilot. No matter how good it might have been (and there are definitely areas where it needed work), it's not going to have the same beginning, middle and end that even a subpar movie will have. And without that completeness, "Virtuality" feels like it's wanting. I almost wish they had recut it to give it more of feeling of wholeness.
In the two hours, we get introduced to a dozen crewmembers: the commander, his second-in-command, his pilot, the ship's doctor, the ship's psychiatrist, a computer programmer, a botanist, and others. The premise is that Earth is running out of resources and has launched a mission to a distant galaxy to figure out if colonization is possible. (Maybe it's the Browncoat in me, or its's that the episode starts with Civil War stuff and is about an Earth that's all used up, but it seems like it's in a sense trying to have a homage to "Firefly.")
Because travel will take so long, the ship is equipped with virtual reality tech. The idea is that crew members would go stir-crazy stuck in a big metal tube with one another and problems would fester. So instead they can slap on some goggles, lie down and find yourself in all sorts of fictional settings and meet all sorts of fictional people.
The pilot has crew members re-enacting the Civil War, mountain climbing, participating in a crime-fighting singing group, resolving personal crises about their families and engaging in virtual affairs with one another. But in the midst of this, there's a mysterious figure who sometimes interrupts the virtual scenarios violently.
Who or what is he, and what is his agenda? Obviously, this would have been grist for speculation in a series. So I don't consider it much of a spoiler that it's not resolved here.
There's a lot of other things that get touched on that would have been interesting if developed further. For starters, "Virtuality" refers to a Consortium that has a lot of clout. There could have been a lot of commentary on how that came about and how that is analogous to today. It also has a subplot that the crew is recording a reality show which apparently would have resulted (or will result) in webisodes if the show had gone to series. Some of the characters seemed like they would have been at least different from the standard TV fare. Two of the crew members are gay (albeit closeted), and that's one of the first times I can remember regular characters in a sci-fi series being portrayed in an ongoing homosexual relationship. The second-in-command is disabled, making his involvement with the virtual landscape more profound. And ultimately, it would have been good to explore tensions in such areas as technology versus humanity, loneliness and privacy versus intimacy and a group setting, imagination versus reality, and the need for diversion versus the need to be focused on a crucial task.
Because I trust Ron Moore, I have a feeling that the show could have rivaled "Battlestar Galactica" in being that sort of intelligent sci-fi that gets critical acclaim from across the board.
Which, of course, is not to say that there's not about 100 things I would nitpick about it. For starters, the ship in question is called the Phaeton. Phaeton in Greek myth was the son of Apollo. He asked dad for a chance to pilot his sky chariot, but couldn't control it and ended up burning to death. So someone calling a spaceship "Phaeton" would be like calling an ocean liner "The Titanic." It's just not going to happen.
For another, I thought that the fantasies were relatively and generally uninspired. Compared even to the anything-goes nature of the virtual club in Moore's "Caprica" -- where people engaged in fights to the death, human sacrifice and orgies, we didn't really get to see people push any boundaries with what they could do in this virtual world. And it seems foolish to have a virtual affair with an actual crew member (and risk discovery) when you can have VR sex with a simulated copy of that crew member (and for that matter, with an additional half-dozen partners of your choice).
For a third, people seemed to be underwhelmed by the notion that an entity who shouldn't have been there was shooting them, pushing them off cliffs or worse. I know if that happened to me, I would a) told everyone on the ship about the glitch and b) stayed the hell away from the technology until I had some assurance that the glitch was fixed. But with one exception, there didn't seem to be much urgency to what was going on in the virtual world. Maybe that's just me; I've seen enough "Star Trek" episodes to know that malfunctioning holodeck=bad medicine.
For a fourth, there's not much action in the first episode. As I watched, I kept half-remembering some sci-fi writer criticized "Star Trek" for having too many plots depending on the holodeck. He said essentially if you're a writer and you have a series set in space and you have to rely on holodecks for plots, you're in the wrong business. I kept wondering if he had a point.
And finally, it seems like with as many characters as there were, people are going to tend to come off as flat and people are going to get shortchanged in their development. I think the series easily could have condensed the cast to six, which would have given enough room for everyone to breathe.
With those and other flaws, I can understand why "Virtuality" got (or may have gotten) shelved. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.
- posted by Raoul
June 22 'Merlin' Has Potential for MagicNBC is airing the BBC series "Merlin," and its premiere had a lotof things I like. Sure, there are lots of tellings of the Arthur legend, even quite a few from Merlin's point of view. But this one seems to owe a tip of the hat to "Smallville" and "Harry Potter."
Instead of an older wizard who acts as a mentor to younger king Arthur, Merlin here is more of a teenager who has unusual talent at magic who hasn't done the extensive study that magic usually requires. He comes to Camelot to figure out what this gift means. Which may not have been the smartest thing for him because King Uther has made practicing magic a capital crime. Also, instead of being a humble squire whose kingship gets established by pulling Excalibur from a stone, Arthur is a bully who flaunts his royal heritage and his muscles. Morgana is one of Uther's wards and seems to have a flirtation with Arthur going on. Guinevere, who goes by Gwen, is a maid who seems to admire Merlin more than Arthur so far. Oh, and there's a talking dragon who knows Merlin's got a destiny in front of him.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the series unfolds.
- posted by Raoul May 14 Cassidy Freeman Talks Tess, 'Smallville'Tonight's the season finale of "Smallville," and was last time crazy or what? Turns out Tess recruited her very own Injustice Gang and has been talking to someone who allegedly is going to restore Kandor, the lost Kryptonian city. Is it Zod? One of his disciples? Brainiac? The Eradicator? Got me.
Fortunately, I was able to chat with Cassidy Freeman, who plays Tess Mercer. Here's a sampling of what she had to say for herself about the role and some of what we may see tonight. (A few mild spoilers are here).
MSN: Tell me about how your character has evolved over the year.
Cassidy: Well, she's been created. There's been a bit of a shocker. Everyone was like, "Who's this new chick coming in?" She turned from a replacement into a real character. I like the fact that she has a history of being an amalgamation of two characters: Mercy Graves and Miss Tessmacher, but also the freedom I've had to create a new person. It's always interesting when you take a mythos like Superman that's so well-known and you sort of give a spin to it to keep people on their toes. [Laughs]. She's turned from this replacement, a hard, cold bitch that no one really knew and no one really liked to a woman who has her own motives.
MSN: And just what are those motives, because last episode kind of dropped a bomb. What's going on with Mercy's agenda? Cassidy: I know. It's odd. The orb she found in the Arctic, she didn't really know what it was. She didn't really know what it meant. And she kind of finds out. Or rather, she doesn't find out. It tells her what to do and she does it. So I don't know if she really knows what's going to happen to that in terms of where we are now. Obviously I can't divulge too much of the finale.
MSN: I know what you're limited in what you can tell me, but where did this come from that she's a servant or a partner of this orb?
Cassidy: It came from a want for a betterment of the world. It sounds sort of cheesy, but it's the actual thing. She's been really messed with in her life. She's been really unhappy. It's all her fault, mind you. But at the same time, she's finally found a guy who every time does the right thing. I don't think she ever thought she'd find that guy. She's now read the Veritas journal. She understands what he could be and who he is. All she wants for mankind and for herself for that person to own up to he is. She can almost prove to all the men who have screwed her over and all the people she couldn't trust that there's goodness in the world. Now what's twisted about that is she's killing people to get there. But she needs to get there. There's no other choice. It's her redemption for all she's been fighting for, to have something that really matters. I think it's pretty epic. I think that's pretty cool.
MSN: Going back to her relationship with Clark, at first you played it a little more flirty. Now it's a little more detached and more from a hero-worship standpoint. What was going on in the change there?
Cassidy: Yeah, I don't think it's detatched at all. I think it's a hell of a lot more genuine than it was at the beginning of the season. I didn't know who he was, so I used what tools I had, which were my looks and my ability to be a woman. That obviously didn't go so far with Clark Kent, so I had to try something else. And when I actually knew the truth, when I thought that we could share something on a level that he doesn't share with anybody else, I'm digging in to find his true, genuine self. That's what I want. Every time I confront him in his barn or in a hospital, I'm still searching for that truth in a way that has nothing to do with flirtatiousness or attraction or anything. I want him to come clean to me.
MSN: What does it say that Tess managed to find out something in one year that Lex didn't in seven?
Cassidy: What does it say? It says he took really good notes. Of course I found it out. It was all lying right there. How could I not? I got the Cliff's Notes. But also, I didn't have a father who was a manipulator of me who was there the whole time. I think a lot of Lex's setbacks happened because of Lionel. There were a lot of different setbacks going. I was given the keys to the vault. ... I read up. I did my homework.
MSN: Does it worry you as an actor that your character isn't in the Superman mythos and knowing the secret pretty much might make her unsafe?
Cassidy: I try to make it a rule not to worry as an actor, because for every closed door, there's another open door. You never know where something can go. But as an actor, I've been really thankful she's not in the mythos. Because even though it may determine her lifespan on the show or not, also what it allows me is the freedom, kind of how Allison Mack has had to sort of create a character along with the producers and writers, which I think is pretty fun.
MSN: Are we going to see Tess recruiting more people for the Injustice Gang? Because I think one thing the fans would like to see is a fight between her forces and Oliver's forces?
Cassidy: I don't know. I hope so. There's only one more episode of this season, and it's not happening (then). But you never know. It could happen.
MSN: What can you tell us about the season finale?
Cassidy: I can tell you that some fighting's going to go down. I can tell you that you're going to be surprised. I think probably a few people are going to die. Probably what everybody else is telling you. I can tell you part of the Justice League is going to be back. That's about it.
MSN: How many people are going to die?
Cassidy: Two.
MSN: Can you tell us anything about who?
Cassidy: Nope. I cannot. I will get flogged and beaten by the CW.
MSN: Do you know if you're going to be back next season?
Cassidy: I know, but I can't tell you. Do you see how good I am with this. I actually went to a class on how not to tell people what they want to hear.
MSN: Talk about your relationship with Oliver on the show. It seems like it runs hot and cold, and most recently cold. I wonder what some of her motivations for that going back and forth.
Cassidy; Well, I think their relationship was based in a very genuine relationship that happened years ago and ended poorly. As much as Tess might have found memores of that, she also has the harsh memories as well. Anybody who's been in a relationship like that knows how easy it is to fall back into it, but she now has bigger fish to fry. As much as Oliver might want to get into her bed with jokes, it's not really funny to her right now. She kind of needs to get a job done.
MSN: What would you say were the best things about playing Tess this year, and what would you do differently if you could have it all to do over again?
Cassidy: I don't know that I would do anything differently. I think it's been a really great run. She's just this super-strong and motivated woman. I feel honored to play her on television. I think everything happened when it was supposed to. She was there for Lex and he betrayed her and so she went off on her own and became her own character. I think it was really well done. The best thing about being Tess is having everything at my fingertips: having all this power, this information, this money, being very powerful.
MSN: Where would you like to see the character go next year, assuming she gets brought back?
Cassidy: I don't know. She kind of knows a lot. If she were on another year, she'd have to change. She couldn't be the same person she is. Something's got to happen.
- posted by Raoul May 06 The Best of 'Star Trek'The publicity for the new "Star Trek" movie is pretty intense. I caught Chris "Kirk" Pine on Ellen, Zach "Spock" Quinto on the Bonnie Hunt, sneak peeks on "Fringe," advertising for "Trek" glasses at Burger King and so forth.
I'm hoping the "Star Trek" movie will be worth all the hype. J.J. Abrams usually delivers, so I don't think I will be disappointed (except for him superimposing daddy issues on Kirk.) I'm probably not going to get the chance to see the movie until this weekend, so it'll be a while until I can share my take on it.
In the meantime, I'm watching some episodes of the original series to get myself in the spirit. And what better time to look at some of its best episodes? Now the new movie requires no prior knowledge of "Trek," but you can't go wrong by catching these episodes online -- heck, we have them all for you at MSN TV -- or on DVD.
1. "Amok Time" -- Spock suffers from pon farr, the biological condition that forces him (and other Vulcans) to return to Vulcan and mate every seven years. When he goes back, he walks into a trap set up by his fiancee that has him engage in combat with Kirk. The episode has it all -- the scheming bride-to-be T'Pring, the regal T'Pau, the battle to the "death" between Kirk and Spock, along with the best fight music ever. The somber message that Spock delivers about having not being as pleasing as wanting -- so true!! And Spock's unmitigated joy at finding out Kirk's alive is priceless.
2. "Balance of Terror" -- Kirk matches wits with a Romulan commander whose ship has a powerful weapon. And the Federation learns for the first time that Vulcans and Romulans are related. The episode comes with a ton of tension, and I love the anti-bigotry message. Mark Lenard does a commendable job as the Romulan commander.
3. "The Trouble with Tribbles" -- Furry little critters multiply rapidly, causing chaos both on the Enterprise and a space station. It's got Klingons! Kirk putting an arrogant Federation bureaucrat in his place! And one of the greatest reasons for a fist fight starting. One of the prime examples of how well "Trek" could do humor as well as action and philosophy.
4. "Space Seed" -- The crew wakes up a man who's been in deep freeze for centuries and it turns out he's a genetically engineered superman. Don't you just hate it when that happens? The first appearance of Khan, whose wrath led to what has been the best "Trek" movie so far. Ricardo Montalban, rest in peace, was truly a wonderful villain.
5. "Journey to Babel" -- The crew attempts to transport diplomats to a conference, including Spock's estranged father. But a saboteur on board has other ideas. Another look at what made Spock Spock and another great guest-turn by Mark Lenard, this time as Spock's father Sarek.
6. "City on the Edge of Forever" -- Kirk, Spock and McCoy go back in time, and Kirk finds himself caught in a dilemma: let the woman he's fallen in love with die or let the Nazis win. Not much of a dilemma at all if you ask me, but there's evidence in the episode to show that Shatner does have acting skills for all the guff he got. Also noteworthy is Joan Collins guest-starring as the love interest.
7. "Mirror, Mirror" -- Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura find themselves on another dimension, where the Federation is a brutal tyranny and the Enterprise is an equally ruthless place where officers constantly scheme to advance by seduction, assassination or any means necessary. The episode has given rise to a pop culture staple: the evil twin with a goatee.
8. "The Doomsday Machine" -- A space juggernaut threatens to destroy everything in its path.
9. "Arena" -- Because who doesn't love seeing Kirk duke it out with a giant lizard?
10. "A Taste of Armageddon" -- Kirk and co. intervene in a computerized war between two planets.
Honorable Mentions: "A Piece of the Action," for cheesy goodness of Shatner acting like a gangster and "Spock's Brain," because after watching what is generally regarded as the worst of the original series, the new movie will have to seem good by comparison.
- posted by Raoul
April 28 'Heroes' Finale: One Hot MessIt used to be that I thought "Heroes" was one of the best shows on TV, or at least it was one of the ones I most actively looked forward to each week. But after last night's season finale, it's sunk below "Smallville" in my eyes. Both are now things I watch more to see what sort of train wreck it will inflict on me this week and hope for the occasional pleasant surprise rather than with any expectation that the show itself will be good. Only with "Smallville," I have years of being invested in Clark Kent and Superman.
There were too many examples of non-logic, of cut corners, of poor characterization, and of the writers' forgetting the universe they've established for me to swallow disbelief.
Backing up, the basic premise of last night's episode was that Sylar, holder of a gazillion powers, had decided to impersonate Nathan to set up a meeting to meet the president so he could touch and therefore replicate the president so he could therefore be the most powerful and special man in the world. Never mind that he chose to do so in a stupid mwa-ha-ha way that would enable our heroes to learn of his plot and try to stop it.
Anyhow, Nathan decides to fly to confront Sylar solo at first. Why not fly HRG there or Peter or some other backup? Why not call the president and simply say, "Mr. President, you know how I warned you that there are some people with special abilities? Well, I have reason to believe one of them -- a serial killer, no less -- has multiple abilities and is targeting you, possibly in my guise?" Especially considering that Nathan's boarding school buddy is the president's chief of staff.
Anyway, Nathan gets knocked out. Danko sees Sylar and tries to stab him in the brain, but Sylar has moved that "off switch." Which is also kind of B.S. How does the shape-shifting ability mean that he no longer has a brain stem? Instead of just killing Danko, Sylar decides to discredit him. He morphs into him and commits a couple killings. Then he morphs back and points the finger at Danko. Danko doesn't explain the situation and goes down quietly. Why? Who knows?
Somehow Claire gets to downtown Washington before Peter does -- even though Peter can fly and Claire has to walk at least a couple miles to go around a roadblock.
Now it turns out that Sylar has yet another ability -- the one to absorb people's memories by touching things. That's one that Angela personally fed him. Angela knows that Nathan and Claire are on a mission to stop Sylar who has adopted Nathan's form. You think the small detail that he can absorb memories is something she would relay to her granddaughter. You would, of course, be wrong.
Meanwhile, Hiro and Ando are debating what to do to stop Building 26. Hiro's powers aren't working, for the umpteenth time. Only now he's getting feedback like nosebleeds and migraines from trying to use them. He and Ando debate what to do. Hiro stops time and with Ando's help frees the prisoners, but at a cost to himself. Mohinder tells him he has to lay off of stopping time. But he does it at least one more time -- to rescue an arrested HRG from being knocked out by Danko. Again, why Danko would want to use a tranquilizer on HRG seems unclear. At the very least, the enemy of my enemy philosophy should have told him that Sylar was the biggest threat and that Danko wasn't going to be able to take him down alone.
Hiro collapses after the rescue, and HRG takes off to check on Sylar, who's decided to hold Claire hostage and imitate her for five seconds before revealing to HRG that it's really him. Then he gets his monologuing on and decides to liquor up and hit on Claire. Who's still underage. He has yet another power that I forgot about -- the puppetmaster power.
Nathan comes out of the closet as a superpowered dude and tells all the president's men that they are the only hope to stop Sylar. Their plan: a frontal assault. Really? Why not, I don't know....have Peter swoop from the sky when Sylar's least expecting it so Peter can siphon his powers and have it be a fair fight? Given that Sylar can use TK, puppet-master power, electric bolts and freeze rays, how could a frontal assault work? Especially since it involves them just flying at him?
For some reason, Sylar decides when Peter and Nathan get there to just randomly fling Claire from the suite and just stand menacingly with lightning crackling from his fingers.
We get another behind-closed-doors fight, which doesn't really make sense given how outmatched Peter and Nathan are. I guess it would be hard to explain how Sylar didn't just slaughter them. Claire finally is able to get in the room, and there's Peter, but Sylar and Nathan are gone. They decide to leave the room to follow.
Five seconds later, there's a huge crash. You think that might attract Peter and Claire's attention. Again wrong. It's Sylar and Nathan. I'm not sure if Sylar has absorbed Nathan's flying ability through empathy rather than butchery, or if he's just levitating. But anyhow, he decides to slit Nathan's throat rather than do his usual head-opening deal. R.I.P., Nathan. The writers tried to kill you at the end of Vol. I, and at the end of Vol. II., but I guess this third time really is the charm. Too bad everyone seems to have forgotten that Claire (and presumably Sylar) has blood that can bring people back from the friggin' dead! (Remember when HRG was shot and resurrected? Apparently the people paid to write this series don't.)
Fortunately during the fight, Peter managed to touch Sylar and absorb his power. So when Sylar tries to duplicate the president, it turns out that it's Peter impersonating him. Peter's able to tranq Sylar. Too bad the president's chief of staff had to bite the dust first.
But then comes the most improbable bit of the whole show. Sylar, the uber-powerful killer of many, is out and at their mercy. Then Angela and Noah hatch a cunning plan: Make Sylar simulate Nathan and forget that he was ever Sylar. They act like it's some sort of necessary evil in order to convince the president to change course with the whole hunting-down-Heroes business. Which is of course on its face pretty ridiculous.
First of all, it seems like the utter failures of the approach that they've taken should be enough to get them to convince him to course correct. Second, Peter can fake Nathan well enough for that purpose, since he too can morph and he knows enough of Nathan's mannerisms to fake it for a few minutes. But above all that, they have in Matt Parkman someone who could get the president to do whatever he wanted.
Because even if you wanted Nathan to be around, you'd have to suspect that there would be a chance the mind whammy might wear off, or that when Sylar Nathan got injured, he might be curious as to why he was regenerating (presumably, he doesn't need his memory to do that).
And even if it were guaranteed to work, it would be pretty twisted to keep your son's murderer around in the guise of your son. And to force everyone else to interact with him as if he was really your son. I guess denial could be a powerful thing, but I don't think it's that powerful.
Anyway, we're left off with Peter now potentially having all of Sylar's powers, with Hiro being sick and unable to effectively use his powers, with HRG getting ready to set up a new Company. And we see glimpses of the next volume, entitled "Redemption." Apparently Tracey (or the missing third triplet; I'm not sure which) can take the form of water and has been drowning people who worked for Danko. And Angela goes to have lunch with Sylar-Nathan when he exhibit's Sylar's talent of being able to hear that a clock is off, which worries her. Again, maybe that's something she should have thought about before she had him assume Nathan's identity.
I just wish that the writers put even a respectable amount of thought into these things. I was able to make excuses before with the strike looming and so forth, but now it's pretty apparent that they just don't care.
- posted by Raoul April 27 Good Luck, 'Chuck'Tonight is also the season -- and possibly series -- finale of "Chuck."
People are trying to ensure its survival by eating at Subway (you may remember a few of the blatant Subway plugs that the show has done this season) or by sending NBC execs Nerds candy.
It's a series that I think regardless of the economics and the ratings I think NBC would be wise to keep. I don't know if they have much in the pipeline that they reasonably can expect to do better in those departments. And there's been some critical acclaim for the show.
Let me put in my two cents on that regard: I think that every show this season has been pretty funny. It's got one of the best casts on TV, and with guest-stars like Chevy Chase and Scott Bakula, it can only get better.
I'm very curious to see what happens tonight. Obviously, Chuck is going to have the Intersect returned to his head, but how? And in the meantime, will Chuck and Sara romance flare up? After all, nothing gets amorous thoughts going like a wedding.
- posted by Raoul A Look Back at 'Heroes' Volume 4Tonight marks the season finale of "Heroes" and the end of the "Fugitives" volume. I haven't been blogging about it as much as I have previous volumes, but it seems now is as good a time as any to think about how things have gone.
For the most part, it feels like "Heroes" has righted itself. They've started to get back to the centrality of characters and away from random plot coincidences.
Sure, a lot of things don't really make all that much sense as usual. Why Nathan started this program to track down Heroes without having a plan as to what to do if he was outed, for instance. Or how the government got such complete data about the whereabouts of Heroes when it wasn't out there to be had. Or why Danko would have trusted Sylar in the first place, what with him being a superpowered psycho known to have killed dozens. And why Sylar would bother imitating Nathan in order to gain access to the president when for someone with his abilities, getting a handshake from the Prez would be simplicity, with all his public appearances and all.
But the volume had the heroes working together more, and making progress. I like the idea of the Company being replaced by the Family, and look forward to seeing that developed in future episodes. I like that Hiro and Peter are not omnipotent.
I kind of hate that Sylar still is, though. Let's look at the superpowers he has: The ability to know how things work. Telekinesis. Regeneration (and as of last week's episode, he can't even have that shut off by a wound to the brainstem). Radioactivity. Super-hearing. The abilty to freeze things. The ability to be a human lie detector. The ability to disintegrate objects. The ability to melt metal. The ability to throw electric bolts. The ability to shape-shift (apparently including items of clothing). Possibly others that I've forgotten about or that he obtained off-screen.
I know Zach Quinto is a big star and is only likely to be bigger assuming his turn as Spock in the J.J. Abrams "Star Trek" movie doesn't completely suck. But I think the idea of Sylar as a villain has passed its expiration date.
We'll see if things dramatically change in tonight's episode, and I'm assuming get the set-up for Volume 5.
- posted by Raoul April 23 'Caprica' Is Its Own WorldThis week, Sci Fi released "Caprica," the "Battlestar Galactica" prequel, on DVD. Which is a pretty bold move: a month after "BSG" ends its run, put out on DVD something that's very different and that patient fans (or those willing to break the law) can wait a year to get for free.
The problems with prequels are pretty rampant. (See "Star Wars," "Enterprise," "Smallville") For one, certain things are pre-ordained, potentially robbing the show of its drama. (Will teenage Clark Kent manage to get away from that Kryptonite? Gee, let me consult any of my Superman comics and/or movies. I guess so.) For another, sometimes the writers try to be too cute and wink at things that happen later. For another, sometimes the prequel just seems like a watered down version of the original.
I think Caprica manages to sidestep most of these, at least in so far as the pilot is concerned. If this were not overtly a prequel, I think there's enough heft hear for the show to stand on its own.
The basic premise of the prequel has been fairly thoroughly spoiled, so I don't mind going into it again. It's the tale of two families: the Greystones, who are headed by computer genius and bajillionaire Daniel, and the Adamas, headed by lawyer, Joseph. A terrorist bombing kills members of both families and has them cross paths. Daniel learns that his dead daughter Zoe was a microchip off the old lock and had designed an artificial intelligence that mimicked her natural one. He then becomes obsessed with bringing her back in a form that is the first of this set of Cylons.
The details from watching it have pluses and minuses. There's a lot of heavy-handed analogies in the pilot. Joseph Adama, who's described as a civil libertarian, is at this point an attorney who represents members of the Tauron mob. There's a fair amount of references to prejudice against Taurons on Caprica as "dirt-eaters" and the Taurons sometimes speak their own language. And they all are played by Mexicans. I wonder what the show is trying to say.
Moreover, the God/gods dichotomy comes in to "Caprica" in a big way. The terrorist bombing is motivated by belief in one god, carried out by a friend/boyfriend of Zoe's. Zoe herself (and thus presumably her doppelganger) is also a believer. And the person investigting the bombing is an ardent polytheist who thinks that monotheism is sick. Religious fervor motivating bombings...what could that possibly be about?
And there's a mix of classicism and futurism. Daniel and Joseph often dress and act like they'e stepped out of a 1940's cigarette ad. But we spend time in a virtual club where people are dancing topless, shooting people, committing human sacrifice and so forth.
If you come here looking for "Battlestar"-like space battles, prepare to be disappointed.
But there's plenty of drama and interesting sci-fi concepts for the series to explore when it comes on next year. My appetite is whetted.
- posted by Raoul April 13 'Terminator' Season Finale Twists Things TremendouslyI obviously wanted "Terminator" to come back for another season all along. But after last weekend's finale, I really, really, really want it to come back.
Which isn't to say that this has been an impeccable season. It's actually been a very meandering and uneven one. But the last few episodes, with Derek getting suddenly killed out of the blue, Sarah worrying about her cancer, and the reveal of another AI out there, really started building up the tension.
Then in Friday's episode, we have Sarah come face to face with the liquid-metal Terminator and find out that Catherine Weaver is apparently one of the good guys. And she sends John to a point in the future, where Derek -- and more importantly -- Kyle Reese both are still alive. Not only that, but the woman that Cameron was based on is as well.
There are a lot of places the series could go now. Some of my favorite moments have been set in the apocalyptic future, and I would love to see John fighting machines first-hand, armed with a plasma rifle in the 30-watt range.
Plus, John could have himself some romance going with someone who's actually interesting and worthy of him in Summer Glau's human character. And it would be equally interesting to see what becomes of Sarah Connor as she is for once all alone, with no John to protect.
I am hoping that with "Terminator Salvation" coming up, FOX is willing to overlook the low ratings and give the series another chance. But hoping for FOX to do right by sci-fi is kind of like buying a whole bunch of lottery tickets and calling that a retirement plan.
- posted by Raoul March 20 Liveblogging the 'BSG' FinaleWell, here we are at the finale.
9:00: I guess this must be a flashback to the heydays of Caprica and a girlie club. Tigh and Adama are drinking and talking about a new job. Ellen's there too.
Then we cut to Starbuck, Apollo and Zak having a political discussion.
And now we have Roslin dating one of her former students. And I'm wondering again: really? With all the stuff that needs to be resolved, we're still messing around with this?
9:08: I really didn't need to see Adama puking his guts out. I really didn't.
9:10: Head Six is trying once again to guide Baltar. I really hope they establish what's the deal with her in the next two hours.
9:11: Someone should explain to KFC that they CAN say "frak" on TV. And indeed, they will about a dozen times in the next two hours. That's the point of "frak."
9:14: Doc Cottle, I'll miss you. "Just light a cigarette and go and grumble" indeed. Mary Masterson sold that scene.
9:17: Wait, Adama turns over the fleet to Hoshi? One step above a redshirt? really?
9:20: Romo is going to be the new president? Crazy!
9:21: Baltar stays with Galactica. And there's a mess of angry looking Centurions painted with a red stripe. Pretty cool.
9:26: I do think it's nifty that all of the stations are reporting go. More to the point, I'm tired of waiting for stuff to happen. Let's go.
9:29: Nice speech, Bill. And how let's have that kick-ass space battle.
9:33: Holy crap! Galactica rammed the colony! I didn't expect that until like a second before she did it!
9:34: It's cool as anything to see the Centurions fighting side by side with the Colonials. But why would they take the their helmets off.
9:36: An old school Cylon! They are pulling out all the stops!
9:37: And we have Boomer going good. Like that's a surprise.
9:41: Man, it's hard having to deal with commercials.
9:43: I also will miss Cavil, when he's just being a sarcastic old dude and not channelling Agent Smith.
9:44: Head Baltar, meet real Baltar. Head Six, meet real Caprica Six. Interesting.
9:45: Is there going to be a Boomer/Athena smackdown? Why, yes.
9:48: Lot's of chaos.
9:52: So we're about halfway through the finale. We've got probably another 15 minutes of escaping from the Colony. Doesn't seem like a lot of time will be left to answer questions.
9:54: Poor bloody Roslin. But it looks like her visions are back.
9:55: Really? Doral is a bad-ass? I don't want him to have gotten Helo.
9:57: Go, Laura, go! Stay, Hera, stay! Bad Hera!
9:59: How is it possible Baltar has been at the Colony before?
10: Nice kicking that Simon when he's down, Adama.
10:01: OK, whose idea was it to leave Cavil on deck alive?
10:02: Baltar, stop monologuing and shoot Cavil!
10:05: We're going to see peace in our time!
10:08: Well, so the space and gun batles did everything they needed to do. Let's see if they can put everything else together in another 45 minutes.
10:10: Ooh, here's the part where Tory gets smacked down for killing Cally!
10:12: Ouch: that neck snapping was a little much.
10:13: Nice way to bring the "All Along the Watchtower" back.
10:16: It's pretty moving to see Galactica as frakked up as it is.
10:18: And they're (back?) at Earth.
10:22: So it looks like Galactica took place in our past. And it looks like the Earth we saw isn't our Earth.
10:26: So Apollo comes up with the brilliant idea of leaving all their equipment and science behind. And brilliant, I mean foolish.
10:29: I can't say I'm moved by Anders' upcoming demise or Starbuck's getting weepy over him.
10:34: Huh. So I wonder if Adama did steal something to get him all huffy about the lie detector test.
10:36: Nice tip of the musical hat to the original series.
10:43: OK, now we're getting our sappy on. Goodbyes a plenty.
10:51: So I guess Kara really is an angel from how she was able to just disappear like that. And Lee's right: she won't be forgotten.
10:55: OK, I have to admit I'm misting up a little at Roslin's passing. Sniff.
11:03: So Baltar's going to get away with his treason and live happily ever after?
11:06: Hey, there's a Ron Moore cameo!
11:08: Aaaand....we're out. Will the cycle repeat again? Possibly. Only God, or whatever it really likes to be called, knows.
- posted by Raoul This Has All Happened Before, But It Will Never Happen Again: My 'BSG' Finale Wishlist
1. Starbuck punches somebody in the face. Bonus points if it's Tigh. 2. Starbuck shoots someone. 3. Lee Adama gets a haircut. 4. The president has a mercifully short death scene. 5. Tory bites it. 6. Baltar and Caprica Six ride off into the sunset together. 7. And, OK, an appropriately shorn Lee and Kara, too. 8. Leoben has a huge role to play, like switching sides at the eleventh hour. I'll settle for him being generally cryptic, though. 9. We find out who/what Starbuck is. 10. There is an awesome space battle, duh. 11. Tigh and Adama go out together, maybe Space Cowboys-style. 12. Romo Lampkin! Don't particularly care what he does, just that he's around. 13. D'Anna comes back from Earth with some answers for everyone. OK, what's on your wishlist? - Posted by Kate March 18 So The Cylons Really Did Have a Plan!
"Olmos, who directed The Plan, tells us, "The Plan is literally what the Cylons had in mind and why they did what they did. At the beginning of every show they have, 'The Cylons were created by man.' We created them to help, and they ended up creating themselves. Some of them don't know that they are Cylons and they have a plan. So this is the plan." Apparently we'll get some more of Cavil's backstory, and maybe some answers to questions I fear will not be answered, gulp, the day after tomorrow. - Posted by Kate March 17 The Scent of A TrekkieAs one of the many tie-ins with the upcoming "Star Trek" movie, fans will now be able to purchase any of three Trek-related colognes and perfumes.
There's "Tiberius," after the middle name of James T. Kirk. It has vanilla, sandalwood and white musk going on. What, no pheromones?
Then there's "Red Shirt," after the many anonymous crewmen who went to their deaths at the hands or tentacles of the aliens of the week. The tagline is "Because tomorrow may never come." You might think that smell would be more like sweat and dirty diapers. But apparently the company went with leather and gray musk.
And for the lady Trekkers, there's Pon Farr. Yes, that's right: they named a fragrance after the period Vulcans undergo every seven years when they must mate or die. Because nothing sells a perfume like the concept that you'll go into a murderous frenzy until you get laid. Sadly, it's unclear from the story what that smells like.
- posted by Raoul Sci Fi becomes SyFy. Why?Sci Fi has unveiled a name change. It's going to rebrand itself as "SyFy."
Apparently, it's laboring under the theory that "Sci Fi" has unsavory implications with nerds who hang out in their mothers' basements. To which I say, "So what?" We nerds (in our out of basements) need some love too.
And it's not like SyFy is associated with rock stars and other assorted studs.
Seriously, who do they think they are fooling?
Maybe they want to be able to justify programming like "ECW" or whatever that have nothing to do with science-fiction. But if that's the case, they probably should have adopted a new name that doesn't sound like "Sci Fi." I can't believe SyFy is the best of 300 suggestions the network looked at.
- posted by Raoul |
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