TV's back!!!

Discussion in 'Art & Culture' started by superstring01, Sep 16, 2010.

  1. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Stargate Universe

    Note to Superstring re: Stargate Universe

    Well, I did my Stargate Universe homework today; SyFy ran a marathon leading up to the season two premiere. Just finished all that.

    I'll give it three stars out of four; I caught several episodes, starting with an away team being stuck in a catacomb with outsize spiders. There were definitely some STNG moments in the episodes I saw, like the bit with the cosmic ticks. But the last three of the season, and the new premiere, were downright solid.

    Something amuses me, though, about the fact that Col. Young is an incompetent tactician. I mean, how could he place his men so damn close to the ingress when the Alliance boarded Destiny? That fight was lost from the outset, and it's his own damn fault.

    The writers dodged an issue when Baltar Rush was "stoned" to Telford, but that's forgivable, I think, in the grand scheme. Still, it was a great opportunity wasted.

    All told, I'll probably stick with the series at least through this season. I like one thing it has that BSG didn't, which is the specific connection to contemporary humanity. While BSG had (and, hopefully, Caprica has) a strong allegorical relationship to our present human condition, SU has the direct connection, like Eli listening to tunes on an iPod, or the ranting man in the hospital with Greer's father. It's a good frame.

    Clearly, this is the best Stargate endeavor, though I do adore that someone once set scenes from one or the other of the series to a song by Boiled in Lead ("The Microorganism") for a YouTube video that I've lost track of.

    But, yeah. A solid effort. I can't complain.
     
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  3. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    a young woman in a bathtub, an older mother of two falling to her death, and a father of two bludgeoned to death...


    That's the Trinity sequence, so if Rita is the first one, who is the second? And was the anchor dude a father of two?
     
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  5. GeoffP Caput gerat lupinum Valued Senior Member

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    I think Trinity himself got her and then there was just an interval until Dex killed him and found Rita.
     
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  7. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    Indeed. If you know someone is going to be invading the ship via the stargate, why not simply vent the air from the gateroom immediately and let the invaders step into a vacuum. Problem solved.

    The season premiere was pretty good though.
     
  8. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    37,884
    (Insert title here)

    Well, they did cover that, sort of. Apparently Young was not aware that Rush and Telford's switch would cancel when the latter came aboard the Destiny. And, as it turns out, Young had something up his sleeve as far as Telford was concerned.

    Even accounting for that, the Alliance is no two-bit street gang. Sure, okay, so he didn't realize that the enemy had those nifty can openers for the doors, but still, how did it not occur to him that the first thing coming back at him would be explosives? A defensive position should be the easier to hold, but everything was set up to make sure that broke instantly.

    Part of me wants to chew out the writers for such a slovenly mistake, but anyone can have a bad day, whether by hangover or bitchy producer, and if they're any good (and they generally seem to be), they'll run with the idea that Young isn't actually that good of a fighting soldier, but rather is the kind of guy who can administrate and prioritize. Or maybe I'm just picking on him because he seems to be Sylvester Stallone trying to be Edward James Olmos.

    But like Rush and his Little Miss Genius, it's just a minor detail in the grand scheme. Oh, well. They're doing just fine.
     
  9. superstring01 Moderator

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    Sorry. The first episode of Dexter was horrible. The rest of the season better be a whole lot better.

    ~String
     
  10. GeoffP Caput gerat lupinum Valued Senior Member

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    Without having said so at the start, yeah, I guess I agree with this. Although it explored new meme-space for the series. Maybe it's promising.
     
  11. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Of course, I'm just wondering how Dexter could take the attention away from himself...
     
  12. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    There was alot to cover. I look at it as just an intro. They did manage to squeeze in a boat scene (I always like those), and a murder.
     
  13. superstring01 Moderator

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    I have the season opener recorded. Yet to watch it.

    But, yeah. It is promising. Being the scifi junkie that I am, I cannot refrain from watching, no matter how bad it gets. But, I'm really hoping that it lives up to the hype.

    ~String
     
  14. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    24,690
    I still prefer the original, but this one is good enough to hang with. "Atlantis" was terrible. The original had more episodic dynamics, frequently going to a new planet, meeting the inhabitants, solving their problem, growing a little smarter and more mature, and going back to do a better job on their own problems. More like TNG.
    All TV action/adventure shows do that. If all of the leaders on both sides were top-notch tacticians, the show would be all strategy and reconaissance, and we'd never get to see them pounding on each other and blowing stuff up.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    It's all part of the "suspension of disbelief" that is easier to get in a real-time visual medium, as opposed to reading, where you can stop and go back and say, "What the heck?" and where episodes aren't limited to 40 minutes of new programming so they can pack more in.
    I guess then that it's a mixed blessing to live in an era when a lot of rather decent sci-fi is produced. It was so horribly bad in the 1950s. Tom Corbett: Space Cadet! "Wait, you've been exposed. You'd better put some radiation salve on that burn." Or Space Patrol, with chemical rockets transporting people over several light-years in a few days.

    I just gave up on it and stuck to print media. I didn't even watch the original "Star Trek" because it was too hokey. I gave the writers of TNG a lot of credit for having to keep continuity with all that Buck Rogers faux-science in the later series, and managing to make it respectable. They explained why all the aliens appeared to be speaking English: universal translators hidden in everybody's ears. And why the life on other planets all looked like life on earth: A few billion years ago some lost civilization sprayed our entire galaxy with DNA.

    Even though there are now usually one or two sci-fi TV series worth watching, I choose them very carefully. I gave up on "The Event" halfway through the first episode.
     
  15. superstring01 Moderator

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    12,110
    It gets a second chance. That's it. I can only be beaten by an abused lover so many times before I say, "Stop. . . or I might consider breaking up with you sometime down the road, but nothing is permanent, so I might take you back to begin the toxic cycle all over again."

    If I had the same attitude in relationships, I'd make a good southern wife in the 50's.

    ~String
     
  16. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    The season opener of Dexter was a let down. Alright, the subject matter is sad, but to believe that Debra (or the police) wouldn't contact the grandparents if Dexter won't do that is just ridiculous.
    By the way Masuka on reddit is answering questions and put up a few photos:

    http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/dk62q/hey_its_masuka_im_new_to_reddit_and_love_it_ama/

    --------------------

    House MD is getting the same old, same old, it needs a new storyline. This Cuddy love affair can last only for so long...

    -------------------

    The Good Wife finally delivered last night...
     
  17. Cowboy My Aim Is True Valued Senior Member

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    I have to say that I'm enjoying The Event so far. Between that and Fringe, my sci-fi requirements are being fulfilled. And sooner or later there will be new seasons of Torchwood and Doctor Who.
     
  18. ScaryMonster I’m the whispered word. Valued Senior Member

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    I really liked that British Series
    "Misfits"
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misfits_(TV_series)

    I hope they do a second season and we find out what happens to the Character Nathan Young who was buried alive in the final of season one.
     
  19. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Same here, except, can anybody explain how come the FBI lady didn't tie down or handcuff that fake FBI guy once he was knocked to the ground? Instead they are running away letting him shooting at them??? Maybe I missed something, but that just seemed implausible...
     
  20. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Somehow I thought Dexter would be in more trouble. I guess we will have to wait until Quinn recognizes that Dexter looks like Kyle Butler.
     
  21. superstring01 Moderator

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    Has anybody suffered through "SG Universe"?

    I don't get it.

    Also, Caprica? When did the original robot get fried? When did I miss that? And when did that Tauron dude take over the company?

    ~String
     
  22. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Yeah, I think they skipped a lot, maybe I have to go back and watch the last episodes. BSG did that too.
     
  23. Cowboy My Aim Is True Valued Senior Member

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    3,707
    When it comes to TV and movies, being logical takes a back seat to doing what will involve more action and suspense.
     

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