This episode really felt a lot like something from the Hinchcliffe era of Tom Baker's Doctor. A horror story with aliens and other sci-fi elements.
I really liked the Saturnynes and I wouldn't mind seeing a return for them down the road sometime.
Toby Whithouse (School Reunion) delivered an excellent script with great character moments for the Doctor, Rory and Amy. It picked up after least week's episode dealing with the consequences of Amy's attempting to throw herself at the Doctor. I would have expected Rory to be a bit angrier with Amy and I would have liked if he had stood up for himself more but then that's probably part of the reason Amy is drawn to the Doctor because Rory is allowing himself to be walked all over by her. But I liked the balance of humor applied to the situation (with some truly laugh out loud scenes) and emotional resonance showing how much it did affect Rory. And the Doctor really comes across as a hero trying to awkwardly unite the two lovers whilst at the same time not knowing when not to say something. That's one aspect of the current Doctor I really like is the fact that he often seems to say things that sound better inside his head than when uttered aloud.
I loved Rory's confrontation with Francesco which was both awkwardly heroic and also very funny as well. Its also interesting to note that in the confidential Karen Gillan gets carried away with kissing Arthur Darvill and forgets she's supposed to pull away and the kissing keeps going and going. A similar thing happened in Flesh and Stone when she was making a pass at the Doctor and put her hand on the inside of Matt Smith's thigh. Apparently Miss Gillan is a method actor when it comes to love scenes. ;)
I really like the dynamic between the three members of the TARDIS crew and Rory is back again for the next episode. I hope he stays around as a permanent member of the team to freshen things up from the one companion dynamic.
Again the crack plays an integral part of the plot and builds the mystery of the ongoing story arc. Or should I say arcs as Amy's and Rory's impending wedding appears to also be a major part of the series arc as well.
The only real problem I had with the story was that sunlight only seemed to bother the Saturnynes at the writer's convenience. However, upon a second viewing, I noticed that they do try to cover up when outdoors. Apparently its only direct sunlight or ultraviolet light that can hurt them so they are just uncomfortable otherwise. I think I was applying traditional vampire rules to them whilst first watching it and they are far from traditional vampires. Amy's good fortune at being able to reflect a beam of sunlight from her compact seems a bit too convenient but she does comment on her luck with it.
Time for my Doctor Who fifth story comparison list:
1) Dalek by Robert Shearman
2) The Two Doctors by Robert Holmes
3) Remembrance of the Daleks by Ben Aaronovitch
4) Terror of the Autons by Robert Holmes
5) The Girl in the Fireplace by Steven Moffat
6) The Vampires of Venice by Toby Whithouse
7) Revenge of the Cybermen by Gerry Davis
8) Black Orchid by Terence Dudley
9) The Keys of Marinus by Terry Nation
10) The Macra Terror by Ian Stuart Black
And I would say fifth stories tend to be very strong as I really actually like all of these a lot and it made it very difficult to place them in order. The Macra Terror probably suffers from my having only seen it as a reconstruction.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Doctor Who - The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
I think I'd call this story The Time of Angels as a whole. That's one change I'd have liked The Moff to have made is having a story title instead of two separate episode titles. I think its less confusing that way and call me "old school" but I just like it better.
This was the strongest story of the season so far in my opinion and I think having two episodes to give the story time to breathe really worked. Both The Beast Below and Victory of the Daleks where very enjoyable but probably would have been even stronger if they had more time to build the mysteries behind the events and to allow for more character development between the supporting characters.
The Weeping Angels are very cool monsters but I thought going into the episode "What more can you really do with them without repeating yourself after Blink?" The Moff managed to take these one-note monsters and turn them into much more and make them even scarier.
The mystery of River Song also deepened with some rather surprising tidbits revealed. Although we still don't know much specifics about who or what she is to the Doctor, she is quickly becoming one of the most fascinating characters in all of Doctor Who history. I consider myself to now be a River Song "shipper".
Unlike previous series this year the running story arcs are much more prevalent and also much more interesting than any since "Bad Wolf". This story added a lot to the ongoing plot lines of the crack and Amy's impending wedding.
Speaking of the wedding; I was quite shocked and a bit put off when I heard what was to happen between the Doctor and Amy in this story. This was quite a change from the Doctor Who I grew up with. My main issue not so much being the idea that the companion tries to seduce the Doctor but rather that she was doing so on the night before her wedding. If she had just been trying to seduce the Doctor, it would have just been a very funny scene but the infidelity part of it made it a bit less funny to me. Seeing as how the companions are the heroes of the story along with the Doctor this was quite a surprising turn of events to have a character doing something that I felt was not moralistic at all and seeming to not have any qualms or thoughts about her husband-to-be's feelings at all. Even worse I discovered on my message board haunts that most (about 3/4 I'd say) had absolutely no issue with someone cheating on their fiance on the day before their wedding. It seems as if infidelity has become such an everyday practice in our society that its no longer even a big deal. I find that both disturbing and disappointing. I realize people make mistakes and certainly Amy's character can be forgiven for her actions but it did make me a little less sympathetic to her character. Part of it is I think I identify a bit more to Rory's position in the "triangle" as it were as opposed to Amy's. And also my personality type is predisposed to being a bit judgmental and a stickler when it comes to our morals.
However, it was a very funny scene and the Doctor behaved perfectly in it. And kudos to The Moff for handling a potentially controversial scene so very well. The fact that he was able to drum up such strong emotions in someone (me) who rarely has any real emotional reaction to characters or events in a story (other than enjoyment and excitement) is a real testament to his abilities as a writer. I really look forward to seeing how all of this plays out.
Here is my now traditional list of comparing stories for every Doctor. These are from best to worst the fourth stories for every Doctor.
1) Genesis of the Daleks by Terry Nation
2) Inferno by Don Houghton
3) The Time of Angels by Steven Moffat
4) Marco Polo by John Lucarotti
5) School Reunion by Toby Whithouse
6) The Visitation by Eric Saward
7) The Mark of the Rani by Pip Baker and Jane Baker
8) The Moonbase by Kit Pedler
9) Aliens of London by Russell T. Davies
10) Dragonfire by Ian Briggs
This was the strongest story of the season so far in my opinion and I think having two episodes to give the story time to breathe really worked. Both The Beast Below and Victory of the Daleks where very enjoyable but probably would have been even stronger if they had more time to build the mysteries behind the events and to allow for more character development between the supporting characters.
The Weeping Angels are very cool monsters but I thought going into the episode "What more can you really do with them without repeating yourself after Blink?" The Moff managed to take these one-note monsters and turn them into much more and make them even scarier.
The mystery of River Song also deepened with some rather surprising tidbits revealed. Although we still don't know much specifics about who or what she is to the Doctor, she is quickly becoming one of the most fascinating characters in all of Doctor Who history. I consider myself to now be a River Song "shipper".
Unlike previous series this year the running story arcs are much more prevalent and also much more interesting than any since "Bad Wolf". This story added a lot to the ongoing plot lines of the crack and Amy's impending wedding.
Speaking of the wedding; I was quite shocked and a bit put off when I heard what was to happen between the Doctor and Amy in this story. This was quite a change from the Doctor Who I grew up with. My main issue not so much being the idea that the companion tries to seduce the Doctor but rather that she was doing so on the night before her wedding. If she had just been trying to seduce the Doctor, it would have just been a very funny scene but the infidelity part of it made it a bit less funny to me. Seeing as how the companions are the heroes of the story along with the Doctor this was quite a surprising turn of events to have a character doing something that I felt was not moralistic at all and seeming to not have any qualms or thoughts about her husband-to-be's feelings at all. Even worse I discovered on my message board haunts that most (about 3/4 I'd say) had absolutely no issue with someone cheating on their fiance on the day before their wedding. It seems as if infidelity has become such an everyday practice in our society that its no longer even a big deal. I find that both disturbing and disappointing. I realize people make mistakes and certainly Amy's character can be forgiven for her actions but it did make me a little less sympathetic to her character. Part of it is I think I identify a bit more to Rory's position in the "triangle" as it were as opposed to Amy's. And also my personality type is predisposed to being a bit judgmental and a stickler when it comes to our morals.
However, it was a very funny scene and the Doctor behaved perfectly in it. And kudos to The Moff for handling a potentially controversial scene so very well. The fact that he was able to drum up such strong emotions in someone (me) who rarely has any real emotional reaction to characters or events in a story (other than enjoyment and excitement) is a real testament to his abilities as a writer. I really look forward to seeing how all of this plays out.
Here is my now traditional list of comparing stories for every Doctor. These are from best to worst the fourth stories for every Doctor.
1) Genesis of the Daleks by Terry Nation
2) Inferno by Don Houghton
3) The Time of Angels by Steven Moffat
4) Marco Polo by John Lucarotti
5) School Reunion by Toby Whithouse
6) The Visitation by Eric Saward
7) The Mark of the Rani by Pip Baker and Jane Baker
8) The Moonbase by Kit Pedler
9) Aliens of London by Russell T. Davies
10) Dragonfire by Ian Briggs
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Doctor Who - Victory of the Daleks
That was quite a fast-paced romp. A bit too fast actually. I think this was a story that unquestionably would have been better as a two-parter giving it time to breathe.
Having said that, I did enjoy it quite a bit. I liked the relationship between the Doctor and Churchill and I also liked the character of Bracewell although his revelation came too quickly and early in the story to give it time to truly be a mystery.
Amy was a bit underused in this episode but with so much going on its understandable why and its also understandable why the Doctor leaves her behind before confronting the Daleks. Although you would have thought she would have put up more of a protest. After all, didn't the Doctor take off in the TARDIS twice before leaving her behind fpr 12 years and 2 years respectively? Wouldn't she be worried how long it would take for him to get back to her?
As for the new Daleks I must say they're certainly not a "radical redesign" or nearly as bad as been posted elsewhere. They are perfectly fine and I think the only reason people are so bent out of shape is that the previous design actually looks better. If these where the Daleks introduced during Doctor Who's 2005 rebirth I think people would be fine with them. And although there's a lot of hating on the colors, I like that the different colors actually mean something now and I hope they stick to those job designations consistently over their next few appearances at least.
One side note is that there's a cameo by writer/actor Mark Gatiss (The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot's Lantern) who formerly played Dr. Lazarus in The Lazarus Experiment as the pilot Danny-Boy although his face is covered, most likely to avoid confusion with Lazarus.
There's a lot of rumors that Gatiss is the next "chosen one" whenever Moffat relinquishes the reigns as showrunner. Although his writing tends to not be as strong as Moffat, he is on par with RTD in my opinion so far. I think if this does indeed happen years from now, Doctor Who will be in most capable hands as Gatiss is another hard-core lifelong Doctor Who fan. Although I suspect we would again see the thing Doctor Who fans fear more than the Daleks: CHANGE! Obama sure would have been screwed if it had been solely Doctor Who fans voting.
Here is my now traditional list comparing the Doctor's respective third stories.
1. The Sontaran Experiment by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
2. The Unquiet Dead by Mark Gatiss
3. Vengeance On Varos by Philip Martin
4. Kinda by Christopher Bailey
5. Victory of the Daleks by Mark Gatiss
6. The Edge of Destruction by David Whitaker
7. Tooth and Claw by Russell T. Davies
8. The Ambassadors of Death by David Whitaker, Trevor Ray, Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks
9. The Underwater Menace by Geoffrey Orme
10. Delta and the Bannermen by Malcolm Kohll
Having said that, I did enjoy it quite a bit. I liked the relationship between the Doctor and Churchill and I also liked the character of Bracewell although his revelation came too quickly and early in the story to give it time to truly be a mystery.
Amy was a bit underused in this episode but with so much going on its understandable why and its also understandable why the Doctor leaves her behind before confronting the Daleks. Although you would have thought she would have put up more of a protest. After all, didn't the Doctor take off in the TARDIS twice before leaving her behind fpr 12 years and 2 years respectively? Wouldn't she be worried how long it would take for him to get back to her?
As for the new Daleks I must say they're certainly not a "radical redesign" or nearly as bad as been posted elsewhere. They are perfectly fine and I think the only reason people are so bent out of shape is that the previous design actually looks better. If these where the Daleks introduced during Doctor Who's 2005 rebirth I think people would be fine with them. And although there's a lot of hating on the colors, I like that the different colors actually mean something now and I hope they stick to those job designations consistently over their next few appearances at least.
One side note is that there's a cameo by writer/actor Mark Gatiss (The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot's Lantern) who formerly played Dr. Lazarus in The Lazarus Experiment as the pilot Danny-Boy although his face is covered, most likely to avoid confusion with Lazarus.
There's a lot of rumors that Gatiss is the next "chosen one" whenever Moffat relinquishes the reigns as showrunner. Although his writing tends to not be as strong as Moffat, he is on par with RTD in my opinion so far. I think if this does indeed happen years from now, Doctor Who will be in most capable hands as Gatiss is another hard-core lifelong Doctor Who fan. Although I suspect we would again see the thing Doctor Who fans fear more than the Daleks: CHANGE! Obama sure would have been screwed if it had been solely Doctor Who fans voting.
Here is my now traditional list comparing the Doctor's respective third stories.
1. The Sontaran Experiment by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
2. The Unquiet Dead by Mark Gatiss
3. Vengeance On Varos by Philip Martin
4. Kinda by Christopher Bailey
5. Victory of the Daleks by Mark Gatiss
6. The Edge of Destruction by David Whitaker
7. Tooth and Claw by Russell T. Davies
8. The Ambassadors of Death by David Whitaker, Trevor Ray, Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks
9. The Underwater Menace by Geoffrey Orme
10. Delta and the Bannermen by Malcolm Kohll
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Doctor Who - The Beast Below
Another strong episode from The Moff with a rather interesting perspective on how democracy works and how people tend to vote to forget rather than stand up for what is right.
This episode had a lot of trademarked Moff humor and was again really dark and creepy. We also had a really interesting character in Liz Ten although with the shorter story length of post 2005 Who, perhaps a bit underdeveloped.
The story also developed the character of Amy further and continued some mysteries from The Eleventh Hour.
One nice touch of continuity to the Tom Baker era was a reference to the Earth being left uninhabitable in the 29th Century by solar flares which was referring to events first related in "The Ark in Space" and "The Sontaran Experiment".
My only real complaint is that I feel the Smilers and Winders were underused and lacked impact other than just being creepy. They looked like they had the potential to be really memorable villains but instead they were not really very effective other than being scary. If the story had been longer they probably would have had the opportunity to actually do something in the episode.
Oh, and I'm not sure how the Star Whale threw them up without ejecting them into space. But other than those two things, really very solid.
MATT SMITH IS THE DOCTOR! He is very natural in this role and I can see why The Moff chose him despite his reservations about his age. He is brilliant! I think he's similar in some ways to Tennant and has a few similarities to other Doctors as well. He doesn't have as many distinctly obvious characteristics as Tennant or Eccleston did so far but its still early days. I'm sure there will be things other than "Geronimo" which will feel distinctly Smith.
Speaking of which, I heard the "Geronimo" lines have been ad-libbed by Smith since "The End of Time" with him sneaking them in even though Moffat hasn't written them in as his catchphrase.
KAREN GILLAN IS AMY POND! Okay, she doesn't have anyone else to share that honor with except her cousin (and honestly Caitlin Blackwood probably could give her a run for her money given how good she is in The Eleventh Hour) but I really like Amy. I like the air of mystery about her and I like her spunk. Right now as far as post 2005 companions go, I think I like her better than Rose, Mickey, Adam, Martha and Wilf. Captain Jack and Donna still beat her for now but she's got the edge on both of them with the cuteness factor.
Here is the second of my series of lists comparing each Doctor's stories to each other. This one is a list of favorite second adventures for each Doctor from best to last. (The 8th Doctor is done already having only had one televised adventure.)
1. The End of the World by Russell T. Davies
2. Paradise Towers by Stephen Wyatt
3. The Silurians by Malcolm Hulke
4. The Daleks by Terry Nation
5. The Ark in Space by Robert Holmes
6. The Beast Below by Steven Moffat
7. Attack of the Cybermen by Paula Moore (Paula Woolsey and Eric Saward)
8. Four to Doomsday by Terence Dudley
9. New Earth by Russell T. Davies
10. The Highlanders by Elwyn Jones and Gerry Davis
Another interesting note is how The Moff seems to be continuing a pattern set up by RTD of where and when the stories take place. "Rose", "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Eleventh Hour" are all set on present day Earth. "The End of the World", "New Earth" and "The Beast Below" all set far in the future dealing with the relocation of humanity following an apocalyptic event. Its a trend that seems to be continuing this week as well with the Doctor taking his companion to Earth's past to meet an historical figure; "The Unquiet Dead" with Charles Dickens, "Tooth and Claw" with Queen Victoria and "Victory of the Daleks" with Winston Churchill. We'll see how long this pattern continues...(Cue end theme with swirly time vortex visuals)
This episode had a lot of trademarked Moff humor and was again really dark and creepy. We also had a really interesting character in Liz Ten although with the shorter story length of post 2005 Who, perhaps a bit underdeveloped.
The story also developed the character of Amy further and continued some mysteries from The Eleventh Hour.
One nice touch of continuity to the Tom Baker era was a reference to the Earth being left uninhabitable in the 29th Century by solar flares which was referring to events first related in "The Ark in Space" and "The Sontaran Experiment".
My only real complaint is that I feel the Smilers and Winders were underused and lacked impact other than just being creepy. They looked like they had the potential to be really memorable villains but instead they were not really very effective other than being scary. If the story had been longer they probably would have had the opportunity to actually do something in the episode.
Oh, and I'm not sure how the Star Whale threw them up without ejecting them into space. But other than those two things, really very solid.
MATT SMITH IS THE DOCTOR! He is very natural in this role and I can see why The Moff chose him despite his reservations about his age. He is brilliant! I think he's similar in some ways to Tennant and has a few similarities to other Doctors as well. He doesn't have as many distinctly obvious characteristics as Tennant or Eccleston did so far but its still early days. I'm sure there will be things other than "Geronimo" which will feel distinctly Smith.
Speaking of which, I heard the "Geronimo" lines have been ad-libbed by Smith since "The End of Time" with him sneaking them in even though Moffat hasn't written them in as his catchphrase.
KAREN GILLAN IS AMY POND! Okay, she doesn't have anyone else to share that honor with except her cousin (and honestly Caitlin Blackwood probably could give her a run for her money given how good she is in The Eleventh Hour) but I really like Amy. I like the air of mystery about her and I like her spunk. Right now as far as post 2005 companions go, I think I like her better than Rose, Mickey, Adam, Martha and Wilf. Captain Jack and Donna still beat her for now but she's got the edge on both of them with the cuteness factor.
Here is the second of my series of lists comparing each Doctor's stories to each other. This one is a list of favorite second adventures for each Doctor from best to last. (The 8th Doctor is done already having only had one televised adventure.)
1. The End of the World by Russell T. Davies
2. Paradise Towers by Stephen Wyatt
3. The Silurians by Malcolm Hulke
4. The Daleks by Terry Nation
5. The Ark in Space by Robert Holmes
6. The Beast Below by Steven Moffat
7. Attack of the Cybermen by Paula Moore (Paula Woolsey and Eric Saward)
8. Four to Doomsday by Terence Dudley
9. New Earth by Russell T. Davies
10. The Highlanders by Elwyn Jones and Gerry Davis
Another interesting note is how The Moff seems to be continuing a pattern set up by RTD of where and when the stories take place. "Rose", "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Eleventh Hour" are all set on present day Earth. "The End of the World", "New Earth" and "The Beast Below" all set far in the future dealing with the relocation of humanity following an apocalyptic event. Its a trend that seems to be continuing this week as well with the Doctor taking his companion to Earth's past to meet an historical figure; "The Unquiet Dead" with Charles Dickens, "Tooth and Claw" with Queen Victoria and "Victory of the Daleks" with Winston Churchill. We'll see how long this pattern continues...(Cue end theme with swirly time vortex visuals)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Doctor Who - The Eleventh Hour
This was a great beginning for The Moff's reign as new showrunner for Series Fnarg. Fast-paced but not so much so that there weren't nice character moments or that they forgot to resolve anything that wasn't intended to be part of the series story-arc. The dialog and characterization were great as always from The Moff.
Matt Smith is going to be a great Doctor. He captured the essence of the character immediately. I love all of the Doctors honestly but it nice to know we're 11 for 11.
Karen Gillan is going to be great. Its always nice to have an attractive companion but its even better to have one who is fun, spunky and an interesting character. I think she's going to be the big mystery as the series continues and we find out more about her character and the mysterious crack. Since I like her she's probably going to go all Dark Phoenix/Lyta Alexander at the end. Its what spunky redheads do.
Loved the TARDIS interior. A bit RTD era mixed with the grandeur and retro Earth tech of the McGann TARDIS. I love that it looks even bigger inside than the last one.
The crack and Prisoner Zero were really creepy which a signature of the Moff, knowing what creeps people out.
Loved the Atraxi ships. I thought they were a brilliant alien design.
I honestly can't think of a bad thing to say about it. I don't think I liked it quite as much as the other 4 Moff stories but they were some of the best Doctor Who stories of all time and its darn difficult to keep topping yourself.
Speaking of which, time for one of my favorite things, a list;
Debut stories of each Doctor in order of how much I enjoyed them:
1. Doctor Who (TV Movie) by Matthew Jacobs
2. Spearhead From Space by Robert Holmes
3. The Power of the Daleks by David Whitaker
4. The Eleventh Hour by Steven Moffat
5. Castrovalva by Christopher H. Bidmead
6. The Christmas Invasion by Russell T. Davies
7. Rose by Russell T. Davies
8. Time and the Rani by Pip Baker and Jane Baker
9. Robot by Terrance Dicks
10. An Unearthly Child by Anthony Coburn
11. The Twin Dilemma by Anthony Steven
Matt Smith is going to be a great Doctor. He captured the essence of the character immediately. I love all of the Doctors honestly but it nice to know we're 11 for 11.
Karen Gillan is going to be great. Its always nice to have an attractive companion but its even better to have one who is fun, spunky and an interesting character. I think she's going to be the big mystery as the series continues and we find out more about her character and the mysterious crack. Since I like her she's probably going to go all Dark Phoenix/Lyta Alexander at the end. Its what spunky redheads do.
Loved the TARDIS interior. A bit RTD era mixed with the grandeur and retro Earth tech of the McGann TARDIS. I love that it looks even bigger inside than the last one.
The crack and Prisoner Zero were really creepy which a signature of the Moff, knowing what creeps people out.
Loved the Atraxi ships. I thought they were a brilliant alien design.
I honestly can't think of a bad thing to say about it. I don't think I liked it quite as much as the other 4 Moff stories but they were some of the best Doctor Who stories of all time and its darn difficult to keep topping yourself.
Speaking of which, time for one of my favorite things, a list;
Debut stories of each Doctor in order of how much I enjoyed them:
1. Doctor Who (TV Movie) by Matthew Jacobs
2. Spearhead From Space by Robert Holmes
3. The Power of the Daleks by David Whitaker
4. The Eleventh Hour by Steven Moffat
5. Castrovalva by Christopher H. Bidmead
6. The Christmas Invasion by Russell T. Davies
7. Rose by Russell T. Davies
8. Time and the Rani by Pip Baker and Jane Baker
9. Robot by Terrance Dicks
10. An Unearthly Child by Anthony Coburn
11. The Twin Dilemma by Anthony Steven
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Babylon 5 - Episodes 1-4
MIDNIGHT ON THE FIRING LINE:
A big improvement on the pilot already with the addition of Claudia Christian to the cast as well as the addition of Andrea Thompson as Talia Winters. Its interesting to see how cold Ivanova is towards Talia considering where their relationship ends up and I have to think this was also planned by JMS because it works so well. Its also interesting to see the fun-loving Londo Mollari who does wish for greater glory for the Centauri Republic but in the meantime spends his time partying, gambling and drinking heavily and generally being friendly to everyone even if he's obnoxious about it. While in contrast G'Kar is shown to be bitter, driven for revenge at nearly any cost and anti-social to not only Londo but everyone non-Narn as well. Only when he is trying to be a slime-ball con man does G'Kar show any sense of friendliness to outsiders. And G'Kar is shown again as he was in The Gathering to be the villain of the episode which I actually didn't remember him being so villainous when he was introduced. Again, a great contrast to how they both end up at the end of the series. We are also Introduced to Stephen Furst as Vir Cotto who is obviously at this point just there for comic relief...for now.
The attack on Ragesh 3 is something that continues to referenced and used as motivation for the hatred between G'Kar and Londo and spurs further events in the series but honestly, I didn't remember that this was the attack that had such an effect on the series. At the time, I wasn't used to serialized storytelling in my television shows so I wasn't paying as close attention. I assumed most events were self-contained as they were on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Its great to watch these now and see the foundations being laid out.
SOUL HUNTER:
This was an episode I didn't care for the first time I saw it, but watching it now I'm not sure why I didn't like it. Perhaps it was the out and out religious implications of a soul that I wasn't used to seeing in Science Fiction television. I'm not sure.
We are introduced to Dr. Stephen Franklin in this episode and Richard Biggs gives an very good performance right from the get go. And we also get a great performance from W. Morgan Sheppard as the Soul Hunter who played Blank Reg in Max Headroom.
Already there are references to Delenn being a part of the Grey Council which I didn't remember being revealed this early on as well as Sinclair finding out about it. And also the Soul Hunter reveals to Sinclair that he shouldn't trust Delenn and that the Minbari are using him.
BORN TO THE PURPLE:
This is the first episode not written by JMS but by Larry DiTillio. I really can't tell the difference which is probably a credity to JMS and Harlan Ellison for keeping the show consistant.
Basically this is a Londo love story which is actually very refreshing in that a man who is not your traditional romantic male lead has an actual romance on a television show. Londo is older, a bit overweight and not really good looking at all and yet here he is being shown as falling in love. Usually if male characters like this have a significant other at all, they are usually part of an old married couple and there's no real romance. Granted we later find out that Londo does already have 3 wives but they are loveless marriages.
We also learn why Ivanova is so cold sometimes with the death of her father and the already revealed suicide of her mother and now they also reveal her brother was killed in the Earth-Minbari War which we got to see in In the Beginning.
INFECTION:
An old friend of Franklin played by David McCallum who played Steel in the British tv series Sapphire and Steel is part of the main plot of this episode. This is the beginning of the episodes that feel more like standard tv faire. Just filler really. The episode was a basic monster lose on the station epsiode and we had already seen Sinclair and Garibaldi in similar situations hunting somebody down on the station several times by this point. This story is basically a commentary on ethnic cleansing but honestly I've seen much better stories with this same subject matter. And this one was written by JMS surprisingly. It does give Franklin the spotlight and shows his tremendous moral fiber but its just not very good.
A big improvement on the pilot already with the addition of Claudia Christian to the cast as well as the addition of Andrea Thompson as Talia Winters. Its interesting to see how cold Ivanova is towards Talia considering where their relationship ends up and I have to think this was also planned by JMS because it works so well. Its also interesting to see the fun-loving Londo Mollari who does wish for greater glory for the Centauri Republic but in the meantime spends his time partying, gambling and drinking heavily and generally being friendly to everyone even if he's obnoxious about it. While in contrast G'Kar is shown to be bitter, driven for revenge at nearly any cost and anti-social to not only Londo but everyone non-Narn as well. Only when he is trying to be a slime-ball con man does G'Kar show any sense of friendliness to outsiders. And G'Kar is shown again as he was in The Gathering to be the villain of the episode which I actually didn't remember him being so villainous when he was introduced. Again, a great contrast to how they both end up at the end of the series. We are also Introduced to Stephen Furst as Vir Cotto who is obviously at this point just there for comic relief...for now.
The attack on Ragesh 3 is something that continues to referenced and used as motivation for the hatred between G'Kar and Londo and spurs further events in the series but honestly, I didn't remember that this was the attack that had such an effect on the series. At the time, I wasn't used to serialized storytelling in my television shows so I wasn't paying as close attention. I assumed most events were self-contained as they were on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Its great to watch these now and see the foundations being laid out.
SOUL HUNTER:
This was an episode I didn't care for the first time I saw it, but watching it now I'm not sure why I didn't like it. Perhaps it was the out and out religious implications of a soul that I wasn't used to seeing in Science Fiction television. I'm not sure.
We are introduced to Dr. Stephen Franklin in this episode and Richard Biggs gives an very good performance right from the get go. And we also get a great performance from W. Morgan Sheppard as the Soul Hunter who played Blank Reg in Max Headroom.
Already there are references to Delenn being a part of the Grey Council which I didn't remember being revealed this early on as well as Sinclair finding out about it. And also the Soul Hunter reveals to Sinclair that he shouldn't trust Delenn and that the Minbari are using him.
BORN TO THE PURPLE:
This is the first episode not written by JMS but by Larry DiTillio. I really can't tell the difference which is probably a credity to JMS and Harlan Ellison for keeping the show consistant.
Basically this is a Londo love story which is actually very refreshing in that a man who is not your traditional romantic male lead has an actual romance on a television show. Londo is older, a bit overweight and not really good looking at all and yet here he is being shown as falling in love. Usually if male characters like this have a significant other at all, they are usually part of an old married couple and there's no real romance. Granted we later find out that Londo does already have 3 wives but they are loveless marriages.
We also learn why Ivanova is so cold sometimes with the death of her father and the already revealed suicide of her mother and now they also reveal her brother was killed in the Earth-Minbari War which we got to see in In the Beginning.
INFECTION:
An old friend of Franklin played by David McCallum who played Steel in the British tv series Sapphire and Steel is part of the main plot of this episode. This is the beginning of the episodes that feel more like standard tv faire. Just filler really. The episode was a basic monster lose on the station epsiode and we had already seen Sinclair and Garibaldi in similar situations hunting somebody down on the station several times by this point. This story is basically a commentary on ethnic cleansing but honestly I've seen much better stories with this same subject matter. And this one was written by JMS surprisingly. It does give Franklin the spotlight and shows his tremendous moral fiber but its just not very good.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Babylon 5 In the Beginning & The Gathering
I've decided to rewatch all of Babylon 5 in chronological order since it had been a long time since I saw the episodes. And I figured I'd take a page from my friend Fer and review them here.
Spoiler Alert Warning!
IN THE BEGINNING:
You definitely only want to watch this first if you've already seen the series. It pretty much gives away all of the big reveals for the first 4 seasons which is the main story of Babylon 5. But having watched it already it was definitely interesting to see it from the beginning.
So many pieces of the puzzle that was the story of Babylon 5 were shown here in a very cohesive narrative. These were events that we found out about as the series went on but we actually got to see them in their entirety for the first time. Like Sheridan blowing up the Minabari ship Black Star and earning the nickname, "Starkiller" or the kidnapping and interrogation of Sinclair from the Minbari point of view.
It was a throughly enjoyable tv movie, its probably not essential to understand the series but as a fan its always nice to see these story flashbacks unfold and show that yes, JMS had planned the main story of Babylon 5 right from the get go.
THE GATHERING:
The good thing about this movie is that the foundation for what is to come is very evident upon a second viewing and again shows the plan that JMS had from the start.
The bad thing is that it still really is a bit weak in many ways and its not up to the quality of the series proper. There's a fair amount of bad acting and even cheesy dialog in this tv movie and that is even more evident after watching In the Beginning right before it. But pilot episodes are rarely the best a series has to offer which is ironic because its the basis for which a series gets picked up for more. It is actually a bit surprising it got picked up for a full series after this but tv Sci-Fi was in its heyday in the 90's and that may have had something to do with it.
That's not to say its bad exactly, just weak compared to what was to follow. And it does its job of introducing the characters and resolving its plot in the 90 minutes it was given and there are some open ended questions you want to see resolved.
Jerry Doyle, Peter Jurasik and Andreas Katsulas are excellent right from the get go and are the high points of the movie. Mira Furlan does a good job also but unfortunately her makup was somewhat distracting to me because although her chin does look more alien than it does later on, it jutts out perhaps too much and doesn't look quite right.
Michael O' Hare is the real let down because he gives a mostly block of wood performance which is not good for the main character and hero.
Patricia Tallman is not as good as she was later in the series but she wasn't bad at all. I wonder sometimes if she was replaced because some executive wanted a hot blonde instead which is what we got with Andrea Thompson as Talia Winters. Tallman is gorgeous but she's not a traditional Barbie Doll type which Hollywood loves so much.
Tamlyn Tomita and Johnny Sekka are just not good in their performances. They just do not deliver the dialog convincingly at all and we can be thankful they were replaced by the wonderful Claudia Christian and Richard Biggs in the series proper.
I'll be back soon with my reviews of the first few episodes of the 1st season!
Spoiler Alert Warning!
IN THE BEGINNING:
You definitely only want to watch this first if you've already seen the series. It pretty much gives away all of the big reveals for the first 4 seasons which is the main story of Babylon 5. But having watched it already it was definitely interesting to see it from the beginning.
So many pieces of the puzzle that was the story of Babylon 5 were shown here in a very cohesive narrative. These were events that we found out about as the series went on but we actually got to see them in their entirety for the first time. Like Sheridan blowing up the Minabari ship Black Star and earning the nickname, "Starkiller" or the kidnapping and interrogation of Sinclair from the Minbari point of view.
It was a throughly enjoyable tv movie, its probably not essential to understand the series but as a fan its always nice to see these story flashbacks unfold and show that yes, JMS had planned the main story of Babylon 5 right from the get go.
THE GATHERING:
The good thing about this movie is that the foundation for what is to come is very evident upon a second viewing and again shows the plan that JMS had from the start.
The bad thing is that it still really is a bit weak in many ways and its not up to the quality of the series proper. There's a fair amount of bad acting and even cheesy dialog in this tv movie and that is even more evident after watching In the Beginning right before it. But pilot episodes are rarely the best a series has to offer which is ironic because its the basis for which a series gets picked up for more. It is actually a bit surprising it got picked up for a full series after this but tv Sci-Fi was in its heyday in the 90's and that may have had something to do with it.
That's not to say its bad exactly, just weak compared to what was to follow. And it does its job of introducing the characters and resolving its plot in the 90 minutes it was given and there are some open ended questions you want to see resolved.
Jerry Doyle, Peter Jurasik and Andreas Katsulas are excellent right from the get go and are the high points of the movie. Mira Furlan does a good job also but unfortunately her makup was somewhat distracting to me because although her chin does look more alien than it does later on, it jutts out perhaps too much and doesn't look quite right.
Michael O' Hare is the real let down because he gives a mostly block of wood performance which is not good for the main character and hero.
Patricia Tallman is not as good as she was later in the series but she wasn't bad at all. I wonder sometimes if she was replaced because some executive wanted a hot blonde instead which is what we got with Andrea Thompson as Talia Winters. Tallman is gorgeous but she's not a traditional Barbie Doll type which Hollywood loves so much.
Tamlyn Tomita and Johnny Sekka are just not good in their performances. They just do not deliver the dialog convincingly at all and we can be thankful they were replaced by the wonderful Claudia Christian and Richard Biggs in the series proper.
I'll be back soon with my reviews of the first few episodes of the 1st season!
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