How could you, Joss Whedon?

I just watched the Buffy episode called "Seeing Red". For those who don't remember, this is the one where Tara dies, and I'm really upset!

I remember being upset the first time around, but not as much. The first time through Buffy, I was more of an Oz fan. Willow and Oz seemed to belong together. It wasn't that I didn't like Tara, but I really liked Oz, and I wasn't sure how I felt about Willow choosing her when Oz came back. Obviously the relationship grew on me over time, but this time I saw more clearly how Tara was Willow's "one".

The worst part is that it's like no one ends up with who they should be with, in Buffy or Angel. Buffy herself should have been with Spike, in my opinion. Obvious pairing is Angel, but I felt that they both changed when Angel left, and Angel and Cordelia made a lot more sense. I almost thought Spike was better than Angel. Angel was cursed with a soul as a punishment. Spike went and got his back of his own accord, because he loved Buffy. Xander should have been with Anya, and she died. Willow should have ended up with Tara, not Kennedy. Faith...well I guess she was the one with the good ending. In Angel, Wesley and Fred didn't get a happy ending, and neither did anyone else.

Joss Whedon doesn't seem to like people ending up happy at all. Zoe and Wash (*cry*), Mal and Inara, Dr Horrible and Penny. I guess Kaylee and Simon got together, which is something. I'm worried for anyone who dares start up any kind of romance in Dollhouse.

Seriously though, it's still all great, but I'm still upset!

Torchwood - Children of Earth

Torchwood series 1 was a bit hit and miss. To be honest, I never saw all of it, because what I did see and read about it made me think it was just about being a "darker and edgier" Dr Who, maybe crossed with something like The X Files. It was all stuff that couldn't go in Dr Who. Sex and swearing. Some bits of it did show a lot of promise though. The last couple of episodes were definitely worth watching.

Series 2 was such a massive improvement. Having James Marsters involved was great, and Owen's shock death mid season, only to be brought back as a zombie-ish living dead man was genius. This series is definitely a lot more emotional too. Adrift is a brilliant episode, and the finale was amazing. Very sad though. Tosh and Owen gone in one episode?!

Children of Earth. Well if series 2 was an improvement, series 3 was the giant improvement that makes Torchwood a truly fantastic sci fi series, able to contend with all the big American shows. Very dark overall, but that's what's good about Torchwood sometimes. They aren't afraid to go for the unhappy ending. There were a lot of good twists too. Jack has a daughter who looks around his age. Jack was involved the first time the 456 came. The 456 wanted kids to use as drugs. So much more.

I actually did cry at a few points. Ianto. Ianto is dead! That was horrible. Again, brave of them to kill off another main character. They really do fit the "Anyone Can Die" trope. I was also upset at Frobisher's actions. I really empathised with his character. He wasn't a bad guy. He was just doing what he thought he had to, and he was the government's fall guy. Of course the saddest moment was Jack having to sacrifice his own grandson. Would the Doctor have done the same?! That's what I kept thinking. Jack makes ruthless decisions for the greater good, but would the Doctor actually end someone's life to save the rest. Truly was heartbreaking to watch.

All in all, Children of Earth really was something special. Apparently a fourth series depended on ratings for this. No worries then, and I really can't wait for it.

So I've been marathoning Bad Girls again...

...and now I'm definitely noticing a decline in quality. Don't get me wrong, series 6 (I've watched from episode 3 to the end today) was still great and still worth watching, but I think they got rid of too many favourites from series 5 and earlier before 6 started, and many of the newer people aren't so likeable. Yvonne, Denny, Babs, Buki and Karen all gone. All with good reason, but did it have to be all at once? The Julies are the only original inmates still left in it, since Denny went. Her exit seemed kind of sudden, and a little unrealistic. However talented someone turned out to be, if they had a record of escape, would you send them to an open prison? Denny must have got a lot of extra time from the whole escaping thing too. Babs had a good ending to her story, but it would have been nicer to actually see her release. Same with Buki. She started off annoying, but you grew to like her. Her release was spoken about, but then she was just gone between series.

Yvonne's death was a great story, but I think the series suffered without her. Phyl playing "top dog"? Didn't seem right. The drug pushing thing makes them not so likeable too. Of the other new people, I did like Kris and Selena and their story, but I always had it in the back of my mind that I knew they would never get a proper conclusion. I know they aren't seen or heard from again after the series 6 finale. Darlene is annoying. Not a bad character, but not someone you can really like. Buxton makes a good baddie character, but we all want more nice ones too, and not just the mouthy young ones. The series is missing people like Nikki, Yvonne, Babs, Monica etc.

I also never got to like Myers much as governer. Fair and all that, and someone against Fenner, but I liked Karen. She was like Helen with more balls. Myers wasn't as likeable.

So yeah, still good at series 6, but I think I'll always prefer those first 3 series. Maybe 4 too, since it was good that Yvonne had time when she really was top dog. The high character turnover isn't helping. I think one of the things I do love about Bad Girls though is the fact that nothing is forgotten. I like continuous stories in anything, and Bad Girls forgets no one. When Karen thought she had Fenner cornered in series 5, she said she was doing it for Rachel Hicks, Nikki Wade, Helen Stewart and Shell Dockley. All characters from previous series who had been and gone ages ago, with the exception of Shell who was slightly more recent. The prisoners always mention previous characters too. Flowers sent from Crystal and Josh, and calling Monica, and using Nikki's name as a cover, and constantly mentioning Zandra as someone they miss.

The other good thing is that I know I'm now up to a point where I haven't seen them all. I've seen a lot more, but definitely not all. I'm glad I thought to rewatch this series.

It's been a while since the last TV related post...

...and I've watched some pretty good stuff lately. Spoilers ahead.

Caprica

After my BSG marathon, I was definitely ready for Caprica, and I wasn't disappointed. Different, and yet unmistakeably set in the same world. Joseph Adama was well cast, and you can see the things in him that you respect in the Admiral. This idea of the cylons coming from Graystone's desire to have his daughter back is an interesting one, and I like where it's going. I'm not sure how far it can go though. I see a story, but not a long one, unless they decide to skip several years and get nearer to the first Cylon War. I'm sure it won't disappoint though.

Worth mentioning the obvious Bear McCreary score. It was nice to hear Wander My Friends during an Adama family moment, and the taiko drums during the centaurian scenes. He says it'll get closer to BSG style music as they get closer to the events of BSG. Sounds good to me!

One thing I don't understand is how this will appeal to non-BSG fans. They say it's less sci-fi, and so will appeal to more people. They say that you won't need to have watched BSG to follow it. Yeah maybe, but I can't see why people would be all that interested if they hadn't watched BSG.

Scrubs

It's felt like it was on it's way out for a while. Kind of like The Simpsons. You know it's still hilarious, but there's something screaming that it's time to call it a day. And wow, they really did call it a day. That final episode was amazing. The perfect ending. I won't mind if it carries on though, in a different way with new people and new things happening, but it was certainly the end of the story as it is now. I loved the final few scenes. The bits that may happen in the future.

Also, Glenn Matthews? Haha, brilliant. "Hey Tommy".

Dollhouse

I will cry if this is cancelled. Episode 11 was spoiled slightly by the fact that I thought it kind of obvious that Alan Tudyk would be Alpha. It was still exciting, but I thought it would be harder to guess. Maybe it's my own fault for reading too many internet spoilers and knowing Alpha would be revealed in that episode. Episode 12 though, that was something else. Dr Saunders has been an active all along?! Alpha was a killer (almost) before he was an active?! Ballard is going to work for the Dollhouse?! Ballard chose to save November over Echo?! Everything about this episode was exciting, and a great build up for future episodes. I really, really hope this gets another chance. I'm just not sure, because it's a strange series, and I reckon something of a cult thing.

Bad Girls

I know, this is a really random mention. I saw a Youtube clip several weeks ago now of an old episode, and suddenly I had a craving to watch them again, kind of like I did with At Home With the Braithwaites earlier in the year. Honestly, it's brilliant. It's brilliant because it feels real. Of course I don't know what it's like to be in prison, and I'm sure there isn't an evil screw in every one of them, but the characters are real. I honestly thing the Nikki/Helen story is one of the best love stories on tv, but even after they left, it continues to be an amazing series. I'm in season 5 now, and maybe it's waned a bit, but I'm enjoying watching it again.

New Sci-fi?

I was looking up some stuff about Dollhouse today, and I came across an interesting article. "What show is your new Battlestar?" BSG is over, Atlantis is over, the new Star Trek film just won't be Star Trek...so I do need new sci-fi.

Stargate Universe sounds more interesting the more I hear about it. That article says that it'll be the "gritty" Stargate. More like BSG. It's funny that it keeps getting compared to Voyager, but in the sense that it'll be darker and more character based than SG1 and Atlantis, it could turn out to be the DS9 of the Stargate franchise. That will certainly be no bad thing. I'm still a little wary of the fact that they're aiming it at a younger audience, but Robert Carlyle is a great casting choice and I'm sure it won't make much difference. Oh, and it's also great to read that Richard Dean Anderson may appear in the mid season two parter!

Virtuality is another show mentioned in that article that really sounds interesting. Okay so Ronald D.Moore writing it does have something to do with my opinion there, but the idea is definitely good. People going mad on a ship, written by him, sounds like it will definitely be worth watching.

The other one I'm interested in is obviously Caprica. How it all began! Caprica should be interesting if nothing else. My only concern is that they say you won't have to have watched BSG to follow it.

Three new series to look forward to, and The Plan at the end of the year too!

Other television

Time for a post BSG post, mostly because I'm on my second day off sick and I've been catching up on things. Obvious spoilers ahead.

Heroes

My problem with Heroes is that it seems like they make it up as they go along. All my favourite shows seem like they knew where it was going from the start, even if they didn't. BSG, Farscape, DS9...the continuing story always made sense and flowed well. They hadn't decided that Ellen Tigh was the final cylon until they started writing season 4, but you can believe that they'd known since day 1. Heroes just seems so unstructured. Changing who does and doesn't have powers, changing the nature of people's powers, not being consistent with people's characters. I enjoy every episode, but the overall story is lacking something. It needs more focus, and to feel like it's really going somewhere. Also, they really need to give Peter and Hiro their proper powers back. I don't like that direction.

Desperate Housewives

In contrast, I love where this is going. Edie's death was a little predictable, since I knew she was leaving. I expected Dave to kill her though, and it almost would have been better if he had. As it is, we still get to have some kind of climax where everyone else finds out about Dave's past and the thing with Mike all comes out. It's a real shame that Edie's gone though. Definitely one of the best characters. All in all this series has been pretty good, and my only fault is that the American networks are being stupid, as usual. Episode, break, episode, longer break, episode. break. It's frustrating, and it can't be good for ratings.

Scrubs

While I do think that Scrubs has gone on for a couple of seasons too long, I'm still enjoying this season. It does seem a bit final, and I hope that ends up being the case. It would be too strange without Zach Braff. It's still funny, and maybe even as funny as it ever was, but it isn't quite the same. I think it's really noticable that there are episodes where not every character is there, and I don't like that.

Dollhouse

The more I watch it, the more it grows on me. Helo (as he will always be, screw Paul Ballard) is a great character, and Eliza Dushku does a great job being someone else every week. This week's big twist was that Helo's neighbour is a sleeper active. I did not see that coming, and it's kinda sad that he's getting involved with someone who isn't real. Great twist though. I really, really hope this series gets it's chance to have another season. It is definitely worth a watch.

Lost

One of the things I love about Lost, even though I can't stand it in Heroes, is that they change everything every season. Well, something happens to make things change. Everyone living in the 70s and working for Dharma was something I did not see coming in a million years. I really can't wait for it every week again, and it's been a while since I've been like that over Lost. Sayid shot young Ben Linus! But Daniel said they couldn't change the past? Maybe he was always meant to shoot him, and he survives? Interesting! One thing I'm not looking forward to is the Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Juliet love quadrangle. I was always for Sawyer and Kate over Jack and Kate, but I like Juliet and I wouldn't like to see Sawyer just go after Kate again.

There are definitely things I really want to know in this series. Where the hell is everyone else from the original plane? Rose and Bernard etc? What happened to Daniel Faraday? Why did Sun, Locke and Ben end up with the other plane people instead of with Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid? Confusing! But good confusing.

Primeval

This is something I've been convinced to watch rather than a new thing I download weekly. After episode one, I don't think I'm going to end up rushing with it. It's alright, just a bit daft, and the effects aren't great. Some people might say that it's no more daft in it's idea than all the other sci-fi I watch, but it just seems it to me. I don't think Britain is very good at sci-fi and fantasy, with the exception of Dr Who and Torchwood. There's something Torchwood like about Primeval, but it's clearly not as good. The young guy and the S Club 7 girl aren't great actors. The hunter/tracker guy is way too pretty for that. Ben Miller is playing a really annoying and predictable role. I might stick with it because I think the overall idea is good, and because it's something else to watch. It's not that great though.

Skins

I can't believe I forgot this! The series has been brilliant, it really has. It's impressive that they find groups of new actors who are this good. The finale was a little disappointing though. Great episode yes, but I sort of expected something involving the rest of the cast too. I guess they got their finale last week with the ball, but still, when you compare it to the season 1 finale, it just wasn't as...explosive. That served as the middle of the original cast story, and had story lines for Maxxi and Anwar, Sid and Cassie, Tony and Michelle, Tony and Sid, Tony and Effy, Chris and Angie, and didn't Jal get off with Posh Kenneth? It involved everyone and left some stories open for the second series. Tony getting hit by a lorry, for a start.

I'm not saying that the season 3 finale left nothing to think about. Are the guys really all friends again? Will Cook be alright with Freddie and Effy? Will that even work? Where are they going on the stolen boat? Like I said, really great episode, just expected a bit more, and expected more of the cast to be there.

Battlestar Galactica

No I haven't watched Daybreak again yet, but I read Bear McCreary's blog, and I just wanted to say again how amazing this series was. Maybe I'll watch it again later.

Battlestar Galactica - Daybreak

Battlestar Galactica truly is one of the best things to ever be shown on a television. The final episode was just perfect. It's great that it was still able to be unpredictable and surprising right up to the end.

Starting off, we always knew that Adama, who always makes the right call, would go after Hera. Was never sure they'd get through it though! I also suspected that Boomer might do the right thing in the end, and she did. Wasn't sad when Athena killed her though. Some things were more shocking though. The moment when you realised that Baltar and Caprica Six could see each other's Head Cylon and Head Baltar. Angels! They really were. Nothing more sinister than that. Baltar was never evil and I knew that, but it was good to see him doing the right thing in the finale. He got it. The man of science who never believed in religion was the man with the faith at the end.

And Starbuck! She died after Maelstrom, on Earth. The Starbuck who came back was like an angel too. She wasn't really there. Well, she was, but...she was something different. All the mythology and spiritual stuff was great. The Opera House scene was just brilliant. That had been there since season one. Roslin, Athena, Caprica, Baltar and Hera, all playing out the parts from the vision that we'd seen for four years. I'm not into religion and would have been kind of disappointed if it'd all been about the Christian God, but it wasn't really. God, or a god, or the gods of Kobol, or some other divine force. Something bigger than us, and that was all that mattered. Perfect.

Of course the biggest twist was that our Earth and the Earth of their own mythology were not the same place. I was seriously confused when they landed in Africa, and there was grass and animals and primitive humanoids. They just chose to call it Earth because Earth was the dream! Our Earth was just named after the real Earth! And they were our anscestors! Perfect.

I didn't really cry because I didn't watch it alone, but I probably will next time. Roslin's death, and the Admiral leaving forever, and Starbuck's departure, and Sam going into the Sun with Galactica...all beautifully done. The happy bits too were worth a tear in places. Tigh and Ellen together again, Baltar going back to his roots with Caprica, Helo surviving, finding this new planet to start with. The flashbacks worked well to make it all that more emotional too.

I loved how it finally ended. In our time, the angel Caprica and angel Baltar with Ron D. Moore in the scene, discussing whether it will all happen again, to Jimi Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower. I really can't wait for both the DVD release, and after Bear McCreary's brilliant season as far as the music goes, the soundtrack too.

I'd also like to add that Ronald D. Moore is a complete legend. Battlestar Galactica + many of my favourite DS9 episdes...can't get much better than that.

Back to TV and Film

I started this post sometime last week, before my previous one, but couldn't be bothered to finish till today. So here it is:

Battlestar Galactica

Several of my posts seem to have been about this show lately, but then it really is one of the greatest television shows ever created. It's just so unpredictable. We couldn't have guess about Adama getting shot by Boomer at the end of season one, the settling on New Caprica and 1 year jump at the end of two, the revelation of the final four, Earth being inhabited by Cylons and being a wasteland...and now Gaeta leading a coup with Zarek! That story really worked well. I still like Gaeta though. He was an idealist with values different to the admiral, and he thought he was doing the right thing. He knew when he'd gone too far, and clearly didn't want to kill anyone if he didn't have to. I was almost disappointed with how Zarek turned out. He didn't care who died. I always thought he was like Gaeta ended up. Someone who had strong beliefs and was prepared to fight for them. Interesting that he turned out to be the terrorist Adama always saw him as. Killing off both of them at the end of the episode was a great twist too, especially since at the beginning it looked more likely that Adama, Tigh and Roslin and co would die.

The previous bit was written last week. Since then I've seen the latest episode. Ellen Tigh is back! Cavil knew who the 5 were all along! All this has happened before and will happen again...and so many explanations. Brilliant episode and a brilliant TV series. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been more excited about new episodes of things, including Lost and Atlantis and all the other stuff I've watched first time around.

The X Files

I'm still really enjoying watching this. I've slowed down a bit after the last mytharc ones I watched though. I really like the monster of the week ones, but like with most series I watch, I prefer the main story usually. I can't be bothered to do a seperate paragraph for Fringe, but I recently watched another episode of that, and it just doesn't match up to The X Files. Since I've started on this again, I don't think I'll be watching any more Fringe. I really had forgotten how good early X Files was.

Skins

I started off not so keen on the new series. Decent new characters yes, but I didn't think I'd be that into it. I was wrong. I really like Thomas, the new guy. Cook is really unlikeable, but in a good way, and you can see there'll be comeupance somewhere along the line. Effy is by far the best character though. She's been fantastic through all 3 seasons, but you can see that she'll really be great now she's almost the main focus of it all. Yep, definitely gonna be worth watching.

Slumdog Millionaire

Switching over to films, I watched this last night. There's not much I can say, other than that it was brilliant. Sad, and hopeful at the same time. Dev Patel was really good in the main part, but so were the little Indian kids playing the younger versions. I hope this gets all the Oscars it deserves. Everyone should see this film. I cried at it, and that always means it's good.

Ellen Tigh!

I was right all along! The fifth Cylon is Ellen Tigh! I may have looked like I changed my mind and went Roslin, but she was my main character guess. Also, I was totally thrown by the new trailers and stuff. Ellen had been my theory since the four were announced though. I've always been baffled as to why none of the other blogs I've read considered her a possibility, but she's remained my favourite for a long time.

Anyway, the new series of Battlestar started out brilliantly. The Thirteenth Colony were Cylons, and Ellen Tigh is the fifth! Amazing. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next.

Stargate Atlantis

I need to get this post out of my system before the kitten excitement at the weekend, so here we go.

Stargate Atlantis has been one of my favourite TV series for a long time now, and I'm gutted that it's finally over. I'd even say more gutted than when SG1 finished, although more satisfied since Atlantis had a much better ending.

So, because I feel like it, I'll start from the beginning. Atlantis had a great pilot episode. The Wraith were a scary new enemy, but it had all the old familiar Stargate stuff too. O'Neill and Daniel, for a start, and then Weir and McKay who we'd seen in SG1 too. Also Robert Patrick, which was funny, since I knew I'd know if he was a main character. I knew he wasn't, so I knew he'd die. Good idea though, getting in a known actor to come and be killed off in the pilot.

Season 1 just continued to get better after that. The main Atlantis team was pretty good. Humorous airforce man, sarcastic scientist, interesting alien...and Ford. Ford was the weak link in that team. He was nothing. Just a guy with nothing about him. Anyway, the stories got better, peaking in the last few. The build up to the Wraith attack was great. One highlight was Groden dying. If you want a British character, cast a British actor, or a foreign actor who can do a FLAWLESS British accent. If you want to cast a Canadian who can't, have a Canadian character. Anyway, great finale.

Season 2 started off really well, and just got better. Ford was suddenly really interesting. Skinner from X Files was playing a guy you started off not liking but knew would end up on your side in the end...a familiar role for him maybe! Ronon was introduced to the cast, and unlike Ford, was the perfect fourth member of the team. Kind of like Teal'c, but just enough not like him to be a great character in his own right. Season 2 also saw Michael, one of the best bad guys in sci fi, introduced. Stupid Atlantis people...they sort of deserved everything they got from him. Interesting moral stories there. Low point of this series was Grace Under Pressure. Lame excuse to include Amanda Tapping, and nothing like as good as the SG1 episode called Grace.

Season 3 was where Atlantis really peaked. Great conclusion to the season 2 finale, replicators, Richard Dean Anderson, Michael, some great Rodney episodes, "Sunday" and an amazing finale. Picking on individual episodes, the mid season one was really good. In fact, all the replicator ones were. The Asurans being replicators was totally unexpected at the time. Vengence was a great Michael episode, and actually a bit freaky. Sunday...what can I say. One of the best episodes. This is just about the Atlantis lot getting on with their lives on a day off, and then something bad happening. And Carson dies :( I feel something is taken away from this by his clone returning, because everyone forgets that the clone isn't the same guy. I still love that episode though.

The Season 3 finale was probably the best, if you also count it's season 4 conclusion. The Replicator stories were great, and what happened to Weir was really unexpected. Season 4 itself I've talked about in more detail in other posts here. Basically, Carter was a disappointment, and the team weren't always a team anymore. Great series with some great episodes, particularly the mid season one and the last few. Midway was also a highlight...who didn't want to see Ronon vs Teal'c?! It could only have ended in a draw. That was one I really enjoyed though.

Season 5 had some of the same problems as series 4, in that the team weren't consistantly together, and the Atlantis leader wasn't always present. Still, Richard Woolsey was a great character to bring in. I've liked him since his first SG1 appearance. A good guy who's too concerned with the rules, but he comes to understand how things really work while he's on Atlantis. It's a shame Robert Picardo wasn't used more, although he definitely did a better job than Carter.

The fifth season, despite it's flaws, was still great. McKay and Keller was nice to see, for a start, and McKay had a great episode in The Shrine. The mid season episodes were fantastic. Daniel was put to good use rather than just being "hey look SG1 guest star", and the Asgard being the bad guys was a fantastic twist, and one I didn't see coming in a million years. That's surely something to be built upon in a film.

Anyway, I've mentioned many of the season 5 episodes in previous blog entries, but not the finale. Wow. I've complained before about SG1 never having the conclusive ending it needed. Atlantis did. In a single part 42 minute episode, it did everything it needed to do. Everyone important was involved in some small way, including Carter, Zelenka, Beckett, Major Davis (random, but good to see old characters), Caldwell, Ellis...and other secondary characters who needed inclusion in a finale. The idea of Wraith going to Earth was the perfect final story, and beating them by taking Atlantis to Earth was genius, and totally unexpected. I actually shed a tear when I thought Ronon was dead, but I didn't feel cheated out of an emotional story when he was brought back. I was glad Todd actually helped, since he's a great character. It was also great that they mentioned General Hammond's death, and the dedication of the new ship. To top it all off, it was cool that they landed pretty much near Starfleet Headquarters. Obviously irrelevant but hey, I'm a sci fi nerd. If I had one complaint? Wormhole drive...that all seemed a bit too random and convenient. Never mentioned before, but let's invent it anyway. Still, that's just Stargate isn't it. SG1 seasons 5, Full Circle, knocking on a wall of a giant room 3 times in random places, and hey! There's the Eye of Ra. Stargate doesn't have to be sensible.

So Atlantis ended extremely well. If the films never get made for whatever reason, I'll still be satisfied. Bring on Universe!

Christmas and New Year television

I do plan to write a more personal 2008 summary post, but to be honest I can't be bothered to overthink anything tonight, so here's some comments on things I've seen on the telebox over the last few weeks. Some are things shown for Christmas, and some are just things I happen to have been watching over this period.

Wallace and Gromit - A Matter of Loaf and Death

Starting with Christmas Day TV offerings then, Wallace and Gromit. This was brilliant, as you'd expect it to be. Good, light hearted family humour. I hope they get a few more in before Peter Sallis is too old to do it, because I don't think anyone else could take over. Gromit remains the best character though, simply because it's amazing how much emotion you get from someone without a mouth, just from eyebrow movements. This was the ratings winner on Christmas Day in the UK, and for good reason. By far the best thing shown.

Doctor Who Christmas special

This was enjoyable, as Doctor Who usually is. Still...it wasn't all that special. Good, but just like an episode. I guess I wanted a bit more from a Christmas special. None of them have quite lived up to The Christmas Invasion. David Morrissey was good though. He might have made a good Doctor if he hadn't been cast in that role. The whole thing seemed to just have the purpose of creating hype over the announcement of the new guy though.

Aaaand now we know. Matt Smith. As I've said on various forums I've commented on, I'm a bit doubtful on having someone so young. Okay so 26 isn't reeeally young, but he looks younger than me! He seems like a good actor though, and there's something a bit quirky and different about him, so he might still do a good job. I won't judge until I've seen him. I still maintain that David Hewlett would have been the best choice though. Oh well, now he has more time to practice a British accent. David Hewlett for 12th Doctor!

The Royle Family

More standard Christmas Day viewing. This was funny, but it wasn't the same as it used to be. With a couple of special exceptions, like Denise upstairs going into labour and Nanna in hospital, everything before had taken place downstairs in their house, in two rooms. This time they moved it to another house, got rid of Anthony, and it was just...different. It felt like they gave it a perfect end with the last episode, and this was just bringing it back for the sake of it. Good, but not the highlight of Christmas TV.

At Home With the Braithwaites

This hasn't been on TV, obviously, since ITV don't repeat things like this ever. I've watched it from the start again though. It really is one of the best British TV series I've seen. Series one is great, but it gets really funny at the end of that series and as it goes into series 2. I love how every series always ends in the family all bickering. The series 2 ending is one of my favourite episodes, with everyone getting back together (sort of) and everyone finding out about it. The actual final episode in series 4 I was less keen on. It was great, up until the point where only Alison gets all her story finished. Well, not totally resolved finished, and that's not how I'd want it, but I'd like to know something of everyone else's future. It's a shame they didn't do the Christmas special they intended after it finished. It's really worth watching, but sort of disappointing that it ends for good there.

Stargate Atlantis

I wanted to hate that Vegas episode. I thought the concept of an alternate reality episode was interesting, but a very bad move for a penultimate episode of an entire series. At that stage you want to see the real Atlantis people being a team and having Atlantis adventures, not an Earth based episode with the cast being different people. As it was, the episode was as good as I expected, if not better, in terms of story, and the connection to the real Atlantis reality was fantastic. This was all a build up to the finale next week. Brilliant move in the end, and I really enjoyed it. Hopefully the end will be something really special.

Battlestar Galactica

I am SO excited =D Face of the Enemy is really interesting. Who is doing the killing?! Could Gaeta be doing things for the Cylons? Maybe because he is a Cylon? Oh and apparently he swings both ways. It's really good stuff, and I can't wait for the final episodes.

The X Files

Not much to say because I only just borrowed the DVDs, but I've started season 1 from the beginning. I had originally planned to skip through and just watch the mytharc episodes, but I think I'll go for the whole thing. I've seen some of the first couple of series, a few more of the next couple, and most from season 5 onwards, but I still missed so much first time around. I think I'll probably enjoy watching all of it again. It's strange to think how old season 1 is now. Mulder and Scully look so young.


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Now playing: Tenacious D - Tribute
via FoxyTunes

Is it Roslin?!

A further note to my last Cylon related post. Roslin ISN'T IN THE PICTURE ON SCIFI's CLUES SITE! A slowed down teaser from the new series seems to confirm who the suspects are. The Adamas, Starbuck, Baltar, Roslin, Zarek, Dualla, Helo and Gaeta. I very much doubt it's Dualla (not significant enough), Gaeta (same reason) or Helo (hybrid daughter). That Last Supper picture with Roslin not in it...I didn't even notice at first! I thought it was the same picture I'd seen before. Ronald D Moore said that the final Cylon isn't in the picture, but which version?! Roslin was my first guess when the other four were revealed. With the absence of Ellen Tigh as a suspect, according to the trailer, I revert back to her, with Zarek as my number two.

Less than a month now!

The Final Cylon

I'm such a nerd. I can hardly contain my excitement at the fact that Battlestar Galactica is back in about a month! I just watched the first of the new webisodes series, which was interesting. If this series is half as good as The Resistance it'll be well worth watching. Anyway, after watching, I took some time to look around SciFi's Battlestar site, and now I can't stop thinking about who the fifth Cylon is again. For most TV shows, I have no interest in reading about other people's theories. It reminds of the Harry Potter "who is the Half Blood Prince?" thing, because that was so ridiculous and some people really did have stupid ideas. I won't name the PB member who was sure it was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Battlestar theories, for the most part, seem a whole lot more sensible though. Reading what other people think gives me ideas I might not have considered myself. Anyway, the rest of this post is about why I think people are or are not likely to be the last of the final five.

Admiral Adama - Lots of places are sure it has to be a really major character. Thinking of really major characters who aren't already Cylons, I'll start with Bill Adama. Biggest reason why he isn't the one? Caprica. Based on that story, his family was opposed to the creation of Cylons before they even existed. That, along with the fact that it'd make Lee and the other son hard to explain, means that I think it very unlikely to be him. It'd be quite impressive if they found a way for it to work mind. His sons could be the first hybrids for all we know. Still, doesn't seem very plausible.

Lee Adama - Same reasons as his father. It's just too complicated with his family history. Lee has always been a good man, so he'd be an interesting one to reveal as a Cylon, but again I don't think it possible.

Laura Roslin - She was my favourite to be the fifth after the season 3 ending. Her connection to Athena and Caprica Six is suspicious. Her visions too. Still, the prophecies hint at her being a special human being. A great leader who would lead her people back to Earth. Also worth noting that D'Anna said that there were four of the five in the fleet, and Roslin wasn't with the fleet at the time. Still, D'Anna also said it wasn't her. Well, more or less. Would she have told her if it really was her? I think Roslin is still one of my favourites, because it would be a massive revelation. If it has to be one of the main lot, I'd pick her.

Starbuck - I just don't believe it is her. Gut feeling maybe. There are many clues suggesting it is though. Her relationship with Leoban, her miraculous reappearance, the symbol she always painted...it really is like everything that has happened is her destiny. Is that because she's a special human being, or because she's something else? She'll lead humanity to destruction, but will that be because she's a Cylon? In my opinion, no. She's special and she has a great destiny, but I still think she's human.

Baltar - I don't know. I thought he definitely wouldn't be. Thought it'd be too obvious. He was just a flawed human who made bad choices and did a few really bad things, but he represented what was wrong with humanity. To blame his actions on being a Cylon would be an easy way out. Things the hybrid said about seeking redemption point to him more than the other main characters though, and this new "voice of god" Baltar has really made me think again. The clues on the SciFi site too. I've never wanted him to be a Cylon for the reasons I said about him just being a flawed human being, but at this point I still think it'd be a good twist. Oh and obviously his head Cylon makes you think it could be him "projecting" her image, but I think her presence is way more complicated than that, and I can't even begin to explain why she's there or what she is.

Helo - I've always seen him as a definite no, along with Cally Tyrol. He father a child to a Cylon. Cylons can't reproduce with other Cylons. However, it appears that Tigh got the Six pregnant. Is this because the final five are different, or can Cylons reproduce afterall? I still think it very, very unlikely that Helo is one, but I now don't see it as impossible.

Ellen Tigh - Right, now we're out of the main characters, but Ellen Tigh has been my favourite for a long while now. Her and the Colonel have no children. Both Cylons? Baltar never did reveal the results of her Cylon test. Her mysterious reappearance in season 1, as well as her other slightly suspicious actions, have left me really thinking it could be her. I think it'd be a pretty good twist. I don't think I can really explain why, but there's just something pushing me to think it's her.

Gaeta - No. Although it looks like he's the focus of these webisodes, I don't think he's important enough. He's not done anything that'd make you think one way or the other that it could be him.

Hera - Maybe the final Cylon is "the shape of things to come". Maybe she hadn't been born at the time the other four of the five were created. Hera is definitely very important. Is that just because she's a hybrid, or something more? This is a theory I've not long come upon, but it's definitely worth considering.

Tom Zarek - Like Roslin, this guy is quite anti-Cylon, making him someone else who would be very interesting to have as one of the five. He's not always been a central character, but he's always been important as a secondary character. He often gets in the way and protests against the actions of main characters. Could he know things they don't? What if he's always known he was a Cylon?

Boomer - Another interesting theory I came across was that as well as infiltrating humanity, the final five had infiltrated the other Cylons. Boomer is apart from the other eights. That doesn't seem to happen in Cylon society. Is she different to the others? The final Cylon looking like an existing Cylon model? Long shot, but interesting.

Head Six - This didn't really occur to me until I looked again at the epic "Last Supper" picture. Maybe the last one isn't a physical being. The Six in Baltar's head has definitely influenced events over the last 3 and a half seasons. So has the Baltar in Caprica's head. Why? What are they? The picture comes into play because I noticed Caprica pointing at the Head Six. She can see her?! That must be significant, somehow.

Someone new - Very unlikely, probably impossible. No one introduced at this stage would be significant enough, unless it's revealed that the final Cylon is the God, a god, the hybrid or something else bizarre like that. It'd be kinda disappointing if it wasn't someone I listed above though.

Other stuff to consider - The final five, or at least the four we know, we triggered with Bear McCreary's very awesome version of All Along the Watchtower. Why wasn't the fifth? None of the other suspects could hear the music. At least, not the ones in the fleet. That doesn't include Starbuck, who returned around the same time the trigger went off. Coincidence? Also doesn't include Ellen Tigh, since she's presumed dead. I also mentioned earlier that Last Supper picture SciFi released. I mentioned the pointing at the Head Six. Also worth noting, and the thing I noticed the first time I looked, is the empty seat at the table. The obvious conclusion would be that this is the seat for the final Cylon. And now for a comment that makes a lot of the rest of the stuff I've written irrelevant. The writers are now saying the the final Cylon is not at the table. NOT AT THE TABLE. Rules out the Adamas, Roslin, Baltar, Starbuck, Helo and the Head Six. Haha, wish I'd read that first before I'd written out everything else, but oh well.

And my conclusions? Ellen Tigh or Tom Zarek. If they're lying about the final Cylon not being at the table, Roslin is also a major suspect. Hera is also a big one, for the sake of having a slightly alternative theory.

Seriously, I am so excited about this coming back on TV. Battlestar has been one of the most exciting things on since it started.

This is how I escape

This week has been really hard. Well, the last few have, but this one included a funeral. I think the best way for me to deal with that is to escape into fantasy worlds. So this is what I've been watching.

Heroes

Heroes is usually just that average thing I watch. Not amazingly fantastic, and not a patch on things like Lost, even though it follows the same finding a small bit out at a time formula. Still, I think it's really become something great lately. This last episode, Villains, was brilliant. If I was to pick the main villains before this season, I'd have said Sylar, Angela Petrelli, Adam Monroe and Linderman, and he's dead. Now we know that Bennett pushed Sylar over the edge at a time when he could still be saved, and Angela was sometimes being controlled and sometimes acting to stop her husband. Arthur Petrelli is definitely going to make things more interesting. I'm kinda disappointed about Bennett, but it was still a really good twist. I'm actually excited about the next episode, because I really have no idea where this is going.

Dexter

This continues to be interesting. I just hope Anton doesn't end up killed or leaving at the end of the season or whatever, like Deb's previous love interests. I'm still enjoying the Miguel Prado story.

Stargate Atlantis

You know, it's really sad. I think Atlantis has run it's course, and they're ending it at the right time. It really sucks that I finally think that. Last week's episode was really good. Exciting, action packed, featured Shepperd's team heavily, had a part for Woolsey, great to see Michael back, and great dramatic fight on the outside of Atlantis. So what didn't I like? Starting with the smallest thing, no Keller. What was the point of putting her on the credits?! And now for the biggest bit I didn't like. This was far too brief a wrap up for Michael. There was no build up to this episode, and then Michael was defeated by being kicked off a ledge. Revenge. I hate revenge in characters I like, including Teyla.

Michael has been the main villain on Atlantis since his first appearance. Well, the main individual, so not counting generic wraith or replicators. They've mentioned him this season, but since the beginning, no sightings of him. Nothing featuring him. Not even any contact with his men. When SG1 had Anubis as their main enemy, he was in a handful of episodes during seasons, but there was also evidence of his plans, and attacks from his Kull warriers. Nothing from Michael other than talk of what he did before, and the effects of the Hoffan drug. I dunno, I guess for me it was just a bit of an anti-climax.

This kind of episode is why I think maybe Atlantis has run it's course. Good, but lacking something. Atlantis peaked in season 3, which was just brilliant from start to finish. Seasons 4 and 5 have had some great episodes, but on the whole haven't been so good. The team isn't always together, and the back end of the season isn't living up to expectations. Mind you, season 10 of SG1 had a disappointing second half after a brilliant first half. Anyway, I'll stop complaining, because I still love Atlantis and a massive part of me still doesn't want it to end. I just wish it could have ended better.

Mamma Mia! The Movie

I'll mention a film now I'm done with TV. Mamma Mia. Wow. Just wow. This film was fantastic, and now I'm addicted to the soundtrack, and to general ABBA songs. It's cheesey, but it's brilliant feel good stuff. The songs are great, and I think I like the less discoey versions in the film more than the ABBA songs in some cases. Meryl Streep was a great choice for the main part, but it's the blokes who make the film. Colin Firth has a weird voice, Pierce Brosnan clearly struggles to sing, and although Stellan Skarsgard is a bit better, none of them are singing stars. Still, it makes it so much better in my opinion. They sound like normal blokes who just decide to sing. Also, there's just something genius about having Pierce Brosnan singing SOS. Well, about having James Bond sing ABBA in general. Genius, and definitely hot, as strange as that sounds. Haha, <3 Pierce Brosnan.

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Now playing: Oasis - Pass Me Down The Wine
via FoxyTunes

Television, webcomics, music and maybe other things

The last couple of weeks haven't been that great, so I haven't said anything, and I probably won't talk about that much at all. Bad times. Instead, here's where I'm up to TV wise, followed by some comments about other media stuff.

Dexter

I'm so surprised that in season 3, this can still be so exciting. I didn't think they could take this serial killer as the main character thing on for a long time without being too repetitive, but that's not happening at all. I guess 12 episode seasons really are a good idea sometimes.

Anyway, Miguel Prado is a really interesting character. He knows Dexter kills, but thinks it's the right thing to do? My prediction is that he's going to do something against the code, and Dexter will have to kill him. I dunno. It can't be as straight forward as him just being cool with Dexter killing. Great twist though, having him know. I'm not sure who the skinner will end up being yet. It's out of character for Miguel, and I don't think it's Ramon. The new detective is a possibility, although maybe a little too easy. I just really hope it's not that Anton guy.

In conclusion, this is one of the best things on tv at the moment. I just found out that there will definitely be two more seasons, so I hope they manage to keep it fresh for all that time, and Dexter getting away with things doesn't always become way too convenient.

Desperate Housewives

Another one of the best things showing at the moment. Season 4 managed to be as good and as exciting as season 1, and 5 is easily keeping up. The five years later thing was a great idea, and I really like the Dave character. I think he's going to end up being after Orson. They're making it look like Mike, but Orson was also in prison, and it could have been him involved in Dave's brother's death. Either way, I'm really enjoying it. I wish Susan and Mike would hurry up and get back together though. I'll feel a bit cheated if they never do, and I think many fans will, so I don't really think I want to see him with Katherine.

Stargate Atlantis

I can't remember when I last said something about Atlantis. I think I mentioned the one Daniel Jackson was in, but if not...wow. ASGARD! One of the best twists ever on Stargate. The episode after that was pretty good, because it was very old school Atlantis. Sort of like season 1 or 2, when the team being all together on random planets was more regular. Nice to see Beckett back in the gang, although it's still a bit odd that he's the clone and not the guy who died in Sunday. It was a little bit disappointing that Sheppard didn't care about blowing up the bad villagers at the end, but I guess maybe he didn't know that guy would go with the wraith? Who knows, but it was a good episode.

The next episode...I'm not so sure. Don't get me wrong, I like a good clip show, but this late on in the final ever season? Not a great plan. The idea behind it wasn't that bad, although it's been done before in several other sci-fi series. Not the same circumstances, but putting the good guys on trial for their actions. It was more interesting in the fact that the prosecutors were pretty much right, as funny as that is. I think the only good thing to come out of the episode was the awesomeness of Woolsey, who like Carter, has been tragically underused this season. Robert Picardo is a great actor, and Woolsey a great character. The episode was wrapped up too fast though, and we could have done with some more of his awesome. I look forward to the next episode though, since I think Michael will be back. It sucked not having a new one last week though. Also, I'm very, very disappointed that there's going to be 3 weeks between episodes 19 and 20 now. Very disappointed. American tv stations generally suck.

Fringe

I don't think I've written in my blog about Fringe yet. This is definitely worth a mention. I see it as something in between Lost, because of all the mystery elements and the things going on in the background we don't understand yet, and The X Files, in the way that they're investigating these things and it's clear that people pretty high up are involved in some kind of conspiracy type thing. Still, it works, and part of that reason is the cast. Anna Torv is pretty good, Joshua Jackson is surprisingly good and I rarely think of Pacey (come on, I have to sometimes though...he was Pacey!), but John Noble is awesome. I assumed he'd be playing some kind of authoritarian genious professor, with bits of Denethor in him. Crazy mad scientist is so much more awesome than that.

The only problem I have with Fringe is that I can see it's going to be months/years before we find out what's going on. I hope it manages to stay exciting, because at the moment I think it's something really worth watching.

Dr Who

Well, this isn't about episodes, but more that David Tennant is leaving :( I wish they hadn't told us, and it'd been a total shock, but more than that I wish he wasn't leaving! He's been perfect for the role, and I was hoping he'd do it for years to come. I have no clue at all who they'll pick for the next one. I hope it's someone older, since they've done the whole having a younger hot guy playing him now, and the younger audience is well and truly hooked. A black/Asian/non-British actor would be a new way to go.

xkcd

And so we move on to webcomics. I think I wanted to say something about xkcd because I'm almost disappointed with it lately. It's hardly ever unfunny, but some of the more recent ones have been more mildly amusing than hilarious. The last couple of week specials haven't been so great either. I dunno, I hate to complain because it's usually just so good. I still want to buy the height poster and the science tshirt. I still think it's awesome, I just wish every comic was still awesome.

Questionable Content

I really don't know why I'm that addicted to this. I have to read it every day, even though it's hardly the best thing around. I guess the overall stories are usually good, and I want to find out what's going on like it's a soap or something. Sometimes it's really funny, other times it's just a story I like, and other times it's actually pretty crap. My biggest issue with it is the fact that the writer is a bloke who thinks like a bloke. The girls don't talk or act like girls. Now I do realise that not all girls are the same, and I'm not all that girly myself, but I just don't hear girls talking about sex in the way that they do. I guess I like it a lot more when that kind of stuff isn't going on.

Cyanide and Happiness

Some of these are just too funny. Absolutely hilarious. Some are just way over the line and actually disgusting. Those ones seem kinda forced, like how can we do something offensive and line crossing today? Again, I still like it though. Just not so much as more light hearted stuff like xkcd. That's adult in a good way, not adult in the way where you'd be mega upset if your kids saw it.

Music

Haha, just one heading that's music related, because I honestly can't remember what I was going to say about music. I've been listening to a lot of Oasis, and a lot of Bright Eyes too when I wasn't feeling so good. Oh, and I'm really looking forward to seeing Thunder this month, so I hope I can go.

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Now playing: Stiff Little Fingers - Listen
via FoxyTunes

Big Cat Live 2008

I've been a fan of Big Cat Diary since it started in 1996, when I was just 10 years old. I watched it every two years after that, and I've watched repeats of it on whatever cable channel played it over and over. I've watched the newer, one week format since it started too. When I first read about Big Cat Live, I was definitely excited. Now I've seen most of it, the word amazing doesn't even nearly cover what I think of it.

I think it's hard to amaze people with television these days. You get the feeling that everything has been done, and there isn't much new for us to see. Of course that isn't true, but that's how it can feel. Planet Earth was an exception to that. That series filmed animals hardly ever seen on camera before, and the stories of how long it had taken to get a few short clips were amazing. I think what Big Cat Live are doing now is even more exciting. To see live shots of the animals on air in between showing recorded films taken in the couple of weeks in the run up to the show is one thing, but to be able to then turn on your computer and continue to watch live animals in Kenya's Masai Mara on webcam really is something else.

The show itself is as good as it ever was. It's great to catch up with the Marsh Pride, and I love that we know that these adult females are the cubs attacked by the buffalo in 1998. To have such continuity in the cats they follow really is a great thing, and one of the reasons I keep watching. It was great to be able to see Bella again too, even though she's looking really old now. I love how they follow the leopard families, although it would be really nice to see if Shadow was still around. Whatever happened to Safi too? The new cheetah family is so good to watch. I've always loved watching cheetah mothers raise their cubs, and being able to do it in real time knowing that this is what's going on now, rather than what happened months ago when filming ended, is really special.

Jackson Looseyia has been an awesome addition to the team. This man is a Masai who has grown up in this environment. He knows and understands the land and the wildlife in it, and he gives a perspective that they haven't had before. To hear someone who has seen this for his entire life still talking about it with so much enthusiasm is inspiring, and makes me want to go over there and see it all for myself even more.

As I said earlier, the really amazing thing about this series has been seeing those live images online. Right now I'm watching infra-red video of the Marsh Pride lions. Before that, I was watching them on the thermal imaging cameras. Before that I was watching a hippo feeding right next to the camera. Earlier today, jackal cubs and hyena cubs. At the risk of overusing the word, it truly is amazing. For those of you viewing this blog in the UK, the link to the site where you can watch all this is here. I'll include a view images of what we get for those of you not in the UK. On the left is the four webcams available half an hour ago when I took the screenshot. In the upper left quadrant, thermal images of lions. Upper right, a hyena is just poking his head out of the den. Lower left, I think that's just a camera focussed on the river. Lower right, and that's sleeping jackal cubs. The image on the right shows the thermal image of the lions on it's own. It truly is impressive, especially when you think about the fact that it's all live, and happening right now in Kenya.

I'm hoping, at some point, to see a live lion hunt. Everytime they look like they're going to do it, they just...don't. There has been one shown live, but I missed it. The Big Cat team think it's the first time this has ever been shown live on the internet. It's on YouTube, for those of you outside the UK who can't see it on the website, and is shown below:



When you think about it, this series has been a major risk. What if they hadn't found what they were looking for when they went out there? So many things could have gone wrong with doing this kind of thing live. They've succeeded in showing people in this country a totally different world, in a way they never have before. I don't think the BBC can be beaten for wildlife television, and I hope they do this again next year.

Children of Dune

Tonight I watched the final part of the Children of Dune miniseries, having watched the Dune miniseries beforehand. I was really impressed with Dune. Bits were missed out, but it felt closer to the story than the 80s film. I wasn't keen on how Paul was portrayed as being moody and immature at the beginning, but other than that I thought the part was well cast. Jessica...not so much. She just never seemed sure of herself. She just was not like Jessica the Bene Gesserit.

The first part of Children of Dune was really good. Dune Messiah is an odd book, in that it takes a while to know where it's going. On TV, it was summarised well enough, covering everything, and it really felt like it was how the book should have been. Alice Krige should have been cast as Jessica from the start, and that guy who played Atherton in Firefly should have played Duncan Idaho from the start. I'm not too keen on the woman who played Alia, or how she was portrayed throughout Children of Dune. She seemed like a stroppy kid at times, and I don't think she's a great actress. Possibly chosen more for her appearance? The Atreides twins were well cast. James McAvoy was the stand out actor of the whole thing. However, while I understand why they decided to change the kids ages to young adults rather than 9 year olds, they might have done the same with the rest of the cast. Irulan didn't look any older than Ghanima. Alia hadn't aged a day in however many years it's supposed to have been, and neither had other young looking characters.

While part one was really great, and part two was pretty good, part three just didn't do the job. If I hadn't read the book, I'm not sure I'd really get what was going on with Leto at the end. The sand trout symbiosis thing wasn't well explained, and didn't look as it should have done. I sometimes wish they had a slightly bigger effects budget for things like that. I think the book has a weird end anyway, and it's certainly the weakest of the trilogy, but it was easier to understand what was going on than the film.

Farad'n wasn't as I thought he should have been. He was portrayed as week, up until he landed on Arrakis. That's not how I saw him. He was more intelligent than his mother, but naive. When he worked out what was going on, he bided his time, and made his move when he needed to. In the book that is, because TV Farad'n was a bit of a wimp until he realised he could do the Weirding stuff. Another thing I wasn't too happy with was Duncan's death. I think it was harder to understand why on TV. To be honest, the whole episode in the book was odd, and seemed a bit sudden, but it was more so on screen. That was a shame, because Duncan is one of my favourite characters.

In conclusion, the miniseries were both were watching, and the trilogy was worth reading. Dune was probably my favourite book, and although I can see that it wasn't finished and needed continuing, I think the story got progressively worse. Messiah was really interesting, Children of Dune started off really exciting, and then became even more complicated than it had been previously, and finished in a weird way.

Dr. Horrible and other things from the telebox

I think it's time to have one of those long rambly posts again, after some short and unpleasant ones. It'll have the usual structure of my tv related posts, with subheadings so that anyone who might be reading can skip the bits they totally don't care about.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

This was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant, in the truest sense of the word. Joss Whedon is possibly a genius. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I had high hopes after reading everything Whedon said about how he made it and why it was made. The songs reminded me of the musical Buffy episode, and also I guess of Sweeney Todd. It was hilariously funny in parts ("The hammer is my penis" - I laughed so much) while still being semi-serious, and then the ending was really sad and really not how I expected it to be.

I think it's a real shame that this isn't available in the UK yet. It's not on the iTunes store, and although apparently it was available internationally on the website, it no longer is. I will definitely be buying this when it becomes available, but if they want it to do well in the UK, they need to make it available pretty soon. I bought the soundtrack anyway, so I don't feel guilty about how I obtained the film. The soundtrack itself is amazing, and I've been listening to it over and over since I bought it yesterday afternoon. I think £7.99, the normal price of a normal album, is a bit steep for an album no longer than my bus journey to town, but it is fantastic. I might watch it again later :D

Firefly

So this isn't new, but I've been rewatching Firefly. It's been a while, and I caught some on tv the other day. I persuaded my dad that it was good, and we marathoned a bit this weekend. It really does baffle me thinking how this got cancelled. It's original, it's funny, and it's entertaining. The plot is great, the characters are interesting, and I don't think there's another sci-fi like it. I'll say it again, Joss Whedon is a genius. It's a crime that these characters didn't get a good conclusion. Well, Serenity is a good film, but this story deserved more. Serenity told a small story, and this deserved a few seasons of development. Maybe I'll get the comics, but I'm not really a comic person. I want a tv continuation.

I think one of my favourite things about Firefly is the language. The Chinese thrown into sentences, evolution of words like "shiny", and just the way they speak in general. "No power in the 'verse can stop me!"

Stargate Atlantis

I may have said this in a previous post, but season 5 is awesome. Way better than 4, and some of the best episodes are showing up here. Whispers was really something special, I thought. Creepy, and I'd go as far as to say scary. It had that problem though that I've moaned about on many occasions, in that the team were split and it only focussed on a couple of main characters. Sheppard was there, and McKay was briefly there, and then there was Beckett, who I guess I still see as a main character. If this was a one off, it would have been a good one to focus on another team with minimal main characters. It isn't a one off though. They do this too much now. It was a problem for me in later SG1s, and it's been a problem since Atlantis season 4. If it had been a one off, then like I say, this is one where it wouldn't have mattered. It was interesting to see the all female team, and clever that Vega was killed off. I don't know why, but Wikipedia and other sites seemed to be making a big deal of her involvment in this, and her introduction earlier in the season. I thought she could be another secondary character, similar to Lorne. Nope, killed by monsters. I like monster episodes. The alien one of season 3, can't remember what it was called but it was episode 19 I think, was really awesome, and this was just as good.

This week's episode, The Queen, was also pretty good. I like Todd the wraith, but I can't help thinking that they've done something stupid by trusting him and making him leader of that wraith alliance. I guess Teyla is still in control though, since she can go back at any time and get him kicked out. I like Todd as in insight into what the wraith really are though. They aren't just monsters who want to kill. They need to feed. Todd does seem to want to make things better for them. It's interesting anyway, and I enjoyed this episodes. What I didn't enjoy was the trailer for next week's. It made out that someone will die. Not sure that they will, but I'll be gutted if Keller dies.

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Now playing: Neil Patrick Harris - Brand New Day
via FoxyTunes

Completion

So much to write, but I don't really want to go into any of it. Yes, I have a job now. I'll be moving in the next few weeks. I'll write some more about that some other time.

Quick note to say that I've finally seen every episode (so far) of Stargate Atlantis. I don't know why I didn't just download Underground myself after the disc I was given had dodgy sound, but I got round to watching it on tv today. I just need to acquire the SG1 episode I haven't seen (I think there's just one) and I'll really have completion :P

Don't let them kill Atlantis, those frelling b******s!

Anyone reading should probably ignore my last post. Something triggered a bad mood, and I over thought a few things. One of the people I described can just go screw herself if she's not bothered. I won't be bothered either. See you at R's wedding in a few years or something. The other person, I guess I just need to stop caring so much, because they'll never change. The sooner I accept them as they are, the better it will be for me.

Anyway, all that is irrelevant now, because something far more depressing occurred last night. THEY CANCELLED ATLANTIS! What the eff word?!

I don't think I've ever been so upset by a tv show cancellation. I was gutted to come to the end of Enterprise, Farscape (as I've said in great detail in this blog) and Firefly, but I knew they had been cancelled already by the time I started watching them, since I acquired them all after they'd finished on tv. I was totally gutted about SG1 ending, but not totally surprised, since it had changed so much since the early seasons. I don't think the last two seasons were any worse than the rest, but I can see why they might have thought it best to end it. Needed another season for wrapping up, but it got films instead. When Angel was cancelled, I already wasn't happy with the final season, so although frustrating that the story was rushed, again it wasn't all that shocking. Invasion being cancelled was really annoying, because that got really good at the end. It had been slow to get going though, and it wasn't the greatest thing ever, so I wasn't too gutted. Atlantis though? Atlantis is one of the top few things on tv at the moment. It's still going strong. The stories are still good. Damn them, this is so annoying.

Granted, I think Atlantis has suffered from some poor cast choices and character stories since series 3, but it's still been great. Carter was badly used. As a leader, she wasn't present enough, and she seemed to forget that she was a genius and a soldier on many occasions. Maybe that was so she didn't take anything away from Sheppard or McKay? I know I was worried McKay's role would suffer with her there, but they did it the other way. She suffered, and McKay solved everything. Another problem was something I noticed SG1 screwed up on in the last 2 seasons. The team was split up too much. One week McKay and Sheppard are on that planet with the princess, and the next Sheppard and Ronan alone on Earth. I know there are reasons. I think what'sherface who plays Teyla was really pregnant? Still, since the character was, no reason to split up the rest so much. Too many episodes where Carter wasn't even there, and too many without the full team. Still, season 4 had great stories. The conclusion of the season 3 cliffhanger was one of the best episodes ever. The mid season three parter was great. Midway was pretty hilarious, and the last few and the Michael story was awesome. Michael is a fantastic villain, and I hope he shows up again soon.

Season 5 looks a lot more promising than 4. Woolsey is a great character, and I've thought that since the end of SG1 season 7. He's a genuinely good guy, who does bad things for the right reasons sometimes. He's obsessed with doing things by the book, but he's clearly learning that this won't work. He's a far more interesting leader than Carter was, and it's a shame he only gets one season. Weir had 3, so this chopping and changing isn't good for the series. I'm glad Keller is on the main cast now, because I think her character is pretty good too. She needs to be in more episodes though. She wasn't in the last one at all. Woolsey wasn't in one earlier in the series when I thought he should have been too. I don't remember which one, but I know Sheppard was contacting Lorne in Atlantis. Why Lorne over the expedition leader? Weir was pretty much always there, and Woolsey should be too.

The stories have been really good so far in season 5 though. I enjoyed the parallel dimension one, and the replicator ascension one was awesome. Screw Tori Higginson, she totally wasn't needed. And now they're ending it at the end of the season. It's not all bad though, because there will be films. The finale cliff hanger will get a 2 hour conclusion, and then there will be more. Brad Wright is looking at this as a positive thing. They're moving to films while it's still going well, and he hopes to knock out 2 SG films, one of each, every year. Now that will be great, but I'll still miss Atlantis as a series.

Stargate Universe will be replacing it next summer. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about that, but I would have liked to have seen Atlantis get to at least 7 seasons. Universe looks good, but I would definitely prefer more Atlantis before it switches to movies.

I guess it's not all bad, but this was not good news for me. I'm running out of stuff to watch. Sci fi stuff at least. BSG again next year, Caprica, and now Universe...so I guess there's something to look forward to.

(thread title taken from the image below, obviously created after the Farscape cancellation. I love South Park Scorpy)