So yesterday, Hull City got promoted. I was at The Deep at the time, and it came on the radio, and people were shouting and generally being really ecstatic. How depressing is that? This time last year I had one of the best days of my life, in a packed pub watching Derby get promoted. Absolutely fantastic atmosphere. The whole city was elated. And then we were relegated after just one season in the top flight, and Hull have been promoted.
It got me thinking, about where I'm from, where I consider home, why I don't feel any association with the football team of the city I've lived in for 3 years. I do love Hull, and I love living here. I miss it when I'm away, and coming back here feels more like coming home than going to Derby does sometimes. If people ask, I'll say that I live in Hull, but originally came from Derby. In the past, I'd have just said Derby and left it at that. This place is home, for the moment. Still, however crappy being in Derby can be lately, and however much my ties to the city are disappearing, and even though Hull is a better night out and has a better shopping centre, Derby is still where I'm from and I still have that problem of defending it when people have something to say. Maybe that's why I have no interest in the football team here, and why I really didn't like seeing their celebrations. Back in second year, I remember listening to Hull v Derby on the radio. It was awful. You don't realise how biased football commentary is until they're biased against your team. Derby lost, either 1-0 or 2-1, and listening to them bash my team was not fun.
I guess this is why I don't understand people who don't support their local team. I can't imagine supporting a team other than Derby. I've lived here, and been around Hull people, for 3-4 years now, and I still have no connection to their sports. I also have no interest in defending the city when people start having a go.
I feel like this is one of the most unstructured and going-nowhere posts I've made in this blog, but I'm not thinking right at the moment. I had a point to this when I was thinking about it yesterday, but it's got lost somewhere. I think I'm coming down with something. My throat isn't good and I keep coughing, and I'm tired. Oh, and I can't find anything I want to watch.
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Now playing: Oasis - Born On A Different Cloud
via FoxyTunes
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Sitting
Since last posting, I've finished season 7 of Scrubs and season 4 of Desperate Housewives. Scrubs, as usual, was great. I think it's lost something in humour from the last season, but it's still good. Hopefully the next one will be too. Desperate Housewives was fantastic. I mean really, really fantastic. 4 has been as good as 1, and that's saying something. 5 years in the future, Gabby has kids? Susan isn't with Mike?!? So will the next series be set 5 years after the events of the last? Shocking.
This week has been awesome for tv watching. After the amazingness of the Lost episode I saw Friday, I didn't think anything else would compare. Battlestar Galactica was equally as shocking though. Where have they jumped to?! And the use of the song throughout was great too. That, and Desperate Housewives too. Shocking television. Oh, and Dr Who was great too. Series 4 of the newer ones could turn out to be the best.
I've also been doing a lot of Stargating. SG1 season 6 and Atlantis season 3. Apparently it's what they all do round my dad's house these days. Strange that everyone is hooked, but good strange. Even my brother is really into it, saying he prefers Atlantis. Good times.
I'm actually enjoying being here. I don't have much to do in the daytime, but that doesn't bother me. It's nice to relax on my own here, without feeling like I'm treading on egg shells. I still don't enjoy the constant presence of my dad's girlfriend, and I find it hard to respect someone with so little independence (that's how she looks to me), but she's a nice person and I things are just more easy going here than at my mum's. Still, I won't be able to tolerate it for much longer, so I'll be back round my mum's tomorrow I think.
One of the worst things about being here is the lack of my PC. I'm confined to my dad's laptop. Round my mum's, I have the family PC. Not as good, but better than the laptop. Both are better than being around Catherine the idiot in Hull right now though.
This week has been awesome for tv watching. After the amazingness of the Lost episode I saw Friday, I didn't think anything else would compare. Battlestar Galactica was equally as shocking though. Where have they jumped to?! And the use of the song throughout was great too. That, and Desperate Housewives too. Shocking television. Oh, and Dr Who was great too. Series 4 of the newer ones could turn out to be the best.
I've also been doing a lot of Stargating. SG1 season 6 and Atlantis season 3. Apparently it's what they all do round my dad's house these days. Strange that everyone is hooked, but good strange. Even my brother is really into it, saying he prefers Atlantis. Good times.
I'm actually enjoying being here. I don't have much to do in the daytime, but that doesn't bother me. It's nice to relax on my own here, without feeling like I'm treading on egg shells. I still don't enjoy the constant presence of my dad's girlfriend, and I find it hard to respect someone with so little independence (that's how she looks to me), but she's a nice person and I things are just more easy going here than at my mum's. Still, I won't be able to tolerate it for much longer, so I'll be back round my mum's tomorrow I think.
One of the worst things about being here is the lack of my PC. I'm confined to my dad's laptop. Round my mum's, I have the family PC. Not as good, but better than the laptop. Both are better than being around Catherine the idiot in Hull right now though.
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
This week, I have been mostly watching...
Okay, not this week, but imagine it in Fast Show style :P This is just the usual rambling post about what I've been watching lately. I'll go with the subtitled format again.
Heroes
Heroes season 2 started a few weeks back. Some people told me that I really shouldn't bother and it's really crap. I've read a lot of bad reviews. After thinking the season 1 finale was ace, I wasn't going to miss season 2 because other people didn't like it. I'm glad I didn't! It's not the greatest thing I've ever seen, but then Heroes never has been. There are some massively annoying things, like what's-his-name from Enterprise doing a terrible Irish accent and slipping in "so I will" in an effort to sound more Irish. The new characters are also fairly annoying, since I'd rather they focussed on the originals and introduced new people as a consequence than just start following others. Micah's cousin...do we care about her? Those hispanic people who's names I haven't cared to remember...I'm just not bothered. Okay so they've just met Sylar, bringing them into the main story, but it just hasn't been interesting to follow them before that point, when you'd rather see what the season 1 folks are doing.
Despite the annoying bits though, the story is good. Virus, The Company, Parkman's dad, the Bennetts in hiding. It's not half as bad as I was told.
Lost
Lost is getting really, really interesting. There's been the odd thing I've not liked in season 4, like seeing Jack and Kate ending up together in the future (even though it clearly doesn't last based on the flash forward order), and like Ben letting his daughter die and threatening revenge on Widmore, and like Sayeed being an assassin. Just because I don't like them, doesn't mean they aren't really interesting developments though. This week, and Locke's great destiny, was even more shocking. And wtf is Christian Sheppard doing alive and on the island, and why isn't Claire bothered by it's weirdness? And why did the guy who works for Widmore tell Locke to go on the walkabout? Season 4 has been fantastic for revelations, and even answers. Obviously there are a load more questions, but you feel like it's going somewhere now. Can't wait for the finale. Oh, but that thing about Locke saying he wants to move the island. Noah's Island anyone?
Battlestar Galactica
Awesome. It really is. I don't think season 4 has blown me away as much as early season 3 did. Possibly because it's taken place over a period of months rather than weeks/days. It has been pretty shocking though. Fantastic revelations, and with next week's being a two parter, I'd imagine that some awesome things are about to happen, including the reawakening of D'Anna. Why though, is Kara the harbinger of death? Intriguing!
Dr. Who
The biggest problem I've always had with watching the new Dr. Who is the lack of continual stories. There are threads that link things together, like Rose's reappearances etc, but it's just random stories. Every story is great, and every episode this series has been pretty fantastic. It's just that the stuff I get addicted to and get really bothered about watching every week is the stuff with a continuous story arc.
Now that complaining is out of the way, I'll say again that this series has had some fantastic episodes. Donna is great, simply because she's not in love with the Doctor. Rose and the Doctor was a believable connection, and something you know would never have happened, but was sad because of that. Martha just fancied him, and it was silly. Donna is refreshing because she's confident, strong willed and not some little girl who follows him around. It's a bit irritating when Catherine Tate slips into "am I bovvered?" mode, but I still like her. We've had some good stories this series, with the Ood and Sontarans, and I enjoyed this last episode with his daughter. Possible future companion?
My favourite part of that episode occurs after General Cobb shoots and kills Jenny, when the rest of them have decided to make peace. The Doctor takes a gun, puts it to his head, then hands it back to him and shouts "I never would". He tells them to remember that he never would, and to build their society thinking about the man who never would. My favourite thing about the Doctor is that he never would. Most other lead characters in TV series I watch would consider it, including Starfleet captains, but not the Doctor.
I was also going to comment on Desperate Housewives, but I can't really be bothered, and I'd rather go watch the next episode instead. Other things about TV: I've got over watching random Farscape clips now, but I'm feeling DS9 withdrawal. Why? Because I've been watching some epic season 5 and 6 episodes with my sister. Now I want to keep going. Oh well, I should really revise.
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Now playing: Will Young - Who Am I
via FoxyTunes
Heroes
Heroes season 2 started a few weeks back. Some people told me that I really shouldn't bother and it's really crap. I've read a lot of bad reviews. After thinking the season 1 finale was ace, I wasn't going to miss season 2 because other people didn't like it. I'm glad I didn't! It's not the greatest thing I've ever seen, but then Heroes never has been. There are some massively annoying things, like what's-his-name from Enterprise doing a terrible Irish accent and slipping in "so I will" in an effort to sound more Irish. The new characters are also fairly annoying, since I'd rather they focussed on the originals and introduced new people as a consequence than just start following others. Micah's cousin...do we care about her? Those hispanic people who's names I haven't cared to remember...I'm just not bothered. Okay so they've just met Sylar, bringing them into the main story, but it just hasn't been interesting to follow them before that point, when you'd rather see what the season 1 folks are doing.
Despite the annoying bits though, the story is good. Virus, The Company, Parkman's dad, the Bennetts in hiding. It's not half as bad as I was told.
Lost
Lost is getting really, really interesting. There's been the odd thing I've not liked in season 4, like seeing Jack and Kate ending up together in the future (even though it clearly doesn't last based on the flash forward order), and like Ben letting his daughter die and threatening revenge on Widmore, and like Sayeed being an assassin. Just because I don't like them, doesn't mean they aren't really interesting developments though. This week, and Locke's great destiny, was even more shocking. And wtf is Christian Sheppard doing alive and on the island, and why isn't Claire bothered by it's weirdness? And why did the guy who works for Widmore tell Locke to go on the walkabout? Season 4 has been fantastic for revelations, and even answers. Obviously there are a load more questions, but you feel like it's going somewhere now. Can't wait for the finale. Oh, but that thing about Locke saying he wants to move the island. Noah's Island anyone?
Battlestar Galactica
Awesome. It really is. I don't think season 4 has blown me away as much as early season 3 did. Possibly because it's taken place over a period of months rather than weeks/days. It has been pretty shocking though. Fantastic revelations, and with next week's being a two parter, I'd imagine that some awesome things are about to happen, including the reawakening of D'Anna. Why though, is Kara the harbinger of death? Intriguing!
Dr. Who
The biggest problem I've always had with watching the new Dr. Who is the lack of continual stories. There are threads that link things together, like Rose's reappearances etc, but it's just random stories. Every story is great, and every episode this series has been pretty fantastic. It's just that the stuff I get addicted to and get really bothered about watching every week is the stuff with a continuous story arc.
Now that complaining is out of the way, I'll say again that this series has had some fantastic episodes. Donna is great, simply because she's not in love with the Doctor. Rose and the Doctor was a believable connection, and something you know would never have happened, but was sad because of that. Martha just fancied him, and it was silly. Donna is refreshing because she's confident, strong willed and not some little girl who follows him around. It's a bit irritating when Catherine Tate slips into "am I bovvered?" mode, but I still like her. We've had some good stories this series, with the Ood and Sontarans, and I enjoyed this last episode with his daughter. Possible future companion?
My favourite part of that episode occurs after General Cobb shoots and kills Jenny, when the rest of them have decided to make peace. The Doctor takes a gun, puts it to his head, then hands it back to him and shouts "I never would". He tells them to remember that he never would, and to build their society thinking about the man who never would. My favourite thing about the Doctor is that he never would. Most other lead characters in TV series I watch would consider it, including Starfleet captains, but not the Doctor.
I was also going to comment on Desperate Housewives, but I can't really be bothered, and I'd rather go watch the next episode instead. Other things about TV: I've got over watching random Farscape clips now, but I'm feeling DS9 withdrawal. Why? Because I've been watching some epic season 5 and 6 episodes with my sister. Now I want to keep going. Oh well, I should really revise.
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Now playing: Will Young - Who Am I
via FoxyTunes
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Help
I. Hate. This. Dissertation.
My discussion is unstructured and pretty much shit. Oh well, we'll see what he says about the rough draft I hand in tomorrow. And then I have to do that damned case study too. Bring on Friday.
In other news, my summer holiday is pretty much planned out now :D Stopping in Alnwick, and then nearly two weeks of travelling round Scotland, and then back down to Blackpool for a couple of nights, then home via Liverpool. Should be awesome. 36 days and counting!
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Now playing: Goldfinger - 99 Red Balloons
via FoxyTunes
My discussion is unstructured and pretty much shit. Oh well, we'll see what he says about the rough draft I hand in tomorrow. And then I have to do that damned case study too. Bring on Friday.
In other news, my summer holiday is pretty much planned out now :D Stopping in Alnwick, and then nearly two weeks of travelling round Scotland, and then back down to Blackpool for a couple of nights, then home via Liverpool. Should be awesome. 36 days and counting!
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Now playing: Goldfinger - 99 Red Balloons
via FoxyTunes
Sunday, 27 April 2008
Dr Who Dream
Wow, I had an awesome dream. Basically, I was the Doctor's companion. The first I remember of it, we were in some weird place in the past. There was this hill/mountain we were on, and I think Stark might have been there, but I think we were more or less at the conclusion of whatever had been going on. We'd spent time in an old time village, and in an old fashioned pub, and somehow ended up on this hill, with caves and lava. We ended up running back to the tardis. Catherine Tate wasn't there, because she was visiting home, but there was some other guy. Sort of reminded me of Stark. He was from the past anyway, and we'd just picked him up that day. Before we got back in the tardis, a good guy we'd just helped on the hill (like I said, that was the conclusion of a story I don't remember) had spoken about a new employer who had just shown up. I wish I could remember the name. I want to say Hudson? Him and his industry were new to the area anyway, but me and The Doctor recognised the name. He was the bad guy we'd just defeated on modern day Earth. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that even though we were in the past, I'm not sure this place I was was Earth.
Me and the Doctor and our other companion had a chat in the tardis, then got out of it somewhere underground, sort of like that volcano episode. We followed a tunnel, then climbed out of a vertical hole. We walked for a bit to the edge of a treeline, and saw a very modern building that didn't go with the setting. There were some people in the distance who looked dressed for modern times too. For some reason, even though they were distant, we could hear them pretty well. One was clearly the bad guy we'd thought dead on Earth, and he was the guy who plays Charles Widmore on Lost. We heard him saying that he'd seen something in our direction, and for his men to check it out. We ran back along the trees and down the hole, but the other companion didn't make it. On the way, we'd passed the bad guy's daughter. She was sort of on our side, and not there to give us up. I think the other companion, who was no longer Stark-like but an older, well dressed guy, was talking to her. We were down the hole and just in the tardis in time before the henchmen showed up. The Doctor then started up, and I had a go at him for leaving the other guy behind. He said that he lived near here (he had once worked for the bad guy) and he'd be okay. I told him that he picks and chooses who to save and when. He said he needed me there to help him with decisions, but right now we had to go.
The next bits don't seem as related. I was looking at a list of episodes to see when Martha and Rose were coming back. The Doctor was taking the piss out of Martha somehow. Then we were in an office, ready to discuss what to do next, and Gemma and someone else I know (maybe Kayleigh?) was there. There was a similar list on the wall, saying Luis Amor Rodriguez would be returning later in the season. Yes, Luis from Dream Team. The Doctor laughed at his fake accent, and me and Gemma talked about how we'd liked him.
The fun bit of the dream is the interaction between me and David Tennant in the tardis. That was awesome.
On another note, I'm still obsessed with Farscape, and I keep skipping images in my rotating desktop to see the Scorpy pictures :P
Me and the Doctor and our other companion had a chat in the tardis, then got out of it somewhere underground, sort of like that volcano episode. We followed a tunnel, then climbed out of a vertical hole. We walked for a bit to the edge of a treeline, and saw a very modern building that didn't go with the setting. There were some people in the distance who looked dressed for modern times too. For some reason, even though they were distant, we could hear them pretty well. One was clearly the bad guy we'd thought dead on Earth, and he was the guy who plays Charles Widmore on Lost. We heard him saying that he'd seen something in our direction, and for his men to check it out. We ran back along the trees and down the hole, but the other companion didn't make it. On the way, we'd passed the bad guy's daughter. She was sort of on our side, and not there to give us up. I think the other companion, who was no longer Stark-like but an older, well dressed guy, was talking to her. We were down the hole and just in the tardis in time before the henchmen showed up. The Doctor then started up, and I had a go at him for leaving the other guy behind. He said that he lived near here (he had once worked for the bad guy) and he'd be okay. I told him that he picks and chooses who to save and when. He said he needed me there to help him with decisions, but right now we had to go.
The next bits don't seem as related. I was looking at a list of episodes to see when Martha and Rose were coming back. The Doctor was taking the piss out of Martha somehow. Then we were in an office, ready to discuss what to do next, and Gemma and someone else I know (maybe Kayleigh?) was there. There was a similar list on the wall, saying Luis Amor Rodriguez would be returning later in the season. Yes, Luis from Dream Team. The Doctor laughed at his fake accent, and me and Gemma talked about how we'd liked him.
The fun bit of the dream is the interaction between me and David Tennant in the tardis. That was awesome.
On another note, I'm still obsessed with Farscape, and I keep skipping images in my rotating desktop to see the Scorpy pictures :P
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Mostly about Farscape
I feel like I don't know where to start with my uni work, because there's so much. Do I get the IC case study out of the way so I only have the research report to do, or do I do some work for one of my poster presentations? Oh, and then there's finishing the lab book that I really should have done as I went along. That's all gonna go wrong now. I think I will do some lab book today, but first I'm gonna clear my head of my latest TV obsession, now I've got it out of the way. I aimed to finish it quick, so I was focussed for uni stuff, since I now have no new series available to me to watch. I actually first acquired season 1 of Farscape when I had no other commitments, towards the end of my placement when the work was done. Didn't think it would grip me like it has done, and make me watch the rest so obsessively.
So beginning at the beginning, it actually took me a while to get into Farscape. Season 1 started off, as many series do, with what I've called in other series "random adventure" episodes. Not related to an overall story. Obviously necessary to get to know the characters and the universe etc, but not the kind of thing that gets me obsessed. I said in an earlier blog post, back when I'd only seen a few of season 1, that the lack of continuing story was what put me off, but that I really liked Farscape because it was so different from any other sci fi I watched. That was true, but the overall story did get better. The crew started to become friends, and the Crichton and Aeryn story started to develop.
One of the biggest problems with season 1 was that Crais was never believable as the main bad guy. His stereotypically baddy quest for revenge was, but there was something about his character. You were never really scared of him. He was more like the petty bad guy who bothers you from time to time (someone like Spike or Ethan in Buffy) than the all powerful pursuing across the universe how the hell will we stop him bad guy (Glory in Buffy). This was why Farscape turned into something really awesome near the end of season 1, when Scorpius was introduced. Calm, patient, alien, and you got the feeling he could do anything. Scorpius was interesting, and a hell of a lot more threatening.
Season 2 changes things a bit. Scorpius is now the main threat, which is obviously a huge improvement, and Crais defects. Not sure how realistic his fast defection was though. Comparing it to Damar on DS9, you see the change in him for several episodes before he switches sides. Okay, so Crais couldn't deal with having no authority, but he was still a Peacekeeper and he'd just spent a year chasing Crichton and co. across the galaxy. Seems odd that he'd run to Moya. His character change at that time just seemed a bit rushed.
Season 2 is great though. The Harvey story is interesting, you find out more about how they all got there ("The Way We Weren't"), the Jothee story, Stark. The ending was awesome too.
Season 3. I'm gonna go off on some tangents here, back to the first couple of seasons and on to 4, because I have to mention the cast changes. Season 3 changed a lot from the previous season. For a start, Stark, Crais and Scorpius are now on the credits. Zhaan dies, and Jool is introduced. The crew is also split between two ships, with two Crichtons. Bizarre. Starting with Stark, he was one of my favourite characters in early season 3. Sometimes really crazy, with his odd repetitive talking and massive panics, and sometimes obviously intelligent and wise. That side of him seems to go when Zhaan dies, which is a real shame. He becomes a bit of a jokey character, rather than the heroic guy who died to save them in season 2. Crais is great in season 3. He's not really a good guy, and he's still out for himself, but it's not just him now. Talyn changed him, and even though you still can't trust him, he's definitely not a bad guy. Their death on the command carrier was perfect. Zhaan's death was understandable, replacing her with Jool...not so good. However, it was clearly supposed to be like that. The other characters didn't like her, but warmed to her, and that was what was supposed to happen. By her departure at the beginning of season 4, I did like her, and it was a shame she left.
I think I've covered the rest of the cast in one long paragraph, but I think I need to mention Scorpius separately. Since when did bad guys make the main credits? Something about his coolness as a villain was lost over the four seasons. I can't decide whether it's a bad thing that he wasn't the same as when we first met him, or a good character progression. One of the things that damaged his immense coolness was Harvey. On the one hand we have this bad guy who is extremely patient, calm, and rarely loses his temper, whilst always remaining intimidating. On the other, you have this weird clone who wears Hawaiian shirts and is a bit of a joke. I dunno how to explain what I mean really, because I definitely still liked the Scorpius of the last two seasons, and I still think Harvey was a great idea...it's just that the more accessible he was, the less intimidating as a main villain he was.
Briefly mentioning season 3 as far as stories go, it was great. I wasn't a big fan of the separate crews thing really, and the split Crichtons thing was a bit odd, but the stories were still exciting. Those last few on the command carrier were fantastic. Aeryn and Crichton being together was fantastic. There were many tears in this season though, with Talyn, Crais, Zhaan and the Talyn Crichton dying.
Season 4...wow. This was immense. First to mention cast changes, again. Stark gone...real shame. Jool gone, just as you got to like her. Shame. Sizoku joining, and being another character you have to get to like...not keen. I thought she was a great addition, yes, but she started out in such a similar way to Jool. Intelligent, young, naive, thinks shes better than everyone else and someone Chiana doesn't like. Seemed odd to write Jool out to be replaced by Sizoku. Something else I'll mention, while I remember, is that since season 2 Pilot doesn't seem to have had such a central role. Just thought of that really, and it's definitely a shame. They made a big thing of his closeness to Aeryn, then almost forgot it. Hmm.
The stories were again fantastic. I didn't like Aeryn and Crichton not being together, and him trying to forget her, but it was still a good story. Scorpius being on board though...seemed like the writers just used the Crais story again. Although the reasons for him being there were a bit suspect, his presence made everything more interesting, and scarily made you like him and want Crichton to trust him. He's been the intimidating villain, but now you're willing him to be good. Scorpius and Sikozu...that was interesting. I liked that. I was disappointed in Peacekeeper Wars when she was revealed to be the Scarran spy. The going back to Earth episode was good, and mostly because the show is made in Australia I think. There was none of the American supremacy you see in other sci fi shows, and when it was hinted at, Crichton said it was wrong. That's one big problem I have with SG1. Too much "America knows best". Farscape doesn't have that. I could really go on and comment on every episode of this series, because it was that good, but that would take too long and I should do some uni stuff at some point today. I'll just say that on the whole, it was fantastic. Only one I wasn't keen on was John Quixote. Dunno why, just didn't like the dead characters brought back just for that.
So, the end. PK Wars was awesome. Aeryn and Crichton happily ever after. D'Argo is dead, and that was pretty upsetting, but everything about it made sense. Nice to see the better side of Stark back, Chiana and D'Argo back together before he died, the end of the wormhole business, the end of the PK/Scarran war etc etc. I wish Sikozu hadn't turned out to be the spy though. In season 4, I had actually warmed to Scorpy, and it would have been nice if his ending had involved turning his back on his quest for vengeance and choosing her. As it stands, we don't know what's going on with him.
Loose ends. As just mentioned, seeing Scorpius witnessing the PK/Scarran peace treaty doesn't seem like much of an ending for him. How does he actually feel about it? Did the wormhole weapon convince him that he should stop trying to work them out? I suspect it did, but I doubt it means he's cool with the Scarrans. After season 4, he's probably the character who fascinated me the most, so I would have liked to see him have a real conclusion. Either death, and some deathbed revelation, or "so this is what I'm going to do next" or something. Another thing, which isn't a conclusion from PK Wars but rather something forgotten from the series, is what was Stark's mask being sent back to the Moya Crichton all about? There was a message, but it was interupted. What did it say? And what happened to Stark when he heard Zhaan call to him on that planet? I do think most things were concluded nicely though. Still, I'd like to see more. Another series, another miniseries...just more Farscape! I've heard talk of webisodes, and talk of Ben Browder being in them. I really hope so.
So beginning at the beginning, it actually took me a while to get into Farscape. Season 1 started off, as many series do, with what I've called in other series "random adventure" episodes. Not related to an overall story. Obviously necessary to get to know the characters and the universe etc, but not the kind of thing that gets me obsessed. I said in an earlier blog post, back when I'd only seen a few of season 1, that the lack of continuing story was what put me off, but that I really liked Farscape because it was so different from any other sci fi I watched. That was true, but the overall story did get better. The crew started to become friends, and the Crichton and Aeryn story started to develop.
One of the biggest problems with season 1 was that Crais was never believable as the main bad guy. His stereotypically baddy quest for revenge was, but there was something about his character. You were never really scared of him. He was more like the petty bad guy who bothers you from time to time (someone like Spike or Ethan in Buffy) than the all powerful pursuing across the universe how the hell will we stop him bad guy (Glory in Buffy). This was why Farscape turned into something really awesome near the end of season 1, when Scorpius was introduced. Calm, patient, alien, and you got the feeling he could do anything. Scorpius was interesting, and a hell of a lot more threatening.
Season 2 changes things a bit. Scorpius is now the main threat, which is obviously a huge improvement, and Crais defects. Not sure how realistic his fast defection was though. Comparing it to Damar on DS9, you see the change in him for several episodes before he switches sides. Okay, so Crais couldn't deal with having no authority, but he was still a Peacekeeper and he'd just spent a year chasing Crichton and co. across the galaxy. Seems odd that he'd run to Moya. His character change at that time just seemed a bit rushed.
Season 2 is great though. The Harvey story is interesting, you find out more about how they all got there ("The Way We Weren't"), the Jothee story, Stark. The ending was awesome too.
Season 3. I'm gonna go off on some tangents here, back to the first couple of seasons and on to 4, because I have to mention the cast changes. Season 3 changed a lot from the previous season. For a start, Stark, Crais and Scorpius are now on the credits. Zhaan dies, and Jool is introduced. The crew is also split between two ships, with two Crichtons. Bizarre. Starting with Stark, he was one of my favourite characters in early season 3. Sometimes really crazy, with his odd repetitive talking and massive panics, and sometimes obviously intelligent and wise. That side of him seems to go when Zhaan dies, which is a real shame. He becomes a bit of a jokey character, rather than the heroic guy who died to save them in season 2. Crais is great in season 3. He's not really a good guy, and he's still out for himself, but it's not just him now. Talyn changed him, and even though you still can't trust him, he's definitely not a bad guy. Their death on the command carrier was perfect. Zhaan's death was understandable, replacing her with Jool...not so good. However, it was clearly supposed to be like that. The other characters didn't like her, but warmed to her, and that was what was supposed to happen. By her departure at the beginning of season 4, I did like her, and it was a shame she left.
I think I've covered the rest of the cast in one long paragraph, but I think I need to mention Scorpius separately. Since when did bad guys make the main credits? Something about his coolness as a villain was lost over the four seasons. I can't decide whether it's a bad thing that he wasn't the same as when we first met him, or a good character progression. One of the things that damaged his immense coolness was Harvey. On the one hand we have this bad guy who is extremely patient, calm, and rarely loses his temper, whilst always remaining intimidating. On the other, you have this weird clone who wears Hawaiian shirts and is a bit of a joke. I dunno how to explain what I mean really, because I definitely still liked the Scorpius of the last two seasons, and I still think Harvey was a great idea...it's just that the more accessible he was, the less intimidating as a main villain he was.
Briefly mentioning season 3 as far as stories go, it was great. I wasn't a big fan of the separate crews thing really, and the split Crichtons thing was a bit odd, but the stories were still exciting. Those last few on the command carrier were fantastic. Aeryn and Crichton being together was fantastic. There were many tears in this season though, with Talyn, Crais, Zhaan and the Talyn Crichton dying.
Season 4...wow. This was immense. First to mention cast changes, again. Stark gone...real shame. Jool gone, just as you got to like her. Shame. Sizoku joining, and being another character you have to get to like...not keen. I thought she was a great addition, yes, but she started out in such a similar way to Jool. Intelligent, young, naive, thinks shes better than everyone else and someone Chiana doesn't like. Seemed odd to write Jool out to be replaced by Sizoku. Something else I'll mention, while I remember, is that since season 2 Pilot doesn't seem to have had such a central role. Just thought of that really, and it's definitely a shame. They made a big thing of his closeness to Aeryn, then almost forgot it. Hmm.
The stories were again fantastic. I didn't like Aeryn and Crichton not being together, and him trying to forget her, but it was still a good story. Scorpius being on board though...seemed like the writers just used the Crais story again. Although the reasons for him being there were a bit suspect, his presence made everything more interesting, and scarily made you like him and want Crichton to trust him. He's been the intimidating villain, but now you're willing him to be good. Scorpius and Sikozu...that was interesting. I liked that. I was disappointed in Peacekeeper Wars when she was revealed to be the Scarran spy. The going back to Earth episode was good, and mostly because the show is made in Australia I think. There was none of the American supremacy you see in other sci fi shows, and when it was hinted at, Crichton said it was wrong. That's one big problem I have with SG1. Too much "America knows best". Farscape doesn't have that. I could really go on and comment on every episode of this series, because it was that good, but that would take too long and I should do some uni stuff at some point today. I'll just say that on the whole, it was fantastic. Only one I wasn't keen on was John Quixote. Dunno why, just didn't like the dead characters brought back just for that.
So, the end. PK Wars was awesome. Aeryn and Crichton happily ever after. D'Argo is dead, and that was pretty upsetting, but everything about it made sense. Nice to see the better side of Stark back, Chiana and D'Argo back together before he died, the end of the wormhole business, the end of the PK/Scarran war etc etc. I wish Sikozu hadn't turned out to be the spy though. In season 4, I had actually warmed to Scorpy, and it would have been nice if his ending had involved turning his back on his quest for vengeance and choosing her. As it stands, we don't know what's going on with him.
Loose ends. As just mentioned, seeing Scorpius witnessing the PK/Scarran peace treaty doesn't seem like much of an ending for him. How does he actually feel about it? Did the wormhole weapon convince him that he should stop trying to work them out? I suspect it did, but I doubt it means he's cool with the Scarrans. After season 4, he's probably the character who fascinated me the most, so I would have liked to see him have a real conclusion. Either death, and some deathbed revelation, or "so this is what I'm going to do next" or something. Another thing, which isn't a conclusion from PK Wars but rather something forgotten from the series, is what was Stark's mask being sent back to the Moya Crichton all about? There was a message, but it was interupted. What did it say? And what happened to Stark when he heard Zhaan call to him on that planet? I do think most things were concluded nicely though. Still, I'd like to see more. Another series, another miniseries...just more Farscape! I've heard talk of webisodes, and talk of Ben Browder being in them. I really hope so.
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
Just a brief update.
I want to do a long post really, but I have other things to do, and all the things I'd planned to write aren't coming to me anyway. Just to update on the last post, Sonic is still alive and fighting on. I know it won't be long, but I hope he can make it till after I've finished uni, or at least until after my dissertation deadline.
All is not good though. Ella died last week. For Sonic to outlive Ella was such a massive shock. I don't really want to write anything else about it, other than that it was a horrible shock.
And now I have to get on with this stupid professional studies essay. I hate this module. I'd much rather be watching Farscape. Oh, and Farscape is likely to be the subject of my next long post.
All is not good though. Ella died last week. For Sonic to outlive Ella was such a massive shock. I don't really want to write anything else about it, other than that it was a horrible shock.
And now I have to get on with this stupid professional studies essay. I hate this module. I'd much rather be watching Farscape. Oh, and Farscape is likely to be the subject of my next long post.
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