The world is a strange place. It's a world where the Lost ending left you feeling fulfilled but empty inside at the same time. A world where the billion dollar idea is about blue cats on floating rocks (not that it's a bad idea, I loved it). A world where the truth can only come out in the form of a joke without coming across as nutty or insane. A universe much more stranger than any I can come up with in a day. This just so happens to be the universe we live in, but we manage because we are just as strange as it is, if not more.
This is another episode of "Somewhere In Another Universe..."
Somewhere in another universe:
We really understand why the universe was created, but we don't like the reason.
Christian Bale's head exploded on the set of Terminator Salvation due to rage.
There are actual dinosaurs at the Portland Zoo.
Indiana Jones 4 was an adaptation of Fate of Atlantis.
We know the actual height of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
That Terminator TV show ran for two more seasons and wasn't on FOX but HBO (yay nudity!)
Android Hell is a real place where you will be sent at the first sign of defiance...
Star Wars The Force Unleashed didn't suck.
Marvin The Martian actually got his way at the end of a Looney Toons cartoon.
No one takes Aliens novels, Predator novels, or any combination of the two seriously.
Chickenscratch is an actual written language.
House MD still has a point.
Albums by the Backstreet Boys are banned by the Geneva Convention for being an inhumane form of torture.
Twilight is banned by the Geneva Convention for being an inhumane form of torture.
CSI: Mars YEEEEAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
MCIS: Martian Criminal Investigative Service... really?
Teletubbies with high definition plasma screens
The Incredibles don't creep me out as much...
Star Wars Prequels alternatives: Samuel L. Jackson as a former pilot of the Millenium Falcon (Hyperspace Mother F*cker!)
This has been an episode of "Somewhere In Another Universe..."
Showing posts with label Lost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lost. Show all posts
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
My Two Cents Worth: Lost Mysteries
So it turns out that there actually were some mysteries on the island of LOST that weren't answered. Like where do the DHARMA drops come from and just what is the island?
This is my two cents worth:
What is the island?
It's an island a landmass in the sea. This one just happens to be able to bend time.
Why do the DHARMA food drops still continue?
Well think about it. Obviously the initiative still worked on the island before Desmond blew up the hatch. Kelvin worked there still, after the purge. The food drops are intended for the Swan Hatch, but no one's told DHARMA that the hatch's gone kablewey!
If that's true, why do the Others let DHARMA live in the hatch?
Would YOU want to spend a lifetime pressing a button every 108 minutes? The Others didn't, they let DHARMA take care of it.
What is the Hurley Bird?
The Smoke Monster, everything else seems to be!
Where's Christian's body?
Blame the Smoke Monster again, he probably ate it.
How come the Island heals only a select few people?
When it comes to spinal injuries and cancer it can do wonders (except for Ben, the island hates Ben) But gunshot wounds it has a hard time with most of the time, that and a big crane falling on you. Basically if you die, the island hates you (Sun and Jin drowned, the island is still trying to heal them)
What's with the Taweret statue and all the other Egyptian crap?
Hey, Egyptian stuff always makes things more mysterious. That and if we can't even figure out (definitively) how the pyramids were built then how do you expect that to be answered?
Why did Smokey kill Mr. Eko?
Smokey heard the actor who played Mr. Eko was hating life in Hawaii, he decided to lend a hand.
What's so special about Walt? They made such a big deal about it before?
Walt was originally slated to be the new Jacob, but the kid grew up too damn fast. As Yoda would say: "He is too old!"
What would've happened if The Smoke Monster had left the island?
Well I guess the show would've ended on a very dark note with MIB sailing away as the island crumbled into the ocean, what he'd do when he got to the mainland is just as mysterious. I guess he'd model for Mr. Clean as Locke cuz he doesn't necessarily have any powers after turning the light off. However the Flash Sideways ending wouldn't change either way. Apart from that, there would be alot of angry fans, and the creators would "go to hell."
Why are there so many women separated from their babies?
The writers are mean. Seriously most characters have daddy issues, mother abandoment issues must inevitably follow.
What was with the whole "being claimed" thing? It seemed pointless cuz of Sayid.
It was pointless. Just as pointless as Darth Vader falling to the dark side then back to the light at the end.
What's with the numbers?
They have a deeper meaning.
4 represents the number of letters in the most commonly used word in and around the show "What?". 8 represents the 8 surviving characters at the end of the show (Hurley, Ben, Sawyer, Richard, Lapidus, Miles, Claire, Kate). 15 represents the millions of viewers who will forever be stumped. 16 represents the years it will take for said viewers to shrug off the nagging feeling left behind by the show. 23 is there cuz it can be. 42 is the answer to life the universe and everything. DUH!
And that's my two cents worth!
This is my two cents worth:
What is the island?
It's an island a landmass in the sea. This one just happens to be able to bend time.
Why do the DHARMA food drops still continue?
Well think about it. Obviously the initiative still worked on the island before Desmond blew up the hatch. Kelvin worked there still, after the purge. The food drops are intended for the Swan Hatch, but no one's told DHARMA that the hatch's gone kablewey!
If that's true, why do the Others let DHARMA live in the hatch?
Would YOU want to spend a lifetime pressing a button every 108 minutes? The Others didn't, they let DHARMA take care of it.
What is the Hurley Bird?
The Smoke Monster, everything else seems to be!
Where's Christian's body?
Blame the Smoke Monster again, he probably ate it.
How come the Island heals only a select few people?
When it comes to spinal injuries and cancer it can do wonders (except for Ben, the island hates Ben) But gunshot wounds it has a hard time with most of the time, that and a big crane falling on you. Basically if you die, the island hates you (Sun and Jin drowned, the island is still trying to heal them)
What's with the Taweret statue and all the other Egyptian crap?
Hey, Egyptian stuff always makes things more mysterious. That and if we can't even figure out (definitively) how the pyramids were built then how do you expect that to be answered?
Why did Smokey kill Mr. Eko?
Smokey heard the actor who played Mr. Eko was hating life in Hawaii, he decided to lend a hand.
What's so special about Walt? They made such a big deal about it before?
Walt was originally slated to be the new Jacob, but the kid grew up too damn fast. As Yoda would say: "He is too old!"
What would've happened if The Smoke Monster had left the island?
Well I guess the show would've ended on a very dark note with MIB sailing away as the island crumbled into the ocean, what he'd do when he got to the mainland is just as mysterious. I guess he'd model for Mr. Clean as Locke cuz he doesn't necessarily have any powers after turning the light off. However the Flash Sideways ending wouldn't change either way. Apart from that, there would be alot of angry fans, and the creators would "go to hell."
Why are there so many women separated from their babies?
The writers are mean. Seriously most characters have daddy issues, mother abandoment issues must inevitably follow.
What was with the whole "being claimed" thing? It seemed pointless cuz of Sayid.
It was pointless. Just as pointless as Darth Vader falling to the dark side then back to the light at the end.
What's with the numbers?
They have a deeper meaning.
4 represents the number of letters in the most commonly used word in and around the show "What?". 8 represents the 8 surviving characters at the end of the show (Hurley, Ben, Sawyer, Richard, Lapidus, Miles, Claire, Kate). 15 represents the millions of viewers who will forever be stumped. 16 represents the years it will take for said viewers to shrug off the nagging feeling left behind by the show. 23 is there cuz it can be. 42 is the answer to life the universe and everything. DUH!
And that's my two cents worth!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
My health, the modern day Frankenstein, and more general silliness
I've been sick for the last week, I'm guessing it's the flu because it knocked me on my bum like a semi-truck. I couldn't go in to see my advisor so he could get me cleared for the fall term classes which get filled pretty quickly. I also missed out on my classes which aren't really that serious, I can catch up any time I wish it's not too difficult, but it is getting close to finals week so I feel a bit of the pressure. However the largest problem that my illness has caused me is not being able to write much of anything. Which I hope to compensate for in the following week. Instead of doing all these things I've been sleeping on my couch, watching television and pumping my body full of vitamin c and medicine.
However I was still able to learn about the recent discovery that was made in the field of science, and as a writer of more or less science fiction-y stories I'm always on the look for promising discoveries that are great news for the real world that I can bastardize into horrible nightmares for readers to enjoy.
This story is one I stumbled upon while (you guessed it) clicking the stumble button. It's from The Guardian and can be found here (I can't work the link making button for some reason, so bare with me):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/may/20/craig-venter-synthetic-life-form
The story is extremely interesting because these guys are basically the real life Frankensteins. Sure it's just a bacteria, but this is just the first step into a new world of strangeness. Hopefully without the neckbolts.
I'm not a scientist by any sense of the word (I studied cork cells in high school biology but that's pretty much it). So I'm not really a credible source for the actual outcome of this discovery, but as a writer I'd like to at least view the possibilities.
The first possibility is that with mankind capable of building and designing lifeforms that we might see the beginning of a new era in prostitution. The sci-fi sit-com "Red Dwarf" had creatures called GELFS (Genetically Engineered Life Form) that are what their name suggests. There were some that were meant for pleasure and could change their form into whatever you desired (even if it was yourself). Sometime, in the future, we could see an era where lonely men and women could purchase their own pleasure GELF. And who wouldn't? Honestly if you could have something that could change into whoever you wanted (like the extremely talented actress Megan Fox) why bother going and playing the field? This would also mean the end of humanity as we know it but at least lonely geeks could finally get Megan Fox (or at least a thing that looks like her).
The second possibility is that Avatards (die-hard fans of the film Avatar) could finally build the world of Pandora. No more suicidal viewers when the world you wish you could live in can actually be engineered. Geeks will rejoice while James Cameron makes off with even more of our money. But I guess everybody wins still.
Speaking more seriously now, another possibility is one that most people who are eco-friendly or "Green" as the media calls it (or "those annoying f***ers" whatever floats your boat) will love. Lifeforms that can be eco-friendly and provide a comfortable form of living for people. Lights that use phosphorescence instead of electricity that are also trees that take in CO2 and make oxygen. Or perhaps some sort of structure that serves as both an office building and absorbs sunlight to provide power and warmth (or whatever you want it to be). How about goats that eat tin cans and poop out tofu? Sure it sounds like a joke (and to be honest it is a joke) but it's just speculation.
The future is a strange place, and the proof is in the strange crap these scientists make and discover.
(Me, honestly, I'd like a talking dog. Or maybe a super smart dog like in Dean Koontz's "Watchers" but that's more genetic manipulation than full blown engineering. A talking dog would be cool, I'd teach him how to order pizza for me and make him be my wingman when I go to bars or something. But then I'd have to pretend to be blind because the bar never lets animals in. That wouldn't go over well when the ladies realize I'm just faking, but they'd love my talking dog so it'd be ok. I think... perhaps I need to think this through more...)
Anyways, yeah this science is ripe for the plucking fiction wise. Heck most of the suggestions I made would be great bases for a story (but then anything is really, you just need some interesting turns and twists).
In other news I did hear that the Lost season 6 DVD would have an extended epilogue about Hurley and Ben, do I smell the workings of a spin-off? Probably not, but it's cool that they're addressing this very noticeable gap in the mythology.
Now, I've got to get to work on the late work I built up from being sick.
However I was still able to learn about the recent discovery that was made in the field of science, and as a writer of more or less science fiction-y stories I'm always on the look for promising discoveries that are great news for the real world that I can bastardize into horrible nightmares for readers to enjoy.
This story is one I stumbled upon while (you guessed it) clicking the stumble button. It's from The Guardian and can be found here (I can't work the link making button for some reason, so bare with me):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/may/20/craig-venter-synthetic-life-form
The story is extremely interesting because these guys are basically the real life Frankensteins. Sure it's just a bacteria, but this is just the first step into a new world of strangeness. Hopefully without the neckbolts.
I'm not a scientist by any sense of the word (I studied cork cells in high school biology but that's pretty much it). So I'm not really a credible source for the actual outcome of this discovery, but as a writer I'd like to at least view the possibilities.
The first possibility is that with mankind capable of building and designing lifeforms that we might see the beginning of a new era in prostitution. The sci-fi sit-com "Red Dwarf" had creatures called GELFS (Genetically Engineered Life Form) that are what their name suggests. There were some that were meant for pleasure and could change their form into whatever you desired (even if it was yourself). Sometime, in the future, we could see an era where lonely men and women could purchase their own pleasure GELF. And who wouldn't? Honestly if you could have something that could change into whoever you wanted (like the extremely talented actress Megan Fox) why bother going and playing the field? This would also mean the end of humanity as we know it but at least lonely geeks could finally get Megan Fox (or at least a thing that looks like her).
The second possibility is that Avatards (die-hard fans of the film Avatar) could finally build the world of Pandora. No more suicidal viewers when the world you wish you could live in can actually be engineered. Geeks will rejoice while James Cameron makes off with even more of our money. But I guess everybody wins still.
Speaking more seriously now, another possibility is one that most people who are eco-friendly or "Green" as the media calls it (or "those annoying f***ers" whatever floats your boat) will love. Lifeforms that can be eco-friendly and provide a comfortable form of living for people. Lights that use phosphorescence instead of electricity that are also trees that take in CO2 and make oxygen. Or perhaps some sort of structure that serves as both an office building and absorbs sunlight to provide power and warmth (or whatever you want it to be). How about goats that eat tin cans and poop out tofu? Sure it sounds like a joke (and to be honest it is a joke) but it's just speculation.
The future is a strange place, and the proof is in the strange crap these scientists make and discover.
(Me, honestly, I'd like a talking dog. Or maybe a super smart dog like in Dean Koontz's "Watchers" but that's more genetic manipulation than full blown engineering. A talking dog would be cool, I'd teach him how to order pizza for me and make him be my wingman when I go to bars or something. But then I'd have to pretend to be blind because the bar never lets animals in. That wouldn't go over well when the ladies realize I'm just faking, but they'd love my talking dog so it'd be ok. I think... perhaps I need to think this through more...)
Anyways, yeah this science is ripe for the plucking fiction wise. Heck most of the suggestions I made would be great bases for a story (but then anything is really, you just need some interesting turns and twists).
In other news I did hear that the Lost season 6 DVD would have an extended epilogue about Hurley and Ben, do I smell the workings of a spin-off? Probably not, but it's cool that they're addressing this very noticeable gap in the mythology.
Now, I've got to get to work on the late work I built up from being sick.
Monday, May 24, 2010
My thoughts on the Lost series finale.
As I explained in my little review a couple days ago I was introduced to Lost very late in the series. Season 5 was just around the corner and I had heard about this crazy show that's set on a mysterious island that holds numerous mysteries like a polar bear, a smoke monster, ghosts, and a strange man by the name of Josh Halloway (who I heard was some sort of god or something or was it "sex god" I don't know all I remember was that the woman telling me this was very excited.) So in an attempt to get caught up I went onto youtube and found the first four seasons and watched them. I was just about to walk away from this show as it just seemed like another castaway story set on an island with what I hoped wasn't a pissed off giraffe. A monster on an island? Isn't that how the movie Deep Rising ended? With shipwrecked survivors landing on an island with a scary monster in the jungle? I was reluctant to continue watching a show that had so far failed to grasp my attention. All it was about was people fighting all the time, Sawyer seemed like a stereotypical racist bastard, Kate the eye candy of the show, and who the hell cares about a drug addicted rock star?
Well luckily before I shut the computer off I landed on the episode "Walkabout" that focused on John Locke's history before the island. When it was revealed that Locke was bound to a wheelchair before the crash and as he stood up for the first time with the Michael Giacchino's score simply bringing me to tears as the scene played out I knew this show was going to blow my mind. And for two years it has blown my mind. Now, it's over and I'm missing it already.
The finale had everything I could've ever wanted. It had a fantastic climax with Jack and MIB battling on the cliffs as the island tore itself asunder. The revelation that the flash-sideways universe was actually a sort of purgatory where the 815 survivors had to find one another was a brilliant twist that provided us with the knowledge that somewhere, in the end, these people are in a better place than when they started six years ago. Sure most of our questions weren't answered, like why does DHARMA still drop supplies if there isn't an initiative to support it? Or why Jack didn't turn into a smoke monster like MIB when he went into the source? In either case these questions were miniscule to the fact that the show was coming to a close and that it ended with a bang. Even if it ended with an eye closing it was still a bang.
Now the speculation isn't over when the show is, there are millions of fans still questioning what just happened. But the only thing I want to know is:
Will Hurley's tenure as Jacob ever be revealed?
Yes, I know it's a dumb question but seriously now am I the only one who thinks it would be awesome to see what Hurley did as the protector of the island? I mean Hurley is more straightforward than Jacob ever will be, and not only that but I'm sure he wouldn't be into the whole "playing god" thing. No doubt if the creators ever wanted to satisfy the more overly critical fans who wanted all their questions to be answered or if ABC was dumb enough to make a spin-off or sequel series because of a loss of viewers, then the show "Hurley" could be it. I mean with Ben Linus as the new Richard Alpert the duo could be the next most awesome duo since Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker (or whichever duo you feel is the most awesome, I just like Rush Hour). Or perhaps (and I should restate the fact that this is just hypothetical) the series will take the "Lucas route" and just start making some awesome spin-offs in other forms of media mainly video-games.
I liked Lost: Via Domus, even if it was short and a little clunky, but this little gap between "The End" and Hurley's death could be just like Star Wars' gap between episode 3 and 4. They could make an awesome game set in the mythology (and better yet not ruin continuity as it's set in the future) that takes us to places the show couldn't (like to someone with all the answers who doesn't speak in riddles).
Alas, this is just fanboy dreams. We all know the show's over and there probably wont be anything new to take the edge off of our addiction to Lost, unless you count the DVD features but even then most of us are already going cold turkey.
Well, it's been fun Lost. Thank you for all the memories, inside jokes, and frustrations. I will certainly miss you, but thankfully I have a friend who hasn't seen the show so perhaps this isn't an actual goodbye. I'm gonna get the DVDs and set my friend on the couch to watch them all, no doubt that should be fun.
See ya in another life, brotha!
Well luckily before I shut the computer off I landed on the episode "Walkabout" that focused on John Locke's history before the island. When it was revealed that Locke was bound to a wheelchair before the crash and as he stood up for the first time with the Michael Giacchino's score simply bringing me to tears as the scene played out I knew this show was going to blow my mind. And for two years it has blown my mind. Now, it's over and I'm missing it already.
The finale had everything I could've ever wanted. It had a fantastic climax with Jack and MIB battling on the cliffs as the island tore itself asunder. The revelation that the flash-sideways universe was actually a sort of purgatory where the 815 survivors had to find one another was a brilliant twist that provided us with the knowledge that somewhere, in the end, these people are in a better place than when they started six years ago. Sure most of our questions weren't answered, like why does DHARMA still drop supplies if there isn't an initiative to support it? Or why Jack didn't turn into a smoke monster like MIB when he went into the source? In either case these questions were miniscule to the fact that the show was coming to a close and that it ended with a bang. Even if it ended with an eye closing it was still a bang.
Now the speculation isn't over when the show is, there are millions of fans still questioning what just happened. But the only thing I want to know is:
Will Hurley's tenure as Jacob ever be revealed?
Yes, I know it's a dumb question but seriously now am I the only one who thinks it would be awesome to see what Hurley did as the protector of the island? I mean Hurley is more straightforward than Jacob ever will be, and not only that but I'm sure he wouldn't be into the whole "playing god" thing. No doubt if the creators ever wanted to satisfy the more overly critical fans who wanted all their questions to be answered or if ABC was dumb enough to make a spin-off or sequel series because of a loss of viewers, then the show "Hurley" could be it. I mean with Ben Linus as the new Richard Alpert the duo could be the next most awesome duo since Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker (or whichever duo you feel is the most awesome, I just like Rush Hour). Or perhaps (and I should restate the fact that this is just hypothetical) the series will take the "Lucas route" and just start making some awesome spin-offs in other forms of media mainly video-games.
I liked Lost: Via Domus, even if it was short and a little clunky, but this little gap between "The End" and Hurley's death could be just like Star Wars' gap between episode 3 and 4. They could make an awesome game set in the mythology (and better yet not ruin continuity as it's set in the future) that takes us to places the show couldn't (like to someone with all the answers who doesn't speak in riddles).
Alas, this is just fanboy dreams. We all know the show's over and there probably wont be anything new to take the edge off of our addiction to Lost, unless you count the DVD features but even then most of us are already going cold turkey.
Well, it's been fun Lost. Thank you for all the memories, inside jokes, and frustrations. I will certainly miss you, but thankfully I have a friend who hasn't seen the show so perhaps this isn't an actual goodbye. I'm gonna get the DVDs and set my friend on the couch to watch them all, no doubt that should be fun.
See ya in another life, brotha!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
My thoughts on the Lost season finale and SGU
One of the many subjects I will cover in my blog are small "reviews" of shows I frequently watch. I will try my best not to come off as one of those dudes who basically bashes anything he watches, instead I will focus on constructive opinions (with some humorous jokes thrown in from time to time) that are mine and mine alone.
To start off I want to talk about the upcoming finale of one of the biggest shows on television: Lost! I am a self-proclaimed Lost fan. However I didn't start watching the show until before season 5. I was lucky enough to find seasons 1-4 on youtube before they were taken off and was instantly sucked in after the episode "Walkabout." Ever since, I've followed the crazy adventures of the survivors of Flight 815 with some of the largest amounts of enthusiasm I have ever had for a television series.
Sadly, just as I'm entering into this show, it is ending (much like how I discovered Stargate Atlantis but I will explain later). So far season 6 has been a wild ride, with amazing twists and turns and unexpected deaths (some of which I was shocked by). But sadly it must end sometime, and on sunday the 23rd it will end. So in an attempt to look back I will write down some of my favorite moments from this season:
"LA X" was just an overall mindblower, introducing us to the flash-sideways and the fact that Locke was actually the Smoke Monster (or Man In Black).
"Sundown" was an awesome episode with some good Smokey mayhem!
"Ab Aeterno" gave us some of the most important answers to the mythos
"Happily Ever After" was basically The Constant part deux which was one of the best episodes of the entire series, plus this episode proved the flash-sideways weren't pointless.
"The Candidate" a heart stopping episode with a sad ending.
As for the finale, I'm sure it will be placed on the list when I watch it.
Now for the actual topic I wanted to write about. I said before that I'm a fan of Stargate. I became a fan when I had my wisdom teeth removed (Col. Shepard is right, it is the best time of your life) and I watched the last season of Atlantis. I've been hooked on the shows ever since. No doubt I wanted to see the show that started it all and I found Sg-1 to be just as fun (if not more fun) to watch. So you can understand that I was bummed when I learned Atlantis wasn't coming back for a 6th season. However, I found hope when Stargate Universe was announced after the Atlantis finale.
I was excited to see it ever since as it would be the first Stargate show I'd actually watch from the start. So far the show has kept me interested, but it isn't without it's faults.
It definitely isn't like its predecessors, with a darker tone and a surprisingly large lack of exploration even though the show is set on a ship that was built for EXPLORATION of the universe. It has been criticized as being like a show called "Battlestar Galactica" which I wouldn't know about, I actually liken it to being more of a LOST in space (Lost the show not the show Lost In Space). I find this description to be the most accurate, and it isn't a bad thing. Lost is a great show, and any show that tries to be like it (without being an obvious wannabe replacement like Flash Forward) but with a different twist is like anything else you find in entertainment (Avatar is a good example, as it is Dances With Wolves in space but it was effective. That's the point it was bringing a new twist onto an old formula.)
SGU is just like Lost in many ways: a large group of people find themselves stranded in a strange setting with little experience to guide them, these characters have their secrets and faults, and the place they're stranded on is even more mysterious than the people themselves. Again, this isn't a bad thing, in fact I love the similarities because it's a formula that works, it has potential to be a great story. But that's the problem with the show, it has the potential but never uses it. Most of the characters aboard the Destiny are interesting, but they are so neglected that we really only know a handful of the characters and those the show focuses on tend to be the ones I don't honestly care about. It's not that I don't like Col. Young or Lt. Scott, they are great guys who are fighting to keep order in a chaoitc situation, but there are so many others the show could focus on and develop. One example are the two scientists who work in the control room with Eli Wallace, I don't even remember their names and that is what bugs me. I should care about what their names are, instead we're treated to more drama about the power struggle with Young, Rush, and Wray. Wray is one character I have a hard time accepting (not because of her orientation I have no problem with the workings of her personal life) it's the fact that if she's not being a stereotypical IOA snob she's on the communication stones at home doing nothing to deepen her character (and don't even get me started on those stones, they've already caused enough trouble in the past. The Ori for example.) All I can remember from the two occasions she's been on earth is that she misses her family, much like everyone else on the friggin ship! It's hard to connect with someone who is either acting like a royal pain or trying to take over the ship. Again if the show would delve into her character more and explain why Wray is such a pain I could at least understand where she's coming from. I mean why was Ana Lucia such a stone cold bitch all the time? She lost her baby after being shot and all of the survivors who looked up to her were taken by the others or killed. I feel for Ana Lucia, I don't for Wray.
In fact the only characters I enjoy following are Eli and Rush. Eli is more than the comic relief he's the character who's new to the Stargate universe (much like the new viewers Syfy wants to attract to the show) I say he should either be the center of most episodes or at least kept in the loop in most of the stories because he's gonna have the same reaction as most of the viewers which is: what is that? Then someone can explain what this Stargate fact is without it being out of context. He's the normal dude in an abnormal situation, and I can feel for the guy every time he's asked to do something shady for either Rush or Young.
I like Rush because he's such a devious character (at least in the first half, he's been a little restrained recently) you never know what's going on in his head. I refer to him as the "Ben Linus of Stargate" or perhaps even John Locke, he's a man who knows his purpose is on the Destiny and he will play mindgames with you in order to acheive his goals. My favorite "Rush Moment" was when he tricked Telford into thinking the Destiny was going to blow up, it was a ploy that proved two things at once: 1. That Rush has no intention of going back to Earth and he will do anything to keep it that way. 2. The people on earth who are trying to save the Destiny crew hold themselves over the rest of the people stuck on board (shown when they turned off the stones to save their bony butts from the "explosion"). However, Rush has kinda cooled down since being left to die on that alien planet. The thought of being marooned can have that effect, but it's cost the show one of the driving forces behind the show.
Another problem with the show is the lack of exploration, which I mentioned before, which is often replaced with soap opera-ish drama. Again, sometimes this isn't a bad thing, but in a show called Stargate Universe where the show takes place on a ship exploring uncharted galaxies millions of lightyears from Earth, I expected some exploration. This is a fact that has been one of the problems in the show, even though the episodes that have been the best have been the ones where the stargate is used. The episodes "Time" and "Lost" are the ones I personally enjoyed the most, and they were episodes where the stargate was used the most. Not only that, but these episodes gave us some of the best character development than most episodes. "Time" gave us a plot with a time-loop from hell and with it came moments that made me care about these characters (even though I knew that the time loop would be the key to saving everyone I still felt for people when they died) Eli's recollection of his mother's condition and his realizing he was mortal were some of the most powerful conversations, it also gave Eli more depth as we now know why he's here: for his mother (which is better than when it was explained in the pilot episode). It also gave us a peek into Rush's motivation, he's seeking a way to ascend and cheat death. "Time" is one of my favorite episodes.
"Lost" gave us the chance to look into the life of one of the fan's favorite characters, Greer. Greer has been one character I've grown to enjoy because he doesn't take any crap from anyone. We knew from a previous episode that his father was a piece of work, but "Lost" actually took us into Greer's childhood and showed us what his life was like. It gave us so much information on this tough guy that I can now say he's yet another character I hope the show will follow even more as time goes on. Plus, the stargates were used in a fun way, and it showed us just how fantastic the effects are on the show. I liked the idea of "gate-hopping" to catch the Destiny, but the way they solved the cliffhanger in the next episode made me feel like any danger these people are faced with will work itself out in the next episode (much like Rush's being stranded by Young).
This is yet another problem with the show, the situations they put the characters in pretty much last an entire episode, when it would work so much better if they dragged it out over numerous episodes. This is a problem I had with the episode "Divided" where the civilians stage a coup to take over the ship. It felt rushed, there was hardly any hints that they were planning this for a while (I don't count the previous episode's conversation between Rush and Wray planning great build up to something dramatic) and by the end of the episode everyone was like: "well I guess we'll just forget that you people locked us up and threatened to kill us because we have to live together." It didn't make any sense to do this, and is only explained because the show likes to wrap up a plot by the end of the episode, which I see as a continuing problem that I hope will be fixed by Season 2. Again I make a reference to Lost, as it always ended on a "to be continued," you didn't see the whole "push the button every 108 minutes" plot solve itself in under 45 minutes, or the problem with the Others be solved in a couple of episodes. Sometimes it just makes sense to keep a plot in one episode, but with the stuff SGU has been dealing with that isn't the case. Rush and Young are still vying for control of the ship (I think, Rush hasn't done anything to get on Young's hackles lately, with good reason, but the intro still talks about "Young and Rush bumping heads") but that's been an ongoing plot since the pilot, so why couldn't this coup?
In retrospect, the show still seems like it's trying to find it's footing, which I can understand is difficult. It's following shows that were focused on adventure and had a light tone to it, but the fact of the matter is that it's still called Stargate. It's nice to have a show that's trying to mix it up a little, but if it's gonna stand out among SG-1 and Atlantis it has to find the right ballance of adventure and drama, which it has done in the past, but still tries to not be about space exploration and more about people. This isn't bad, but the problem is that people are boring unless there's something for them to react to, and I find it more interesting to see someone react to a fake cgi monster and why they react like they do to that monster than when they react to the fact that "she stole McDreamy from me" or "I'm pregnant with McSteamy's baby" (Yes, Col. Young is McSteamy who doesn't think that?)
All in all, I still enjoy the show regardless of its problems, but sometimes I can't help but worry about these problems. Last night's episode "Subversion" had one of these problems. It was near the beginning of the episode when Young asked Eli to leave him and Rush to talk about their plan. Eli wants to tell Young about the secrets they've uncovered in the database and throughout the episode I kept wanting to know just what the hell they found, I mean if Eli felt Young should know it must be very important like perhaps the reason why Franklin turned into steam after using the chair maybe? It was this little thing that I kept wondering about ever since it showed up, and I couldn't stop thinking about it as Rush and Young searched for answers to who was the spy.
Again, the ship holds so many interesting secrets, yet they're never mentioned. Which begs the question: If the Destiny is so full of ancient secrets that even the Lucian Alliance will try to cross the universe to get to it then just what the hell are those secrets? I honestly don't think its because the Alliance wants the Destiny's kinos or those little fixit robots. The FTL drive is so old that most hyperdrives probably could leave Destiny eating their space dust, and the stargate itself is so primitive it can't connect to all the stargates in any given galaxy. So just what the heck is it that is so imporatnt on board the Destiny? Perhaps they should've been focusing on... oh I don't know.... EXPLORING the ship and its secrets! Sheesh, it must be something important, because I think it would be easier to just leak information about the Lost City of Atlantis (You know, that ancient city ship that's parked in the San Fransisco bay?) than dial the ninth chevron to a rusting ship over a million lightyears from the Milky Way galaxy.
I'm just saying...
But anywho... that's what I feel about these two shows that I have come to enjoy. I hope to get back to you after the Lost series finale on Sunday.
To start off I want to talk about the upcoming finale of one of the biggest shows on television: Lost! I am a self-proclaimed Lost fan. However I didn't start watching the show until before season 5. I was lucky enough to find seasons 1-4 on youtube before they were taken off and was instantly sucked in after the episode "Walkabout." Ever since, I've followed the crazy adventures of the survivors of Flight 815 with some of the largest amounts of enthusiasm I have ever had for a television series.
Sadly, just as I'm entering into this show, it is ending (much like how I discovered Stargate Atlantis but I will explain later). So far season 6 has been a wild ride, with amazing twists and turns and unexpected deaths (some of which I was shocked by). But sadly it must end sometime, and on sunday the 23rd it will end. So in an attempt to look back I will write down some of my favorite moments from this season:
"LA X" was just an overall mindblower, introducing us to the flash-sideways and the fact that Locke was actually the Smoke Monster (or Man In Black).
"Sundown" was an awesome episode with some good Smokey mayhem!
"Ab Aeterno" gave us some of the most important answers to the mythos
"Happily Ever After" was basically The Constant part deux which was one of the best episodes of the entire series, plus this episode proved the flash-sideways weren't pointless.
"The Candidate" a heart stopping episode with a sad ending.
As for the finale, I'm sure it will be placed on the list when I watch it.
Now for the actual topic I wanted to write about. I said before that I'm a fan of Stargate. I became a fan when I had my wisdom teeth removed (Col. Shepard is right, it is the best time of your life) and I watched the last season of Atlantis. I've been hooked on the shows ever since. No doubt I wanted to see the show that started it all and I found Sg-1 to be just as fun (if not more fun) to watch. So you can understand that I was bummed when I learned Atlantis wasn't coming back for a 6th season. However, I found hope when Stargate Universe was announced after the Atlantis finale.
I was excited to see it ever since as it would be the first Stargate show I'd actually watch from the start. So far the show has kept me interested, but it isn't without it's faults.
It definitely isn't like its predecessors, with a darker tone and a surprisingly large lack of exploration even though the show is set on a ship that was built for EXPLORATION of the universe. It has been criticized as being like a show called "Battlestar Galactica" which I wouldn't know about, I actually liken it to being more of a LOST in space (Lost the show not the show Lost In Space). I find this description to be the most accurate, and it isn't a bad thing. Lost is a great show, and any show that tries to be like it (without being an obvious wannabe replacement like Flash Forward) but with a different twist is like anything else you find in entertainment (Avatar is a good example, as it is Dances With Wolves in space but it was effective. That's the point it was bringing a new twist onto an old formula.)
SGU is just like Lost in many ways: a large group of people find themselves stranded in a strange setting with little experience to guide them, these characters have their secrets and faults, and the place they're stranded on is even more mysterious than the people themselves. Again, this isn't a bad thing, in fact I love the similarities because it's a formula that works, it has potential to be a great story. But that's the problem with the show, it has the potential but never uses it. Most of the characters aboard the Destiny are interesting, but they are so neglected that we really only know a handful of the characters and those the show focuses on tend to be the ones I don't honestly care about. It's not that I don't like Col. Young or Lt. Scott, they are great guys who are fighting to keep order in a chaoitc situation, but there are so many others the show could focus on and develop. One example are the two scientists who work in the control room with Eli Wallace, I don't even remember their names and that is what bugs me. I should care about what their names are, instead we're treated to more drama about the power struggle with Young, Rush, and Wray. Wray is one character I have a hard time accepting (not because of her orientation I have no problem with the workings of her personal life) it's the fact that if she's not being a stereotypical IOA snob she's on the communication stones at home doing nothing to deepen her character (and don't even get me started on those stones, they've already caused enough trouble in the past. The Ori for example.) All I can remember from the two occasions she's been on earth is that she misses her family, much like everyone else on the friggin ship! It's hard to connect with someone who is either acting like a royal pain or trying to take over the ship. Again if the show would delve into her character more and explain why Wray is such a pain I could at least understand where she's coming from. I mean why was Ana Lucia such a stone cold bitch all the time? She lost her baby after being shot and all of the survivors who looked up to her were taken by the others or killed. I feel for Ana Lucia, I don't for Wray.
In fact the only characters I enjoy following are Eli and Rush. Eli is more than the comic relief he's the character who's new to the Stargate universe (much like the new viewers Syfy wants to attract to the show) I say he should either be the center of most episodes or at least kept in the loop in most of the stories because he's gonna have the same reaction as most of the viewers which is: what is that? Then someone can explain what this Stargate fact is without it being out of context. He's the normal dude in an abnormal situation, and I can feel for the guy every time he's asked to do something shady for either Rush or Young.
I like Rush because he's such a devious character (at least in the first half, he's been a little restrained recently) you never know what's going on in his head. I refer to him as the "Ben Linus of Stargate" or perhaps even John Locke, he's a man who knows his purpose is on the Destiny and he will play mindgames with you in order to acheive his goals. My favorite "Rush Moment" was when he tricked Telford into thinking the Destiny was going to blow up, it was a ploy that proved two things at once: 1. That Rush has no intention of going back to Earth and he will do anything to keep it that way. 2. The people on earth who are trying to save the Destiny crew hold themselves over the rest of the people stuck on board (shown when they turned off the stones to save their bony butts from the "explosion"). However, Rush has kinda cooled down since being left to die on that alien planet. The thought of being marooned can have that effect, but it's cost the show one of the driving forces behind the show.
Another problem with the show is the lack of exploration, which I mentioned before, which is often replaced with soap opera-ish drama. Again, sometimes this isn't a bad thing, but in a show called Stargate Universe where the show takes place on a ship exploring uncharted galaxies millions of lightyears from Earth, I expected some exploration. This is a fact that has been one of the problems in the show, even though the episodes that have been the best have been the ones where the stargate is used. The episodes "Time" and "Lost" are the ones I personally enjoyed the most, and they were episodes where the stargate was used the most. Not only that, but these episodes gave us some of the best character development than most episodes. "Time" gave us a plot with a time-loop from hell and with it came moments that made me care about these characters (even though I knew that the time loop would be the key to saving everyone I still felt for people when they died) Eli's recollection of his mother's condition and his realizing he was mortal were some of the most powerful conversations, it also gave Eli more depth as we now know why he's here: for his mother (which is better than when it was explained in the pilot episode). It also gave us a peek into Rush's motivation, he's seeking a way to ascend and cheat death. "Time" is one of my favorite episodes.
"Lost" gave us the chance to look into the life of one of the fan's favorite characters, Greer. Greer has been one character I've grown to enjoy because he doesn't take any crap from anyone. We knew from a previous episode that his father was a piece of work, but "Lost" actually took us into Greer's childhood and showed us what his life was like. It gave us so much information on this tough guy that I can now say he's yet another character I hope the show will follow even more as time goes on. Plus, the stargates were used in a fun way, and it showed us just how fantastic the effects are on the show. I liked the idea of "gate-hopping" to catch the Destiny, but the way they solved the cliffhanger in the next episode made me feel like any danger these people are faced with will work itself out in the next episode (much like Rush's being stranded by Young).
This is yet another problem with the show, the situations they put the characters in pretty much last an entire episode, when it would work so much better if they dragged it out over numerous episodes. This is a problem I had with the episode "Divided" where the civilians stage a coup to take over the ship. It felt rushed, there was hardly any hints that they were planning this for a while (I don't count the previous episode's conversation between Rush and Wray planning great build up to something dramatic) and by the end of the episode everyone was like: "well I guess we'll just forget that you people locked us up and threatened to kill us because we have to live together." It didn't make any sense to do this, and is only explained because the show likes to wrap up a plot by the end of the episode, which I see as a continuing problem that I hope will be fixed by Season 2. Again I make a reference to Lost, as it always ended on a "to be continued," you didn't see the whole "push the button every 108 minutes" plot solve itself in under 45 minutes, or the problem with the Others be solved in a couple of episodes. Sometimes it just makes sense to keep a plot in one episode, but with the stuff SGU has been dealing with that isn't the case. Rush and Young are still vying for control of the ship (I think, Rush hasn't done anything to get on Young's hackles lately, with good reason, but the intro still talks about "Young and Rush bumping heads") but that's been an ongoing plot since the pilot, so why couldn't this coup?
In retrospect, the show still seems like it's trying to find it's footing, which I can understand is difficult. It's following shows that were focused on adventure and had a light tone to it, but the fact of the matter is that it's still called Stargate. It's nice to have a show that's trying to mix it up a little, but if it's gonna stand out among SG-1 and Atlantis it has to find the right ballance of adventure and drama, which it has done in the past, but still tries to not be about space exploration and more about people. This isn't bad, but the problem is that people are boring unless there's something for them to react to, and I find it more interesting to see someone react to a fake cgi monster and why they react like they do to that monster than when they react to the fact that "she stole McDreamy from me" or "I'm pregnant with McSteamy's baby" (Yes, Col. Young is McSteamy who doesn't think that?)
All in all, I still enjoy the show regardless of its problems, but sometimes I can't help but worry about these problems. Last night's episode "Subversion" had one of these problems. It was near the beginning of the episode when Young asked Eli to leave him and Rush to talk about their plan. Eli wants to tell Young about the secrets they've uncovered in the database and throughout the episode I kept wanting to know just what the hell they found, I mean if Eli felt Young should know it must be very important like perhaps the reason why Franklin turned into steam after using the chair maybe? It was this little thing that I kept wondering about ever since it showed up, and I couldn't stop thinking about it as Rush and Young searched for answers to who was the spy.
Again, the ship holds so many interesting secrets, yet they're never mentioned. Which begs the question: If the Destiny is so full of ancient secrets that even the Lucian Alliance will try to cross the universe to get to it then just what the hell are those secrets? I honestly don't think its because the Alliance wants the Destiny's kinos or those little fixit robots. The FTL drive is so old that most hyperdrives probably could leave Destiny eating their space dust, and the stargate itself is so primitive it can't connect to all the stargates in any given galaxy. So just what the heck is it that is so imporatnt on board the Destiny? Perhaps they should've been focusing on... oh I don't know.... EXPLORING the ship and its secrets! Sheesh, it must be something important, because I think it would be easier to just leak information about the Lost City of Atlantis (You know, that ancient city ship that's parked in the San Fransisco bay?) than dial the ninth chevron to a rusting ship over a million lightyears from the Milky Way galaxy.
I'm just saying...
But anywho... that's what I feel about these two shows that I have come to enjoy. I hope to get back to you after the Lost series finale on Sunday.
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