Here there be spoilers if you haven’t seen last week’s episodes. (If you’re a LiveJournaloid, sorry ’bout this – on my WordPress blog, there’s a handy “more” button here that allows those who don’t want to be spoiled rotten. For some reason, LJ doesn’t translate this into a “cut.” Dunno why that doesn’t make the leap when everything else short of smilies and left or right justified graphics work just fine.)
Jericho: Interesting episode with a lot more teasing going on about several of our characters, but goddamn if that cliffhanger ending didn’t make me almost completely forget the 42 minutes that came before it. 😯 Uhhh…I’ll have to get back to you on this one. Next week: bedlam.
Lost: I hope this episode isn’t in the minority this season. In addition to all the obligatory plot points (and that weird-ass dream/vision sequence of Locke’s – turns out his “steam hut” was a real boon to him), there were many moments of sheer fall-down-funny humor, if you know the characters. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve become a try-my-damnedest-not-to-miss-an-episode Lost fan, but there are times when the characters seem a little like they’re pieces being pushed around on a chess board, or their main character traits seem to be regret and anguish. I liked the lighter moments in this episode, the little bits that show that the characters know each others’ quirks and are willing to push each others’ buttons a bit. I got an inordinately big laugh out of Charlie worrying about Locke punching himself, and Hurley’s discomfort at Desmond’s state of undress. The angst is realistic, yeah, but with as long as these folks have been together, a few laughs are too. Or they’d go nuts. Plotwise, I have to wonder what kind of rescue mission Locke & company can possibly mount without the resources of the (apparently smooshed) hatch. Desmond’s apparent clairvoyance is interesting, though it could become a cliche’ very quickly. But what if it’s an ability only to hear what people will say in the future, with no context of events? That would be much more interesting. And who the hell are Nikki and Paolo? Next week: “Benry” Gale is not a nice man. As if there was any doubt.
Battlestar Galactica: I think we knew, from the moment it appeared, that Galactica lore dictates that the Pegasus’ days were numbered from the moment we first saw it. Still, what an exit – one also ordained by the classic series, I might add (whose version of the Pegasus also went out driving right between a couple of basestars and taking them both out in the process). On the surface, I have a gut feeling we’ll have people accusing the writers of employing a Trek-like “Status Quo Miracle Reset Button,” though I think the preview for next week’s episode makes it very clear that this is not what has happened, not by a long shot. For the first time in what I think may be the entire run of the new Galactica, I’m worried about Tigh, rather than just being scared to death of what would happen if he wound up in command (as he did at the beginning of season 2). And I think Starbuck’s going to have some serious crap to work through with the head job that Leoben put her through with the kid. Oh, and that brings me neatly to one minor gripe, a bit of a reality check thing. The woman who turns out to be Kacey’s mom looks like she’s been living in the gutter, and yet the moment she opens her mouth, her teeth practically flare out the whole picture because they’re so sparkling white. Hey, I know nobody wants to see crappy teeth in their entertainment, but if we’re going to pursue the reality of the utterly loathesome life the humans were living under toaster rule on New Caprica, most of these folks would not have looked like that. Maybe it’s a really weird thing to focus on, but those blindingly white teeth took me right out of the story and chewed right through the fourth wall. Next week: let the Salem witch trials of space begin.
Doctor Who: Again, I’ve already said my piece, but I’m kinda interested to hear what you folks thought of this one. Next week: the return of the handle-heads.
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I didn’t like the destruction of the Pegasus in the original series because it allowed the status quo to continue. I remember, when I watched the episode when it was broadcast for the first time on TV, being very excited at the prospect of two battlestars in the fight. I also remember being very disappointed with the outcome of that storyline (I don’t remember if it was broadcast in two parts or if they showed the 2-hour episode in one night). They had a opportunity here to improve the show and make it much more interesting and entertaining. Instead they pissed it away by making the Pegasus “disappear”. The series was on its way to destruction on that episode (they had already jumped the shark with that crappy western episode). The disappearance of the Pegasus was pointless, arbitrary and makes you wonder why they bothered with that episode in the first place (except of course to add new characters, like Sheba, to the show).
So, the question is, did they jump the shark in this recent incarnation of Galactica by killing Pegasus? I would say no. This death served a purpose: the rescue of Galactica from certain destruction. This rescue, even without the destruction of the Pegasus would have weakened the colonial forces considerably anyway and the loss of the Pegasus was a good way to symbolize it.
Moving on to Doctor Who…
I agree that the reasons the robots used to stalk Madame Pompadour were lame. Using human beings as parts for repairing a space ship? Equally lame.
However, there were elements of the show I liked. The multiple windows into her world was cool and reminded me of the book The Mirror of Her Dreams by Steven R. Donaldson. When the Doctor removed the mask from the robot and we saw a plastic shell surrounding mechanical clockwork, I thought that was cool. The central story idea was pretty good but the writers did a poor job of supporting the main story with a credible setup.
Nevertheless I found the show entertaining.
(Um, sorry for being a jerk here, um, but you could always log into LJ and put a manual lj-cut in the blog like the rest of us slobs. ;))
Further thoughts upon watching Exodus Part 2 again (I think the last time I watched one episode of something over and over like this, it was the Lost finale Live Together, Die Alone, and before that, it was the first couple of new Doctor Who episodes with Chris Eccleston).
Was it just me, or was there kind of a surreal, heightened “stage-iness” to Eddie Olmos’ acting during the battle scenes? Some of it may have been him raising his voice over the deafening noise that was to be dubbed in later, but there was just something a little…odd. It didn’t seem like his normal style of portraying Adama. Then again, I can swallow it as a deliberate stylistic choice because this was no ordinary mission for Adama.
I’m not sure I can attach enough adjectives here to describe how insanely cool the “Galactica plummeting toward the ground” scenes were. Talk about desperate tactics. I loved also that when the ship vanished, the resulting vacuum stirred up one hell of a windstorm. That was just beautiful. For some reason that whole sequence stuck out in my mind, with a Jerry Springer-esque “OH NO YOU DI’N’T!!” directed at the commander of the ship. 😆
I know the Ellen-Tigh-as-sleeper-Cylon theory has been floating around since year 1, but I for one will feel extraordinarily cheated if that turns out to be the case. I’d much prefer to remember the character as a very flawed human being who had a knack for amazingly bad decision making. I actually kinda hate that she’s gone – for some reason that had more impact on me than killing off Tigh himself would have.
Also, for that split second as she closes her eyes right before saying “I’m ready to go now” on Colonial One, Mary McDonnell as Laura Roslin was officially the most beautiful woman in the world. Don’t ask me to explain that, ’cause I can’t, but I just wanted to get it on the record.
I’m not sure I can attach enough adjectives here to describe how insanely cool the “Galactica plummeting toward the ground†scenes were.
I reacted by standing up and shouting “HOLY CRAP!!!!!” So add that to your list of adjectives. 😀
I think I speak for a lot of Galactica viewers when I say that we probably could guess what would happen in this episode, but not what would happen. Who would’ve thoght the Cylons were so good at bluffing? I refer to how Leoben played Starbuck like a violin. My jaw practically dropped to the floor when the kid’s revelation took place.
As for the Doctor Who episode, when I saw Madame de Pompedor’s name on the derelict ship one thing ran through my mind: “Citizen Kane”. When you stop and think about it they look rather similar. Both jump in an out of a certain person’s life and both used a linking device as the jumping-off point. Of course Orson Welles never used a derelict spaceship for his story.
Y’know, I hadn’t made the Citizen Kane connection in my head. You’re right on the money there, give or take a derelict spaceship.
The thing about the kid was just a supreme mindf**k. I guess it’s a good thing Starbuck didn’t decide to off the demon spawn at an earlier point and then find out about the kid’s true identity…actually, come to think of it, I haven’t been listening to the BSG podcasts this season yet, but I wouldn’t be too stunned to discover that maybe something along those lines might’ve been the original plan.