Tag: Main character killed off

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7th Doctor Doctor Who Doctor Who Unbound

Death Comes To Time

Doctor Who: Death Comes To TimeThe planet Santiny is overrun by a massive invasion by a Canisian fleet. Even suicide runs don’t prevent the Canisians, as their leader, General Tannis, seems to be able to forsee every possible tactic. Almost as if in answer to the prayers of the survivors on Santiny, the TARDIS arrives, and the Doctor and his blue-skinned companion Antimony emerge to begin helping Santiny’s resistance movement. Meanwhile, Ace – planted in a strategic position by the Doctor – has been rescued by a Time Lord named Casmus, who begins training her for the next step in her own evolution. Elsewhere, a group of Time Lords called the Fraction, dedicated to interference in time on the side of good, begin falling one by one to a stealthy killer. Finally, the string of deaths draws the Doctor’s attention away from the Canisian problem, and also gets the attention of Casmus. On Gallifrey, Casmus accelerates Ace’s training, speeding her evolution into a new breed of Time Lord. Time is running out, as Tannis is also revealed to be a Time Lord who is using his conquests to disguise his identity. But will Ace learn to use her powers for good soon enough to confront Tannis, or will the Doctor – having witnessed Antimony’s death at the general’s hands – be forced to use his Time Lord powers to a degree that will not only kill Tannis but himself as well?

Order this CDwritten by Colin Meek
directed by Dan Freedman
music by Nick Romero

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Kevin Eldon (Antimony), John Sessions (General Tannis), Leonard Fenton (Casmus), Jon Culshaw (Golcrum / Senator Hawk / President), Jacqueline Pearce (Admiral Mettna), Stephen Fry (The Minister Of Chance), Britta Gartner (Senator Sala), Anthony Stewart Head (St. Valentine), Dave Hill (Nessican), Charlotte Palmer (Dr. Cain), Stephen Brody (Speedwell), Gareth Jones (Campion), Andrew McGibbon (Captain Carne), Michael Yale (Lieutenant Suneel), Peggy Batchelor (The Kingmaker), David Evans (Pilot), Robert Rietti (Premier Bedloe), Julienne Davis (Computer), Emma Ferguson (Megan), Huw Thomas (President of Santiny), Nick Romero (Major Bander / Prime Minister), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), David Soul (Bob)

Originally broadcast from July 13, 2001 to May 30, 2002

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Star Trek The Movies The Next Generation

Star Trek: Nemesis

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 56844.9: On the eve of the wedding of Commander Riker and Counselor Troi (and their reassignment as Riker is scheduled to take command of the U.S.S. Titan), the Enterprise investigates sensor readings indicating positronic activity, and on a distant world the disassembled body of a Soong-type android is found. When Data assembles his newfound “brother,” it identifies itself as B-4, and it turns out to be very primitive indeed – perhaps even an original prototype constructed before Lore. Picard receives new orders from Starfleet Command: Admiral Janeway is sending the Enterprise to begin peace talks with what appears to be a new Romulan government. But when he arrives at Romulus, Picard finds a young human – almost a mirror image of himself – has installed himself as the Romulan Praetor after killing the entire Romulan Senate in a coup. Picard is given shocking proof that Shinzon, the new Praetor, is a young clone of himself. Shinzon claims to have been the remnant of an abandoned project to replace Picard and infiltrate the Federation, but now – with the same drive, ambition and charisma as Picard possesses – he claims to want peace. Picard is concerned by the blood spilled by Shinzon’s coup, especially when Shinzon commands a gigantic battleship called the Scimitar. Troi suffers a telepathic intrusion from Shinzon’s Reman Viceroy, and Dr. Crusher discovers something else – thalaron radiation, which, when used as a weapon, completely disrupts living matter at a submolecular level. B-4 also appears to be part of whatever plot Shinzon is hatching, though Geordi and Data discover this in time to prevent the android from passing any sensitive information along to Shinzon. Shinzon kidnaps Picard and beams B-4 aboard the Scimitar – though he doesn’t realize until later that he has brought Data aboard instead. Data helps Picard escape after the captain learns of Shinzon’s true agenda: to topple not just the Romulans, but the Federation as well. And unless someone makes a supreme sacrifice to destroy it, Shinzon has a weapon more than adequate to the task.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by John Logan
story by John Logan & Rick Berman & Brent Spiner
directed by Stuart Baird
music by Jerry Goldsmith

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Riker), Brent Spiner (Data / B-4), LeVar Burton (Geordi), Michael Dorn (Worf), Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Troi), Tom Hardy (Shinzon), Ron Perlman (Viceroy), Shannon Cochran (Senator Tal’aura), Dina Meyer (Commander Donatra), Jude Ciccolella (Commander Suran), Alan Dale (Praetor Hiren), John Berg (Senator), Michael Owen (Helm Officer Branson), Kate Mulgrew (Admiral Kathryn Janeway), Robertson Dean (Reman Officer), David Ralphe (Commander), J. Patrick McCormack (Commander), Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan), Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Computer voice)

Notes: A scene introducing Commander Madden (played by Steven Culp), Riker’s replacement as the Enterprise’s first officer, was cut out of the film. Director Bryan Singer, Patrick Stewart’s boss in the X-Men films, plays an uncredited role as an Enterprise bridge officer. One of the Starfleet ships at sector 1045 is the U.S.S. Archer, according to the viewscreen display; this may or may not be a reference to Captain Archer of the 22nd century Enterprise. In a bit of a blooper, Picard looks at a photo of himself in a Kirk-era Starfleet cadet uniform, completely bald – though in the fifth season episode Violations, it was established that he had hair as recently as when he brought Jack Crusher’s body home.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Farscape The Miniseries

The Peacekeeper Wars Part 2

  • By Dave
  • October 18, 2004

FarscapeSikozu ignites the gas to begin the group’s escape, while a group of Luxan commandos led by Jothee – and with the advantage of modern stealth technology – picks up D’Argo and Chiana and launches an attack on the Scarran ship. During the escape, Crichton manages to transfer the fetus, successfully making Aeryn pregnant for the second time with the same child. On their way back to the water planet, Crichton concludes he’s out of options and takes the module to meet Einstein once more. This time, he wants all the restraints removed . . . now, he wants to know the secrets of wormhole weapons. Einstein agrees that it is time, even as he reminds Crichton that eventually, time ends.

On the water planet, Braca’s troops have tried to defend against Charrid attackers, but many of the Eidolon descendants have been killed. A small number remain, however, maybe even enough to do some good – if they can survive long enough. Stark transfers the ancient Eidolon’s knowledge to the leader of the surviving group. The Luxans and Moya’s crew prepare to join in the defense, and in the middle of the battle, Crichton and Aeryn’s child reveals he’s inherited his parents’ sense of timing. Mother and father finally say “I do” moments before baby makes three. The retreat from the water planet is not a bloodless one, as Scorpius discovers the identity of the Scarran spy and another of Moya’s crew perishes to ensure the others’ escape. Back on Moya, caught between the Scarrans and a Peacekeeper fleet led by Grayza, Crichton realizes the moment of truth has come: it is time to risk everything for one last opportunity for peace.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by David Kemper and Rockne S. O’Bannon
directed by Brian Henson
music by Guy Gross

Cast: Ben Browder (Commander John Crichton), Claudia Black (Officer Aeryn Sun), Anthony Simco (Ka D’Argo), Gigi Edgley (Chiana), Wayne Pygram (Scorpius), Lani Tupu (voice of Pilot), Paul Goddard (Stark), David Franklin (Captain Braca), Tammy McIntosh (Jool), Raelee Hill (Sikozu), Melissa Jaffer (Noranti), Rebecca Riggs (Commandant Grayza), Francesca Buller (Ahkna), Matt Newton (Jothee), Duncan Young (Staleek), John Bach (Einstein)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets

Part Two

Space Odyssey: Voyage To The PlanetsThe Jovian system proves to be a nearly insurmountable challenge for the Pegasus crew, as they endure more gravitational pull from Jupiter than anticipated by the engineers who designed the trajectory. Furthermore, a manned landing on Io nearly proves disastrous, and all the surface samples collected must be abandoned to save lives. An unmanned lander is sent to Europa before Pegasus departs for Saturn.

The most eagerly anticipated part of the Saturn flyby is another unmanned probe, this time dispatched to Titan, but its electrical systems fail prior to landing, and no samples are returned. But the worst setback at Saturn is the death of astronaut John Pearson from cancer caused by solar radiation exposure. Despite this tragic loss, the crew opts to extend their tour by three years to become the first humans to walk on Pluto. Their visit to a comet on its way back toward the sun is less successful, nearly destroying both Pegasus and its crew. If the surviving crew can repair the damage to the ship, there’s one last planetary stop on the mission plan: Earth.

written by Joe Ahearne
directed by Joe Ahearne
music by Don Davis

Voyage To The PlanetsCast: Martin McDougall (Tom Kirby), Rad Lazar (Yvan Grigorev), Joanne McQuinn (Zoë Lassard), Mark Dexter (John Pearson), Michelle Joseph (Nina Sulman), Mark Tandy (Alex Lloyd), Helene Mahieu (Claire Grainer), Colin Stinton (Flight Director), John Schwab (CAPCOM), Lourdes Faberes (FIDO), David Suchet (Narrator)

Notes: “Technical sets” were provided by Brick Price’s WonderWorks, a Los Angeles-based model and prop house founded in Voyage To The Planetsthe 1970s, specializing in accurate sets and models of actual spacecraft (though one of Price’s first gigs in the industry was to design props and build the exterior of the Enterprise for the abandoned late ‘70s Star Trek: Phase II television series, which eventually morphed into Star Trek: The Motion Picture). Though they’re used as portions of a newly-built spacecraft, existing sets of the International Space Station “corridor” and the window-filled cupola module were rented to the BBC for this production. The premise of Voyage To The Planets was later optioned for a more fanciful take on the subject matter for American television, eventually emerging as the much more fictional series Defying Gravity.

Categories
Enterprise Season 04 Star Trek

These Are The Voyages…

Star Trek: EnterpriseCaptain Archer is nervously preparing his speech for the ceremony marking the ratification of a full alliance between Earth, Andoria, Vulcan, the Tellarites and many other worlds. It has now been ten years since the Enterprise originally left spacedock, and after the ceremony, the ship is headed for its own final frontier – decommissioning. But Archer and his crew unexpectedly heed one last call to adventure when their old ally Shran, an Andorian commander who everyone believes to have died three years ago, contacts them. His daughter has been abducted by some shady business associates he accumulated after falling out of favor with the Andorian Imperial Guard, and he’s calling in old favors to rescue her. Despite protests from his crew about everything from the timing of this mission to his own personal safety, Archer is confident that the Enterprise crew can rescue Shran’s daughter without incident. Unfortunately, Archer has miscalculated, and the entire future of the United Federation of Planets is in peril unless a member of his crew makes a supreme sacrifice to save his captain. And in the future, struggling with an ethical dilemma precipitated by the reappearance of his own first commanding officer, Commander William T. Riker watches these decisive moments play out on a future Enterprise’s holodeck.

Order DVDswritten by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Jeffrey Combs (Shran), Jonathan Schmock (Alien), Solomon Burke Jr. (Ensign), Jef Ayres (Med Tech), Jasmine Anthony (Talla), Brent Spiner (voice of Lt. Commander Data), Majel Barrett (Computer voice), Mike Fincke (Engineer), Terry Virts (Engineer)

Notes: The script for These Are The Voyages… was actually written by executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga a year before the episode was produced and broadcast; in the event that the show had gotten cancelled before its fourth season, they considered it a fitting end for the series. The voices of William Shatner and Patrick Stewart were lifted from the introductions those actors recorded during the original broadcast run of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Two of the engineers working with Trip aboard the Enterprise were real-life astronauts: International Space Station veteran Mike Fincke and Terry Virts. Fincke reportedly kept up his Enterprise viewing habit even during his months in orbit.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Prequel Trilogy Star Wars

Revenge of the Sith

  • By Dave
  • May 18, 2005

Star WarsThe Clone Wars have come to the heart of the Republic. The Separatists, led by Count Dooku and the part-organic, part-droid General Grievous, have attacked the capital planet and kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Obi-Wan Kenobi, now a Jedi Master, and his former apprentice Anakin Skywalker launch a rescue mission, flying their starfighters into the landing bay of Grievous’s command ship. With the help of Anakin’s resourceful astromech droid R2-D2, the two Jedi find the Chancellor, but before they can escape they are confronted by Dooku – also known as the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus. Dooku manages to knock Obi-Wan unconscious before the younger, more powerful Knight disarms him. Palpatine urges Anakin to kill Dooku, to the Sith Lord’s apparent surprise. He hesitates for a moment, torn between Dooku’s apparent defenselessness and his own desire to make Dooku pay for his actions in starting the war. In the end, vengeance wins, and Dooku dies.

The rescuers’ efforts to leave the ship are temporarily frustrated by Grievous’s troops, and in the ensuing fight the general escapes even as his command ship falls apart under a heavy barrage of Republic fire. After a crash landing, Obi-Wan leaves to report to the Jedi Council while Anakin receives a hero’s welcome from senators including Alderaan’s Bail Organa. He receives another kind of welcome altogether from his secret wife, Senator Padme Amidala. She is pregnant, a pregnancy she has been hiding since Anakin left for the sieges on the Outer Rim months ago. The shocked Anakin declares this the happiest moment of his life, although he soon has reason to reconsider. In his dreams, Padme dies in childbirth. A shaken Anakin asks Yoda for counsel; the Jedi Master urges Anakin not to fear death, to let go of the things he is afraid to lose. It is the one piece of advice the young Jedi can not take.

With Grievous’s escape, the war continues. The Senate prepares to transfer more emergency power to the chancellor, who has stayed past the end of his term of office to deal with the crisis. The Jedi, including Obi-Wan, distrust the politician; Palpatine, in turn, fears the Jedi may be acting to subvert the Republic. He appoints Anakin as his special representative to the Council – an appointment the Council reluctantly accepts, although Anakin’s seat on the Council will not come with the title of Jedi Master. This wound to his pride is only inflamed when Obi-Wan tells him, out of session, that the Council wants him to report on Palpatine’s activities. Palpatine senses the pull between Anakin’s loyalties, and offers criticism of the Council’s shortsightedness in not trusting him. Perhaps the Jedi and the Sith are not so unlike after all, he muses – both seeking to maintain their power. But at least the Sith are willing to fully explore the potential of the Force – including the ability to stop people from dying.

Grievous has retreated to the Utapau system, where the Sith Lord Darth Sidious commands him to send the Separatist leaders to the lava world of Mustafar for their safety. The clone armies intercept Grievous’s location, and Palpatine shares the intelligence with Anakin, offering his hope that the Council will send him to defeat the general. Instead, the Council decides that a Master’s experience is necessary. With Yoda already on Kashykkk aiding the Wookiees, the assignment falls to Obi-Wan. He and Anakin wish each other a fond farewell, with Obi-Wan assuring Anakin that the Council will soon see what he does: that Anakin has become a greater Knight even than Obi-Wan, and deserves the rank of Master. Obi-Wan and clone troops led by Commander Cody engage Grievous’s forces on Utapau; when Cody reports this to Mace Windu, the Jedi sends Anakin to tell Palpatine, hoping to learn something of the chancellor’s intentions through his reaction.

The plan works, but not in the way anyone foresaw. Palpatine urges Anakin to learn about the Dark Side of the Force from him – to gain the only knowledge that can save Padme. Anakin realizes the truth – Palpatine is the Lord of the Sith the Jedi have sought. He rushes to tell Mace, who assembles a group of Jedi to arrest the chancellor and tells Anakin – whose conflict and confusion are palpable – to remain in the Council chambers. As Palpatine awaits the Jedi’s arrival, he telepathically reminds Anakin that if the Jedi kill him, all hope of saving Padme dies with him. Finally, Anakin can wait no longer. He takes a speeder and rushes to the Chancellor’s office. By the time he arrives, Palpatine has managed to kill each of the Jedi except Mace, who kicks Palpatine’s saber out of a window. Palpatine begs for Anakin’s help; when he hesitates, Palpatine attacks Mace with Force lightning. As Mace blocks it, the feedback seems to wither the Sith Lord, whose face shrivels into a pale, worn shadow of itself. Despite Sidious’s protests of weakness, Mace believes he is too dangerous to be kept alive – but Anakin can not face that loss. As Mace prepares to deliver the killing blow, Anakin slices off his hand, giving Sidious – powerful as ever – the opportunity to destroy the Jedi Master. A horrified Anakin declares that he will do anything to save Padme – even pledge himself to the Dark Lord. Sidious christens his new apprentice Darth Vader, and declares that the time has come to wipe out all of the Jedi – even Obi-Wan.

On Utapau, Obi-Wan succeeds in killing Grievous. He meets briefly with Cody and sets off to lead the troops to higher ground. But at that moment, the clone commander receives a transmission from Lord Sidious, implementing Order 66. Cody orders his men to shoot down Obi-Wan, who plunges to the water below. Across the galaxy, clone troopers turn on their Jedi generals. In the Jedi Temple, Vader leads the clone troopers in their assault, destroying even the Jedi younglings. Senator Organa discovers the catastrophe, and desperately brings his cruiser into space to try and warn off and rescue as many Jedi as he can. But other than Obi-Wan, only Yoda has escaped, thanks to the assistance of the Wookiee general Tarfful and Chewbacca. The pair of Jedi return to the Temple and discover the horrifying truth – the Chosen One of prophecy has joined the Sith.

In the Senate chamber, Organa joins Padme just in time to see Palpatine declare the Jedi enemies to be destroyed, and reorganize the Republic into the Galactic Empire – all to thunderous applause. Later, in her apartment, Obi-Wan reveals Anakin’s treachery and asks if she knows where he is. The disbelieving senator lies and says no, even though Anakin revealed to her that Palpatine was sending him to Mustafar to end the war. Lord Vader does so, by destroying all of the Separatist leaders and deactivating their droid armies. Padme flies to Mustafar, accompanied only by C-3PO, to confront her husband, and discovers to her horror that Obi-Wan was right. Vader eagerly describes how he will save her life with his newfound power, and eventually overthrow the Emperor so that he and Padme can rule the galaxy and set things right. Horrified, Padme begs him to come with her, to run away and hide while they still can, but Vader refuses to listen – especially when Obi-Wan appears, having stowed away in Padme’s ship. The enraged Vader uses the Force to choke his wife to unconsciousness before he and his former master draw their lightsabers. “I will do what I must,” says Obi-Wan. “You’ll try,” Vader replies . . . and the duel begins.

On Coruscant, Yoda brushes aside two of the Emperor’s royal guards to confront Sidious in his office. Sidious gains the upper hand, but Yoda will not give up so easily. Soon, their sabers clash and they quickly make their way into the Senate chambers, leaping from pod to pod in search of any advantage. Sidious sends Yoda falling to the bottom of the chamber, and the Jedi Master barely escapes from a mass of clone troopers with Bail Organa’s help. Having failed to destroy the Emperor, Yoda readies himself for a life in exile. Sidious orders his troops to search for Yoda, but his attention turns elsewhere. He orders a shuttle readied, for his senses tell him that Lord Vader is in danger.

On Mustafar, the Dark Lord’s concern seems misplaced. Vader is stronger than Obi-Wan, and attacks relentlessly. Obi-Wan manages to parry the blows, but can not gain the upper hand. The battle rages out of the command center, and soon the two combatants are floating down a river of lava, using any available platform or footing to stay out of the burning flow. As Vader presses the attack, Obi-Wan manages to leap from his platform onto higher ground. He warns Vader not to try to follow him; Vader warns Obi-Wan not to underestimate his power. The Jedi’s warning turns out to be more prescient; as Vader leaps to the river bank, Obi-Wan slices off both legs and Vader’s undamaged hand. Vader screams his hatred, while the heartbroken Jedi picks up Vader’s lightsaber and walks away – unable to look as Vader’s body catches fire and is consumed by flames.

Obi-Wan brings the still unconscious Padme to the medical facility at Polis Massa. Medical droids discover that while her body is physically fine, her spirit is fading – she has apparently lost the will to live. Obi-Wan stands by Padme as her twin children are born. She names then Luke and Leia; then with her final breath turns to Obi-Wan and insists that somewhere, there is still good in the heart of the man who was once Anakin Skywalker.

On Mustafar, Sidious finds Vader, barely alive, and brings him to Coruscant, where droids attach new mechanical limbs and place his body in a life support suit. As a skull-like mask is placed on Vader’s head, the sounds of mechanical breathing echo through the room. His first words ask of Padme’s fate; his master tells him that she is dead, at his hand. The Sith Lord’s grief and rage wreaks havoc on the chamber. Eventually he emerges to the bridge of an Imperial cruiser to stand beside Sidious and observe the initial stages of construction of an immense battle station.

As Padme is laid to rest on Naboo, Bail Organa and the two remaining Jedi plan their next move. Organa places C-3PO and R2-D2 in the care of Alderaan’s Captain Antilles, and orders that the protocol droid’s memory be wiped. He and his wife will adopt Leia. Obi-Wan will bring Luke to Tatooine, to live with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru while Obi-Wan watches over him. Yoda will head into exile until the time is right. Until that time, Yoda has made a discovery – the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, killed over a decade ago, has found a way to retain his identity even as he became one with the Force after his death. He will share that knowledge with Yoda, who will share it with Obi-Wan. And together, they will wait for the time when a new hope emerges for freedom and justice in the galaxy.

Order the DVDswritten by George Lucas
directed by George Lucas
music by John Williams

Cast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Natalie Portman (Padme Amidala), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious), Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa), Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), Christopher Lee (Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus), Frank Oz (voice of Yoda), Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Matthew Wood (voice of General Grievous), James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Firefly The Movie

Serenity

  • By Dave
  • September 30, 2005

FireflyAn Alliance Operative reviews Simon and River Tam’s escape from the experimental facility where River was modified. He highlights a particular comment by the lead scientist – that several members of the Alliance Parliament had seen River to observe her progress. Given River’s psychic ability, that means that she could possess vital secrets without even realizing it. This is a grave threat, and must be dealt with. For starters, the Operative kills the scientist. Then, he turns his attention to finding River.

On Serenity, Mal, Zoe, and Jayne prepare to take River out for a payroll-robbery job over Simon’s objections. Mal is in no mood to hear them; he reminds Simon that their increased need to avoid the Alliance has resulted in the crew passing up jobs, and work is hard to come by. Serenity is barely holding together and the crew needs to be paid. Now they have a job, River might be useful, and so she’s going. Mal turns out to be more right than he knows when River detects the Reavers coming early enough that the crew can complete the job, get a few people to safety in a bank vault, and barely make their own escape. But the potential danger is the last straw for Simon; once they collect their share of the bounty for the job, he and River will leave Serenity, just as Inara did months before.

Things don’t go nearly that smoothly, however. At the meeting to hand over the stolen payroll, River watches a broadcast that suddenly triggers some of her programming; she begins attacking everyone in the bar and does a stunning amount of damage. Simon is able to knock her out thanks to a programmed safe word, and Mal takes both of them back aboard Serenity. They learn from Mr. Universe, one of their communications contacts, that the broadcast had subliminal transmissions encoded in it. The Alliance deliberately went to a lot of trouble to trigger that outburst from River in order to find out where she was. And thanks to the security video from the bar, they do.

The Operative visits Inara at her temple and forces her to contact Mal and invite him to visit. It’s clear to Mal that the situation is a trap, but he decides to go anyway in order to assess the situation. Before he does, he gets some advice from Shepherd Book, who’s now living in a community called Haven. Once again, Book’s counsel – and former experience, whatever it may be – prove useful. Mal is barely able to escape, along with Inara, from the Operative, and Serenity manages to get away from the Alliance pursuit ships. But when they return to Haven, they find the place has been leveled and Book is dying. In fact, the Alliance has destroyed every place that Serenity has sought refuge, in an effort to keep them from disappearing. The Operative once again asks Mal to turn over River.

Instead, the captain is determined to find answers. Their only clue is Miranda, a word that River spoke right before her attack in the bar. She uses the ship computers to identify it as a planet on the outer edge of the solar system, one thought to be uninhabitable. The only way to get there is through Reaver space, so Mal orders the crew to disguise Serenity as a Reaver vessel, no matter how distasteful that may be. The crew reluctantly complies. When they arrive, they find a stable environment and multiple cities with advanced technology – and nothing but corpses that appear to have died peacefully. A weak signal beacon leads them to a recording made by an Alliance officer. She explains that most everyone on the planet died as a result of exposure to an experimental substance designed to make human beings less aggressive, more passive. On most of the population, it worked too well – they became so passive they simply stopped doing anything, including eating and breathing. But a small minority had their aggression hyped up to the maximum and began preying on everyone else – the Reavers. They were not settlers made mad by the edge of space. They were driven there by the Alliance.

Mal is determined to release the recording to the public, to let people know what the Alliance has been up to and weaken their hold. He sets out for Mr. Universe, hoping to broadcast to everyone in one fell swoop. Anticipating another trap laid by the Operative, Mal lures the Reavers to follow him, initiating a massive conflict between the Reavers and the Alliance. Wash manages to bring a severely-damaged Serenity to rest on the planet right before a Reaver attack impales him. The survivors plan a last stand to buy enough time for Mal to reach Mr. Universe and make the broadcast. But the Operative has already killed the broadcaster and destroyed his main facility. Mal’s last hope is a hidden backup facility . . . but he’ll need to survive one more face to face confrontation with the Operative while his crew survives an onslaught of Reavers and Alliance soldiers.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Joss Whedon
directed by Joss Whedon
music by David Newman

Cast: Nathon Fillion (Mal Reynolds), Gina Torres (Zoe), Adam Baldwin (Jayne Cobb), Alan Tudyk (Wash), Jewel Staite (Kaylee), Morena Baccarin (Inara), Summer Glau (River Tam), Sean Maher (Simon Tam), Ron Glass (Shepherd Book), David Krumholtz (Mr. Universe), Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Operative)

Notes: Mal mentions that River and Simon have been aboard Serenity for eight months.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 2

Two for the Road

  • By Dave
  • May 3, 2006

LostFlashback: Ana Lucia’s mother confronts her after the man who shot her is found dead. Ana Lucia decides to leave the force and gets a job in airport security. In the airport bar, she meets Jack’s father Christian, on his way to Australia. He hires Ana Lucia to help him with an unnamed job, and won’t tell her his name. The job turns out to be sitting in the car while Christian has an argument with a young blond woman, after which Ana Lucia drops him off at a bar – bumping into Sawyer in the process- and decides that it’s time to go home.

The Island: Ana Lucia tries to talk to Henry again, but he attacks her and nearly kills her before Locke intervenes. Jack and Kate bring Michael back to the bunker. When he regains consciousness, he tells them that he has been watching the Others, and knows where their camp is – and that it is lightly guarded. He plans to go back as soon as he has recovered. Ana Lucia decides that she needs a gun in order to settle the score with Henry, and finds a way to separate Sawyer from his pants long enough to get one. Hurley tries to arrange a picnic date with Libby, despite myriad logistical and navigational problems. Ana Lucia decides that she can not pull the trigger – but someone else in the hatch has no such compunctions.

Order the DVDswritten by Elizabeth Sarnoff & Christina M. Kim
directed by Paul Edwards
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: John Terry (Christian Shephard), Rachel Ticotin (Captain Teresa Cortez), Michael Emerson (Henry Gale), Gabrielle Fitzpatrick (Lindsey)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Season 3

Maelstrom

Battlestar GalacticaDisturbed by recurring nightmares about Leoben, the Cylon who held her captive on New Caprica, Starbuck visits an oracle, who unsettles her even further with a prediction that Leoben is coming to find her. After this encounter, Starbuck is reluctant to seek further help with her nightmares, even though Anders is willing to accompany her to see a psychiatrist. During fleet refueling operations, a routine recon flight becomes anything but when Starbuck spots a Cylon raider and pursues it, nearly getting herself killed in a storm in the planet’s atmosphere. But afterward, on Galactica, a review of her gun camera footage shows no Cylon ship, and both Starbuck and her superiors start to wonder if she’s fit to fly. Apollo, convinced that she’ll overcome her problems, puts her back in the pilot’s seat and even offers to be her wingman…but it could prove to be their last mission together.

written by Bradley Thompson & David Weddle
directed by Michael Nankin
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Alessandro Juliani (Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Michael Trucco (Sam Anders),
Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Dorothy Lyman (Socrata Thrace), Bodie Olmos (Hotdog), Leah Cairns (Racetrack), Don Thompson (Figurski), Sarah Ryan (Pollux), Georgia Craig (Oracle Drenn), Erika-Shaye Gair (Child Kara)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 3 Stargate Stargate Atlantis

Sunday

Stargate AtlantisA seemingly quiet day – declared a “day of rest” for the Atlantis crew – brings a mystery man into Dr. Weir’s life, pure pain to Sheppard as Ronon introduces him to Satedan sports, and absolutely no takers on riding shotgun with Dr. Beckett for a fishing trip. It also brings frustration to Rodney when two of his junior science officers stumble upon – and activate – an Ancient device of unknown function deep within the bowels of the city. Dr. Beckett clears both of them to return to duty, finding no indication that the device affected their health in any way. And before what started as a quiet day is out, it will bring death to several Atlantis crew members, including one of the most vital members of the team.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Martin Gero
directed by William Waring
music by Joel Goldsmith and Neil Acree

Guest Cast: Matthew Del Negro (Mike Branton), Kavan Smith (Major Lorne), David Nykl (Dr. Zelenka), Brenda James (Dr. Brown), Caroline Cave (Dr. Cole), Lara Gilchrist (Dr. Hewston), Daniel Bacon (Dr. Watson), Lindsay Collins (Dr. Biro), Chuck Campbell (Technician), Linda Ko (Nurse), Pearce Visser (Opponent), Brandy Heidrick (Pretty Marine)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Absolution

Doctor Who: AbsolutionAs the TARDIS is in mid-flight, Charley watches as C’rizz goes through his personal effects from the Divergent Universe, including an odd glowing vessel, which Charley insists on peering into – and something is released, at about the same time the time machine comes grinding to a halt. C’rizz and Charley rush to the console room, just in time to help the Doctor bring the TARDIS in for a rough landing – after which the ship seems to split apart, with C’rizz disappearing into the void. C’rizz finds himself in the company of a man called Aboresh, who begins to unlock abilities that he didn’t realize he had. The Doctor and Charley, in the meantime, find themselves among a superstitious people, though there seem to be hints of more advanced knowledge among some of the people there. Walled up in a compound surrounded by an energy barrier, this small society defies a creature called the Borarus, which constantly tries to break into the compound. The barrier stops it, but Aboresh – who lives on the outside with those cast out from the compound – now has a powerful new weapon at his disposal: C’rizz. As C’rizz’ powers increase exponentially, he may now be the greatest threat to the Doctor and Charley’s survival.

Order this CD written by Scott Alan Woodard
directed by Barnaby Edwards
music by Simon Robinson

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard), Conrad Westmaas (C’rizz), Robert Glenister (Aboresh), Christopher Villiers (Cacothis), Natalie Mendoza (Lolanthia), Tony Barton (Straith), Geoff Breton (Phelgreth)

Timeline: after Memory Lane and before The Girl Who Never Was

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Season 2 Torchwood

Exit Wounds

TorchwoodAfter escaping the bomb blast, Torchwood is helpless in the face of a promise of revenge from Captain John Hart. And Captain John has another ace up his sleeve: he’s found Jack’s brother Grey, alive and grown up. When Jack returns to the Torchwood hub, John kidnaps him and forces him to watch as he sets off a devastating series of huge explosions throughout Cardiff…and then John takes Jack back in time through the rift to Cardiff in 27 A.D., where Grey is waiting. Driven mad by the torment he endured after his older brother lost track of him, Grey is now seeking revenge, and buries Jack alive. Gwen mobilizes the rest of Torchwood and finds herself having to tell the city’s police what to do – as best she can. One of the explosions has cut off external power to the Turnmill nuclear power station, and Owen races to prevent a meltdown as the rest of the team returns to the hub. They find Captain John there, who explains that he was forced to do Grey’s bidding, and claims that he can locate Jack for them. But Grey isn’t finished with the rest of the team: he shoots Toshiko at point blank range and traps Gwen, Ianto and John in the underground cells normally reserved for Weevils. Without Toshiko’s technical advice, Owen finds himself trapped at the nuclear station with a radioactive disaster imminent. Whether or not Jack can be found and can save the day, his team will never be the same – nor will his relationship with his brother.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Chris Chibnall
directed by Ashley Way
music by Murray Gold and Ben Foster

Guest Cast: Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), James Marsters (Captain John Hart), Tom Price (PC Andy), Lachlan Nieboer (Gray), Paul Kasey (Weevil), Golda Rosheuvel (Dr. Angela Connolly), Syreeta Kumar (Nira Docherty), Cornelius Macarthy (Charles Gaskell), Amy Manson (Alice Guppy)

Notes: At last, Toshiko’s presence alongside the ninth Doctor in Aliens Of London is explained – apparently, Owen was to have been sent to investigate the “space pig,” but was hungover and didn’t answer his phone. Toshiko was sent to pose as a medic instead – not exactly her forte – which explains her jumpiness when the Doctor arrived on the scene.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 3 Torchwood

Children Of Earth: Day Four

TorchwoodThe full extent of Jack’s involvement in the original 1965 contact with the 456, and the resulting abductions, is revealed: he was sent to deliver a dozen children, including young Clement McDonald, to the 456, in exchange for the antidote to a virus with which the 456 had infected humanity. Clement escaped, unsuitable since he was on the cusp of puberty, but was left with a residual psychic link to the 456. Through Lois’ contact lens cameras, the team sees, hears and records deliberations among the Prime Minister and his cabinet, debating not how to save the children, but precisely which children should be handed over to meet the aliens’ demands. It is eventually decided that “lower class” children in “lessser” schools will be sacrificed. Jack vows to fight back, setting a plan into motion: Rhys will go into hiding and stand by for a signal to release the evidence gathered by Lois’ contact lens cameras to the public; since this act would topple the British government, it’s a last-ditch bargaining chip. Gwen and Clement will remain in Torchwood’s London warehouse and wait for the government shock troops to arrive, which they inevitably will after Ianto places a phone call to Gwen. Lois is instructed to deliver Torchwood’s terms to the Prime Minister directly, which she does just as Jack and Ianto arrive to begin a more aggressive form of negotiation with the 456. But while Jack may be able to bring Britain’s government to a stunned stand-still, he may not be persuasive enough to drive the 456 from Earth.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by John Fay
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Peter Capaldi (John Frobisher), Paul Copley (Clement McDonald), Nicholas Farrell (Brian Green), Susan Brown (Bridget Spears), Lucy Cohu (Alice Carter), Ian Gelder (Mr. Dekker), Cush Jumbo (Lois Habiba), Liz May Brice (Johnson), Colin McFarlane (General Pierce), Deborah Finlay (Denise Riley), Nicholas Briggs (Rick Yates), Patric Naiambana (Defense Secretary), Charles Abomeli (Colonel Oduya), Katy Wix (Rhiannon Davies), Rhodri Lewis (Johnny Davies), Hillary Maclean (Anna Frobisher), Sophie Hunter (Vanessa), Luke Perry (David Davies), Aimee Davies (Mica Davies), Bear McCausland (Steven Carter), Julia Joyce (Holly Frobisher), Madeleine Rakic-Platt (Lilly Frobisher), Simon Poland (456 voice), Gregory Ferguson (young Clem), Ben Loyd Holmes (Operative), Louise Minchin (Newsreader), Anthony Debaeck (French Newsreader), Lachele Carl (Trinity Wells)

Notes: Nicholas Briggs, seen on-screen as Rick Yates, has already provided Dalek, Auton, Cyberman and Judoon voices for the series, but is perhaps better known to Doctor Who fandom as the current producer of audio Doctor Who for Big Finish Productions; prior to that, Briggs was one of the leading figures in a number of fan-made direct-to-video releases in the 1990s. The fan videos and Big Finish may well have been factors in keeping Doctor Who alive for both fandom and the public at large, and arguably may have been vital stepping stones to the show’s return to TV and its swarm of spinoffs, including Torchwood. This is Briggs’ first on-screen appearance “in universe” for the BBC itself. Since Clement McDonald was unsuitable for the 456 due to the approach of adolescence, presumably the young lead characters of The Sarah Jane Adventures were also immune to the 456’s effects during this crisis. The location of the abandoned Torchwood One warehouse is narrowed down to Shoreditch – appropriately enough, a location close to the junkyard at 76 Totter’s Lane in which the TARDIS first landed when the first Doctor and Susan escaped Gallifrey. Given Torchwood’s original mandate – to track the Doctor’s activities – this location may or may not be mere coincidence.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
7th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

A Death In The Family

Doctor Who: A Death In The FamilyHis curiosity piqued by the mention of an artifact in the Forge’s vaults bearing the seal of Rassilon, the Doctor discreetly sticks around as UNIT shows up to clean up the Forge’s mess. Hex, still plagued by his doubts that the Doctor ever would have told him the truth about his mother, unwittingly encounters Nobody No One, in a regenerated form, verbally giving the Word Lord the means to take revenge on the Doctor. The Doctor perishes in his attempt to stop Nobody No One from destroying Earth, and Ace and Hex are left to pursue somewhat normal lives. But Hex’s idea of normal isn’t to wind up on an alien world when any mention of space or time travel is considered heresy; he does befriend a fellow time traveler, a woman named Evelyn who claims to have traveled with the Doctor in the past. Ace must learn to accept an even more terrifying fate: married life. Even though he appears to have been beaten by the Doctor, the Word Lord still waits for his chance to strike again, only to discover that the former companions of the Doctor have learned much from their mentor.

Order this CDwritten by Steven Hall
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Richard Fox & Lauren Yason

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Philip Olivier (Hex), Maggie Stables (Evelyn), Ian Reddington (Nobody No One), John Dorney (Henry / Corporal / Novice), Alison Thea-Skot (Ayl-San / Faber / Nurse), Andrew Dickens (Captain Stillwell / Applin / Tour Guide), Harriet Kershaw (Ann the Van / Story Speaker / Webster)

Timeline: for the Doctor, Ace and Hex, between Project: Destiny and Lurker’s At Sunlight’s Edge; for Evelyn, years after Thicker Than Water.

Notes: The Doctor implies that he has a calendar which tracks when his former companions die, but the eleventh Doctor’s shock at receiving word of the death of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (The Wedding Of River Song) would appear to be a hint that his calendar is incomplete.

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

To The Death

Doctor Who: To The DeathThe Doctor miraculously survives the destruction of the Dalek ship on which he’s being held prisoner, but his brief time among the Daleks leaves him riddled with guilt: the Dalek Time Controller, who he thought he had destroyed in the distant future, has traveled back in time to lead the Daleks’ second invasion of Earth. The Doctor learns that the Dalek Time Controller was sucked into the time vortex and had an eternity to observe history and concoct a plan to wipe out all non-Dalek life using a combination of potent viruses, spreading disease through the universe by using Earth as a mobile plague planet. The Doctor plans to take a nuclear bomb that the Monk has stashed away forward in time to correct his error and prevent this chain of events from happening, but Lucie insists on using the nuke in the present to wipe out the Dalek invasion force. For once, the Doctor is in no position to save the world, but he will witness the death of many dear friends and family members as they battle the Daleks without him.

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Andy Hardwick

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Sheridan Smith (Lucie Miller), Niky Wardley (Tamsin Drew), Graeme Garden (The Monk), Carole Ann Ford (Susan Campbell), Jake McGann (Alex Campbell), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks)

Timeline: between Lucie Miller and The Great War

Notes: This release wraps up the separate range of eighth Doctor audio stories that had been published by Big Finish since 2006, though the adventure would continue in a box set release also outside the main range, Dark Eyes, in 2012. The Doctor, then in his sixth incarnation (and traveling with the eighth Doctor’s former companion, Charley Pollard), encountered the Dalek Time Controller at Amethyst Station in Patient Zero. A sole Dalek plummeting through time (and driven insane as a result) would also prove to be a problem in the 2008 season finale The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End; Nicholas Briggs uses a similar voice treatment for both the Dalek Time Controller and Dalek Caan, which may indicate – without breaking Big Finish’s contractual obligation to avoid direct reference to the new series – that the two are intended to be the same character.

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green