FallCon 2007

I finally attended my first MCBA FallCon! Well, the second day of it anyway. Quite a different affair from the other conventions I've attended in the sense that it was more akin to a Dealer's Room on steroids. In fact, most of the same tables of stuff I've seen at CONvergence and MarsCon - but in addition to them were all the "guest creators." Comic book artists, writers, colorists, inkers - you name it.

Really neat seeing all the different artistic styles and self-published/underground comics that are out there. Boggles the mind really. The downside was that it was unseasonably hot that entire weekend, and when you add hundreds of humans' worth of body heat to a confined space? Thankfully no spontaneous combustions.

New Fall SciFi Lineup

I was actually looking forward to the new Fall lineup of shows as it seemed the major networks had a lot of science-fiction shows in them! Well, now that I've seen some of it I'm not so jazzed about it all. Here's my run-down of what I've seen so far:

Masters of Science Fiction: Doing teleplays of short stories by the greats (or "masters" as they call them) of science fiction. Basically like a rehash of the Outer Limits, in fact could easily be mistaken for an episode of that show. Since the tales are based on the "hard sci-fi" (which some people prefer to call "speculative fiction" to differentiate it from the laser-space-battle kind) means this show is going to have a hard time keeping an audience. It's "too intellectual" for your average viewer (just as the stories on which the episodes are based are likely too heady for most casual readers). It had a horrible time-slot, ABC only ordered six episodes and then cancelled the airing of two of them. I highly doubt we'll be seeing any more of this show.

Eureka: The "smartest little town in America" is back with more stories of Global Dynamics and basement mad scientist experiments gone awry. I wasn't too happy with how they made Henry into a vengeful bad guy at the end of last season, and seeing him be so duplicitous with Carter (who *thinks* Henry is his best friend) is just sort of sad. As I write this it's already had it's "season finale" (in that way Sci-Fi Channel likes to show us half the season and then put it on hiatus until next spring) - the so-called last episode was something of a let-down really, compared to last year anyway. There really wasn't any kind of "cliff-hanger" to keep you salivating for the show's return. Makes me wonder if it WILL return, or if this show just went out with a whimper?

Reaper: Ok, not technically "science fiction" but you can definitely tell Kevin Smith's got his hands in it. Seems very much like a story that could take place in the same Universe as "Dogma." In fact, if you liked "Dogma" or "Clerks" you'll probably like this show. Basic gist is that there's a guy who works at a hardware store, college dropout, loser (you know the type) and his parents sold his soul to the Devil - not entirely intentionally, the Devil (of course) tricked them and takes possession of their son's soul on his 21st birthday. Good news! You can legally get drunk! Bad news: you work for the Devil now. If you remember the serious show "Brimstone" the premise is similar, except this is a comedy. Our hapless hero is charged with the duty of retrieving souls/demons who've escaped from Hell. Now that Eureka is done I'll be able to watch this without time-shifting my viewing. Speaking of time-shifting. . .

Journeyman: Kind of like a new version of "Quantum Leap" except he's not inhabiting the bodies of other people and he doesn't have an Al to tell him why he's there in the past. There's no mechanism explained for how he's travelling through time (even he doesn't know) but he's not the only one doing it. It's not necessarily a bad show, but the main character's time trips seem just as confusing and pointless for the audience as for him. At least with Quantum Leap we knew Sam had a mission to "set right what once went wrong." What Journeyman's purpose is could be anyone's guess.

Flash Gordon: If you read my prior review of the premier episode you already know I hate it. I have avoided watching any more of it, though from the ads and the few masochists out there who ARE watching it, I gather it did improve a bit (or their standard dropped, not sure). Still no spaceships in it, and based on what I've read in interviews with the show's creators there won't be. Sad. Really f---ing sad.

Bionic Woman: The premier episode was actually kind of boring until about the third act, which was only salvaged thanks to a half-way decent bionic battle between Jamie Sommers and a previous attempt at making a bionic woman soldier, now gone bad of course. I suppose there are plenty of young pups out there who weren't even alive when the original show aired, so the entire premise of a "bionic woman" had to be set up again, but it was just redundant for those of us who clearly recall the original series. After two episodes now I've seen THREE actors from the new "Battlestar Galactica" slumming it on this show (it's shot at the same studio in Canada, btw). Frankly I'd rather see more BG than BW on the menu, and if any more refugees from the Cylon Attack turn up I'm going to call this show "Battlestar Bionica." It *might* end up being a hit nonetheless, however, because it appears to have no real competition in it's Wednesday timeslot (which is why I'll probably keep watching).

Stargate: Atlantis: Picking up literally right where they left off last season, we finally get some resolution with the Replicator attack on Atlantis. Samantha Carter crosses over into the Atlantis storyline right off the bat, but so far only in a supporting role (though I'd generally describe the show as having an ensemble cast anyway). They not only resolve thier issues with flying the city, finding a new planet to hide out on that is unknown to either the Replicators or the Wraith, it appears they have even conscripted some unwitting allies into their struggle to stop the Wraith threat. I'm sure this season will have it's share of "filler" episodes establishing the character of the new additions to the cast, but it also appears to be advancing the overall plot nicely as well. Hopefully they're just getting going!

Heroes: Saving the best for last, Hereos is back for it's second season. They seem to be having a bit of trouble thinking up new powers for the "mutants" and I'm not feeling quite so anxious about the next episode as I was last season, but so far it's good. Especially the story with Hiro in fuedal Japan. I find it hard to believe that the Bennetts are really hiding out considering they have done nothing to alter their appearances, and Suresh seems rather careless in his communications with Mr. Bennett when they discuss their plans to bring down the "Company" (which Suresh has now infiltrated, but my bet is they're on to him already). Peter, thankfully, is NOT dead. Somehow, though, he's turned up chained inside a shipping container in Ireland with no memory of who he is or that he's got super-powers (though he finds out the latter soon enough). Sub-plots include a "plague" that kills people with powers and a serial killer who is taking out the "old guard" of the Company, like Hiro's dad and Mother Petrelli. Perhaps not as strong a start as last year, and certainly not quite the suspense and mystery now that we know the score, but entertaining nonetheless.

New "Flash Gordon" Fizzles

When I first heard the announcement that they were going to do a "Flash Gordon" series I was excited. One of the books I read over and over when I was growing up was one my Dad had owned as a kid - "Flash Gordon On the Planet Mongo" published in 1934. On New Years Eve one of the local TV stations would run a marathon of Flash Gordon serials through the night and I'd stay up with my Dad and watch them. When the 1980's movie with the Queen soundtrack came out of course I had to see it. Yes it was campy, but also didn't stray too far from the source material. It's too bad Sci-Fi Channel decided to "re-imagine" this classic, because when they did they got it all wrong in every possible way.

Flash is a team player, whether it's on the Polo Grounds or Football field. His name might evoke notions of a marathon runner, but it's wrong for his idiom. Yes, Flash is supposed to be the All-American Boy who is good to his mother, but he shouldn't still be LIVING with her.

If they hadn't made a point of TELLING us Dale Arden and Flash had been a couple you'd have thought they were estranged siblings.

Dammit, I like my Ming's Merciless. Oh, and add Megalomaniacal too. Less like Donald Trump and more like Adolph Hitler. Hmm, my theory is that maybe "Ming the Merciless" was this Ming's granddad, but he's building a kinder, gentler Mongo with at least some mercy. Emperor Ming is supposed to be badass, he's the original "Grim Shady" Palpatine tried to emulate! Chaotica in the "Captain Proton" episodes of Voyager was able to get the character right in style if not in name. Why was this beyond the grasp of Sci-Fi's writers?

Dr. Zarkov is supposed to be a brilliant, if misunderstood, scientific genius. NOT the neurotic lab assistant of Flash's missing Dad (and don't even get me started on the tired old "Find His Father" plot device).

No Zeppelinesque rocket ships? Jeez, dangle them on obvious strings we can see in the shot, stick sparklers in their tailpipe - it's Flash F---ing Gordon, we'd be okay with it! Nope, they decide to go with dimensional gateways, but don't even make them look as nice as the one's from "Sliders," and Quinn Mallory made his with a remote control he modded in his basement! Just how low budget was this stinker, anyway?

And, oh yes, let's shoot yet another sci-fi show in the forests of Canada, pretend it's the United States, and then use bad special effects to connect it to a strange alien world or dimension. Don't you think "Stargate SG-1" beat that dead horse enough in 10 years on the air? I actually miss the days when sci-fi shows did all their location shoots in front of that same angled rock in the California desert. And, you know, if you HAVE to shoot in Canada, the X-Files did the New Mexico scenes of the "Anasazi" episodes in a quarry up there - couldn't THAT desolate backdrop be Mongo? Please?

Let's see, what else? Pacing of the story: slow to stalled. Writing: formulaic and generally terrible. Acting: wooden, with no two actors ever demonstrating on-screen chemistry. Oh, and lastly if Sci-Fi is going to insist on using the Queen theme song in all the ads, the least they could do is actually use it in the show, though Freddie Mercury would probably roll over in his grave and then rise seeking vengeance and succulent brains if they did. But who doesn't want a Zombie Mercury belting out an undead rendition of "Princes of the Universe?" It would certainly be light years more entertaining than this dreck.

Well, if I'm looking for a silver lining, I guess my Friday nights are still free, since there's clearly nothing to rush home and watch.

The End of Doctor Who

If you're going to do a three-part season finale it should be the strongest, bestest story of the whole season. It isn't. "Blink" remains the one really shiny episodes of this series. So what do we find out? Well, who the other of the "Last of the Time Lords" is (though it's not a big surprise, frankly), it's the Master. We possibly find out who the "Face of Bo" is/was/will be - unless it's just a coinicidence - it's Capt. Jack. We also FINALLY get to see Gallifrey (albeit in a flashback sequence).

Extra stupid stuff? The "Darth Vader funeral pyre" ending for the Master, but wait! Let's toss in the "Ming the Merciless pick the ring out of the ashes" ending as well! Clearly the ring holds a Timelord consciousness the same as the pocket watch did, and the woman's hand with the firely red fingernails is obviously the Master's wife - or will be the Master the next time we see him (her). It's not like the Master hasn't stolen a body or two before, right? But, bar none, the WORST part is the whole "Dobby Doctor" effect. Shame on you RTD for subjecting us to that!

The set-up for the next Christmas special is questionable as well. I sincerely hope this show gets back on track in Series 4 because I was - if you hadn't guessed - generally disappointed in with this years' offering.

DON'T BLINK! BLINK AND YOU'RE DEAD!

Ok, I'm just going to say it. This is the best episode I've seen so far in Series Three. The irony is that the Doctor is in very little of the episode (titled "Blink"), and most of the time he is - we only see him on a television screen. Because of the holiday specials they do each year, contractually it means they have to do one regular season episode that is a bit "light" on the Doctor and his companion, and I'm guessing that this must be that episode. Nonetheless, it was very well done! It is loosely based on a short story that appeared in the 2006 Doctor Who Annual, and having already read that story I can tell you this version is lightyears and away superior to the inspiration piece. Alright then, so here's the premise: Quantum creatures who feed on the "potential" life energy of beings, but if they are looked upon they "cease to exist" appearing only as stone statues. They're very lonely creatures too, because they can never look upon one another either. But if they aren't being observed, then they exist, and THAT is when they can get you! They "kill you nicely" (as the Doctor puts it) by sending you randomly back in time to live out your life in the past. Then they "feed" on the potential energy of the days you *should* have lived, but never got to live. They're hiding out at some condemned mansion, where everyone who goes there disappears - including the Doctor and Martha who end up sent back to 1969 while the TARDIS remains in 2007. There's some good temporal paradox/self-fulfilling stuff in the episode, and the way the statue/creatures are done is definitely spooky, and the epilogue may leave you never trusting a statue again. It's really too bad this season didn't seem to get it's sea-legs until episode TEN.

Bloody Human

This was a mid-season two-parter, with Part I being titled "Human Nature" and Part II titled "Family of Blood." The premise is that the Doctor and Martha are being chased by some aliens known as "The Family" who have a fairly limited lifespan, that is unless they can feed off the Doctor's Timelord energy. Despite their "mayfly-like" lifespans, they can apparently track the Doctor anywhere in time and space - so he and Martha need to hide somewhere and wait out the aliens' lifespans (which is only a couple months or so). However, the Doctor's biology is too unique and would allow them to easily find him no matter where he goes - so the Doctor uses a contraption he "never thought he'd have to use" to re-write his own biology to that of a normal human being. He stores his Timelord consciousness in a device that looks like a normal pocket watch. Then he and Martha hide out in 1914 Great Britain - with the Doctor playing school teacher, and Martha as a maid (having to endure the racism of the era as well). Problems arise because the Doctor doesn't remember who he is, falls in love with the school nurse, and Martha fears she's losing him. She's also pissed off that he's fallen in love with someone other than her. The Family does track them down, however, because the watch with the Doctor's conscience is stolen by a school boy who opens it. He's kinda psychic anyway, apparently, and can "hear" the Doctor speaking to him from the watch. The Family each steal the bodies of some locals, animate an army of scarecrows, and go about killing people until the Doctor accepts that he is not human, downloads his true self from the watch, and tricks The Family consequently blowing up their cloaked space ship. But not before the Doctor gets a glimpse of the life he might have had as a human - with a wife, kids, grandchildren, and a death in old age. YAWN! The Doctor deserves better than an average, boring, early 20th Century life! Thankfully he's never relegated to that mundane existence. The Family, however, realize that when the Doctor ran from them he wasn't doing so because he feared them. "He was being compassionate." Because the Doctor gives the members of the Family what they wanted - IMMORTALITY - just not how they wanted it: trapped in mirrors, eternally falling into the event horizon of a black hole, perpetual (but apparently conscious) stasis as a scarecrow - you know, that sort of thing. All in all not a terrible story, and it did revisit the Doctor's claim that he has little mercy left for such evil-doers.

Caution: "42" May Cause A Burning Sensation

This episode is evidence that my fears are being confirmed. I said before the start of Series 3 how I was concerned RTD was spreading himself too thinly over too many Doctor Who-related projects, and the likely outcome was they'd ALL suffer. I'm sorry, but this season just can't seem to get it's legs. When you title an episode of a BBC show "42" you should at least have a passing reference to the late, great Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe." Nope, the number in this case refers to a "real time" episode where they have 42 minutes to save their butts before the cargo frieghter spaceship they're on crashes into a star. While that may sound like an exciting set-up for a good show, this episode has its problems for sure. First of all it is WAY too similar to last season's spectacularly done "Impossible Planet/Satan Pit" two-parter, but is nowhere near as good. It's not only that this one doesn't have the time to do decent character development, they don't even bother to try. When the "possessed" guys start killing off the crew there's really no reason the audience should care whether any (or all) of them are killed off. As you might recall in last season's "firey" episode it was the Ood who got possessed by the entity. This time it was just a couple of space-faring idiot humans. Possessed by what, you ask? Well, the star they're falling into of course! Why didn't I see it before? OBVIOUSLY the star is really a living, sentient being. Jeez, think the writers were watching re-runs of "Andromeda" when they came up with that? Too bad for them "Andromeda" did the concept better (with Avatars). Saying "Andromeda" did something better is, well, um, that's not good. Then the Doctor gets possessed by the star shortly after realizing it's alive - that leads to a particular line the truly rubbed me the wrong way. The Doctor says he's scared. The Doctor isn't supposed to be afraid, he's the frickin' DOCTOR. Well, I'll just hope that this season will get better, but it's pretty clear to me that the quality of the show isn't up to the same level it was for Series One or Two.