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failsafeman
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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:11 pm 
 

darkeningday wrote:
Chakotay was a borderline racist caricature of a Native American (which became most evident during his "personal story" episodes--the 'vision quest' shit was just embarrassing); still, I thought he was a great sounding board for Janeway's Shakespearean soliloquies and a source of differing yet always rational perspectives. And, at the very least, you can't say he wasn't a consistent character, eh?

Still though, that Native American stuff was his culture, not his actual character - compare that to Worf, who was a Klingon and took Klingon culture very seriously, yet was much more than just a regular old Klingon.

darkeningday wrote:
Tuvok was a Vulcan. Vulcans are hard to write for, harder to act and hardest to identify with. I adore everything about the character, and I can't help but think that people who don't just simply don't get Star Trek (then again, I don't get Klingons, so maybe I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about.)

Sure Tuvok was a Vulcan, but so was Spock. Hell, so was what's-his-name in engineering on Voyager, who wanted to bang B'Elanna really bad in that one episode. That episode was a rare example of a realistic problem that would be unique to Voyager; Vulcans who go into heat in the Alpha Quadrant would presumably just be allowed to go back to Vulcan. Even that guy had a lot more character than Tuvok. The thing about Vulcans and Klingons is, they're essentially meant to represent two opposing sides of humanity; the more advanced, rational, calculating side, and the more primitive (but not necessarily inferior), passionate, feeling side. Both are shown to have their advantages, and both are successful in their own way, yet both have flaws, which over the course of the various series it usually falls to humans to mitigate. Sort of a superego-ego-id kind of thing.

darkeningday wrote:
I've seen these criticisms again and again across Trekdom and I just think that this version of Voyager would've been crushed by the weight of its own pretentiousness as, in my opinion, DS9 was. Voyager was a series that picked up the torch of TNG in style and substance; and yeah, it can occasionally come off as kind of trite and even disposable, but at least it doesn't cram its head so far up its own ass (with endless will-they-won't-they/on-off relationships, superficial takes on Hinduism and lame war stories done thousands of times better elsewhere--see: Space Above and Beyond) that you basically ask yourself "is this even Star Trek."

Look, you keep bringing up the "endless will-they-won't-they/on-off relationships," but having watched the series recently, there are literally maybe 5 episodes max out of nearly 200 that actually deal with relationships. Kira and Odo get together after maybe 2-3 episodes, Rom and Leeta get together after like one. Those are the only two; Sisko and Kasidy get along fine for the most part, Worf and Dax get along fine too. Also I really don't think DS9 was ever crushed under the weight of its own pretentiousness; I really appreciate its willingness to deal with very serious issues, and wipe away a bit of the cheesy Star Trek utopia veneer. For example I recently watched the episode in S7 where Nog deals with PTSD after his leg gets blown off; I don't care how utopic your society is, if there's a war, there's going to be PTSD, and soldiers are going to have to deal with it. It was a very sensitive and thoughtful portrayal of his withdrawal from the world, his friends' frustration and with him and inability to understand why he can't just get better right away, and his eventual return to duty. Of course the process was compressed for the benefit of TV, but still, it was wonderfully done. Also, Hinduism? If anything, Bajorans were space Jews, but even that doesn't really stand up to much scrutiny.

darkeningday wrote:
And for the record, there was a huge, multi-episode story arc involving Maquis members (and even occasionally some of the main cast) attempting to take control of the ship. And it was shit, and the show became infinitely better when it turned into Big Happy Family vs. The Monster(s) of the Week.

That's the thing though, they already DID Big Happy Family vs. The Monster(s) of the Week, and it was called Star Trek: The Next Generation. And that Big Happy Family was way better than Voyager's. What was the point of sending them to the Delta Quadrant at all if they weren't really going to take advantage of that setup? What was the point of repeating TNG if TNG already did it much better? I mean I'd certainly take Voyager over nothing, but it should have tried a lot harder to find its own unique voice.

darkeningday wrote:
the awful, awful religious shit (which turned the spectacularly complex Gul Dukat into a fucking comic book character) just became too oppressive as the show went on.

What? The religious stuff was actually some of the better parts - not the religion itself, but the whole power struggle between Kai Winn and Sisko over religious control was fantastic. Power-hungry Kai Winn (played by Louise Fletcher, who won a fucking Academy Award) was just perfect as a sort-of villain - she and Sisko are always polite to each other, but the mutual dislike is always bubbling just under the surface.

Also Gul Dukat absolutely wasn't turned into a comic book character - the entire character is based around the conflict between his egotism and his guilt at having been a leader in the brutal occupation of Bajor; his egotism won't let him admit that he did wrong so he can seek forgiveness and move on, but his guilt won't leave him alone either, so he continually seeks validation from the Bajorans for his actions, usually through the mouthpiece of Kira. He has this classic paternalistic colonialist view toward the Bajorans, and literally can't understand why they wouldn't want to be occupied by a superior race like the Cardassians, stating multiple times that he viewed them like his children - yet at the same time they rejected him, which in his egotism he just can't stand. He's a classic narcissist who can't stand not being liked. He has tons of rationalizations for his actions during the occupation - he didn't start it and only began administrating it toward the very end, he was only enacting the policy, not creating it, casualties dropped dramatically during his tenure as administrator compared to that of previous administrators, etc. Of course, he never does get that validation from Kira, so over time his resentment of that is transferred to Sisko and, by extension, the Prophets he serves - after all, it's Sisko and the Prophets who fucked up the Dominion invasion of the Alpha Quadrant during what was supposed to be his biggest victory, it's Sisko who led the Bajorans astray, if only Sisko were gone then the Bajorans would come back to him. So, it's very logical that he turns to the Pah Wraiths - his natural ally against Sisko and the Prophets. There's an episode in S7 where he founds a Pah Wraith cult on Empok Nor, which is extremely good. He kidnaps Kira to show her that he's changed, he's not evil anymore; yet he's surrounded himself with grateful Bajoran worshippers who he calls his children, and over whom he has great power, who presumably do the real work of providing food and comfort for the community while he lies around praying and sermonizing and banging the women, almost in miniature of the Occupation. But still he wants that ever-elusive validation from Kira herself. Of course, his own egotism ends up sabotaging the whole thing once again, showing that he really hasn't changed at all - same old guilt, same old egotism, same old Dukat. It's really a great episode.

darkeningday wrote:
Regardless of our thoughts on each of the Treks, can we all agree at least that anything from Trek is way, way better than anything from Bablyon 5? :P

Honestly I can't, but only because I haven't seen Babylon 5 in like 10 years. I remember only the vaguest things about it.


Nahsil wrote:
I hated the Kira/Odo melodrama even when I was in middle school and had no taste whatsoever. Yuck.

darkeningday wrote:
The Leeta/Rom one was almost as bad. But not quite.

But almost.

EWWW RELATIONSHIPS

What are you guys, 12? They seriously weren't that bad, and the other series absolutely had their share of relationshippy episodes too. Next you'll be whining about how those episodes gave you cooties.
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Poisonfume
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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2013 2:18 pm 
 

I know I'm a little behind here (story of my life) but I'm really mad that they did away with Janice so early on in TOS. I loved the sexual tension between her and Kirk and much preferred the captain whose duty left no room for love to the captain that sleeps with every female in space.
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Nahsil
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PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 12:28 am 
 

I was wondering where you got Hinduism too. ?
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darkeningday
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PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 2:29 am 
 

I know this will sound hollow and meaningless now, but I truly meant Judaism. The rest of my post was swallowed up by a memory error--I'm nerd raging way too hard to try to salvage what I can remember of it now. Sorry for the delayed response.
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Nahsil
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PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 2:31 am 
 

It happens :P
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darkeningday
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PostPosted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:08 am 
 

failsafeman wrote:
darkeningday wrote:
Chakotay was a borderline racist caricature of a Native American (which became most evident during his "personal story" episodes--the 'vision quest' shit was just embarrassing); still, I thought he was a great sounding board for Janeway's Shakespearean soliloquies and a source of differing yet always rational perspectives. And, at the very least, you can't say he wasn't a consistent character, eh?

Still though, that Native American stuff was his culture, not his actual character - compare that to Worf, who was a Klingon and took Klingon culture very seriously, yet was much more than just a regular old Klingon.

I'm not really sure that's a fair comparison because Klingons have been a foundational component to Star Trek lore (since, what, the very first season of TOS?), so there's an established baseline against which Worf can be easily contrasted. Outside of an obscenely racist episode of the original series, there was no set culture for not only Chakotay's (fictional) tribe but for any Native Americans in all of Trek. It's an awful lot more difficult to show how one character is "special" if there's no way to highlight what exactly makes him so special.

Where Chakotay really came into his own wasn't through his heritage but through his willingness to bend the rules when he thought it was in the best interest of the crew; with Janeway, a single deviation from Starfleet protocol/The PD would cause a massive embolism in her brain; Chakotay, on the hand, regularly took on a more pragmatic, objective point of view (which was probably why he left Starfleet to join the Maquis in the first place), and not only often objected but would occasionally even downright defy Janeway's direct command. This behavior can be most easily observed in episodes like Scorpion and Equinox (two truly fantastic episodes, btw), but it comes up in some form another in most episodes. It was this tense-yet-respectful interplay between captain and first officer that made Chakotay unique... or at least, not a complete write-off.

failsafeman wrote:
darkeningday wrote:
Tuvok was a Vulcan. Vulcans are hard to write for, harder to act and hardest to identify with. I adore everything about the character, and I can't help but think that people who don't just simply don't get Star Trek (then again, I don't get Klingons, so maybe I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about.)

Sure Tuvok was a Vulcan, but so was Spock.

No, Spock was half human.
failsafeman wrote:
Hell, so was what's-his-name in engineering on Voyager, who wanted to bang B'Elanna really bad in that one episode. That episode was a rare example of a realistic problem that would be unique to Voyager; Vulcans who go into heat in the Alpha Quadrant would presumably just be allowed to go back to Vulcan. Even that guy had a lot more character than Tuvok.

Uh, that episode, Blood Fever, was horrendous, as was the character of Vorik (sprung from the mind of that hack Michael Pill[age]). Tuvok's experience with the Pan Farr in the season seven corker "Body and Soul," on the other hand, was nuanced and moving: Tuvok reluctantly accepts the help of Tom Paris in creating a realistic holographic approximation of his wife so he can stave off death for at least another seven years; it may have only been a B-plot, but the bond formed between Tuvok and Paris--which showed a deepened sense of respect between the two yet still kept it wisely distant--was remarkable and touching and never once was it cheapened by melodramatic dialog or overacting.

I'll finish this tomorrow.

Side note, FSM: how much Enterprise have you seen, and how would you rank it against the other Treks?

EDIT: SPRUNG, not spurned. I'm an idiot.
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Last edited by darkeningday on Mon May 20, 2013 5:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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volutetheswarth
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PostPosted: Sat May 18, 2013 7:24 am 
 

Zombieland television series was cancelled just after one episode :-D We can all rest a little easier now.

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Subrick
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PostPosted: Sat May 18, 2013 10:47 am 
 

One of creators of the show blamed the fans hating it for it being cancelled.

As it should have been. It looked like total dogshit.
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Disinterested Handjob
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2013 12:41 am 
 

Series finale of Doctor Who today. Hmm...
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Under_Starmere
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:01 am 
 

Been watching lots of Homeland for the last week or so. Pretty great show so far, glad I decided to pick it up. Playing the role of Brody seems like kind of an emotionally exhausting proposition.
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MacMoney
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2013 4:51 am 
 

Subrick wrote:
One of creators of the show blamed the fans hating it for it being cancelled.

As it should have been. It looked like total dogshit.


...So just like the movie, huh?

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Morrigan
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:18 pm 
 

Under_Starmere wrote:
Been watching lots of Homeland for the last week or so. Pretty great show so far, glad I decided to pick it up. Playing the role of Brody seems like kind of an emotionally exhausting proposition.

Good pick. Homeland is one of the better shows on TV, by far. Season 2 isn't as strong as season 1, but the S2 finale is pretty damn awesome and ballsy, so it's still very worth watching.

Though honestly, I think the character of Brody is just not remotely believable, that's probably the show's biggest flaw IMO.
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Under_Starmere
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:55 pm 
 

Morrigan wrote:
Though honestly, I think the character of Brody is just not remotely believable, that's probably the show's biggest flaw IMO.


Hmm, do you mean just conceptually the character doesn't seem believable, or more the way he's portrayed/written?

In other news, I think I'm abandoning Hannibal. I haven't watched the last two episodes and I feel no desire to catch up with the show. Meh, maybe I'll check it out again some rainy weekend a few months from now when I can just do it all in one go.
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Calusari
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 4:50 am 
 

Bursting in on conversations after a long time. As you do. Don't mind me.

darkeningday wrote:
Uh, that episode, Blood Fever, was horrendous, as was the character of Vorik (spurned from the mind of that hack Michael Pill[age]). Tuvok's experience with the Pan Farr in the season seven corker "Body and Soul," on the other hand, was nuanced and moving: Tuvok reluctantly accepts the help of Tom Paris in creating a realistic holographic approximation of his wife so he can stave off death for at least another seven years; it may have only been a B-plot, but the bond formed between Tuvok and Paris--which showed a deepened sense of respect between the two yet still kept it wisely distant--was remarkable and touching and never once was it cheapened by melodramatic dialog or overacting.

I've been re-watching quite a bit of Voyager late, and I must say that I agree with your assessment of Chakotay and - especially - Tuvok; the latter is possibly one of my favourite Star Trek characters now. I never quite noticed during previous engagements with the series just how movingly and subtly his character is written, which is quite a feat considering just how close to parody/stereotype a Vulcan character could be. That is, as you say, why the character of Vorik is so very jarring - he is what Tuvok would have been in the hands of lesser writers. Tuvok's interaction with children in various episodes is also, I find, quite poignant and well-drawn; I love how his backstory is very slowly filled in over several seasons, without the overuse of flashbacks or other cheap devices.

Disinterested Handjob wrote:
Series finale of Doctor Who today. Hmm...


Oooh... What do people think of this?

Spoiler: show
I was quite happy with this episode, especially in comparison to the rest of the season - which I found tiring and lacking in depth; the Clara storyline just got on my nerves, and was rather badly written in my view. While the explanation of her existence/previous appearances was not as entirely surprising as Moffat likes to claim, it was well-executed, and not as overly sentimental as I'd feared. And, I must say, I absolutely loved the incorporation of the River Song narrative; that's always been one of my favourite Who plot-lines, and it was referred to in such a devastating way here (it really resonated with previous seasons, and, I think, would have appeased a lot of Whovians who weren't satisfied with the latest season.

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volutetheswarth
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 6:38 am 
 

MacMoney wrote:
Subrick wrote:
One of creators of the show blamed the fans hating it for it being cancelled.
As it should have been. It looked like total dogshit.

...So just like the movie, huh?

You said that before. It's not funny this time either.
Under_Starmere wrote:
In other news, I think I'm abandoning Hannibal. I haven't watched the last two episodes and I feel no desire to catch up with the show. Meh, maybe I'll check it out again some rainy weekend a few months from now when I can just do it all in one go.

Same here. I watched the first three episodes and then skipped to 5 in hopes of change, I gave it one more shot with 8 but it's too predictable and every episode seems to unravel like the last. Same premise, different grotesque killer, same progression, any other show and I could excuse it but this show is meant to be about Hannibal, not watching him as some self help guru. The fact that Hannibal is never looked upon and welcomed with open arms by the FBI is beyond far fetched.

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MacMoney
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 8:19 am 
 

volutetheswarth wrote:
MacMoney wrote:
...So just like the movie, huh?

You said that before. It's not funny this time either.


The truth rarely is.

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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 10:10 am 
 

Not yet made it to the Doctor Who finale yet, but I'm finding it harder and harder to keep watching. Some of these new episodes aren't bad, but they're just so rarely exciting or fun anymore.
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Smoking_Gnu
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 10:47 am 
 

Empyreal wrote:
Not yet made it to the Doctor Who finale yet, but I'm finding it harder and harder to keep watching. Some of these new episodes aren't bad, but they're just so rarely exciting or fun anymore.


Interesting to hear that...My gf just got me started on DW (a long-time favorite of hers) and we're approaching the end of the second Tennant season. Loving everything so far, but I'm interested in seeing what I think of the new episodes when we finally get there.
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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 11:04 am 
 

Season 5, the first one with Matt Smith, is pretty much all gold. Parts of that one are incredibly brilliant surrealist sort of sci fi/fantasy, purely relying on feelings and atmosphere. After that the show has sort of gone downhill unfortunately...
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Kveldulfr
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 1:24 pm 
 

There's someone here watching Da Vinci's Demons? I find it pretty interesting! Da Vinci's modern look aside, the show has a bit of everything, "sci-fi", action, politics, historical characters, humor...
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Metantoine
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 1:41 pm 
 

Empyreal wrote:
Season 5, the first one with Matt Smith, is pretty much all gold. Parts of that one are incredibly brilliant surrealist sort of sci fi/fantasy, purely relying on feelings and atmosphere. After that the show has sort of gone downhill unfortunately...

I liked the first half of the last season so I was excited for the 2nd half and unfortunately, it was pretty shitty. I stopped the submarine episode with Liam Cunningham because I was so boooooored.

I've been watching Sherlock BBC, I wanted to since a while and the discussion in this thread forced my hand. I really really enjoy the series. I <3 Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman and they're both amazing in it. I only need to watch the 3rd episode of season 2 and I'll have to wait like everyone else for the next one :( My favorite episode is probably the one with Irene Adler!
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ChineseDownhill
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 2:57 pm 
 

I'm kind of excited for the Bates Motel season finale tonight. That show has done a much better job of holding my interest than The Following managed to.

I hate when my onscreen cable box guide does stuff like this, though. Here's its entire description of tonight's plot: "Norman takes Emma to a dance." Really? The main characters have spent the season dealing with

Spoiler: show
rape, killing, sexual slavery, drug trafficking, police corruption


and that's how you summarize the finale? I guess they just didn't want to give away anything major.

Whatever, I'm sure the episode will deliver. I wonder if

Spoiler: show
Jere Burns' character will get whacked, or survive and continue to be a major antagonist in season 2.
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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 4:29 pm 
 

Metantoine wrote:
Empyreal wrote:
Season 5, the first one with Matt Smith, is pretty much all gold. Parts of that one are incredibly brilliant surrealist sort of sci fi/fantasy, purely relying on feelings and atmosphere. After that the show has sort of gone downhill unfortunately...

I liked the first half of the last season so I was excited for the 2nd half and unfortunately, it was pretty shitty. I stopped the submarine episode with Liam Cunningham because I was so boooooored.


Yeah, the first half of season 7 was pretty damn good, and reminded me of why I liked the show in the first place, with the adventurousness and the cool, colorful plots. And Rory and Amy were great. But the other half is just pretty dull so far, the submarine episode being the worst one so far. I want to see the finale just because I know people will spoil it for me otherwise, so I might as well. But I may not continue watching after this.
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Metantoine
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 4:38 pm 
 

The Christmas special was pretty damn boring too. Yeah, I might continue but only because of Jenna-Louise Coleman! Who's the girlfriend of Robb Stark!
Spoiler: show
I guess he'll have more time to spend with her since he'll be out of Game of Thrones soon!
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iamntbatman
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 4:39 pm 
 

All of this rabid Dr. Who fandom had me sort of intrigued so I watched the beginning of the 2005 revival season and just found it supremely boring. Not offensively bad or anything, just not interesting enough for me to keep watching.

Much more offensive is the incredibly obnoxious fandom. I can't say I personally know any bronies, but I'd be willing to bet that Whovians give them a run for their money. It's like being a fan of the show means you've automatically got to repost every goddamn TARDIS or Dalek meme you find on every piece of the internet you inhabit. BLerhghfslkdfgjsldfkglkjre
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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 4:41 pm 
 

Yeah the fans are pretty annoying. Easy to get turned off the show because of it really, and sometimes it's just not good - i.e. the first ep of the new show pretty much sucks, batman. :p But when it's on, it's really fun. Nothing life-affirming, but when it's good it's very enjoyable.
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Morrigan
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 4:53 pm 
 

Under_Starmere wrote:
Hmm, do you mean just conceptually the character doesn't seem believable, or more the way he's portrayed/written?
Both, I'd say. I still enjoy the character but I kind of have to force myself to believe he could be plausible.

So Orphan Black is pretty damn good so far (I'm caught up with the season). I was afraid it'd have some stupid facepalm moments like so much urban sci-fi/CT-like TV series have (FlashForward, the Event, crap like that) but so far it's solid, and the lead actress is phenomenal. Glad it's been renewed for another season!
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darkeningday
xXdArKenIngDayXx

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 1:20 pm
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 5:09 pm 
 

Haha, I tried both The Event and FlashForward; couldn't get past three episodes of either, and my threshold for shitty sci-fi is so very much lower than any rational human's should be (e.g., I watched Babylon 5 well into its fourth season :puke: .)
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Morrigan
Crone of War

Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2002 7:27 am
Posts: 10528
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 5:13 pm 
 

Hah. Last I watched we were still early in S3. It's just so unmotivating to keep watching, even with the sexy Marcus Cole joining the cast. Bad dialogue, acting that goes from bad to outright terrible, plots that are average at best and usually very much predictable... I guess people really were starved for a space opera because I can't see why this became so beloved. And this got five seasons yet Firefly gets cancelled before finishing its first? What the fucking fuck... (Yes, I'll never let that go. NEVAR)
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Von Cichlid wrote:
I work with plenty of Oriental and Indian persons and we get along pretty good, and some females as well.

Markeri, in 2013 wrote:
a fairly agreed upon date [of the beginning of metal] is 1969. Metal is almost 25 years old

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Nahsil
Clerical Sturmgeschütz

Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:06 pm
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 10:31 pm 
 

Oh Dr. Who...

The Satan Pit episodes were pretty awesome. It has its moments. But overall? :| doesn't begin to live up to the hype.

Btw I mentioned "Dr. Who" on facebook the other day and a fan corrected me, "DOCTOR* Who"
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Subrick
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 10:41 pm 
 

The Satan Pit is my favorite episode of the show. 2nd favorite is Blink.
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Calusari
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 1:36 am
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PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2013 2:50 am 
 

darkeningday wrote:
Haha, I tried both The Event and FlashForward; couldn't get past three episodes of either, and my threshold for shitty sci-fi is so very much lower than any rational human's should be (e.g., I watched Babylon 5 well into its fourth season :puke: .)


I watched all episodes of The Event and FlashForward... I can only justify this to myself by thinking that I just couldn't believe they would stay so consistently bad. Not entertainingly so, even - just... Stale. Like morning breath. And quite pathetic. Certainly not worth the effort. And the cause of some regret.

I do my best to avoid Doctor Who fans, though that's unfortunately rather difficult for me; a lot of my acquaitances are Whovians. I wouldn't call myself a fan - I like episodes that I think are interesting, I can't stand the sentimental/parochial (Britain is the center of the multiverse!) ones; the series certainly does not live up to the ludicrous hype it receives. When it comes to the latest final, though, I have to say that I thought it was one of the good episodes - or, at least, one of the only decent ones in a long while; it had a bit more depth to it than the under-cooked, annoyingly chirpy Clara episodes.

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FirebathDan
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 2:32 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun May 26, 2013 9:20 pm 
 

So...

I'm watching the new season 4 of Arrested Development, which is Netflix exclusive.

Wow. What awful tripe. I am severely disappointed.

For this season, they are doing "character-centric" episodes, where each episode is primarily focused on one character, and all 15 episodes run within the same time line. Big mistake-this makes for one big, sloppy mess of a story. Plus the episodes are bumped up from standard TV runtimes of 21-22 minutes to 35 minutes. So it's just one dense 8+ hour overlapping, intermingling mess.

Not that usually is a problem with this show, as the original three seasons were dense and self referential. But they are literally rehashing every key joke from the original episodes. Plus, they are overloading the episodes with both every bit character from the original episodes, and a slew of guest stars (including "top names" such as Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen).

This season is supposedly a preamble to the upcoming movie, but if this is the content to look forward too, I'm probably gonna skip it. Which is a shame, cause I'm a huge fan of the original series (my rock band's name-Dangerous Cousins-is an AD reference).

Meh. They should've not resurrected this after 7 or years. It died its rightful death in 2006 and it should've remained buried.
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Errebuss
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:07 pm
Posts: 548
PostPosted: Sun May 26, 2013 9:20 pm 
 

Started watching the Arrested Development revival last night, and have gotten through episode 6. So far, it's okay, but it has a much slower pace than the first three seasons. I'm going to attribute this to two things:

1. Each episode averaging around 30 minutes, rather than the traditional 22 on television.
2. Each episode focuses on one character at a time.

You lose a lot of the great character interactions and spontaneity. So far, I've barely seen Gob, Buster, Maeby, or George Michael. A second viewing might help, since you'll know what every character is doing. I just hope that if it gets another season (which Netflix is saying they hope to do), it isn't filmed like this one.

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Nahsil
Clerical Sturmgeschütz

Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:06 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2013 5:17 pm 
 

I'm starting to like Defiance. It's got a Firefly vibe to it, and the characters and writing seem to be improving a bit.
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xThe__Wizard
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:59 pm
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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2013 5:38 pm 
 

So far I like the new season of Arrested Development. I think there are a bunch of references to older stuff that is taken out of context making it funny like when Michael burns his hand on the taxi. I do wish it had a plot that revolved around more character interactions. I really didn't enjoy the episode centered around Lindsay.

But I still enjoy it. I've had a ton of laughs and I may be 7 episodes in. Honestly, I am glad it's a bit different. Nothing will beat the original three seasons and I will continue to watch them until I'm numb in the head.
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HellishHound
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:37 am
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2013 10:06 pm 
 

So, I recently started watching Dexter after directv put all the seasons on showtime on demand. I just finished season 2 last night. And I gotta say I'm loving it so far. The way the show handles dexter's situation and the "code of harry" is very compelling. It makes you fall in love with a serial killer and the funny thing is you don't even care haha
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failsafeman
Digital Dictator

Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 8:45 am
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Location: In the Arena
PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2013 10:15 pm 
 

Well I'm glad you enjoyed it, because it's basically all downhill from there. Not precipitously, season 4 has one of the best main antagonists in the series, but things just start to get stale and repetitive and less and less realistic. I mean I know Miami is big, but for fuck's sake, how many serial killers can there be???
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HellishHound
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:37 am
Posts: 370
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2013 10:25 pm 
 

failsafeman wrote:
Well I'm glad you enjoyed it, because it's basically all downhill from there. Not precipitously, season 4 has one of the best main antagonists in the series, but things just start to get stale and repetitive and less and less realistic. I mean I know Miami is big, but for fuck's sake, how many serial killers can there be???


Yeah, I could definitely see it losing steam after the season I just finished. The first two seasons were great, they both told an interesting and compelling story that connected with eachother and dexter's past. I feel like the creators didn't expect the show to go past two seasons almost with way it just wrapped everything up in a neat little bow. I'm definitely gonna keep watching because well I get attached to characters, and I like to see where shows go. Same reason I kept watching doctor who when it turned south after season 5 (I love Matt Smith, but their was a huge drop off in writing, and is just me or did the cinematography get worse too?) and the same reason I'm still watching Supernatural even though the new season has had a again a drop off in quality and a very noticeable decline in cinematography in this one.
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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:58 pm
Posts: 35180
Location: Where the dead rule the night
PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2013 11:01 pm 
 

I think it's pretty much consistent throughout. It's a "workmanlike" sort of show and doesn't hit a lot of artistic highs, but I honestly enjoy every season at least a little bit, and I think it works great with a very formulaic style. The first two seasons are probably the best in terms of writing and character, but even the later ones where it gets all Hollywoodized, I still think are really good. The last two seasons I've had a blast with for instance. It's one of the few shows I don't think had a real drop off in terms of quality of entertainment.

I just hope they end it after this season; I don't want them to beat a dead horse or anything. They've had a good run.
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