Aliens? Some people hear “extra terrestrials” and check out. I however just got a lot more interested in this series. I guess the question at this point is, what the marketing material has been pointing us towards all along, “what is the event”? A disappearing plane, the existence of aliens, the fact that they are genetically 1% different than humans, the odd detail that the President of the United States seems to be Cuban, I doubt that any of these are the event.
I believe the event is something that will happen in the future of this series. In fact I think the event will be the revelation that the people who landed in Alaska in 1944 are humans from the future of planet earth. I know that seems to be the exact storyline of the USA show “The 4400”, but I also know you didn’t watch that show and NBC is banking on that.
The 1% people on the outside seem to be radicalized, while the 1%ers that have been imprisoned for 60 years apparently value life. Why kill everyone on that plane, were they responsible for the hijacking to begin with? The man in the middle is their man on the inside officer Simon Lee. While it was clear he was involved with the 1%ers after his conversation with Sophia in the pilot, the scene where he pulled the tube out of his arm was pretty cool.
I thought Sean and Leila were the weakest part of the first episode, and while I am not completely warmed up to them as a couple the scene they shared in the pool five years ago brought me to a place where I was almost in their corner.
I hate to compare “The Event” to “Lost” because it is kind of like comparing Alexander the Great to Ulysses S. Grant. They operate on different economies of scale. That said, why does this show feel the need to tell us the exact time and date of every flashback. “Lost” kept us guessing and that was half the fun.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Supernatural: Exile on Main Street
If I had to describe this episode in one word it would be “odd”. Everything felt too easy, too simple, nothing seems earned. Dean went to hell and he spent the better part of a season dealing with it. Sam went to hell and his “recovery” happened completely off screen. Grandpa Campbell died when Dean went back in time yet he magically is pulled down at the exact time Sam is dragged up.
What could be important enough to the players in heaven or hell to put the Winchesters back into play? They killed the Devil and they spoiled the plans of the angels so who would bring them back? I would get it if it was Castiel, but only if he brought back Sam. There is no need to bring grandpa back as well, especially if he was happy upstairs.
Grandpa Campbell already has a secret he is keeping from the Winchester side of his family. Why capture the Djinn? Sammy seems to have completely accepted his extended family and has proven he is morally flexible, so why keep him in the dark? If I had to guess granddaddy knows what brought him back, why it brought him back, and what he needs to do to stay back.
Is Castiel gone this season? That would be a shame, it’s bad enough we are not going to see the prophet Chuck, considering he was God and all. It also seems odd that a new female character would be introduced that is related to Sam and Dean. Speaking of odd why would trained hunters accept two ghosts into their ranks? I’m thinking that the Campbell’s are not who they say they are.
It’s going to be hard to get psyched about the next big bad considering the last one was the Devil himself.
What could be important enough to the players in heaven or hell to put the Winchesters back into play? They killed the Devil and they spoiled the plans of the angels so who would bring them back? I would get it if it was Castiel, but only if he brought back Sam. There is no need to bring grandpa back as well, especially if he was happy upstairs.
Grandpa Campbell already has a secret he is keeping from the Winchester side of his family. Why capture the Djinn? Sammy seems to have completely accepted his extended family and has proven he is morally flexible, so why keep him in the dark? If I had to guess granddaddy knows what brought him back, why it brought him back, and what he needs to do to stay back.
Is Castiel gone this season? That would be a shame, it’s bad enough we are not going to see the prophet Chuck, considering he was God and all. It also seems odd that a new female character would be introduced that is related to Sam and Dean. Speaking of odd why would trained hunters accept two ghosts into their ranks? I’m thinking that the Campbell’s are not who they say they are.
It’s going to be hard to get psyched about the next big bad considering the last one was the Devil himself.
Fringe: Olivia
It would seem that Fringe is my favorite show of the 2010 fall season. The strength of this episode combined with the passing of Lost and the absence of Caprica has made Fringe the most important appointment television on my DVR (appointment DRV is kind of like jumbo shrimp, I know).
Olivia has been medically transformed into believing she is Folivia with apparently no way of getting back to her universe. That said, I believe her new friend the cab driver with the heart of gold will help her find her way once again. He had no real reason to help her as much as he did considering she would have been locked up with ease if he turned on her. He most certainly did not have to toss his cab’s geo-location device out the window. He also stuck around after she told him to go which leads me to believe he either believes her or he is somehow connected to the real world.
Folivia, on the other hand, has settled in to Olivia’s life without incident. I wonder when she will meet her “sister” and “niece”. That should have some effect on her desire to end our world. That and Walter’s good nature compared to Walternate. I did not know I cared so much about the Peter/Olivia relationship until Folivia kissed Peter on the steps of the capital building and I felt completely robbed.
Speaking of Peter, if he and Olivia are having an intimate relationship, how long before Peter notices her discreetly placed tatoo? How long before Peter realizes she is not the woman he fell in love with? Knowing Peter it should not take too long, he is a genius after all.
Anyway, Fringe is back, and I’m excited!
Olivia has been medically transformed into believing she is Folivia with apparently no way of getting back to her universe. That said, I believe her new friend the cab driver with the heart of gold will help her find her way once again. He had no real reason to help her as much as he did considering she would have been locked up with ease if he turned on her. He most certainly did not have to toss his cab’s geo-location device out the window. He also stuck around after she told him to go which leads me to believe he either believes her or he is somehow connected to the real world.
Folivia, on the other hand, has settled in to Olivia’s life without incident. I wonder when she will meet her “sister” and “niece”. That should have some effect on her desire to end our world. That and Walter’s good nature compared to Walternate. I did not know I cared so much about the Peter/Olivia relationship until Folivia kissed Peter on the steps of the capital building and I felt completely robbed.
Speaking of Peter, if he and Olivia are having an intimate relationship, how long before Peter notices her discreetly placed tatoo? How long before Peter realizes she is not the woman he fell in love with? Knowing Peter it should not take too long, he is a genius after all.
Anyway, Fringe is back, and I’m excited!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thoughts on Fatherhood
My lovely wife and I recently had the most wonderful experience of our lives as we welcomed our first child into this world. From the moment I met her (in the delivery room, which may require a blog post of its own) I knew my priorities had completely changed for the better. Unfortunately this means less time for coherent blogging. So in place of a well written and edited essay I give you a rushed and random report that paradoxically took me two weeks and three days to compile.
The other night my little lady woke up screaming around 3:30 in the morning. Being the super Dad I am I picked her up and noticed she had peed through her diaper, night shirt, and sleep sack (operator error, I poorly placed the last diaper on her tiny body). In an effort sooth her and get my wife some much needed sleep, I took the baby to her bedroom and began changing her. She must have realized I wanted to help her feel more comfortable and she quietly allowed me to get her out of her wet clothes and diaper. Once stripped down the baby immediately began screaming again and I felt obligated to calm her. I swooped her off the changing table rocked her back and forth and felt the tension melt out of her. Unfortunately, that was not the only thing that melted out of her. Turned out that she pooped all over my lower half and still had enough in the tank to cover fully a square foot of the hardwood floor.
Should I give my child a digital identity? Her name is unique enough that the very act of using it on my blog would make her instantly Google-able. Would she resent me in 15 years if the first thing a new boy learns about her is the fact that she pooped on her Dad when she was less than a week old? Should I sign her up for a Gmail account? Does she need her own Twitter feed, example tweet, “woke up, cried, ate... I love boobs, took a nap, plan to repeat that for a few more days”.
She’s already all over Facebook which means Mark Zuckerberg believes he legally owns the right to her life story should it be made into a movie. Should I make her a profile and friend her, only to give her the reins on her tenth birthday, maybe fifteenth, or twenty-first birthday. If I friend her now, that means I have the keys to her profile, especially if I link it to the aforementioned Gmail address which I can then create a backdoor into if I ever need to spy on my child even after I give up control of the profile.
I loved the Lion King as a child and even though my baby can’t even focus long enough to look directly at me that doesn’t mean I can’t expose her to the most amazing Disney music ever. I would like to warn all future parents however not to listen to the “Circle of Life” while rocking your baby. I’ve had to seriously battle the overwhelming urge to lift her up by her little arm pits and point her towards the sun every time the music hits its crescendo! That’s not even considering the amount of grape jelly I’ve rubbed into her head in the shape of a lion during the break!
The other night my little lady woke up screaming around 3:30 in the morning. Being the super Dad I am I picked her up and noticed she had peed through her diaper, night shirt, and sleep sack (operator error, I poorly placed the last diaper on her tiny body). In an effort sooth her and get my wife some much needed sleep, I took the baby to her bedroom and began changing her. She must have realized I wanted to help her feel more comfortable and she quietly allowed me to get her out of her wet clothes and diaper. Once stripped down the baby immediately began screaming again and I felt obligated to calm her. I swooped her off the changing table rocked her back and forth and felt the tension melt out of her. Unfortunately, that was not the only thing that melted out of her. Turned out that she pooped all over my lower half and still had enough in the tank to cover fully a square foot of the hardwood floor.
Should I give my child a digital identity? Her name is unique enough that the very act of using it on my blog would make her instantly Google-able. Would she resent me in 15 years if the first thing a new boy learns about her is the fact that she pooped on her Dad when she was less than a week old? Should I sign her up for a Gmail account? Does she need her own Twitter feed, example tweet, “woke up, cried, ate... I love boobs, took a nap, plan to repeat that for a few more days”.
She’s already all over Facebook which means Mark Zuckerberg believes he legally owns the right to her life story should it be made into a movie. Should I make her a profile and friend her, only to give her the reins on her tenth birthday, maybe fifteenth, or twenty-first birthday. If I friend her now, that means I have the keys to her profile, especially if I link it to the aforementioned Gmail address which I can then create a backdoor into if I ever need to spy on my child even after I give up control of the profile.
I loved the Lion King as a child and even though my baby can’t even focus long enough to look directly at me that doesn’t mean I can’t expose her to the most amazing Disney music ever. I would like to warn all future parents however not to listen to the “Circle of Life” while rocking your baby. I’ve had to seriously battle the overwhelming urge to lift her up by her little arm pits and point her towards the sun every time the music hits its crescendo! That’s not even considering the amount of grape jelly I’ve rubbed into her head in the shape of a lion during the break!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Glee is Dead!
Glee is dead (not the emotion, the show). It hit its proverbial high note in the first half of its inaugural season and more or less declined in quality on a weekly basis after it came back from the mid-season break. I cannot point to any specific episode or moment when the show began to falter but I know it happened. At some point Glee went from being a show with a story that spent a good portion of its airtime on music to an iTunes promotional vehicle that has less of a plot than your average Puff Daddy music video (is he still relevant, should I have gone with Justin Beiber).
Even though the ratings keep climbing and it seems to be the scripted spiritual successor to American Idol this show has fallen off a cliff when it comes to quality and it is only a matter of time before the viewers notice that a night of Rock Band is just as musically fulfilling.
I mean, I’ll keep watching it, but still...
Even though the ratings keep climbing and it seems to be the scripted spiritual successor to American Idol this show has fallen off a cliff when it comes to quality and it is only a matter of time before the viewers notice that a night of Rock Band is just as musically fulfilling.
I mean, I’ll keep watching it, but still...
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