9 posts tagged “tv”

A little bit up, a little bit down, that's the best way to describe the seventh series of Smallville.  The intense intra-character interactions that define a lot of the core aspects of the show have been great in places and not-so-great in others.  I gotta admit, I was reserving judgement a little, and in the first couple of episodes of the series was pretty non-committal about the whole thing.  That all swung around mid-season, building up gradually from it's weak start, and now the crescendo is building for a tantalising finale. 

I'm currently on episode 19, with only one more to go.  For a moment, watching episode 18, my imagination went away with me and I started imagining all sortsa endings for the season involving CK back on Krypton.  It was especially gratifying to see foreshadows of the future Clark used in the tail end of the episode.  A nice touch.  Another satisfying touch, has been the steady growth of Lex's dark side and his descent into the evil meglomaniac we know he will be.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of this next season, plus a resolution to Clana and the emergence of Lois & Clark.

Lastly, it would be remiss of me not to mention the soundtrack this season, which, always good, has been excellent with haunting tracks and lyrics from Lifehouse, Missy Higgins and Vast, but to name a few.  I can't wait to see what season 8 brings.

Apollo's expression when he saw Starbuck pull alongside him in her viper, pretty much says it all.  The cockiest fighter pilot this side of a battlestar is back, feistier than ever and looking pretty damn good considering she and her plane blew up into itty bitty pieces at the end of the last season.  Yet, there she is, as large as life, with a mysteriously resurrected viper that is not only unscratched and undented, but completely data-less.  So, where's she been?  Is she a cylon, clone, hybrid, human or something else altogether?  And what if she is human and the cylons have found a way to tinker with her?  How and why else would she mysteriously know her way to earth...?  Women's intuition?  Um, maybe not.  Lee and Bill's reaction to her return is gratifying--genuine heartfelt relief that comes from close relationships.  Anders reaction is puzzling, lukewarm at best, and while he is struggling at dealing with his own cylon identity, you'd think there'd be a little more cheer from his side.  But... maybe that's natural considering his wife's admission that she would put a bullet between his eyes if she ever found out he was a cylon.  Good old Kara.

Talking about Anders... one of the best scenes in this opening episode features him being scanned by the cylon raider.  Was he the instigator for the cylon withdrawal?  Did he issue a silent command that the enemy plane read?  Did the raider awaken something within Anders, or was it a case of the cylons checking (and recognising) the activation of the final five?  Truly one of the best space battle scenes, we've seen, but not enough of it... I'd have loved for it to be longer--for the whole episode to have been longer, in fact.  The four newly discovered cylons seem pretty determined to stay true to their 'humanity' and the relationships they have formed.  But how realistic is that?  We've already seen Anders stumble in the air--was it a newbie mistake under pressure, or something more sinister?  Tigh is struggling with himself--was the image of him shooting Adama a fear, fantasy, a premonition or something else?  The only one of the quartet that seems to be holding it together is Tyrol. 

Ah, Baltar.  Not as strong a plot line here as I'd have liked.  His adoption by a neo-religious cult and the healing of the sick child (coincidence anyone, or his immune system latterly kicking in?), and even the murder attempt was way too predictable... tired writing from the BSG scriptwriters--surely not?  A lead up to a devastating twist, maybe...hopefully.

So where does that leave us, or rather where does that leave Roslin, as Starbuck has her left in a rather difficult situation.  Roslin's reaction to Starbuck's appearance is puzzling.  For someone who believed so strongly in the scriptures and prophecies, and was in a not-so-dissimilar position herself not too long ago, her adversion to Starbuck's claim shows a strange reversal.  And what are the implications of her and Bill's relationship for the rest of humanity?

And who is 'he that believeth in me'...?  God believing in Baltar or Leoben in Kara?

Last but not least, shame about Lee's decision to quit the military.  I know I'm not the only girl that'll miss seeing him in uniform...

I may have to take back some of what I said in my last 4400 review.  The new series is opening things up quite nicely.  There's Richard, Lily and baby Isabelle on the run, endlessly propelled on their as yet, unknown quest.  Also, we're starting to see Shawn detaching with his past and moving forward with Jordan Collier, of all people; a move that would have been hard to pick from the events of the last season.  

Elsewhere, parental issues dominate.  Baldwin and Kyle's relationship is healing -- or is it?  Are they falling back into the old patterns of their father-son dynamic, and what is happening to Kyle?  All interesting questions, begging answers.  Maia and Skouris reveal the complexity of the parent-child relationship and things aren't always as black and white as they seem.  Would you read your child's diary?  

It was a nice touch in the extended first episode, to see the ripple effect device being used so well, with the restoration of the sanity of the neuroscientist who is destined to be the 'father' of the work on special abilities -- through his research on dormant areas of the brain.  Hopefully, this is something we'll see more of as the series develops.

Last but not least, some nice twists and further dramatics with the rise of Shawn and demise of Collier -- as the interwoven destinies of Isabelle and Kyle with the 4400 grow ever more mysterious and sinister.  

My favourite lines so far came from episode 3 - The Weight of the World:
Shawn:    "You can be a manipulative little pr*ck you know that?"
Collier:    "It helps to use your entire skillset when you're trying to change the world."

I'm feeling vindicated after reading this article featuring an interview with Katee Sackhoff -- the actress who plays fighter pilot Starbuck in the television series Battlestar Galactica.  Leoben would be my choice for Kara's true love, too... after all, they say a soulmate isn't the person who you end up enjoying a life-long starry-eyed romance with, but the individual who understands that deepest, darkest thread of you and uses this insight to empower and encourage you to evolve into your highest potential. Out of the three, I'd say without hesitation, that Leoben understands her the most, and because they are born from the same breath, (so to speak), the understanding is reciprocated by her -- try as she might to doubt it.

I've just finished watching season one of The 4400 and it's not bad at all.  The series focuses on a bunch of people abducted by a mysterious force and returned en masse at a point in their future (our present day) in order to save humanity.  There are 4400 of these abductees, hence The 4400, as they are popularly labelled in the media.  The returnees all have been modified in some way so to have a unique ability to aid them in their task.  These abilities range from precognitive to life giving/taking.  Given the time the show first aired, and the political situation the world is in a few years on, the premise is oddly prescient. 

Structurally, the series revolves around the stories and movements of two key agents from Homeland Security heading up the drive to investigate and rehabilitate these 4400.  Baldwin and Skouris are a Mulder-Scully-esque pair and a lot of their chemistry feels very familiar from the days of the X-Files, though its maybe a slightly funked up version.  The series doesn't overwhelm you with characters either, concentrating on a group of 4400's and then slowly introducing and eliminating characters every so often. 

Series one was pretty short.  A total of six episodes, counting in the two-part pilot.  But it was well written, probably skimpy on the budget, but the characters were genuinely likeable and well detailed.  There is a huge emotional investment that is made into the characters and their lives, and it pays off.  These story arcs are the dynamic bringing in tension and leaving each episode on a cliffhanger.  I've got to admit, I got through this first series in virtually a day.  The ending, though is where I have the most quibbles.  I think, without giving too much away, that a lot could have been done with the ending, making it more dramatic and closing the series earlier on a certain dramatic moment, then the over-used Six Months Later... which is what we essentially got.

And here's where the rumbles of discontent really begin, because the second series opens up with a further 'Six Months Later...' ploy, which after the first one, is really wearing the whole thing, rather thin.  I'm still interested enough to continue watching and see what happens -- I've invested too much into the characters not to, but whatever happens, it better be good!

The 4400 was one of the first victims to fall foul of the writers strike with the 5th series being cancelled and the show being put on metaphorical ice.  While there is an active movement by fans to save the show, it seems unlikely, and I'm left wondering whether I want to continue watching a show that I know has no resolution...

The new series of Lost is showing a lot of promise.  I've been trying to stay away from spoilers and episode reviews, but a couple have  snuck past me; and what I've heard is very exciting.  Trouble is, in order to get the best out of it, I'm having to rewind all the way back to season 2, which I've watched part of, and season 3 which I've similarly seen fragments of.  I want a nice, clean linearly progression through the plot line so I can appreciate every nuance of season 4.  So, while the current series continues to air, I'm busy catching up on back episodes.

During the last few weeks I've been catching up with Battlestar Galactica.  What struck me, in particular, is the show's success -- being a brilliant example of a well executed, character-driven script.  One aspect of the intra-character dynamics that creates a web of believable tension, is the complex relationship between Apollo, Starbuck, Sam and Dee.  

I hate to say it -- but I saw it coming.  From episode one of series one, it was clear there was something going on between the two pilots.  Friendship, clearly, intermingled with boredom and sexual frustration; a potent mix.  And for a while, it seemed like that was all that was going on.  Except, who could forget Apollo's expression when he saw Kara all dolled up in her green dress?  Not him, it seems. 

Fast forward a couple of seasons, and Starbuck's found a new love.  It looked like her relationship with Apollo had only ever stretched within the friendship boundary.  On the flip side, Dee and Apollo are finally getting closer, having made up their minds after all, that they are indeed interested in each other.  Cleverly, we are being led to believe that any suggestion of attraction between the two pilots was only ever transitory.  And then, comes the twist.  It wasn't a passing attraction -- the two really do love each other.

Except...

Kara pulls a scorching 180 degree turn that would be the envy of any fighter pilot.  She weds Sam the morning after she slept with Lee and declared her undying love for him beneath the stars.  A shell-shocked Lee finds solace in Dee's arms.  I had some sympathy for Apollo.  He believed he loved Starbuck who then threw his love away by marrying another man.  But my cup of sympathy didn't run over.

The trouble is, he was already with Dee at the time.  I'm assuming, he must have loved her to a degree to have had the relationship he did with her.  And as an audience, we have no doubt over either Dee's or Sam's devotion to either of their partners.  At this point, I have to high-five the script writers of BSG for taking the mature, un-sensationalist approach to wrapping up the twisted quadrangle midway through season three.

Realising Starbuck's fickleness (she may indeed love Lee, but frankly her actions are selfish), Lee makes what is probably the best decision of his life and shows an understanding of relationships that most men (and women, to be fair) have difficulty grasping:  the uncomplicated, unexciting, but fundamentally beautiful love of a devoted partner.  Dee understands him -- the man beneath the pilot, better than Starbuck ever will.  She's there for him when he needs her the most and she knows the reality of living with him day in, day out -- warts 'n' all.  And despite it all, she still wants him, admires and respects him.  Which, is more than Kara ever did.  That equates to so much more than a moment of excitement, the touch of lust, or the quick high of a clandestine flirt.  And Apollo finally gets that this is the meaning of true love. 

And Starbuck ... well, who knows.  It'll be interesting to see how the scriptwriters continue the dynamic after this.  I haven't reached the end of season three yet (so no spoilers please, people) but it wouldn't surprise me if the whole Starbuck-Apollo thing rears its ugly head again.

But in all of this, dya know who I feel most sorry for?  Dee.  She's a decent girl who's only mistake was falling in love with Lee.  She knew about his 'friendship' (that's a misnomer if ever I heard one) with Starbuck, but trusted he had made his choice to put Kara, romantically speaking, out of his life when he started dating her.  But, it was a lie -- effectively he's lied to her throughout the relationship and lied to himself.  I really like Apollo's character, but if I was Dee, I'd string him up.  All this time, he'd been chasing sparks, a pure fantasy -- at Dee's expense.  He doesn't deserve her love, loyalty and devotion; it would serve him right if she walked out of the door and never looked back -- leaving him only with his illusions (and the fickle Starbuck) for company. 

There's something of an uneasy relationship between sci-fi television and the big screen.  I was reading about Jennifer Garner wanting to play the part of a klingon in this year's new Star Trek movie, when I started thinking back to previous Trek films and how public reaction to the movies never quite matched the enthusiasm generated by the serialisations.   Take for instance, Star Trek: The Next Generation and its immense popularity -- who could forget Patrick Stewart at the helm of the Enterprise, or the tortured Troy-Riker love triangle?  But the movies (Generations, First Contact, Insurrection, Nemesis) -- who really remembers those?

And the more I looked, the more I started seeing a pattern.  The X-Files.  A brilliant series that spawned a generation of sci-fi addicts, and a show that successfully straddled that tricky mainstream/sci-fi divide.   Everyone has heard of Mulder and Scully, but by contrast, no-one has heard of the X-Files movie and presumably cares another is soon to be emerging out of the pipeworks.

Is science fiction best left to the little screen?  Ridley Scott is reported to have said at the screening of Blade Runner:  The Final Cut, that he believed the genre to be dead.  And at first glance is certainly seems that way.  Leaving aside all the comic-book heroes, how many popular science fiction movies can you think of in the last few years?  Weakly, I came up with two:  Terminator and Alien, with Alien being the only one that hasn't bred or emerged from a TV series.  Ouch.

But I really don't think it's all bad.  Buffy the Vampire Killer and Stargate are two examples of popular movies, that later became TV series.  In fact Stargate is so popular, it even has it's own spinoff.  As did Buffy with the equally popular Angel.  And Smallville, although originally an offshoot of the successful Superman movie franchise, became in itself a precursor for the return of the movie.  And Firefly, Joss Whedon's foray into space opera, although cancelled after a season, resulted in the production of Serenity.

So maybe not so much of a tangled relationship as symbiotic.  As for me, I'm still waiting in forlorn hope of a Battlestar Galactica movie.  I won't hold my breath. 

Like many others, I eagerly awaited the return of Superman to the big screen.  And was disappointed.  Yeah, there were some awesome action sequences and the movie had a delicious art deco feel about it.  But that was about it.  For me, Christopher Reeve was the archetypal Superman, and while it was clear Brandon Routh would have a struggle to fit into the other's boots, I didn't expect to be quite as disappointed by the movie as I was.  

And the reason for it was this.  It wasn't to do with Routh or the greatness of Reeve, it was to do with the embodiment of the spirit of an intensely rich Superman mythology.  Or lack of it.

Luckily, Smallville, doesn't suffer from this problem.  Yes, arguably it is Superman lite, frothy on the top and sugary at the bottom.  I'm with the next person when they say its often afflicted by a yo-yo like effect:  good episode follows bad episode and vice versa.  It would be lovely to get a little consistency going there, though the last two seasons have gone a long way towards addressing this issue.

But the real beauty of Smallville, and the reason I keep watching it and keep loving it, and the reason I suspect its so popular, is that it is infused with everything Superman.  Take for instance the cast of the show, in itself, a homage to the Superman tradition.  The late Christopher Reeve, a fan of the show, appeared in a couple of episodes back in season two, stunning fans and adding a certain gravitas and poignancy that complemented the mythology rich story arc.  Add to that a sample of the Superman score played in the background -- and I know I wasn't the only one who felt the chills down my spine that season. 

But who knew Annette O'Toole who plays Clark's insightful mother, Martha Kent, originally starred as Superman's first love, Lana Lang in the 1983 movie Superman III?  Or that Margot Kidder, who made the role of Lois Lane so iconic, would later appear in a couple of episodes?  Or that Dean Cain, himself a previous Superman, would appear in the current series?  

And Smallville isn't content to poach ex-Superman players either.  James Masters, Buffy's beloved Spike, emerged in the show doing what he does best -- portraying a beautifully dark and enigmatic character in the shape of Prof. Milton Fine.  Jensen Ackles, another familiar of the Supernatural world, hung out as a Smallville regular, playing Lana's squeeze, Jason Teague, for a total of 22 episodes.  Nor is Smallville content to restrain its cast there.  In the last couple of seasons we've seen the emergence of other DC Comic stars:  Flash Gordon, the Green Arrow and Aquaman but to name a few.  

Surely, for a show that's run for an inspiring seven seasons that would be enough?  But no.  We've also seen appearances by Superman's faithful hound, Krypto (aka Shelby) and now Clark's famous cousin, Supergirl has joined the fray.  If all of that isn't a reason to love Smallville, I don't know what is.  And let's not forget to give a mention to the understated star of the show, Tom Welling, who does a pretty spectacular job of defining the young, emerging Superman.  

Interesting fact:  Last year's Comic Con was buzzing with talk of appearances by Bruce Wayne on the show.  Unfortunately, those rumours were definitively laid to rest.  We'll never see the dark knight flying cape to cape with the man of steel.