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SciFi Weekend: Parenthood Finale; The Marvel Cinematic Universe; The 100; Arrow; Allegiance; The Americans
February 1, 2015 — Ron Chusid
Parenthood concluded with one of the best television finales of all time. This was an easier show to conclude than some others. It did not have the problem of shows such as The X-Files and Lost, which became so burdened by its mythology that it was impossible for the finale to be satisfying without giving up hope that it would really make sense. The Parenthood finale remained true to the stories to date, not tempted to throw in a surprise which did not fit the series, like with How I Met Your Mother or Dexter.
The final episode concluded the major story lines of the season. Most were handled well, but the solution to Adam search for the job of his dreams was the most contrived, with Kristina suddenly having an opportunity at a non-profit which left the position of headmaster at Chamber's Academy open for Adam. It made sense for Crosby to run The Luncheonette without Adam. Accountants and attorneys could provide some of the business advice he received when Adam was there full time, even if it didn't make any sense when Crosby said he would be Adam and Amber would be Crosby. It was rather sudden for Julia and Joel to be offered the chance to adopt Victor's sister, but such an offer coming suddenly did not seem as unnatural as Kristina's sudden job opportunity.
There were two other story lines which were more important during the season, and which dominated the finale. Sarah's wedding turned out to be a perfect way to end the series. Besides being a major event for Sarah, the wedding provided a way to get all the characters together as budget limitations required the absence of characters for parts of the season. Besides being the obvious ending for Sarah's storyline, it provided a good end point for Max, who got the job as wedding photographer and was also "in the picture." He even got to dance with a girl. Plus the scenes of Max taking the family pictures was a good way to just get a look at the cast members.
The other major storyline of the season was Zeek's heart problems which, no matter how much fans tried to deny it, was inevitably going to lead to his death. Any lingering doubt that this would occur were eliminated when I read that it would jump ahead to show the Bravermans in the future. It would have been dishonest to not have Zeek die at some point. His death was handled well as he died peacefully at home a few months after he walked Sarah down the aisle, as can be seen in the video above.
Instead of a sad funeral we jumped ahead to see Zeek's ashes spread at a baseball diamond, and then the Bravermans did what Zeke would have wanted them to do–play baseball, with the series theme song, Bob Dylan's Forever Young playing. Then, in one of the greatest endings in television history, we had a combination of how Jason Katims ended his previous show, Friday Night Lights with the ending of Peter Krause's previous show, Six Feet Under.
The show jumped ahead, also in the video above to show the broad outlines of what happens to the Bravermans. There was no ambiguity as in The Sopranos. Adam does become headmaster, eventually handing Max his high school diploma. Crosby does run The Luncheonette. Besides adopting a third child, Julia winds up becoming pregnant with a fourth, and even gets a puppy. Julia and Joel recreat the original structure of the Braverman family with a younger brother and sister and an older brother and sister. Camille makes it to to inn in France which Zeek had wanted to take her to.
Amber's future is the most exciting. After having her child with Ryan, aka Luke Cafferty of Friday Night Lights (Matt Lauria), Amber winds up marrying Jason Street (Scott Porter). Ryan even gets his act together and is part of their lives. Scenes with their courtship were shot but got cut from the finale, with Scott Porter's character named Peter:
"There's a scene where they meet. Peter and his daughter are at what amounts to a Kidtown, like an indoor jungle gym playtime place. Peter has his daughter and Amber has Zeek. Zeek [named after his grandfather] gets lost in the ball pit and Peter goes bravely in to save him and brings him back to Amber."
They clicked right away. "They have similar kinds of pasts," Porter explains. "Both were a little bit wild at one point, and both have kids they maybe weren't expecting but that were perfectly timed for them. They're single parents who met and were immediately drawn together."
While no wedding was actually shot, Porter had no problem imagining the nuptials.
"I imagine it was a very small, intimate wedding. These are two people who are very protective of their families. So pretty small, except for the Braverman side — they come in numbers that most families don't come in anymore."
This and other deleted scenes are bound to show up on the DVD set, and some deleted scenes can be found online here.
Matt Lauria and Scott Porter were just two of many former stars of Friday Night Lights who appeared on Parenthood over the years. Yahoo has a slide show, starting with Minka Kelly who both tutored Max and slept with Crosby.
This very well might be the end for quality dramas such as Friday Night Lights and Parenthood on network television as I discussed last week. Fortunately cable and streaming networks are doing more quality shows. This topic came up in an interview with Jason Katims at Variety:
It's unique as a family drama on TV right now. Can you imagine trying to sell it today?
It would be a hard sell to go out and sell a family drama that doesn't have some sort of twist. There are lot of shows about family, but they're all couched in other things. This is a straight family drama. It's unusual in that way. But honestly it was not easy to sell it five years ago. It's not like anyone was saying let's have it then. But the TV landscape is changing so rapidly. There's so much opportunity now, so many different types of outlets — you never know. I'm hoping that there'll still be a place for shows like this.
The finale provided a broad outline, but also leaves things open to return to their story in the future, either during the period seen or afterwards. Katims is interested, and the new outlets make this more likely in the future.
Given the wealth of platforms on the TV landscape, could you imagine ever revisiting the Bravermans down the road?
Yes, absolutely. Everyone who is doing the show — our writers, our actors, our directors, our producers — we all love doing the show. Everyone would want to do more. There is no one who is angling to get out of doing this thing. I personally would be interested in seeing what happens a few years down the road. I want to know what happens to these people, these characters. If you asked me three years ago, I would say it's not going to happen. But now there are so many ways of doing things that it's possible. I would very much be open to that.
He also discussed this with E! saying, "I love the idea of doing a reunion movie like Boyhood, where every year, everybody commits a week to doing this project.," he said. "Maybe it's not that crazy to think that we could pull something like that off."
Of course the old episodes are all easily available, both on Netflix and Amazon. I rewatched the pilot later on Thursday night, and this provided a real feeling of going full circle in an episode which introduced the characters. The pilot both had major life events for members of Team Braverman and featured the family at baseball games.
The Bravermans are a fantasy family. It is a family nobody actually has, and it is hard to imagine how Adam and Kristina could have afforded to live in Berkeley, hire private tutors for Max, and afford to send Haddie to Cornell. This universe is still more grounded in reality than the Marvel cinematic universe, with both types of fantasy enjoyable to watch. Digital Spy has some spoilers regarding Avengers: Age of Ultron (trailer above) with more in the full post.
We won't see the Avengers assemble again (which hopefully also means we'll be spared a silly alternative UK title). "This movie starts off and the team is together, on a mission, they're working in tandem, and there are new relationships between them," explains producer Jeremy Latcham. "Time has passed, so you pick up right in the middle of an action sequence and start trying to catch up.
"I think that's fun for an audience, to try and figure out, 'Wait, those two are funny together now, there's something going on with them, maybe there's a little tension over there'. You're showing up at a party when it's already a little bit started."
"Bigger" and "darker" are two of the most clichéd terms you can apply to a franchise sequel, but Age of Ultron looks set to earn both – according to Ruffalo, it "makes the first Avengers look like Waiting for Guffman".
Latcham expands on this by reminding us that much of The Avengers was shot on a small soundstage in Albuquerque, and that its New York City was created "in an old abandoned train station where we'd hung green screen and built part of a bridge."
Not only are the locations real this time – they're also global. "The Avengers saved New York, but the Avengers aren't just about America," Latcham says. "They're here to protect this blue rock that we all live on."
Hence Age of Ultron's globe-trotting remit, which sees various strands of the gang show up in South Africa, Northern Italy (playing as Eastern Europe) and South Korea among other places. In preparation for one particularly spectacular set piece, producers asked the South Korean government for permission to shut down Seoul's equivalent of the M1 for two weeks. They complied.
The movie adds Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to the Avengers, but they start out on Ultron's side.
New recruits Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) initially join forces with James Spader's Ultron against the Avengers, creating a very different balance of power than solo villain Loki. "Instead of Ultron giving a lot of speeches so everybody knows what he's thinking, it'd be nice if he had some allies," Latcham explains.
"The story that Joss put together with these two kids is really sweet and poignant, and you really understand why they would start on this side of the line. It's a great journey that they go on, from being these rough and tumble kids in Eastern Europe who blame the West, and the Avengers for the plight, the power structure of the world that keeps kids like them down. Over the course of it they realize maybe the Avengers are here for good reason."
But the brother-sister duo have legitimate beef with one Avenger in particular. "Our characters have a lot of anger, especially towards Tony Stark, and we want revenge," says Olsen. "We meet Ultron, and he's someone who preaches peace and… believes what we believe, which is that the Avengers create destruction and that Tony Stark's bomb is responsible for killing our parents."
Unsurprisingly, their alliance with Ultron ends up turning sour, and Olsen reveals that "my character ends up really having to deal with her ignorance. A lot of problems that happen towards the end of the film are her responsibility."
Age of Ultron also leads into the next Captain America movie and the situation leading to the upcoming civil war is explained:
Much of the Avengers' problem boils down to their lack of a clear leader post-Winter Soldier. "SHIELD has fallen apart, so this movie becomes Tony Stark and Steve Rogers trying to put the Avengers together without a parental unit like Nick Fury hovering over them," explains Latcham. "What you realize is that these are guys who work best with rules, and probably do need some adult supervision."And as anybody who watched the first film can guess, Tony and Cap aren't an ideal leadership pairing. "Tony has been paying for everything, designing stuff, building new toys, he's the benefactor of the whole thing. But Steve Rogers is very much in charge of operations and missions, he's the moral compass," Latcham goes on. "But how long can Tony Stark have someone else be in charge?" In other words, groundwork is being distinctly laid for the Stark vs Rogers core of Civil War.
Joss Whedon has helped create a fantastic universe with the Marvel characters but has been talking about moving on, and creating a new universe:
"I would never rule anything out, because I like working here. By the same token, the biggest thing for me is that I need to do something that I create myself. It's been way too long since I created a universe. The last thing I did before The Avengers was [directing an episode of] Glee, and in between I did Much Ado About Nothing. So I haven't created my own universe for over five years. That feels wrong."
The Marvel universe is not limited to the Avengers and other movie series from Marvel Studios as other studios have the rights to some of the Marvel characters. Fox has the rights to X-Men and the Fantastic Four, and there is talk that their worlds will ultimately intersect. Information on the upcoming X-Men and Fantastic Four movies here and here respectively.
Sony owns the rights to Spider-Man and we learned during the recent leaks of their email that there was talk of Marvel Studios getting partial rights to the character. Blastr argues that it might have actually been a good thing that Marvel Studios did not own the rights to all of the Marvel characters:
It's easy to forget that back in the mid-2000s, Marvel Studios was one heck of a risky proposition. After partnering with outside studios for years, the company finally decided that, if they wanted good movies based on their comics (and the winner's share of the box-office bucks that come with them), they'd have to make 'em themselves. There was just one problem: They'd already sold off any franchise with obvious big-screen potential, most notably Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four.
So Marvel decided to dig deep. The comic universe has always thrived on variety and a world populated with extremely interesting and damaged heroes, so they decided to apply that model to film. Iron Man and Hulk were arguably the most bankable heroes left on the bench, so Marvel pumped every dime it had into those two projects and prayed for a hit. Luckily for all of us, Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau caught lighting in a bottle with Iron Man in 2008. More than $585 million later, we were well on our way toward The Avengers.
Since Marvel didn't have the luxury of a sure-fire star like Spider-Man — who is currently the most lucrative comic-book character in existence, with more than $1.3 billion in licensing revenue in 2013 alone — they had to work with characters who might not have ever gotten a shot otherwise. Just think: If Marvel could have made splashy Spider-Man and X-Men movies, do you think we'd have ever gotten something as creatively quirky as Guardians of the Galaxy (or Ant-Man), or the risky period-set romp that was Captain America: The First Avenger? Maybe somewhere down the line, but a lot of the limited focus (and release slots) would almost certainly be eaten up by those larger properties.
Yes, Marvel would probably be making better movies than what's out there now (especially on the Spider-Man front), but for me, I wouldn't trade the epic Marvel Universe we have now for the chance at some better Spider-Man movies. Not by a long shot. The fact that Marvel didn't have Spider-Man in its stable was the catalyst to bring characters like Iron Man and Thor to life, and gave Marvel the confidence to try something as seemingly insane as a film starring Rocket Raccoon and Groot. The only thing they could control was making the best movies possible, and since the characters were mid-tier, they had to be extremely good.
He has a good point that the way Marvel built the Avengers with characters starting with lesser characters like Iron Man worked out well. However, now that this has been established, Marvel Studios (as part of Disney) is probably big enough to hire the crew to put out an even larger number of movies. Plus it would be worth sacrificing some of the planned movies with minor characters if it meant having Spider-Man movies of the quality of other movies from Marvel Studios.
Briefly looking at other shows on last week, I was glad to see that the cast and crew of The 100 agree that the plan for Bellamy to infiltrate Mt. Weather "sucked." I can accept writing a script with characters doing foolish things, as people do foolish things, as long as the writers are doing this intentionally. More on upcoming plans for The 100 in the linked interview.
I am also glad that it was intentional that Team Arrow was so weak without Oliver. It would be especially unrealistic if Laurel was suddenly an effective crime fighter like her sister, who had years of training. Marc Guggenheim discussed Arrow and The Flash in an interview with Assignment X. Guggenheim also tied Arrow into contemporary politics:
AX: How much do you weigh referencing ARROW as a modern-day Robin Hood?
GUGGENHEIM: There's an interesting thing that's happening in the country right now, where you're talking about one percent versus ninety-nine percent, haves versus have-nots. Poverty and whatnot has become a political issue, which is interesting, because to me, it was always an issue on both sides of the aisle, how we distribute wealth in this country. It's a little scary to me that it's become this polarizing political thing. That's not the country I grew up in, so it's weird also to be writing on a show that's clearly dealing with that issue head-on. Obviously, GREEN ARROW is inspired by Robin Hood and we're playing around with those elements, but you go it's more about social justice than it is about politics. At least, that's what the show should be about.
AX: Aren't social justice and politics sort of the same thing?
GUGGENHEIM: Well, the point I'm making actually is that social justice has become a political issue in a way that it never has been in this country. Obviously, yes, there's always been a political divide, we've always had disagreements in terms of how to address these issues, but it just feels like the disagreements have become so vitriolic and the differences have become so severe that it's taken on a different cast than it used to have.
NBC plans to air Allegiance on Thursday nights in place of Parenthood. It sure sounds like a rip off of The Americans, even if its producers deny it. I'm sure there will be differences, like on The Americans the Russians are after the daughter, but on Allegiance they want to turn the son into a spy. It seems better to place such a scenario with undercover Russian spies in the 1980's, like The Americans, as opposed to present day.
The Americans started its season with another excellent episode, and is ranked by may critics as the top show currently on television. I doubt that Allegiance will be anywhere as good, either as a spy show or as a family drama. If you haven't seen it, call in sick for the next two days and binge on the first two seasons on Amazon Prime to catch up.
And, finally, a nine year-old in Texas was suspended from school for threatening to make a classmate disappear. He had just watched The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies and claimed to have the one ring to rule them all.
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SciFi Weekend: Mid-Season Finales For Arrow (Is Oliver Dead?), The Flash, and Agents of SHIELD; Agent Carter; Spider-Man; Continuum Renewed; The Office In Middle Earth; Krypton; The Newsroom; Fargo
Arrow, The Flash, and Agents of SHIELD all had major revelations in the midseason finales aired last week. Needless to say, there are major spoilers following. Besides revealing who killed the Black Canary, Arrow had the biggest cliffhanger, except the lead character actually was shown falling off the cliff after getting killed by Ra's al Ghul. Stephen Amell even played along with comments on Facebook and Twitter such as, "It was a good run." The most common belief among fans is that Oliver might have really been killed, but he doesn't stay dead. The most likely explanation is the Lazarus Pit, which is sort of the Genesis Planet for DC comics. I also noted that a drug used for mind control played a major part in the episode and wonder if this could also somehow plays a part in how Oliver ultimately survives if he had managed to drug Ra's al Ghul and influence his behavior and perception of the fight.
Oliver's death, even if temporary, does provide an opportunity to highlight the show's strong supporting cast. However Oliver won't be gone long. Episode 13 is entitled The Return, but Marc Guggenheim has said this does not refer to either Oliver or Slade Wilson (who will be returning at some point). This leaves open the question of who does return, which could be significant considering the large number of characters who have come and gone from the series. Set photos have appeared on line showing that the Arrow is back in that episode.
The revelation that Thea Queen (while drugged) killed the Black Canary was a bit of s surprise, but it did seem obvious that she was killed by someone we knew. I just wouldn't have guessed Thea. Most likely she was about the last person most would have guessed, which is why the writers did make her the Canary's killer.
Emily Bett Rickards engaged in bathroom therapy and answered questions about Arrow in a video filmed in her bathtub. (She is fully dressed, but really is in a bathtub in her video tweet.)
The Flash revealed the identity of Reverse Flash as Harrison Wells, as I predicted last week, but there remains much more to discover. It appears that Wells might not be described simply in terms of good or evil with his actions, presumably including killing Barry's mother so that he becomes the Flash, and later protecting Barry, being motivated by doing what he thinks needs to be done for history to play out as it should.
Variety interviewed Andy Mientus about playing the openly gay villain Pied Piper in an episode airing January 27:
"With the gay thing, I feel like I'm representing a whole community," Mientus, 28, told Variety at the "Into the Woods" premiere in New York on Monday night. "People are excited to see this character, so it is a lot of pressure. But I'm glad they are introducing the character to the show. It's a huge step forward, and I'm thrilled to help make that happen. It's awesome."
Mientus, who is engaged to actor Michael Arden, admits he's more nervous about pleasing the comicbook's avid fans than addressing his character's sexuality.
Agents of SHIELD revealed that Skye is actually Daisy Johnson and tied the show into Marvel Phase 3 and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Executive producers Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen explained much more about where the show is headed in an interview at Marvel.com:
Marvel.com: So I'm sure many fans are wondering what exactly that ending means for the future of the series?
Jed Whedon: We've dropped her name and it's the origin of the new version of her.
Maurissa Tancharoen: Or the origin of the true version of herself, which is Daisy Johnson.
Marvel.com: When you were breaking these characters and first developing them, was this a discussion you had at the very beginning?
Jed Whedon: It was somewhat of a moving target early on, in that we knew Skye would be an orphan and would uncover secrets about her past. We had an idea of what we wanted some of those to be that found their ways into the storyline, but exactly who she was we landed on early last season, or midway through last season. We started setting it up early in the beginning of last season.
Marvel.com: We also get the reveal of her dad as Mister Hyde, or Cal. What does bringing him into the series give you guys?
Maurissa Tancharoen: As we always do, we pulled from what exists in the Marvel Universe and put our own spin on it. We had always had our eyes on Daisy Johnson, and therefore her father and her whole history. We sort of planted that throughout the first season and a half. You knew the story of her parents and the havoc they caused, the massacre in the Hunan province in China. We lay in things like that, and over time you put the pieces together. But of course Daisy's powers aren't really activated until that moment you see in the Winter Finale.
Jed Whedon: There are parts of it that move away from the story in the comics, but partially that's because we'd invented our own way [of getting there]. We also wanted it to be a surprise to the people who are familiar with the comics, but [it's] also because we're tying it to a larger world. [It's] not just her origin story, it's the origin story of a bigger, other world.
Marvel.com: And that is a somewhat "inhuman" world, you could say?
Jed Whedon: It's safe to say that.
Marvel.com: When did you hit upon the idea of introducing that Inhuman element into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time?
Maurissa Tancharoen: It's been a property in the Marvel Universe that we've been interested in since the beginning. Our tagline when we began the show was "not all heroes are super," and we wanted to focus on that and highlight that for the first season. Now as we move forward we're diving deeper into the Marvel Universe, and it's our way of exploring a whole new world that may be comprised of people who have special abilities. We think that's going to open everything up for us.
Jed Whedon: Not all heroes are super, but what happens to a hero when they become super?
Maurissa Tancharoen: Essentially what we've built since the beginning of the show is an extended origin story, and we'll dive into that in the back half of Season 2.
There is a long hiatus until Agents of SHIELD returns, which will be filled with Agent Carter. The first two episodes of Agent Carter will air on January 6, with a clip from the series above. Here is the series description:
It's 1946 and peace has dealt Agent Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy finds herself stuck doing administrative work when she would rather be back out in the field, putting her vast skills into play and taking down the bad guys. But she is also trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of her life, Steve Rogers – a.k.a. Captain America. When old acquaintance Howard Stark finds himself being framed for unleashing his deadliest weapons to anyone willing to pony up the cash, he contacts Peggy — the only person he can trust — to track down those responsible, dispose of the weapons and clear his name. He empowers his butler, Edwin Jarvis, to be at her beck and call when needed to help assist her as she investigates and tracks down those responsible for selling these weapons of mass destruction. If caught going on these secret missions for Stark, Peggy could be targeted as a traitor and spend the rest of her days in prison – or worse.
The synopsis of the first episode:
"Peggy is contacted by old acquaintance Howard Stark when he is framed for unleashing his deadliest weapons and can trust no one else. To help Peggy clear Stark's name, he insists his butler, Edwin Jarvis, be at her beck and call–whether she likes it or not. But the risk is great: If caught, Agent Carter could be targeted as a traitor and spend the rest of her days in prison…or worse."
And the second episode:
"Howard Stark's deadliest weapon has fallen into enemy hands, and only Agent Carter can recover it. But can she do so before her undercover mission is discovered by SSR Chief Dooley and Agent Thompson?"
There have been reports that Sony, who owns the rights to Spider-Man, has denied requests to allow the use of Spider-Man in the next Captain America movie, which was desired because Spider-Man did have a role in the storyline taken from the comics. There was also talk of Marvel Studies doing the next Spider-Man trilogy with Sony retaining "creative control, marketing and distribution." Despite the last movie being a flop, Sony is looking at plans at continued use of the character, most likely as yet another reboot as opposed to a conclusion of a trilogy following the last two movies. Screen Rant looks at many of the ideas floating around. While I really don't care if they do it with Spider-Man as a teenager or adult, I do agree with the idea of just jumping into a good story and not bothering with yet another origin movie. More at IGN and The Daily Beast.
Gotham shows life before Batman. Smallville showed Clark Kent's earlier life. Now Syfy is going back even further with a planned show about Krypton.
Continuum was renewed by Showcase for a shortened six-episode final season. Rachel Nichols responded, "All great stories deserve an end. I am excited and grateful to finish Continuum with the riveting conclusion it deserves … this series finale is dedicated to the devoted fans who have loyally supported us since day one." Indiewire discussed the ending of the series with Simon Berry. Here are some of the questions and answers:
What went into the decision to make the fourth season the final season?
I'm obviously not privy to the conversations that happen inside the network, but I think from their perspective… whether it was an issue of internal profits or the money that gets recycled back into the broadcaster, to cover what they're paying out or whether we're simply making a creative decision, I think ultimately we were probably on the bubble in terms of how we were bringing money back in for the Canadian broadcaster. In terms of their decision-making process, we probably received the benefit of the doubt in terms of not being canceled, which a lot of shows are when they're not performing to expectations. They wisely recognized there was an opportunity to service the fans, and also to make more of an event around this final season. It seemed like a lot of things lined up in our favor in that sense. Obviously, I'm speculating, because you never get to hear the inside information.
You seemed pretty confident, back in October, about the show getting picked up.
We definitely had indications early on. When there's a delay and there's no cancellation, you know people are working on finding a solution. That's pretty clear. The delay is usually because somebody is working hard to find a solution that isn't cancellation. The longer it went, the more I felt we had momentum, and I certainly started hearing things early on in terms of getting prepared for ideas and getting ready to present plans for Season 4, which gave me the indication that we had a final chance. But a lot of that has to do with how everything comes together, because we still have to do our jobs as producers to put together the mechanism by which the show gets made, which is the right people and the right budget, things like that that everyone has to agree on.
Every season on "Continuum," we've had less money. One of the reasons we have less money is because when a show succeeds in its first season, usually the first season is the gamble season to launch it — much like opening a business. You put a lot of effort and a lot of energy and a lot of money into having a strong launch, then you kind of hope that the longer you last the more you can claw back that investment and the show can generate revenue in a positive sense.
It's so hard to make time travel work narratively in just a two hour movie. For you, hitting Season 3 and going into Season 4, how do you handle every complication that you've created?It's a good question. There was probably a time where we went into the show feeling like time travel had to be something that was touched on all the time. But we realized in the beginning, that once we'd set up the time travel event there was a ton of stuff to mine before we did time travel again. Really, for me, the challenge was how much of this story can we really exploit before I use this time travel trope, or that time travel device — I mean time travel device, literally and figuratively — to create more drama.We had an idea, at the beginning of Season 2, that we wanted to have another time travel event in the show, just as a component of our experience. The goal after Season 1 was let's work toward a travel time moment, because we knew we hadn't done it. We had really kind of avoided using time travel, because it does kind of get you in a ton of trouble. As you know, out of Season 2 and Season 3 that this one decision for Alec (Erik Knudsen) to go back in time reverberated in so many ways. I'm really glad we didn't do more time travel. [laughs] Because it's been so complicated dealing with that one end-of-Season-2 moment. Season 3 was incredibly complex as a result.
We had a great dramatic moment at the end of Season 2 with Alec going away, but I don't think we appreciated, when we wrote that, all of the things we would have to deal with in Season 3. Season 3 became a really hard lesson — not a hard lesson in the sense that it was difficult, but a hard lesson in that we felt an obligation to pay off the results of that time travel choice. It was much more impactful than I realized, in terms of how it would affect the drama, how it would affect the characters. They were great opportunities, dramatically, but I think with the complexity of people trying to track it and follow it, we didn't anticipate how hard it would be.
Did you always have, in your head, an idea for the series finale?
I've always known how the show ends, from day one. It was the first conversation I had with the writers — "Here's how the show will end" — just so everyone knew where we were heading and that we understood that we couldn't violate certain rules to get to that point. It wasn't necessarily just how the show would end, it was like: "Here are the rules of time travel that I'm adhering to in the philosophy of time travel," so that everyone kind of understood what we could hint at.
How close is what you're planning for the finale to what you initially had planned?
Well, it's certainly a shortcut to the original idea we had. I think we're definitely staying true to the plan. We've had to adjust a little bit as to where we left off and where the story needs to go, so we've built a story bridge, if you will, to link the ending we wanted to where we left off. So I feel very good about how these things are connecting.
When you say shortcut, how many seasons were you expecting the show would last initially?
I always expected it to be cancelled every year! So it was less about what I expected and more about what I was hoping for. I was hoping we could get seven years to tell the full story and all the various chapters. There were certainly opportunities to tell half a dozen specific, episodic stories — we had chatted about it internally, but ultimately it's still a linear story and I don't think we're compromising anything by getting to the ending in four seasons as opposed to seven. It's maybe some other stories that won't get told, but those, at the end of the day, didn't make a difference as to how the show would end or not.
Given how complicated things got in Season 3, will Season 4 be scaling back or will it take all those threads and take them to the next level?
It's hard to sort of qualify "complicated." We're definitely building off of Season 3 because that's the natural evolution of storytelling. You're always building off what you just did. But I would say that because we're now dealing with a shorter season in six episodes, it's also an opportunity to not deal with the reality of thirteen, which is to tend to want to have more layers of storytelling and multiple threads. Now with six, we're actually more focused on one clear story, which means the show could be closer to more of a limited series than a traditional 13-episode series.
How different is the rhythm of a six-episode season?
Well, it's naturally different because it's shorter. But it also provides opportunities that the longer seasons don't. I'm actually excited for the shorter number, in the sense that it allows for a different style of storytelling, which is more appropriate for finishing the story, rather than trying to service the balancing act of 13 hours, which tends to balance more serial and episodic.
Of course I wouldn't expect him to say anything different about being able to finish the series in six episodes, but I can't help but think it will result in a lesser story than planned. Individual seasons very well might have been better if shorter, but suddenly shortening the 4th season should be more difficult. They not only have to show the story planned for the season after the major changes shown in the third season finale, but also have to tie up the entire series in such a short amount of time. At least it is much better than having no conclusion at all.
Martin Freeman was guest host on Saturday Night Live last night. He appeared in the above skit as Bilbo Baggins in which an episode of The Office took place in Middle Earth.
The second season of Broadchurch starts on ITV on January 5. The US adaptation, Gracepoint, did have a different ending for the first season. The Guardian did think that the change in the ending was the one thing the US adaptation got right.
Tonight is the series finale of The Newsroom as yet another Aaron Sorkin television series ends way too early. (Yes, I know that The West Wing lasted seven seasons. For me, even that wasn't long enough.) It looks like the death of Charlie Skinner might be just one sign that ACN will end as we know it, plus Jim and Maggie look like they are finally getting together. Sorkin has discussed the recent rape storyline.
If you gave up on watching Homeland during the weak episodes to start the season, the show has become much better the last couple of weeks. Best line from Homeland: "It can't be my belt." It was also interesting to see the Ambassador's reaction when her husband did not go through with his suicide plans.
Tony Stark is literally Iron Man in the parody video above.
Last week I expressed interest in the fan movement to bring in Jonathan Frakes to direct the next Star Trek movie. Reportedly Frakes is interested and has contacted JJ Abrams regarding this.
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons were the latest announced additions to the cast of the second season of Fargo.
Bill Cosby was asked about the recent rape accusations in a phone conversation with a reporter from The New York Post. He refused to respond to specifics and said, "Let me say this. I only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and when you do that you have to go in with a neutral mind."
Posted in Blogs & Social Media, Humor and Satire, Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Agent Carter, Agents of SHIELD, Arrow, Batman, Black Canary, Broadchurch, Captain America, Continuum, Emily Bett Richards, Fargo, Gotham, Gracepoint, Homeland, Into The Woods, Iron Man, Jesse Plemons, Jonathan Frakes, Kirsten Dunst, Krypton, Lord of the Rings, Marc Guggenheim, Martin Freeman, Saturday Night Live, Science Fiction, Spider-Man, Star Trek, Stephen Amell, Superman, The Avengers, The Flash, The Hobbit, The Newsroom, The Office, The West Wing, Twitter. No Comments »
SciFi Weekend: Doctor Who, SHIELD, Arrow, Big Bang Theory & Other Sitcoms, Orphan Black, Star Trek, X-Files, Horror Shows, and SNL On Gravity & The Shutdown
Nine lost episodes of Doctor Who have been found in Nigeria.
The episodes come from two multi-part serials for which only one episode each was known to exist: "The Enemy Of The World" and "The Web Of Fear." As a result of this discovery, "The Enemy Of The World" serial can now be watched whole in the UK for the first time since it was originally broadcast, and for the first time ever in the United States. Episode 3 of "The Web Of Fear" serial is still missing even after this discovery, but a reconstruction from stills and program audio is included to complete the story. All 11 episodes from the two serials exist on film and were digitally restored prior for this release.
Trailer for The Enemy of the World above. Mark Gatiss has said that Web of Fear has inspired the first episode of the third season of Sherlock.
The third episode of Agents of SHIELD was better than last week but still left a lot to be desired. Regardless of the show's (lack of) quality, it has been picked up for a full 22 episode run. That is no real surprise considering how it helps promote the Marvel movies, and I'm sure Disney will also find other ways to profit from the show. I'm still hoping that everyone other than Agent Coulson gets furloughed during the government shutdown, especially Fitz and Simmons. Skye could conceivably be a good character if she was able to be more convincing as someone both working with SHIELD and a hacker group.
Despite being limited to minor DC characters and being on CW, so far Arrow has been a much better show than Agents of SHIELD. As a plus, beyond the connection to DC, there is also a strong Doctor Who connection with recurring characters including John Barrowman and Alex Kingston. The producers are Doctor Who fans who are hoping to get Matt Smith to guest star.
The second season premier was a little uneven. There were great scenes, including a shoot out which seemed to be from Gotham City and the return to the island, but the show was hindered with some scenes to bring things up to date after a six month jump. This included the prison visits to Moira and the obligatory scene between Oliver and Laurel to place their romance on hold once again. It was good to see Summer Glau, but her character seemed to be even more of a robot than the robot she played on Sarah Connor Chronicles.
I have another nitpick with last week's episode. When Oliver met with Summer Glau's character, he was accompanied by John Diggle and Felicity. These two are his sidekicks when he does the vigilante thing, but they do not have comparable roles at Queen Consolidated. While I understand they want to place their main cast into as many scenes as possible, the business meeting should have been held with extras in suits who presumably have been running the country for the past six months while Oliver was gone and Moira was in prison. Despite the flaws of the first episode, I remain optimistic for an entertaining second season. Of course the major change is that Oliver now wants to be a hero instead of vigilante, going under a new name.
The new NBC comedies have been doing terribly in the ratings, making me hope that Community will return sooner than planned. Parks and Recreation is worth watching, even including an occasional genre reference. The rest of the shows have serious problems. Unfortunately Parks and Recreation has to go up against The Big Bang Theory. They had an excellent episode with genre discussion last week. Amy destroyed Raiders of the Lost Arc for Sheldon by making an observation I had not thought of before. The story would have played out pretty much the same way if Indiana Jones wasn't involved, with the Nazis taking the Arc, opening it, and suffering the same fate. Sheldon tried to retaliate by showing flaws in things which Amy liked. He pointed out things on Little House on the Prairie which didn't belong in the era and said, "If I knew this show was about time travel, I would have watched it much sooner." He also knocked Garfield: "Your precious Garfield has no reason to hate Mondays. He's a cat. He has no job." Meanwhile Leonard wanted to watch the full Blu-ray extended version of "The Hobbit" with long commentary instead of watching sports with Penny's friends who he has little in common with : "It's like they never even heard of Quidditch." Plus there was an appearance by Leonard's mother, played by Christine Baranski.
In a related item, here is a reference to all of Sheldon Cooper's t-shirts.
I was pessimistic from the start that a US network would pull off an adaption of Gavin and Stacey, fearing it would be a flop as with the attempt at a US version of Steven Moffat's fantastic sit-com Coupling. I was going to give Us & Them, the US adaptation, a chance due to staring Alexis Bledel. Fox has already given up on the show before it has aired, not planning to produce further episodes. I've seen conflicting reports saying that either six or seven have been filmed. Regardless of the number, there will be no more.
Joanna Page, the original Stacey, is appearing in The Day of the Doctor. She discussed the show in an interview posted here.
With a lack of successful comedies, NBC is looking at everything from a new sitcom staring Meg Ryan to a sitcom reboot of Remington Steele.
There have been a lot of stories over the past week about Robert Orci speaking with CBS about the possibility of a new Star Trek television series. I would love to see it happen. Star Trek belongs on television far more than in movies (not that the two are mutually exclusive). If anything, the talks are at a very early stage. Orci has now posted: "I THINK MY COMMENT HAS BEEN BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION. Someone asked about Star Trek TV, and I said we had inquired about the rights. Doesn't mean a show is imminent nor do we assume CBS would want us to do that at this time. I refer you to the Roddenberry podcast for context."
Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny Revisit the Origins of 'The X-Files'
There have been a number of cast announcements for the second season of Orphan Black and for Fargo, a ten-episode series to run on FX. The most interesting pick is the addition of Bob Odenkirk (Saul from Braking Bad) to the cast of Fargo.
There's a Twitter feud between the writers of Elementary and Sleepy Hollow. Both shows have something in common as far as I'm concerned. Both have episodes still sitting on my DVR as shows which I haven't found good enough to keep up with. I still might give Sleepy Hollow another chance as time allows, primarily because of knowing that John Noble will be appearing. Fake Sherlock is a poor substitute for the "real" thing.
With Walking Dead returning, Oh No They Don't took a look at How Horror Took Over Hollywood.
Saturday Night Live showed the impact of the government shutdown on Gravity.
Posted in Humor and Satire, Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Agents of SHIELD, Alex Kingston, Alexis Bledel, Arrow, Breaking Bad, Coupling, Doctor Who, Elementary, Fargo, Gavin and Stacey, Gillian Anderson, Gotham, Gravity, John Barrowman, Mark Gatiss, Orphan Black, Parks and Recreation, Robert Orci, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Saturday Night Live, Science Fiction, Sherlock, Sleepy Hollow, Star Trek, Steven Moffat, Summer Glau, The Big Bang Theory, The Hobbit, The X-Files, Twitter, Walking Dead. 2 Comments »
SciFi Weekly: Doctor Who; SHIELD; JK Rowling Exposed as Mystery Writer; Star Trek3; Summer Glau; Kristen Bell; The Newsroom
July 14, 2013 — Ron Chusid
A prom apparently has a different meaning in the U.K. than in the United States. There were rumors that the identity of the next Doctor would be revealed at a prom this weekend. That didn't occur, but there was an appearance by Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman in the video above.
Entertainment Weekly interviewed Steven Moffat. Following are some of the more interesting/news worthy answers:
Are you hoping the new Doctor will appear in this year's Christmas special?
Yes. That's not the hope — that's the plan. It'll be the traditional regeneration. You know, the eleventh will fall and the twelfth shall rise. And you'll see that in the closing moments of the show. I mean, you sometimes sit and think, "Are there better ways of doing it? Is there a different way of doing it?" But quite honestly what could be better than that? It's just too exciting. [Laughs]
Am I right in thinking that the new series—the first post-Matt shows—will be broadcast in late summer 2014?
I think that's probably right. But these things change so often.
What can you tell us about this November's Doctor Who 50th anniversary show?
[Laughs] Oh, well, very, very little. It will feature of course Matt and Jenna Coleman, but in addition there'll be Billie Piper and David Tennant and John Hurt. But we've been really quite careful. We have a philosophy that anything we shot outside we had to own up to but the rest of it…You're just going to have to wait until November to find out about.
What is the format of the 50th anniversary special? Is it movie-length?
It's a special episode. I think you could call it movie-length, yeah. I mean, I'm saying that with a slight hint of vagueness because I don't know the finished running time. [Laughs] It's certainly well over an hour.
How much longer do you yourself intend to stay with the show?
I think a year at a time. I've signed up for this next year, with the new Doctor. It's one of those jobs when you know when you've had enough. At the moment I haven't had enough and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm very excited for the challenge of the new Doctor and establishing that new Doctor. So, no plans to leave as yet. But that doesn't mean I'll be here for 20 years. There will come that day when I think it's time someone else had a go and it's time I did something else.
You're also the executive producer of Sherlock. Have you finished shooting the new series yet?
Oh, I wish! We've done two. But we've now got a small gap — a small gap? A large gap! — while Martin (Freeman) goes back to New Zealand to film a bit more of the Hobbit and then he'll return to us. Hopefully, by that time, I'll actually have finished the Sherlock script I'm writing and we'll make another one.
Entertainment Weekly has picked up some news on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in preparation for their Comic-Con panel. Here are a couple of the top items:
1. The pilot hints at how mild-mannered kick-ass bureaucrat Agent Coulson (Clarke Gregg) was resurrected to lead the team after being killed off in The Avengers (his S.H.I.E.L.D. colleagues say he must "never know the truth" about his death). Yet you'll have to keep watching to learn the full story. "We can't wait to pull the curtain back on that," says co-creator Jed Whedon. "[But] we're going to take our time."
2. The S.H.I.E.L.D. story will work in tandem with the Marvel films, both past and upcoming. In fact, the first episode will pick up a storyline that's familiar from one of the Marvel hits — and it's not The Avengers. "We plan on trying to weave in between the films and try to make them more rewarding on both ends," says Jed Whedon, who points out the trick is to make the audience not ask a certain fanboy-bar-fight-style question: "In any of these [episodes], you can always ask: 'Why don't they just call Iron Man?'" Yeah, that would be annoying! So our next question is: Why don't they just call Iron Man? "They are aware of each other," Whedon says of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team and the metal-suited Malibu playboy, "but they do have to have their own lives."
J.K. Rowling had a detective novel published under the name of Robert Galbraith earlier this year, with her identity leaking out this week. io9 has a rundown of reviews of the novel, which sound quite favorable. Conveniently, the book is scheduled for paperback release later this month.
Zachary Quinto has this speculation regarding the next Star Trek movie: "Star Trek 3 should be filming, I suppose, next year. It's going to be made a lot quicker than the last one. That's the plan, although nothing is confirmed yet." That would make it difficult for J.J. Abrams to direct as he will be busy with Star Wars. Presumably they will want to release the next movie for the 50th Anniversary in 2016.
With J.J. Abrams directing movies for both franchises, and with the recent Star Trek movies in many ways being more Star Wars than classic Star Trek, the old Star Wars vs. Star Trek fan wars seem to have died out. George Lucas provides more reason for peace between the two:
The documentary "Trek Nation" chronicles Rod Roddenberry's personal journey to explore the importance of the legendary sci-fi franchise dreamed up by his father Gene.
The film comes to DVD on Tuesday, and among the bonus materials included in the release is an interview with "Star Wars" creator George Lucas talking about the important role "Star Trek" played in paving the way for his own space opera.
"'Star Trek' softened up the entertainment arena so that 'Star Wars' could come along and stand on its shoulders," Lucas said in an interview.
While Star Trek worked far better as a weekly show than as movies, it also must be kept in mind that Star Trek probably would have never been released as a movie, reviving the franchise, if not for the success of Star Wars.
Summer Glau has been cast for a recurring role on Arrow:
Glau, who has amassed plenty of genre street cred in TV series like Joss Whedon's Firefly and Dollhouse, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and most recently as a recurring on Syfy's Alphas, is set to play the dangerous Isabel Rochev, Vice President of Acquisitions of Stellmoor International, a company looking to take over Queen Consolidated.
Entertainment Weekly reports that Kristen Bell (currently busy filming the Veronica Mars movie) will have a guest appearance on Parks and Recreations next season, in an episode to air in early October:
After shooting the Veronica Mars movie, Kristen Bell will guest-star in an episode of NBC's Parks and Recreation as Ingrid, a snooty City Councilwoman from Eagleton. "She's Leslie's equivalent, but richer and better dressed," executive producer Michael Schur tells EW. The two will first meet up at the annual Pawnee-Eagleton high school basketball game. Bell and Parks actor Adam Scott previously worked together on Party Down and Veronica Mars, and she currently stars with frequent Parks guest Ben Schwartz on House of Lies.
A lot happened in last week's True Blood–the type of changes and revelations we might not have expected until towards the end of past seasons. The show certainly has its flaws, and I almost gave up on it a few times, but enough is happening this season to keep my interest.
The Newsroom returns for a second season tonight. Oliva Munn discussed preparation for her role on The Newsroom with Vanity Fair:
"I write a lot of notes in my scripts," she explains. "It's important for me to have them there as a reference so I can keep on track for what I'm wanting to convey. Sometimes, no matter how much I prepare, I can let my emotions of the day affect my choices in a scene, so I like to have my notes with me to remind myself of what track I should be on. And with scripts as complicated and rich as Sorkin's, it's vital for me. My notes become my sheet music."'
Netflix is quickly establishing itself as a service worth subscribing to for its original content now that there are multiple choices for on-demand movies. Orange Is The New Black premiered this week and is up to premium cable standards, and they are negotiating for a second season of Arrested Development. Besides their original series, Netflix recently released the excellent BBC2 series The Fall before it completed its run in the UK.
Posted in Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Aaron Sorkin, Agents of SHIELD, Arrested Development, Day of the Doctor, Doctor Who, Gene Roddenberry, Harry Potter, Iron Man, Jenna Coleman, JJ Abrams, JK Rowling, John Hurt, Joss Whedon, Matt Smith, Olivia Munn, Orange Is The New Black, Parks and Recreation, Science Fiction, Sherlock, Star Trek, Star Wars, Steven Moffat, Terminator, The Fall, The Hobbit, The Newsroom, True Blood, Zachary Quinto. No Comments »
SciFi Weekend: Doctor Who Returns in The Bells of St. John; Hugo and Other Award Nominations for Doctor Who
March 31, 2013 — Ron Chusid
Doctor Who returned with The Bells of St. John, picking up with the Doctor having gone to a quiet place as advised by a young Clara Oswald as seen in a web-episode prequel. The bells turn out be from the phone on the TARDIS with Clara having received the Doctor's number from an unidentified person, saying it was for tech support. I wonder if this is another explained event which sometimes pop up in Moffat's stories, or if we will find that someone significant (perhaps River Song or another version of Clara) gave it to her.
The plot, as is often the case on Doctor Who, was not terribly compelling but the character interaction more than made up for it. The danger in Moffat's stories often comes from unexpected, or everyday items. In this case the danger struck over WiFi, so be careful of what you click on. The episode took advantage of the London background to provide a more realistic setting than usual, and a trip in the TARDIS to an out control airplane was more exciting than many of the trips to alien planets in other episodes. It is necessary to watch closely to pick up the many subtle references to other aspects of Doctor Who, such as an old book written by Amelia Williams. Others were more obvious, such as the scene with UNIT.
While this season is primarily made up of stand-alone episodes, The Bells of St. John can be seen as part of at least two arcs: the mystery of Clara Oswald and another attempt by the Great Intelligence to fight the Doctor. We learned very little about Clara, but she did have some similarity to the Clara of The Snowmen as she once again was a governess. She also acquired considerable computer skills in this episode, perhaps foreshadowing her abilities in Asylum of the Daleks. We also saw how the Doctor comes up with money and Moffat got in a dig at Twitter.
There is no longer a Doctor Who Confidential, but the BBC did release this behind the scenes video.
Steven Moffat says we will learn who Clara is this season. More from Moffat in the text of a press conference posted here. Other major news from the past week is that David Tennant and Billie Piper will be returning for the 50th anniversary episode. John Hurt will also be appearing in the episode.
Cult Box has a spoiler-free review of next week's episode, The Rings of Akhaten.
The week of Doctor Who's return was also a big week for awards and nominations, including receiving a Peabody Award: "Doctor Who," the ever-evolving, ever-clever BBC science fiction series now entering its second half century, was awarded an Institutional Peabody.
Doctor Who was also nominated for two BAFTA Awards:
Musical composer Murray Gold was nominated in the Original Television Music category for his, as the ninth Doctor would say, "fantastic" music score featured in the Series 7 episode, Asylum of the Daleks. This is the second time Murray Gold has been nominated for a BAFTA award.
The show was also nominated for a BAFTA in the Visual Effects and Graphic Design category. The Mill, which has recently announced it will be closing, was nominated for the wonderful Craft Visual Effects it has created in their recent episodes.
The Mill has been nominated for a BAFTA every year since 2007. They received a BAFTA in 2009 for their work in The Fires of Pompeii.
Other Doctor Who related BAFTA awards include the Editing Fiction award in 2008, The Television Drama Series in 2005, and the Craft Writer award went to Steven Moffat in 2007.
Three episodes were nominated for Hugo Awards:
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (597 nominating ballots cast)
Doctor Who, "The Angels Take Manhattan", Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who, "Asylum of the Daleks", Written by Steven Moffat; Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who, "The Snowmen", written by Steven Moffat; directed by Saul Metzstein (BBC Wales)
Fringe, "Letters of Transit", Written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Akiva Goldsman, J.H.Wyman, Jeff Pinkner. Directed by Joe Chappelle (Fox)
Game of Thrones, "Blackwater", Written by George R.R. Martin, Directed by Neil Marshall. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO)
The Avengers were among the nominees for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (787 nominating ballots cast)
The Avengers, Screenplay & Directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios, Disney, Paramount)
The Cabin in the Woods, Screenplay by Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon; Directed by Drew Goddard (Mutant Enemy, Lionsgate)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, Directed by Peter Jackson (WingNut Films, New Line Cinema, MGM, Warner Bros)
The Hunger Games, Screenplay by Gary Ross & Suzanne Collins, Directed by Gary Ross (Lionsgate, Color Force)
Looper, Screenplay and Directed by Rian Johnson (FilmDistrict, EndGame Entertainment)
Posted in Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Alex Kurtzman, Amy Pond, Angels Take Manhattan, Asylum of the Daleks, Billie Piper, Clara Oswald, David Tennant, Day of the Doctor, Doctor Who, Fringe, Game of Thrones, Hugo Awards, Jenna Coleman, John Hurt, Matt Smith, River Song, Science Fiction, Steven Moffat, The Bells of St. John, The Hobbit, The Rings of Akhaten, The Snowmen, Twitter. No Comments »
SciFi Weekend: Some Answers on Fringe; Avengers; SHIELD; Star Wars; Dexter; Awards; White House Response On Petition To Build The Death Star; Grammar Dalek; Dark Knight Trilogy In Three Minutes
This week's episode of Fringe, The Boy Must Live, was the final episode before Friday's two hour series finale. After enduring years of episodes which offered more questions than answers, this episode did reveal a lot about September/Donald, the Observers, and the child Observer, Michael. September was punished for his assistance to the Bishops by Biological Reinversion–being turned back into a normal human. Donald explained how the Observers became the way they are by generic engineering (in addition to the device seen earlier this season). The key moment comes in 2167 when a scientist in Norway finds that removing jealousy from humans would leave room for greater intelligence. Further emotions were later removed to provide for even greater intelligence. Of course we have seen examples showing that at least some Observers still have some emotions.
Once humans lost emotions, test tubes replaced sex to create future generations. Michael was an anomaly who possessed both advanced intelligence and emotions. His genetic material came from September, who showed emotions himself in forming a bond with this son and saved him, analogous to Walter saving Peter.
September has been keeping a notebook of his observations of humans. This is actually being released as a book on March 12.
For beings of supposedly great intelligence, Observers often appear to have difficulty communicating. When September met Walter after saving Peter, when he said "the boy must live" he was referring not to Peter (the boy present at the time) but to Michael (a boy who Walter had no knowledge of at the time). While September sees time differently, it still makes little sense for him to have said this to Walter at this time without further explanation. September also showed questionable intelligence, even if reinverted to a human, when he wired his apartment to explode but included a warning light allowing other Observers to escape.
Finding the real meaning of "the boy must live" does clear up the question of why the Observers eliminated Peter's existence in our timeline in a previous season if he was so important. I had previously rationalized this as representing different priorities for September and the other Observers.
Donald's plan was to send Michael to 2167 to show that it is possible to have advanced intelligence without eliminating emotion. The scavenger hunt of the season to date has been to accumulate supplies needed for a time machine, with Donald conveniently having access to additional material needed. The idea is that, seeing Michael, the scientist would go down a different road and not eliminate emotion. The hope is that this would keep the Observers from coming back in time and waging war against humanity. When in human history have emotions kept a group from going to war?
The episode foreshadows two ideas which have been common in fan discussion of the final season–sacrifice and resetting time. Peter even suggested to Olivia that if they could reset time and prevent the invasion they could have Etta back. However, if the Observers were changed this might mean that Walter might have never succeeded in bringing Peter over from the other earth and he might have never lived and met Olivia. On the other hand, this might not be an issue in the world of Fringe, where Peter already returned once after he ceased to exist in our timeline. Michael also gave Walter memories of Peter from the previous timeline, making it even more tragic if the two do not both remain alive after the Observers are defeated.
I also wonder if raising the need for sacrifice and resetting the timeline in this episode served as misdirection, with one or both points not being true once we see how the dilemma is resolved.
The episode ended with another mystery as Michael voluntarily surrendered himself to the Observers. I wonder if he doesn't have yet another plan which will allow him to destroy the Observers while he appears to be their prisoner.
Joss Whedon says Avengers 2 will be deeper, not bigger. He also will begin shooting on the pilot for his S.H.I.E.L.D. series in the near future. Reportedly the series takes place after the events of The Avengers, but there also reports that Clark Gregg will reprise his role of Agent Phil Coulson in the pilot, creating some questions.
ABC is also considering a live action Star Wars television series.
Person of Interest had another strong episode this week. Prisoner's Dilemma ties the recent arc in which Reese was captured into has back story. He's now in the hands of his old partner, Kara Stanton, and I have no idea what she is up to.
Showtime had an awesome Sunday night line up with both Dexter and Homeland. They are moving up Dexter's' eight, and probably final, season to June 30 so that the popularity of both Dexter and Homeland can be used to develop other shows.
The Oscar nominations came out without much attention to genre movies. Some genre movies are competing for Visual Effects. The nominees are The Avengers, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Life of Pi, Prometheus, and Snow White and the Huntsman. Life of Pi also was nominated for Best Picture. There are some additional nominations for genre movies, but only in minor categories. Benedict Cumberbatch is nominated for Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for his role on Sherlock at the Golden Globe Awards tonight.
The White House has denied the petition to build the Death Star, and showed a sense of humor with this response:
Official White House Response to Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.
This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For
By Paul Shawcross
The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:
The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?
However, look carefully (here's how) and you'll notice something already floating in the sky — that's no Moon, it's a Space Station! Yes, we already have a giant, football field-sized International Space Station in orbit around the Earth that's helping us learn how humans can live and thrive in space for long durations. The Space Station has six astronauts — American, Russian, and Canadian — living in it right now, conducting research, learning how to live and work in space over long periods of time, routinely welcoming visiting spacecraft and repairing onboard garbage mashers, etc. We've also got two robot science labs — one wielding a laser — roving around Mars, looking at whether life ever existed on the Red Planet.
Keep in mind, space is no longer just government-only. Private American companies, through NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office (C3PO), are ferrying cargo — and soon, crew — to space for NASA, and are pursuing human missions to the Moon this decade.
Even though the United States doesn't have anything that can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, we've got two spacecraft leaving the Solar System and we're building a probe that will fly to the exterior layers of the Sun. We are discovering hundreds of new planets in other star systems and building a much more powerful successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that will see back to the early days of the universe.
We don't have a Death Star, but we do have floating robot assistants on the Space Station, a President who knows his way around a light saber and advanced (marshmallow) cannon, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is supporting research on building Luke's arm, floating droids, and quadruped walkers.
We are living in the future! Enjoy it. Or better yet, help build it by pursuing a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field. The President has held the first-ever White House science fairs and Astronomy Night on the South Lawn because he knows these domains are critical to our country's future, and to ensuring the United States continues leading the world in doing big things.
If you do pursue a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field, the Force will be with us! Remember, the Death Star's power to destroy a planet, or even a whole star system, is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
Paul Shawcross is Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget
That's ok with me if they don't build the Death Star. I'm far more interested in the more recent proposal to build the Starship Enterprise.
T-shirt available here, based upon this cartoon.
The Dark Knight Trilogy is condensed to only three minutes in the video above. I'm afraid the experience is not the same as watching the full movies.
Posted in Barack Obama, Humor and Satire, Science, Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Agents of SHIELD, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dexter, Doctor Who, Fringe, Homeland, Person of Interest, Russia, Science Fiction, Sherlock, Star Wars, The Hobbit. No Comments »
SciFi Weekend: Doctor Who; Merlin; Benedict Cumberbatch; Person of Interest; Thor; Building the Starship Enterprise
Doctor Who TV has summarized many of the reports to date on the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who:
The format of the anniversary is still to be confirmed. Steven Moffat originally said: "Why talk in the singular?" Matt Smith also hinted at multiple episodes, but more recent rumours seem to suggest a feature-length outing.
In another interview Moffat said: "I've got various plans, but all I can say emphatically is it will be huge. It won't be just one thing…. We'll be doing lots of stuff. The plans are quite extensive, and changing all the time. Oh my God, we will hit that year very, very hard indeed."
Moffat on multi-Doctor stories:
"It's slightly difficult to do them all now. I'm not against it but I think as a gimmick it outlives its usefulness quite fast. "Doing Time Crash with 8 minutes of Peter [Davidson] and David [Tennant] was about right. If you have a really good story that motors on the fact that this is one man experiencing the same adventure at several different points of his life, that would be worth doing. But you can't do a special or an episode as a reunion party. That's not a story, that's a party. Nothing wrong with parties but they're not great fun to watch. But with a really good story, then yes."
And in a later interview: "Possibly…. It's so far in the future, it's only a set of notions."
Neil Gaiman wants The Eleven Doctors:
"The real dream story is the one you cannot do because technology is not there and people have died — It would be The Eleven Doctors," he explained. They made The Three Doctors. They made The Five Doctors. It's the 50th Anniversary, you'd make The Eleven Doctors and you'd have William Hartnell in it. The trouble is do you have actors playing these people? Do you have someone doing a Tom Baker? How do you do that? I trust in Moffat enough to think that whatever he's going to give us, it will be worth it."
A live episode?
Matt Smith: "It won't just be a televised event, I think it will be a live event. The way it's transmitted on TV will hopefully be an inventive thing–something different."
More in the full post.
The BBC has announced a set of short stories will be written about the eleven Doctors.
The 11 tales, known as "eshorts", will each be written by a well-known children's author.
Each story will feature one of the various regenerations of the Doctor, starting with William Hartnell, who played the character from 1963-1966.
A paperback of the stories will be published by Puffin in November.
The first children's author will be revealed on the BBC Worldwide Doctor Who Facebook page on Monday 7 January, followed by the first story on Wednesday 23 January.
A promotional video of each author will also be available each month on the BBC Worldwide YouTube channel starting on Friday 11 January.
There has been speculation that J.K. Rowling is one of these authors.
Billie Piper discussed the 50th anniversary on the Graham Norton Show (video available here). She denies rumors that she will be appearing: "No. I've not been asked. I think Matt Smith said something in passing or in jest like, 'That would be nice,' and it became something, but no."
In an interview last night, David Tennant said he knew nothing about the 50th anniversary plans.
It seems like Merlin and Downton Abbey just ended, and now they are starting up again in the United States.
TV Addict has an interview with the cast. This selection helps set up the final season:
Is there anything you can share about what's upcoming in the 5th season? Maybe just a few teasers?
BRADLEY: Mordred's back – I'm not sure what I can tell you without telling you what happens in the show!
We know there's the 3-year gap. You can surely talk about what happened during that time period for our heroes?
BRADLEY: Yes, three years have gone by. That's what I can tell you.
KATIE: I can tell you what happens with Morgana. For two years of that period, Morgana has been held captive because of her magic and it is a very important storyline for her in season five is that everything she has feared her whole life about being persecuted for having magic has all come true. She has been persecuted. She has been tortured. She's been kept locked up. I think that the fact that her fears have actually happened means that she feels vindicated in removing Arthur from power and in taking over because she's protecting people like herself.
More from the cast at The Los Angeles Times and Blastr.
Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be in everything these days. Besides Sherlock, The Hobbit, and Star Trek Into Darkness, Cumberbatch will be staring in Parade's End, a five part mini-series on HBO in February:
From the reliable comforts of Edwardian England to the chaos and destruction of the First World War, the early 20th century was a defining era in history, a time of unprecedented change, when old certainties were being torn down. The long golden afternoons of the pre-war years would be shattered by the most destructive war the world had ever known, and countless lives would be changed forever.
Set against this backdrop of impending catastrophe is the story of English aristocrat Christopher Tietjens, trapped in a marriage to an unfaithful wife, and caught between his commitment to the values of Toryism and his unspoken love for a fearless young suffragette.
Spanning the glittering, shallow world of London high society, the trench-scarred battlefields of France, and the breathtaking English countryside, the sweeping five-part HBO Miniseries presentation PARADE'S END debuts TUESDAY, FEB. 26 (9:00-11:05 p.m. ET/PT), WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27 (9:00-11:05 p.m.) and THURSDAY, FEB. 28 (9:00-10:00 p.m.), exclusively on HBO. Adapted from Ford Madox Ford's groundbreaking novels by Sir Tom Stoppard (Oscar®-winner for "Shakespeare in Love"), the drama was directed by Susanna White (HBO's Emmy®-winning "Generation Kill").
Benedict Cumberbatch ("Sherlock," "War Horse"), Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona," "The Town") and Adelaide Clemens ("The Great Gatsby") star in PARADE'S END, a Mammoth Screen production for the BBC in association with HBO Miniseries and Trademark Films and BBC Worldwide and Lookout Point; co-produced with BNP Paribas Fortis Film Fund and Anchorage Entertainment; filmed with the support of the Belgian federal government's Tax Shelter Scheme. The executive producers areMichele Buck and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, Ben Donald for BBC Worldwide, Simon Vaughan for Lookout Point TV, Judith Louis for ARTE France and Tom Stoppard. David Parfitt and Selwyn Roberts produce.
A spoiler-free review can be found here.
Person of Interest returned with Reese in custody, but with a four-way complication for the FBI. Here is a portion of a press conference with executive producers Jonah Nolan and Greg Plageman, posted prior to Friday's episode:
Do you ever come up with a storyline and then think, "No, we can't go that far"?
JONAH: Every day. Our writers come up with incredibly bold and great and sometimes subversive and odd pitches. There's a heightened aspect to the show. I talked a lot about THE X-FILES, in developing the pilot, and Greg and I have referred back to it frequently, because it had a great balance between the case-of-the-week and a serialized, larger mythology that they were telling. But, what they also had was this great dove-tailing connectiveness between the case of the week and that mythology, in the way they interacted with each other. So, we always want the show to reach out as far as it can, as far as jumping from one unexpected world to the next, but with a common thread that emerges from that and giving the sense of a larger, corrupt, weirder universe around them. I was a huge fan of James Ellroy's books, "American Tabloid" being one of them. There's a sense that you get from Ellroy's universe that there are weird machinations at play underneath everything, with his dark gaze on the CIA, on the events of the 1960′s, and on the connection with heroin out of Vietnam. The darker lens that our show takes, looking towards government surveillance and all those sorts of things, is not all that different from THE X-FILES. THE X-FILES universe was a very dark one, in the direction of alien conspiracies. Ours is really about surveillance technologies and the pending odd moment when a number of different entities know more about your life than you do, and I think we're kind of there. We keep being interested in the larger universe of that, and what impact that has upon our relationship to our government.
GREG: A perfect case in point is that one of our writers saw an article about the massive new surveillance program uncovered by the Wall Street Journal, in terms of predictive pattern matching. It's a constant steady drumbeat of these types of stories.
Are you going to be returning to the issues with the machine's growing artificial intelligence?
JONAH: One of the problems we have with the show is that our incredible writers have come up with so many compelling storylines and villains, at least to me. From the beginning, one of the ideas with the show was compelling villains. I love writing villains, and we've embraced that. It was one of the first questions J.J. [Abrams] had about the show because he wanted to have that tapestry of villains. They're so fun, in the way that they drive the plot forward. We have an absolute wealth of them, at this point, with some amazing actors, like Enrico Colantoni, Robert John Burke, Clarke Peters and Amy Acker. I want to keep exploring, and I know our writers want to keep exploring, all of those different storylines, to the degree that we can and to the degree that the audience is willing to go along for the ride. We tend to tell our stories in chapters. Not explicitly because we don't draw attention to it, but the story keeps a steady simmer going, on some elements. At this point, the A.I. of it all is poised to erupt back into view. But, when you have fantastic actors playing great characters, you want to go back and service those storylines again. None of our villains are ever too far from surfacing, but we like to keep the audience guessing, as to how all these storylines connect together.
For the first time, the characters were following their own divergent interests, even if it was to their own detriment. Is that something that will continue to happen, in the second half of the season?
JONAH: It's all falling apart.
GREG: I think it's fantastic that we have two characters who are largely cognizant of the machine and its capabilities, but more so Finch than Reese, obviously. Carter and Fusco are a little bit on a need-to-know basis, and the collision that they have encountered, up to this point, has been more on a municipal level, with HR, Quinn and Simmons. And then, there is the larger nemesis of Root (Amy Acker), who is interested in freeing the machine. When we last saw her, she got away, but we will hear from her again. The great part of all these characters is that they come and they coalesce in interesting ways, on our show, and bump up against each other, all in the fine city of New York. It gives each of our characters their own dilemmas, but they often bump up against each other and need each other's help.
Jaimie Alexander discussed Thor: The Dark World.
"It's going to be a bit of a darker feel, and obviously a lot more action. We get to explore the different Realms a lot more and you see a lot more Asgard, and you get to know the people of Asgard. We sort of explore the Thor-Sif relationship a little bit. It's more like getting a feel of who these people are, and the way they are with each other. It was fun for me and fun for Chris. Again, he and I are almost like brother/sister types too, so I was like 'maybe that translates into ooh they love each other on camera.' [laughs] We had a good time making that movie."
Many genre shows have started in the U.K. and later received followings in the United States. It sounds like Utopia might be a new show worth watching for.
Last month their was the petition to the White House to build the Death Star. Now there is a petition to build the Starship Enterprise:
An engineer is petitioning the White House to study the possibility of building a real-life starship Enterprise like the fictional vessel in television's "Star Trek."
The proposal was submitted through the White House's official "We the People" channel, which promises an administration response to any petition that gathers at least 25,000 signatures. Just last month, a petition to build a Death Star like the spherical spaceship in the movie "Star Wars" garnered that critical mass, and is currently awaiting its official response.
The Enterprise proposal comes from an engineer who goes by the name BTE Dan, who detailed plans for constructing a life-size, flyable starship Enterprise on his website last year.
"We have within our technological reach the ability to build the 1st generation of the USS Enterprise," BTE Dan wrote in the petition, viewable here.
As of this writing, the petition had 3,335 signatures, with more than 21,000 to go.
The project, BTE Dan maintains, wouldn't be a vanity exercise, but rather a practical step forward for space exploration. [The Top 10 Star Trek Technologies]
"It ends up that this ship's inspiring form is quite functional," he wrote. "This will be Earth's first gigawatt-class interplanetary spaceship with artificial gravity. The ship can serve as a spaceship, space station, and space port all in one. In total, one thousand crew members & visitors can be on board at once."
Make it so.
Posted in Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Amy Pond, Benedict Cumberbatch, Billie Piper, David Tennant, Day of the Doctor, Doctor Who, JK Rowling, Matt Smith, Merlin, Person of Interest, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars, Steven Moffat, The Hobbit, The X-Files, Thor. 2 Comments »
SciFi Weekend: A Split Season for Doctor Who; Implications of Rita's Death; Merlin Promo; Jessica Alba in Spy Kids
August 29, 2010 — Ron Chusid
In recent years Doctor Who has concluded with big stories which are wrapped up in two episodes, but they have not concluded with big cliff hangers due to the long wait for the show to return. Steven Moffat had decided to change the schedule to have seven episodes with a big cliff hanger and then return three months later for the second half of the season:
"The split series is hugely exciting because viewers will be treated to two premieres, two finales and more event episodes. For the kids it will never be more than a few months to the next Doctor Who! Easter, Autumn, Christmas!!"
The BBC press office describe the split transmission as the result of a request from Steven Moffat to write a new Doctor Who story arc which involves a big plot twist in the middle of the series. "By splitting the series Moffat plans to give viewers one of the most exciting Doctor Who cliffhangers and plot twists ever, leaving them waiting, on the edge of their seats, until the autumn to find out what happens."
The Guardian has a video of Moffat discussing this change. In another video Steven Moffat and Karen Gillan responded to accusations that the last season of Doctor Who was too sexy.
In other Doctor Who news, the first official picture from the Christmas special was released, but it doesn't reveal any information. Matt Smith was interviewed about an upcoming tour and other topics. Sylvester McCoy is trying for a role in The Hobbit.
Above is the promo for Season 3 of Merlin.
The cast of Dexter talks about Rita's death in this post at Buddy TV. If you want to search for clues as to what happens next, Screen Rant has several pictures from the upcoming season.
Jessica Alba has been signed to star in Spy Kids 4.
The new movie centers on Alba as a retired spy who has been reactivated. The actress, mother of a toddler in real life, will be playing the mother of a baby and two preteen stepchildren.
The actors cast in the preteen roles will be the new Spy Kids.
Other roles seeking to be filled include Alba's husband, a slightly nerdy investigative reporter, and the villain, known as the Time Keeper, whose goal it is to stop time.
I imagine this will be another unrealistic movie. A nerdy investigative reporter married to Jessica Alba? Not likely. I wonder if any of the movie takes place on MILF Island.
More actresses who have appeared in genre shows will appear in Scream 4 including Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars & Heroes), Anna Paquin (True Blood), and Hayden Panettiere (Heroes).
Christina Hendricks of Mad Men appears in an ad campaign for London Fog (above). I bet Don Draper would approve. In response to the Japanese businessmen in last week's episode, I won't even try to explain what keeps her from falling over.
Posted in Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Amy Pond, Anna Paquin, Dexter, Doctor Who, Hayden Panettiere, Julie Benz, Karen Gillan, Kristen Bell, Matt Smith, Merlin, Science Fiction, Steven Moffat, The Hobbit. 5 Comments »
SciFi Weekend Part I: Doctor Who and The Prisoner
There's a lot of news coming out of Comic-Con this weekend. Because of all the news and a chaotic schedule this weekend I'm going to alter the usual format and post SciFi Weekend in installments, beginning with information on Doctor Who and the upcoming Prisoner miniseries.
Among the Doctor Who news, it does not look like the rumored movie is going to be movie, at least for now. The rumors that John Simm will return as The Master have been confirmed. Io9 has interviewed David Tennant about why his version of The Doctor acts as he does:
I think he feels guilty. I think he's in a very difficult position. He has to make the hard choices, and he's riddled with remorse for what happened to his people, and the part he played in that, which we'll learn a little bit more about before I disappear. [Laughs] Not that much, just a little bit. It's not the three-part miniseries staring [former 1990s Doctor] Paul McGann. But I think he's tortured, and he travels time and space trying to make it better… but some of the side effects of that are not as we'd wish them to be.
After leaving his role as The Doctor, David Tennant is being considered to play Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming movie adaptation of The Hobbit. That will be the strangest regeneration of all time.
A number of pictures of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan playing the next Doctor and his new companion are appearing on line now that they have begun filming episodes for next season. Additional pictures can be seen here and here. Note that Alex Kingston is also in the above picture. Is she reprising her role as River Song to complete the story about her relationship with The Doctor? While it has been stated that Stephen Moffat is not likely to use the supporting characters from past seasons, the episodes with River Song were written by Moffat making it more likely he would use the character again.
I09 also has a lot of information from Bill Gallagher who is writing the reboot of The Prisoner for AMC. He was asked if he pictured original series lead Patrick McGoohan when writing the series:
No, I deliberately didn't do that, I didn't think of an actor at all… I won't cast it in my head, because then I box myself in, and I can't do that. It has to be this imaginary character. I didn't have McGoohan in my head because [this Prisoner] is a different kind of Number Six, he's a different character, he has different attitudes. In the beginning of the series, Six wakes up the middle of the desert, no idea where he is, no idea how he got there, no idea what to do, and immediately he's hurled into an event, which is this old man is trying to escape, he's being pursued by soldiers. And he rescues this old man. For me, in my head, that's McGoohan, the old Six. And that old man dies. In my head, he dies to allow us to imagine a new Number Six. McGoohan said that the end plate on the old series should've said "The Beginning," because the cycle goes on, and so in my imagination, [that scene is where] one cycle ends and another cycle begins. And so that scene allowed me to imagine my own Number Six.
There will be some reminders of the original show:
There are lots of little things. Some of them are visual, some of them are story, stories that we were inspired by, and also some of them are little lines of dialogue. One of the difficulties we have is that we're aiming for 45 minute episodes and some of them come in very long, we have to cut for story, so some of that gets lost, unfortunately. But there's still a good deal of it in the show. Partly as a way of building on that series, partly as a little fun thing, and partly thematic… This bloody place goes on and on and on, you know? In episode two, Six gets involved in a trip to a place called Escape Resort, and when you go to Escape Resort, it's like the original Village, and people are dressed like they were in the original Village.
On the conclusion of the miniseries:
The final episode has a climax, it has a conclusion, there's a reversal, and there's explanations and revelations, but they're not conventional, and I hope they'll be shocking, you know, that people will not expect this ending at all. What I hope is that, what we get in the end is more disturbing than where we were at the beginning… When we get to the end, what I hope is that people will get challenged by it, and disturbed by it, in the way that the original challenged and disturbed. What I hope people will feel is that there's a sense of, 'I know what that's about, I think I know, oh my God, this was that and that was this, so that's how it works. But I don't like it.
Posted in Science Fiction, Television. Tags: David Tennant, Doctor Who, John Simm, Karen Gillan, Lost, Matt Smith, River Song, Science Fiction, The Hobbit, The Prisoner, Torture. No Comments »
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text:
Things Fall Apart es el décimo tercer episodio de la primera temporada de la serie estadounidense de drama y ciencia ficción, The Tomorrow People. El episodio fue escrito por Alex Katsnelson y Leigh Dana Jackson y dirigido por Michael Shultz. Fue estrenado el 5 de febrero de 2014 en Estados Unidos por la cadena The CW.

Stephen enfrenta a Jedikiah por poner a Astrid en la mira de Ultra. El Fundador acude a Stephen con la promesa de poner a salvo a Astrid a cambio de que el chico capture a una poderosa iniciada con la que comparte una extraña conexión. Mientras Cara y John ayudan a Stephen en la tarea de atrapar a Cassie, Marla acude a Jedikiah y amenaza con exponer a Ultra frente al mundo. Cuando El Fundador cree que Stephen lo traicionó, John toma una decisión arriesgada que lo lleva a enfrentarse con Cara. Finalmente, Stephen descubre un sorprendente secreto sobre su madre.

Elenco
Robbie Amell como Stephen Jameson.
Peyton List como Cara Coburn.
Luke Mitchell como John Young.
Aaron Yoo como Russell Kwon.
Madeleine Mantock como Astrid Finch.
Mark Pellegrino como el Dr. Jedikiah Price.

Continuidad
El episodio marca la primera aparición de Cassandra Smythe.
El Fundador fue visto anteriormente en Death's Door.
Stephen descubre que comparte una extraña conexión con Cassandra.
El Fundador revela que Cassandra es su hija.
Cara descubre que El Fundador ha estado experimentando con su propia hija y le ha implantado recuerdos falsos.
Luca le revela a Stephen que ha estado drogándose.
Stephen descubre que Marla también es una homo superior.

Banda sonora

Casting
El 17 de diciembre de 2013, se dio a conocer que Serinda Swan fue contratada para interpretar a Cassandra "Cassie" Smythe, una poderosa iniciada que está ligada al Fundador y comparte una extraña conexión con Stephen, como él lo hace con Cara.

Referencias

Enlaces externos
  (en inglés).

Episodios de The Tomorrow People

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Cassandra cluster manager (ccm) on docker I have installed ccm as per this link on a docker image.
For using different containers to host a datacenter each, I have to invoke 'ccm create' and 'ccm start' on the same image.
In other words, I need multiple containers to be up using same image.
If I try these 2 calls:
...:    docker run nav064/ubuntuccm:v4 /bin/sh lccm.sh DC_SLC 5
Current cluster is now: DC_SLC
Cluster: 'DC_SLC'
-----------------
node1: UP
node3: UP
node2: UP
node5: UP
node4: UP

..:    docker run nav064/ubuntuccm:v4 /bin/sh lccm.sh DC_BLR 5
Current cluster is now: DC_SLC
Cluster: 'DC_BLR'
-----------------
node1: UP
node3: UP
node2: UP
node5: UP
node4: UP

This is my lccm.sh
ccm create $1 -v 2.1.3
ccm populate -n $2
ccm start
ccm status

And look for all containers
docker ps

I don't see any containers running.

A: I have not tested it, but I think the problem could be that the lccm.sh ends after creating the cluster. Any Docker container will ends after its main process (that is the process with PID 1 and the one which is launched with docker run). You should run daemonized processes to avoid this. One fast attempt could be using this lccm.sh
ccm create $1 -v 2.1.3
ccm populate -n $2
ccm start
ccm status
while true; do sleep 1000; done

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


What to expect when you are expecting?
For us and I guess for every couple, expecting first child is undoubtedly the happiest thing. But generally, they remain… Read more What to expect when you are expecting?


The following information will briefly outline what the Six Months Smile treatment involves and hopefully answer any questions that you might have.
The process will start with a free 15 minute consultation with one of our Six Month Smiles experts Sean Power and Shabneez Mehrali. Sean or Shabneez will discuss your suitability for the treatment and explain the treatment options to you.
A short term orthodontic treatment option with the sole aim of improving the appearance of your teeth, such as crooked teeth, misalignment and unsightly gaps.
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It is not a replacement for conventional orthodontics, which will address the position of all of your teeth and address more significant changes to your teeth and bite.
Space, if needed, is created by rounding out your arch and tooth narrowing. This helps to avoid extractions and move your teeth into a better position.
In cases where there is a lot of crowding of lower front teeth we will consider the extraction of one of these teeth.
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If after reading this you are interested in moving a step closer to a smile you can be proud of then please contact our reception on 0121 705 2705 to arrange an initial consultation.