Fringe 1×9 “The Dreamscape” review
January 19th, 2009
This review contains spoilers for the episode “The Dreamscape,” originally broadcast 11/25/08.
On the heels of the follow-up to Walter Bishop’s time in an institution, the series returns to the other most famous element of the pilot, the deprivation tank featured in the original marketing ads. While this isn’t the strongest of the four most recent episodes, it does a good job reiterating some of the basic plots that have been running since the start of the series.
Lost Season Four Rewatch – There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3
January 18th, 2009
This is it. The last two episodes of Lost‘s fourth season, “There’s No Place Like Home, Part 2″ and “There’s No Place Like Home, Part 3,” aired back-to-back on May 29th, 2008 (after a repeat of “There’s No Place Like Home, Part 1″). Some questions are answered but even more are revealed and things are set up wonderfully for Season Five, which premieres on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009.
Supernatural – 4×11 – “Family Remains”
January 18th, 2009
The following review contains spoilers for Supernatural through the current episode, “Family Remains,” originally broadcast January 15th, 2009.
After a nearly two-month hiatus, new episodes of Supernatural have returned. The last new episode was broadcast on November 20th, 2008 (“Heaven and Hell”). The Brothers Winchester have been busy with job after job, leading Sam to suggest that perhaps Dean is trying to throw himself into their work in order to forget about what he did in Hell (torturing other souls, for example). But Dean ignores him and finds them a haunting to investigate. Unfortunately, while they are checking out the haunted house — which is up for sale — a family arrives with a moving van. The haunted house just became inhabited.
Fringe 1×8 “The Equation” review
January 18th, 2009
This review contains spoilers for the episode “The Equation,” originally broadcast 11/18/08.
A stronger episode still on the heels of “In Which We Meet Mr. Jones,” “The Equation” effectively combines a standalone story with increasingly relevant character work and a mounting season arc (one of several, actually) while putting a strong spotlight on Walter Bishop, the eccentric scientist who on any other show might have quickly devolved into a one-note joke, but who instead is allowed to grow into a character as fascinating as the thoughts that continually pass through his mind.
How I Got These Scars No. 14
January 18th, 2009
Superheroes have a big problem, and it has nothing to do with archnemeses. While they’ve gotten better and better at attracting large audiences at the movies, they’re growing increasingly irrelevant in their home medium, comic books. The readership bubble popped in the 1990s, and these days, the format has been hijacked both in terms of popularity and young readers by manga. Will fans still be able to find Batman and Iron Man in the pages of a series in thirty years, when comics hit their mere century mark?
Galactica Raptor, Viper and Cylon Raider Fail to Sell at Auction
January 17th, 2009
Three full-size ships from SCI FI Channel’s Battlestar Galactica failed to sell today at the Official Battlestar Galactica Props & Costumes Auction held at the Pasadena Convention Center in California (the auction is still underway). Each of the ships had an undisclosed reserve that was not met.
- Raptor – Estimate $ 60,000 – $ 80,000 – High Bid $30,000
- Mark VII Viper – Estimate from $ 50,000 – $ 60,000 - High Bid $20,000
- The Cylon Raider – Estimate from $ 30,000 – $ 40,000 – High Bid $17,500
At the moment, the highest priced items to sell so far were Starbuck’s Flight Suit at $14,000 and Six’s Red Dress (from the miniseries) at $13,000. The auction continues tomorrow and Alec Peters, owner of the company putting on the auction, Propworx, Inc., stated that the ships may be put up again during the second half of the auction. He also said that there are interested parties who, apparently, did not want to participate in the auction.
Live Blogging SCI FI’s Battlestar Galactica Marathon
January 16th, 2009
Lower Decks will be live blogging SCI FI Channel’s Battlestar Galactica marathon all day. It began this morning at 8AM ET with a recap special and the last three episodes of Season Three but we’re starting with “He That Believeth in Me,” the Season Four premiere, at 11:30AM ET.
9:59PM – forst – Well, that’s it. One last promo for the new episode at 10PM plus the one in the closing credits makes four. I assume there were about a million shown throughout the marathon. I had hoped other writers here at Lower Decks would have joined in the live blogging fun but I guess I’m the only one who had nothing better to do. I’m not going to bother live blogging “Sometimes a Great Nothin” because we hope to have a review of published by Monday. Remember that the episode tonight runs 3.5 minutes past the hour.
9:56PM – forst – Please show the Statue of Liberty. Please show the Statue of Liberty…
9:55PM – forst – Nice looking blue skies. Check. White clouds. Check. Radioactive wasteland. Check.
9:52PM – forst – Jeez, people, you’d think you might want to, you know, look around before all the celebrating.
9:51PM – forst – Confirmation from Gaeta? It’s Earth!
9:46PM – forst – We’re off to find Earth! Yay.
9:42PM – forst – Peace between the Cylons and the Colonials?
9:36PM – forst – Kara! We were so close to seeing Tigh sucked into space and you ruined it. Also, promo #2.
9:31PM – forst – Oh Kara. It’s hard not to feel sorry for you but I can do it.
9:27PM – forst – Poor Adama. He’s lost the faith.
9:26PM – forst – Smash your little ship again, Adama. Smash it!
9:23PM – forst – Is this really the first promo? Could be. Only 37 minutes to go.
9:22PM – forst – Oh Bill, you’re only thinking what tons of Battlestar Galactica fans are thinking. How can Tigh be a Cylon? It boggles the mind.
9:21PM – forst – Tigh admits to Adama that he’s a Cylon! He’s one of the Five. Adama sure doesn’t believe it.
9:17PM – forst – The music is back, it seems, and so is Tyrol’s hair.
9:17PM – forst – What is Tigh going to do?
9:15PM – forst – Of course Baltar has to pretend he knew Tory was a Cylon. His ego would never recover if he thought he had been deceived. Also, Tory makes a wonderful Cylon. But why have the others (Tigh, Tyrol and Anders) not become so Cylon-ified.
9:07PM – forst – Tory was the first two make her way to D’Anna. Why am I not surprised?
9:00PM – forst – This is it, the last episode from the first half of Season Four. I imagine some pretty shocking things happen over the course of the next hour.
“Revelations”
Reflections on 2008: Television
January 16th, 2009
This is the third in our three-part “Reflections on 2008″ series. We asked all of our writers, both those on staff and our wonderful contributors a look back at the past year in comics, movies and television. In this edition, four of our writers reflect on the television shows they watched and enjoyed (or detested) during 2008.
Waterloo – Contributing Writer
2008 was the year that confirmed genre television since Lost has changed for me. Eli Stone had a lawyer finding justice with the help of visions, and while most of it was certainly about solving cases the elements that saw Eli deal with what he quickly realized had afflicted his father were a worthy successor to Joan of Arcadia; Heroes continued to view crimefighters out of costume, and while a good portion of the audience grew more skeptical, I’ve only grown more fascinated, perhaps because I’m more of a DVD watcher than a first-run fan of this particular show, where the flow can be better felt; Fringe redefined the unknown elements of our world, emerging first as a new child of J.J. Abrams but quietly building its own, shall we say, massive dynamics; Life on Mars dumped a cop into the 1970s, working the same kind of mojo as Eli Stone with a cast of actors known for other roles or other screens but led boldly by Jason O’Mara, who has finally found a starring role; and of course, Lost became cool again. I personally couldn’t ask for more.
Jericho Feature Film in the Works?
January 15th, 2009
The CBS drama series that refused to die (at least for a while) may get yet another lease on life in the form of a feature film according to iFMagazine.com:
“We’re developing a feature for JERICHO,” says Turteltaub. “It would not require you to have seen the TV show, but it get into life after an event like this on a national scale. It would be the bigger, full on American version of what’s going on beyond the town in Jericho.”
The article isn’t much to go on and being in development certainly doesn’t mean the movie will get made. For those nutty fans of Jericho, though, it’s good news. Still, it’s best not to get too hopeful at this point. Not every beloved television show can be like Firefly and get the big screen treatment (Serenity).
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