The Gamer's Quarter

[Ashura]

[aderack]

[aderack]

The Kromaggs remind me of those horrible things that show up toward the end of The Mysterious Cities of Gold and make it... less-good.
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[Harveyjames]

The new series of 'Chain Reaction' on BBC Radio 4 kicks off with Catherine Tate interviewing David Tennant, so you know.

[aderack]

What do they have to say about Kromaggs?


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[Harveyjames]

I thought Kromaggs were a kind of shoe.

[Westacular]

[aderack]

Yeah. The last season has this dude called "Mallory", who is Quinn's fraternal twin from another dimension -- neither genius nor scientist. And Rembrandt is the new protagonist, and he's just lugging Mallory behind him, grousing most of the way. It's... not interesting.

I watched pretty regularly until it moved to Sci-Fi and got truly stupid. Then, as you say, I caught the occasional episode. Less and less frequently, until it just wasn't there anymore, and I didn't notice.

Oh, all right.

Donna @ co. ("gramps", her mom)
Martha
Jack
Rose
Sarah Jane
Mickey
Jackie
Davros
Daleks
The Master?
Torchwood Three?
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[aderack]

Well, wasn't that something.

As I mentioned to Wes, that episode was written by a geezer who until now has only ever written Big Finish plays (and he only began them a few years ago). This was his first TV script. He sort of worked his way up the Cardiff ladder, though. All of that in-universe website stuff? The prologue to 42, Martha's Myspace blog? That was all him. He also condensed novels for audiobook, and generally did writerly scutwork. And now there's this. Probably the best single episode of Torchwood so far.

Man, I keep thinking "hey, at last the show is here; this is what it should be doing" -- but here we go again. This is just a whole different level, as far as using the framework of the show, and the tone and the demographic and the mission statement of the show, to tell a story that wouldn't make sense elsewhere. And once again, character continuity. Not just from the last two episodes, either; going back a long way. And hell, John Barrowman didn't even get a chance to overact!

Next week's looks... uh, interesting? This is the one the ming-mongs are going to hate, supposedly.

The breathing thing was a little odd. That's not even so much a criticism as a "huh?". I mean. Even ignoring all the talking... he's still breathing all over the place. Maybe he's just second guessing himself too much, and not noticing that he has in fact been breathing?
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[Westacular]

The fact that you literally hear him breathe as he expresses his frustration the moment after he "realizes" he can't does indeed weaken the moment. And it all draws unnecessary attention to certain other inconsistencies in how and what of his body works.

A couple bits of dialog from the old guy were too on-the-nose. But that's really nit-picking; it was just a line or two and the rest of the scene was excellent.

Overall, great. The moment where Owen breaks his finger and what follows is one of the best, most real, human scenes the show has offered.

[Ashura]

I just watched the Weevil King episode, and I really liked it. The preview for the next episode looked... really good, honestly. So I'm guessing it is.

I think Barrowman is a great actor when they can hold him back and they have more time, like on Doctor Who. He's put in some good performances lately, though, a couple lines...

Meanwhile, the funny thing about Sliders Season 5 is it was essentially done because they wanted to make it to episode 100, which is why the episode count is really weird (18, I think?) Their budget was slashed again, which is crazy because the season prior was 90% reused backlots.

It was, however, SciFi's second highest rated show after Farscape, and the only reason it didn't get renewed for season 6 is because they bet on it failing without Jerry O'Connell and allotted all of their budget to other shows which tanked (First Wave, Good vs. Evil.) so they were pretty much SoL when they wanted to renew it.

[aderack]

Barrowman did do a really good job in Who 1. Generally in Torchwood, though, he's been all over the place.

I noticed the other day that his performance in "Utopia" was actually more similar to Empty Child than anything else he's done with the character. I assume that was partially deliberate.

Tennant is looking more and more haggard.





Granted, he's not at his best here. Still, I keep noticing how quickly he seems to be aging since he took the role.

I guessed that about Sliders 5. That seemed the only plausible reason to bring it back in that form. And yet they didn't even hit 100, did they?
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[Ashura]

I suppose 88 was close enough. It would be such a great show to reinvent, I still say.

Just watched the most recent episode of Torchwood. Really good. They've totally turned around the Owen character, seriously. Kind of sad to see Martha go, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was in the finale, maybe... along with Captain John.

I just watched a clip on tv.com where Gillian Anderson confirms that the new X-Files flick takes place in the present. So they're not in the middle of the series or something.

After a slow start, Terminator is actually getting interesting. I really like the casting of Brian Austin Green as Kyle Reese's brother.

[aderack]

Yeah, apparently the last six years have passed in real time for the characters. So there's all this stuff that's gone on, and they're now sort of different. Time War and everything. You know how it is.

I'd not be surprised to see a yearly or every-other-yearly franchise come out of this, if it does well enough. Both she and Duchovny seem fond enough of their characters; they just don't like playing them all the time, for nearly a decade straight.

I'd also be unsurprised to see Martha in the regular cast of Torchwood 3 (as compared with... Torchwood Three). I mean. She has become basically a Whoniverse regular at this point, and the main show will be off in la-la land in 2009 while Torchwood chugs ahead. All things considered, seems a good time to put more focus on Torchwood. Chibnall will probably be gone, which may mean a few changes. I understand that James Marsters means to come back in series three. (So hey, he's probably not dying in the finale!)

Considering all that's going on this year, I can see where they couldn't fit Bilis in again. I'd be disappointed if they didn't get back to him, though.

Hell. If somehow James Marsters were to join the regular cast also, they might even be able to do more episodes at a time. Seven core cast members (plus Rhys, for eight) allows for double-banking all over the place.

Martha isn't purported to be in the finale, but then the production team have managed to keep other secrets. Captain John certainly is, though. As are those old-tymey Torchwood folk from the Black Widow Toshiko episode a little while ago. ("Which one?" you ask.) Maybe not the exact same people, but... old Torchwood folk from roughly that timeframe, anyway.
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[Ashura]

Friend showed me this, it's awesome:



And yeah, that seems to be shaking out just about right.

I'm curious, what is that MICKEY thing above from?

[aderack]

A trailer. from the other night. There's also a nigh-illegible "Jackie" picture. So the two of them are around somewhere, in the final two episodes.

Is that felt or Play-Doh?
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[Ashura]

Felt, I think!

Edit:

Thsi is apparently the source: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5465314&section_id=5245968

[aderack]

New promo image. Boom.

I frequently see things kind of like those dolls over here.
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[aderack]

So series one is about pressing one's boundaries, finding a sense of wonder, becoming self-fulfilled at all costs. (The worst that'll happen is that you'll screw up, big-time, and have to deal with the consequences.)

Series two is about stasis, and clinging, and what happens when you fail to press your boundaries and just take your life for granted. (Hell, the big danger is falling into the void. Subtle.)

Series three is about distraction, and failing to notice the life you're living, and all the potential around you, in favor of nostalgia and regret and all that you wish things were instead. (You'll never notice the traps you're stepping into. You'll keep making the same mistakes over and over, like you're trapped in a time loop, until you're all alone.)

There's a progression here. So is series four going to be a reawakening, or is it going to keep tripping down the spiral? It's seeming kind of... existentially dark, so far.

(Also, Jesus Christ. Has RTD been following my Livejournal?)
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[Ashura]

Didn't he say this year is supposed to be more light hearted or something instead? Since the third series was 'so dark'?

Still, the descriptions...

I watched two L&O's last night. One with the Sugar the Hooker, and the other with the campaign funds supporter who had an illegal racket going.

BOTH were great, and the second greatly shows the line that McCoy has to tip-toe on as the DA. The first one just shows how great the cops are- Lupo's proactive writing the note was pretty clever. These were the best L&Os I've seen in a long long time.

Also, there's talk of L&O: London only INITIALLY reworking early L&O scripts. I honestly wonder if this was initially due to the writer's strike. The show is apparently supposed to be produced partially by the US.

[aderack]

[Harveyjames]

What does 'dark' mean in this context?

[Westacular]

I've watched the last couple L&Os for lack of anything else on Wednesday nights: the Sugar one, and the one before that (with the dead Doctor in the hotel - s18e09 I think). That one was particularly good, and probably worth tracking down if you missed it. Definitely some new life in the show.

[aderack]

[Harveyjames]

My favorite Comic Book Guy line from The Simpsons is when we see him looking at a sign saying '100 Tacos for $100' and he says 'yes, that should be adequate substenance for the Doctor Who marathon!'

What does Agnes do?

[aderack]

http://www.agentagnes.com/

A complete Doctor Who marathon would take over two weeks. Even ignoring the 108 missing episodes. So that's about seven tacos a day.

I guess that sounds about right. Two for breakfast, two for lunch, two for dinner, one for a midnight snack.

So apparently Terry Molloy's website announced Julian Bleach as his successor -- then the update was taken down, ten minutes later. The webmaster said that the post was removed at Molloy's request, but that it'll go back up again tomorrow.

So I guess there's probably an official announcement coming up.
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[Harveyjames]

Wow, she's quite the artist.

'Agnes is an illustrator who loves traditional fairy tales and svelte men'. Eric-Jon did you write this

[Ashura]

Shit, Tennant has done more than enough to prove he's a fan of the show. Shit, I know a metric fuckton about Power Rangers but telling the monsters apart and knowing which monster is recycled where is not one of the things I know.

That thing alone from school, where he said he wanted to be Doctor Who, should be enough.

I bet they figure he time traveled back to when he was like 13 and made that up, too. Planted it to look good. But then he'd be even more of an uber fan because he perfected time travel.

[Westacular]

t-this would be the perfect moment to see and hear Tennant give a "Mwahahaha!"

[aderack]

[Ashura]

They also think that the Doctor x Tardis is the OTP!

[Dracko]

[Ashura]

How Dracko, how're you doing? As pleasant as always I see.

4Kids is running a contest where you get to vote for the new TMNT theme.

http://www.4kids.tv/pickatheme

Please pick something that's not 2 or 3. 5 is my personal favorite, and if you don't care about TMNT, VOTE FOR THAT ONE. It actually sounds like a cartoon theme song. #4's actually kinda neat, in a Daft Punk kind of way... I don't know how well it would work as a theme though. The rest are pretty much either awful or just uninspired.

[Dracko]

I don't know, man! It's pretty jarring.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[aderack]

There's a certain amount of continuity from the earlier theme. The sixth one is the classiest of the bunch, though...

So what's going on here? Are they finally broadcasting season five, or is this getting ready for the weird season seven thing I've read about where Splinter gets lost in a computer?

Note that I've still only seen season one. Looks like they're starting to release half-season sets, though.
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[aderack]

[Ashura]

[Harveyjames]

That's the fucking plot of Reboot! Bob got lost in some kind of alternate cyberspace and we had a whole season without Bob. It was a kick in the pants. It was like having Batman without Batman, or at least I thought so as a kid.

[aderack]

Oh, uh. Here's a pretty huge spoiler.

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z172/hobnobgobl1n/thingy.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg74/tomlou_photo/doctor%20who/outpostgalifray7.gif
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[aderack]

Okay, I was expecting ick from this episode and yet again I'm surprised. Again, one of the best yet. Some really clever dialog in here, and despite the premise it managed not to fall into too many trope holes! And man, Rhys is the best thing in this show.

I'm sort of impressed how much foreplanning has gone on this series; singularity scalpel, which seemed extraneous at the time, set up several episodes ago. Just about every episode sets up something else for a future episode, and it's not always obvious.

Best and simplest use of profanity in the show yet, also.

I like how Ianto is in the background at the end, when Jack is dancing and discussing with Gwen what he's going to do next.

I guess her name will be Gwen Williams from now on, then?

And hey, Jack was married once. No big surprise, I guess.
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[Westacular]

Oh, wow. Lots and lots of great little lines and reactions. The show continues to fire on all cylinders.

I assume the "fans" have exhibited a great level of overreaction to the unsurprising news?

[aderack]

Not thought to check. I'd not bet against it!

Though I don't remember them offhand, Ianto had some of his best lines so far. They didn't leap out and take a bow the way some of his earlier ones did; they just were brilliant in context, and well-blended.

This episode was by someone who seems to have basically written for soap operas. Which... is weirdly appropriate, in some respects.

Man. I'm impressed how they managed to avoid histrionics, even as things got more and more awkward and complicated. The script just about did backflips to avoid lazy conflicts.
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[Westacular]

[aderack]

Ah, yes.

Man, this episode is droll.

This is the one the "ming-mongs" are supposed to hate. Again, though, haven't been slumming today.

Next week's has Davros in it! Or, rather, the guy who plays him now. Presumably this was where he came to the attention of the production team.

EDIT: The reaction is largely positive, actually, though this was the first comment I saw:

[Harveyjames]

Torchwood does seem pretty bad. At least Doctor Who is an intriguing and mysterious and exciting and possibly dangerous character. Who are these gaggle of herberts?

Also the format of Doctor Who is extremely flexible. That 'Blink' episode barely had Doctor Who in it, and yet it was most definitely a Doctor Who episode! Torchwood, not so much. It seems to be the same thing every time, and that thing isn't so interesting to begin with.

[aderack]

This year I'd not say it's bad (though for most of series one, I would!). Several of the episodes have been written very well, and actually used the format to do some things that wouldn't work so much in other shows. And again, the overall leap in quality from series one is startling. The real problem is that Torchwood seems, at least so far, rather unnecessary. I don't see a lot of point to it existing as a TV show, other than as sci-fi amusement to fill 50 minutes on a Wednesday.

Still, some of the stuff developing this year is starting to make a bit of a case there as well. The changes to the characters' lives are bordering on the profound or relatable (or both). It still has some stuff to prove. I don't know if they're going anywhere with this Zombie Owen business, for instance. If they are building toward something (and if they've got their metaphors all figured out), it could be rather wonderful. At the moment it's interesting. Last week (or this week on BBC2, I guess) had some of the first really believable, sympathetic human moments in the show so far. If the show can go on like that, using the domestic sci-fi nonsense as catalysts to explore the twenty-first century Self -- well, hey!

As for being the same, week after week... sort of, sometimes. But that's kind of interesting to say after episodes 8 and 9, which are both amongst the best so far and both wildly different in tone, active cast, pacing, and just general use of the format. In general, this series has been much more varied than the previous one.

What makes Torchwood interesting is that there is a lot of potential to it. In its first year, it pretty much squandered that potential. This year, it's doing a pretty admirable job at fleshing itself out. At times it even meets its potential. Though it has yet to really become excellent on a whole, it does more or less have its act together. It seems to recognize what it can do, and is making a conscious effort. Where it often still stumbles is in clumsy or meaningless writing. So even where the structure is sound, the actual substance can be... insubstantial.

The writers who have really proved themselves this year are James Moran (though he needs a better premise), Joseph Lidster (who has never written for TV before), and Phil Ford (who seems most well-known for Captain Scarlet -- the new, CG version). Oh, and J.C. Wilsher, I guess, who comes mostly out of crime drama territory. The less effective scripts have generally come from bad Doctor Who writers (Helen Raynor, Matt Jones), who don't have as good a grasp on the show as its own entity and pretty much just write in broad sci-fi cliche. And, oddly, Cath Tregenna, who was the only decent writer in series one.
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[Westacular]

Yeah, my current overall opinion of the show is about the same. It's improved to the point that it's a pretty good show I consistently enjoy watching, but it still falls short of having enough unique, great moments to really justify itself or make it compelling, must-see viewing.

It's figured out what it is, finally; it has not yet figured out what to add to make it great. I guess that's what holds me back, in getting excited over the show: it almost always feels like there's still a little something missing that would bring out all the flavour.

Pardon the mixed metaphors.

No, wait, I like that metaphor. Allow me to restate using it exclusively:


Last year was like a new chef trying out a bunch of different recipes. Some good, some bad, with a lot of things ending up either over- or under-cooked. He really didn't seem to know what sort of food he should really be cooking, and in a rush just tried to copy a bunch of meals from here and there.

This year, that's been sorted out. The fundamentals are now there. The restaurant doesn't have a defining theme, but the meals are consistently satisfying, and tasty -- although not quite delicious. I do not crave the meals: I eat them because I'm hungry (and I do this happily). The food seems to have the potential for more -- something that would bring the menu together and give me a reason to take friends to this restaurant -- but it's as if no one can quite figure out what those missing ingredients are.

...

They've set up Zombie Owen as being, well, unsustainable (eg not healing) such that they have to go somewhere with it before too long. They've got him in a holding pattern, but it feels like a holding pattern -- there's a tension, waiting for the inevitable next big thing to happen to him. I can't imagine his current state being left as a status quo forever -- something will probably happen by the end of this year or the start of next.


Next week's episode looks like a return to the broader episodic sci-fi vein ... which, coming from Peter J. Hammond, who's been writing British TV sci-fi and dramas for 40 years, is not surprising. Still. He wrote last year's Fairies episode, which at the time I thought was one of the better disposably-standalone-sci-fi episodes.


IN OTHER NEWS: "New Amsterdam" had it's first two episodes this week. It's yet another show centred on a 400-year-old NYC man who can't die until he finds his soulmate, thanks to some native american blessing/curse. The episodic aspect is -- BIG SURPRISE -- his day job as a homicide detective.

It's not bad, but hasn't given me a compelling reason to keep watching yet, either. To its credit, it does do a couple different things with the whole immortal man concept that I haven't seen elsewhere lately.

[aderack]

Phil Ford is apparently the new head writer for SJA. Just to throw that out there.
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[Westacular]

That's probably a decent fit ... I still haven't watched the second half of SJA's first series.

[aderack]

"Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane" is totally worth it. The other two are all right. That story is pretty much the "Captain Jack Harkness" of SJA1, though.

I wonder what's happening to Gareth Roberts if he's not in charge of SJA anymore. He's not... moving in to fill RTD's place, is he? I guess he'd be an interesting change for Torchwood, now that Chibnall's on his way out.

I don't know if I've mentioned, or if it's worth mentioning, but there is a very, very large and vocal contingent of Who fans that is irritated beyond measure that publicity materials for the show (press releases, behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews) invariably talk about the new series and barely ever mention the classic series unless it's in reference to the new series or there's some other special reason to do so, like a new DVD release.

God, why won't Davies shut up? All he ever talks about is how wonderful the new series is. He never talks about how terrible it is, and he never talks about the classic series. And when he does, he sometimes says vaguely critical things! And they're not about Sylvester McCoy or Andrew Cartmel!

The current issue of Doctor Who Magazine has a rather nice photoshop of Tennant and Dimensions In Time-era Davison on the cover... sort of. In that Tennant is really just on an outer sleeve, which, when you remove, has Davison alone with the TARDIS. And this is blowing the minds of Doctor Who fans everywhere. AT LAST, FINALLY a cover of the show's publicity rag that doesn't have a publicity shot from the new series on it! God, it's like a miracle! But it's still the same old crap inside, undoubtedly. Just talking about what's going on right now, as if that matters.

It's... sociologically interesting.
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