Sci-Fi Hoedown: Dr. Who Season 3

Before Dr. Who Season 3, we had a small episode called "The Runaway Bride."  The Doctor has just lost Rose and is still very sad.  Suddenly, bride Donna Noble materializes in his Tardis and the game is afoot.  We're almost led to believe that Donna will be the next companion, but in the end, after they save the Earth (again), Donna heads back home and the Doctor heads back out into space.  We do hear of a certain "Mr. Saxon" who also steps in to rid the skies of spaceship full of aliens that the Dr. had banished.

Season 3: We meet Martha Jones, the Doctor's new companion, when Earth is transported to the moon.  I like "Marfa" much better that Rose.  She's intelligent (a medical doctor-in-training), confident and nice.  Her family's a hot mess, especially her mom, who I called "Eyebrows"  (they were badly drawn on.)

They meet Shakespeare at the Globe and save him from witches.   They get stuck in the longest traffic jam  EVER in the year 5 billion New York City (some of the characters were born in their vehicles and have traveled one mile in like 6 years!).

We had back to the 1930's depression  where the Daleks are being very naughty to humans (oink), as they try and finish building the Empire State Building.   Mr. Saxon's name pops up again in "The Lazarus Experiment" as the financial backer of a scientist who manipulates DNA to become younger.  That'll end well.  We see Martha's mom again, who I really don't like at this point.  She's suspicious of the Doctor to the point of paranoia and ends up helping someone (Mr. Saxon perhaps?) spy on the Doctor through phone calls with Martha.

Martha is forced to accept the fact that she has feelings for the Doctor when she sees him fall in love with a human woman, after he erased his own mind to protect himself from being found by a "family" of mercenaries after him for his body (they want to live longer, you see.)  

"Blink" was a well-written episode that gave me the goosebumps!  There was a lot of back & forth timey things happening that were really well done, and  the first appearance of The Weeping Angels!!  DON'T BLINK!  Awesome fun.  Probably my favorite of this season.

We see Captain Jack Harkness again (Rawr!) and hear about "The Master" for the first time in a loooong time; Dr. Who's arch-nemesis (-sees, -sis).  And guess what? He has another name too.  

Spoilers!

Anyway, I won't spoil any more.

Martha Jones decides to leave the Doctor at the end of the season to focus on her medical studies and taking care of her family and the ordeal they've all been through.  She was a fun companion but she knows she can't really "have" the doctor so she's smart enough to call it quits.

Season 3 was fun.  David Tennant is still amazing and so darned CUTE!

Sci-Fi Hoedown: The Dresden Files

I've been reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series off and on.  I am currently on book 5.

I decided to watch the Sci-Fi show "The Dresden Files," even though friends have told me it was not very close to the books (and not very good period.)   The author was even quoted as saying that the tv show was not the books.  That is was based on an alternate reality/version of the books and if you watch it thinking it will be about the books, you'll be disappointed.   Too bad they didn't just follow the darn books.

Every episode is a Monster-of-the-Week.  There's no long story-arc.  There's hintings of past events, etc. but there is no Big Bad, no long sweeping arc; it's kind-of boring.  Every episode gets solved in 42 minutes.  Bo-ring.  No wonder it got cancelled.  You need an arc, people!  And evil uncle mentioned once in a while does not cut it.

The only episode where you see anything remotely like the books is episode 8; Storm Front.  Episode 8 was supposed to be 2-hour pilot.  The network, for whatever reason, did not use it, so they took the 2 hour pilot and chopped it down into a one hour story.  It's in this episode you see a lot of book 1 Harry.  They did cast a blonde white girl in the role of Hispanic Susan.  Boo.  Other than that, we see the Blue Beetle make a guest appearance in a garage being fixed.   It was weird seeing episode 8 because you could see the exposition that would have worked for a pilot episode.  Sticking it in as a random episode felt off.

The differences between the books and the show are obvious and sometimes silly.  BookHarry carries a staff with runes.  TVHarry carries a hockey stick (no joke) or sometimes a drum stick (not chicken, for playing drums) as his power staffs.  Really?  Only is episode 8 do we see runes on the hockey stick, and that was supposed to be the first episode, not episode 8.  BookHarry hides his staff in a long black leather cloak.  Maybe the production staff did not want to have to deal with that long cloak and hiding a staff, but a hockey stick?
BookHarry lives in a cave-of-an-apartment in a basement, because his magic powers tend to zap anything electrical.  BookHarry  has no lighting, no electricity, no central heating.  TVHarry has an amazing home/office space with a gas stove, working lights and all the creature comforts.  I like that BookHarry can't be near technology because he fries it.  In the tv show, they do mention that Harry has problems with technology, but not until like episode 6, and of course episode 8, which was supposed to be episode 1.  All out of order.
BookHarry has a ghost named Bob who lives in a skull.  TVBob does live in a skull but 90% of the time, he takes on a human form to talk to Harry.  That was a weird adjustment.

BookDetective Murphy is names Karrin.  TVMurphy is named Connie.  Big whoop, I know. (from imdb: "The character of Karrin Murphy became Connie Murphy for legal reasons after it was discovered that there is an actual police officer named Karyn Murphy in Chicago." funny)   The tv version though, is not as clued in to what Harry does as the book version.  The book version has her on a squad that just deals with supernatural cases.  She and Harry are really tight.  The TVMurphy acts like she can barely tolerate him.  Bah.

Like I said, all the episodes are M.O.T.W. so there's nothing really to be invested in.   Paul Blackthorne is a good actor.  He is apparently 6' 4" but he does not look that tall in the show. I was surprised to read he was 6' 4".  BookDresden is tall too.  He's got a sexy charm in the show.  Not sure if BookDresden does.  (side note: the actor's got some full lips.)  Good actor, just..bad writing, or bad story-arcing.  Something.  Not his fault.  They should have had Jim Butcher write for the darn show.

Sci-Fi Hoedown: Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1

Oh My Word, did I love this show when it aired!  We watched this show religiously.

The EYE candy.  Geez.  I loved Scott Bakula/Captain Archer.  He has such an odd face (the nose) and yet I loved him here.  Rawr!  But not quite as much as Conner Trinneer/Trip  Really, they were all good looking.



When we realized this series was on Netflix's streaming service, we squealed and starting singing "It's been a long road....", one of the most hokey (yet catchy) theme songs for a show EVER.



The blatant "see our show, we have half naked people in it!" is kind-of lame.  FIRST episode and we have a "rub-down" fest in the decontamination room.  Now, they do not play it sexual.  Everyone in the room is being completely nonchalant about being half-naked and having to rub this medicine all over themselves and into each other's backs, but it's just so out-there.

Joleen Blalock as T'Pol needs to EAT A SANDWICH.  It's disgusting how skinny she was and yet how large her chest was.  That's not normal.  You lose weight, you lose fat; you don't become a size zero and  keep your size D's.  Yuck.  When your 40-something husband and your (then) 17 year-old son both say "Ewww" when they see her in her short-shorts and tank top, bra-less, in the decontamination room, you know she's too skinny to look good.  And no, they're not afraid to say a woman is attractive in front of me.

I love seeing how the entire space program "started" before Captain Kirk.  It was fun "meeting" Klingons for the first time.  Watching T'Pol slowly shift from hard-nose Vulcan to slightly less hard-nosed was entertaining; for all my skinny-whining, Blalock is a good actress.  I enjoyed the sets, the costumes and all the aliens. Not-so-much a fan of the Hoshi Sato character; she's in SPACE on an amazing adventure, and she spent the first half whining and scared.   Dr. Phlox is such a great alien.  The story lines are good, but sometimes they get lost (time war?  Never really figured out who was behind all that this season. )

Although we watched these live, I have Swiss-cheese memory and can only remember bits & pieces, so it's like new!  :)

Sci-Fi Hoedown: Dr. Who Season 2

Well, as you know, I loved Christopher Eccleston as dorky-hot Dr. Who from Season 1.  How would I feel about this new incarnation?

Season 2 doesn't technically start with "The Christmas Invasion."  It's its own 2-hour special to introduce everyone to David Tennant as the new Doctor.  He's quirky and so much fun.  I love watching his facial expressions.

"New Earth" was a creepy episode with sick, infected humans, the "skin" Lady Cassandra and those cat-nuns.  Yes, cat nuns.

"Tooth and Claw" has us time traveling to meet Queen Victoria 1879 who is being hunted by werewolves.  With all the fighting and craziness, Queen Victoria creates the Torchwood Institute, to fight all other alien and supernatural threats.

"School Reunion" was kind of silly BUT it had Tony Head!!!  Giles!  Yay, Giles!  Oh, and we do get to see one of the Doctor's previous companions, Sarah Jane Smith and K-9, so that was cool.

"The Girl in the Fireplace" was really well done.  I loved the mini-love story, even if there were robots after the girl's brain.  The time travelling was fun but sad at the end, when he misses a chance to see the girl once more.  Don't want to spoil it.  It was good.

"Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel" take us into alternate Earths where Rose can see her dead-dad  alive again, even though in this reality, she was never born.   There are Cybermen about to take over the world and the plot must be stopped!  Mickey, Rose's boyfriend, stays behind in this reality, to fight the fight.

"The Idiot's Lantern" shows us how tv really does suck the life out of us.

"Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit"  were ok. The Ood were creepy but the beast at the end was kind of silly.

"Love & Monsters" was good fun!  I saw "Linda" (Shirley Henderson) & squealed "It's Moaning Myrtle!! I know her voice anywhere!"

"Fear Her" was a little creepy too. Anything dealing with kids creeps me out and the angry thing that was affecting this child was really scary.

The last two episodes have the Daleks and Cybermen fighting it out over who gets to take over the Earth.  We lose Rose.  I was never a fan of Rose, if you recall.  Her accent grated, her gloopy mascara was horrid and her leading Mickey on while she was really in love with the Doctor was not nice.  Even with all that, she gave a great performance in the end.  I felt sad for them both.

So, season 2.  Did I like it? Sure.  It's fun, campy stuff!  David Tennant?  Hellloooooo, Nurse!

Sci-Fi Hoedown: Sanctuary Season 2

After watching Season 1 of "Sanctuary," I moved on to Season 2.  Season 1 was a cliffhanger (aren't they all?) so we're catching up on what's going on with Magnus' daughter Ashley.

DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU INTEND TO WATCH THIS.  THIS IS YOUR SPOILER ALERT

Click the "read more" link below this picture.

Sci-Fi Hoedown: Dr. Who Season 1

Since I started watching Torchwood, and realized it was a spin-off of the new Dr. Who reincarnation, I decided to start watching Dr. Who as well.



This is the 9th Doctor, portrayed by Christopher Eccleston, who I find endearingly hot.  Does that make sense?  He is so dorky with his big ears and big nose and I loved him as the Doctor.  I loved hearing "FANTASTIC!" all the time on the show.   This is also Billie Piper who plays Rose Tyler; she of the overbite, slightly annoying accent (what is it called; cockney?) and WAY too much mascara.  I'm serious!  Have you seen the clumps that pass for lashes?  Yeesh.   I never quite understood why the Doctor chose Rose. Yes, he saved her in "Rose" but he's saved plenty of people, no?  She just seemed vapid, had a boyfriend Mickey and a mom to take care of.  Maybe he just liked her looks.

The episodes, much like Torchwood, are Sci-Fi silliness, but more family-oriented, while Torchwood is definitely for the grown-ups. "Rose" deals with saving Rose, and Mickey, from attacking plastic, mostly mannequins and garbage bins.  There's one with a huge piece of skin stretched on a canvas, Cassandra, who calls herself the last human alive when they travel 5 billion years in the future.  That was funny.   One episode introduces us to the actress Eve Miles, who later takes on the role of Gwen (she of the googly-eyes) from Torchwood, and another one has Naoko Mori who plays Tosh in Torchwood.

There are aliens in human-suits, we meet Charles Dickens, and we get to meet the dreaded Dalek race from series' past.  All the while, Rose and The Dr. develop a close bond that never crosses into the romantic.  It's slightly on the surface, but never pushes through.

I liked "Father's Day."  "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" were totally creepy-good, and introduces us to Captain Jack.  Yay!  "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of Ways" brought together the Bad Wolf story arc, and looking back, I think it's why Captain Jack can't die in Torchwood.

It was sad to see Dr. # 9 leave,  (Various rumors, from "he only signed one contract" by the show to "I hated the work environment" from the actor, abound) but curious to see this David Tennant fella I saw in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."  On to Season 2.

Sci-Fi Hoedown: Torchwood Season 1

I decided to watch "Torchwood" for one main reason.

Come on, now. You know the reason, yes?    James Marsters was in Season 2 & I had to watch anything that had the wonderful Mr. Marsters.    Since he was in Season 2, I had to start from the beginning, with Season 1.



Little did I know I was watching a Dr. Who spin-off.  Silly me.  I should have started with Dr. Who's new 2005 revival, but I did not.

"Torchwood" is a group who works to save the world from the constant threat of aliens.  There's time travel, weird monsters and lots of adult situations.  This is not for little kids, people.

Captain Jack Harkness is the leader of this team; a time traveler who has been on Earth since the 19th century, never ages and can't be killed.

Also he's gorgeous.



And I think he's kind-of gay.  LOL!  His character is Bi, I just wanted to use that Willow quote.

The series starts with a local cop seeing the Torchwood people in action, and she gets an invite to join them.  That would be Gwen.  I do not like Gwen.  Her googly-eyes freak me out.



She's also sooooo empathetic & sympathetic, it kind of makes you nauseous.  Well, sympathetic until she cheats on her man. Boo! Hiss!

Owen Harper is the doctor/cool ladies' man.  Only he's NOT. He's a git. He's mean, snarky and rude.  How he's a ladies' man, I'll never know. He's my least favorite character.



Computer-whiz Toshiko (Tosh) Sato is the shy, brainy one who really could use a confidence boost.


Rounding out the team is Ianto Jones, the resident maid and sometimes-concubine of Captain Jack.



The episodes are mostly Monster-of-the-Week.  Some are so painful, it's hard to understand why they were even written ("Cyberwoman?"  Really?!? "End of Days" and Abaddon?  Blech.)  Some are really creepy good ("Countrycide," "They Keep Killing Suzie," ) and some I really liked for their originality or writing ("Random Shoes," "Captain Jack Harkness.")

It's campy adult Sci-Fi and it's fun.  Just don't stare at the googly-eyes!

Sci-Fi Hoedown: Stargate Universe Season 1

My hubby is a huge Stargate fan. We own all 10 Seasons of SG1 and all 5 of Atlantis. I've watched them all one time through. He's watched them at least two to three times through.

When they announced a new show, Stargate Universe, we decided to give it a try.

Here's a brief synopsis from stargateuniversetvshow.com:

A team of scientists and soldiers from the Icarus Base, are forced to evacuate their secret base and end up on the failing ancient spaceship Destiny in the farthest part of the universe, with no idea how to get home.

After unlocking the mystery of the Stargate's Ninth Chevron, a team of explorers led by Dr. Nicholas Rush and Colonel Everett Young travel to an unmanned starship called the Destiny, launched by the Ancients millions of years ago, at the height of their civilization as a grand experiment to seed galaxies with Stargates. They had plans for a second ship that would follow it up and explore those planets. This plan was set in motion, but it was abandoned
when the Ancients began concentrating on ascension.

What starts as a simple reconnaissance turns into a never ending mission, as the Stargate Universe crew discovers they are trapped on the ship, unable to change the programmed mission, or return to Earth, and they must now fend for themselves aboard the Destiny. They will encounter new races, new technology and new enemies, as the runaway ship takes them to the far ends of the universe.

I started to watch season 1, but about half-way through, I gave up. The redundant infighting between the military personnel and the medical/scientific staff was driving me nuts. I know the creators wanted a more realistic, true-to-life show. They did that, I totally agree, but I grew tired. It was the same back-stabbing every other episode.

About 4 months later I picked the series back up, because how can I review it, if I never finished it? As much as it pains me to say it, because I'll get an "I told you so" from David, I am actually glad I did. The writing hit its stride mid-season. There was still some infighting, but it was not the main theme of every flipping episode. SO glad they got over that. They have to gel as a team if they are going to survive. They finally get a common enemy to join them; actually more than one set of enemies. It makes you want to root for them rather than wishing the ship would blow up.

Kudos to actor Robert Carlyle as Dr. Nicholas Rush; he's so good because he made me HATE his character for the first half, and was the top reason I gave up on the series. The writers humanized him later on, thank goodness.

Louis Ferreira is well-placed as Colonel Everett Young. He was a realistic leader and I enjoyed his work.

Ming-Na's "Camile Wray" was just tedious; her character did not deserve that loving girlfriend at home. "Chloe Armstrong" = waste of space, while "Eli Wallace" is a waste of a wonderful character. The tight shirts and "cold" conditions for Lt. James are extremely ridiculous *eyeroll* Men.

Also, MICHAEL SHANKS guest starring! I would have missed that (plus O'Neill and Carter, yea, yea) had I not continued. *fanning self* Great Gobs of Gorgeousness! The man STILL looks good!

Make it through the first 10 episodes or so, and it gets better. I am looking forward to seeing Season 2.

Update: Seems SyFy cancelled this show after Season 2.

Sci-Fi Hoedown: Being Human Season 1

This review is for the BBC's "Being Human." The Sy-Fy Channel has their new series "Being Human" starting, calling it a "Sy-Fy Original." I'm not sure how that works as the BBC version already finished season 2 and is working on season 3.

The premise of the show is that three supes, a vampire named Mitchell, a werewolf named George and a ghost named Annie, who all share a flat and have a go at being human.

Mitchell fights against his bloodlust. He wants to forsake his vampire self and be good, but his past keeps dragging him down. George was attacked and turns into a werewolf once a month. A super-goofy intelligent guy, George detests what he is. He and Mitchell met, knowing what they each were, and moved into an apartment haunted by Annie, a very hyper girl with the self-confidence the size of a flea. She just wants to be with her boyfriend, whom she left behind when she died.

They each deal with their own problems separately, and sometimes the problems merge.

Annie tries to remember how she died, and with the help of her flat mates, she tries to exact revenge on the culprit. The local vampire regime wants Mitchell back in the fold. This affects all the flat mates as they work together to save Mitchell, and humanity, for the regime's evil plot to take over.

Overall, it's just six quick episodes. George, and his high-pitched squeal cracks me up and he gets the best lines. When he and Annie try to rescue Mitchell from the vampire regime, George yells "I'm looking for something to defend myself with. So far I have a whisk and I have my mobile phone recharger. What do we take, some crosses and garlic? I know, we should have watched more films. " Annie & George have a fight with the vamps that rivals the Xander/Harmony hair-pull-athon. After winning, George squeals "We're like the world's gayest ninjas!"

Mitchell is your typical torn dark vampire.

Annie...Annie needs to be smacked. I pretty much hated her character. She has NO backbone. She's a ghost and she gets intimidated by her murderer, who figures out she's trying to haunt him. Ugh. She's too hyper, she talks to much, her eye color alternated from blue to brown with no rhyme or reason and she won't stop making tea, although she can't drink it.

All in all, an enjoyable quick series, if you can get past the Annie character.

Sci-Fi Hoedown: Sanctuary Season 1

First, let me say that I refuse to use Sy-Fy instead of Sci-Fi. Sci-Fi = Science Fiction. Sy-Fy = dumb. To have an entire network "dumb it down" is ridonkulous.

David and I are "Stargate" fans; SG1, Atlantis and we're currently catching up on SGUniverse. David is a Stargate fan like I am a Whedonverse fan; slightly nutso. He can name you episode titles, what season, who acted them, etc. etc. And there were 10 seasons of SG1.

Having nothing better to watch, I decided to try "Sanctuary" because it has Stargate actors, Stargate writers, etc. etc.

The premise is this: There are a group of people all over the world whose job it is to protect and give sanctuary to Abnormals (intelligent beings that are not human) on the Earth. The head of the group is Helen Magnus, a 150-something year old played by Amanda Tapping (Colonel Carter in the Stargate World.)

The whole look of the show is very...almost steampunk meets CG. My son complains about the CG being so very bad, but I personally think that's the point. Here are the opening credits so you can see what I mean.

There are monsters-of-the-week episodes, but who doesn't have those, and also running themes of Helen's 150+ year life, including the fact that she knows Nikolai Tesla, who is now a vampire and she once had a relationship with a man who became Jack the Ripper, as well an an eeeeevil cabal trying to destroy the Sanctuary network.

Helen has a daughter Ashley, who works with her, as well as several team members, and new recruit, cute blonde dude. Ok, his name is Dr. Will Zimmerman. I just call him "Replacement Daniel Jackson."

I had to get over Amanda's British accent. It's bad. I'm on Season 2 already, so I'm ignoring it for the most part. We do like seeing Stargate Atlantis and SG1 actors pop up from time to time.

As the show progresses, they hit their stride. I almost gave up on it ("Fata Morgana" - blech. "Nubbins?" ) but there are several episodes that saved it for me ("Requiem," "The Five," "Revelations Part 1 & 2") as well as my like of some characters, mainly the Big Guy (who David immediately identified as the same actor who played Wraith Todd from SG Atlantis just by his voice) and Henry, who I have a crush on. :)

It's visually weird, but in a quirky way that I'm getting used to and liking.

On to Season 2!