Fancy Fembot

The first part of the most anticipated summer Syfy crossover has aired and exceeded expectations.




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Haven.
I really want to like this show but it is so unbearably bland. It pains me to say it but I find the cast incredibly unremarkable. On a whole and as a unit, the actors don’t work for me. It’s hard to admit that because there are some really good actors in this show and I WANT to like it. I have the episodes saved on my DVR but I can’t motivate myself to watch any more of them.





What drew me in was that the show is based on Stephen King’s “The Colorado Kid”. It’s a supernatural drama where odd events take place in a small town in Maine. The first few minutes of the premiere showed us a beautiful location full of crisp color which is filmed in Nova Scotia. This is my favorite part of the show.


Another nitpick is that they cast Nicole DeBoer in the premiere. I still have some leftover animosity from her becoming the new Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine but that’s my own personal issue. It may have been a factor in me not returning to watch the show. I really hate to see shows canceled but I may wait to see if Haven is renewed before I give it another shot.


Haven airs on Syfy at 10/9c.
http://www.syfy.com/haven/


Listen to Carl and I discuss Haven on The Sci-Fi Party Line Podcast.

!SPOILER ALERT! !SPOILER ALERT! !SPOILER ALERT!
!SPOILER ALERT! !SPOILER ALERT! !SPOILER ALERT!

For US, BBC America viewers. Please do not read this article! You are 3 episodes behind!


For UK viewers, there is one more episode left in the newest series of Doctor Who. Is Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor, YOUR Doctor yet?





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Let’s just be out with it. My initial response to the Lost finale was not favorable. I felt betrayed and lied to. The minute that I realized that the “flash sideways” was purgatory and they were going to walk in to a light lead by [a] Christian Shepherd, I was infuriated. Lindelof and Cuse promised that the island wasn’t purgatory and that’s when I stopped myself…


Lindelof and Cuse promised us that the island wasn’t purgatory.





The island ended up not being purgatory. They created something totally different called a “flash sideways” and THAT was the purgatory. To me purgatory has always been a proving ground for entrance into heaven. It’s a place for people who aren’t bad but still need work in order to “move on”. In that sense, the island was a sort of proving ground and the “flash sideways” wasn’t. Purgatory has also been described as a waiting area until it is decided that you will “move on”. This totally describes the “flash sideways”. My real question that if this “flash sideways” was created by the Losties, when did they do this? How? Why? Right before Jughead and Juliet?
Also, notice how Ben Linus didn’t join the other Losties that were going into “the light”. His reason was that he still needed to work on some stuff and because of that, he couldn’t “move on”. This is very purgatorial.





If you ignore these questions and accept the episode for what it is, it was a really sweet ending. The careful weaving of the “flash sideways” and “island present” was impressive. You also got to see all of your favorite characters together again. Everyone was clean, with combed hair and stylish clothing. THAT MADE IT ALL WORTH IT! I enjoyed that characters got a chance to reunite with their loved ones. Seeing them recognize each other was heart warming: Claire and Kate, Clair and Charlie, Sayid and Shannon, Sun and Jin. I cried a few times; even on the second viewing.





Let’s face it. This is some of the cleverest storytelling of our time. The most important feature of Lost is the flashback. It gave the writers a way to tell a story and create a history on the island that made sense. It gave the appearance of a carefully woven entertainment tapestry. Their balance of the ridiculous and the sublime was epic. In most television shows if you add a smoke monster and time travel, the next season you’re signing up for a campaign for Syfy to save the show. If the show is too heavy on love and relationships, it’s demoted to chick flick status. If it’s too spiritual, you run the risk of offending a religious group. If you have too much diversity, everything starts to feel forced and unrealistic.





After a second viewing of the finale, I decided that I’m satisfied with how Lost ended. It wasn’t the ending that I wanted or even expected but it’s over. I have a science fiction bias so I wanted it to be some bizarre-o time travel twist with alien overlords and a space battle. *pew pew* That isn’t what Lost is and that is the reason why the show was so successful. Lindelof and Cuse found a perfect balance and told a story in such away that it appealed to a massive amount of people. They successfully told a story that kept people from all walks of life engaged and that is no easy task. It combined Survivor with Quantum Leap with a dash of Grey’s Anatomy and The Odyssey. We were treated to subtitles, war, politics, mystery, spirituality, action, horror and most importantly love.





Do I still have questions? Yes but they just don’t matter at this point and I’ve decided to let them go. The most oft repeated reason you hear for Lost being so successful is because they made you care about the characters. Even if you didn’t like the ending, I think the the mark of a great show is the ability to keep the audience coming back for more because of a connection with the characters. Everyone can agree that the mysteries and puzzles of the island were fascinating. Everyone can agree that there was something very basic and human about the show that makes it easy to relate to. Because Lost did all of this, it will go down in history as one of the most important television shows in our time.





[Lost Finale Poll. VOTE!]

What happened here? Merely shouting “FlashForward sucks” and walking away doesn’t really cut it. This show had everything going for it: a top-notch cast, great time-slot, a compelling premise, a great network, good looking sets. Why did this show fail?
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Of course if Anna wants you, she wants to tag you, change your DNA or mate with you then eat you. …at least you’ll die in bliss.

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Lost – “Ab Aeterno” – S6E9


“Ab Aeterno” had to be THE most rewarding and most frightening episode of Lost to date. Next to Jacob, Richard has to be the most enigmatic character on Lost. We didn’t know why he didn’t age. We didn’t know why he was on the island, how he got there, why he was so loyal or why he was so mysterious? Now we have those answers. In short, Richard is a messiah.

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Eric (@Bullitt33), the awesome producer and co-host of the Sci-Fi Party Line Podcast has launched a side project called Doctor Who: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Whoverse. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s Monday, January 11, 2010 and you have some important decisions to make. What will you watch tonight; Fringe or Heroes? Both air at 8 pm CST. Decisions, decisions.
[Edit: I almost forgot about Big Bang Theory!]
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I haven’t read the book. I wasn’t interested in this movie when it was released. I’m not sure why but it was just something about it that didn’t excite me.
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