Eye of Polyphemus

Formspring Question #371--Deep Spaced Edition

2012-02-25T09:16:00.001-05:00

Do you regret Deep Space Nine is not as popular as the other Star Trek series?

Yes and no.

Yes in the sense DS9 was a quality show that should have gotten more attention. Star Trek has gone nowhere but down since the show went off the air in 1999. Yes, that includes J. J. Abrams’ 2009 film. I finally got around to seeing it and cannot for the life of me figure out what Trekkies see in it. Maybe the praise for it is similar to north Koreans morning for Dear Leader --make enough noise and maybe the powers that be will be merciful enough to give you something better next time.

No in the sense that I appreciate Trekkies are more inclined to circle DS9 cautiously while occasionally piking it with a stick rather than outright attacking it for blasphemy. It is the most un-trek of any of the series, which is why I like it the best. (Contrary to the lingering belief, I am not that big a Star Trek fan.) Deep Space Nine spent seven years proving Gene Roddenberry’s naïve vision of the future could not stand up to the reality of human nature. One wonders how trekkis have contained themselves over the revelation.

Gone was the arrogant finger waving in the faces of aliens who refused to accept the gospel of secular humanism preached by the perfect federation. Instead, the federation is willing to let covert ops commit genocide in order to save its own hide. Oh, wait--the federation did not save its own hide. It was the changeling Odo, Bajoran Kira, and Cardassians Garak and Damar, none of whom even like the Federation because it is pretentious and hypocritical. Well, there you go.

Formspring Question #370--As the Stargate Turns Edition

2012-02-25T07:57:00.003-05:00

Are you going to cover any of the behind the scenes drama at Stargate SG-1 like you have for other shows? Michael Shanks requested the abrupt wrap up for the Sha're storyline because he and his girlfriend Vaitiare Bandera were splitting up. You did nt mention it.

I was not aware of it. The only drama associated with Stargate SG-1 I am aware of is the tangent matter of Farscape fandom’s insistence their show was cancelled in order for Sci Fi to make production money available for Stargate SG-1. To add insult to injury, Ben Browder and Claudia Black were added to the Stargate SG-1 cast. The drum und strang played out in 2005 when I was uninterested in both shows, so I paid only enough attention to keep friends who liked the shows happy. I am still not well versed, but I obviously cannot skip the controversy when the time comes.

By all accounts, the cast and crew had a happy relationship in which everyone got along well. Even Michael Shanks departure over his character’s direction was apparently smoothed over without lasting negative consequences.. I think there was a fair amount of grumbling more moment went to special effects than cast salaries, but that should not surprise anyone. Who does not complain about the amount of money they make?

I am willing to concede there are dirty little tiff to be mentioned that are unknown to me as a newbie. I am finding out new stuff all the time, like Gates McFadden’s claims of sexual harassment against Maurice Hurley, that I would have worked into reviews for past shows had I known. I have been quite open about the disgruntled attitudes of David Duchovny and Robert Beltran. If any fan can shed light on anything I have missed, feel free to offer it up. Not just smrar jobs, though. Just something to fill in the blanks. There is no sense in smacking around those associated with a series I am currently enjoying just to be a troll.

Stargate: Atlantis is a far different story when it comes to behind the scenes drama. We will cross that when and if it comes.

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around #139

2012-02-25T06:24:00.006-05:00

It is time once again to round up all the bloggers gracious enough to link to me this week.

Say Anything links to Ashlet Greene, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Ellison, and Sophie Myles.
Proof Positive links to Ashley Greene, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Ellison, and Sophie Myles.
American Power links to Candice Swanepoel.
Pirate's Cove links to FMJRA #138, Blogroll Spotlight #133, and Shelley Hemnig.
Sentry Journal links to Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine Supports Rick Santorum
Motor City Times links to Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine Supports Rick Santorum
Classic Liberal links to Sophia Myles, Jennifer Ellison, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, ShelleyHemnig, Candice Swanepoel, and JessicaAlba.
Randy's Roundtable links to Blake Lively and Britney Spears.
Fisherswville Mike links to Kaley Cuoco.
The Other McCain links to Annew Hathaway.
Teresamerica links to Scarlett Johansson.
Troglopundit credits the eye in an Automotivator.
Conservative Hideout links to FMJRA #138.
reaganite Republican links to Dana Delaney
Jake Finnegan links to Jennifer Ellison.

A sincere thank you to all who linked this week. If you linked to me in the last week, but I do not have you here, you unfortunately fell through the cracks of Technorati, Google Blog Search, and Sitemeter. Please drop me a note in the comments and I will update with your link.

Stargate SG-1--"Jolinar's Memories"

2012-02-25T05:19:00.002-05:00

“Jolinar’s Memories” brings the third season back to its superior ways after a couple missteps within the last few episodes. It is full of action, suspense, and surprises, but what reaches out and grabs you is the production design. The powers that be went all out creating a vision of hell which is…well, I do not want to refer to hell as magnificent, but it is incredibly impressive for a cable television series. I fear a later season episode or two will feature shadow puppets on a wall to offset the money spent.

Martouf comes to SGC with the unfortunate news Selmak/Jacob has been captured by Sokar and imprisoned on Netu, a moon therefore by Sokar into a molten hell in order to fit in with his impersonation of the devil. Selmak/Jacob was on a mission to determine when and where Sokar is planning an attack on the System Lords and how much power he will use. Martouf recruits SG-1 to rescue Selmak/Jacob, but since no one other than Jolinar has ever escaped from Netu, gathering intelligence from Selmak/Jacob may be the only thing they can do.

Martouf uses one of those memory devices on Sam in the hopes of discovering how Jolinar escaped. Her memories are fuzzy, save for a vivid torture session in case you had not gotten the hell motif clear in your mind yet, but her escape had something to do with Sokar’s right hand man, Bynarr. Finding him is the key to escaping with Selmak/Jacob. The memory device projects a flash of sam as a young girl apparently receiving news from her father her mother has died with strong hints Jacob bears some responsibility for her death. It is just a flash of memory, so I am merely speculating.

There is no stargate on Netu in keeping with the no escape theme, so our heroes have to fly there. Teal’c remains in orbit ready to make a break for it while the others look for Bynarr on the surface. Naturally, they get captured after bynarr becomes suspicious of stragers asking for him, but perks up to know he may have Jolinar in his grasp again. Bynarr did not help Jolinar escape. He was seduced by her and she fled through transportation rings in his quartters. He was not only betrayed by her, but sokar put an eye out as punishment. Bynarr ain’t happy to see sam, in other words.

While Sam and Bynarr are enjoying their reunion, the rest of our heroes have been thrown in a cage with Selmak/Jacob. They learn Sokar is planning a massive attack on the System Lords. Unfortunately, Teal’c cannot get a message to the Tok’ra because he has now been discovered. (How did SG-1’s weapons get taken away, but not their communicator?) When it rains, it pours, no? One apparent bright spot--sam is saved from death when Na’onak, Bynarr’s right hand man, murders him and returns sam to the cage. Our heroes manage to escape and retreat to Bynarr’s quarters to use the transportation rings to get to talc’s ship, but are captured by Na’onak, who pulls off his mask to reveal the horribly scarred face of Apophis.

“Jolinar’s Memories” is a quite engrossing. It is a men on a mission story with a personal stakeas far as story elements go, it is character moments that steal the show. Sokar’s introduction as the devilish villain is mysterious and frightening. His first in the flesh appearance ran the risk of being campy, but hit the right tone. Jolinar is revealed to be far more edhy than previously thought. She seduced her torturer in order to escape. I suppose one would be willing to do such things to flee hell. The Na’onak/apophis reveal was particularly cool. Na’onak was not only wearing a mask until the big reveal, but played by another actor with Peter Williams not playing the character until the very end when the mask comes off. I must confess apophis is not a villain who resonates much with me thus far. He comes across as a petty, fly by night dictator as opposed to other Goa’uld who are supposedly far more powerful. His reveal now as the tortured anorak ready to resume power is a promising twist on a less than interesting character.

All that said and certainly not dismissed, “Jolinar’s Memories” is worth seeing solely for the craftsmanship in designing Netu as a literal hell. It reminds me a lot of Mola Ram’s lair underneath the Temple of Doom with a fraction of the budget, but still highly atmospheric. I would like to come up with a more intellectual allusion, but Indiana Jones is the one with which we are stuck. I will try to be more high class with references in the future.

Rating: **** (out of 5)

Emily Ratajkowski

2012-02-25T05:10:00.003-05:00

I had no idea who Emily Ratajkowski was until I looked her up. She was once on a Nickelodeon show called iCarley. Either she has well outgrown the series or Nickelodeon is far different than I remember back in the 80's when I last watched anything on the network.

Stargate SG-1--"Past and Present"

2012-02-24T07:23:00.006-05:00

The actress in the above scene is Megan Leitch, who played the adult Samantha Mulder on The X-Files. I am filled with geeky goodness to see her again. More of you should be X-Philes, darn it!

“Past and Present” features an intriguing premise which brings back a recurring villain in a highly creative way, but the episode’s many flaws nearly kill it. We are talking about an unethical solution to the plot complication, an unintentionally dark ending, and in a technical aspect, the episode airing to closely to the previous one for Daniel’s emotional response to not feel cheap and out of place so soon after his wife’s death.

The SG-1 team travels to Vyan. There they discover the population suffered a mass amnesia over a year ago. They remember nothing prior to the incident, noe can they figure out why there are no children or old people around. They have photos of older people, but none of children, just to deepen the mystery. When SG-1 does some digging in the local library with the help of a scientist named Ke’ra, they figure out the incident was the result of experiments by Linea, an old enemy whom they inadvertently helped escape prison and gave a list of stargate addresses.

Feeling responsible for the population’s memory loss, SG-1 recruits Frasier to help find a cure. What ensues is a convoluted plot involving a pesticide called dargol used years ago which rendered the population sterile, but after Linea fiddled with it, became a fountain of youth. A side effect of the fountain of youth being amnesia. The whole population cannot have kids. So that explains why there are no photos of children. The photos of older people which they do have are not missing people, but themselves as they were before the fountain of youth drug. Oh, yeah--Ke’ra is actually linea and daniel has fallen in love with her.

The revelations surrounding the effects of Dargol before and after Linea experimented with it are not the main thrust of the plot. The plot centers around Ke’ra inadvertently using Linea’s genius in chemistry to solve the amnesia and Daniel serving as her advocate when everyone else believes she needs to pay for Linea’s crimes even if she is a different person now.

Or is she? The climactic scene has Ke’ra taking the antidote to the amnesia to find out if the suspicions she is Linea are true. I am no expert on memory or abnormal psychology, but is it plausible Ke’ra could retain Linea’s genius as a chemist but not her antisocial tendencies? I have doubts, and some of Ke’ra’s behavior bares that out. She is very manipulative of Daniel’s emotions. She zeroes in on him after she learns his wife has recently died making him particularly vulnerable. She is also completely ambivalent to the seizure her first failed antidote causes for a patient. That is not how a sympathetic healer would act. Yet when her memories of Linea do return, Ke’ra wants to commit suicide over the guilt of acts she once committed as though nothing of linea’s personality had been present before ingesting the antidote. So which is it? Was the essence of Linea there all along or not?

That is an important question to explore because Daniel’s solution for her suicidal tendencies is to take Dargol again to induce amnesia and keep on being ke’ra. In other words, let Linea start a new life on another planet as an entirely new person. never mind that traces of Linea were evident in Ke’ra’s personality. never mind that ke’ra is a curious scientist who would probably keep on working with Dargol and eventually figure out the truth. never mind the entire population is going to know she is still suffering from the amnesia. Someone will suggest using the antidote. Or are they all going to conspire to keep Josephine Mengele’s identity a secret from her out of gratitude for curing their amnesia? Not likely. There are a number of logical problems with letting Ke’ra go free. So many, in fact, that you almost forget the population is sterile due to pesticide use and is going to go extinct once the current generation dies off. Not that anyone mentions that after the beginning of the third act. Oops.

Am I really down on “Past and Present?” Significant aspects, most certainly. There are plot holes one could drive a truck through. On an entire planet, no one can piece together any clues about the past? If everyone de-aged forty years, could no one find a forty year old photograph and recognize himself? No one wrote down anything ever? No one seems upset in the slightest to learn they are all sterile. I could go on, but I will end the criticism with the statement Daniel should not fall in love with another woman so soon after Sha’re has died. It is not clear enough Ke’ra is manipulating him into a romance even if she is. Very bad story idea. The only praise I can offer for ‘past and Present” is the creative way it brought back a past villain. Too bad the execution of linea’s return was so poorly thought out beyond the basic premise.

Rating: ** (out of 5)

Dana Delaney

2012-02-24T04:56:00.001-05:00

Part of The Other McCain's Rule 5 Sunday.

Formspring Question #369--Palin Fantasies Edition

2012-02-23T13:56:00.003-05:00

Do you think Sarah Palin is setting herself as a potential nominee if there is a brokered convention, or do you think she just wants a prominent role at the convention so she can attempt to have her own Reagan 76 moment?

the only place either of those scenarios exists is in her mind. Sarah Palin is irrelevant to politics. the establishment never liked her. she has most likely burned all her bridges with supporters over her foot dragging about a 2012 bid in the first place. Quite frankly, i would be surprised if Palin has a prominent role at the convention period, much less a chance at a floor nomination or widely watched speech that will make Republicans regret nominating The Other Guy instead of her.

Formspring Question #368--Class Warfare 2012

2012-02-23T13:52:00.003-05:00

His Excellency the Emperor of America can't run on "Republicans want to take away your birth control pills" forever. Is it going to be all class warfare all the time till November?

Unless the economy improves, Barack Obama will have nothing else to run on but class warfare. Of course, the longer the emphasis can be kept on social issues, the less attention will be paid to the economy, so do not expect the frivolous side show to end anytime soon.

Stargate SG-1--"Forever in a Day"

2012-02-23T08:59:00.002-05:00

"Forever in a Day" wraps up the storyline of Daniel’s missing wife, Sha’re, that has been rolling along since the pilot. It is a sad and existential episode. There are a lot of good character moments packed in which more than make up for some of the moments which are trying way too hard to be surreal and meaningful. Overall, it is a worthy end to one chapter and the beginning of another.

The episode begins with a big action sequence in which several SG teams are mounting a rescue operation for Abysonians being held by Amaunet/Sha’re. Daniel finds her standing near a tent. While attempting to recover her in the hopes there is some safe way to remove her symbiote, she gets the upper hand and nearly kills Daniel with her kara kesh hand weapon before teal’c intervenes, killing her instead.

The above summary is about the only aspect of “Forever in a Day” one can determine actually happened. Somehow, Sha’re sent a message passed Amaunet into Daniel through the kara kesh regarding the location of her child. He is the human offspring of two Goa’uld, known as a harcesis, and will be hunted down and killed by them for the knowledge of the Goa’uld he possesses. Daniel does not find this out until the very end in which he learns the child is stowed away on what was considered the mythical planet Kheb.

In the interim, Daniel suffers through a series of dreams which alternate from Sha’re having been killed by Teal’c to save his life and others in which she is still alive and guiding him to both discover the message about her child and forgive teal’c for his actions in saving him. Daniel resigns from SGC at one point, thinking it is pointless to carry on since his goal was to find his wife, but eventually comes around after several of those weird dreams. He eventually winds up back on the planet where Sha’re dies at the exact moment she does, but now with the knowledge he has to locate Kheb.

In many episodes of science fiction in which much of the story is revealed in the end to never have really happened, it is easy to feel gypped. I do not necessarily feel that way about “Forever in Day.” Perhaps it is because the grieving process for a loved one is still relatively fresh in my mind. I had dreams for weeks after my mother died in which she was still alive. It would take me a few seconds upon waking up to realize she was not. Such dreams are not uncommon during grieving, so I can appreciate the accuracy. I am empathetic, in fact. Nevertheless, some other aspects are weak. I appreciate Teal’c’s pain over daniel refusal to forgive him for killing Sha’re, but the entire sequence in which Daniel comes to forgiveness occurs only in his mind. Daniel verbally assures Teal’c he did the right thing even before Teal’c asks for forgiveness in the “real world.” Is this so there will be no lingering animosity between the two from here on out/? It is sort of the easy way out, there.

I have some issues with “Forever in a Day,” but I am still going to award four stars. It dares to be different while effectively tugging our heartstrings. “forever in a day” could easily have been confusing in executing its premise, melodramatic with Sha’re’s death and the damage done to Daniel’s relationships because of it, and a disappointing cop out when most of the episode happened in Daniel’s mind . Yet it all works, and that is not easy to do.

Rating; **** (out of 5)

Kaley Cuoco

2012-02-23T04:29:00.001-05:00

Thursday is (usually) Kaley Cuoco Day!

Formspring Question #367--Linsane in the Membrane Edition

2012-02-22T12:50:00.004-05:00

What's your take on Linsanity? There was more flap over the ESPN racist headline mistake than the Penn State scandal.

I could not care less about basketball, but i am curious how Lin got into Harvard business school with a 3.1 GPA as an undergrad. I remember back in the days when I was looking at law schools, Harvard Law demanded a 3.8 and near perfect LSAT score just to be considered one of the 7% of applicants accepted. surely the business school is just as picky?

No, I never had any delusions of getting into Harvard law, lest anyone start snickering. I was satisfying curiosity by looking at the stats of entering classes at every accredited law school in the country.

Who ever made that ESPN headline with the unintentional racist slur was just dumb, but I cannot say the headline got more attention than the Penn State scandal. I pay very little attention to sports journalism outside of baseball news, so i am not the person to weigh in on the matter. Sports and music journalism are such isolated worlds, they are hard to take seriously when real world issues creep in.

Formspring Question #366--The Blogger Slums Edition

2012-02-22T12:45:00.002-05:00

Pee Wee Herman, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears? WTF, dude?

Snooki is on the New York Times best seller list. Civilization is officially crumbling. Get with the program.

Stargate SG-1--"Rules of Engagement"

2012-02-22T07:43:00.001-05:00

The third season has been strong thus far. As we approached the halfway point, I started to think there might not be a dud in the bunch. It is dangerous to think that way. “Rules of Engagement’ has an intriguing premise, but the devil is in the details. A couple of aspects do not make a whole lot of sense, and I get the impression the impressive battle sequences are meant to be a distraction from those shortcomings.

The SG-1 team just happens to be exploring a planet upon which Apophis has established a training camp for young men to pose as SG team members in order to infiltrate Earth. At first, SG-1 assumes a pitched battle between the faux SG teams and the Jaffa is real and intervene even though no SG teams ought to be out here in the first place. They are hit by stun guns during the battle and knocked out.

When they awaken at the training camp, they are mistaken for recruits who have stumbled onto the battlefield through incompetence. Sizing up the situation, Teal’c uses his connections with apophis to take command of the camp and find out exactly what is going on.

Apophis established his own Khmer Rouge here to serve as an army in an impending invasion of earth. The kids are actually in the 18-20 year old ranger rather than child soldiers/ I have a hunch younger kids were the original idea, but some of the violent aspects of the episode made the prospect a little too dicey. Apophis set up the camp after his failed attack on Earth, so the impression is he is recruiting young teens because he is desperate to hold unto power with whatever his fading fortunes can muster.

The complication is that SG-1’s real weapons were mixed in with the stun gun training versions. The kids are going to inadvertently use real arms in an afternoon war games exercise. Teal’c fails to convince them apophis is dead--they think his claim is a test of loyalty--and their leader, kyle Rogers, is shot with a real bullet during the war games. He is taken back to SGC for treatment and shown video of apophis’ death, which convinces him of the truth.

Unfortunately, the kids are planning to battle each other to the death with real weapons now in order to determine which of them will become apophis’ personal guards. Kyle and SG-1 travel back to the planet in the middle of a spectacular battle scene for a cable television series. They use stun guns to buy time while Sam sets up the video feed of apophis’ death in order to convince everyone an invasion is not coming. It works, and all the kids go home.

As I am about to smack “Rules of Engagement’ around for a continuity issue, I will offer up one bit of praise--the reason apophis knows all about SGC weapons, paraphernalia, and battle tactics is that he captured SG-11, the team that has been missing since early in the second season, and tortured them for it all. It is mentioned they did not talk before dying under torture, so they were heroic about it. Ah, but the big issue Why do the kids accept Teal’c as a loyal servant of Apophis? One would assume Teal’c is famous for betraying Apophis. At the very least, if the kids are learning all about the SGC, they ought to know Teal’c is a part of them. Perhaps I am nitpicking here, since that seems like too obvious a continuity error to make. Maybe apophis wants to keep the kids as in the dark as possible, so here does not care if they know about Teal’c.

Consider it a case of me protesting too much, but Teal’c’s status being unknown bugs me a lot. There is no much else in the episode beyond the climactic battle sequence which elevates “Rules of Engagement” beyond the bland. While I think Apophis creating his own youth army is an intriguing one, it comes across as pathetic under the circumstances. These kids are bumbling doofuses playing army, and they are all Apophis has left--to invade Earth, no less. What could have been a sinister plot is terribly deflated in its execution. If he were not already dead, Apophis’ status as a major villain would be laughable at this point.

Rating: ** (out of 5)

Britney Spears

2012-02-22T03:10:00.004-05:00

Here are some blast from the past photos of Britney Spears back when she did a better job of hiding her crazy.

Stargate SG-1--"Demons"

2012-02-21T02:18:00.003-05:00

Now here is a rare bird--an episode of science fiction that presents Christianity in a positive light. In a genre dominated by skeptical writers fearful Christianity is nothing more than a barrier to knowledge and freedom that enslaves the ignorant masses, it is refreshing to see a different spin. I am generally not a fan of medieval stories, but “Demons” is one of the better efforts I have seen.

The SG-1 team arrives on a planet and discovers a village straight out of medieval Europe. The setting piques Daniel’s curiosity. The Goa’uld have posed as all sorts of gods throughout the years, but never God Himself. Teal’c remarks that he knows of no Goa’uld who possess the benevolence of God in order to instill the benevolence required of Christians in the Bible. Jack expresses surprise Teal’c has read the Bible, to which Teal’c asks why he would not read the Bible, as it is the cornerstone of Western Civilization. In that brief exchange, Stargate SG-1 has gone against the Hollywood line and acknowledged not only that Christianity is not evil, but is the basis for Western Civilization. During the early summer, the Ori will show up and take some serious shots at Christianity, but it is good to know we are in good company for eight seasons or so.

In the center of the village, the SG-1 team finds a young woman chained to a post. She is supposedly demon possessed, but only has the chicken pox. She is set to be sacrificed to a demon, but SG-1 rescues her and hides in her husband, Simon. The demon in question turns out to be a Unas. Our heroes offer to kill it, but wind up accused of being demons themselves. Teal’c is particularly in trouble due to the mark of apophis on his forehead. Teal’c is forced to undergo witches ordeals to prove he is not possessed. He apparently drowns on the final one, which ironically clears his nme.

The whole unas as a demon earning regular sacrifices for dubious reasons is all a scam. The Canon, who is the local religious leader, is in cahoots with the Unas in order to maintain his own power. The canon arranges sacrifices to become Goa’uld hosts for sokar in exchange for maintaining power over the village. The arrangement is disrupted when teal’c returns from the dead thanks to his symbiote,. The SG-1 team is chained up for sacrifice again, but escape, defeat the Unas, and finally the Canon when the Unas’ symbiote jumps into him. The villagers bury the stargate and that is that.

Just to note, the Canon is a flat out Elmer Gantry type. He does not believe in Christianity. He is just using the people’s devotion in order to exploit them. There is no impression that Christians are as a whole stupid and easy to exploit by wolves in sheep’s clothing. The villagers are superstitious, but they are a product of their time rather than a knock on modern day Christianity. Which may explain why “Demons” is not particularly popular among Gaters. I will be the first to admit it is not a great episode, but there are no fundamental flaws with it, either. It is an enjoyable adventure presented within the confines of a familiar religion.

One highlight is Talc’s “death.” He is a corpse for two acts, and although you know something is going to change that, it is a tensely emotional wait regardless. The contrast of teal’c being proven to not be a demon and Christopher Judge voicing the Unas amuses me, as well.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

Lindsay Lohan to Host Saturday Night Live Next Month

2012-02-21T00:24:00.006-05:00

If you have ever wanted to host Saturday Night Live, here are the steps to doing so:

1. Do a lot of drugs.
2. Get arrested for DUI and cocaine possession.
3. Steal $500,000 worth of jewelry.
4. Fake a robbery to keep an additional $2 miilion worth of jewelry.
5. Go to jail.
6. Go to rehab.
7. Do more drugs.
8. Go back to jail.
9. Steal a $2,500 necklace.
10. Pose naked for Playboy. (You were hoping for a link, no?)

Viola! Follow these simple steps and you, too, can host Saturday Night Live.

Pee Wee Herman's Anti-Drug PSA with a Word from Charlie Sheen

2012-02-20T22:33:00.004-05:00

Both reputable gentlemen. You should have no problem trusting either one of them.

Stargate SG-1--"Deadman Switch"

2012-02-20T07:04:00.003-05:00

“Deadman Switch” is a lighthearted, action oriented romp that I enjoyed far more than I thought I would upon learning the villain is played by Sam J. Jones. Seriously, why would one cast Flash Gordon as a villain if he is not meant to be a campy goofball? The character, Aris Boch, turns out to be a formidable villain. He is somewhere in the pantheon with Boba Fett and Jubal Early.

The SG-1 team is captured by bounty hunter Aris Boch while exploring a planet which resembles the forests outside Vancouver. (I have not done that joke in a while.) Boch is currently working for Sokar in order to capture a Goa’uld traitor named Kel’tar. The SG-1 team have a high price on their heads for various reasons, but Boch offers to let them go if they will help capture Kel’tar. They seem to agree at first, but turn the tables in a clever cat and mouse game Boch ultimately wins. Our heroes agree for real this time.

That is until they realize Kel’tar claims to be a Tok’ra spy. There is no way to know he is telling the truth other than Boch forbid sam from joining the mission to capture him out of fear her connection to Jolinar would sense the truth. Working under the assumption Korra here really is Tok’ra, they attempt to rescue Sam and all get away, but Boch still gains the upper hand.

Boch’s situation fortunately works to their advantage. He is from a race of people who are immune to becoming hosts, so they were largely wiped out by the Goa‘uld. The youngest were kept alive as slaves. To ensure loyalty, they were hooked on a narcotic they now need to stay alive. 9Yeah, I know--Jem Ha‘Dar.) Boch hates the Goa’uld as much as SG-1, but needs their drug supply. It is strongly hinted he does not even want to be a bounty hunter. It is just the most useful service he can provide. When he learns that Tok’ra oppose the Goa’uld, he agrees to let Korra go, but he has to give sokar something. Teal’c offers up himself. At the last minute, Boch and Teal’c fake their deaths in his ship’s explosion in the hope Sokar will believe they are both dead. So Korra and Teal’c are safe. Boch turns out to have a heart of gold.

Okay, so Boch turns out to be a bit campy. But nowhere near as bad as his most famous role. I had thought playing Flash Gordon had killed Jones’ career, but while he has not been a another starring role, nor a steady television gig, he has carved out a thirty year career as a character actor in film and television. Not bad, but the poor guy looks like the lovechild of Dolph Lundgren and Pete rose. There is always something.

“Deadman Switch” is a frivolous, fun episode. Jack and Daniel are both at their cynical smart alec best. Boch makes for a memorable guest star who gets a lot of great lines as well as the chance to show up our heroes here and there. One off characters do not usually get the chance, but it only makes the episode more amusing. It is obvious with the suit of armor and the helmet resembling Lando’s disguise from Return of the JedI that Boch is a Boba Fett homage. The Jem Ha’Dar drug addiction is a bit more tenuous, but why not? Whichever the case, neither feel like a rip off. “Deadman Switch’ is a good change of pace from the more tense episodes preceding.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

Blake Lively

2012-02-20T05:35:00.002-05:00

Stargate SG-1--"Point of View"

2012-02-19T02:30:00.001-05:00

I am a sucker for alternate reality stories. (Yeah, I know I did nothing but complain about the mirror universe stuff in Star Trek. bear with me here.) “Point of View" has all the elements: radically different character divergence, some no longer alive, some on the opposite side of our reality, an apocalyptic setting, and, of course, the brief question of why any decision matters when all possible outcomes are played out somewhere. ’Point of View’ does not quite make it to the top of alternate reality stories I have seen, but it is decent.

Sam and Kowalski from an alternate universe in which the Jaffa have taken over Earth escape through a quantum mirror in to our universe to request asylum. It is granted to them with more ease than one would suspect, but since that is not a big part of the plot, no big deal. What is a big deal is alternate versions of a person cannot exist in the same reality. That is not a problem for Alternate since his counterpart died in the first season, but Alternate Sam quickly suffers..uh…cellular degradation? Something about the same matter occupying the same universe. Teachnobabble stuff. Regardless of the science, she cannot stay or she will die. However, if she goes back to her reality, the Jaffa will kill her.

Daniel suggests traveling to the alternate reality with the device Jack built while possessed with the knowledge of the Ancients to contact the Asgard for help liberating the alternate earth from the Jaffa. Even though sam could not get the device to work again, two heads must be better than one, because together with alternate sam, they figure it out. The SG-1 team, plus Kowalski, but minus our sam, travel to the alternate Earth. They are promptly captured after sending alternate sam through the stargate to the Asgard homeworld, but the Asgard ride in like the cavalry to save the day. With the alternate earth saved, the SG-1 team leaves for home.

Shippers take note: Alternate Sam, who never joined the Air Force, was free to pursue a romance with Jack. They wrre married until the invasion. Her Jack was killed by the Jaffa a few days prior to her and Kowalski’s escape to our Earth. The tension between Alternate Sam and jack is thick. Our Jack and hers are apparently identical. Our Jack, who has allowed regulations forbidding romantic relationships between personnel to stand with the real Sam, is not so strong at resisting his feelings for alternate Sam. The two smooch before he leaves. Unbeknownst to both parties, the real sam saw it happen.

There are two issues with “Point of View.” One, it does things on the cheap. In order to present the Alternate SGC has having been all but destroyed by the Jaffa, the lights are cut off so the set does not have to simulate a whole lot of damage. The warship over Cheyenne Mountain is a stock footage reuse. We never get to see the Asggard or their ship. They just beam away all the remaining Jaffa without a word. The other part is how clever the episode tries to be. Kowalski returns yet again even though he has been dead since the second episode. One wonders if that is going to become a running gag. The second is the Star Trek references. The quantum mirror itself is a nod to the mirror universe, as is Alternate Apophis and Alternate Teal’c sporting goatees like Mirror Spock. The quantum mirror itself looks like the Guardian of Forever. Maybe I am just desperate to get away from Star Trek, but that was a bit much.

Neither of those points is enough to do serious damage to “Point of View.” it is an entertaining episode. Some points are glossed over too quickly, such as asylum offered fast, the Sams figuring out the ancient’s device in an hour, and the meeting between alternate Sam and the Asgard, as well as their journey to Earth, taking about five minutes, are tough to swallow, but I get the impression “Pint of View’ is for the shippers and not the nitpickers. Whatever the case, I liked the episode well enough.

Rating; *** (out of 5)

Candice Swanepoel

2012-02-19T01:01:00.002-05:00

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around #138

2012-02-18T06:24:00.004-05:00

It is time once again to round up all the bloggers gracious enough to link to me this week.

Proof Positive links to Sophie Marceau, Eliza Dushku, and Emma Stone.
Say Anything links to Sophie Marceau, Eliza Dushku, and Emma Stone.
Motor City Times links to Voter Enthusiasm.
Sentry Journal links to Whitney Houston (1963-2012).
The Gormogons links to The Santorum Surge and Brooklyn Decker.
Classic Liberal links to Rose Byrne, Alison Brie, Scarlett Johansson, Emma Stone, Sophie Marceau, Britney Spears, Eliza Dushku, and Kaley Cuoco.
Randy's Roundtable links to Jessica Alba, Anne Hathaway and in a FMJRA.
Pirate's Cove links to FMJRA #137, Blogroll Spotlight #132, and Scarlett Johansson.
The Other McCain links to Scarlett Johansson.
Reaganite Republican links to Jennifer Ellison.
Conservative Hideout links to Whitney Houston (1963-2012).

A sincere thank you to all who linked this week. If you linked to me in the last week, but I do not have you here, you unfortunately fell through the cracks of Technorati, Google Blog Search, and Sitemeter. Please drop me a note in the comments and I will update with your link.

Stargate SG-1--"Learning Curve"

2012-02-18T05:36:00.003-05:00

What a strangely disturbing episode. “Learning Curve” follows the course of a newly introduced people called the Orban as they go from a cold, fascist society to more childlike…literally. I am not even certain it is a happy ending. It is just…yeah. Very weird.

The Orban are a highly advanced species with incredibly brilliant children who possess the capacity to learn vast amounts of knowledge. One of the children, a young girl named Mirren, assists sam in building a reactor from scratch. A routine medical exam reveals the secret of the children’s learning abilities--they are specially selected from among other children to be injected with nanites that grant them the ability to absorb knowledge. But all they do learn. They have no inkling of the concepts of fun or love. What is worse, when they have learned everything about their designated subjects, the nanites containing all the knowledge are removed, effectively turning the children into an infant like state while their knowledge is implanted in the rest of the population.

The knowledge the nanites contain can save decades worth of research for normal people, so the orban consider sacrificing their children to be an honor. Plus, the children are well cared for. Lobotomized, but well cared for. The SG-1 team does not see things that way, particularly Jack. He wants to keep mirren on earth so her nanites cannot be removed. When the Orban demand her return, he goes AWOL with her to a nearby school where she spends time on the playground and learns to paint. He offers to help her gain asylum, but she says it is her duty to share knowledge with her people. Jack reluctantly goes along with her wishes. He sends her off through the stargate to Orban with a box of crayons as a gift.

Several days later, SG-1 is requested on orban. The only Orban adult we have met, Kalan, is giddy as he takes them to see the children who nanites have been removed. Instead of being in a near vegetative state, they are running, playing, and coloring with crayons. Mirren’s knowledge imparted to the Orban population included the value of fun. They now see the value also in teaching the children after their nanites have been removed so they can still be a part of society. Kalan gives jack a stick figure drawing of himself in crayon as a thank you, which would be the most awkward moment if not for jack sitting down to color with mirren, who seems like a toddler who no longer recognizes him.

So are the Orbans now a society that eschews advanced nanotechnology in favor of playing hopscotch and drawing stick figures? The viewer has to embrace the possibility in consideration of Kalan’s sudden childlike exuberance. Is this a change for the better, or will their society fall apart? Certainly, the ending is supposed to be positive, but I think the writers went overboard. Not that mirren seems to be in particularly good shape in the very last scene.

I am not calling “Learning Curve’ a bad episode. It has some thought provoking elements. It certainly is not like many parents do not sacrifice their children’s happiness for what they perceive as better opportunities for them. There are rational arguments in favor, and “Learning Curve” presents the sacrifice for the greater good argument plausibly. What price would you pay if your child could develop a cure for cancer by completely immersing himself in the subject for a year or three? Just because a price is hefty does not mean it is not worth paying.

What really sells the episode is Jack’s relationship with Mirren. His soft spot for children due to the loss of his son, Charlie, is in full bloom. In general Stargate SG-1 does episodes centered on children far better than anything Star Trek has managed. Speaking of Star Trek, the lack of a prime Directive in this story is highly appreciated. It is amazing how bogged down a story like this could get in that franchise. All that said, the ending is too over the top and ambiguous. I am just going to assume everything works out for the best even if the final few minutes send mixed signals.

Rating; *** (out of 5)