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Live Together, Die Together

25 May

Before I get to the meat of this review/analysis/rant/what have you, I need a moment to explain something which impacts my own, personal view of the series.

It is my own belief that when all is said and done, and you lie on your death bed ready to vacate this world and proceed to whatever it is you may believe happens after, what really counts is the connections you’ve made. Not how much money was in your bank account when you died, not how much your favorite team finished in that game and not what percentage of the world you’ve seen. No, what matters is the human connections you’ve made in your life, your friends and your enemies. Those are things I believe you take with you.

Having said that, I think it becomes immediately clear why I fall on the “loved it” camp of the great Lost debate, as the finale really had a similar message.

Those who hated the finale, or a vast majority of them, seem to be crying out for the lack of concrete answers to some of the show’s biggest mysteries. What was the light? Who built the statue? How does Eloise Hawking know everything?
Yes, the show never answered these questions, and you know what? It doesn’t matter. I’d like to explain why.

First, the technical side. The show had a set amount of time to tell its final episode. Granted, that set amount was longer than any other television episode I’ve ever seen and can fall well into the category of “movie”. However, the point remains that it was set. In order for there to have been a full, absolute and complete resolution the show had to address many, many things that can be neatly categorized into two elements: plot and character. Plot includes all those afore-mentioned questions and explanations whereas character deals with closure for the group of people who’s tale we’ve been following. I don’t believe they could have gotten both of those the ending they deserved in two hours, attempting to do so would have caused a compromise which hurt both resolutions. So one had to be chosen.

So why not close up the plot? Quite simply, Lost has always been, from its first moments, a show about human drama. It was about character, about people. There wasn’t a button that had to be pushed every 108 minutes, it was Jack and Locke arguing whether or not the button should be pushed. That’s why it worked, from the beginning – because you cared about the people. Heroes is the perfect example of a show which quite quickly did away with character for plot purposes. I stopped watching on the third season simply because it was getting ridiculous. The characters became cardboard cutouts, only meant to convey the necessary information to move the plot along. Battlestar Galactica is an example of a show which put character first, and that’s why it works so well – because Starbuck is made of awesome and you want to punch Gaius Baltar in the face every time he comes on screen.

Lost, as I said, is about the characters, and, at the end of the day, that’s what was important. Take a look at how many character moments were in the last episode – a good majority of it, if not the entire thing. And yet, every moment was riveting. Jack and Flocke’s interactions in particular were standout moments. The two have always shared a great chemistry, and the journey of both characters proved to be the lynch pin of the entire show.

Which, of course, brings me to the “alternate universe”. Here is my interpretation of what the flash-sideways actually are. They are a construct, created out of the collective consciences of the key Losties, This construct is a sort of way-station between life and the afterlife – I don’t like “purgatory”, because it has negative connotations, and “limbo” doesn’t imply the transitory state of the place. This construct, being outside of “normal” time and space is not bound by their rules. Which eliminates the “so those who died earlier just twiddled their thumb till Hurley died?” question so many people seem to be having a problem with. I really believe the construct began with the first scene we see taking place in it – Oceanic flight 815. Any “history” of this world is artificial and exists purely in the characters “minds” (I use quotation marks because by this point, minds are non existent – these beings have no actual corporeal form). This also explained why familiar faces kept popping up – they’re just remnants from the character’s memories. So when Claire is in a hospital and she needs a doctor to check her baby, her consciousness pulls out the image of Ethan to fill the role.

This construct exists simply because, as Jacob point-blank tells the surviving Island Losties – none of them are happy and simply refuse to let go and move on. The plethora of daddy/mommy issues and other emotional hang-ups on the show prove this. None of the characters really got a “happy ending”, as they all died or, in the case of Kate, Hurley and Sawyer, lost the most important person in their life. Their life, or what’s left of it, was without purpose, without love and each and every one of them died (or will die) with something on their mind. Throughout the episode we saw each of the characters finally letting go. For most – it was love that brought this about. Simply because love pushes you forward – it gives you purpose. Those who were not spurned by love – death seemed to be the alternative. Which makes sense, as they’re all already dead – so dying isn’t really a possibility. It also helps that those who understood through death, had significant deaths to begin with in the real world.

The exceptions, of course, are Jack and John. Once again, the central two figures in the show get the special treatment because – as Locke constantly stated and Jack refused to believe – they’re special. They’re moving on was brought about by a physical act of letting go. Locke of his guilt and self-hatred and Jack of his desire to make people better. Acknowledging Christian’s death allows him to realize that he can’t save everyone. People will die, at some point.

And while we’re nowhere near the subject and as a way of wrapping up – I’d like to mention a point about the church. I’ve read some things online decrying the church, saying that the whole thing was a big “god solves everything” stunt or a big Jesus story. To that I say – rewatch the scene with Jack and the coffin. That church is either the worst church in the history of churches, or not a church. The answer, if you didn’t figure it out, is that its not a church. The place is filled with imagery from all religions, sects and beliefs. The place is a symbol for humanity, belief, faith. It’s not a christian story just like it’s not a Buddhist story. It’s a story of human beings, struggling, suffering, but, eventually, realizing what’s truly important. It’s a people story. And that, when all is said and done, is all that matters.

Did I Fall Asleep? For a Little While…

31 Jan

Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, TINK

The irony, I must say, is delicious.

Little did Joss Whedon know that his little catchphrase will become such an apt description for his latest breakaway hit/flaming wreckage of a show. But Dollhouse can be perfectly described using that little snippet of clever dialogue. The show, which aired its final episode last week, had a bumpy, uneven, harrowing ride through the world of broadcast television suffering threats of cancelation, actual cancelation, resurrection and a final cancelation once more.

I first heard of Dollhouse, back when its inception was first announced, as any other Whedonite would. By stalking Whedon with a telephoto lens reading about on a website. We all know the story, two old friends have lunch, catch up, one gets up to take a leak, thinks of a brilliant show starring the other while answering nature’s call. The rest, is history.

This is where Magic happens

The concept, and this is something I still believe, is brilliant. People wiped of their personalities, for whatever reason, are imprinted with fake yet full personalities complete with abilities as custom made to order what-have-yous. The show was set to explore what makes us us, the true meaning of “personality” and “identity” in a way Buffy could only scratch. Does a person who is a different guy (or girl) every week truly have a self? What happens when the different personalities start clashing (as glitches in the system are the bread and butter of sci-fi tech-oriented shows like this one was shaping up to be). What about the morality of imprinting these living dolls? Is it wrong to people? How would this affect the people in charge? The people being imprinted themselves?

This, too, is a TV actor’s dream come true. I am not a TV actor, but I’m sure playing the same part for several years can get tedious and boring – David Tennant left Doctor Who for these reasons, as did countless others before him. This part, however, lets you be someone else every week. You get to shift things around, you get to completely showcase your range. Unless, of course…

Ahem...

… You have the range of a ferret.

Look, I’m not here to bash Eliza Dushku. I’m really not, I like her and Faith was awesome. But the honest truth is, she has no range. She does one thing. She does it well, but she only does one thing. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Others have made a career out of doing one thing well. The bottom line is – this part was too big for her. The whole point of the Dolls in the Dollhouse was that you become someone else every week. What we were treating to week in and week out is a “someone else” who’s really an ass-kicking bad girl. Sure it may be an ass-kicking bad girl Lawyer, or School Girl or Scuba Instructor, but the bottom line, it was the same character in a different outfit. We basically got Faith/Tru/That chick from Bring It On again.

What makes this so incredibly frustrating is that each and every other actor on the show was good. Especially the other dolls. Take any one of them and put them in the starring role, and this would have been a show worth tuning into. Each one of these actors has proven themselves on more than one occasion that they are capable of shifting personalities, of doing exactly what it is that the show’s concept dictates. This shows, as the show’s best episode were the ones with minimal to no appearances by Eliza Dushku, and you can clearly see that towards the end it wasn’t really about her anymore.

All in all, Dollhouse was a brilliant concept. We got to see that throughout the show, in snippets in between the more mundane “engagement of the week” episodes. The last several episodes, once the show had already been canceled, showed you exactly what kind of toys Whedon had to play around with, and I, for one, would have loved seeing each of these get its due time and space, rather than the rapid-fire burst we got to see them in. Dollhouse will forever be remembered as just that – a fantastic concept that suffered a horrible execution due to a main actress that simply could not hold the show together. It’s a shame, but live and learn I guess.

So long, Dollhouse. I will say you will be missed, but that’s not really the case, is it. Here’s hoping the remake in 25 years will be better.

How I Learned to Love a Doctor

9 Jan

Doctor Who was never a show that would fare very well under heavy scrutiny. I mean, the show tries to sell us the above tin can with an egg beater and a plunger as the most terrifying thing in the known universe.

But we love it, with all our hearts.

I got into the Doctor Who game pretty late. When I started watching, the fourth season (or “series”, as those zany Brits call it) had just wrapped up, and that year’s Christmas special was right around the corner. Suffice it to say, I had to wait for the Christmas special. I swallowed up those episodes faster than you can *obscure Doctor Who reference* at. The show is just full of so much energy, so much zest, that you take the ridiculousness of some of the episodes and just run with it. It’s show in which you can accept a tin can as a deadly, genocidal being.

Case in point, the episodes which worked best, were always the more low-key ones. The ones not being bombarded with special effects. Episodes like “Midnight” or “Blink” (by far the best episode in the current run), where the Doctor is not facing an army of Cybermen or alien invaders. The grandiose episodes, in particular the finales of each season were always such an over-the-top, hold-your-breath-til-its-over experience, that my initial reaction after watching each is “that was awesome”. Once I calmed down, and started thinking things over, I saw the gaping plot holes, the nonsensical chain of events, the handy coincidences. That doesn’t bother me, though. You’re not supposed to take the Doctor that seriously. The show is fun, it’s always an entertaining 45 minutes, even if the plot doesn’t make much sense. And, most importantly, it’s always energetic. In large part thanks to this guy:

Yes, thanks to Hamlet.

You see, David Tennant is a talented actor. He played one of the toughest Shakespearean roles, in the Royal Shakespeare Company, and had one of the most prominent performances of our time. This is a little known secret in the TV-making community, so don’t go repeating this, but in order to have a good show, you need good actors (I’m looking at you Heroes and FlashForward). Tennant’s sheer energy brought so much to the part, that, while Christopher Eccleston deserves credit where credit’s due, Tennant will go down in history as the man who brought Doctor Who into the mainstream. It’s his ability to convey both the wild-eyed wonderment as well as the sombre, serious, no-nonsense Doctor that made the role perfect.

Alas, Doctor who as we know it is over. David Tennant and Russel T. Davies (showr-unner of the show from it’s return) are off to better pastures. The TARDIS and fate of time of space are left in the hands of Matt Smith and Stephen Moffat (actor and show-runner, respectively). I don’t know enough about Smith to make a prediction, as the only acting of his I’ve seen is the last several seconds of “End of Time” (Tennant’s were better). Moffat, on the other hand, is a different story. I am beyond psyched to hear that he would be the big man calling the shots. Should Smith’s acting be up to par, I daresay we are in for one hell of a ride. Moffat’s Who-writing credits include some of the best episodes the show has seen to date – “The Girl in the Fire Place”, the “Silence in the Library”/”Forest of the Dead” two-parter, and, my personal favorite Doctor Who episode, the afore-mentioned “Blink”. I, for one, am interested to see what a Moffat-penned finale looks like, as I am pretty certain it will be a spectacle to behold. My guess would involve weeping angels, but that’s the topic to a whole different post.

Doctor Who, despite what others may say, is a thrill ride of a show. It proves that you don’t have to be dark and gritty to tell quality stories, and sometimes it is ok to just have fun. I hope the show continues to enjoy a long successful run. All that’s left is to see what lies ahead. So…. Allons-y Geronimo!

Geek Round Robin

15 Sep

So there’s a bunch of geeky going ons right now, I figured I’d address them all (or at least the ones that come to mind as I write this).

  • Marvel/Disney – This is already “old” news, happening well over two weeks ago, but there are two things I want to happen out of the Marvel/Disney merger. Firstly, I want a Marvel TV show on ABC. There are many ways you can go here, with a “Heroes for Hire” concept pitched somewhere, or, to capitalize on the X-Men brand – an X-Factor series. Runaways is an option, or a S.H.I.E.L.D. (with a potential H.A.M.M.E.R title change after season 4 or so) espionage series. Personally, I would like a “Marvel Street”-type show. The Marvel Universe is ripe with street-level characters, and a show jumping from character to character would be very interesting. You could have an ensemble cast of Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Daredevil, Punisher, Elektra, Spider-Woman, Jessica Jones, Hawkeye, Ronin and many, many more. Every once in a while, feature a big name character like Captain America or Spider-Man. The show, however, should focus on the lesser known heroes and weave story lines between them – think Heroes, just not crappy. The second thing I want to see out of the Marvel/Disney deal is a fleshing out of the Epic imprint, and have Marvel turn it into a worthy competitor to Vertigo. I think a creator-owned line powered by Marvel ideology will be a wonderful thing, and just thinking of the type of stories we’ll get to see out of such an imprint is putting a smile on my face. We can see the amount of effort Marvel are willing to put into a creator-owned book with Ed Brubaker’s Criminial, which is a spectacular book. Think 20-40 of those a month. Glory will be had by all.
  • True Blood Season 2 – The finale just aired, and I gotta say, I’m disappointed. This season of True Blood was insane, and it seemed there was no holding the creators back. The scene in the penultimate episode, where Sookie wanders through her own house and just witnesses one long line of crazy was spectacularly eerie, and I expected more of those for the finale. The actual finale was very laid back, predictable and boring. When MaryAnn finally meets her demise, I checked the time stamp and saw the episode was only halfway through. I knew we were heading for trouble right then and there. It was all over too easily. Maryann was built up to be this awesome big bad, and it just fizzled at the end. The egg was pointless, Eggs was pointless, and I was never quite clear on how exactly Tara fit into the Maryann equation – if she summoned her, how did Maryann sleep with a young Sam? Tara in general seems to be the weak link of the show, I never liked her, and probably never will. Her whole story arc throughout this season was disjointed and chaotic. And then we were left with the myraid of loose-end tying scene. The writers apparently decided to turn the camp up to 11, as any scene involving Bill was painful to watch. I can honestly say I’ve grown accustomed to his incredibly thick accent and odd sentence structures, but this was unbearable. Overall, I’d give the episode a 6-6.5 in a season that as a whole was more like a 9. It’s a shame that such a great season to a great show leaves us with a sour taste in our mouth… though that might be because we licked an ostrich egg with blood.
  • Arkham Asylum – Damn, this game was brilliant. I’ve finished the main story and started venturing into the challenge room, but it’s nice to have a superhero game done right, and a Batman one to boot. Developers should watch very closely what Arkham Asylum did right and take notes. From the story (which, granted, wasn’t mind shattering, but it served its purpose) to the superb voice acting, to a unified, inventive design perspective, this is how you do it folks.

Dr. Horrible, a review

19 Jul
The Poster of Awesomeness

The Poster of Awesomeness

So I, too, join every other blog on the planet in telling you to go and watch Dr. Horrible. Dr. Horrible is an idea conceived by Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly fame) along with his extended family (brothers Zack and Jed, and Jed’s fiancee, Maurissa Tancharoen). The project is unique in that it is a 3-act Superhero Musical filmed for the Internet. I urge you to go and watch it as soon as possible, as it is only “showing” until Sunday, at which point it will be taken down to be released as a DVD at some point in the future.

So if you haven’t, go, watch, then come back. I’ll wait.

…

Alright, so on to my review. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is brilliant. This project is a testament to what several creative people can do once they get together and get the creative juices flowing. While the story of Dr. Horrible isn’t ground-breaking in it’s concept, and the plot is pretty predictable, it’s all in the execution. What sets Dr. Horrible apart from all the other superhero stories, is in the way it is performed – mainly, as a musical. The songs are great, and I found myself humming the tunes after watching.

The cast is great, as well. With Whedon-favorite Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, How I Met Your Mother’‘s Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible and Felicia Day (who played up-and-coming Slayer Vi on Buffy) as Penny. All three prove to be more than talented singers, and Neil Patrick Harris totally steals the show (even though it is his show, so not much to steal). Dr. Horrible just oozes that Whedon flair, with great lines and hilarious bits, all of which are executed perfectly by the cast.

Which brings us to the writing. As I’ve said before, the story is not what you would call an original story. You can really see how things are going to end at about the half-way mark. That’s not a bad thing however, as the road you take is so great, with so many things to see as you go by, that it’s all worth it.

In conclusion, Dr. Horrible is a unique project, and hopefully, the first of many projects like it. It’s Whedon going on a creative binge, not being limited by format or network executives. It works extremely well, and if you haven’t watched it yet (I even though I told you to already), go and watch it now. You don’t have much time left.

Here’s the link, one more time: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

Go. Watch. Enjoy.

Go. Watch. Enjoy.

10 things I’m looking forward to…

13 Apr

Everyone loves lists, right?

In the spirit of list-loving, I give you – 10 things I’m looking forward to.

First up on the list – the second half of the fourth season of Lost. It has been recently reported that the shortened season (due to the writer’s strike) will end up with an extra hour, in the form of 2-hour finale, as opposed to the 1-hour finale previously planned. This is great news, as the fourth season is shaping up to be the best season of the show so far, chock-filled with revelations and answers.

Next up – the remainder of Secret Invasion, from Marvel. The first issue hit last week, and it was an absolute blast. Marvel, with Brian Michael Bendis at the helm, have planned an event 5 years in the making. With key Marvel figures out of the picture, things don’t look for the various non-Skrulled Marvel heroes (whoever they may end up being). Secret Invasion is the comic-event to read, and the one I’m looking forward to the most.

The Iron Man movie is something special. It is the first Marvel movie to be produced by Marvel. The one major advantage of having Marvel produce their own movies – now they don’t owe anything to anyone. No big company to force a villain into a movie, or demand that a certain character get more face time. If it doesn’t suit the story – it’s out. That and the fact that the cast for this movie is incredible make Iron Man one of the two most anticipated movies in the coming months.

The Dark Knight is the other superhero movie coming out this year (ok, there’s Hulk too, but it doesn’t even begin to stack up to Dark Knight and Iron Man), and one that I have been waiting for since that last scene in Batman Begins. Batman’s rogues make for great stories, and personally I’m hoping this series gets to all of them. But right now, I’ll settle for Joker (with a sprinkling of Two-Face and Scarecrow on the side).

Forget Tekken, forget Mortal Kombat, forget Street Fighter. The Soul Calibur series is the definitive fighting game series. Soul Calibur IV seems to uphold the series’ traditions – The rich, diverse characters, the weapon-based combat, and the spectacular artistic design – this game is just beautiful. And with the recent announcement of Vader (for the PS3) and Yoda (for the XBox 360) making an appearance, this game is gonna be awesome. Add to that the fact that the PS3 is greatly missing an awesome fighter, this is eagerly waited for.

What is shaping up to be the most creative game for the PS3, LittleBigPlanet (that’s right – no spaces) caught my eye the first time I saw it being presented (I believe it was GDC 07, but I’m not sure). The sheer amount of options you have at your fingertips had my mind racing with the possibilities. With what looks to be a great community, this game is going to be on the PS3s biggest hits, and I want in.

Playstation Home is Sony’s answer to Microsoft’s Xbox Live. And once it hits sometime in the next couple of months, it’s going to eat Live, er, alive. Sony’s online network is going to be a fully 3d, fully interactive world, where players can communicate with each other, hang out, and engage in various activities. Sony is taking a long time with Home (it was originally slated for release last November), and I hope that is to iron out all the kinks in it. So it’s gonna be great!

The brainchild of Sims developer Will Wright, Spore looks to be one of the biggest games ever made. Spanning the course of several million years, the game has you follow a creature from the primordial pool, all the way to conquering the universe (if that’s your cup of tea). The game promises to offer gamers a completely individual experience, with truly open ended gameplay. I hope the game rejuvenates the PC gaming field, a field that has grown stale over that last couple of years.

Since it first came out, back in 1997, fans (present company included) have been waiting for Starcraft II. The original is probably the best real-time strategy game ever made, and was so incredibly balanced – people still play it in tournaments. The screen shots and game footage already released prove that the game is still the same good ol’ Starcraft, but with an added layer of polish and better gameplay.

What’s so special about the Tokyo Game Show? Why not list one of the zillion of other shows out there? Well, the Tokyo Game Show 2008 is different for me because, well – I’m going to be there! I’ve planned a trip to Japan and one of the trip highlights is the TGS. Awesomeness indeed.

On Lost and the death of TV

9 Apr

Excellence - in image form

I think we can all pretty much agree that Lost is one of the best shows on television right now. Everything from its excellent writing, to its talented cast of characters all the way through the high production value. The show has had its downs, sure, not every episode is spectacular, and the third season did have a little trouble getting off the ground (the initial 6-episode “Jack, Kate and Sawyer Show” is a black mark in Lost’s history). Lost is also unique in the fact that we know the writers are working towards a definite ending, and that ending is coming nearer and nearer.

I think Lost is responsible for an invigoration of television. It rejuvenated serial storytelling, and brought back something that many story-loving viewers were missing. It’s not that there were no good shows on TV, but most of them seemed to go on an episode-by-episode basis. A “monster of the week” thing, like Charmed or Buffy. Granted, these shows still had an overarching storyline, but it was not key, and you could tune in to an episode here and an episode there.

With Lost, that’s not the case. You just can’t miss an episode. Miss an episode and you miss an integral part of the story. Now, Lost is not the first show to have serialized story telling – Alias did it, 24 did it, both ran before Lost first aired. But Lost was the first to do it exceptionally well (Alias was great up until the 3rd season, and 24 was always more about the gimmick), and also it seemed to touch everyone.

With Lost’s rich cast of characters, there’s something for everyone. So some may be watching to see the overall mystery of the Island, some watch it for the medical drama of Jack’s flashbacks, some to see Sawyer’s latest con. The reasons are varied, and the writers and producers of the show know this, so they never make it about one thing in particular. It’s about the whole experience, nothing gets done half-assed.

Which is why I think Lost may have, inadvertently, killed television. It has set the bar so unbelievably high, that it’s gonna be very, very hard to top it. Can it be done, yeah, I guess. The right writer, with the right idea could always think about something crazier. But no matter what insane plot someone thinks of it will always from now till the end of time be compared to Lost. If you use strange sequences of numbers, flashbacks, monsters, islands, characters with daddy-isssues – all these things will send the skeptic viewer into a “but when they did on Lost”-rant.

So, we’ve got about 2 more years of “pure” television. 2 more years before Lost becomes that golden show every single creator in the business want to surpass. I’m having a hard time imagining the TV world post-Lost, with all the questions (hopefully) answered and all the mysteries quelled. Will this world have better TV due to writers trying to out-do the greatest show to ever air on television? Or will it instead just feature endless knock-offs of eclectic characters stranded in various exotic locals haunted by things that go bump in the night?

Time will tell, but for now – bring back Lost already!

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