meddow

I haven't made a substantive post in ages. So here is one which I have decided shall contain good news and awesome things:

1.Heroes got cancelled! I view this as a good thing because I believe with no more canon being created it'll make it easier for me to believe that season two onwards never happened and Heroes was a one-season wonder.

2. I can't believe they cast Allison Janney on Lost. Allison freaking Janney. That is both a) awesome and b) a enormous pain in the ass because that means I may have to actually go and watch the entirety Lost even though she's only in one episode (thus is the power of Allison Janney)

3. In random stuff on Youtube that's amusing me this week, somebody made a compilation of nicknames characters call each other on The Thick of It. No nickname is used twice and it clocks in at over nine and half minutes.

4. Armando Iannucci's got funding for a new movie (a lot of funding when compared to the budget of In the Loop), one written by him and Will Smith (not that Will Smith, the other one who plays Phil in TTOI). Yay!

(And I'm going to nag you all once again to watch In the Loop because with it having being released on DVD everywhere now, there is no excuse of not having seen the movie anymore and you all should because it's one of the funniest comedies of all freaking time and it may even change the way you view politics).

5. Oh, my goodness do I love Ashes to Ashes at the moment. I do have a couple of criticisms (which are ongoing), but generally, I am so in love with this season. Nobody I know IRL watches the show (I know a few people who tried the first series but decided it was inferior to Life on Mars and stopped watching) and they tend to give me quizzical looks when I rave on about it. But this season is amazing.

But my particular love of the season comes from my new-found OT3: Ray, Shaz and Chris.

( Cut for raving which includes spoilers for 3x07 and speculation )

And now I'm off to watch Star Trek: Generations because I realised the other day that I haven't watched the movie in ages and I fell like watching Kirk die.

So, a bunch of misfits, failures, outcasts and emotionally scarred officers ended up on a rundown space station orbiting a war-torn planet that nobody really cared about. Although it was a less than desirable assignment, that rundown space station through a series of events became the most important piece of real-estate in the galaxy, and the centre point of a massive war against an enemy it took an alliance of the Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Romulans and the galaxy's most unlikely resistance cell to defeat. And between that group who initially didn't get along all that well, romances and bromances developed and eventually they became one big unconventional family. Together they faced down massive space battles, holosuite antics and multi-episode story arcs that would later be re-used by Battlestar Galactica. And at the end most of them left, some of them stayed, and among their peoples they became leaders, reformists and teachers.

In other words: Best. Trek. Ever.

( To manufactured triumph! )

So I am done. Which means that now with the whole of the canon covered, I can get to acting on those plot bunnies and finish that vid I started.

Best season yet. By a long way. Season five is amazing. All out with the Dominion becomes an inevitability, Cardassia becomes a threat again, and there seems to be huge emphasis on families, both conventional and unconventional. This post also covers the first six episodes of series six because I got to Call to Arms and I just had to see the arc through as quickly as possible.

( Thoughts )

Not long to go now until I finish the series. Sigh. I want to watch it slowly and savour it, but I haven't got that kind of patience. Plus the DVD rental period is a week, so I have to watch about four episodes a day.

In this season: our heroes get a cool ship and swiftly have their assess handed to them. Odo discovers his people – angst ensues. Dax suffers from all the Dax-centric episodes being incredibly dull this season. Quark introduces some Klingons to the concept of white collar crime. Kira gets a Cardassian daddy. Odo gets a Jem'Hadar son. Dukat missed his calling as a home security system developer. There's a sex pollen episode. Some heavy-handed moralising lets down an otherwise great time travel episode (there are hippies!). Bashir goes all Dr Frankenstein on Kira's dull boyfriend. In the cutest storyline ever, Nog becomes the first Ferengi to join Starfleet. Odo's hopelessly in love with Kira. O'Brien dies, but nobody cares because they get a new one. My favourite Vulcan shows up briefly in the mirror universe episode. Sisko deals with the fact he may be the Bajorans' Jesus, and if that wasn't BSG enough, Garek tortures Odo (RDM has definitely arrived on the writing staff). Sisko and Jake bond in a gorgeous Flight of the Phoenix episode while Bashir and O'Brien get drunk and sing 'Jerusalem' (badly). While we meet Quark and Rom's mum and Sisko meets his future wife. It's Kira vs The Kai round five, with a Bajoran civil war on the cards. Sisko becomes and captain at last and the season finale is an awesome homage to The Thing.

( Thoughts )

So on to season four in which now with the Romulans and the Cardassian's crippled, the only the Federation and the Klingons stand between the Dominon and conquest of the Alpha Quadrant. And oh, yeah, and the Founders are everywhere, they look human and they have a plan. (In cool stuff found on YouTube, somebody did the DS9 credits BSG style (shot for shot) and it's really impressive).

I mentioned a while back that I'd decide to watch Star Trek Deep Space Nine, and its fantastic! I watched a few episodes last year, when I was doing my big post-XI watching thing, and caught quite a few episodes (notably Far Beyond The Stars, In the Pale Moonlight and the series finale), and they were all brilliant episodes, but I hadn't fallen for the characters yet. Now I have, I love it to bits.

Yes, it is the dark, mature Trek, and no, they don't travel the stars, they're in one spot and the problem of the week comes to them, but both those things are fantastic, because the situation the Federation's in – assisting Bajor which has just regained its independence after 50 years of brutal Cardassian occupation – is the kind of thing that deserves careful attention. Being that they're also right next to a strategically important wormhole which means plenty problems come to them. And I really enjoy the greater focus on the characters.

A OMG the characters. I adore them. Bashir, O'Brien, Quark, Odo and especially Kira. How could I have gotten through so much of my life having not discovered the awesomeness of Major Kira Nerys? The first officer of Deep Space Nine is a former resistance fighter (from the age of thirteen), an unabashed Bajorian nationalist, deeply religious, quick to kick ass (particularly Cardassian ass, she hates them), slow to warm to the Federation and one of the most wonderfully fleshed out characters in Star Trek.

I spent most of the first season trying to pick who Kira reminded me of, and eventually I figured it out, she's a non-villainous Admiral Helena Cain (from BSG). It all there, the childhood marked by war, trauma and loss and the deep hatred of the enemy and both of them ending up as a very successful military officers. But whereas Cain snapped and she became all about seeking vengeance, Kira's arc is the opposite, she's taking inching steps towards overcoming her hatred and trying not to let the violence of her past take over her future.

Odo's also wonderful. He's the most alien of all the regular characters on Star Trek, what with being a shapeshifter whose natural form is a gelatinous mass. Plus he's grumpy and gets the best rants.

Sisko meanwhile makes for an interesting lead character. I'm third of the way into the second season, and he's yet to have a big hero moment (well, there was that time he punched Q). If there's something to be explored, Dax has it covered. If some ass to be kicked, that's Kira. If there's a mystery to be solved, that would be Odo. If there's so big moral dilemma, well, that's Kira again. Since I don't find Sisko all that interesting, that's okay with me, but it's not what I'm used to from the lead character of a Trek series.

To recommend it, here's a link to my favourite scene from the show and possibly the whole of Trek from episode 2x02 The Circle, which is both hilarious with Sorkin-esq rapid dialogue, and heart-warming and also serves as a pretty good intro for the regular characters (bar Sisko and Jake) as well. (In order of appearance: Kira, Odo, Dax, Bashir, O'Brien, Quark and Creepy-Dull-Reoccurring-Monk-Dude-Who-Wants-In-Kira's-Pants).

I'm back off to watch more. There's so much I know comes up that I can't wait to get to: the mirror universe, Worf, the Defiant, the Dominion War, Trials and Tribble-ations, Take Me Out To The Hollosuite.

I wanted to do a big 2009 picspam, but could not decide on a format. Then and idea struck me: since I'm forever lamenting entertainment awards' inability to make the right decision, why not do my picspam in an award sort of format, with the awards categories themselves completely made up and arbitrary so I could just picspam things I liked this year and could find photos of. Good idea, yes?

With no further ado...



( Spoilers for Battlestar Galactica, Being Human, Torchwood and The Thick of It )

From that Five Things Meme. Feel free to give me more as I love doing these sorts of things.

For ishie

( Top Five things to crossover with Battlestar Galactica )

( Top Five ways I would have ended it if I were in charge )

For airie_fairy

( Top Five Teenage Characters )

For artic_fox

( Top Five moments where I wanted to bitch-slap the Doctor )

I have watched the first episode of Torchwood's Children of Earth and it's good. It's really good. There were plot twists I didn't see coming and creepy kids and all sorts. I hope it stays as good for all five episodes. Yay for the presence of Peter Capaldi and Paul Copley (a.k.a Matthews of Hornblower) and I want to know more about the character of Alice Carter. Shame about the lack of Martha and Mickey, but at least the former got a mention. My major complaint is the thus far lack of PC Andy and not enough Rhys.

I've been watching even more Star Trek, and also my flatmate's stance on Kirk's led to a bit of an obsession on my part of comparing and contrasting the different captains to see if I subjectively come up with an objective decision about which one was the best, and I've come to the conclusion based on what I've watched that yes, if you want the Earth saved, you really want Kirk since that is what he is very, very good at. However, if you want a planet, an alliance or the values of the Federation saved, you want Picard. If you want the actual Federation saved (values be damned), you want Sisko. And if you want someone to save you, you want Janeway. And, erm....Archer's good if you want a speech about human values or a cure for insomnia, I suppose. (I have watched four episodes of Enterprise now and still find him dull and lacking in personality).

But I've come to the realization that I really just do not like TOS. I figured I didn't like the episodes as a kid because of the 1960s-ness, but I can quite happily watch 60s Doctor Who and the terrible special effects and general 60s-ness off it don't bother me too much at all, whereas TOS is a struggle still. Maybe if TOS was in black and white, or had Daleks, or Barbara, then I might find it enjoyable, i.e. black and white makes all manner of bad sfx forgivable, a half decent unredeemable villains and an awesome female lead would got far to win my affections (I know TOS did let its female characters occasionally do something useful, but the instances are so few and far between I find it disheartening).

And speaking of bad old Star Trek, I watched the TNG pilot, Encounter at Farpoint and it is just so very very bad. Terrible sets, terrible acting, terrible direction, terrible plot. Screw assigning blame to what killed the franchise, it's a miracle the franchise survived early TNG. Did remind me that what I was very young, my favourite Trek character was Tasha Yar (coz that worked out for me).

I've finished watching the Borg Collection, and all the Trek watching has served to remind me that while Picard to me may be the epitome of what a Starfleet Captain should be like, Janeway is easily my favourite of the six. If there's any opportunity to run around a Borg cube with a really big gun on an insane and seemingly suicidal mission, she'll take it, which makes her enormously fun. Plus, the first episode of Voyager I ever watched was the end of Year of Hell Part Two, in which she pulled a Kirk Snr and solo piloted a beaten-to-hell Voyager on a kamikaze ram, and first impressions count.

I have a confession to make, I actually really like Voyager. Yes, its premise, which is the most interesting of all the Trek series, is completely wasted and you really have to mourn for what could have been, and it's not as intelligent as TNG. But I really like most of the characters, and the crew does form the most adorable little family, and I've decided Voyager takes far too much flack for the Borg's villain decay. Really, it’s TNG's and Enterprises's fault. It was, after all, TNG that introduced the concept of the Borg Queen, as well as that a person can be de-Borged and that a Borg can regain its individuality once separated from the collective. Voyager just ran with those things, and I can't say I blame them for it. Janeway interacting with the Borg Queen makes for a far more interesting scene than Janeway interacting with a CGI shot of computers and a disembodied voice. Plus, I love the whole arch-nemesis thing they had going on. And Seven of Nine is one of the most interesting characters in the franchise.

And then came along Enterprise episode Regeneration. In which Archer and co. beat the Borg when really, they should have had their asses handed to them. And it wasn't even a double episode. Apparently, the Enterprise crew can defeat Borg from the future knowing absolutely nothing about them, in 42 minutes. What!?

( In which I discuss the actual episodes I watched )

Next up, I've decided to watch the Trek movies since I haven't watched them in years and apparently confused them all in my head (since I though the one with V'ger thing was V, when apparently it's I), so rented I through III. So Shatner it is. Yay?

I think I'm doing it wrong with Star Trek. Instead of being into the reboot, I'm all nostagic for the 80s and 90s spin-offs at the moment. So question for all those Star Trek fans out there, is there any good fic crossing over the reboot with TNG, DS9 and Voyager (original or author rebooted to be in line with the new AU canon)? I really want to the new crew meet the Picard, Sisko and Janeway (mostly Picard and Janeway, coz I never really watched DS9).