Iguana

So I saw this tonight and it was acceptably watchable. I know that's damning it with faint praise but as a huge fan of the first two movies I can't bring myself to be much more enthusiastic. Arnie was back in the role he was meant to play: a relatively stoic, emotionless, cyborg. And the created a believable explanation for his aging. Emelia Clark was okay as Sarah but nowhere near the badass that Linda Hamilton brought to the role, especially in T2. And I found the new Kyle Reese far less appealing and believable than Michael Biehn. It's hard to believe they decided to give away the main twist about John Connor in the movie trailer. If I hadn't been expecting it, The impact would have been far greater and I probably would have felt more positive towards the movie. As it is, the theater tonight was only about 75% filled, which is a bad sign for the first day the movie is released, and I don't think it will do a lot of box office. Oh, and Matt Smith is in it for maybe 3 minutes at most. I have to wonder if his part was seriously edited in post production.

Forgive me for not being current on the teenybopper slang (I was too busybshaking my cane and yelling at those damn kids to get off my lawn already), but what is ICMYI?

So, being an sf/fantasy geek from way back, I can handwave the technological flaws with Dr. Pilcher's plan, and accept that he has perfected suspended animation for both people, supplies and equipment, and that he foresaw a crises for humanity, and that not many people believed him or acted on his warnings, and that he had to kidnap people to fill in the ranks, as the volunteers were too few. It's shaky, and you kind of have to squint at it, but okay. What I can't understand is anything about his selection process for the unwilling people, and his method of dealing with Group B. Unless these were random kidnappings, which does not appear to be the case and would make no sense if so, Pilcher was picking people that he felt would be useful in re-establishing civilization 2000 years later. Useful people would include educators, health care professionals, engineers, tradespeople/builders such as carpenters and plumbers, farmers, miners, and mechanics, all of whom should ideally be healthy and fertile. Useful people in this scenario do not include realtors, particularly sexist ones in their 60's, toymakers, particularly ones who used to be FBI agents, or people who have some kind of computer expertise but are instead working as a waitress/bartender. While I acknowledge that we haven't seen all the inhabitants of Wayward Pines, the majority of the ones we have been introduced to are decidedly not useful. We know the guy who Ethan refused to reckon who ran into the wall was specifically recruited by Plicher's sister, but his only job was being a realtor. So, why pick him and what the hell was Pilcher's criteria? Why take any adults without children? As far as treatment of Group B is concerned, I get that Pilcher is unwilling to tell them the truth because of how Group A lost their shit when they found out they were 2000 years in the future and the last surviving humans. I can set aside my deep skepticism that the majority would become suicidal, especially the ones with kids, if only because the biological imperative to survive is very strong in humans. But his decision to keep the adults in Group B completely in the dark about their brave new world, dump them into town with no preparation or explanations, expect them to accept the clear weirdness that is Wayward Pines without question, and to require them to follow rules that are contrary to human nature makes no sense and is doomed to failure, one way or another. No parent is forget about a child just because they are told to. No one is going to forget about their past just because they are told not to talk about it. Curiosity cannot be eliminated from people by decree. Not everyone will be scared into compliance by public executions without trials; some will be defiant. Any prisoner can dream of escape or sabotage; some will attempt it, some will succeed. Pilcher should be preparing them as they are thawed out, even if it is a partial truth, so that they are willing to buy into his project and work for it to succeed, rather than the opposite. Notwithstanding the reaction of Group A, some of the kidnap victims will be able to adjust to the new reality. Mix up the volunteers with the townsfolk, to keep an eye on the newbies and help them adjust. Show the recently thawed the abbies, so they know this isn't faked, but give them hope for the future so they become willing participants. I'm reasonably certain the Group A suicides and riots didn't happen all at once or come out of nowhere, so have Group B regularly meeting with the psychologist or whoever Plicher kidnapped to see to the mental health needs of his new humanity. Or if the kids really are the future, and are the only ones able to handle the truth, stop thawing adults, and only thaw out the kids. Get the volunteers busy reproducing, instead of working behind the scenes to keep the secret from the adults and supporting their useless, non-contributing asses.

I thought it was unfair for the show not to replace the canvass who simply backed out of the tattoo because he just changed his mind. That wasn't the artist's fault and he shouldn't have had to tattoo himself. I also think the human canvas jury was way off base when they picked the cute cartoony squirrel as the worst tattoo when it was just different from all the skulls, demons and darker tats. It was cool that the human canvass stuck up for the artist in front of the judges. I can't remember their names but I like the blonde woman apprentice and her bearded "master" largely due to their team approach and support of each other. The dude in the hat though who almost went home tonight he can leave anytime and the asshole quotient would be significantly reduced.

So i'm confused about the format once we get to the live shows. According to the very brief blurb at the beginning of this episode the street dancers will only be doing hip-hop, krump ,breaking etc. in Vegas and the stage dancers will be doing contemporary and I'm not sure what else to get to a top 10 for each. But then what happens on the live shows? Will they partner up a street and stage contestant and give them a random style from either street or stage for the voting, or will the teams continue to perform only in their respective areas of expertise? I really hope they mix it up because one of the most enjoyable things about the show is seeing dancers performing in styles they are unfamiliar with and how they rise or don't to the challenge.

+ Fan Fiction -- bottom 2 24 - Fan Fiction 21 - About a Boy 21 - Hibbing 911 19 - The Werther Project 19 - Inside Man 19 - Book of the Damned 10 - The Executioner's Song 10 - Soul Survivor 07 - Ask Jeeves 01 - The Prisoner Fallen in a pit of Darkness Black Brother's Keeper Halt & Catch Fire Paint It Black Dark Dynasty The Things They Carried Paper Moon The Things We Left Behind Angel Heart The Hunter Games There's No Place Like Home Girls, Girls, Girls Reichenbach

Heh. We are Legion. Resistance is futile. One of us! One of us! Just a quick drive-by because I haven't had much time for posting but I have enjoyed the Conversation even if I haven't participated. Y'all rock.

-- all three Holy crap, I haven't been here for ages, swing by to do a driveby vote and somehow ended up killing Death! Does this make me Dean? 06 - Castiel 02 - Bobby Cruelly Taken Too Early from the Show Death Tessa Gadreel Azazel Meg Masters Cain Henriksen Benny Kevin Gabriel Jody Ellen Rufus

So 24 hours after the season finale and I'm still confused by what the hell just happened. Dean summoning death to kill him for good and avoid the Mark resurrecting him as a demon makes sense. Death saying he can't do that unless the Mark is shared because the Mark is a lock created by God to keep the original darkness away from the universe and can't/shouldn't be destroyed, makes somewhat less sense but is a cool idea so I'll run with it. Dean (or Death, it's not clear if this was a condition of his) decides it is necessary for Sam to get killed so he doesn't eventually come find Dean and/or fuck up the arrangements death is putting into place for Dean to be put away somewhere safe. Okay, way less sense than the first two parts of the plan but again I'll try to run with it. But I cannot make any sense a tall of why Dean would kill death, much less how Supernatural's version of death could even be killed. There is no fanwank I have read or imagined that can help me here. And speaking of confusing, can anyone help me understand how the book of the damned could have a spell to remove the Mark if it is so primordial and important to God or why the ingredients for the spell would be things that didn't exist until millions(?) of years after the Mark was created. And the smoke effects for the darkness reminded me way too much of the demons smoke effects from the end of All Hell Breaks Loose 2 and the leviathan blackness at the beginning of season 7. Nowhere near as cool as the Angels falling to earth at the end of season eight or even the semi smashing into the Impala. While I am sure my enthusiasm will grow closer to the season 11 premiere date, right now I'm just pretty much meh about the ep and the next season.

++ Death -- Gabriel -- Rufus 17 - Castiel 17 - Ellen 17 - Bobby 17 - Death 15 - Rufus 15 - Jody 11 - Kevin 07 - Gabriel Cruelly Taken Too Early from the Show Tessa Gadreel Azazel Meg Masters Cain Henriksen Benny  

I don't mean to go all Simpson's Comic Book Guy, or come across as some kind of Nazi song title stormtrooper, but the song is titled White Rabbit, not Go Ask Alice.

Sigh. I hate it when the script makes characters do stupid and unrealistic things without any believable motivation. As previously written, Charlie would have been too smart to hang out in a unprotected motel room when a huge and powerful family was trying very hard to find her. And to only have a tiny knife for a weapon when she is good with a gun and sword? Totally nonsensical. I've never been more than lukewarm towards Charlie, but this death by petulance is really a shitty way to treat an honorary Winchester. Bad show, just......bad. I don't normally like to point fingers at any one person on the show but the writers for this episode have consistently and virtually without fail written some of the worst and most disappointing episodes of the show. I have to think it really is them, not me. The only good things in this episode had very little to do with the script as written and mostly dependent on the actors performances. Not withstanding the total lack of actually showing us Dean was "getting worse", Jared did a really good job of showing us Sam's rapidly growing desperation. Crowley had great chemistry with the hamster. And Jensen showed a very scary side of Dean when he was confronting Sam about not burning the book. It has to be hard to look threatening and intimidating when you're dealing with a man of Sam's size, but damned if both actors didn't pull off the body language just right. That being said, while fandom and/or the show may blame Sam for Charlie's death, I certainly don't. She made a free and conscious decision to stay and translate the book and participate in Sam's plan. The Steins were chasing her because she had taken the book, and found her because she chose to sneak away from Castiel and apparent safety. Charlie decided to stay in a place with no weapons or protection, because she was too sensitive or immature to find a way to work with Rowena. So, her choice, her death, her fault.

++ Henricksen ++ Death -- Gabriel 25 - Death 21 - Castiel 21 - Jody 21 - Ellen 21 - Rufus 21 - Bobby 21 - Kevin 17 - Gabriel 17 - Cain 17 - Henriksen 09 - Benny Cruelly Taken Too Early from the Show Tessa Gadreel Azazel Meg Masters

This wasn't a bad episode, as such, and had some good moments and at least one interesting tertiary character. I liked Ronnie, the former faith healing/angels lackey, and he seemed to be a decent person. So of course he was killed. I enjoyed Dean and Sam with their little mentorship moments with Claire, and that they were smart enough to send her to Jody at the end. But oh what this episode really did was drive home to me how much I really. Do. Not. Care. About Jimmy Novak and his family. The sullen teen angry at the world's bullshit is boring, the flimsy excuse from the mother that she was looking for Jimmy to justify abandoning her daughter failed to make me feel anything other then contempt for her, not withstanding her oh so conveniently timed save of Claire. And three strong experienced fighters getting inexplicably knocked on their asses just so that Claire can have her hero/revenge moment was too predictable and cliched. Bah.

Thanks!

Ooooh, can I play? Just a few off the top of my head. "It's like eating self righteousness" - Slash Fiction. Leviathan Sam and Dean mocking real Sam and Dean damn near made me pee myself, I laughed so hard. "I lost my shoe" - Bad Day at Black Rock. Sam's face of woe and Dean's exasperated eyeroll will never not be funny, and the physical comedy in that ep was terrific. "AIEEEEIIIEEEEEIIIE!!!. That was scary!" - Yellow Fever. I have a lot of issues with this ep, but Jensen's utterly over the top howling when he is startled by the cat in the locker was balls out hysterical. And of course, at the end, we are blessed with his lipsync to "Eye of the Tiger". (They should play that clip on the new Lip Sync Battles show) "...but you didn't shoot the deputy." - Jus In Bello. Sam's epic bitchface at Dean's being utterly unable to hold back the joke just slays me. And one of my favourite moments in the whole series, Dean lip syncing to "All Out of Love". HIs little head bob to the DUH DUH was just perfect.

Does anyone know if this season is 22 or 23 episodes?

Excellent. Love it when we have a plan and implement it! -- Meg ++ Benny ++ Jody 21 - Ellen 21 - Death 21 - Rufus 21 - Bobby 21 - Gabriel 21 - Kevin 21 - Jody 19 - Castiel 17 - Cain 17 - Henriksen 11 - Benny 01 - Meg Masters Cruelly Taken Too Early from the Show Tessa Gadreel Azazel

Ah, I don't have strong feelings one way or the other, but don't want to vote until there is a consensus about how to deal with Ellen's too-early demise. (Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated - Mark Twain) Shall we just move on?

Argh. Go away for a few days and miss out on the final bloodbath. Hate it when work keeps me from playing games on the internet. But, new game with lots of Sophie's Choices. So, yay! -- bottom 3 (I would have been voting to keep Tessa in, if she hadn't been turned from a cool Reaper to a suicidal sort of angel.) 21 - Castiel 19 - Rufus 19 - Bobby 19 - Ellen 19 - Death 19 - Cain 19 - Jody 19 - Kevin 19 - Gabriel 17 - Henriksen 11 - Benny 09 - Meg Masters 05 - Azazel 03 - Gadreel 01 - Tessa

I'm not sure that Dean in hell is s better option than the Mark turning him into a demon. The MoC demon dean we saw seemed more interested in hedonism and individual killing than doing evil for evils sake. I don't think a Dean turned demon by Hell's usual torture the soul process would be anything other than cruel, violent and vicious. I shudder to think of the wholesale slaughter and other horrors that hell demon Dean would be looking to inflict as soon as he got back topside. I enjoyed this ep for the most part and have to give it props for fooling me with the Rowena hallucination until the very end. Well done, show. I also am left with a legitimate feeling of dread for the state both Winchesters are in. Sam's deal with Rowena and lying to Dean cannot end well. And Dean taking on a vamp nest by himself to "take the edge off" is a sure sign that he's close to losing his fight against the Mark. That can also not end well.

Heh. Thanks for trying, Catrox. I hate it when reality interferes with my lustful drooling, ah, er, that is ... scientific study of a unique human specimen.

Catrox, your dedication to a scientific analysis of athletic Dean scenes is both admirable and, no doubt, completely altruistic. In the spirit of scientific cooperation (and an inability to post it myself), may I suggest you add the Dean does pull ups to get out of the crypt scene from Jump the Shark to your research material.

For me, it's all of the above plus Dean lip syncing to "All Out of Love".

Gah, this ep was so very, very good. I mean, any time they want to have annoyed Cas punching Metatron, I'll be the first in line for tickets. And I liked how Metatron used his now-human blood (that he got because of Cas) to write the angel-be-gone/writhe in pain symbols, and Cas used his book learning (that he got from Metatron) to figure out the quote clue and find his grace. And I really liked the power shot of Cas returning to be Castiel again, with his glowing eyes and ragged wings. And I didn't hate Charlie, this time. She wasn't a perfect princess for once, and had an actual purpose. As a possible way to save Dean, the book is far less of a last minute pull from their ass save then usual near the end of the season, because at least they set up Charlie going off looking for it early on. And get a load of Sam, actually letting us hear what he's thinking and feeling. Love it. Love Sneaky Sam with a plan to save his brother. I know it can't end well, because this is Supernatural, but still points for the try. Now just get a decent fucking hair cut, Sammy. And how about Dean, being all kickass in the store. And we get happy Dean in the car, hoodie Dean in the bunker and honest Dean about Rowena and the evil book calling to him. But my favourite thing about this ep may very well be the music. I mean, they had me already with "The Boys Are Back In Town", but got me totally fist pumping with that classic Who song at the end. Supernatural, I now forgive you for every ep that had nothing but "generic guitar riff" for music, as you were clearly just saving up your pennies to buy "Behind Blue Eyes". And you can consider that money well spent, because that montage fucking rocked.