MDKNIGHT

I really enjoyed it. I thought Hester's sequence about breaking down a body and calling the Chanels mom was hysterical. I like Emma Roberts fine but I think that Dianna Arragon is better at making the "bitch" character more layered. I thought for a pop singer Ariana Grande acuitted herself OK although I'm not familiar with her previous work so I don't know if she was already established as an actress. When Chanel #1 talked about how in her future in tv being in good with gays would be good for her career I chuckled when she mentioned "gay higher ups." Given her situation it must have been meta. I'm in for the whole ride. It entertains me a heck of lot more than many other shows.

Keep in mind that I used to watch Xena so maybe I'm over-reading it, but when Stahma gave that little speech to Amanda about how Amanda inspires everyone including her to be the best version of themselves my mind went to Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets" where he declares his love by pointing out to Helen Hunt "You make me want to be a better person." Just thought I'd share, although Stahma is so tricky that all through that scene I worried Stahma would do a 360 and kill Amanda. Which makes me think of ANOTHER Jack Nicholson line from a movie (Prizzi's Honor) "Do I marry her? Do I ice her? Which one of these?" Heh. I too hope this thing comes back but I do think the show would lose something if it didn't have Doc Yewell to make me laugh.

QUOTE-I feel embarrassed and outraged on behalf of the poor rats. Given all we know about their behavior and their intelligence they really drew the short stick here. You'd expect them to mastermind the zoopocalyps probably with the help of crows, delphins and octopuses.QUOTE-I feel embarrassed and outraged on behalf of the poor rats. Given all we know about their behavior and their intelligence they really drew the short stick here. You'd expect them to mastermind the zoopocalyps probably with the help of crows, delphins and octopuses. As anybody who has read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy knows the MICE are in charge and are experimenting on us, and the dolphins know enough to blow town (or blow planet as the case may be) before things really get desperate. Can you imagine how much better this show would be if it were being written by Douglas Adams from beyond the grave? Anybody else think the cats had their meeting, decided there was nothing in it for them by joining the animal revolution since humans are pretty much their slaves already and decided to sit the whole thing out?

Program won't let me edit my post. BTW MJ as it turns out MJ didn't write "Ben" but he did sing it and it lost the Oscar to "The Morning After" which was the love them to "The Posieden Adventure." 1973 seems to have been a year where death and dismemberment was an occasion to sing love songs.

Male rats giving birth is just a NO. Seriously think about it. The equipment you need to (a) nurture a fetus and (b) to let the done fetus come OUT is just not there. OTOH female rats reproducing asexually is not THAT impossible since the tricky part would be the initial splitting of an unfertilized egg but after that the biology is there to support it i.e. ovaries, uterus, a way OUT. I haven't seen the ep yet but were they suggesting the baby rats were bursting out of the male rats exploding their dads? Ironically the part they worried about was that the male rats couldn't nurse but actually that is something physically possible. Males HAVE breasts they just aren't developed so if you ARE going with mutations it wouldn't be hard to imagine changing the hormones in the male rats so that their breasts do develop so that they can nurse. Even human males exposed to certain hormones can lactate. In summary they really made a mess of this biologically speaking. That said I'm looking forward to rats in an elevator. Too bad they didn't show them pushing the buttons. Maybe one of them can wear a little bell boy hat and have that as their job. Still remember the head scratching when Michael Jackson penned a love song to a rat for a horror movie. IIRC "Ben" was even nominated for Best Song. I'm going to look up who won that year.

"The Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella seemed like they couldn't care less if Maleficent's plan succeeded or not." Not only do I think the villains used their kids as servants, I think the villains fostered the idea in them that their ONLY allegiance should be to them (their parent). It is their villains' narcissism at work. Notice that when Maleficent tells the 4 they are going to the good school one of them asks what's in it for them and Maleficent tells Mal "hers and hers thrones" etc and she says that the other kid meant what was in it for the FOUR of them not JUST for Mal , and Maleficent pulls her aside and straight up tells her that only she (Maleficent) and Mal matter. One of the stanzas in the Rotten to the Core song is about NOT expecting one of them to have your back. Mal is kind of surprised that Evei is helping her with clothes and makeup when there isn't something directly in it for her, like a sister might. Jafar's kid makes sure Cruella's son gets to play on the team when he could have just been a glory hog. And in the end Malifescent is defeated because the 4 pull together. Part of what they learn is that pure selfishness is not going to get you as far as true loyalty. The villains group together but AREN'T really loyal to each other. That is part of their weakness.

"Yes, I actually think Evie's transformation was better handled than even Mal (the boys got practically zero development). I find it hard to believe The Evil Queen encouraged Evie sew her own clothes and clean, though, since that would be beneath her from the animated Evil Queen's perspective. But then again, the Evil Queen was a total weakling in this movie." I fanwanked that since Evil Queen seemed to be a hangers-on to Malifiscent and not have her OWN power base, she didn't have servants any more, so while on the one hand she groomed Evie to be a gold digger, she on the other hand got Evie to do the cleaning and sowing for her. It also made sense to me that Evie's face lit up when she saw the dorm room since her mom probably told her stories of her luxurious castle while she had to grow up in squalor.

Not that I thought Descendants was great but I'll defend a couple of things. Mal and the other 3 who are obviously her henchmen start out singing "Rotten to the Core" (which BTW I think is kind of catchy and could have charted if it had been sung by Lady Gaga) and say they are evil and that they enjoy it at the beginning of the picture. BUT they've been raised by villains with the villains' values so at that point they have nothing to compare it to. There is even a point where Malificent tells her daughter the same thing Cora told Regina in OUAT...Love is weakness. So their POV is their parents' POV at the beginning of the movie. The story (such as it is) is about the journey the young wannabe villains undertake to the point where they can decide what they WANT to do and not what they've been told they HAVE to do because they are children of villains. For instance the Evil Queen tells Evie she expects her to come back with a rich husband who will support Evie and Evil Queen and almost every time Evie speaks she's telling Mal about how important the EQ thinks superficial looks are. As it turns out Evie is actually smart and could probably support HERSELF when she finishes school, instead of marrying for the money as she's expect to. Though terribly edited the ending is supposed to indicate that the 4 main characters DECIDE to be "good" because they found through trial and error that they prefer it to being bad. While overly simplistic it at least was fairly straight forward as opposed to the completely unbelievable morality inconsistencies shown in OUAT. Furthermore while I welcomed Aurora's grandma pointing out MALIFISCENT'S evil i.e. stealing her ability to see her child grow up because of the curse, it was also correct of other characters to point out that she really shouldn't blame Mal, who wasn't even born then, for her mother's actions. So overall I would give Descendants more points for moral consistency than OUAT.

Did people catch "Descendants" on Disney? If I'm not mistaken the part of Belle was played by our Boobfairy. She didn't do much since the focus was on the spawn of the villains and Kristen Chenowith's version of Malifiscent, but I enjoyed the movie. I saw the Goodwin episode of Who Do You Think You Are? and I have to say that I liked Ginny's attitude of acceptance and forgiveness toward her flawed ancestors. It was particularly interesting to me that she said that if she found out great grandma wasn't just a dope DEALER but an ADDICT that it would help her get over it, because then she wouldn't just a criminal she would be someone with an illness. As it turned out great grandma was an addict in a time when there was so very little help for addiction that Ginny felt sorry for her. Overall I thought Ginny handled the whole thing with maturity so good on her.

Can somebody explain the awarding of money on this show. The civilian got 6 out of the 10 that would have given HIM $25,000. The charities therefore got 6000 (each or between the two?) but did HE get $6,000 or nothing? If he HAD gotten the 10 and gotten $25,000 would the charities have gotten $10,000 or what? Thanks YNB I find entertaining all the time. I love that she takes notes on the Walking Dead so when she goes on Talking Dead she knows what she's talking about and now that I've seen her on this show I enjoy her even more. I can identify with her competitiveness and I laughed when she said she'd been banned from competition with her friends. Rock on Yvette. Let your freakily competitive flag fly.

"And killer penguins would have been hilarious." A missed opportunity.

"The problem is we can't kill off the animal kingdom without screwing ourselves over in the process. What do we eat? What about the environmental impacts of killing off every animal species on the planet? The threat is valid in my opinion." I understand that. And a story set in the future where we are about to go extinct because we've destroyed our environment has merit. However THIS particular set up is just not being executed in a way that I find scary or thrilling. Yes LONG TERM we might be endangered but right at the time the show is set we could blast the hell out of any lions or dogs that were threats, stop having cats as pets ,if they really turn on us and even in this set up I'm not sure they would. Stray dogs have something to gain by killing and eating us. The house cats and dogs don't for the most part interact with us out of fear. They have positive bonds with us. The defiant pupil allegedly makes the animals not see us as unconquerable. I'm not sure what that would do to an animal that doesn't fear us in the first place. So the cats get together and kill a bunch of kindergarteners....how are they better off? Any way I suppose we'd get special containers for chickens and better fences for cows and go in with protective clothing when we were going to milk a cow or get eggs etc but call me an optimist but I think we'd muddle through once we knew what the danger was. Of course keep in mind that when I look at the scenario I believe if the dead COULD rise (which is absolutely impossible) it would be more of the Zombie Inconveniance than a Zombie Apocalypse.

Is everybody sold that Daddy Purple was being sincere when he told Stahma he'd changed his mind about global domination? I mean I think he MIGHT be , in which case I think Daughter Purple is going to kill him but it occurs to me that he might have just told Stahma what she wanted to hear. I find it hard to believe that someone who has been raised in a military culture and fought and been endoctrinated to believe your race is so superior that eating other races would be acceptable , would be able to switch POV so easily in so little time. I mean being able to eat a sentient being without qualms is way more hard core than say the Klan and yet I think it would be too optimistic to hope that a Klansman could start accepting blacks and other minorities after a 2 week holiday in NYC, by comparison, just because NYC is cool. So do people think he's legit changed or what?

This show is kind of weirder with the real life broohahhah regarding the killing of a protected lion by a US dentist going on. I still think my biggest hurtle in buying the premise is that we have enough guns and other tech to make pretty much all the animals and ourselves extinct. I just can't take the animal threat seriously. Now, if you tell me that by continuing to eat animals like chickens and cows the whammy goes into us and we become wolf-Manson, THAT I can see as a really scary threat.

"I hate to be cynical, but there is a good chance that the folks on this and other boards have done more thinking about the possible structure, ramifications and meaning of Omec family/sexual bonds than the writers." That is certainly possible. And like I said the writers can manipulate the characters' realities any way they want. However regarding coercion vs non-coercion as defining whether incest is OK or not, a lot of human father's that sleep with their daughters don't use coercion or threat. They can also use seduction, bribery and taking advantage of inexperience. Unless you tell me Omec dad didn't raise her at all and only met her when she was full grown and then they started a sexual relationship which she chose above a sexual relationship with a peer, you are going to have an uphill climb telling me this situation is mentally healthy. And they already ruined THAT possibility because Daughter Omec clearly said that when she was a CHILD he sat her on his knee and told her the truth that their planet was going to end. So if/when other characters find out, I would NOT think they would be off base or hypocritical or prejudiced if THEY think it is wrong too. And I ask once more, do we even know for sure incest is normal in their culture?

From a long time ago, I think season one: Yewll to Datak while Datak is yammering on about Casti scripture in which a guy kills his wife and cooks and eats her organs: "OK it's time to put away the Casti Crazy Scrolls!"

The irony for me is that the thing that gets Stahma and Datak in trouble after there getting away with cold blooded murders that they committed out of greed or selfishness is the thing that was actually kind of excusable. They blew up the arch because their son was being used as a hostage. Nolan would have blown up the arch for Irisa. Amanda would have blown it up for Kenya. (Now personally I don't think there was an excuse for not trying to evacuate it before blowing it up but that is nitpicking). Stahma and Datak could realistically be forgiven for it if they save the town or something like that BUT really there has been NOTHING to absolve them of murdering Kenya for Datak's "honor" or the countless people they framed or murdered as part of their criminal enterprises. Remember those wives Stahma killed and framed their husband for so he got stretched to death (a painful and slow way to go)? Really nothing can make up for those things but there is no question those things will continue to slide. And I agree that killing Christie was actually the only play in that scenario so I don't even count that against Stahma. At the same time I can see how it would be hard for Alak to forgive and forget. It was pretty horrific. And you know what? While it was necessary, it really SHOULD bug Stahma, and Alak is within his rights to be upset. And in my opinion a person with an average amount of empathy (something Stahma really really doesn't have) would not only feel bad about killing their daughter in law but would also not be angry at Alak for his anger. Yes preserve your life. You don't deserve to die for it. BUT just take the weapon away from the grieving husband, don't beat him up and tell him he is a screw up. Stahma's actions again show Amanda is right...Stahma doesn't REALLY know what loving someone is and most of the time she isn't justified in her actions. She is not a good person not even deep underneath. "The biggest problem that I see with incest is the power differential. But that differential will be there no matter which adult teaches children about sex." But if what you mean by "teach children about sex" you mean HAVE SEX with them then I would argue it is always wrong. I can see postulating that other forms of incest so long as the couple don't breed is just artificial rules that may not have validity IF the two involved don't have a power differential. By that I mean I could see how a culture could accept sibling incest if the siblings were close in age. (And I know the ancient Egyptian nobility did and the fictional Targaryans do, although in their cases there IS undesirable genetic consequences. Egyptian royalty had some serious medical issues and do you really think most of the Targaryans are crazy just out of sheer chance?) However father /daughter or any parent/ child pairing is harmful because of the power differential as is adult pedaphile/non familial child.

I have yet to see a single episode of this show however having read through the comments in the episode threads I have decided I must. SOMETHING has to fill the hole left from the hate watch fest and inevitable snark afterwards that was The Following. Didn't think anything could top that show but lions making phone calls might just do the trick.

I know that we are talking about fictional aliens and the writers can make literally anything true of them BUT incest among self aware beings would be bound to be a more complex thing than animal breeding. Humans have sex for reasons other than breeding and most people have "Feelings" about it. Aliens MIGHT have totally different feelings or no feelings about it OR they might not. However I bring up two things at this point. One-do we know for sure that the Omecs are incestuous as a whole culture? I mean we have incest NOW and HERE. Doesn't mean our CULTURE as a whole is OK with it. We haven't seen other Omecs so we don't know if these Omecs are practicing incest openly and all the other Omecs do the same, or these two are doing this and keep it a secret. Two- I would say that incest can do harm regardless of genetics because sexual unions involving the huge power differentials between parent and child warp a relationship and basically mess with the kid's head. In short a pedophile gets to grow his/her victim to order. I have no way of knowing how the writers are going to present this relationship. Are they going to present it as -Take a look at incest from a different perspective, maybe we've been too closed minded, or-Some things are bad and the different cultures need to interact with others to start figuring that out? For instance I think Casti culture has been presented as very sexist and that Stahma has, through interactions with Kenya and Amanda come to question it. For instance a Casti female meddling in her husbands business is not tolerated but Stahma knew she would be a better mob boss than Datak. So we'll have to see how this shakes out. So far we know that whatshisname is not only the purple girl's "father" (and even if it turns out he ISN'T her bio father he RAISED her since she said as a child he sat her on his knee and told her the truth about the world coming to an end) AND that he is her Commander ANOTHER position of power over her. So I'm hoping the writers write this as being unhealthy and ultimately purple girl seeing there is another way, and finding a healthier relationship.

"I'm usually good at separating the actors from their past work, but during the Amanda/Stahma fight, I just kept thinking of how Julie Benz and Jaime Murray were on Dexter together, and how I'm sure Rita (Julie) would have really liked to have kicked Lila's (Jaime) ass." Sorry the quote button doesn't work on my computer. Anyway-Now I'm picturing Darla the vampire (Julie Benz) vs Helena (HG) Wells (Jaimie Murray). These two actresses who seem via twitter to be close friends sure provide an interesting array of fight club fodder. However I see your point. Stahma has gotten her way through manipulation (both sexual and familial) or poisoning. Amanda has experience in the hands on, mano ah mano combat, form of settling things. Amanda should have won. At least she got to stab Stahma so it wasn't a complete logic fail. I also agree that the Tarrs will once again be charmic Houdinis and escape execution or permanent jailing. I get why this is, they are popular and played by very entertaining actors BUT I am still scratching my head as to how Amanda would not arrest them for Kenya's murder. The Tarrs are the Regina Mills (Once Upon a Time) of this show but I wish the writers earned their pay by coming up with a reasonable reason for them to escape justice. OUAT can't do it either but I think the writing is much better for this show so I expect more.

I could be wrong but I think there are 4 seasons total as I've seen dvds for sale that say "the complete series." I just bought a region free dvd player so I'll probably get seasons 3 and 4 (I have 1 and 2) from the UK. I think my local PBS station is running 3 now but not sure of the schedule.

I'll look up the titles of the audios I liked most and get back to you. The ep where Peri leaves is still kind of confusing even if you aren't just reading "married to warlord Brian Blessed etc" It is part of the "Trial of a Timelord" arc and to me seemed VERY rushed at the end, as in plot happens, plot happens for several episodes and then BAM we (the Timelords) TELL you that Peri really isn't dead she married Prince- whatever-manic-wacko- Brian-Blessed-played's name. First time I saw it I didn't even realize that they DID say she wasn't dead because I must have been destracted for 5 seconds. I really thought they'd killed her off. BTW I remember reading at some comprehensive site I think Tardis Data Core that there was a tie in novel where Prince Brian Blessed and Peri somehow come to earth after they are married and he works as a professional wrestler. Make of that what you will. Yes I can see the LOGIC behind going from Tom Baker (dark, very alien guy who sounds like he's reciting some Shakespeare that you've never read) to Peter Davidson (Blonde young guy who wants to not grow up and play cricket all day and sounds like he's narrating Winnie the Pooh or something). You are trying to freshen things up so your audience doesn't get bored with the same old thing BUT that doesn't mean as an individual some people myself included, can't PREFER one over the other because their schtick appeals to you more. I mean it isn't that I hated Peter Davidson as a Doctor but there WERE times during his adventures where he'd whine "There should have been another way." in such a way that I'd find myself saying "for the love of God if you'd been a little more assertive instead of sulking around like a big man baby there may have actually BEEN another way, but you had to wait till the last minute to really do anything and now everybody's dead." Am I misremembering or except for Fang Rock where it was like 2 lighthouse keepers and a couple of shipwrecked people, didn't Tom's doctor have a lower collateral damage count? I seem to remember him flouncing off with his scarf into the Tardis with more people alive and upright. To be fair however I haven't gotten that far in my rewatch to be sure.

I liked the WWII eps better. I think the distance between the 40's and the 70's (watching it in the 70's) allowed you to embrace the campy comic book FANTASY part of it. Trying to portray the PRESENT when it WAS the 70's had to fail. I think the 70's eps have therefore become easier to watch because now OUR present can look back at the 70's in fantasy mode.

I suggest listening to Colin Baker's Doctor on the Big Finish audios especially paired with a companion they invented for the audio called Evelyn Smythe. I COMPLETELY agree with you about how he came across on tv but on the audios he grows to be loveable and very entertaining. There are also no words for Colin in character singing" I Am the Very Model of a Gallifryan Buccaneer" in a parody of The Pirates of Penzanz. Saw a documentary of classic who and thought it was interesting that Verity Lambert who was DWs first producer and kind of a trail blazer since women were not producers in 63 said that while Hartnell would always be best in her eyes since heck she cast him, that of all the other classic doctors she thought Tom Baker came the closest to Hartnel's eccentricity which she felt was an essential part of being the doctor. She felt Peter Davidson was too young and nice.

"the Cartmel Masterplan" Some dedicated Whovian should make a fake DW episode with that title. Yes I have seen Blackadder (except for the one set in WWI trenches) and saw Blessed's performance as the king but forgot Tom Baker played the crazy captain. I was kind of embarrassed for the show when they drew attention to Perri's "American" accent in the ep where they go chasing a radio broadcast on a strange planet (I think it was a Colin Baker Dalek ep) because the DJ sounded "American" to Peri and she thought it might be somebody from home. I was surprised that she was supposed to be from somewhere specific in the US and remember it was TOTALLY off for that especially. (Can't remember now was she supposed to be from Baltimore Maryland? ) There is no power on earth that can convince me that the Web Planet was not the direct result of a DW script writer dropping acid in his backyard, tripping while looking at ants and bees and then writing it down because he had a deadline and had to hand in SOMETHING. It WAS the 60's after all and really there can't be any other explanation.