DoctorAtomic

iirc, didn't Thomas fumble twice? I can't stand when a game in any sport comes down to one single play, as if the 99.9% of the rest of the game didn't matter.

When I got to the S1 finale, after jumping in the middle, I was stunned at the sheer audacity of the show. And then the finale. I don't want to spoil for the new viewers, but "so, that's it. Like Kirk and Spock? First base!" *hits the button on the door* Me - whhhhhaaaaaat. I believe at the time, when SciFi was an actual network that wanted to put out good programming, they bought B5 and were airing that M-T as well. I also liked the line in the transport pod, "Did Zhaan tell you how long ______?" "She was vague to the point where I assumed she had no clue." I use that all the time.

The guy that made the movie totally said Farscape was an influence. I also wouldn't go out until I watched.

I think my first one was where they got stuck in starburst. Then I think I saw the first appearance of Chiana. This was back when you had to wait for reruns and then *tape* them. So I didn't see S1 from the start until after the season had aired. These characters were really fully formed from the jump though. There wasn't much 'taking time for them to grow into the character.'

Farscape got right into 'this isn't going to be like any scifi show you've seen' right off the bad with early episodes like this. A subtle point in this one was Aeryn saying 'I'm so scared.' Given her PK background, for her to say that, she must have been terrified. They really put out that tiny Rygel is way more calculating then he looks. I think you (we) needed the vampire episode to get some story on Crais. I appreciate they didn't use his origin story to make him suddenly sympathetic, but it was good for the background. I can at least understand him going ballistic over Crighton in his 'white death pod.'

Oh, for sure. I did want him to 'get away with it' just not like they did. I was just saying that the main person he was after each season were all solid actors and good characters. So they could have done that on the Mentalist.

Partly. I don't know if you watched the Clone Wars. I would posit - She thinks her leaving the order and Anakin pushed him to Vader, not that she couldn't see darkness in him. He was always kind of heated, but I would also put that on Kenobi as well. He (Kenobi) was at his best in the field making it up as he went. Having someone so skilled as Anakin and Ahsoka with him made them take a lot of wild (and entertaining) risks. Fundamentally, I'd say the attachment is key, but I think Ahsoka was thinking her severing her attachment to Anakin was the problem. So, here, severing the baby from Mando was the analogy.

That's consistent within the show. There would have to be some good handwaving to make it work. Or - you could have it when he swapped with Al and remembered he was married. Granted, still Al's, but timey whimey.

To be fair, on the Mentalist, they 'caught' Red John early. If they ended there with him, or maybe one copycat, it would have been fine. iirc over here or when it was the other place, we were all commending the show for taking the direction of beating the Big Bad so early in the run, *and* it had been someone we had known on the show before. I mean, Dexter had a different Big Bad every season; even before the finale, the big bad in the last season was quite good, so they were able to still be fresh with the same basic concept. So, Jane could have had another protagonist pop up; maybe someone they put away years ago or someone he screwed over after Red John when he was still a con artist. I think we were mostly disappointed in the lack of originality because they really *did* do something interesting, but copped out.

That's a fair point that I wouldn't argue, but didn't they make a case that he kind of has to become that person, so in a sense, he is? Wasn't he pregnant at one point? My QL reboot is that his daughter from the Trilogy gets some mysterious notes from a Mr. Callavicci and restarts the accelerator with a new 'AL'; (maybe it's an android now!) in search of her dad once she learns the truth.

FIVE?! I was thinking of the puppets and costumes on Farscape as comparison (Rygel specifically, but I think the get up for D'Argo was pricey), but I don't think they were even that much. WOW. There is no way in this galaxy that he's not coming back for that cost. We got what? About 8 hours of show? That's 625K/hour of puppet. Even if there's a time jump, I would imagine they'd use the same puppet.

How much was the puppet? I'm assuming in the million dollar range. I would highly doubt Disney would just shelve that level of investment. I know we're all adults, but it's still kind of a kids' show. There's merch to move. My neighbor had a 5 foot baby yoda with a santa hat and a candy cane up in the yard for a month. That's not going away any time soon.

That's my assessment of the show as well. I didn't like the Red John garbage because it was All About Jane. The ensemble cast was very good and I preferred when the teamwork was front and center. They didn't always need Jane to solve the case, though he always contributed as the main character. I'd say Psych is more dramedy with some good, emotional moments in there. It's a story really about strong friendships and the relationship with the main character and his dad. It's not like the breezy episodes of the Mentalist, which were enjoyable. Also many many many 80s references. And singing. And pineapples. I thought Monk did a good job because in the end, the death of Trudy had nothing to do with him. It was about the news story she was working on. That gave Monk some space to move on and at the end of the show, he was still solving cases, but he was clearly in a better place. With the Mentalist, all the Red John was just relentless.

She never struck me as someone who had the makings of training another force user. This show made it clear she's not over her Vader baggage, which is fair, and she's way away from any Jedi/Sith bs. I don't kniw where we are in the time line but she mentioned Thrawn here so I'm assuming either it's right before the end of Rebels or just after. So she's got other business right now.

The main character on psych faked being a psychic to get out of trouble because his dad taught him to be super observant. So I'd say it's different because he wasn't reading people but finding actual clues. It's more in line with Monk, and at the end of the run they revealed they're in the same show universe. It was a lighter show, though they did solve crimes. I remember over here we were all rolling our eyes about the not-catching Red John. The actual catching of him before they copped out was legitimately quite good.

I fired up Messages From Earth and watched the run into Jupiter. It's, yeah. I just like that I can dial any moment up at any time I want.

I think Monk actually did a good take on it and wouldn't lump it in with the Mentalist.

I was thinking today that because it's still close to post-ROTJ, you're still going to have these Empire remnants around like the guy Bill Burr shot who was still invested in bringing the Empire back, so there's always room for a new Moff to be a foil. Hard to top a heavyweight like Esposito, but he laid the groundwork that a top notch actor can be part of a Star Wars show.

I've also been following this story, and this is just bizarre.

Ivanova always struck me as minimalist anyway, so I could see her telling the plant services people to just put in whatever - I need a place to sit, eat, and sleep.

That's because they're hiring the safest choice and not the best candidate. Owners want to just float above water to keep fans buying tickets and merch and hope the team catches a break and gets into the playoffs. If it doesn't happen soon enough they try the next guy. If an organization was really invested in building a contender they'd really hire the best or take a chance on a high risk-reward guy and give him 5 years at least. I think that's different than the norm though. I'd be hard pressed to say that the Bucs wouldn't have won that year with him as the coach. They maybe wouldn't have crushed the Raiders - that was due to Gruden knowing all the plays - but that defense was designed by Dungy. Maybe the organization could have gone out and gotten him a decent QB over his run there and he might have won a title.

Was Zack a poor student though?

I have to remember to follow these so they come up in my feed. I don't know that someone who is as widely traveled as Mando wouldn't know that. I would think he knew enough about Mandalorian history to know they fought Jedi. It's not like he's a farmer way out on Lothal that would never have heard of any of this. Or, at the least, when he first said 'he can move things with his mind' and received 'we fought against sorcerers long ago' in reply, he didn't put 2+2 together and say 'oh, is that what they mean by may the Force be with you?' I can take the point that largely us -as viewers- have been around the Force a lot as it's a main plot in so many of the media, and this show largely takes you out of that context. Jedi were supposed to be largely extinct by this time, but stories are stories. He's had to have heard of the Republic-to-Empire/Clone Wars stories before. It's not really ruining the show for me, but you'd think he would know something about the Force so that seeing a baby hold back a charging Rhino would lead him to some understanding as to why he (the baby) was hunted. Mando doesn't strike me as the willfully ignorant type.

What if it's a piano falling on you?

I don't know if he's better than Morris. That may be nostalgia talking though. I would argue that with the D-backs Shilling was part of a formidable duo with Johnson, while Morris was nearly alone. Both were quite good in the postseason, though Shilling benefits from more games in an expanded playoffs. I don't necessarily like to judge player by player viz a viz the against the era they played. I'd say borderline is a fair assessment. I wouldn't have cried foul if he was inducted.