Still Lost

I have mixed feelings about the ending of Lost. On one hand, I'm glad the show isn't going to limp along aimlessly. On the other hand, I've hated the Jacob storyline for a while now. For a show that spent so much time trying to raise the world's consciousness of electromagnetism (and time travel, and alternate universes), this heart-of-the-island fairy light bullshit doesn't fly with me. But then why would I give credence to a silly-ass smoke monster? I digress.

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse clearly didn't heed the advice of Brian Cox's character in Adaptation: "I'll tell you a secret. The last act makes a film. Wow them in the end, and you got a hit. You can have flaws, problems, but wow them in the end, and you've got a hit. Find an ending, but don't cheat, and don't you dare bring in a deus ex machina. Your characters must change, and the change must come from them. Do that, and you'll be fine."

The characters changed and I found that interesting enough. I thought the addition of long-dead characters into the alternate universe was a nice touch, if blatantly sentimental. I just don't feel like the writers found a real ending. Maybe that's what happens when people demand answers to questions you created simply for an air of mystery. Maybe that means I'd like a hyper-convoluted version of Gilligan's Island. Meh.

So what's my point? If the endings of Battlestar Galactica and Lost are any indication: you'll be interested in the fates of characters on any show you spend time watching, but the likelihood that the end of your show will suck the big one increases exponentially if some big damn mystery is at the center of it all. Kind of like a run-on sentence.

Unless you're Joss Whedon. Because Joss Whedon doesn't suck.

P.S. I think Fringe is pretty awesome right now, but the head writers (Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci) are hit-or-miss. Transformers AND Star Trek? I'm torn. Don't even get me started on Akiva Goldsman. That guy thinks he's cool, but he's not.

War for Cybertron

This is for anyone who loved Transformers as a kid and wishes Michael Bay was a speck in Unicron's waste disposal.

How To Report The News

Just two weeks ago I was singing the praises of Dead Set, the British zombie mini-series. Turns out that Charlie Brooker, the brilliant writer of the show, is also responsible for this scathing skewering of news reporting convention. One might say he's got them 'dead to rights'.

"And this is a lighthouse keeper being beheaded by a laser beam..."

Big Brother Blood Bath

It's easy for me to hate most "reality" tv shows, but especially one that trivializes the work of George Orwell. What better way to bring the wankers down than plop them into a chapter of World War Z? It warms my heart.

A Slow Parade

It's not often I come across a song I really like on a TV show, but if I was hedging my bets, I'd say the next one comes from House, too. "Double A" Bondy is a former member of Verbena, for anyone who remembers them, and he's currently wrapping up a tour in support of his second solo album "When the Devil's Loose."

Check out the use of "A Slow Parade" near the end (37:30) of Episode 9 from Season 6 ("Wilson").

Go Team Venture! Again!

Venture Bros. Season 4 is "scheduled to premiere" on October 18. In the meantime, check out Jackson Publick's LiveJournal and Doc Hammer's deviantART.

Parts Per Million

It's no secret, people love cold hard facts. Scientists can huff and puff about global warming all they want, but it's hard for other people to care about something on such a vast scale if they have nothing for comparison. We can't all go to Antarctica or Greenland and see the ice melting for ourselves. Even if we could, many of us probably wouldn't fully understand, while others would chock it up to a natural phase of weather (ie. interglacial).

Unfortunately for all of us, we've already exceeded the recommended 350 Carbon dioxide parts per million (ppm) that all the experts are getting excited about. Right now, we're hovering around 387 ppm. 350.org seems to be running a successful multimedia campaign to raise awareness, centered around a Global Day of Climate Action on October 24th.

I think it's a great idea to get people organized in their communities. I just have a nagging question in the back of my mind... If 350 is the upper limit, shouldn't we be aiming for something below that?

Hell, I'm moving further inland soon. You coastal people can deal with it.

Sci-Fri Death Slot

Surprise, surprise... FOX put yet another Sci-Fi show on the Friday night chopping block. Virtuality didn't lack for pedigree either; the pilot movie was written by Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore and scribe Michael Taylor.

There's no doubt that Sci-Fi fans have a love-hate relationship with FOX. Well, maybe more on the hate side. Love-hate-hate? Love-hate²? The Firefly debacle still burns brightly in the minds of Whedonites as they ponder the future of Dollhouse. The senseless cancellation of The Sarah Connor Chronicles continues to baffle me. You Hollywood numbskulls had a Terminator movie come out this summer, and you don't think anyone was gonna watch a Terminator TV show in the fall?

Anyway, the funniest part about Virtuality's debut, for me, is that they didn't even have faith enough in this one to let it complete a season, let alone a story arc.

I've got one thing to say to all you geeky, visionary writer/director/producers out there: go to the SciFi channel. You're more likely to get the go ahead.

As for the rest of you, there's always xkcd.