Author Topic: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?  (Read 333740 times)

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Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1500 on: August 19, 2019, 02:44:41 AM »
Weird, Ernst didn't tug the heartstrings, not even a little?

Heh, cus his last name is Littlefield. He gave it all to impress Paul Langford, who gave ZERO SHITS.

And Ernst learned things beyond what even modern man knows, that didn't seem like a misstep by the SGC? I mean they essentially put a guy who knows about ELEMENTS that remain undiscovered in an old folks home.

Like Danny throws a shitfit, but the meeting site is going in the ocean no matter how mad he is.
-Heliopolis-
As to the Chulak problem, when everything looks like a nail...

They didn't see an out besides their slavery. That's some super bless'ed dark poo. And yes, it will be revisited, many times.

This is not light and laffy. The "Free" Jaffa are free in name only. They are putting their lives toward freedom, and honestly, they die more than they win.

I mean yeah, thrones was a bit more quick to throw dirt and ash on characters faces, but the Jaffa face an evil almost beyond contemplation.

Yes the Goauld are false gods, but at the same time, they are still GODS. And the Jaffa face them for a brighter future.

Shel khek nem ron may as soon be "Give me liberty, or give me death". More specifically, it translates as "I die free".

I'm in S3, Vol 5, and that's still a major issue.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2019, 03:30:26 AM by 8ullfrog »

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1501 on: August 19, 2019, 10:39:40 AM »
The Littlefield episode offered a laundry list of plot developments that were sort of glossed over and trivialized.  I think had they been handled more skillfully, and without the encyclopedia synopsis version treatment, I'd have found the whole business more compelling.  Hence the lite n laffy.  There was plenty of material there for two episodes, but I suspect the budget for this show was pretty small, so we get the Godzilla + treatment with cardboard beams falling from the ceiling.  A remarkable building perched on the edge of a cliff and about to crash into the sea any second without much insight as to how it was built there or who the other races who engaged in the U.N. complex described or explained.  We get Runic inscriptions, some stylized hieroglyphs and whatever else the guys in the prop dept could come up with.  It was actually a great idea, but it wasn't executed with the care and insight that might have really allowed for serious reflection.  But I get it.  It's a low budget scifi show.  It just could have been more.  That's all.

As for the Gouald/Jaffa symbiotic relationship.  That's troubling.  And the x incision in the torso is not really explained.  Are the Jaffa human?  And if so, what's with the gnarly x incision.  It sort of reminds me of an episode of the Three Stooges where Larry shows Moe a zipper in his abdomen that he had installed to save money on future surgeries.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2019, 10:41:44 AM by 6pairsofshoes »

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1502 on: August 19, 2019, 03:00:28 PM »
Okay, Heliopolis was a castle on a cliff, then erosion. We do get to meet some of the people who visited Heliopolis, but I have a strong feeling the race who maintained it are the ones who are dead.

Or, like the league of nations, it fell apart for some reason. I can't remember if you've seen the Nox yet, but it does kind of look like their architecture.

The Goauld are the snakes. The X incision is done with a tool, then the larval Goauld is shoved in the pouch. Because of the symbiotic relationship, Jaffa are somewhat different to stock humans. They're stronger, but have no immune system. An artificial immune system is generated by the larval Goauld.

Once the Goauld matures, the Jaffa gets a new larval Goauld, or they are disposed of. (The Jaffa) We do learn that Jaffa can live upwards of 159 years.

Being host to a Goauld leaves trace metals behind if the Goauld gets evicted, this allows the former host to operate Goauld technology.

Education levels for Jaffa vary widely, but most tech THEY operate is similar to On/Off buttons, or those giant trackball mice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trackball

Sometimes Stargate takes it's time revealing stuff, Heliopolis is kind of a hint that there's more out there than the evil snakes, Jaffa, and peasants.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1503 on: August 20, 2019, 12:27:00 PM »
They (Jaffa and Goa'uld) are basically just nasty Trill.

I had to look that up.  It made me question the difference between implants that are intended to restore or enhance natural function like pacemakers or cochlear implants and symbiotic or biological ones.  Either results in fundamental changes to the original being.  I think one big difference is the issue of autonomy and how much of that is sacrificed to the symbiote.  I never watched DS9.  I viewed a few episodes of TNG but didn't find those especially compelling, either, although I liked several cast members.

I think having an x pouch in one's abdomen would play hell with wearing a bikini to the beach.  Having that sharp faced little worm occupant in there would be sort of aesthetically problematic for me, also, regardless of whatever else was involved.  The idea of servitude, particularly involuntary, doesn't really speak to me.  And I guess I'd prefer my own immune system, so thanks, but no thanks.

So one final question:  if those wormy guys are the larvae, do they grow into the Rita Hayworth manqué gorgeous humanoid figures like Hathor, or do they just become larger worms?  In short, what does a full grown Gou'ald look like?
« Last Edit: August 20, 2019, 12:29:39 PM by 6pairsofshoes »

Offline dweez

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1504 on: August 20, 2019, 02:57:21 PM »
They (Jaffa and Goa'uld) are basically just nasty Trill.

Actually, the Trill were a blending of the personalities of the two entities. Jaffa's are just the incubators for the Goa'uld. Jaffa's get extended life-spans and improved healing at the expense of a total loss of their biological immune system (remove the Goa'uld and the Jaffa eventually dies) but no interaction between or blending of the two entities. Sure, the Jaffa can sometimes "sense" how the Goa'uld feels, but I liken that more to a baby kicking in the mother's womb.
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Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1505 on: August 20, 2019, 03:08:39 PM »
I like when Teal'c does stuff that pisses Junior off. He always gets that little smirk. Chris Judge is fantastic.

There actually are "Bad" trill in the form of the Bluegill, episode TNG S1 X 25 - "Conspiracy". The connection would not be discovered until the post DS9 books, which used to be considered official, I don't know if they still are.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_%28Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation%29#/media/File:RemmicksParasite.jpg

I see you're up to Hathor, so I guess you saw how the X cut is made. The actual Goauld hosts are selected for beauty, and are slaves. No X pouch for them.


From Carter's interaction with Jolinar, we know that as a Goauld host you're still there in your head, Screaming.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1506 on: August 20, 2019, 04:33:36 PM »
I forgot who Jolinar is.

And now I remember the wife of Daniel Jackson, the archaeologist getting that worm thing into her back so that's a full grown Gouald.  Not a happy prospect for the host, it seems.

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1507 on: August 20, 2019, 05:05:16 PM »
nope, awake and screaming while you're the meatsuit, and with the sarcophagus that can run into the thousands of years.

Jolinar was the worm that was in carter's head one episode. It got killed by an assassin, but did technically use up all it's healing powers to
un-microwave Carter's brain.

Which is good, because the SGC really needs Carter's brain. Like, it's the most important thing in the whole place, and sending her on a frontline recon team is both stupid and wasteful?

One interesting thing, her rank progression tracks. The Air Force consulted extensively on the show. So she ranks up when a real officer would. No academy student becomes Captain of the flagship shenanigans like that 2009 reboot of an extremely popular franchise.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1508 on: September 14, 2019, 03:01:19 AM »
Mayans MC is my favorite at the moment.  You find your loyalties shifting from moment to moment.  The characters are complex and well drawn.  Sad to say bad guy psycho agent from Sons of Anarchy gets drafted into this, and he's really no less annoying than he was in his previous iteration.  The cops are generally bad guys.  The cartel is bad guys, the rebels are bad guys. Nobody has clean hands.

And if you are choosing an Ivy league school?  The characters who went to Stanford and Cornell on this show don't seem to be faring too well, nor do they seem to be benefitting from their high priced educations.  They probably would have done just as well at a community college. 
« Last Edit: September 14, 2019, 09:43:39 AM by 6pairsofshoes »

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1509 on: September 14, 2019, 04:53:20 AM »
I'm surprised you're willing to trust them again. They promised a non BS ending to SOA, then delivered a BS ending to SOA. The son dies like the father, pathetically.

I mean, if they wanted to have Jax Die, that's one thing, but the way they delivered it was a golly you to the audience who watched the show for years.

I will say, the fact that they did not sugarcoat Katy Segal's character in any way was far too good for the series they ended up delivering. An unsympathetic character who just... survives, is an AMAZING tool.

For instance, my buddy is military, his dad is military, I was recruited, but 4F, I didn't qualify for any of 'em.

But Baltar. Baltar is extremely interesting. My buddy, he won't lay a verdict down, he doesn't want to. His dad wanted Baltar killed from the miniseries.

I view Baltar as kind of a cockroach, but also, more worthy of living than most of the cast. Which is weird, because he caused the death of 50 billion people, BECAUSE HE WAS LAZY AND HORNY.

So yeah, Complicated characters are neat. Shitty solutions are shitty solutions.

Even James Callis wanted Baltar to die nameless. He wanted a gang of people to keep Baltar from ever reaching Earth, say "You don't get a happy ending" and straight up shoot him.

The hell the series prophesizes is far more elegant.

All the airs, all the put on, all the "cultured persona" of Gaius Baltar, is so much clothing. Part of that is a strength. Gaius repeatedly trades clothes to save his ass, but you get the sense he doesn't believe any of them, but desperately wants to be all of them.

In the end, he ends up in the place he never wanted to be. Agricultural secretary. Which is SHOCKINGLY more important when the colonial government decides on a suicide solution.

And it's bad. In the epilogue, we find out the only person who bred true was Hera, the Human/Cylon hybrid. She died at 16, after having two children.

That is a bleak as golly ending. No one gets a happy ending. It even implies that Baltar doesn't actually love Caprica, which we were told way the hell back when they were on Kobol.

Six said that Hera was the miracle child. That she and Baltar would never have their own child, and that it was his duty to protect her. And HOLY poo if he didn't do that. He CURED CANCER with the placenta. Good luck whipping THAT poo up on a deadline. But he did it. Because he's a cockroach.

The ending also implies he died fairly quickly. Because we saw Helo limping in his last scene, but we don't know what took down the humanoid cylons, and Athena was pretty spry.

I mean maybe Six and Baltar set up a farm and told everyone to golly themselves? Earth was the limit, and he didn't feel protective of Hera after that point?

I'm rambling.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1510 on: September 14, 2019, 09:40:25 AM »
Yeah.  Jax's death was like a page out of the Michael O'Donoghue "How to write good" playbook.

To wit: 
Quote
Lesson 2 - The Ending

All too often, the budding author finds that his tale has run its course and yet he sees no way to satisfactorily end it, or, in literary parlance, "wrap it up." Observe how easily I resolve this problem:

Suddenly, everyone was run over by a truck. -the end-

If the story happens to be set in England, use the same ending, slightly modified:

Suddenly, everyone was run over by a lorry. -the end-

If set in France:

Soudainement, tout le monde etait écrasé par un camion. -finis-

You'll be surprised at how many different settings and situations this ending applies to. For instance, if you were writing a story about ants, it would end "Suddenly, everyone was run over by a centipede." In fact, this is the only ending you ever need use.*

*Warning - if you are writing a story about trucks, do not have the trucks run over by a truck. Have the trucks run over by a mammoth truck.
  http://www.workableweb.com/_pages/tips_how_to_write_good.htm

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1511 on: September 14, 2019, 06:16:39 PM »
Huh, I always thought that was called Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies.

Plus what an bottom way to kill yourself, at the very least that Truck Driver is gonna be traumatized for life.

I can't say I ever liked SOA, but I did watch it. Kind of made Breaking Bad more enjoyable by comparison.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1512 on: September 15, 2019, 12:00:58 AM »
At times it was mannered and formulaic, but I found that it held up to a repeat viewing.  The actors are very good, although the writing was sort of lacking at times.  Several, if not most, of the characters were in a self destructive arc throughout the span of the series.  It was sort of odd, but gratifying, that Drea de Matteo's character was redeemed at the end.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1513 on: September 16, 2019, 02:38:01 AM »
"Your decision to beat a nun to death with a baseball bat and dump her in a baptismal font, although effective, it lacked vision"  -- Michael Galindo, Head of Mexican Drug Cartel, to one of his main security officers, Mayans MC

That's some gifted dialogue right there.

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1514 on: September 16, 2019, 02:49:33 AM »
crap, I know they stole it, but I can't remember where from. It wasn't that specific instance, but the utter blasphemy, ignored, in deference to just the absolutely stupid golly up the act was.

Maybe Face/Off?

Like I think the brain trust baddie implied it had style, but lacked any finesse. And then of course, the idiots were executed.