Yeah I think it was the transition from season 6 to 7? Where I was like this is just miserable and stopped watching.
Like Supernatural got silly in its later seasons, the walking dead just got miserable and seemed to want the viewer to agree with that misery.
Yeah I had been growing weary of the constant misery, and when I heard what was going to happen with Glen and decided I didn't need to see that. I watched the first season of Fear the Walking Dead thinking it'd be interesting seeing 'the fall' but then it glossed over that, and seemed very stuck on staying boring.
The Circle is enjoyable trash television but it is also the most thinly veiled fake reality TV show that's ever aired. I would love to see some sort of documentary of how it's filmed because it is the most overly produced reality TV I can remember.
I get the same vibes from another Netflix reality show, forgot it's name hough. It's about a group of incredibly attractive people who are implied to be models who are sex obsessed but the catch is they can't have sex or intimacy or it'll get deducted from their prize money. It's not a dating show, per se, as much a way for hot people to hook up with each other for sex.
Yeah I think it was the transition from season 6 to 7? Where I was like this is just miserable and stopped watching.
Like Supernatural got silly in its later seasons, the walking dead just got miserable and seemed to want the viewer to agree with that misery.
Yeah I had been growing weary of the constant misery, and when I heard what was going to happen with Glen and decided I didn't need to see that. I watched the first season of Fear the Walking Dead thinking it'd be interesting seeing 'the fall' but then it glossed over that, and seemed very stuck on staying boring.
Man are you me gil? That was almost my exact progression.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
How much of a screw up did they do to make Y boring? That shit be hella brisk in the comics and is what made it such a good trade read, only Fables was better and at least when Fables got bogged down in delays there was Jack of Fables and that anthology book/Cinderella to help out.
At some point you can’t attribute stupidity anymore and have to conclude it’s malice.
Yeah I think it was the transition from season 6 to 7? Where I was like this is just miserable and stopped watching.
Like Supernatural got silly in its later seasons, the walking dead just got miserable and seemed to want the viewer to agree with that misery.
Yeah I had been growing weary of the constant misery, and when I heard what was going to happen with Glen and decided I didn't need to see that. I watched the first season of Fear the Walking Dead thinking it'd be interesting seeing 'the fall' but then it glossed over that, and seemed very stuck on staying boring.
Man are you me gil? That was almost my exact progression.
I think that's when everyone quit the show, it was exactly the same for me. That stupid baseball bat first person cliffhanger was just an immediate "ok, fuck this",
There's a similar thing for Star Wars novels: everyone quit reading when the moon fell on Chewbacca.
Yeah I think it was the transition from season 6 to 7? Where I was like this is just miserable and stopped watching.
Like Supernatural got silly in its later seasons, the walking dead just got miserable and seemed to want the viewer to agree with that misery.
Yeah I had been growing weary of the constant misery, and when I heard what was going to happen with Glen and decided I didn't need to see that. I watched the first season of Fear the Walking Dead thinking it'd be interesting seeing 'the fall' but then it glossed over that, and seemed very stuck on staying boring.
Man are you me gil? That was almost my exact progression.
I think that's when everyone quit the show, it was exactly the same for me. That stupid baseball bat first person cliffhanger was just an immediate "ok, fuck this",
There's a similar thing for Star Wars novels: everyone quit reading when the moon fell on Chewbacca.
It just felt so shit at the time. And showed me the show was going to a place I didn't want to go. Yeah yeah the comics, but the show had deviated from the comics already, but not here.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Yeah I think it was the transition from season 6 to 7? Where I was like this is just miserable and stopped watching.
Like Supernatural got silly in its later seasons, the walking dead just got miserable and seemed to want the viewer to agree with that misery.
Yeah I had been growing weary of the constant misery, and when I heard what was going to happen with Glen and decided I didn't need to see that. I watched the first season of Fear the Walking Dead thinking it'd be interesting seeing 'the fall' but then it glossed over that, and seemed very stuck on staying boring.
Man are you me gil? That was almost my exact progression.
I think that's when everyone quit the show, it was exactly the same for me. That stupid baseball bat first person cliffhanger was just an immediate "ok, fuck this",
There's a similar thing for Star Wars novels: everyone quit reading when the moon fell on Chewbacca.
It just felt so shit at the time. And showed me the show was going to a place I didn't want to go. Yeah yeah the comics, but the show had deviated from the comics already, but not here.
For real.
I don't mind characters dying, especially of it's through their own mistake or serving the story, but Walking Dead has gone on for just sooooo long that nothing really matters. Characters come and go. Characters survive inexplicably stupid choices because of whatever plot contrivances are needed that week.
Walking Dead is a real cautionary tale for a show sticking around way too long and just immolating all it's good will.
Every once and a while I'll read Rob Brickens weekly recap on io9 and just chuckle at whatever insane shit happened.
I am in the business of saving lives.
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DeadfallI don't think you realize just how rich he is.In fact, I should put on a monocle.Registered Userregular
...I still really like Walking Dead.
But I'm also still a big fan of apocalyptic survival/zombies so
Hollywood is incapable of not messing everything up to some degree now, even when the final product is fine. Too many people working on stuff they think they can improve while making that easy money.
Yeah I think it was the transition from season 6 to 7? Where I was like this is just miserable and stopped watching.
Like Supernatural got silly in its later seasons, the walking dead just got miserable and seemed to want the viewer to agree with that misery.
Yeah I had been growing weary of the constant misery, and when I heard what was going to happen with Glen and decided I didn't need to see that. I watched the first season of Fear the Walking Dead thinking it'd be interesting seeing 'the fall' but then it glossed over that, and seemed very stuck on staying boring.
Man are you me gil? That was almost my exact progression.
I think that's when everyone quit the show, it was exactly the same for me. That stupid baseball bat first person cliffhanger was just an immediate "ok, fuck this",
There's a similar thing for Star Wars novels: everyone quit reading when the moon fell on Chewbacca.
It just felt so shit at the time. And showed me the show was going to a place I didn't want to go. Yeah yeah the comics, but the show had deviated from the comics already, but not here.
For real.
I don't mind characters dying, especially of it's through their own mistake or serving the story, but Walking Dead has gone on for just sooooo long that nothing really matters. Characters come and go. Characters survive inexplicably stupid choices because of whatever plot contrivances are needed that week.
Walking Dead is a real cautionary tale for a show sticking around way too long and just immolating all it's good will.
Every once and a while I'll read Rob Brickens weekly recap on io9 and just chuckle at whatever insane shit happened.
this is the way I feel about The Handmaid's Tale now. It stopped making any sense and now is just an excuse to bring the characters together like dolls and have some random drama.
At least the performances are good even if the plot has gotten lost.
and I wonder about my neighbors even though I don't have them
but they're listening to every word I say
Man I hope Netflix doesnt mess up Dahls books like they did with Watership Down.
Just go watch the 1978 movie if that's what you prefer.
The Netflix/BBC series was pretty positively reviewed (glancing at Metacritic and RT) though so /shrug to your "messed up" comment.
So you have no real statement to say then since you didn't watch it?
I don't have a personal opinion. I have a statement based on data available to me.
I have read this book every year since I was a teenager. So hey I may be just biased. But if you had watched it then you would know that the rendering done was very off putting. I went into the show with such high hopes but within the first 10 seconds it was like watching rendered show from the 90s. It was pretty bad. They got rid of most of the violence in the story as well. Which is fine. The story is mainly about the fantastic world building and culture of the rabbits, afterall, so that will be done well right? No they cut out most of the vast and wonderful world building and history. There were also other minor revisions to the story and characters that changed some core aspects of what made the story as great as it is.
Walking Dead but don't fire Frank Darabont after the first season
That was so dumb since they they did it because he wanted to spent too much money. Then they had a shitty 2nd season and realized they needed to spend more money
I think I checked out of The Walking Dead real early, like maybe end of the first season? I might have watched the second season I guess, but definitely not beyond that. I don't regret this decision.
Walking Dead but don't fire Frank Darabont after the first season
That was so dumb since they they did it because he wanted to spent too much money. Then they had a shitty 2nd season and realized they needed to spend more money
It honestly felt like a power play by a shitty exec when the show blew up like gang busters. Like at one point the Walking Dead was like the show people talked about.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Man I hope Netflix doesnt mess up Dahls books like they did with Watership Down.
Just go watch the 1978 movie if that's what you prefer.
The Netflix/BBC series was pretty positively reviewed (glancing at Metacritic and RT) though so /shrug to your "messed up" comment.
So you have no real statement to say then since you didn't watch it?
I don't have a personal opinion. I have a statement based on data available to me.
I have read this book every year since I was a teenager. So hey I may be just biased. But if you had watched it then you would know that the rendering done was very off putting. I went into the show with such high hopes but within the first 10 seconds it was like watching rendered show from the 90s. It was pretty bad. They got rid of most of the violence in the story as well. Which is fine. The story is mainly about the fantastic world building and culture of the rabbits, afterall, so that will be done well right? No they cut out most of the vast and wonderful world building and history. There were also other minor revisions to the story and characters that changed some core aspects of what made the story as great as it is.
Animation style I agree with, it looks terrible. Thanks for explaining your opinion on the rest.
Man I hope Netflix doesnt mess up Dahls books like they did with Watership Down.
Just go watch the 1978 movie if that's what you prefer.
The Netflix/BBC series was pretty positively reviewed (glancing at Metacritic and RT) though so /shrug to your "messed up" comment.
So you have no real statement to say then since you didn't watch it?
I don't have a personal opinion. I have a statement based on data available to me.
I have read this book every year since I was a teenager. So hey I may be just biased. But if you had watched it then you would know that the rendering done was very off putting. I went into the show with such high hopes but within the first 10 seconds it was like watching rendered show from the 90s. It was pretty bad. They got rid of most of the violence in the story as well. Which is fine. The story is mainly about the fantastic world building and culture of the rabbits, afterall, so that will be done well right? No they cut out most of the vast and wonderful world building and history. There were also other minor revisions to the story and characters that changed some core aspects of what made the story as great as it is.
Animation style I agree with, it looks terrible. Thanks for explaining your opinion on the rest.
And to clear up more I enjoyed parts of the mini series. Woundwort's intro was very well done. And some of the fight scenes were great. But I felt too long. They could have been cut down to add more of what people love the book for. The history and culture of the rabbits. And to add onto that when I say that it is encompassing the groups fight for survival. As the culture of rabbits is that down to its mythology. It is core to the story. Leaving that out changes what the allegory was meant to represent and makes it just a rabbit survival miniseries. Which when it came out I saw was its common negative review.
edit: To add this one last time. As a Native American and a student of history I have always strived to learn about my heritage. And for me pow wows is distilled pseudo native culture. They represent some aspects of native culture but the dances done and the music is not representative even though the practice is now widespread across the nation on the reservation. I grew up dancing in a traditional manner with my family. Well a modified traditional manner. My family still put blankets over the windows because the right for natives to freely practice religions is within MY lifetime and thus the family dances had to be hidden for awhile.
But in the end that is what the mini series is to me. A wonderful history/story distilled down to a "modern" appropriate simplistic interpretation.
Okay, season finale time, in which everything happens.
The Narn and the Centauri are fighting again, this time over a bit of space called Quadrant 37, which doesn't have anything of obvious importance to either party. (Quadrants, by definition, divide a space into four parts. B5 usually uses sectors for naming; not sure if they messed up the script or if this has some kind of meaning, but in either case it's an extremely silly name.) It's the usual imperialistic posturing; both sides find a reason they are morally justified to do what they wanted to do in the first place, then fight over it. The relevant ambassadors yell at each other for a while while not accomplishing anything.
Elsewhere on the station, Garibaldi is interrupted by Petrov, one of his informants, who is currently bleeding to death. He manages to give a cryptic warning, but not a name or something that would be useful. Rather inconsiderate of him. They do get him to surgery, but he dies a few scenes later. Garibaldi heads over to the slum where all the people stuck on B5 live, and find out that Petrov was loading cargo for someone named Devereaux, and that the cargo is presumably illegitimate, because otherwise they would have used the official cargo systems. (Proving, yet again, how much of a disaster it is to have an underclass on B5 that can't leave. If Devereaux had needed to use official B5 employees to load his cargo, that could have resulted in a few more questions getting asked, or at very least an official record being entered somewhere. Even outside of this particular incident, the fact that "if you want to unload contraband, use the underclass" is a common tactic used by smugglers makes their presence on B5 an ongoing security threat.)
Later that evening, Sinclair proposes to his girlfriend. She says yes, but this doesn't have much bearing on the rest of the episode, so I'll be ignoring this subplot for now. There's already enough going on.
Also, Londo gets contacted by Morden, someone viewers know is working with the Shadows, but not Londo. (Not sure if the Shadows have been namedropped yet, but it is obvious that he's bad news.) Morden offers to "fix" the Quadrant 37 issue, and all he wants in exchange is for Londo to send a message to Centauri that he'll resolve the issue personally. Londo breezes right past all the red flags on display, and does just that. (It should be obvious that this would tie him to whatever Morden plans to do, and Morden is being suspiciously non-specific on his intentions. Londo might as well have signed a blank letter and handed it off to Morden. If Londo had an ounce of sense, he would have phrased his message in a way where he could disavow the action if needed. If he had half an ounce, he would have reported the odd circumstances around the recovery of the Eye to Sinclair for proper investigation.)
Now that Garibaldi has a name, he goes off and arrests Devereaux. Devereaux taunts him, then escapes from lockup later that night. (I assume a certain someone let him out.) Garibaldi goes to check on some crates that was supposed to have been loaded on Devereaux's ship but got left behind. What he finds are jammers, and a device that indicates that these are for deployment near the President of Earth. Garibaldi leaves the equipment under the guard of Jack, his completely loyal and not at all suspicious officer, and runs off to talk to Sinclair. Then gets shot in the back by Jack. He survives, but is barely rushed to medlab in time. He gives a less-cryptic warning to Sinclair, who tries to contact the President of Earth, but there's a bunch of jamming going on for some reason.
Back to the Quadrant 37 issue, Narn's military in that quadrant all gets killed by jet-black ships. (One might even describe them as "shadows".) When G'Kar learns about it, there's no real suspect; there were no survivors to say who did the attack, and none of the known races had both motivation and ability to do that. In the end, he leaves to figure out what actually happened. When Londo finds out, he yells at Morden. He wasn't expecting that kind of solution. (But also seems to be unclear on what a non-violent solution would have looked like, so I suspect there was more than a bit of not asking questions he didn't want the answer to going on there.) Also, the Centauri leadership are quite proud of him for "solving" the Quadrant 37 issue. (Though none of them seem to be willing to ask questions about how an ambassador was able to destroy a military base, which seems important, or worry that their ambassador just committed an act of war without getting approval first.)
Anyway, the President of Earth is dead now, because his spaceship exploded. The Vice-President is still alive, so gets sworn in, and the explosion is being called an accident. Also dead: Devereaux and his crew, thanks to "resisting arrest" by Jack.
As for the literal chrysalis of the title, it's being built by Delenn. Before entering it, she speaks with Kosh, who reveals his true form to Delenn, but not to the viewers. She also talks to Sinclair, offering to reveal important secrets to him, but Sinclair was a bit busy at the time. He forgets until Kosh approaches him and reminds him late in the episode, but by then she's already entered the chrysalis. (I appreciate the scene with Sinclair just sitting there, and Kosh approaching from behind.)
Thoughts:
Well, that escalated rapidly. I'm pretty sure Chrysalis refers not just to the literal chrysalis, but to all the events that were put into motion over the season, all to emerge at this point.
I've been seeing Delenn building the 3D jigsaw puzzle (Chrysalis device) for quite a few episodes now, and I'd like to call that out as being really efficient foreshadowing. She's doing that while talking with others, so there's no real time spent on it, it's just something to watch for.
Earth appears to have a very American style of government. We've seen Senators and the President/Vice-President. In-universe, this is not something I would recommend; the President is barely not a king, and in general putting enough power into one person that you need a second person just to act as a spare is a bad sign. Also, the show told us that the Vice-President stepped off the spaceship at the last stop, but this seems unnecessary; in America, the President and Vice-President don't ride in the same plane, just in case something happens, so if B5 is going to copy the presidency from America, it can copy this.
+8
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I am loving your updates, and I can't wait for you to start S2!
I am loving your updates, and I can't wait for you to start S2!
Yeah best character gets introduced in Season 2. I remember hating him at first coming from the previous one, but then he shows his humanity a lot more.
Like Sheridan really comes off as a hard ass at first, but then he shows he just wants what's best for people. Sinclair was an idealist, Sheridan is a commander.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I am loving your updates, and I can't wait for you to start S2!
Yeah best character gets introduced in Season 2. I remember hating him at first coming from the previous one, but then he shows his humanity a lot more.
Like Sheridan really comes off as a hard ass at first, but then he shows he just wants what's best for people. Sinclair was an idealist, Sheridan is a commander.
Also, he's
TRON. Being a warrior against tyranny is his thing.
I disagree he's the best character, but only because I had/have such a crush for
Marcus
that no amount of better writing for other characters will change that.
Its weird because like in my mind I kind of separate the top tier staff from the "low" tier more blue collar guys. So I felt more in common with Garibaldi and his b plots than most of the A plots. G'kar and Londo goes places, but both actors really give it their all on the way.
I still think my favorite line comes Londo
My shoes are too tight, but it doesn't matter because I have forgotten how to dance.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Its weird because like in my mind I kind of separate the top tier staff from the "low" tier more blue collar guys. So I felt more in common with Garibaldi and his b plots than most of the A plots. G'kar and Londo goes places, but both actors really give it their all on the way.
I still think my favorite line comes Londo
My shoes are too tight, but it doesn't matter because I have forgotten how to dance.
My favorite line from G'Kar is "No."
Bad news for Londo, who wakes up in the darkened tube car to find it's two hours later and G'Kar has just been sitting there. Londo points out that the door is hot, most likely from a fire on the other side; G'Kar look mildly interested. Either the fire will get in, or the smoke and heat will eventually suffocate them; G'Kar just chuckles. Perplexed Londo reminds him that there is no telling when help will come; G'Kar shrugs. If they are to survive, they must work together...
G'Kar: No.
Londo: No? What do you mean "no"?
G'Kar: No. (laughter)
Well, technically, my favorite line is "No. As the humans say, 'up yours, die.'" followed closely by "I hear you.", but that wouldn't be as obscure to put outside spoiler quotes.
That entire scene, for it's gravitas, humor, philosophy, chemistry of the leads, writing and depth, is IMO one of the best scenes not just in B5, but of everything I've ever watched.
Its weird because like in my mind I kind of separate the top tier staff from the "low" tier more blue collar guys. So I felt more in common with Garibaldi and his b plots than most of the A plots. G'kar and Londo goes places, but both actors really give it their all on the way.
I still think my favorite line comes Londo
My shoes are too tight, but it doesn't matter because I have forgotten how to dance.
My favorite line from G'Kar is "No."
Bad news for Londo, who wakes up in the darkened tube car to find it's two hours later and G'Kar has just been sitting there. Londo points out that the door is hot, most likely from a fire on the other side; G'Kar look mildly interested. Either the fire will get in, or the smoke and heat will eventually suffocate them; G'Kar just chuckles. Perplexed Londo reminds him that there is no telling when help will come; G'Kar shrugs. If they are to survive, they must work together...
G'Kar: No.
Londo: No? What do you mean "no"?
G'Kar: No. (laughter)
Well, technically, my favorite line is "No. As the humans say, 'up yours, die.'" followed closely by "I hear you.", but that wouldn't be as obscure to put outside spoiler quotes.
That entire scene, for it's gravitas, humor, philosophy, chemistry of the leads, writing and depth, is IMO one of the best scenes not just in B5, but of everything I've ever watched.
The entire scene, set against the brutal centauri oppression of the narn, is basically perfect.
I think I checked out of The Walking Dead real early, like maybe end of the first season? I might have watched the second season I guess, but definitely not beyond that. I don't regret this decision.
I know exactly where I checked out of The Walking Dead, it was S1 and Steven Yeun's character and the Sheriff had hotwired a car while its car alarm was blaring. It was a tense moment because the zombies are attracted to noise. The episode ended with Steven Yeun driving the car with the alarm still howling back to the survivors camp in the hills outside Atlanta with triumphant music playing on the soundtrack AS IF THAT WAS A GOOD THING IN-UNIVERSE.
I noped out and never looked back because if the show was going to ignore basic world building that they had made a crucial plotpoint 10 minutes earlier in the same episode.
I tuned in to check the next episode and yep, the next episode the zombies found the remote camp and killed a bunch of people. Nobody calls out Yeun for his stupidity.
Z Nation was better... yeah I said it.
The sky was full of stars, every star an exploding ship. One of ours.
I think I checked out of The Walking Dead real early, like maybe end of the first season? I might have watched the second season I guess, but definitely not beyond that. I don't regret this decision.
I know exactly where I checked out of The Walking Dead, it was S1 and Steven Yeun's character and the Sheriff had hotwired a car while its car alarm was blaring. It was a tense moment because the zombies are attracted to noise. The episode ended with Steven Yeun driving the car with the alarm still howling back to the survivors camp in the hills outside Atlanta with triumphant music playing on the soundtrack AS IF THAT WAS A GOOD THING IN-UNIVERSE.
I noped out and never looked back because if the show was going to ignore basic world building that they had made a crucial plotpoint 10 minutes earlier in the same episode.
I tuned in to check the next episode and yep, the next episode the zombies found the remote camp and killed a bunch of people. Nobody calls out Yeun for his stupidity.
Z Nation was better... yeah I said it.
TWD is a very stupid show post season 1 but Glenn is absolutely called out for arriving at the camp with a blaring car alarm in ep 3. They are all panicked until Shane disconnects the battery on the car and reprimands Glenn.
I think I checked out of The Walking Dead real early, like maybe end of the first season? I might have watched the second season I guess, but definitely not beyond that. I don't regret this decision.
I know exactly where I checked out of The Walking Dead, it was S1 and Steven Yeun's character and the Sheriff had hotwired a car while its car alarm was blaring. It was a tense moment because the zombies are attracted to noise. The episode ended with Steven Yeun driving the car with the alarm still howling back to the survivors camp in the hills outside Atlanta with triumphant music playing on the soundtrack AS IF THAT WAS A GOOD THING IN-UNIVERSE.
I noped out and never looked back because if the show was going to ignore basic world building that they had made a crucial plotpoint 10 minutes earlier in the same episode.
I tuned in to check the next episode and yep, the next episode the zombies found the remote camp and killed a bunch of people. Nobody calls out Yeun for his stupidity.
Z Nation was better... yeah I said it.
Z Nation was garbage.
But you're not wrong.
Walking Dead was a show I wanted to like. But it was just filled with people who I fucking hated doing stupid stuff, repeatedly. I can accept bad situations, but when it's so often as a result of their own poor decisions, I just stopped caring. Noped out just after the pregnancy in the prison. Checked the Wiki synopsis, and don't regret that decision.
Most post-apocalyptic stories are boring these days. They're all destruction porn and "people are the real monsters!" and it's so, so played out.
SyFy's Defiance wasn't particularly good, but it had a neat premise: skip right over the apocalypse and focus on what people have built afterwards.
I liked Defiance because it played more into the western aspect of what it was going for, and a lot of the characters weren't hard good or hard bad. Where they stumbled was trying to make it more than just a weekly show with progression and trying to work with the game.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Posts
Yeah I had been growing weary of the constant misery, and when I heard what was going to happen with Glen and decided I didn't need to see that. I watched the first season of Fear the Walking Dead thinking it'd be interesting seeing 'the fall' but then it glossed over that, and seemed very stuck on staying boring.
I get the same vibes from another Netflix reality show, forgot it's name hough. It's about a group of incredibly attractive people who are implied to be models who are sex obsessed but the catch is they can't have sex or intimacy or it'll get deducted from their prize money. It's not a dating show, per se, as much a way for hot people to hook up with each other for sex.
Man are you me gil? That was almost my exact progression.
pleasepaypreacher.net
At some point you can’t attribute stupidity anymore and have to conclude it’s malice.
I think that's when everyone quit the show, it was exactly the same for me. That stupid baseball bat first person cliffhanger was just an immediate "ok, fuck this",
There's a similar thing for Star Wars novels: everyone quit reading when the moon fell on Chewbacca.
It just felt so shit at the time. And showed me the show was going to a place I didn't want to go. Yeah yeah the comics, but the show had deviated from the comics already, but not here.
pleasepaypreacher.net
For real.
I don't mind characters dying, especially of it's through their own mistake or serving the story, but Walking Dead has gone on for just sooooo long that nothing really matters. Characters come and go. Characters survive inexplicably stupid choices because of whatever plot contrivances are needed that week.
Walking Dead is a real cautionary tale for a show sticking around way too long and just immolating all it's good will.
Every once and a while I'll read Rob Brickens weekly recap on io9 and just chuckle at whatever insane shit happened.
But I'm also still a big fan of apocalyptic survival/zombies so
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
Jubal look into your heart you know the truth.
pleasepaypreacher.net
this is the way I feel about The Handmaid's Tale now. It stopped making any sense and now is just an excuse to bring the characters together like dolls and have some random drama.
At least the performances are good even if the plot has gotten lost.
but they're listening to every word I say
Just go watch the 1978 movie if that's what you prefer.
The Netflix/BBC series was pretty positively reviewed (glancing at Metacritic and RT) though so /shrug to your "messed up" comment.
So you have no real statement to say then since you didn't watch it?
I don't have a personal opinion. I have a statement based on data available to me.
I have read this book every year since I was a teenager. So hey I may be just biased. But if you had watched it then you would know that the rendering done was very off putting. I went into the show with such high hopes but within the first 10 seconds it was like watching rendered show from the 90s. It was pretty bad. They got rid of most of the violence in the story as well. Which is fine. The story is mainly about the fantastic world building and culture of the rabbits, afterall, so that will be done well right? No they cut out most of the vast and wonderful world building and history. There were also other minor revisions to the story and characters that changed some core aspects of what made the story as great as it is.
That was so dumb since they they did it because he wanted to spent too much money. Then they had a shitty 2nd season and realized they needed to spend more money
It honestly felt like a power play by a shitty exec when the show blew up like gang busters. Like at one point the Walking Dead was like the show people talked about.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Animation style I agree with, it looks terrible. Thanks for explaining your opinion on the rest.
And to clear up more I enjoyed parts of the mini series. Woundwort's intro was very well done. And some of the fight scenes were great. But I felt too long. They could have been cut down to add more of what people love the book for. The history and culture of the rabbits. And to add onto that when I say that it is encompassing the groups fight for survival. As the culture of rabbits is that down to its mythology. It is core to the story. Leaving that out changes what the allegory was meant to represent and makes it just a rabbit survival miniseries. Which when it came out I saw was its common negative review.
edit: To add this one last time. As a Native American and a student of history I have always strived to learn about my heritage. And for me pow wows is distilled pseudo native culture. They represent some aspects of native culture but the dances done and the music is not representative even though the practice is now widespread across the nation on the reservation. I grew up dancing in a traditional manner with my family. Well a modified traditional manner. My family still put blankets over the windows because the right for natives to freely practice religions is within MY lifetime and thus the family dances had to be hidden for awhile.
But in the end that is what the mini series is to me. A wonderful history/story distilled down to a "modern" appropriate simplistic interpretation.
The Narn and the Centauri are fighting again, this time over a bit of space called Quadrant 37, which doesn't have anything of obvious importance to either party. (Quadrants, by definition, divide a space into four parts. B5 usually uses sectors for naming; not sure if they messed up the script or if this has some kind of meaning, but in either case it's an extremely silly name.) It's the usual imperialistic posturing; both sides find a reason they are morally justified to do what they wanted to do in the first place, then fight over it. The relevant ambassadors yell at each other for a while while not accomplishing anything.
Elsewhere on the station, Garibaldi is interrupted by Petrov, one of his informants, who is currently bleeding to death. He manages to give a cryptic warning, but not a name or something that would be useful. Rather inconsiderate of him. They do get him to surgery, but he dies a few scenes later. Garibaldi heads over to the slum where all the people stuck on B5 live, and find out that Petrov was loading cargo for someone named Devereaux, and that the cargo is presumably illegitimate, because otherwise they would have used the official cargo systems. (Proving, yet again, how much of a disaster it is to have an underclass on B5 that can't leave. If Devereaux had needed to use official B5 employees to load his cargo, that could have resulted in a few more questions getting asked, or at very least an official record being entered somewhere. Even outside of this particular incident, the fact that "if you want to unload contraband, use the underclass" is a common tactic used by smugglers makes their presence on B5 an ongoing security threat.)
Later that evening, Sinclair proposes to his girlfriend. She says yes, but this doesn't have much bearing on the rest of the episode, so I'll be ignoring this subplot for now. There's already enough going on.
Also, Londo gets contacted by Morden, someone viewers know is working with the Shadows, but not Londo. (Not sure if the Shadows have been namedropped yet, but it is obvious that he's bad news.) Morden offers to "fix" the Quadrant 37 issue, and all he wants in exchange is for Londo to send a message to Centauri that he'll resolve the issue personally. Londo breezes right past all the red flags on display, and does just that. (It should be obvious that this would tie him to whatever Morden plans to do, and Morden is being suspiciously non-specific on his intentions. Londo might as well have signed a blank letter and handed it off to Morden. If Londo had an ounce of sense, he would have phrased his message in a way where he could disavow the action if needed. If he had half an ounce, he would have reported the odd circumstances around the recovery of the Eye to Sinclair for proper investigation.)
Now that Garibaldi has a name, he goes off and arrests Devereaux. Devereaux taunts him, then escapes from lockup later that night. (I assume a certain someone let him out.) Garibaldi goes to check on some crates that was supposed to have been loaded on Devereaux's ship but got left behind. What he finds are jammers, and a device that indicates that these are for deployment near the President of Earth. Garibaldi leaves the equipment under the guard of Jack, his completely loyal and not at all suspicious officer, and runs off to talk to Sinclair. Then gets shot in the back by Jack. He survives, but is barely rushed to medlab in time. He gives a less-cryptic warning to Sinclair, who tries to contact the President of Earth, but there's a bunch of jamming going on for some reason.
Back to the Quadrant 37 issue, Narn's military in that quadrant all gets killed by jet-black ships. (One might even describe them as "shadows".) When G'Kar learns about it, there's no real suspect; there were no survivors to say who did the attack, and none of the known races had both motivation and ability to do that. In the end, he leaves to figure out what actually happened. When Londo finds out, he yells at Morden. He wasn't expecting that kind of solution. (But also seems to be unclear on what a non-violent solution would have looked like, so I suspect there was more than a bit of not asking questions he didn't want the answer to going on there.) Also, the Centauri leadership are quite proud of him for "solving" the Quadrant 37 issue. (Though none of them seem to be willing to ask questions about how an ambassador was able to destroy a military base, which seems important, or worry that their ambassador just committed an act of war without getting approval first.)
Anyway, the President of Earth is dead now, because his spaceship exploded. The Vice-President is still alive, so gets sworn in, and the explosion is being called an accident. Also dead: Devereaux and his crew, thanks to "resisting arrest" by Jack.
As for the literal chrysalis of the title, it's being built by Delenn. Before entering it, she speaks with Kosh, who reveals his true form to Delenn, but not to the viewers. She also talks to Sinclair, offering to reveal important secrets to him, but Sinclair was a bit busy at the time. He forgets until Kosh approaches him and reminds him late in the episode, but by then she's already entered the chrysalis. (I appreciate the scene with Sinclair just sitting there, and Kosh approaching from behind.)
Thoughts:
Well, that escalated rapidly. I'm pretty sure Chrysalis refers not just to the literal chrysalis, but to all the events that were put into motion over the season, all to emerge at this point.
I've been seeing Delenn building the 3D jigsaw puzzle (Chrysalis device) for quite a few episodes now, and I'd like to call that out as being really efficient foreshadowing. She's doing that while talking with others, so there's no real time spent on it, it's just something to watch for.
Earth appears to have a very American style of government. We've seen Senators and the President/Vice-President. In-universe, this is not something I would recommend; the President is barely not a king, and in general putting enough power into one person that you need a second person just to act as a spare is a bad sign. Also, the show told us that the Vice-President stepped off the spaceship at the last stop, but this seems unnecessary; in America, the President and Vice-President don't ride in the same plane, just in case something happens, so if B5 is going to copy the presidency from America, it can copy this.
Yeah best character gets introduced in Season 2. I remember hating him at first coming from the previous one, but then he shows his humanity a lot more.
Like Sheridan really comes off as a hard ass at first, but then he shows he just wants what's best for people. Sinclair was an idealist, Sheridan is a commander.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Also, he's
I disagree he's the best character, but only because I had/have such a crush for
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Nah, you're alright.
I still think my favorite line comes Londo
My shoes are too tight, but it doesn't matter because I have forgotten how to dance.
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-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
My favorite line from G'Kar is "No."
G'Kar: No.
Londo: No? What do you mean "no"?
G'Kar: No. (laughter)
Well, technically, my favorite line is "No. As the humans say, 'up yours, die.'" followed closely by "I hear you.", but that wouldn't be as obscure to put outside spoiler quotes.
That entire scene, for it's gravitas, humor, philosophy, chemistry of the leads, writing and depth, is IMO one of the best scenes not just in B5, but of everything I've ever watched.
The entire scene, set against the brutal centauri oppression of the narn, is basically perfect.
I know exactly where I checked out of The Walking Dead, it was S1 and Steven Yeun's character and the Sheriff had hotwired a car while its car alarm was blaring. It was a tense moment because the zombies are attracted to noise. The episode ended with Steven Yeun driving the car with the alarm still howling back to the survivors camp in the hills outside Atlanta with triumphant music playing on the soundtrack AS IF THAT WAS A GOOD THING IN-UNIVERSE.
I noped out and never looked back because if the show was going to ignore basic world building that they had made a crucial plotpoint 10 minutes earlier in the same episode.
I tuned in to check the next episode and yep, the next episode the zombies found the remote camp and killed a bunch of people. Nobody calls out Yeun for his stupidity.
Z Nation was better... yeah I said it.
TWD is a very stupid show post season 1 but Glenn is absolutely called out for arriving at the camp with a blaring car alarm in ep 3. They are all panicked until Shane disconnects the battery on the car and reprimands Glenn.
Z Nation was garbage.
But you're not wrong.
Walking Dead was a show I wanted to like. But it was just filled with people who I fucking hated doing stupid stuff, repeatedly. I can accept bad situations, but when it's so often as a result of their own poor decisions, I just stopped caring. Noped out just after the pregnancy in the prison. Checked the Wiki synopsis, and don't regret that decision.
SyFy's Defiance wasn't particularly good, but it had a neat premise: skip right over the apocalypse and focus on what people have built afterwards.
I liked Defiance because it played more into the western aspect of what it was going for, and a lot of the characters weren't hard good or hard bad. Where they stumbled was trying to make it more than just a weekly show with progression and trying to work with the game.
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