"Keep that up, Mulder, and I'll hurt you like that beast-woman."
You know what's worse than rearranging your Monday night so that you can call in for a 9pm conference call with India? Sitting on the line for 10 minutes waiting for other people to join and then realizing that nobody else is going to because--duh!--it was Diwali and the whole India office was on holiday. *facepalm* Thank goodness TSCC wasn't on last night, or I would have been even more annoyed with myself.
And on the subject of both TSCC and silver linings, the bad economy might have helped Fox decide to pick up TSCC for a full season rather than do an advertising give-back. "Once a show is canceled or moved, advertisers have the option of getting their investment back. So even if a drama series is pulling a meager rating, why risk having to resell a time period?" Whatever the reason, I'll take it.
* * * * *
Babylon 5 3.11 - "Ceremonies of Light and Dark"
Hooray for fallout! The Night Watch aren't going quietly; like most true believers, the holdouts think the stakes are too high to give up without a fight, and welcome the opportunity to prove their devotion to the cause. And in taking Delenn hostage, they are acknowledging that they are dealing with an outside alliance now: they don't just have to sway Sheridan, they also have to convince the Minbari captains to pull out. And Sheridan can't tell the Minbari captains to pull out; it's their decision. What has replaced the Earth-based hierarchy of command on the station is much more diffuse; more than ever, Sheridan seems to be concerned with ruling by consensus and getting the buy-in from affected parties. The new uniforms are significant, but so is the way he circulates in the Zocalo at the beginning of the episode, trying to project a reassuring presence
Despite all of the trouble he's caused, despite the fact that Londo gave the Shadows their first opening, at least now he's able to see that the Centauri have stretched themselves too thin in reaction to their sudden and improbable success. Some things are too good to be true. Even more importantly, though, Londo is finally doing something to stop Refa, even at this late point; the poison is suitably subtle and Byzantine, a court maneuver, more focused than an assassination. Oh Londo.
I have some mixed feelings about the romance between Delenn and Sheridan, because I like it in theory, but I often have to watch parts of it through my hands in execution. It's just so anvilly. But she wants him, enough to take a knife for him; and he admires her, and she deserves that admiration. And the rebirth ceremony at the end, the confessions, were just lovely. (As was the ultimate list of participants. Londo and G'Kar both refused; Londo doesn't want forgiveness, especially if it means confessing, and G'Kar is still too absorbed in his people's fight--and its latest manifestation, his security work on the station--to be able to see beyond it.)
Let us not speak of the allegedly wacky hijinks with the artificial intelligence. At least it resulted from the very realistic need to reset the station computers to lock out Earth. It's another part of the fallout: resetting the protocols, shifting the command structure, reforging the relationships.
Babylon 5 3.12 - "Sic Transit Vir"
In some ways, this episode was all about how Vir is right and Londo is wrong. Londo counseled him to fortify established stereotypes in his reports to the Emperor; but what the Emperor really wants--what Vir thought was the point of the reports in the first place--is actual intelligence. And Londo sees Vir's position as a stepping stone to greater things, and as a reflection on his honor; Vir sees it as a way of mitigating the damage his people are doing by smuggling as many Narn as possible off their homeworld. Oh Vir. It's not his fault his fiancee is a monster and a war criminal; she's doing exactly what's expected of her, helping her father in his work for the advancement of the Centauri Empire. And marrying her would be exactly what Londo and everyone else expects of him, and keep the wheels moving. He should keep listening to his instincts, and stop listening to Londo; at this point, Londo's disappointment is a mark of distinction, a sign of doing something right, as sad as that is.
* * * * *
So far, I'm getting a kick out of The X-Files. The characters are delightful, and the monsters-of-the-week are effectively creepy. And the mytharc doesn't exist! LALALALALA.
The X-Files 1.03 - "Squeeze"
* Aiiieeeee! Eyes! Eyes watching from the storm drain!
* Aiiieeeee! Hands! Hands in the air vents!
* AIIIEEEEE! Baby-faced Donal Logue!
* I pretty much adore the way they're handling Mulder's reputation at this point. Colton teases Scully about working for Spooky Mulder, but he also approaches her (albeit through strange side-passages and back doors) for help when he has a strange case. Even better, Mulder is totally aware that people look askance at him, and instead of putting Colton at ease, he deliberately mocks his unspoken assumptions. "Do you know what liver and onions goes for in the Reticulan galaxy?" Hee!
* Also neat: the way Scully doesn't necessarily put much faith in Mulder's wilder conjectures, but she doesn't like the way the other FBI men dismiss him out of hand, because she knows he does look at evidence. He has a reason for thinking Tooms is the guy, beyond a squirrelly reading of the polygraph: fingerprints.
* Scully is much braver than I am, because my first instinct when confronted with a hole that a possibly mutant/inhuman killer uses to climb through the walls would not be to whip out my flashlight and gun and jump right in.
* Aiiieeeee! A nest! A nest that SMELLS LIKE BILE! And just when I was thinking "don't put your hand in the nest goo, Mulder!" he realizes it was a bad idea. "Is there any way I can get it off my fingers quickly without betraying my cool exterior?" No, no there is not.
* Ye olde attacke on the woman getting ready for a bath was mostly salvaged by the fact that Scully fought like hell.
* Oh yeah, Tooms totally squeezed out of the tray hatch on his cell door five seconds after the credits rolled.
The X-Files 1.04 - "Conduit"
* So... I'm starting to sense that Mulder has some issues around the disappearance of his sister.
* The case is ripped from a tabloid headline, and Mulder's obviously making a connection to what happened to his sister--and yet Scully gets pulled in, because even she has to admit that it's too much of a coincidence that the mother was one of the girl scouts who reported an earlier sighting.
* Interesting: when the mother asks Mulder directly if he thinks "they" took her daughter, he doesn't answer her. He knows what he thinks, but he doesn't seem to be sure enough himself to be able to give that confirmation to someone else who's hurting and looking for answers. Oh Mulder.
* Also interesting: Mulder clearly can't press people to run tests and fast-track his work because it's high-priority, so he uses his charm and bribes them with football tickets instead.
* Scully has much more faith in government institutions to want the best outcome, and to impartially work for truth, than Mulder does. Mulder was shielding Kevin from the NSA; Scully turned him over, because of course they should investigate, and act as they think appropriate, for the sake of national security. I like that the outcome of her actions wasn't exactly a disaster, but that it was creepy and futile enough to make her maybe make a different decision in the future.
* That's a nice piece of victim-blaming there, Local Sheriff. Why yes, there is no point in investigating, since Ruby was a party girl and a slut, and it was only a matter of time before something terrible happened to her.
* Uh, the last time I checked, you can't get charged with perjury for lying during an interrogation.
* Oh, the look on Mulder's face when it became clear that Ruby's mother wasn't going to let her tell her story: half resignation, half frustration. It's probably something that he hears a lot, and the mother's not wrong that it will avoid a lot of trouble, and Mulder's not wrong that living in silence won't make it go away.
The X-Files 1.05 - "The Jersey Devil"
* Hey, it's Dr. Lee from SG-1! Or rather, it was Dr. Lee--until he got EATEN.
* And in a Vancouver Actor Bingo trifecta of some sort, the coroner is Stacey Monroe, the poor man's Sam Carter from "Wormhole X-Treme," who was also Sergeant Hadrian on BSG (and, although it embarrasses me to admit that I know this--I gave the pilot a try, OKAY--Flash Gordon's mom).
* Heh. Scully knows Mulder well enough to know he'd be interested in a story of human cannibalism in New Jersey, but not well enough to realize he'll instantly put it together with obscure facts from an X-file and go haring off after the latest monster.
* Even better, when Scully tells Mulder she can't stay and chase after Bigfoot because she needs to be back in DC for her godson's birthday, he gets this hilariously perplexed look on his face, like he's thinking, "What is this social and family life thing you're talking about? I hear the words, but I don't understand what you're saying."
* "He's obsessed with his work" is certainly a very diplomatic way of explaining why Mulder isn't good boyfriend material, Dana. But it does mean you get to give him unlimited crap when you bail him out of the drunk tank, so.
* Mulder's really rather good at getting people to tell him their weird stories. That seems to be especially true with people who are marginalized--children, or the homeless guy in this episode--and don't expect anyone to listen to them or take them seriously, but he also gets the park ranger who saw a weird man once and doesn't want to lose his pension to open up. That trustworthiness seems to be part and parcel with the way he takes things on his own terms--like thinking of the creatures they're hunting as hunters, not murderers.
* Scully takes it really well when Mulder interrupts her date to tell her that Bigfoot has boobs. My suspicion that she's just not that into Rob are confirmed when she turns down a second date to go to the Smithsonean with Mulder. Unanswered questions and Mulder's brooding are probably more fun, and before she knows it, she too will be wondering what that social life thing is and why people keep talking about it.
The X-Files 1.06 - "Shadows"
* There's some nice misdirection in this episode. It looks like Lauren has uncontrollable psychokinetic powers, and when Mulder points out that it's either that or a poltergeist, it looks like a joke. But it is a poltergeist! Good call, Mulder.
* Hey, it's Elosha! Who was also on SG-1. I know this is going to get repetitive, but EVERYONE was on SG-1, and I feel compelled to call it when I see it. Oh Canada, you look so big from the outside.
* The film developing and microfilm research seem so antiquated. On the other hand, they seem to be using primitive cell phones.
* Even better misdirection: the silent, unresponsive agents aren't covering up some kind of spooky doings; they're trying to salvage their investigation of a terrorist cell. (A terrorist cell that seems quaintly limited and naive in its operations, in retrospect; as clunky and harmless and from another era as the microfilm machines.)
* Mulder wants to observe psychokinetic phenomena; Scully wants to nail a corrupt defense contractor who was selling parts to terrorists. Priorities!
* The fact that Howard keeps watch over Lauren, and that she really can't do anything to stop him, makes for a deeply ambiguous and creepy ending.
* * * * *
PSAs! (Or, at least, that's the general theme.)
Whatever you do, do not read this important pet costume PSA at work, or your co-workers will ask you why you are laughing so hard you're crying. Not that I'd know from personal experience. *cough*
Speaking of PSAs, as seen everywhere, Fandom History's new bot is scraping journals that belong to fannish communities and adding entries to the Fandom History wiki; it's only scraping journals that aren't minimized for inclusion in search engines.
And finally, Penzey's is opening a store in Menlo Park! Which is, alas, probably still far enough that I'll continue to order online, but much closer than Minneapolis, or wherever it is they're based.
And on the subject of both TSCC and silver linings, the bad economy might have helped Fox decide to pick up TSCC for a full season rather than do an advertising give-back. "Once a show is canceled or moved, advertisers have the option of getting their investment back. So even if a drama series is pulling a meager rating, why risk having to resell a time period?" Whatever the reason, I'll take it.
* * * * *
Babylon 5 3.11 - "Ceremonies of Light and Dark"
Hooray for fallout! The Night Watch aren't going quietly; like most true believers, the holdouts think the stakes are too high to give up without a fight, and welcome the opportunity to prove their devotion to the cause. And in taking Delenn hostage, they are acknowledging that they are dealing with an outside alliance now: they don't just have to sway Sheridan, they also have to convince the Minbari captains to pull out. And Sheridan can't tell the Minbari captains to pull out; it's their decision. What has replaced the Earth-based hierarchy of command on the station is much more diffuse; more than ever, Sheridan seems to be concerned with ruling by consensus and getting the buy-in from affected parties. The new uniforms are significant, but so is the way he circulates in the Zocalo at the beginning of the episode, trying to project a reassuring presence
Despite all of the trouble he's caused, despite the fact that Londo gave the Shadows their first opening, at least now he's able to see that the Centauri have stretched themselves too thin in reaction to their sudden and improbable success. Some things are too good to be true. Even more importantly, though, Londo is finally doing something to stop Refa, even at this late point; the poison is suitably subtle and Byzantine, a court maneuver, more focused than an assassination. Oh Londo.
I have some mixed feelings about the romance between Delenn and Sheridan, because I like it in theory, but I often have to watch parts of it through my hands in execution. It's just so anvilly. But she wants him, enough to take a knife for him; and he admires her, and she deserves that admiration. And the rebirth ceremony at the end, the confessions, were just lovely. (As was the ultimate list of participants. Londo and G'Kar both refused; Londo doesn't want forgiveness, especially if it means confessing, and G'Kar is still too absorbed in his people's fight--and its latest manifestation, his security work on the station--to be able to see beyond it.)
Let us not speak of the allegedly wacky hijinks with the artificial intelligence. At least it resulted from the very realistic need to reset the station computers to lock out Earth. It's another part of the fallout: resetting the protocols, shifting the command structure, reforging the relationships.
Babylon 5 3.12 - "Sic Transit Vir"
In some ways, this episode was all about how Vir is right and Londo is wrong. Londo counseled him to fortify established stereotypes in his reports to the Emperor; but what the Emperor really wants--what Vir thought was the point of the reports in the first place--is actual intelligence. And Londo sees Vir's position as a stepping stone to greater things, and as a reflection on his honor; Vir sees it as a way of mitigating the damage his people are doing by smuggling as many Narn as possible off their homeworld. Oh Vir. It's not his fault his fiancee is a monster and a war criminal; she's doing exactly what's expected of her, helping her father in his work for the advancement of the Centauri Empire. And marrying her would be exactly what Londo and everyone else expects of him, and keep the wheels moving. He should keep listening to his instincts, and stop listening to Londo; at this point, Londo's disappointment is a mark of distinction, a sign of doing something right, as sad as that is.
* * * * *
So far, I'm getting a kick out of The X-Files. The characters are delightful, and the monsters-of-the-week are effectively creepy. And the mytharc doesn't exist! LALALALALA.
The X-Files 1.03 - "Squeeze"
* Aiiieeeee! Eyes! Eyes watching from the storm drain!
* Aiiieeeee! Hands! Hands in the air vents!
* AIIIEEEEE! Baby-faced Donal Logue!
* I pretty much adore the way they're handling Mulder's reputation at this point. Colton teases Scully about working for Spooky Mulder, but he also approaches her (albeit through strange side-passages and back doors) for help when he has a strange case. Even better, Mulder is totally aware that people look askance at him, and instead of putting Colton at ease, he deliberately mocks his unspoken assumptions. "Do you know what liver and onions goes for in the Reticulan galaxy?" Hee!
* Also neat: the way Scully doesn't necessarily put much faith in Mulder's wilder conjectures, but she doesn't like the way the other FBI men dismiss him out of hand, because she knows he does look at evidence. He has a reason for thinking Tooms is the guy, beyond a squirrelly reading of the polygraph: fingerprints.
* Scully is much braver than I am, because my first instinct when confronted with a hole that a possibly mutant/inhuman killer uses to climb through the walls would not be to whip out my flashlight and gun and jump right in.
* Aiiieeeee! A nest! A nest that SMELLS LIKE BILE! And just when I was thinking "don't put your hand in the nest goo, Mulder!" he realizes it was a bad idea. "Is there any way I can get it off my fingers quickly without betraying my cool exterior?" No, no there is not.
* Ye olde attacke on the woman getting ready for a bath was mostly salvaged by the fact that Scully fought like hell.
* Oh yeah, Tooms totally squeezed out of the tray hatch on his cell door five seconds after the credits rolled.
The X-Files 1.04 - "Conduit"
* So... I'm starting to sense that Mulder has some issues around the disappearance of his sister.
* The case is ripped from a tabloid headline, and Mulder's obviously making a connection to what happened to his sister--and yet Scully gets pulled in, because even she has to admit that it's too much of a coincidence that the mother was one of the girl scouts who reported an earlier sighting.
* Interesting: when the mother asks Mulder directly if he thinks "they" took her daughter, he doesn't answer her. He knows what he thinks, but he doesn't seem to be sure enough himself to be able to give that confirmation to someone else who's hurting and looking for answers. Oh Mulder.
* Also interesting: Mulder clearly can't press people to run tests and fast-track his work because it's high-priority, so he uses his charm and bribes them with football tickets instead.
* Scully has much more faith in government institutions to want the best outcome, and to impartially work for truth, than Mulder does. Mulder was shielding Kevin from the NSA; Scully turned him over, because of course they should investigate, and act as they think appropriate, for the sake of national security. I like that the outcome of her actions wasn't exactly a disaster, but that it was creepy and futile enough to make her maybe make a different decision in the future.
* That's a nice piece of victim-blaming there, Local Sheriff. Why yes, there is no point in investigating, since Ruby was a party girl and a slut, and it was only a matter of time before something terrible happened to her.
* Uh, the last time I checked, you can't get charged with perjury for lying during an interrogation.
* Oh, the look on Mulder's face when it became clear that Ruby's mother wasn't going to let her tell her story: half resignation, half frustration. It's probably something that he hears a lot, and the mother's not wrong that it will avoid a lot of trouble, and Mulder's not wrong that living in silence won't make it go away.
The X-Files 1.05 - "The Jersey Devil"
* Hey, it's Dr. Lee from SG-1! Or rather, it was Dr. Lee--until he got EATEN.
* And in a Vancouver Actor Bingo trifecta of some sort, the coroner is Stacey Monroe, the poor man's Sam Carter from "Wormhole X-Treme," who was also Sergeant Hadrian on BSG (and, although it embarrasses me to admit that I know this--I gave the pilot a try, OKAY--Flash Gordon's mom).
* Heh. Scully knows Mulder well enough to know he'd be interested in a story of human cannibalism in New Jersey, but not well enough to realize he'll instantly put it together with obscure facts from an X-file and go haring off after the latest monster.
* Even better, when Scully tells Mulder she can't stay and chase after Bigfoot because she needs to be back in DC for her godson's birthday, he gets this hilariously perplexed look on his face, like he's thinking, "What is this social and family life thing you're talking about? I hear the words, but I don't understand what you're saying."
* "He's obsessed with his work" is certainly a very diplomatic way of explaining why Mulder isn't good boyfriend material, Dana. But it does mean you get to give him unlimited crap when you bail him out of the drunk tank, so.
* Mulder's really rather good at getting people to tell him their weird stories. That seems to be especially true with people who are marginalized--children, or the homeless guy in this episode--and don't expect anyone to listen to them or take them seriously, but he also gets the park ranger who saw a weird man once and doesn't want to lose his pension to open up. That trustworthiness seems to be part and parcel with the way he takes things on his own terms--like thinking of the creatures they're hunting as hunters, not murderers.
* Scully takes it really well when Mulder interrupts her date to tell her that Bigfoot has boobs. My suspicion that she's just not that into Rob are confirmed when she turns down a second date to go to the Smithsonean with Mulder. Unanswered questions and Mulder's brooding are probably more fun, and before she knows it, she too will be wondering what that social life thing is and why people keep talking about it.
The X-Files 1.06 - "Shadows"
* There's some nice misdirection in this episode. It looks like Lauren has uncontrollable psychokinetic powers, and when Mulder points out that it's either that or a poltergeist, it looks like a joke. But it is a poltergeist! Good call, Mulder.
* Hey, it's Elosha! Who was also on SG-1. I know this is going to get repetitive, but EVERYONE was on SG-1, and I feel compelled to call it when I see it. Oh Canada, you look so big from the outside.
* The film developing and microfilm research seem so antiquated. On the other hand, they seem to be using primitive cell phones.
* Even better misdirection: the silent, unresponsive agents aren't covering up some kind of spooky doings; they're trying to salvage their investigation of a terrorist cell. (A terrorist cell that seems quaintly limited and naive in its operations, in retrospect; as clunky and harmless and from another era as the microfilm machines.)
* Mulder wants to observe psychokinetic phenomena; Scully wants to nail a corrupt defense contractor who was selling parts to terrorists. Priorities!
* The fact that Howard keeps watch over Lauren, and that she really can't do anything to stop him, makes for a deeply ambiguous and creepy ending.
* * * * *
PSAs! (Or, at least, that's the general theme.)
Whatever you do, do not read this important pet costume PSA at work, or your co-workers will ask you why you are laughing so hard you're crying. Not that I'd know from personal experience. *cough*
Speaking of PSAs, as seen everywhere, Fandom History's new bot is scraping journals that belong to fannish communities and adding entries to the Fandom History wiki; it's only scraping journals that aren't minimized for inclusion in search engines.
And finally, Penzey's is opening a store in Menlo Park! Which is, alas, probably still far enough that I'll continue to order online, but much closer than Minneapolis, or wherever it is they're based.