Blood and Chrome
Like I said I would be, I'm back, having watched Blood and Chrome. Let put aside my being an insufferable and incorrigible BSG franchise fanboy (which means I'm bound to like almost anything it delivers). Objectively, it's a solid intro, but if they leave it at that, I don't think it carries much weight. It gives an interesting insight into the character of young Bill Adama (plus tidbits of backstory, like how he obtained the call sign "Husker").
But the story itself is pretty static (I'm not doing a spoiler cut on the assumption that only one person on my flist watches BSG and she's already seen this): a young hot-headed pilot who thinks he's better than everyone else gets taken down a peg or two after his seemingly quiet mission goes awry. So basically it's your average story of breaking in. In the end, Bill also notes in his letter to his father that this war isn't what he thought it was. My only response to that is: Well, duh, is any war?
For some reason, I couldn't shake off the parallels between this webseries and the latest reboot of Stark Trek. A cocky pilot? Check. An ice planet riddled with all kinds of scary traps? Check. A crazy bloke on the ice planet? Check. A fucked up first mission? Check. Even the shot of Bill looking out the window and seeing Galactica for the first time is reminiscent of Kirk seeing the Enterprise for the first time. I have to say, as a fan, I was exhilarated to see Galactica as a new ship, with no clear signs of falling apart. XPP
The visuals are nice but sometimes it reminds me of a computer game too much. The series is clearly expensive and well-designed, but it sort of lacks humanity that BSG had. Caprica was partly set in the V-world but all the computer stuff was done with far more style. I suppose time limit and severe focus on the mission is to blame in the case of Blood and Chrome.
Acting-wise, I don't think there was much acting. Bill did a good job, though it's still difficult to reconcile this kid with Admiral Adama, but it's the fault of the time skip. If we ever do get shown the actual development of his career and character, then I can bitch about OOCness.
If anything, he's on the cute side of hot, so who am I to complain? A little eye candy won't hurt. Not to mention, British. Now there's something to be proud of. ;)
The actress who played Beka seemed to severely overdo it most of the time. Or maybe I just didn't like the character. The accent was interesting though. Not to mention she actually had some sane ideas about ending the war.
Coker was great and his chemistry with Bill is amazing. I want more of these two.
And of course, the best surprise ever: a Tricia Helfer cameo and her iconic "Are you alive?" question. I feel that more could be done with Beka and the Cylons, but once again, time limit.
I disliked the Bill/Beka moment intensely. Not because, as shaitanah has pointed out, I believe like some fans do that Bill belongs with Roslin, but because it came out of nowhere and it's really very banal to establish a man's naivete via seduction. It's especially annoying when a character gets hurt by another character's betrayal because they'd slept together. So what? Is sex automatically linked to implicit trust or something? To be fair, I liked it that Beka didn't explicitly try to seduce him and even told him he would regret it. I bet he did. XPP But only after he let his prick do all the thinking. (Speaking of that, Coker's reaction was priceless: I think I do ship them.)
The non-military visuals were quite beautiful: Coker in the abandoned hotel playing the piano under the falling snow, the Cylon computer, the Cylon played by Tricia Helfer, Galactica in space, etc. The score was awesome, especially the final piece. Now I can't find it anywhere. Damn. XPP
I appreciated some references not just to BSG but to Caprica also: Adama's Tauron background, Ha'la'tha, Graystone Industries, holobands, Joseph the defence attorney, etc. And of course, the view of what I can only assume is Caprica-city:
All in all, it was a pleasure to see the familiar sights and feel the familiar atmosphere: thrilling but not downright bleak since the Colonies are still there and no word of the genocide just yet. It's a nice bridge between Caprica and BSG, but it still leaves a lot to be told and I do hope they are planning to tell it.
But the story itself is pretty static (I'm not doing a spoiler cut on the assumption that only one person on my flist watches BSG and she's already seen this): a young hot-headed pilot who thinks he's better than everyone else gets taken down a peg or two after his seemingly quiet mission goes awry. So basically it's your average story of breaking in. In the end, Bill also notes in his letter to his father that this war isn't what he thought it was. My only response to that is: Well, duh, is any war?
For some reason, I couldn't shake off the parallels between this webseries and the latest reboot of Stark Trek. A cocky pilot? Check. An ice planet riddled with all kinds of scary traps? Check. A crazy bloke on the ice planet? Check. A fucked up first mission? Check. Even the shot of Bill looking out the window and seeing Galactica for the first time is reminiscent of Kirk seeing the Enterprise for the first time. I have to say, as a fan, I was exhilarated to see Galactica as a new ship, with no clear signs of falling apart. XPP
The visuals are nice but sometimes it reminds me of a computer game too much. The series is clearly expensive and well-designed, but it sort of lacks humanity that BSG had. Caprica was partly set in the V-world but all the computer stuff was done with far more style. I suppose time limit and severe focus on the mission is to blame in the case of Blood and Chrome.
Acting-wise, I don't think there was much acting. Bill did a good job, though it's still difficult to reconcile this kid with Admiral Adama, but it's the fault of the time skip. If we ever do get shown the actual development of his career and character, then I can bitch about OOCness.
If anything, he's on the cute side of hot, so who am I to complain? A little eye candy won't hurt. Not to mention, British. Now there's something to be proud of. ;)
The actress who played Beka seemed to severely overdo it most of the time. Or maybe I just didn't like the character. The accent was interesting though. Not to mention she actually had some sane ideas about ending the war.
Coker was great and his chemistry with Bill is amazing. I want more of these two.
And of course, the best surprise ever: a Tricia Helfer cameo and her iconic "Are you alive?" question. I feel that more could be done with Beka and the Cylons, but once again, time limit.
I disliked the Bill/Beka moment intensely. Not because, as shaitanah has pointed out, I believe like some fans do that Bill belongs with Roslin, but because it came out of nowhere and it's really very banal to establish a man's naivete via seduction. It's especially annoying when a character gets hurt by another character's betrayal because they'd slept together. So what? Is sex automatically linked to implicit trust or something? To be fair, I liked it that Beka didn't explicitly try to seduce him and even told him he would regret it. I bet he did. XPP But only after he let his prick do all the thinking. (Speaking of that, Coker's reaction was priceless: I think I do ship them.)
The non-military visuals were quite beautiful: Coker in the abandoned hotel playing the piano under the falling snow, the Cylon computer, the Cylon played by Tricia Helfer, Galactica in space, etc. The score was awesome, especially the final piece. Now I can't find it anywhere. Damn. XPP
I appreciated some references not just to BSG but to Caprica also: Adama's Tauron background, Ha'la'tha, Graystone Industries, holobands, Joseph the defence attorney, etc. And of course, the view of what I can only assume is Caprica-city:
All in all, it was a pleasure to see the familiar sights and feel the familiar atmosphere: thrilling but not downright bleak since the Colonies are still there and no word of the genocide just yet. It's a nice bridge between Caprica and BSG, but it still leaves a lot to be told and I do hope they are planning to tell it.