Daredevil Reborn .03: continues to be captivating. It also ad me muse on how Netflix wildly varied with its presentation of the fictional NYPD. ( Spoilery musings ensue. )


Wheel of Time 3.01 - 3.03: Still haven't read the books, still am very entertained and pleased by the show. BTW, Elayne being called Elayne didn't register with me as Arthurian last season, but the last episode giving her brothers Gwaine and Galahand and a mother Morgause, just spelled a bit differently but certainly sounding like these names, had me snort. And hellow, awesome actress from The Expanse as Elaida! Now I'm listening to a spoilerfree for newbies (like me) commentary podcast which I like but which briefly took me out of my enjoyment when the host said there were only two fictional characters he hated, and one cwas a character introduced in this episode, and the other was Gaeta from Battlestar Galactica. Why would anyone hate Gaeta? #JusticeforGaeta !

Lastly: there is now a German version of Ghosts. (Thanks to kathyh, I'm familiar with the British original but not the US version.) I's a pretty successful adaptation, and like the reviewer below, I'm amused and impressed at some of the choices specific to these version that took into account you can't literally do the same thing in a German context. (For example, making the military ghost NOT a 20th century German colonel, either WWI or WWII, for all the obvious reasons but a Roman soldier instead, and making the Pat the male boyscout character instead a female very early 1980s earnest idealist type. I fully expect Svenja to have been on all the anti nuclear power demonstrations and at Wackersdorf.) See also this review:

I got a new ipad for my birthday, and with that new ipad came three free months of Apple + tv. I wouldn't have subscribed on my own - I really have enough streaming services to justify to my budget - , but three free months, why not, and thus I had the chance to marathon Foundation, a tv series loosely based on Isaac Asimov's novels. It was go created by Josh Friedman by Sarah Connor Chronicles fame, Jane Espenson (from Buffy and BSG) is among the producers and scriptwriters, and Bear McCreary (from BSG and Black Sails) wrote the drop dead gorgeous music. All of which got my attention.

Now I have read the novels, but that was decades ago, literally when I was a teenager, I never reread them (as opposed to many of Asimov's robot stories, which I thus remember much better), and I only remember bits and pieces, not nearly enough to get emotionally invested in which I still could tell had to be massive changes. (For a start, lots more female characters in main roles having agenda and doing the talking than is common in good old Isaac's stories, the glorious Susan Calvin excepted.) This probably made me the ideal audience. All in all, I was impressed and increasingly hooked by the show. It has its bumpy early installment try out hits and misses in the first season, but by the second season you can tell the writers have figured out what works and what still needed improvement and keep on delivering great stuff. (BTW, I would NOT reccommend you start with the second season, though, and not just because I'm a completist by nature. The second season builds on what has happened in the first.) Also, the actors are great. Both the ones I already knew like Lee Pace (who gets to play several variations of a character due to the concept of cloning and has fight scenes in the nude at least once per season) and the ones that were new to me, like Laura Brin who plays Demerzel (aka what happens when the creator of Cameron and Catherine and John Henry from Sarah Connor Chronicles has a go at an Asimov material), or the actress playing Constant in the second season, are just outstanding. Incidentally, two of the main characters in both seasons are black women, and s2 adds two more poc women to the mix; I'm pretty sure Gaal and Salvor, if they existed - I think Gaal did, but I could be misrenembering? - were white men in the books. Go show, say I. Though Gaal's storyline in s1 was after a strong start left meandering and one of those elements in need of improvement, which definitely came in s2, more about this later. Season 2 also offers Ben Daniels, last seen by me as one of the two leads in the tv Exorcist, and he's both badass and gay in his Foundation role as well.

What I did remember from those decades ago was the basic premise both books and tv show share: the concept of "Psychohistory", mathemaqtician Hari Seldon using said craft to predict the Galactic Empire he lives in is about to fall and will be suceeded by 30 000 years or more by bloody chaos unless active measures are taken (including but not limited to the Foundation of the title) that will limit the decline and fall time to a thousand years. There's an obvious Edward Gibbon interpretation of the titular Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire influence here along with with some Byzantium in the way said Empire is depicted, along with questions as to whether or not the future can be changed or is set in stone, the weight of individual choices vs the big picture, the concept of freedom and so forth.

Foundation, the tv series, took the late Roman/Byzantines in Space idea and ran with it, but far more inventively than other space Romans I've watched. Instead of your regular imperial dynasty (which it is in the novels, I think), the "genetic dynasty" in the show always consists of a trio of clones based on its founder, Cleon I., in various stages of his life - Brother Dawn (child and young man up to his early 20), Brother Day (the ruling Emperor in his 30s and 40s, and that's where multiple Lee Pace performances come in, naked or otherwise) and Brother Dusk (50s, 60s, 70s, then he "ascends" i.e. dies and a new baby brother Dawn is "birthed" while the previous Dawn and Day are promoted to Day and Dusk, respectively. This is supposed to ensure there's never a succession conflict and is also a great symbol for the stagnation Seldon diagnoses, because while the various clones of Cleon do have some differences in their personalities (and these are a gift for actors), they raise each other and thus the same type of decisions keep being made. Also raising them, supporting them and being the all important political advisor to boot: Demerzel, the last (to everyone's knowledge, including her own) surviving human-looking robot, who was already millennia of years old when the Genetic dynasty started. (We get some dialogue in both seasons about the millennia ago "Robotic Wars", but no details. Demerzel's personal backstory is revealed in fragments, with the biggest reveal happening in the last but one season episode which recontextualizes a lot of previous events, but there's still a lot more, given her age. (She might be the oldest sentient person in the galaxy at this point, and she's definitely a person.) (If you know your Asiimov Robotic Laws, you'll mutter "but what about..." at certain plot points in s1; s2 does bring them up and addresses what altered for Demerzel re: that.) Demerzel's relationships with the Cleons and theirs with her is intense and screwed up on several levels, and as I said, and the question of free will and programming for both machine and human is very much central to it. As for the imperial clones, of whom we meet various incarnations due to s1 having two time jumps and s2 another one right at the start, they work better as variations of the same basic potential and genetic make-up changed through circumstances into separate personalities than anything I've seen since Orphan Black. (BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if the decision to make them a triad at different ages wasn't on a Doylist level also made to ensure no one actor had to do all those scenes because while Tatiana Maslany succeeded gloriously, this is a A LOT of work.) Some are sympathetic, some are despicable, some in between, but you always get where they're coming from - and the sheer deformity which comes by inahabiting the all powerful position of Empire is never ignored.

And those are "just" the show's antagonists.

(The Imperial splendor on Trantor is both where part of the show's budget clearly went and Byzantine-influenced more than by Romans, with the colourful murals being also plot points in both seasons.)

On the heroic side of things, we have Gaal, mathematical prodigy from a deeply science loathing planet, Salvor, of the first generation born Terminus, the planet where Seldon's followers were settling on, who in the first seaosn is the show's stoic action heroine, Salvor's parents who are part of the original exiles, Salvor's boyfriend... and the late, or is he, Hari Seldon, whose theory kicks off the plot. Hari Seldon in the novels as far as I recall dies very early on and thereafter occasionally shows up as a holographic recording. This isn't quite what happens on the show, to put it as unspoilery as possible. He's also a lot more morally ambiguous than the nice old man figure I dimly recalled. Which is guessable from the fact they hired Jared Harris to play him. ( Definitely spoilery comments about the show's Hari Seldon ensueing. )

S2 added Constant and Poly (Poly we've seen as a small boy in s1 and he's an old man in s2), and Constant, a cheerful cleric with an earthy fondness for life and a great sense of humor, is probably my favourite new s2 character, despite fierce competition by Space!Belisarius, err, General Bel Rios, the Ben Daniels character who comes with a husband he loves, Glawen, Queen Sarbeth and her trusty advisor the former courtesan Rue. (Rue has backstory with the current Dusk, Sarbeth has plans for the current Day.) And Hober, a trickster type from the fine tradition of characters claiming to look out only for themselves but finding themselves in the business of hero saving before they know it. The various storylines intersect and influence each other at different points, and where in s1 I thought the Clones-plus-Demerezel plotline worked better than the Foundation characters plot line(s) did, s2 changed that so I never was impatient to get back to palace scheming and power struggling but was rivetted by what everyone else whas doing as well, see above.

Perfect, the show is not. But it has definitely captured me, and I do hope it will get its third season to continue its tale. Both seasons wrap up the stories of their seasons-only characters, and there will of course be another time jump (as indicated by its teaser scene at the very end), but in addition to those characters surviving from season to season due to plot and circumstance (three or four so far, depending on how you count one of them), this is a show where cloning, digital copies and as of s2 ( something spoilery ) are all part of the worldbuilding, so they could potentially bring back other characters as well. Even if not, there hasn't been one the show didn't manage to make interesting for me so far, and I trust that will continue. And it is fantastic to look at, in general, not just Trantor. The "spacers", i.e. genetically manipulated humans needed by the current faster-then-light travelling ships, being a case in point, but also invidual worlds, like the desert world Brother Day and Demerzel visit in s1, or Gaal's watery home planet. (That her people chose to ignore science and let the ruination of the environment continue until the ocean overtook everything is a none too subtle dig at the present, but that water planet still looks great.)

...and did I mention you get Lee Pace doing everything from subtle reactions to scenery chewing with abandonment as various Space!Roman/Byzantine Emperors with no concept of personal space?

cahn asked m what other canons remind me of Babylon 5.

Wellll, B5 is pretty much sui generis, but its traces are in a few shows. There's the ill fated spin-off Crusade, of course, which unfortunately didn't get even a season, and was broadcast out of order, but I like it a lot. (Not true for most of the various B5 spin-off attempts in tv movie form.) I can't think of a better advertisement than Holy Grail, andraste's fabulous vid about it (which btw isn't spoiilery for B5, cahn) , so I'll just point anyone curious about Crusade there.

Then there's of course the other space station show, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Regardless of origin, both shows are pretty much their own thing, Lennier showing up in s6 of DS9 and the on screen "we're not some deep space franchise!" snark in s2 of B5 not withstanding. However, you can't tell me that the Prophets belatedly gaining the Pagh Wraiths as their arch nemesis wasn't directly inspired by the Vorlons and the Shadows. In which case: I like the B5 solution to that conflict better.

Lost was after B5 the next long term story/stories show I watched, and despite Damon Lindelof & Co. hailing from the Abrams school of writers (read: planned first season, thereafter improvisations which sometimes work and sometimes don't) , I thought they succeeded more than they failed, and I have still a great deal of fondness for Lost, which followed lots of interesting characters through the years, offered complicated relationships, some batshit (in the best sense) mythology, and could pull of B5's trick of letting characters not be stuck in the cliché roles they seem to fulfill when we first meet them. When Damon Lindelof two years ago produced the faszinating Watchmen tv series, which was one perfect season, was planned as one and did not want a sequel, my fannish fondness of old revived.

Lastly, there's the rebooted Battlestar Galactica. ST veteran Ron Moore and his fellow scribes did make the mistake of advertising that they had a long term space opera arc planned out a la JMS when they plainly did not and winged it instead, which caused considerable fannish ire, but as with Lost, I liked more of the improvised results than I disliked, and so I still have much fondness for BSG as well. And hey, I've written not one but two BSG/B5 crossovers for the Mlultiverse ficathon.

The other days

Once upon a time, when all things Star Trek were (mostly) the only game in town, the difference between space ship settings and space station settings seemed mostly amount to: a space ship setting lends itself more to episodic tv, meeting new characters and worlds every week, with the episodes being self contained and thus able to be watched in whatever order, whereas a space station setting favoured more intense and long time depiction of fewer (but detailed) cultures, when it came to the big picture, as well as ongoing relationship developments (when it came to the regular cast).

( Spoilers for all shows named in the tags look at that theory and find it lacking )

The other days

A happy and a sad one. Today is composer John Williams' birthday, and I can think of no better tribute than this A Capella rendition:




Sadly, it's also the day we learned Richard Hatch has died. I have no feelings about the original Battlestar Galactica one way or the other, but I thought he was excellent as Tom Zarek in the rebooted BSG, and if the writing in s4 simplified Zarek into one dimension, that wasn't Hatch's fault. Favourite Zarek memories: his debut in Bastille Day, of course, and each and every scene he subsequently had with Laura Roslin, especially during their uneasy team-ups in early s2, and early s3. Unsurprisingly, one of my few BSG stories is a missing scene from the Pegasus arc between Roslin and Zarek, Interlude. Hatch's willingness to embrace the new BSG and graciousness to old and new fans alike also contrasted sharply with the behavior the original Starbuck. From what I've read of him, he always struck me as a gentleman in the best sense of the word. Farewell, and thank you for one of the most interesting recurring characters in the new BSG,Mr. Hatch.

Looking back at BSG with some distance: a couple both remarkable for what they aren't and for what they are, and still very unusual in any fandom. Let's start with what they aren't which will make it clear what I'm getting at. In the original Battlestar Galactica, Baltar is an unambiguous megalomaniac villain, selling humanity out for power to the Cylons, who are just as unambiguously bad. There is no Six; there is the discreetly named Lucifer, who is most certainly not in love with Baltar.

( Spoilers for four seasons of reimangined Battlestar Galactica ensue )

December Talking Meme: The Other Days

1.) Dr. Who: Where might a body ahem The Christmas Invasion? My usual source is sadly otherwise occupied. And I so want to see Ten in action.

2.) Babylon 5: kangeiko has written a fantastic Centauri story. From a Brakiri pov, no less. ‘Tis good to be a fan these days.

3.) Alias and roleplaying: On the other hand, there are sneaky fellow fen like karabair working their evil wiles on you. She made me do this. Now, while I wait for the muse to be accepted – there is this challenge demanding a soundtrack for the life of one’s character. Does anyone have any suggestions for an Arvin Sloane soundtrack? A song for Emily, Jack, Sydney and Nadia each would be essential, and I think one for Irina should be there as well (from Sloane’s pov, remember, not from Jack’s). Rambaldi definitely will be represented by something from Gounoud’s Faust. *g*

4.) Expect a larger post about Angel (the character, not the show) one of these days. Recent discussions have inspired me.

5.) I'm green with envy that the Americans among you will get to see new BSG episodes starting with this Friday, but hope that my previous source will be generous again, which would mean so will I, with a few days in between.