tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68062672024-03-13T15:44:32.023-05:00Big Orange MichaelRandom thoughts of a Tennessee fan on life, sports and more TV shows than any one person should be allowed to watch.Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.comBlogger2848125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-17553045741386594772022-11-09T12:44:00.004-06:002022-11-09T12:44:40.000-06:00TV Round-Up: Quantum Leap, "Stand by Ben" <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_T7eOld4tu_O3AbSfIUslRx11WRWLYd_gbWK-x8ejGNOZ4NLWngCSzPHmDVL4YSlbUEZwdWIdQGzR88nAegnFthDc8xvp9-PvBdeKNo-6M6vgzxMI2GJ1mRbhurgufWp2GlN_52a3Ka8eBTZM8QwfEruNJILQ8fp2AzMpIvRprtvGEUj8J0/s1000/breakfast-club-on-the-run-quantum-leap-s1e8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1000" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_T7eOld4tu_O3AbSfIUslRx11WRWLYd_gbWK-x8ejGNOZ4NLWngCSzPHmDVL4YSlbUEZwdWIdQGzR88nAegnFthDc8xvp9-PvBdeKNo-6M6vgzxMI2GJ1mRbhurgufWp2GlN_52a3Ka8eBTZM8QwfEruNJILQ8fp2AzMpIvRprtvGEUj8J0/s320/breakfast-club-on-the-run-quantum-leap-s1e8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px;">One of the running threads of the original</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><em style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Quantum Leap</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px;">was the long-standing friendship between Sam and Al and the lengths that each side would go to for the other. Early on, Al was established as a guy willing to bend or break the rules of time travel for his friend Sam – providing details on where to find Donna, helping Sam save his brother, and telling Sam he had a brother named Tom. Sam was a bit more of a stickler when it came to the rules, as witnessed in “MIA” when he chastises Al for not researching fully the reason for Sam’s leap and instead desperately working to get Sam to sabotage Beth’s new relationship.</span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Over the course of five seasons, we saw Sam slowly begin to realize that his mission wasn’t only to put right wrongs in the lives of people he didn’t know, but also to change his friend’s life for the better. This beautifully hits home when Sam leaps to the final moments of “MIA” as himself and asks Beth to wait for Al. The reveal is that Sam succeeds because he’s finally willing to bend the rules to help his friend. The cost is Sam never returns home.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s one of the reasons that the original <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Quantum Leap</em> still resonates with me today.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s also why I’m slowly becoming frustrated with this new version of the show.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As good as the show is at giving us compelling, character-driven stories in the past, it is completely dropping the ball when it comes to the future storylines and the implications they have on Ben’s journey and his decision to start leaping through time.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This week was another example of this. Ben leaps into a teenager, who with three other teens has escaped a deprogramming camp in 1996. Ben helps them survive and turns the tables on the camp administrators. It’s all solid enough and the story hits the right emotional beats.<span id="more-7436" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the other side, it’s drug down by the future team scrambling to find and stop Janice.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="NUP_199126_00154" class="wp-image-7439 alignleft" data-attachment-id="7439" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="NUP_199126_00154" data-large-file="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/nup_199126_00154.webp?w=500" data-medium-file="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/nup_199126_00154.webp?w=300" data-orig-file="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/nup_199126_00154.webp" data-orig-size="1000,667" data-permalink="https://nashvillebookworm.wordpress.com/2022/11/09/tv-round-up-quantum-leap-stand-by-ben/nup_199126_00154/" height="203" loading="lazy" scale="1.5" src="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/nup_199126_00154.webp?w=305&h=203" srcset="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/nup_199126_00154.webp?w=305&h=203&zoom=2 1.5x" style="display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-right: 7px; max-width: 100%;" width="305" />Last week, we saw Janice show up and tell Ben she knew why he was leaping. This week, Ben finally recalls why he’s traveling – though in typical new show fashion, it happens thirty seconds before the Leap, teasing the audience into coming back next week for more details. This is after we sit through Janice attacking the project and locking everyone down while she escapes.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As good as the scene with Magic telling about Sam leaping into him was, the rest of the future scenes are starting to become a bit repetitive for this fan. We can’t get into Ziggy because Janice is doing something and then we wring our hands a bit that she’s one step ahead of us. Outside of Magic’s character moment, every other character moment feels forced – up to and including Jen’s dad thread from this week. After being shoe-horned in last week, this one just feels like it’s going from a textbook of cliched dramatic tension 101.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I don’t think it’s necessarily helped that by limiting Ziggy, you’re limiting the usefulness of Addison to Ben. Recall that Al could center on other people and come up with ways to expedite things for Sam in multiple episodes – something that Addison has yet to do. I feel like the producers are overlooking a vital detail to help Ben solve problems or overcome obstacles. In this week’s case, it’s trying to move ahead to find the cabin or possibly using some trick to frighten the wolves away since I believe it was established that Al could be seen by young kids and animals. (Or you can say that and thus, eliminate the wolf threat).</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The reveal that comes in the final moments though, has me wondering.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So, Ben leaped to save Allison somehow. From what? What is lurking in her past that needs fixing? Will this take her away from him and the project? Or is there some looming threat to her that he has to somehow fix the series of events leading up to her fate?</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The series seems to be taking a page from the <i>X-Files</i> in the “give them one answer but them ask eight more questions.” But it was a bit more effective there because I was more invested in the characters.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At this point, I like Ben and they’ve done a good job getting us invested in him. The nod to one of his teen colleagues losing their mom dovetails well with what we learned a few weeks ago. But, honestly, I’m starting to not feel much when it comes to Ben and Addison as a couple. I am not sure I necessarily buy the depth of their relationship as much as the writers want me to. Yes, we declare they love each other, but based on what we’ve seen about Ben and his decision to leap, I start questioning whether this is really a solid relationship.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m still here for the show – and maybe I need to stop thinking so much. But given that this is meant to continue the universe that was established with Sam and Al, it’s becoming harder to do that with each passing episode.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Again, I will say this series really needs an episode or two by Donald P. Bellisario or Deborah Pratt to kick-start things.</p><div id="atatags-26942-636bf4bd3f8cf" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled" id="jp-post-flair" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div></div></div>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-48827490867624136052022-11-07T09:25:00.004-06:002022-11-07T09:25:33.579-06:00TV Round-Up: Doctor Who, The Power of the Doctor<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3UZDxhof1bvSWWYxjcP-SvSaZj1LAqgBAyCvLnZYsko4rUOA14klEw6jmobTCbSmmao-BMIE9NYVp9fIU-xdcvnm7SkICfpnGXlmySaBDbpP7cC9Uszy3CQuVXJM4anySKC-L1E91GlufR4bfjylxWdfmnU2tFmsOIlSTRr2IMlI9Y80322s/s768/Doctor-Who-The-Power-of-the-Doctor-poster-cropped-BBC.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3UZDxhof1bvSWWYxjcP-SvSaZj1LAqgBAyCvLnZYsko4rUOA14klEw6jmobTCbSmmao-BMIE9NYVp9fIU-xdcvnm7SkICfpnGXlmySaBDbpP7cC9Uszy3CQuVXJM4anySKC-L1E91GlufR4bfjylxWdfmnU2tFmsOIlSTRr2IMlI9Y80322s/s320/Doctor-Who-The-Power-of-the-Doctor-poster-cropped-BBC.webp" width="320" /></a></div><em style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Doctor Who</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px;">specials have to walk a fine line between pleasing hard-core fans (like myself) and not being so dense that the casual fan tuning becomes lost and frustrated with the viewing experience.</span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Like many specials designed to celebrate something – anniversary, holiday, etc, “The Power of the Doctor” also faced the climb of sending off the Jodie Whitacker era. Given how I feel that Chris Chibnall is like the Doctor (good at starts, not great at endings), my biggest concern going into the episode was that Chibnall wouldn’t be able to stick the landing – just as he hasn’t in three previous series finales.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For the most part, “The Power of the Doctor” did well enough, though even at close to ninety minutes, it felt like it needed about five more minutes. Of course, that could be the classic Whovian in me who’d gladly take as much time for the Doctor’s former companions meet to share stories time as they wanted to give me.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The Power of the Doctor” isn’t a perfect episode, but it still leans heavily into the strengths of this era – namely, Sasha Dhawan as the Master and the give and take between the Doctor and the Master. I’ll admit that the 80’s weren’t exactly kind to the Master and the new series take on the character has been hit or miss. But what Chibnall did with the Master during this era really resonated, simply because Chibnall made the Master into a legitimate threat again. The big criticism I have of Ainley’s Master is that too many of his plans were half-baked at best – and while the Master not thinking things entirely through goes all the way back to Roger Delgado, it just felt a bit too campy many times in the JNT era.<span id="more-7419" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chibnall restored the balance between the two characters so that it felt like Jon Pertwee and Roger Delgado. The line here where the Doctor says they used to be friends felt like something out of the Pertwee era. As did the reaction of “what have you done this time?” as the Master’s latest plan unfolded. It does eventually turn out that the Master hasn’t thought all this through in his desire to defeat the Doctor – but it doesn’t feel overly campy and over the top.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It also felt like Chibnall was checking off the box of having Dhawan get to play the Doctor, since I know there is a group that feel like he would have been a great choice for the role.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="398498,Doctor Who - The Power of the Doctor" class="wp-image-7422 alignleft" data-attachment-id="7422" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="<p>Doctor Who – The Power of the Doctor,23-10-2022,The Power Of The Doctor,ACE (SOPHIE ALDRED), The Doctor (JODIE WHITTAKER) and TEGAN (JANET FIELDING),*NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL 22:00HRS, MONDAY 17TH OCTOBER, 2022*,BBC STUDIOS 2022,James Pardon</p>
" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.8","credit":"James Pardon\/BBC Studios","camera":"ILCE-1","caption":"Doctor Who - The Power of the Doctor,23-10-2022,The Power Of The Doctor,ACE (SOPHIE ALDRED), The Doctor (JODIE WHITTAKER) and TEGAN (JANET FIELDING),*NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL 22:00HRS, MONDAY 17TH OCTOBER, 2022*,BBC STUDIOS 2022,James Pardon","created_timestamp":"1631718596","copyright":"WARNING: Use of this copyright image is subject to the terms of use of BBC Pictures' Digital Picture Service (BBC Pictures) as set out at www.bbcpictures.co.uk\/terms-and-conditions\/. In particular, this image may only be published by a registered User of BBC Pictures for editorial use for the purpose of publicising the relevant BBC programme, personnel or activity during the Publicity Period which ends three review weeks following the date of transmission and provided the BBC and the copyright holder in the caption are credited. For any other purpose whatsoever, including advertising and commercial, prior written approval from the copyright holder will be required.","focal_length":"61","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.004","title":"398498,Doctor Who - The Power of the Doctor","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="398498,Doctor Who – The Power of the Doctor" data-large-file="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/power-of-the-doctor-3-7fe65e5.jpg?w=500" data-medium-file="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/power-of-the-doctor-3-7fe65e5.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/power-of-the-doctor-3-7fe65e5.jpg" data-orig-size="768,512" data-permalink="https://nashvillebookworm.wordpress.com/2022/11/07/tv-round-up-doctor-who-the-power-of-the-doctor-scifimonth/398498doctor-who-the-power-of-the-doctor/" height="206" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 309px) 100vw, 309px" src="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/power-of-the-doctor-3-7fe65e5.jpg?w=309&h=206" srcset="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/power-of-the-doctor-3-7fe65e5.jpg?w=309&h=206 309w, https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/power-of-the-doctor-3-7fe65e5.jpg?w=618&h=412 618w, https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/power-of-the-doctor-3-7fe65e5.jpg?w=150&h=100 150w, https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/power-of-the-doctor-3-7fe65e5.jpg?w=300&h=200 300w" style="display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-right: 7px; max-width: 100%;" width="309" />On the whole, “The Power of the Doctor” leans heavily into nostalgia – but in the best possible way. Whether it’s bringing Ace and Tegan back or seeing multiple classic Doctors on screen, I give Chibnall credit for finding a way to bring everyone back for some fun. And that’s all before we see so many classic companions in the final moments.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But that said, I still feel the biggest criticism from the Chinball era is on display here – the lack of pacing. I get having Dhawan just go for the gusto and toy with the Doctor and Yaz works, but it felt like some of those scenes went on too long. Then, there’s the issue of sticking the landing, which the episode doesn’t feel like it did. Again, Chibnall is great at beginnings, not great at endings. And it showed up again here, even given a longer run time.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I guess there’s part of me that wants to see Ace bash another Dalek or two and is less interested in the emotional departure of Yaz. Part of that boils down to the fact that I never felt invested in any of the TARDIS team in this era in a significant way. Heck, I got more choked up with the fifth Doctor’s image bringing up Adric to Tegan and promising he won’t let that happen to her than I did at Yaz leaving the TARDIS.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Now that the Whitaker era is complete, I look forward to rewatching it and seeing if and how my assessments change. I still think her era is the equivalent of the Colin Baker era to new Who – good actor who didn’t get the stories to really showcase what she can do.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m grateful to Whitaker and Chibnall for a female Doctor, though. My little girl loves that the Doctor was a girl – and that she was smart and defeated the Daleks a lot.</p>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-5537166096590273672022-11-04T14:59:00.004-05:002022-11-04T14:59:46.442-05:00TV Round-Up: Quantum Leap, Ye of Little Faith<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUmqTDtc2UzjcTddQc1GpXNBeVUcvVA7ZKN7euwLa1RWUNrZ6sPQ8r9_OcYuK9Jenyb_MCB-PHfEW5w89bHTso1VsrBlIUq9oz_S-bwHvLmUNZzoGeWOmds4KZe0aNGj2eKgkZyr3bCWagF6_mswN6F0_9P3GPHP4IiRGGeKc4lNLWY-Dh78/s1000/NUP_199063_02475_lowRes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUmqTDtc2UzjcTddQc1GpXNBeVUcvVA7ZKN7euwLa1RWUNrZ6sPQ8r9_OcYuK9Jenyb_MCB-PHfEW5w89bHTso1VsrBlIUq9oz_S-bwHvLmUNZzoGeWOmds4KZe0aNGj2eKgkZyr3bCWagF6_mswN6F0_9P3GPHP4IiRGGeKc4lNLWY-Dh78/s320/NUP_199063_02475_lowRes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The problem the new <em>Quantum Leap</em> faces is the original did one hell of a Halloween episode back in its third season. Fans who only casually watched the original know about “The Boogeyman” because Sam met Stephen King and faced off against the devil.<p></p>
<p>Topping “The Boogeyman” in terms of sheer shock value was going to be difficult to do.</p>
<p>Give “O Ye of Little Faith” credit for trying, even if the final result isn’t exactly as memorable or over-the-top bonkers fun as the original version.</p>
<p>Ben leaps into a priest, who has been summoned to perform an exorcism on an apparently demon-possessed young girl who just turned eighteen. Eerily enough, as Ben attempts to follow the script for an exorcism, he’s cut off from Addison.</p>
<p>As with most of the episodes of the new Quantum Leap, the stuff in the past works very well (even hitting a few, great creepy moments) while the things in the present feels like it’s being forced on the script. This week's biggest culprit is a conversation between Addison and Jenn where we discover that Addison had never vowed to get married – until she met Ben. I’m all for character development for all the characters on this show (quick tell me one thing about Ian besides he’s good at computers), but even this one felt like it was written to get screen time for Narisa Lee and less about advancing the plot or characters in any significant way.</p>
<p>Plus, I think it fails the Bechdel test on just about every level.<a name='more'></a></p>
<p><img alt="QUANTUM-LEAP-Season-1-Episode-7-O-Ye-Of-Little-Faith" class=" wp-image-7410 alignleft" height="232" src="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/quantum-leap-season-1-episode-7-o-ye-of-little-faith.jpg" width="348" />Meanwhile, in the past, Ben is faced with a conflict between his skepticism and the belief that he can save the girl from demon possession. The first three-quarters of this worked pretty well and had me guessing – could the demon possession have been an evil leaper or the other leaper screwing with Ben, I thought? Given how “The Boogeyman” went all out with the devil angle, I was fully expecting something equally wacky here. And then, we find out that it’s the brother poisoning the kid to get the inheritance so he can run off with the wife.</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess it’s a twist, but it just felt like one that was forced on things. I was on board with it up to that point and even enjoyed the moments when the kid admits she saw Ben when he first arrived on the scene, and not the priest he replaced.</p>
<p>And then, we get Janet.</p>
<p>Sigh….</p>
<p>Talk about a complete tease to try and keep you interested in the future storyline. So, Janet shows up just in time for Ben for to leap with a cryptic warning about….Ummm…well, I guess we’ll have to wait and find out.</p>
<p>As I’ve said before, I’m all for the show doing an arc story, so long as it doesn’t feel like it’s forcing an arc story. And Janice showing up feels like a forced arc moment – or one designed to tease us into tuning in next week for the fall finale because we hope there might be answers.</p>
<p>I get it – we are in a different era of storytelling than the original. But honestly, I’m getting weary of this whole teasing Janice thing with no answers forthcoming or moving the story forward. She’s been in the mainframe of Ziggy for weeks now and the team seems to be doing nothing about it.</p>
<p>Give me some answers or let’s just move on.</p>
<p>And it’s a shame that I am ending like this because except for the last three minutes, I really liked this episode.</p>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-148705307182277242022-10-27T08:13:00.005-05:002022-10-27T08:13:52.018-05:00TV Round-Up: Quantum Leap, "What a Disaster"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaPzPqfQTF0Kf-TTJuo_9Ma-MiTfHej1lD3RbglLgLOBeFcs5B7SAd4PWRbvRGINQJgPx3PWDFDzFCi4ye33551X88YQm-s5c0sB9IM75DghcqmvCb2tnYdR3Acii8_ve5vtHxbjaGpf8KKsAFH3S_UeGtyAsJ7GVKT5A6hZ3yA4bAcw3fuo/s1000/NUP_196844_04666_lowRes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaPzPqfQTF0Kf-TTJuo_9Ma-MiTfHej1lD3RbglLgLOBeFcs5B7SAd4PWRbvRGINQJgPx3PWDFDzFCi4ye33551X88YQm-s5c0sB9IM75DghcqmvCb2tnYdR3Acii8_ve5vtHxbjaGpf8KKsAFH3S_UeGtyAsJ7GVKT5A6hZ3yA4bAcw3fuo/s320/NUP_196844_04666_lowRes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>After seeing “What a Disaster!” I can see why the producers shuffled the order of things, moving this from the pilot to the sixth episode of the season. That’s not to say “What a Disaster” is bad, so much as to say asking the audience to invest as much in Ben’s background in episode one would have been a larger ask.<p></p>
<p>Ben leaps into a John, a man facing imminent divorce from his wife, just moments before the San Francisco Earthquake in 1989. The series is doing well at having Ben cover his initial confusion upon entering a person’s life mid-drama, and this week is no exception. Ben having to cover for gaps in his knowledge of John’s wife as his wife asks for divorce works well enough, though I keep wondering why no one notices that Ben is focusing on Addison and her advice from the future.</p>
<p>Speaking of Addison, can I just say that I liked the handlink used here a lot more than the one we’ve seen until now? If there’s one aspect of the original pilot they can and should use again, it’s the link.</p>
<p>Back to our story. Turns out John is there to save the couple’s son from dying and reunite an estranged mom and son. This mission has a personal note for Ben, who once got B’s on his report card because he was tired of his mom telling him he was special and then after they got in a huge fight about it, she died. So, Ben’s carrying around a bit of guilt over that (as one would) and it all comes bubbling back.</p>
<p>Some of the better emotional beats of the original series came when Sam connected with the leapie due to some emotional connection. So, Ben’s connection here worked, as did his call to his mom seconds before he leaped.<a name='more'></a></p>
<p>I do find it interesting that Addison admits she finds Ben in the past a bit more open and less guarded. It makes me wonder if we might see a flashback of what Ben was like before he left the present and what the implications of this are for his character long-term. We are told that Ben doesn’t discuss his family much with Addison and the fact that we don’t see his father on-screen or hear much about him leads to me believing this could be something pivotal down the road. Given how the relationship between Sam and his dad had a big emotional impact on the original, I could see the new series leaning hard into something similar in future installments.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in the present, the team is scrambling to find answers to “leaper x.” Three scenarios are presented – another country, a rich benefactor, or the leaper from the future. Turns out that we’re leaning heavily toward the third one, for now. We track down leaper x in our timeline and he’s serving in the military and seems an all-around great person. It could be interesting to see what will lead him to start leaping in the first place and why he tells Ben to stop following him.</p>
<p>Of course, this brings up a lot of time-travel conundrums that you can try to wrap your head around. For one thing, have Magic and company put the other leaper on alert because they visited him and acted mysteriously? Or by keeping him under survellaince will they change history and not send him down a road that leads to leaping? Also, if he’s from the future, does he have a piece of the puzzle as to why Ben leaped?</p>
<p>Of course, I do find myself wondering if the team allowing Janice to have free-range in Ziggy is starting to hinder Ben’s chances in the past? The original series often had Al call out to Gushi or Ziggy to center him on a certain character in order to lead Sam to him or her. I feel like the reboot tends to ignore some of Al’s abilities (for lack of a better term) and just has Addison follow Ben around like a lost puppy. At some point, we’ve got to have her do more than just be an exposition dump and sounding board for Ben.</p>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-74190758011745128902022-10-19T09:32:00.002-05:002022-10-19T09:32:30.238-05:00TV Round-Up: Quantum Leap, Salvation or Bust<div class="separator"><p style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Quantum Leap - Season 1" class="alignnone wp-image-7371" height="179" src="https://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2022/10/nup_198906_01809_lowres.jpg" width="269" /></p></div><p> No matter how good or bad “Salvation or Bust” is, most of the conversation about it will probably cover the last thirty seconds of the show when another Leaper shows up who knows Ben and feels that Ben is following him through time.</p>
<p>The implications of this to the overall arc of why Ben leaped and what his destination is are fascinating. And given the pace at which revelations are coming in the show, I don’t think it’s something that will exactly be swept aside for an episode or two.</p>
<p>Part of me says that this new leaper is somehow connected to Janice and that the imaging chamber she’s building isn’t to try and contact Ben but to contact whoever this other leaper is. A big question it brings up is just how many accelerators there are and just where are they located? Given that leaping seemingly takes a huge investment of power, how exactly are the other leaping group keeping their tracks hidden?</p>
<p>Or is this all part of the time travel thing where the new leaper is from our future but ending up in the past.</p>
<p>Give the show credit – it’s got me intrigued to see where this all goes.<a name='more'></a></p>
<p>As for the rest of “Salvation or Bust,” it was another example of the show finding its footing. The senator investigating things in the present felt a bit like a page taken from “Honeymoon Express” in the original – so much so that I expected to see the senator replaced by another person in the end of the episode – as if she and her family might be connected to the town Ben is trying to save.</p>
<p>I did find Magic’s solution to keeping the project going and under the radar to work well. I wouldn’t have loved it had he been forced to blackmail the Senator, though I think he’s created a whole new issue down the road. Time will tell if this thread is picked up on and run with.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Ben leaps farther back into the past than Sam ever did and gets to play A-Team or Three Amigos! for a bit. Seeing Ben struggle with his desire to not resort to guns to solve the problem but possibly being forced to do so felt right for the character. And his stubborn resolve to not go into a gun fight may explain why Addison was selected to leap over Ben.</p>
<p>I do find that giving the series cart blanch to any moment in history is one that can help or hurt things. I found it a bit convenient that Ben and Addison are able to find out about a copper mine nearby to save the town one last time. Part of this is that the episode spends a good bit of time saying how slow Ziggy’s running and using that to increase the tension, only to magically work around it in the final few minutes.</p>
<p>Also, while we’ve had Ben doing some big things, we have yet to find a leap where he thinks he’s there for a grand purpose but is there to correct a smaller detail – Buddy, Stevie, etc. When Ben didn’t leap after the town takes down the gang and Ben stays behind for the celebration, I couldn’t help but think that we were about to get that small moment. Instead, it turns out that Ben is still there to meet the other Leaper and to introduce that plot thread.<br />And that brings up the question of just when did the Leaper arrive and what his agenda might be. Is he there to help Ben or to undo whatever it is Ben put right?</p>
<p>I can only hope we get details sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>Given that the show got an additional episode pick-up, I think this may lengthen the wait for answers.</p>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-13397708179448408712022-10-13T10:08:00.005-05:002022-10-13T10:08:57.171-05:00TV Round-Up: Quantum Leap, A Decent Proposal<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcz3fHgAmiISvVSnNbNKUIouIHiTgETeQ4GD5tMCyz1ker01a5JuBkoBDr_Vx7DjS0wiWg8L52b36kXo7uHFdX_mtQbZEq3iaYGa4Dx-geDT0mXiewJuxU5NkXqIGlvHQwnylDOYYf9IWlMPRnfpRP5Mp6gi25-XYSLA317AHB3e9t1C7sgxQ/s1000/NUP_198805_01195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcz3fHgAmiISvVSnNbNKUIouIHiTgETeQ4GD5tMCyz1ker01a5JuBkoBDr_Vx7DjS0wiWg8L52b36kXo7uHFdX_mtQbZEq3iaYGa4Dx-geDT0mXiewJuxU5NkXqIGlvHQwnylDOYYf9IWlMPRnfpRP5Mp6gi25-XYSLA317AHB3e9t1C7sgxQ/w320-h213/NUP_198805_01195.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />For years, I’ve wondered what it would be like to be a person that Sam leaped into – would you recall much, if anything about it? What would you recall? How would you know that Sam had come in and changed things?<p></p>
<p>After thirty years, we get an answer to that question, with Magic sharing that Sam leaped into him at a younger age and changed his and others’ personal history.</p>
<p>While I like the explanation and the scene itself, I do find myself wondering about a few other things. One is that Magic says that Sam saved his life (and that of Tom) during the time he was away. I can’t help but wonder how Magic knows if and how Sam altered history. Would history instantly shift around Magic and those around him? Another was, did Magic know what Al gave up to that Sam could save his brother and Magic? Or was what Sam did for Al something that was kept under deeper wraps?</p>
<p>When you reference one of my favorite episodes of television, “The Leap Home,” it brings up a lot of questions and implications.</p>
<p>In its fourth installment, <em>Quantum Leap</em> has found its footing, though. The current-day threads have enough time to keep things interesting and thanks to Magic’s connection, I was a lot more invested than I have been. I do like the growing sense of frustration that Addison has with Ben and his keeping things from her.</p>
<p>But where this episode really shone was in the past, with Ben leaping into a woman (took Sam until season two to get there) and possibly derailing the woman’s life because he’s unaware of how to respond to a marriage proposal. The leap itself had the feel of one from the original series where the data and our understanding of things keep changing as Sam struggles to find out what he needs to put right. In this case, it’s the circumstances surrounding the woman our bounty-hunting duo is supposed to bring in and why.</p>
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmu6owC1kw6xkMcF1U-U1sCBGTynKZW65kUXAI9oHX8vMrnkVHbPcNR953020qpP5L64uZtef56zIyEy95xMVOeB7kx7GLsv9G0BXnhrMZ47fcLJVlYbmeVgMWl2VtLTbaagki7BH5f8Ccxz_PyBGiLtEmS3hKxieRTUhdmzPBpdcdFxzHDw/s800/Quantum-Leap-1-e1665501269603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmu6owC1kw6xkMcF1U-U1sCBGTynKZW65kUXAI9oHX8vMrnkVHbPcNR953020qpP5L64uZtef56zIyEy95xMVOeB7kx7GLsv9G0BXnhrMZ47fcLJVlYbmeVgMWl2VtLTbaagki7BH5f8Ccxz_PyBGiLtEmS3hKxieRTUhdmzPBpdcdFxzHDw/w270-h169/Quantum-Leap-1-e1665501269603.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><br />I will admit a frustration has started to raise its head a bit, though. Yes, Ben went into the accelerator for some reason and there is a goal in mind. And yes, that provides some momentum and a through-line to the show. That said, it never quite feels like Ben inhabits the person he’s leapt into as much as Sam did. Thinking about to the original “What Price Gloria?” where Sam is a woman, there was a great deal of humor and insight gleaned from Sam having to inhabit and convince the world he’s a woman. I feel like the new series gets in a rush to have Ben complete the mission so he can leap that it’s overlooking this step.<p></p>
<p>I am also intrigued to see just how Ben’s getting his memory back about who Addison is will impact things. I seem to recall that Sam could recall certain things on certain leaps and not on others, so I wonder if Ben will recall the truth about Addison going forward or if it will be a hit-or-miss kind of thing?</p>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-58014334462670348412022-10-06T09:49:00.003-05:002022-10-06T09:49:37.794-05:00TV Round-Up: Quantum Leap, Somebody Up There Likes Ben<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYTO28aEWLARl894tIZwN1YpnMvD0Lbt8BcAx6Cfq3j3EGx1rv7MbrCKoRQa7aAXWYqDm5arokEnh__YZOLkri4psJwCaHozvfXmoI0dx3-IoxwWvw5coWA3R8tH1FSHbsK9SVWV7mct3xszr_ESTIhxeoP53Jkf9hWtmdcn8FkuVYloUJuQ/s1000/NUP_198488_00837-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYTO28aEWLARl894tIZwN1YpnMvD0Lbt8BcAx6Cfq3j3EGx1rv7MbrCKoRQa7aAXWYqDm5arokEnh__YZOLkri4psJwCaHozvfXmoI0dx3-IoxwWvw5coWA3R8tH1FSHbsK9SVWV7mct3xszr_ESTIhxeoP53Jkf9hWtmdcn8FkuVYloUJuQ/s320/NUP_198488_00837-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Can I just start this off by saying I want an episode of this show written by Donald P. Bellisario and/or Deborah Platt ASAP?<p></p>
<p>With that out of the way, we can move onto the third installment, which shows further steps toward the show finding its own voice.</p>
<p>Ben leaps into the body of a young boxer, who is about to go lose the title fight of his career due to being distracted. Is it because he’s seeing the girlfriend of his rival boxer or that his brother is suffering PTSD from his tours in Nam?</p>
<p>“Someone Up There Likes Ben” leans heavily into the relationship between the brothers, giving us an emotional hook to root for. This includes up to and including the fight, when Ben has memorized the original fight and found a moment he can score a knock-out, thanks to Addison’s help (more on this later). Of course, this being <em>Quantum Lea</em>p, what should have knocked out the opponent doesn’t work and Ben has to improvise.</p>
<p>Luckily, he does and wins the fight, thus putting history onto a new and better course.</p>
<p>As with the first two installments, the storyline in the past works on just about every level. While Ben isn’t Sam (again, who could be?!?), it feels like they’re working to make him a likable hero that we can root for and one who is driven to do the right thing, as Sam was at times. I would like to see a story where we get an unexpected twist or cameo like the original did, but it’s only the third episode and I don’t think we got the Buddy Holly twist until five or six episodes into the original.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, back in the present, I do like the series looking at the toll physically and emotionally Ben’s leaping is taking on Addison. Her driving herself to exhaustion to link with Ben and keep him from getting lost in time is nicely done. Again, the original often felt like there was a lag time between Sam leaping and Al finding him where Al could rest/date Tina/do whatever. The ending made it feel a bit like they are trying to help Addison find that here with the new crew.</p>
<p>The plotline that really didn’t engage as much (and it should) was Janice. I keep asking myself if Janice weren’t somehow connected to Al, would I be as annoyed about her storyline and I can’t quite decide. Janice is obsessed with the project, though we haven’t yet really discovered any good motivation for this. Was it that she missed her dad, who was obsessed with finding Sam? Did Al’s death send her down this path? Why is she building what appears to be an imaging chamber? And what is the connection she and Ben share?</p>
<p>I have a feeling we are going to find out Janice wrote the new code Ben put into Ziggy and she knows more than she’s telling about his endpoint.</p>
<p>And while last week, I felt the endpoint had to be Sam, perhaps the endpoint is the bar where Sam leapt to in the finale. Or is it something else entirely that is connected to the original’s emphasis of Sam and Al’s friendship?</p>
<p>Part of me also wonders if this somehow ties into the whole evil leaper thread from season five.</p>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-77296725272707006782022-09-27T14:17:00.003-05:002022-09-27T14:17:23.808-05:00TV Round-Up: Quantum Leap, "Atlantis"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RbAneJ2J6RZQHVYGOW9BAGwipUkykWlbDIHOoFzTjpm4fXvpLSOHkfNigK9ZSxvufTYwvghbVWJQzs9tRYq-ew1wwK0is7qASV5g97M6NqTTFSDexmisSxep5iduyfffzYwiiA7PkSQfALeJqArGgLjdDCjKRcitVbHXT2WbO66IMGOnXv4/s1280/VfMW85t3RA3pHjeHsa8FqL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1280" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RbAneJ2J6RZQHVYGOW9BAGwipUkykWlbDIHOoFzTjpm4fXvpLSOHkfNigK9ZSxvufTYwvghbVWJQzs9tRYq-ew1wwK0is7qASV5g97M6NqTTFSDexmisSxep5iduyfffzYwiiA7PkSQfALeJqArGgLjdDCjKRcitVbHXT2WbO66IMGOnXv4/w249-h165/VfMW85t3RA3pHjeHsa8FqL.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><br />Watching “Atlantis” a detail from the original<em> Quantum Leap</em> reared its head and wouldn’t let go. Where exactly does the person that Ben is displacing in time go? The original had an area where the person would leap to and could then interact with Al in the future, but so far, we’ve not seen or heard it mentioned.<p></p>
<p>And while it doesn’t solve the question of when and how the astronaut that Ben replaces died earlier in the story, it does provide some better insight into the person Ben is replacing. We certainly got the impression that Al was interacting with the person first before coming to see Sam to help Sam “pass” as the person he had leapt into.</p>
<p>This was a better episode than the pilot last week, probably because that one did most of the heavy lifting in terms of exposition. Now that we have the team in place and a thumbnail view of who each person is, we can start digging in a bit to the future.</p>
<p>I did find the conflict between what the team in the future wants Ben to know versus what the person contacting Ben wants him to know intriguing. An early original episode saw Al sending messages to Sam via an ancient language Sam knew, written out on a sash Al was wearing. I did find it interesting to see Addison pushing Ben to recall things and jog his memory over the express orders of Magic in the future.</p>
<p>We also get a cameo from Beth, who puts Magic on the trail of Janice, Al’s daughter who has some type of connection to why Ben decided he had to go. I’m glad we got this cosmic map that the previews leaned heavily into on the radar now instead of making us wait a few more episodes to bring things into focus. The easy answer to where Ben is going is to somehow find Sam. I imagine that Janice could feel that given how much Sam gave up to save Al (one of the few through lines of the original series), maybe she owes it to Sam to bring him home when her father couldn’t do it. If that’s where this all leads (and assuming that Scott Bakula is hedging when he says he’s not involved), I will be all for it.</p>
<p>As for the main plot of “Atlantis,” it felt like a page out of the original. The original series was very imitative, taking pieces of successful films of its era and telling its own kind of story around them. In many ways, it felt like this was a<em> Quantum Leap</em> take on <em>Gravity,</em> with our characters in there.</p>
<p>I did like that we actually hear about and see Ben being the glue that can hold a team together – we hear about it in the future and see him doing it on the shuttle. His wonder about being in space and then his recklessness to solve the problem also worked well.</p>
<p>I do, however, feel like the moments with hidden meaning for Madison when Ben says something about coming home or the nature of their relationship, could become strained quickly. So far, they are achieving a good balance, but it could go ka-ka quickly if they aren’t careful. </p>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-49278201276675253872022-09-20T13:27:00.003-05:002022-09-20T13:27:55.158-05:00TV Round-Up: Quantum Leap, July 13th, 1985<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFD2XIuVsLiRC9VSYVs07aiCm-QOtVX_1l2Q7rDNxQNfTNg9rbGwO4k-1jwZQh3-BKwZFSeGRUS1AklZg5vhAPj4YH_DMSBGYMLnX5Je7B8oiIWAG0ODoQYwBZ3hpqrX1UdieRYf17N_DOPGwQUOCLgOHipLlf-5zCJzBSHZMWVb1uG3UDwBY/s1825/quantum-leap-key-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1217" data-original-width="1825" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFD2XIuVsLiRC9VSYVs07aiCm-QOtVX_1l2Q7rDNxQNfTNg9rbGwO4k-1jwZQh3-BKwZFSeGRUS1AklZg5vhAPj4YH_DMSBGYMLnX5Je7B8oiIWAG0ODoQYwBZ3hpqrX1UdieRYf17N_DOPGwQUOCLgOHipLlf-5zCJzBSHZMWVb1uG3UDwBY/s320/quantum-leap-key-art.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <em>Quantum Leap</em> came along at a formative time in my pop culture fandom, hitting all the right notes for five seasons.<p></p>
<p>So, when news came along that NBC was restarting the project, I was both intrigued and hesitant. Intrigued to see what the show might look like in the age of “premium television” and hesitant because a big part of me was worried they might not be able to capture the lighting in the bottle from the original.</p>
<p>One episode into the new <em>Quantum Leap</em> and I feel like a lot of my fears haven’t really been addressed yet, but that the show is still staying true enough to the fundamental premise that it could (eventually) be as good as the show I remember.</p>
<p>Starting off by acknowledging that Sam Beckett still hasn’t returned home after leaping into time thirty years ago and that the original project was abandoned, the new <em>Leap</em> introduces us to Dr. Ben Song and his fiancee, Madison. At an engagement party, Ben receives a mysterious text, prompting him to step into the accelerator and vanish into time. Ben finds himself in the year 1985, participating in a robbery that will kill one of the participants and send his family down a negative path.</p>
<p>Madison serves as Ben’s Al in the show, trying to guide him in the past and determine what Ben is there to do.</p>
<p>The first mission Ben faces feels like the kind of low-stakes in history, high-stakes to the character's mission that Sam faced on a regular basis in the original. A lot of stories felt like Sam was there to stop someone from dying, which he usually did by the end of the hour. The original was also a bit of a copycat, paying homage to popular movies and shows of its era with various episodes. So it is here with the first episode feeling like a <em>Quantum Leap</em> spin on <em>Baby Driver.</em></p>
<p>For the most part, the elements set in 1985 work well enough and do a nice job of establishing Ben and Madison as the new team.</p>
<p>However, while the original rarely glanced into the future, a lot of things are unfolding there for this new <em>Quantum Leap</em>. We meet the team behind Madison and it appears this is where the show wants to set up its procedural arc. In the course of the hour, we meet the team and learn that there is more going on here than meets the eye. Ben had a reason for lying to everyone about leaping into time, there is someone else involved in his leaps who could be one of Al’s daughters and we still don’t know exactly how to bring Ben home.</p>
<p>I assume we’re going to have a bit of a bigger conspiracy/arc story unfold over the season as we determine what the forces are that sent Ben back in time and what his goal is. The original <em>QL</em> really leaned heavily into a higher power being behind Sam’s leaps (especially in season one), but I’m going to assume we won’t get as much of that here. And since it appears that one of Al’s daughters is behind this, I can’t help but think that Ben’s mission is to somehow find Sam, who is lost in time.</p>
<p>Scott Bakula has denied he will be part of the new <em>QL</em>, but then again Andrew Garfield and Toby McGuire denied they were part of the last Spider-Man movie. In the day and age of SPOILERS and having to work harder to surprise audiences, I feel like Bakula is coming but just not yet.</p>
<p>The chemistry between Ben and Madison works. The nature of the missions in the past works.</p>
<p>The new team in the current timeline – I will have to wait and see where this goes. Again, we only got hints of it the future Sam left behind in hints from Al and a few episodes that showed us the future. The original wasn’t the most continuity-heavy show (the debate over is it actually Sam in the past or just his soul as well as did Al see Sam or whoever he replaced was one that varied from episode to episode based on the script’s requirements). It will be interesting to see how <em>QL</em> works in today’s more continuity-heavy era of TV storytelling.</p>
<p>And yes, I understand that the amount of time available to tell a story is shorter than it was thirty years ago. But man, part of me wishes they’d found a way to include the original theme tune in there somewhere….</p>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-88307064650821659052022-09-07T11:48:00.004-05:002022-09-07T11:48:56.655-05:00TV Round-Up: The Patient<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr59Q5m1coyKR8-RH7pKl-mqMQUGOBzEKextMiJNP2rvvjhQp6bNcFC3rrE78s-52pSuw8YbiUvKaaE8qB_hTb6HrhYvJNCo8eyFkDEueueC2BnOi0ozYQQGOknE-UpBNpK5cUAqomiE8u_X4uIZ2dnMDwrC5mZQUTcdSsnFtBSj-G4TXgvVs/s1250/thepatient.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr59Q5m1coyKR8-RH7pKl-mqMQUGOBzEKextMiJNP2rvvjhQp6bNcFC3rrE78s-52pSuw8YbiUvKaaE8qB_hTb6HrhYvJNCo8eyFkDEueueC2BnOi0ozYQQGOknE-UpBNpK5cUAqomiE8u_X4uIZ2dnMDwrC5mZQUTcdSsnFtBSj-G4TXgvVs/s320/thepatient.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br />After watching and loving<em> The Americans</em>, I was intrigued to see what series creators Joel Fields and Joseph Weisburg would do next.<p></p>
<p>So, when ads started cropping up for their new series, <em>The Patient</em>, I was intrigued. Now, three episodes into the miniseries and I am firmly on the hook, ready to see this all will lead. Like <em>The Americans, The Patient</em> offers a unique premise from which to begin its storytelling.</p>
<p>Alan Strauss, played by Steve Carrell (another selling point) is a successful therapist and best-selling self-help book author. Alan senses that one of his patients, Sam, isn’t being entirely honest with him, thus hindering the therapeutic process. Alan challenges him to dig deeper, resulting in Alan waking up, chained to the floor in Sam’s basement with Sam asking Alan to help him curb a violent impulse – one that has resulted in Sam’s being a wanted serial killer known as the John Doe killer.</p>
<p>Despite his early protestations, Alan realizes he has little choice but to try and help Sam if he wants to be released or escape.</p>
<p>Interspersed with scenes from Alan’s life pre-captivity, we find out that Alan is recently widowed and possibly estranged from his son. This does answer an early, niggling question of why no one might miss Alan when he suddenly vanishes.</p>
<p>So far, each episode has ended on a tension point, designed to ensure you’ll want to come back next week. The second installment ended with someone coming down the stairs to the basement while the third ended with Sam bringing back someone to the basement and the sound of duct tape being used to bind that person (it could be the next victim Sam desperately wants to kill but hasn’t yet because there is a connection to him that could be traced).</p>
<p>Again, this is a premise that requires a bit of willing suspension of disbelief, but it’s working so far. Part of that is the strength of Alan as a character – from his backstory to his growing reluctance to engage in therapy with Sam and later his mother (who is the person who comes downstairs. The mother, in fact, refuses to help Alan because Sam needs him so much). So far, the only things we know about Sam are limited, though I expect we’ll see these filled in later. He apparently is a bit of a foodie, bringing Alan various dishes each evening to share together and raving about them and he’s also got a dark side that can be pushed. So far, he hasn’t physically hurt Alan, though he does seem a powder-keg ready to blow at any moment.</p>
<p>Three episodes in and the show is a compelling one – a lot of that credit going to Carrell, showing a flare for the dramatic. I do wonder if we will find out more about the process Sam used to select Alan for this radical therapy process as the series goes along.</p>
<p>Each episode is under a half-hour, feeling like just enough without overstaying its welcome. Again, I’m hooked and intrigued to see where this all goes.</p>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-77439075314042896182022-09-06T09:44:00.003-05:002022-09-06T09:44:19.010-05:00Revisiting The Wrath of Khan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsi2HxFeTcXt8bzZU5c4DEi7vTT-smdl1ZPVQ9aN-22VhN-yFP69399oY1RIcQ5UNF_OB66KXRnCotnTsNw4_bq-JkYz-tKgohs-SmGrjeKykbfAfQ7uaZECV1ZC_OcuDgtsP4DgIsFgjkvBoLX1-oCplJjl5W_nCbgQrcOp9rcQQufQsU2cc/s1550/khan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1550" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsi2HxFeTcXt8bzZU5c4DEi7vTT-smdl1ZPVQ9aN-22VhN-yFP69399oY1RIcQ5UNF_OB66KXRnCotnTsNw4_bq-JkYz-tKgohs-SmGrjeKykbfAfQ7uaZECV1ZC_OcuDgtsP4DgIsFgjkvBoLX1-oCplJjl5W_nCbgQrcOp9rcQQufQsU2cc/w263-h400/khan.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><p>I've seen <em>Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan </em>more times than I can count. It's in the running for my favorite movie of all-time (honestly, depends on which movie I've seen most recently -- Khan or The Searchers) and it's one of those movies I can stumble across and start watching to the end from wherever it is in the movie's run.</p><!-- wp:paragraph -->
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<p>This weekend, I got to see <em>Khan</em> on the big-screen again in celebration of its fortieth anniversary. </p>
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<p>And the movie hit me hard in a couple of places.</p>
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<p>Seeing Admiral Kirk facing his fiftieth birthday in the film resonated with me in a way it hasn't really before. Probably because I'm coming up on my fiftieth birthday early next year as well.</p>
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<p>But even more so, some of the emotional beats of the second half of the film hit me. Having lost a baby a few weeks ago, the gulf between Kirk and his son, David, and the death of Spock, really hit me hard this time around. Thinking about how we were considering naming the baby Kirk if we'd been blessed with a son hit me hard. Then, the sequence in which Kirk has to say goodbye to Spock without being able to physically connect through the glass in engineering also shattered me. The grief of never holding this baby, never knowing this baby in the way I know my daughter, and never getting a moment to say hello or goodbye hurt me as I watched. I saw the baby on an ultrasound a few weeks before the tragic news was revealed -- saw his or her heartbeat on there, saw him or her forming. And while I was worried about becoming a new dad at fifty, I was instantly in more in love with this baby than I had been and super stoked about doing all that new dad stuff again.</p>
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<p>And now, it's gone and I'm not sure I've processed it all yet. Or maybe I've just cycled back a stage or two in the grieving process. </p>
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<p>And hopefully, this will help me continue to heal and be a good dad and father.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-46526167011667794202017-11-08T13:40:00.002-06:002017-11-08T13:40:43.579-06:00TV Round-Up: Star Trek: Discovery, "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6k4-yEnQETw/WgNdpNH1_7I/AAAAAAAAQjA/uojEZzIYoLAbpadWbTblE1icUWeXSQhDgCLcBGAs/s1600/dsc-108-rev-2-640x318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="640" height="159" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6k4-yEnQETw/WgNdpNH1_7I/AAAAAAAAQjA/uojEZzIYoLAbpadWbTblE1icUWeXSQhDgCLcBGAs/s320/dsc-108-rev-2-640x318.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After taking a week off for some wacky time-travel fun, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Star Trek: Discovery</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> gets back to the business of the war with “Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS Digital originally intended for this episode to serve as the mid-season finale. And while it does end of a cliffhanger, I’m glad they’ve decided not to just leave us hanging on these developments for the next couple of months. Don’t get me wrong -- it’s strong, solid episode but I think I would have been annoyed if this was where we left things until January.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The episode also made me sad that I’ve read certain fan speculation on-line about the identities and fate of certain characters . I found myself reading a bit too much into certain lines, looking for hints of foreshadowing that may or may not necessarily be there. The biggest is when Saru is able to read Tyler’s thoughts thanks to the spore-beings and comments that Tyler is being deceptive. On the one hand, that’s exactly what Tyler is doing in an attempt to buy Burnham time to set up a communications relay using the giant tower on the planet, but based on certain articles I’ve seen on-line that put various clues together, I couldn’t help but wonder if Saru found out that Tyler is hiding something more from our crew. And if that will come back to bite Burnham when and if it’s finally revealed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s interesting to see that as Burnham is becoming more willing to open herself up to people on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Discovery</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Tilly and Tyler), that some of the other members of the crew are hiding secrets from each other. Tilly and Stamets are both aware of the impact using the spore drive is having on him, allowing him to exist outside of time (or could he possibly be going back and forth from our universe to a certain parallel universe in which facial hair signifies that you’re evil?) and are actively keeping it a secret from everyone else, especially Culber. As Stamets points out, telling Culber puts the doctor in an awkward position. He either reports the impact that the spore drive is having on Stamets, which will turn him into an instant lab study and could lead to Starfleet losing the war or he keeps it to himself and faces charges when and if Starfleet eventually wins the war. It’s the Kobyashi Maru of situations -- and that doesn’t even take into account the impact it can and will have on their personal relationships.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stamets does have an interesting line of referring to Tilly as “Captain” which I feel can be taken one of two ways . One is that he’s seeing outside of time and that Tilly will, eventually, rise to the role of captain. Or the other is that he’s shuffling back and forth between our universe and a certain other one where that could be Tilly’s rank. Again, the entire moment with his reflection lingering in the mirror a few weeks ago looms VERY large. (And there’s so much on-line speculation and actors and directors giving away details that haven’t come up just yet that I can’t exactly ignore it. Well, I could but I’m weak...weak I tell you!)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of this underlines that the war with the Klingons isn’t going well. Their technology allows for their ships to avoid being locked onto while in battle, giving them an advantage. Lorca and company are trying to come up with a way to level the playing field a bit, which is why Tyler, Saru and Burnham are on an away mission to planet Phavo. Seems there’s a big crystal structure that can help Starfleet lock onto the Klingon vessels. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The episode opens with a space battle that may be one of the most entertaining space battles </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Star Trek </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">has given us in any iteration. The battle, for once, operates in three dimensions (as did the battle in the Nebula in Wrath of Khan), which I loved. It also highlighted how badly things are going for Starfleet. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Discovery</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> can’t be everywhere at once and with their new technological advantage being spread throughout the Empire, the Klingons appear to be turning the tide in their favor. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I get the feeling that the Klingon have been able to withstand the first punch that Starfleet gave them with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Discovery </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and are turning the tide in their favor. It will be interesting to see if and how Starfleet can counteract the inability to lock weapons on Klingon ships because clearly by the era of Kirk and Spock they can do just that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meanwhile, we get our first significant away mission of the series with the trio of Saru, Tyler and Burnham trying to find a way to counteract this new cloaking device. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that leads up to Phavo and some nice character work for Saru and Burnham. I will admit part of me thought it would be interesting to see only Saru and Burnham on the away team, given the tension between them. But having Tyler along gives us another dynamic and a buffer.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Early on, it was established that Saru’s people live in a perpetual state of fear and can sense death. Saru’s hearing means he can hear the song that the cloud of creatures or the planet is creating constantly playing. (I can only imagine it would be like riding It’s A Small World at DisneyWorld -- fun at first but it would get really old really fast!) Saru becomes weary of this, trying to rest and asks the creatures for one moment of silence -- which they deliver and then some. Suddenly, we see a different side of Saru -- one that is freed from the noise and his race’s constant fear. Freed from that, he doesn’t want to go back, crushing everyone’s communicators, lying and willing to do whatever it takes to allow him to stay. I do wonder if Saru’s comments that Tyler and Burnham would eventually come into the fold were true or if he’d eventually have to eliminate one or both of them. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Building on what Saru told Burnham a few weeks ago, the wounds that he feels from her become a bit deeper. Saru points out that he won’t let Burnham take anything else away from him. This is twice we’ve heard about this now and if we don’t get some more payoff on it later, I will be disappointed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meanwhile, we find out not only do Saru and Staments have a lot at stake, but Burham does as well. Unlike Tyler who can retire to his beach condo when the war is over, Burnham looks forward to a return prison. She sees herself as only useful until the end of the war, at which point Lorca’s leverage with Starfleet runs out and she’s sent back to prison. It certainly makes me unsure of what to root for in seeing Lorca stay in command as long as possible (you have to think that if Cornwell removes Lorca from the center chair that Burnham would be pulled from duty as well). It also helps explain why Burnham is reluctant to form too many bonds with her crewmates outside of Tilly and Tyler. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">OK, so maybe I was wrong about this one being a bit more straightforward. There is a lot going on here and that doesn’t take into account the Klingon plotline.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking of not knowing how to trust, I’m not sure how much of what L’Rell says and does we can take at face value. Does she want to help Kov? Is she looking to defect? Did she really kill Cornwell? </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given that we see some of her fellow devotees of T’Kuvma rounded up and pretty graphically killed, the lack of dismemberment of Cornwell makes me believe she’s not actually dead. Could this be part of some plan that Cornwell and L’Rell have concocted to allow her to defect and possibly give Starfleet a look at the cloaking technology? </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This episode ran shorter than most, leading me to wonder if they couldn’t have spared a few seconds to declare Cornwell officially dead if that was the case. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, it could be that certain on-line speculation is clouding my perceptions here. But if that’s all to the Cornwell plot I may be disappointed.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That leaves us with only one more episode left in the fall run. Here’s hoping the show goes out on a high note….</span></div>
Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-85740938365667979452017-10-31T11:15:00.001-05:002017-10-31T11:15:12.718-05:00TV Round-Up: Star Trek Discovery: Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2e4453; font-family: "Noto Serif", Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Strange that an episode featuring a never-ending time loop where a lot of the crew dies in the course of defending the ship would be one of the most entertaining, fun and light episodes <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Star Trek: Discovery</em> has given us.</div>
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And yet, “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” achieves just that.</div>
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A lot of that can be chalked up to the presence of one Harcourt Fenton Mudd, who wants to sell <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Discovery</em>’s secret weapon to the Klingon in exchange for a lot of money. (I’d argue that Mudd may be lying a bit there since it’s fairly obvious that he has an iffy relationship with the truth. It doesn’t seem too huge a stretch to think that Mudd has bartered with the Klingons to set him free in exchange for handing over <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Discovery</em> to them. That would go a long way toward giving Mudd more motive to reset the timeline when he finds out who Burnham is and she kills herself. Mudd may need that extra money to pay off whatever debts he’s accrued and would rather spend his life running from, rather than marrying Stella).</div>
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<img alt="110700_0503b" class=" wp-image-700 alignleft" data-attachment-id="700" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"5","credit":"Michael Gibson","camera":"ILCE-7SM2","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1496863728","copyright":"\u00a9 2017 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved.","focal_length":"70","iso":"20000","shutter_speed":"0.01","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="110700_0503b" data-large-file="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/110700_0503b.jpg?w=437&h=292?w=1024" data-medium-file="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/110700_0503b.jpg?w=437&h=292?w=300" data-orig-file="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/110700_0503b.jpg?w=437&h=292" data-orig-size="1200,802" data-permalink="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/star-trek-discovery-magic-to-make-the-sanest-man-go-mad/110700_0503b/" height="292" sizes="(max-width: 437px) 100vw, 437px" src="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/110700_0503b.jpg?w=437&h=292" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 32px 12px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="437" />When I heard Rainn Wilson was cast as Mudd for the upcoming season, I was both intrigued and apprehensive. I was worried that <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Discovery</em>could fall into the same trap that Enterprise did when it brought in the Borg. I didn’t want to see Mudd shoehorned into the show as a publicity stunt or ratings grab like the Borg were in <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Enterprise</em>. I wanted the character to be well used and to maybe get some sense of what led him to be the man we see when Kirk and company meet him during the original series run.</div>
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After two solid episodes of Wilson chewing the scenery, I’m glad to see that I shouldn’t have worried. Mudd’s inclusion works well and if he goes on to become a recurring thorn in the side of Lorca and company, I certainly wouldn’t mind.</div>
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Credit a lot of that to Wilson, whose work in this episode was just spot on. Mudd’s scheming made him a good threat and his connection to Lorca from their time in the Klingon prison cell served as a great motivation for Mudd’s time loop creation and his desire to sell out the ship to the Klingons. I do find myself wondering if Mudd and Tyler were both placed in the cell with Lorca as some type of test or a way to make Lorca choose between the two men. I have feeling that while Mudd is more transparent in his desire to give the Klingons the ship, that Tyler may be playing a longer game. I just can’t quite shake the feeling (SPOILER info and speculative articles aside) there’s more to him than he’s letting on. After all, it’s not like it’s easy to survive seven months of Klingon torture and come out as relatively unscathed as he did.</div>
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<img alt="110700_0604b" class=" wp-image-699 alignright" data-attachment-id="699" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"5","credit":"Michael Gibson","camera":"ILCE-7SM2","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1496875685","copyright":"\u00a9 2017 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved.","focal_length":"126","iso":"20000","shutter_speed":"0.01","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="110700_0604b" data-large-file="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/110700_0604b.jpg?w=371&h=248?w=1024" data-medium-file="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/110700_0604b.jpg?w=371&h=248?w=300" data-orig-file="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/110700_0604b.jpg?w=371&h=248" data-orig-size="1200,802" data-permalink="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/star-trek-discovery-magic-to-make-the-sanest-man-go-mad/110700_0604b/" height="248" sizes="(max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px" src="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/110700_0604b.jpg?w=371&h=248" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 12px 32px; max-width: 100%;" width="371" />There’s also the feeling during Burnham’s final log entry that she and the crew are being set up to have the rug pulled out from under them. Clearly, Lorca could be removed from command when and if Admiral Cornwell is released/escapes her Klingon captors. A lot of this episode felt like it was putting the characters into certain positions for us to see dominoes begin to fall during the back half of the season. It feels like this is crew of outsiders who have found a way to work well together and are building the type of relationship that drove other <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Trek</em> series. But I can’t help but wonder if this trust could all be easily shattered by a betrayal or two. Again, it seems like Lorca could easily fall out the crew’s good graces when how he’s taken advantage of events to keep Cornwell from taking the ship from him comes to light.</div>
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And while I’m not necessarily sure that seeing the first ever wild kegger on a <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Star Trek</em>show is the best idea, I’m willing to roll with it for the character work here. And while it was interesting to see Stamets teach Burnham how to dance, I would be lying if I said there weren’t echoes of “The Doctor Dances” from the new <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Doctor Who</em> running through my mind.</div>
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<img alt="dsc-107pix-head-640x360" class="alignnone wp-image-696" data-attachment-id="696" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"Michael Gibson","camera":"ILCE-7SM2","caption":"\"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad\" -- Episode 107 -- Pictured (l-r): Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd; Jason Isaacs as Captain Gabriel Lorca ; Sonequa Martin-Green as First Officer Michael Burnham; Anthony Rapp as Lieutenant Paul Stamets; Shazad Latif as Lieutenant Ash Tyler of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson\/CBS \u00c3\u0082\u00c2\u00a9 2017 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved.","created_timestamp":"1496876395","copyright":"\u00c3\u0082\u00c2\u00a9 2017 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved.","focal_length":"72","iso":"20000","shutter_speed":"0.02","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="dsc-107pix-head-640×360" data-large-file="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/dsc-107pix-head-640x3601.jpg?w=363&h=204?w=640" data-medium-file="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/dsc-107pix-head-640x3601.jpg?w=363&h=204?w=300" data-orig-file="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/dsc-107pix-head-640x3601.jpg?w=363&h=204" data-orig-size="640,360" data-permalink="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/star-trek-discovery-magic-to-make-the-sanest-man-go-mad/dsc-107pix-head-640x360-2/" height="204" sizes="(max-width: 363px) 100vw, 363px" src="https://exploringthefinalfrontierblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/dsc-107pix-head-640x3601.jpg?w=363&h=204" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; display: inline; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 100%;" width="363" /></div>
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Overall, though, I was very pleased with the episode and felt it worked well on just about every level. It may be my favorite episode of the series so far.</div>
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A few smaller items:</div>
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<li style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you ever asked me what the scariest red-shirt death in all of <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">TOS</em> was, I’d tell you that it’s when Kirk beams two random red-shirts into nothingness thinking the ship is still orbiting the planet in “And the Children Shall Lead.” For years, I’ve morbidly wondered what that was like for those two red-shirts. Well, I think we’ve got an answer now when Mudd has Lorca beamed into space and we see him die. And now that scene has become more chilling than ever.</li>
<li style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Speaking of deaths, it was nice to see how many ways Mudd came up with to eliminate Lorca.</li>
<li style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mudd’s line of “mon capitan” made me wonder if Mudd be to Lorca what Q was to Picard. And if that’s the way it goes, I’m fine with that.</li>
<li style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I feel like we missed an opportunity when Stella didn’t call Harry by his full name.</li>
<li style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Speaking of Stella, she doesn’t seem quite as harsh as we see her android version will be in “I, Mudd.” Does she become harsher or is that Harry’s perception of her because he has to give up his devious ways to settle down with her?</li>
<li style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stamets being outside of time and having to work with Burnham to try and stop Mudd brings up some intriguing questions. It also makes me wonder if there’s more of a side effect to using the spore drive than we’ve been led to believe so far. I don’t want to this to become like the speed limit we put on vessels in later <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">TNG</em>thanks to a pretty forgettable season seven episode. But I can see how the writers are setting things up so the spore drive can be put aside and not around to do something like, say, bring <em style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Voyager</em> home easily.</li>
</ul>
Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-25653717783054642092013-08-28T16:09:00.001-05:002013-08-28T16:09:16.685-05:00UT vs Austin Peay Haiku<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24px;">Jones era begins</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24px;">Let’s Butch slap the Governors</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24px;">Start season with win</span>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-89863368001760495172012-09-22T08:59:00.001-05:002012-09-22T08:59:38.936-05:00Vols Vs Akron HaikuBetter late than never, I guess. I was so bummed by not only the loss but how the Vols lost last week that I couldn't muster up the gumption to do my standard haiku early in the week.<br />
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Can Vols bounce back<br />
Get win before October<br />
Schedule gets brutal<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="700" name="widget" scrolling="no" src="http://affiliate.xosdigital.com/widget/index.php?wid=7981" width="300"></iframe>Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-4830404595401483292012-09-16T16:38:00.001-05:002012-09-16T16:38:23.080-05:00Florida 37, Vols 20Derek Dooley seems like a really nice guy. It's too bad that he's likely gone at the end of the season. <br />
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He's yet to pick up that signature win. And he's had opportunities to do it. But I keep seeing the team under him making the same mistakes over and over again. Or falling prey to the same negative tendencies.<br />
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For example, the inability to adjust in-game to what the other team is doing. Once Florida decided to make their QB the second coming of Tim Teabow yesterdays, the Vols defense was completely flustered and you could see them giving up on play after play after play. It's hard to get back into the game and get a crowd back into the game (one that desperately wanted to get back into it, mind you) when time and again you don't make a play. <br />
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Another thing is the team's lack of killer instinct. After answering Florida's opening field goal of the second half with a touchdown drive, the Vols had everything going their way and could have put the Gators away for good. Instead, we miss an extra point (more on this in a minute!) and then the defense holds on a fake punt. Then the offense goes out of sync and Tyler Bray can't hit the broad side of a barn. There's a couple of a reasons for this--the biggest being that complete lack of a run game to try and keep the Gators honest. You live by the pass, you die by the pass. I said it after the NC State game--you can't win consistently on huge plays in the SEC. Teams will figure it out eventually, take that away and make you beat them with other aspects of the game. Tennessee didn't have those for a quarter and a half and, well, we all saw the results.<br />
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Back to my original point--this team lacks leadership to calm them down, focus them again and go back onto the field to try and make something happen. We have a great collection of players, but I don't see a cohesive team out there. <br />
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All of this comes to rest squarely at the feet of Dooley. I really feel like ever since we had 13 men on the field in the waning moments of the LSU game two years ago that the team and program hasn't been the same. That seems to be the crossroads for the Dooley era...it's all been shoulda, woulda, coulda ever since that point. We shoulda made the play, we coulda won, we woulda done better if....<br />
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Again, I like Dooley as a person. As a coach, I'm less than impressed. Maybe it's time to put the orange pants back on the hanger and try again....Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-81527557536713926022012-09-12T18:43:00.004-05:002012-09-12T18:43:48.293-05:00Tennessee vs Florida HaikuGame Day visiting<br />
Rocky Top must be rocking<br />
Break seven year streak<br />
<br />
Turning point for Vols<br />
Start SEC season right<br />
Hand Gators a loss<br />
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<br />Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-21870784888394012942012-09-06T10:06:00.001-05:002012-09-06T10:06:11.865-05:00Vols vs Georgia State HaikuVols can't look ahead<div>
Must focus on the Panthers</div>
<div>
Continue growth</div>
Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-84317665675487108802012-09-04T09:40:00.000-05:002012-09-04T09:40:59.151-05:00Vols 35, NC State 21Every year, just before kick-off of the first game, I'm reminded of just how much I missed football during its eight month hiatus. <br />
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The same feeling swept over me Friday night as I watched the orange and white come out onto the field for the first time in 2012 at the Georgia Dome. In a crowd that was decided slanted toward the Vols (lots and lots of orange), the Vols came out and took care of business against NC State with a nice 35-21 victory. Much of the credit for the win goes to a dominating thirty seconds of game play in which the Vols scored 16 points--two long TDs and a safety. <br />
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As I said Friday to a fellow fan, "And to think we've got three more quarters to go." <br />
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I saw a lot of positives in the game and for the season, setting up what I think could be one of the biggest showdowns the Vols and Gators have had in years when they visit Knoxville a week from Saturday.<br />
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The first encouraging sign was two long, sustained drives to end the first half and during the third quarter. One particular drive saw the Vols methodically drive on NC State and saw the Wolfpack take a TD because our offense had them on the ropes. Watching Derek Dooley get visibly excited when NC State took the time out and celebrate and congratulate his offense was a nice moment and I hope that this team can provide him with a lot more of these moments as the season unfolds.<br />
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The second encouraging sign was that the offense didn't abandon the running game when it wasn't necessarily paying dividends early in the contest. Tennessee slowly wore down the NC State defense until by the end of the first half and much of the second, the Wolf Pack was giving up more and more yards on the ground. <br />
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Possibly the most encouraging sign was that it looked like the staff made adjustments at half-time and the team executed them on both sides of the ball. The defense came up with four picks on the day, one bigger than the fourth-and-short that sparked the thirty seconds of scoring fury to end the first quarter.<br />
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On the negative side, I still worry that the Vols were too dependent on the long play to spark the offense and set things up. We've got a lot of potential there, but better teams in the SEC will take away those long plays and I'll be interested to see how Tyler Bray and company respond to that.<br />
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I will also point out that we got the short end of the stick from the officiating crew. I have no clue which replay they saw, but the one in the Georgia Dome from ESPNU clearly showed Bray breaking the plane of the end zone and scoring a TD as the first half wound down. <br />
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I also still have questions at kicker. I was worried the missed extra point would come back to haunt us, but thankfully the defense bailed Palardi out. He did redeem himself as the game went along and maybe it was early season jitters. Let's hope those are out because his leg could be the difference between a win and a loss at some point this year.<br />
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All in all, a nice way to start the season. Let's hope the Vols build on it into game two and aren't looking ahead to the Gators visits on September 15.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="700" name="widget" scrolling="no" src="http://affiliate.xosdigital.com/widget/index.php?wid=7518" width="300"></iframe><br />Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-45863322065104524702012-08-30T18:43:00.000-05:002012-08-30T18:43:47.716-05:00Less than 24 Hours.....It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!!!!!<br />
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Here's hoping the Vols can kick the 2012 campaign off right!<br />
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Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-17540124065774189322012-08-27T11:54:00.000-05:002012-08-27T11:54:25.462-05:00Vols vc NC State HaikuAt long last, football season is upon us and with it, the return of my Haikus for each UT game. So, here we go....<br />
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Dooley needs strong start<br />
Begin season with a win<br />
Wolfpack could be tough<br />
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Early season test<br />
Will new schemes work for Vols?<br />
Fear the orange pants!Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-70396987117988943702012-08-16T09:38:00.002-05:002012-08-16T09:38:04.408-05:00Must See "Star Trek"?!?<a href="http://michaelsmediamusings.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/star-trek-or-series-logo.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignleft wp-image-7" height="180" src="http://michaelsmediamusings.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/star-trek-or-series-logo.jpg?w=300" style="margin: 5px;" title="Star-Trek-or-series-logo" width="240" /></a><a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/10-mustsee-episodes-of-star-trek,83853/">This week's TV Club 10</a> over at the Onion AV Club focuses on the original (and still the best) <em>Star Trek.</em><br />
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Zach Handlen (who did a review of every episode of classic <em>Trek</em> a couple of years ago and just finished up a look back at<em> TNG</em>) recommends ten "essential" episodes of classic <em>Trek</em> that you should see. Here's his list (they're by season and in broadcast order, not a top ten list)<br />
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Balance of Terror<br />
The Squire of Gothos<br />
Space Seed<br />
The Devil in the Dark<br />
The City on the Edge of Forever<br />
Amok Time<br />
Mirror, Mirror<br />
The Trouble With Tribbles<br />
Spock's Brain<br />
Spectre of the Gun<br />
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It's a solid list, but being the big <em>Trek</em> fan that I am, I disagree with some of the choices.<br />
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As good as "Squire" is, I'd drop it off in favor of season two's "The Doomsday Machine." And while I can see that you'd include "Spock's Brain" as one of the nadir's of classic <em>Trek</em> (and the entire franchise as a whole, though it doesn't make me shudder and want to weep like <em>TNG</em>'s "Imaginary Friend" does), I think you'd be far better served to include "The <em>Enterprise</em> Incident" or "The Tholian Web" as examples of Trek's third season.<br />
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I get that any list has to include "City on the Edge of Forever" as well. However, while I like "The Trouble With Tribbles," it's not going to make my top ten classic <em>Trek</em> episodes. It's good, yes. It's funny, yes. But for some reason, I just find it a bit overrated. In fact, I'd almost say you could drop it and include "The Doomsday Machine" instead (original or remastered) in its slot. I get it that it's an iconic episode that most people cite when you mention original<em> Star Trek</em> to them. But, to my mind, it's still not as interesting or compelling as "The Doomsday Machine," "Amok Time" or even season two's other funny episodes "I, Mudd" or "A Piece of the Action."Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-31163422271370805142012-07-30T10:07:00.001-05:002012-07-30T10:07:10.030-05:00Retro Review: Star Trek, "The Corbomite Manuever"<a href="http://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/corbomitemanuever.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1219" height="225" src="http://nashvillebookworm.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/corbomitemanuever.jpg?w=300" title="corbomitemanuever" width="300" /></a>Between the return of <em>Breaking Bad,</em> the end of <em>Eureka</em> and spending far too much time looking at the newly released <em>Next Generation</em> Blu-Rays and going, "Ooohhhh...pretty!" I haven't devoted a lot of time to my journey back through classic <em>Star Trek</em> of late. But I've jumped back on board the starship <em>Enterprise</em> for the first episode produced after NBC picked up<em> Star Trek. </em><br />
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It's the fantastic bottle episode, "The Corbomite Manuever." I'll delve deeper into this classic episode of the original series just as soon as I figure out a way to have my adrenal gland removed...<br />
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Of the first dozen episodes of classic<em> Trek</em>, this may be my favorite.<br />
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Classic <em>Star Trek</em> (and all of<em> Trek</em> for that matter) is full of bottle episodes. These episodes were designed to be less expensive for the production team since they all took place on the already standing sets for the series and they featured a relatively small guest cast. In classic <em>Trek</em>, two of these episodes stand out as some of the best episodes the original series produced--the second season's "The Doomsday Machine" and this one.<br />
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"The Corbomite Maneuver" plays to the strengths of classic Trek and while it's not perfect and you can still see the cast and crew coming to grips with their characters and the universe, it's still one of the most compelling and entertaining hours of the entire <em>Trek</em> canon.<br />
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It's an episode with a lot of firsts. It's the first appearance of DeForest Kelly as Doctor McCoy, it's the first appearance of Uhura and it's the first use of the very familiar Fred Steiner musical score. In fact, I'd argue that the musical score is what pushes this episode over the top from a really good episode to one of the all time greats. Every time I watch it, I can't help but have the score stuck in my head for the next few days and will find myself humming it.<br />
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It's clear that Gene Roddenberry had a lot of time to craft and perfect this script, putting some nice polishes on it before production began. While probing an unexplored section of the universe, the Enterprise encounters a mysterious cube that blocks its path. When the cube begins to emit radiation, Kirk orders it destroyed and the ship continues its exploration mission.<br />
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The cube's destruction brings in the Fesaurus, a huge ship that dwarfs the Enterprise. The ship's commander Balock is upset at the cube's destruction (turns out it was a warning buoy) and orders the Enterprise destroyed. Based on his study of the ship's records, Balock decides the ship will have ten minutes for the crew to prepare themselves for the inevitable.<br />
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The driving force of "The Corbomite Maneuever" isn't Balock and his threats, but the crew's reaction to them. It's a story of how various characters react to the face of the unknown. Spock is curious to see Balcok, locking on to his broadcast and putting him image up on the view screen. Sulu is obsessed with keeping a countdown to destruction and Kirk stresses as he tries to find a way to save his ship and crew.<br />
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The episode also gives us the one-off character of Bailey, a helmsman that Kirk could have promoted to the big chair before Bailey was ready. Bailey's a bit green and he doesn't react well to the death sentence or the crew's reactions. Bailey's promotion is a cause of strife between Kirk and McCoy, with McCoy contending Kirk pushed Bailey too hard and he can't handle the pressure. When Bailey cracks on the bridge, McCoy says he fully intends to make sure Starfleet is aware that he warned Kirk about his.<br />
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The bluff gives Kirk an idea of just how he could defeat Balock--by bluffing. This is one of two times in the original series run that Kirk will use the bluff of a "corbomite device" installed on the ship. If the <em>Enterprise</em> is attacked, the device returns the fire upon the attacker, destroying both. Kirk tells Balcok the crew's "respect for life" requires that he tell him about the device, even though it's not included in the ship's records.<br />
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It's one of the first examples in the classic series of Kirk not only changing the rules, but the game. Presented with the un-winnable scenario, Kirk finds a way to change the game and come out a winner. Balock bites on the bluff and Kirk and the crew are able to escape.<br />
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The ending finds that Balock is a bluff as well. The image on the viewscreen is a puppet and Balock is a short, bald-headed guy played by Clint Howard. When the <em>Enterprise</em>'s escape of the Fesaurius' tractor beam cripples the smaller ship, Kirk, McCoy and Bailey (who returns to duty in the final act) beam aboard for a "first contact" mission. Again, it's just the set of the briefing room dressed up a bit, but it works fairly well.<br />
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"The Corbomite Maneuver" has all the pieces of classic Trek on display, even if they're not necessarily as polished as they'll later become. Spock is still a work in progress--he apologizes to Kirk at one point for not coming up with any options to defeat Balock--and Uhura's only line (repeated several times) is about opening hailing frequencies. But there's still enough of the classic <em>Trek</em> feel and character study here that the episode is a solid one and one of the best examples of what <em>Trek</em> can do with limited resources.<br />
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There's a lot of interesting trivia related to this one as well. Watch the episode again and notice the uniforms appear a bit small on the actors. Apparently, when they were sent out for cleaning, the uniforms shrunk a bit. It leads to shorter skirts for the ladies and sleeves that don't quite fit right for everyone. Of course, it works well here since the episode starts out with Kirk in sickbay taking his annual physical and McCoy later changing his "diet card" because he was "up a few pounds."<br />
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The episode also features Balock offering the crew tranya, a drink that he hopes the crew "relishes as much as I." Interestingly, in two separate behind the scenes reminisces, we get two separate accounts of what was in the bowl. Clint Howard tolds the SciFi Channel Special edition showings that tranya was colored grapefruit juice while William Shatner's <em>Star Trek Memories</em> says it was warm apricot juice. Neither one sounds necessarily all that appealing. But I do find myself wondering which version of the story is the correct one.<br />
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(I'm included both of the special edition sets related to this episode below. The Clint Howard material is the same for both episodes while the Shatner and Nimoy material is different. Again, I wonder why these can't be included on the DVDs or Blu-Rays!)<br />
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It's not something that will add or detract from the episode.<br />
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Looking back over my top ten list I created a couple of years ago, I'm surprised this one didn't make the final cut. That just means it'd hit my top fifteen, I guess. Easily one of the original run's best episodes, this one is worth watching again.<br />
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I will also say that the remastering of this one does some nice things while thankfully not giving into the temptation to do too much. It's one of a handful of classic <em>Trek</em> episodes that I think really benefits from the remastering, even if I still prefer the original effects.Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-50193665745770159722012-07-27T07:17:00.002-05:002012-07-27T07:17:58.783-05:00Season Tickets?Rick and Bubba are fond of saying they don't consider themselves comedians, but they just report on the funny things that happen to them. Consider this me reporting on something funny that happened to me yesterday.<br />
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I got a call from the Vanderbilt University athletics department. My first thought was--oh no, they've read all the disparaging Commodore remarks I've made over the years and have finally called to tell me enough is enough.<br />
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Nope. <br />
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Their record indicated that I've attended the UT vs Vandy football game each time it's been in Nashville over the last decade or so. And they were wondering if I'd like to think about a season ticket package for this year's Vanderbilt schedule, which includes UT, of course.<br />
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Salesman: However, when I heard your ring tone (which is Rocky Top), I figured you were probably headed to Knoxville for games.<br />
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Me: As many as I can get to, yes.<br />
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The salesman (who had a good sense of humor about the whole thing) then quoted me the price for tickets and told me about some of the other big games Vandy has this year. I politely declined the tickets and thanked him for calling me. <br />
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At no point did I give into the obvious temptation to point out how I keep hearing how awesome James Franklin is (he's not) and how excited the Vandy fanbase is about the season and yet somehow they're telemarketing to sell tickets. <br />
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He then concluded by saying that he figured I'd be on hand for the UT vs Vandy game and that they looked forward to seeing me then.<br />
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Sometimes you just can't make this stuff up....<br />
<br />Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6806267.post-74996755571141724122012-07-26T08:26:00.003-05:002012-07-26T08:26:40.083-05:00Tyler, Tyler, TylerI jumped into my car yesterday to head out to the Y, only to be greeted by news about the Tyler Bray situation. If you missed it, here's what Wes Rucker has come up with over at GoVols247.com.<br />
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There are two separate incidents here. One is solved and not a police matter, and the other is an unsolved police matter that doesn’t seem to include Bray as a direct suspect.<br />
Bray and some other people were at their off-campus apartment on Friday night, and they admitted to tossing some empty bottles and golf balls off their balcony. I don’t know was drinking beer and who wasn’t, but I know there were empty beer bottles and golf balls that were tossed off the balcony. The guys said they didn’t mean to hit anyone’s car, but obviously they did. They claim they were just having some fun and being careless. Bray has admitted to being included in that group.<br />
The first woman went out to her car the next day and saw a crack in her windshield and a dent on the top. She also found a note from a second woman who said she saw what happened to the car. The second woman also called 911 as she was watching the guys throw the bottles and golf balls. I don’t know what happened immediately next, but I know that the guys (including Bray) agreed to pay the damages and move on. The first woman was satisfied with this and didn’t want to press any charges. It’s a college apartment complex. Things happen.<br />
Where things get interesting is this: The second woman found damage on her car in a separate incident that happened during the day on Monday, around lunchtime. She suspected that group of guys was responsible for what she considered retribution, and she went to the police, who took down her story but couldn’t do anything about it because there were no witnesses to the event. The police looked into that situation but haven’t learned much, and Bray apparently couldn’t have done it because he wasn’t at the apartment complex during the only time her car could have been vandalized. This is why Bray’s friends were telling me he wasn’t there — because apparently he wasn’t there for the second incident, the only one that’s a police matter. Bray and his roommate were evicted from the complex for the first incident, and Bray learned that earlier in the day Monday.</blockquote>
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On the field, Bray has all the physical football gifts in the world, as evidences in last year's blow out of Cincinnati. But then you hear reports about Bray's football gifts between the ears, where it counts the most. That coupled with rumors that Bray and several underclassmen didn't give their full effort in the Kentucky game last year, not wanting to go to a "lesser" bowl game and then this incident....it makes continue to question if this guy will ever the quarterback he could be at Tennessee.<br />
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We've heard so much about how Bray has grown up in the off-season, but then you have a boneheaded move like this one and a lot of questions come back into play. Whether it's fair or not, Bray is the starting QB at UT, he's supposed to be a leader on the team. It's time for him to grow up and start acting like one.<br />
<br />Next Thursday as fall practice starts, the focus won't be on the team and expectations for the year, but instead on Bray acting like a nimrod. <br />
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If I'm Derek Dooley, I have to be shaking my head and feeling that knot of tension in my gut get just a bit tighter today. Dooley's future at UT is directly tied to Bray's success on the field this year and how big a step Bray makes. Bray falters, Dooley is gone, pure and simple. <br />
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It should be an interesting season....Michael Hickersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283539524957605129noreply@blogger.com0