The death toll rises

Dean appears skeptical of The Great Supernatural Death Count. Sam is intrigued.

The results are in for the Great Supernatural Death Count through the end of season 1 (plus select season 5 episodes).  Are you as skeptical as Dean?  As interested as Sam?  The totals (so far) are on the Super Stats page; and the details, including death by names are also available.

The details page also includes explanations of who I counted and didn’t.  In a nutshell, I’m counting human deaths.  Demons in a human host aren’t counted unless we know/see the person prior to possession and know the victim’s name.  In the case of a catastrophe (plane crash), only the people with names are counted.  If the death occurred prior to the episode, it’s not counted, unless the death is the reason for the guys’ investigation (e.g., Emily from “Skin”).

I encourage your comments.  Are my numbers correct?  (I have been known to make mistakes, so if you spot one, please let me know!)  Do you agree with my methodology?  Should humans who don’t die but are still victims of the supernatural (e.g., turned into vampires) be included in the death count?  Should Pa Bender be included in the count?  Although technically a human, he certainly isn’t human.  Do you agree?  Or am I full of it? 

FlashForward: A5619184

Wow.  FlashForward is really getting good—just when it’s going on a 3 month hiatus.  That’s television for ya.  This episode had lots of action, lots of forward movement; and no alcoholic angst.  For the first time, I’m actually interested in seeing how things play out.

Things are looking worse and worse for Dimitri.  Even after Al changed his own future (by not having one), everyone still seems to be moving towards their flashforwards.

That TV Guide article said there’d be more to the disintegration of Mark & Olivia’s marriage than just his drinking.  I suppose getting fired for causing a scene in China might do that. I’m thinking that Mark not working for the FBI in his flashforward might be significant.  He becomes so obsessed with fitting the Mosaic pieces together, even though it’s no longer his job, that it drives the wedge further into his marriage and leads to him drinking again.

For the first time, I’m sort of liking Lloyd.  Not that I hated him before; he just didn’t do anything for me.  But now I’m feeling a little of his pain.  (By the way, I called it on those EMTs, although I thought they’d take his son instead of Lloyd.)

As for Lloyd’s fellow scientise, it’s really hard for me to see Dominic Monaghan as a ruthless corporate type after playing Charlie on Lost.  (What little I watched of Lost during its first season.)  I realize the whole premise of  an actor’s life  is to play characters of different personas  (oops, my spell checker says it’s personae); but Dominic’s look seems more blue-collar or comic relief to me.  Yet here he’s one of the most highly educated, scariest characters on the show.  I have to say, his rant that scientists conduct experiments all the time and can’t be held accountable for the consequences has to be one of the stupidest defenses I’ve ever seen.  (And having watched General Hospital for a few years, I’ve seen some pretty lame defenses.)  But, this is tv, and the laws of reality don’t always apply.

Michael Massey is back.  His hair’s gotten longer than it was on his stint as Kubrick in Supernatural.  I really liked Kubrick, but somehow, I don’t think D. Gibbons is going to be all that nice.

And lastly, does Joseph Fiennes mumble?   I seem to miss half his lines.  I know part of it may be that American English is not his native speech, but lots of British actors (and Australians for that matter—one of the best being Legend of the Seeker’s Craig Horner) do it without me having to replay the scene.  And even then I still don’t catch his lines.

Let the facts begin!

Man, I am so confused! I’m not sure what I’ve posted and what hasn’t been posted. I started posts both last night and the night before, but I think I pooped out before I got the data all prettified. This epsidose rewatching schedule and Christmas preparation (and not being able to kill time at work) is kicking my ass!

So, until I get to the weekend and can spend some time figuring out how to best present the data, I’m just going to give y’all the dirty low down without any of the fancy-schmancy tables.

So here we go.

Raw numbers through the first 9 episodes:

Total # victims: 20
# men victims: 13
# of women: 7
# of ethnic deaths: 1
# of dead white men: 12
(You can gather from this data that the ethnic death is male.)

How does that work out percentage-wise?

% of male deaths: 65%
% female deaths: 35%
% ethnic deaths: 5%
% white male deaths: 60%
% of male deaths that are white men: 92.3%

And here’s something to chew on until my next Supernatural statistics report.  Here’s some numbers on the general U.S. population (from the U.S. Census Bureau), just for comparison (for now).

Gender:
% population that is female: 51% (Really! It’s not 50%, probably because women tend to outlive men.)

Race:
77% is white
24% is ethnic (all races and mixed)
11% is black/African-American

Discussion will ensue later, but you’re welcome to start voicing your opinions!

FlashForward

I was just about ready to ask if someone would  like to review FlashForward here.  I hadn’t gotten around to watching the episode that aired on Nov 19th, “Believe,” and wasn’t sure I was motivated to do so.   I finally watched it after reading an article about the series in TV Guide.

I loved it!  Focusing on Bryce and his flashforward was a nice departure from the Mark-Olivia manufactured angst.  Then I went back and reread the TV Guide article.  So “Believe” was an atypical episode.  Bah!

Still, there was much to love:   A glimpse into Bryce’s life and flashforward,  and Mark Benford finally getting called out on his whiny, selfish shit.  But what I loved most?  The restaurant in the flashforward is in LA (or wherever this show takes place)!

Did you notice the voice of reason in this storyline is the teenage baby-sitter Nicole?  It seems a little strange she’s so together, given that her flashforward was truly brutal—as opposed to Mark and Olivia’s, which their obsession is only pushing them towards.

My Supernatural friends know I didn’t care for Genevieve Cortese as Ruby, but I think she’s doing a fine job in FlashForward.  Her story as an amputee on the run is intriguing, even if the alcoholism story isn’t.

In truth, I’m finding FlashForward’s alcoholism storylines, especially Mark’s over-angsty one , sort of like the fake pregnancy storyline in Glee.  I’m tolerating it for the greater story.  (Although that TV Guide article says there’s more to Mark’s drinking in his flashforward than Olivia’s possible affair.)

Yeah, I really don’t care about Mark and Olivia and am only somewhat affected by Aaron and daughter Stacy.  Bring on Bryce and Keiko!

Let the facts begin!

Yes, you’ve come to the right place.  I’ve changed themes again.  It’s not the one I really wanted, but it  gives me a chance to show off my awesomely adorable  scifi chicks.

The real news is I’ve begun my Supernatural fact finding mission.  For now I’m putting the results in a list on the “Super Facts” page.

Here’s a bit of trivia I’ve learned from this mission so far:  the 2nd of  Tommy’s friends to bite it in “Wendego”  is played by Glee’s Cory Monteith.  From monster chow to teen heart throb, that’s quite an impressive leap.

Just the facts, Ma’am

Supernatural fans are a funny, passionate bunch. I had thought there’d be a huge outcry after “The Real Ghostbusters.”  Instead, tempers flared after the terrific “Abandon All Hope.” Natalie better expressed (her and) my dismay at the fandom; and being a published author, did a much better job than I ever could.

Tempers have flared and debates have raged over Supernatural since its first season. Is Wincest ok or not? Was Jessica forgiving or angry at the end of “Bloody Mary”? Sam is selfish and whiny. Dean is bossy and gets too much screen time. You name it; you can find Supernatural fans to argue about it.

In the case of “Abandon All Hope,” two beloved recurring female characters (ok, one beloved and one semi-beloved) were killed off. Cries of misogyny rang throughout the internet; the complaint being Supernatural has killed off every well-loved recurring female character.  Oh, and while we’re at it, they’ve killed off a disproportionate number of black men, so the show must be racist as well.

We Supernatural fans tend to act with our hearts instead of our heads.  I have my own thoughts on these matters, but for now am going to concentrate on the cold, hard facts.  During the show’s two month hiatus I will be reviewing each episode and compiling a list of casualties.  The victims will be broken out by sex and then by ethnicity.

Will the facts support my beliefs?  Truthfully, I don’t know.  But I plan to have a lot of fun finding out.

V: the pilot

Sorry for the long absence.  I’m participating in NaBloPoMo at Stream of Conscience, and since I now have limited internet time, it’s eating into my SFC posting.

So, what did y’all think about V?

Mad Men: The Gypsy and the Hobo

Yes, I know Mad Men is not a scifi  show (unless you consider the early ’60s a fantasy, with “Camelot” and all). But there is a connection, however precarious it may be.

My second favorite Supernatural writer, Cathryn Humphris, is now a writer (and executive story editor) on Mad Men. (Raelle Tucker, my favorite Supernatural writer, is now on True Blood.) And while I miss them on Supernatural, I’m thrilled both of them are working on more popular (and critically acclaimed) shows.

Last night I saw Catheryn’s name in the opening credits (sandwiched between two other writers), so I was hoping it would be a good episode. Oh my goodness, it was amazing! The best show of the year, maybe even the entire series.  (If you’ve never seen Mad Men, this probably won’t make a lick of sense, so I’ll put it behind a cut.)

FlashForward gets good…

… if not a little wacko.

I knew from the previews that Peter Coyote plays the President.  I highly concur with this casting!

So Courtney B. Vance is good buddies with President Peter Coyote.  (Isn’t it sad I don’t know the characters’ names?)  But not so good that he’s above blackmailing him.  Ha!  And the President’s petty enough to nominate Vance’s nemesis as Vice President in retaliation.  Actually, she’ll have less power as Veep than she did as a senator.  Heh.  Oh, but then there’s her flashforward that she’s President. But President Peter Coyote is still alive because he’s in bed in his flashforward.  But wait, the time of the flashforward is 10:00 p.m.  What President goes to bed at 10 p.m.?  Oh, maybe the 10 p.m. is Pacific time, making it 1:00 a.m. in Washington.  Oh, my head hurts.

And how about that shootout?  Major whack!  Where do I begin?  To quote The Prophet Chuck (yes, another Supernatural reference) “It’s preposterous!”  Four FBI agents in sedan get broadsided by a van, then blown up.  Lo and behold, all four agents emerge unscathed!   And they’re more than eager to shoot the shit out of the van guys (who look ominously Chinese).  All in slow motion to the tune of the Rolling Stones’ “Sister Christian.”  Yeah, maybe the guy viewers really got into it.  It was definitely entertaining, just not exactly how they intended.

Ack!  I totally forgot that at the same time (and set to the same music), Agent Janis the closet lesbian is attacked D.C., by two ominously Asian assailants while walking home.  Of course, she takes out both guys, but is shot in the stomach.  As the camera pulls up, she’s lying in the street and her new talking-rolling-spinning alarm clock (a gift from her new, but maybe former, lover) rolls around in her blood, telling telling her it’s time to get up, leaving groovy circles of blood trailing behind it.  [Insert screencap I can't find here.]

Next week it’s back to Olivia whining about her marriage.  I’ll be sure my fast-forward button is in good working order.

About damn time!

I finally got around to rewatching the Warehouse 13 season finale.  I don’t know why I kept putting it off.  I guess I just felt I wasn’t ready.  (Ready for what, I don’t know.  Maybe ready to write a review?)

The episode had so many locations—the wife’s house, the warehouse, the gravel road, the underground place; not to mention everything going on back at the warehouse—it felt a little disjointed.  But it also had Roger Rees.  He makes such a fabulous villain, and a great foil for Artie (and Mrs. Frederic), I could forgive the choppy editing.

And then, the ending was so freaking awesome, I forgot any complaints I might have had.  And that was before I saw the real ending!

Yes, it’s true.  After watching the episode two times, I thought the episode ended with the reveal of MacPherson’s helper.  And, as I’ve already said, it was awesome.

But upon reading the Warehouse 13 thread at Television Without Pity (I hope the show gets it’s own forum next year), I discovered there was some sort of fire involving the possible death of Artie.  What the heck?  Did my recorder cut off too soon?

Nope.  I’d just assumed the cut to commercial after Leena’s reveal signaled the end of the episode.  Turns out there was another 5 minutes!  Biggest.  D’oh! Evah!

So the real ending was more of a cliffhanger than I initially thought.  Although I dislike season-ending cliffhangers, they really have become de rigueur in the industry.  I was quite happy with the cliffhanger-suspense level of MacPherson’s escape and Leena’s reveal.  It gave me the whole… however long it is until season 2 starts… to think about the ramifications.  The actual ending was much more dramatic and the cliffhanger-suspense level on a whole new level, but I still have the same things to ponder.  Plus:

• Will Artie live?
• Will Pete & Myka make it out of the warehouse?
• Will Mrs. Frederic make it back in time to intercept MacPherson?  Or to save Artie?
• Where is Claudia?
• What will become of Myka’s ferret?

Oh!  And who thought it’d be a good idea to put a “Reverse” button on the cryogenic-bronzing gizmo?  At what point in time would one want to reintroduce history’s greatest criminals back into society?  Isn’t that just a tad bit reckless?