A Summer Sci Fi Summary

Aha!  I bet you thought I’d forgotten about this site.  Fooled ya!

It’s been a restful summer, sci fi-wise.  There are a few sci fi shows currently airing, but they’ve not grabbed me.  Then there was the demise of Believe, the show that could have and should have been so much more.  I started draft after draft discussing its final episodes, but it seems rather silly to say anything now.

So let’s move on.

First up:  Defiance

Have these two hooked up yet?

This summer has brought us the second season of Defiance.  My best friend and her husband love Defiance.  But they also loved Battlestar Galactica, a show I never cared for.  I watched a few episodes of Defiance last year but quickly lost interest.  I like Julie Benz; it’s great to see her in a strong female role.  I like Graham Greene, but his character wasn’t (isn’t?) very likeable.  The show killer for me, however, is Jaime Murray.  I first saw her (and her breasts) on Dexter, where she played a despicable, often naked character.  It formed a hatred of her that seems to have left a permanent mark.  Not even her turn as H.G. Wells in Warehouse 13 softened my feelings.

Next up:  Dominion

CANCELLED!

Well crap.  Intelligence was cancelled in favor of another season of The Mentalist.  That makes yet another show down the drain.  My Current SciFi category is going to be significantly smaller next season.   Let’s look at the count.

Intelligence – CANCELLED!

Almost Human – CANCELLED!

Dracula – CANCELLED!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Renewed!

Freshmen programs:

Finale-Palooza

It’s that time of year, when most of the shows on the broadcast networks are finishing their seasons.  Agents of SHIELD concluded magnificently last week.  How did Grimm and Warehouse 13 fare?   (Supernatural will get its own post later.)

Grimm:  Blond Ambition (322)

Even with all the vows and such, we still don’t know Monroe’s last name.

Grimm isn’t a show frequently covered here, but the season finale is worth mentioning for the sheer number of stories left up in the air for next season.

Monroe and Rosalee were married.  On the night before the wedding, Rosalee’s sister ruined their grandmother’s wedding dress, which Rosalee had planned to wear.  Thank goodness, because it was one ugly dress!  Monroe’s parents bribed the bridal shop to open early so they could buy a $7,200 dress for Rosalee on the day of the wedding  (She’s worth it.)  They’ve come a long way from protesting the mixed-Wesen marriage.

All of the show’s arcs come together quickly with action and blood galore.  Where to start?

Ratings-Palooza, Part 2

Apparently my Charlie White on Dancing with the Stars obsession continues, but I have torn myself away long enough to catch up on a few sci fi shows.  Here are some incredibly short reviews, because better recaps and reviews have been done elsewhere, and in a more timely manner.

Agents of SHIELD

What’s with all the black, wardrobe people?

The season is definitely going out with a bang.  Will it make for a great, or at least better season 2?  One can hope.

Believe in Warehouse 13

How about a “quick and dirty” discussion of episodes from four early-week shows?  Here are thoughts on Sunday’s Believe and Monday’s Warehouse 13.  Thoughts on Tuesdays Agents of SHIELD and Supernatural will be posted later—because the first two reviews turned out to be not so quick. 😉

Believe:  Sinking (106)

Like last week’s episode, “Sinking” broke out of the rut this show had fallen into; I’m hoping it’s finally hitting its stride.  Granted, that won’t mean a thing if it doesn’t get more viewers.

Last week, Bo removed Tate’s ankle restraint (with her mind!).  This week Tate takes advantage of his freedom to return to his hometown to settle old scores learn the truth behind the betrayal that landed him on death row.

Tate’s father joins Winter, Channing, and Bo.

Given its significance to the overall story of Believe, “Sinking” should have been a two-parter.  The writers packed so much into one episode, it felt rushed.  What could have been excellent background information was either glossed over, rushed or just plain ignored.  Rather than keeping the two FBI agents from New York, our team was tailed by two new agents.  Using the two New York agents would have given the show some continuity, and upped the stakes, since those two were working for Skouras.

Speaking of Skouras, he’s so single-minded, it’s maniacal.  His villainy has become cartoonish, and it’s a shame.  Kyle MacLauchlan deserves better.

Warehouse 13 Season Finale

Warehouse 13 has wrapped up its fourth season.  As usual, the fate of the warehouse, and possibly the world, hangs in the balance—not to mention the future of numerous characters.  Sadly, the show’s “be-all-end-all” cliffhangers have become tiresome.  Like “the boy who cried wolf,” it’s happened so many times, do we even care anymore?

The gang’s (almost) all here:newly serious Pete, nearly absent Steve, super-smart Claudia, and super-sick Myka

“The Truth Hurts” had some excellent moments, some bad moments, some ugly ones, and some that just made me say “WTF?”  In fact, it had too many moments.  This is probably due to Warehouse 13‘s shortened season 5.  Like Eureka, the series will conclude with a meager six episodes next year.  The producers likely had to jam more into this season’s finale than originally intended, in order to be able to wrap things up next year.  Last Resort did something similar that in its final episode.

So, what was good about “The Truth Hurts”?

Warehouse 13: The Big Snag

I usually enjoy  the “special” episodes, the ones that take the heroes out of their normal milieu and plop them in an alternate reality.  Supernatural has done this a few times, often with excellent results.  This week’s Warehouse 13 followed suit, throwing Pete and Myka into the roles of a Chicago gumshoe and his girl Friday.  Even the title cards evoked the film noir feel.

Myka and Pete circa 1940

Pete and Myka are using Vyasa’s jade elephant to absorb and contain electrostatic energy balls bouncing around the warehouse.   (This is, after all, the warehouse where weird things happen all the time.)  When the elephant “overloads” from absorbing too many balls at once, its energy knocks an unfinished manuscript off the shelves, its pages to shower Pete and Myka as they float to the floor.  When the papers settle, Myka and Pete are in the black and white world of 1940s Chicago.  Except, as Myka says, “The 1940s were in color, much like the rest of history.”

W13: Parks and Rehabilitation (412)

Continuing to catch up..

The gang’s all there to support Artie.

The episode begins with Artie (backed by Pete, Myka, Claudia and Steve) appearing before a tribunal of Regents to decide his future.  To Artie’s surprise, the Regents exonerate him of Leena’s death, saying it wasn’t Arthur Nielsen who killed her.  As they say, Artie’s guilt is far more severe than any punishment they could impose.  Too true.

Merlin: The Death Song of Uther Pendragon (503)

The theme of this episode felt very much like that of this week’s Scandal (“A Criminal, a Whore, an Idiot, and a Liar”):  No matter how important and powerful you are, there’s always your father to tell you you’re an ass.

Uther Pendragon, back from the dead.

All other things aside, it was nice to see Anthony Head in the credits and on the screen again.

If you take out all those suspenseful scenes leading up to a “jump scare” (you know, where Percival is looking around the armory, or Gwen is walking down the hall), the episode was what?  About 10 minutes long?  Ok, I exaggerate.  But it’s times like these I’m glad I watch the show on a time delay.  (It’s mostly so I can fast-forward through the commercials, but the FF button got an extra work out this week.)

Merlin: Arthur’s Bane, Part 2 (502)

Well, that’s better.  Somewhat.  For the record, I got Arthur’s Bane wrong, but at least I was in good company.  Merlin thought it was Mordred, too.

At the end of Part 1, Arthur and Merlin were taken prisoner by the bounty hunter Ragnor, along with Mordred.  They’re now making their way to Ismere, Morgana’s stronghold.  [I don’t know where they filmed these scenes, but it’s obviously very cold. Colin Morgan’s face is very red.]  Of course, Arthur and Merlin escape; and Arthur kills all in pursuit except Mordred, to Merlin’s chagrin.

Aithusa, the white dragon, visits Morgana in the night.

No Kilgharrah this week, but we do have little Aithusa, the dragon Merlin watched hatch—and named—last season.  She was last seen rescuing Morgana at the end of the season 4.  Now she’s apparently Morgana’s pet.  And she’s injured.  Nooo!  What happened?