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Showing posts with label syfy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label syfy. Show all posts
He's BA-ACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Evening my Children. Den Mother Colleen here with a mini-review of Sanctuary...the land of the Pretty. Towards the end of season 2, something horrible happened on Sanctuary. Not an uncommon occurance when dealing with monsters on a daily basis. The horrible thing was the devamping of Nicola Tesla. And remaking him into a Magneto rip-off. Both things royally pissed me off. I liked the idea of Nicola Tesla as vampire/master of electricity. AND I mean master of electricity the way Jenny Sparks of The Authority (awesome graphic novel whilst Jenny lived...now she's a toddler...long story that would require another article) was master of electricity...as in he could CREATE IT with his body. Then he got devamped with his own device (really, really stupidly, btw) and somehow developed the ability to manipulate magnetic fields. THUS, Magneto rip-off. So tonight's post is dedicated to Nicola Tesla: Vampire, devamped, Magneto'd, and now revamped!!!!
FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!
Anyway, quick recap. Helen Magnus was part of a group that called themselves the five. The five included James Watson i.e. Sherlock Holmes, John Druitt aka Jack the Ripper, Nigel Griffin aka The Invisible Man, and Nicola Telsa aka unnecessary as he's NICOLA FUCKING TESLA. Now this group somehow procured a batch of unaltered vampire DNA. In Sanctuary, vampires weren't undead aberrations, they were a species of Earth called Sanguine Vampirus that could breed but were still, in fact, immortal. According to Sanctuary history, they were the great emperors of Rome, Greece, the Pharoahs of Egypt, etc. Basically they ruled the world and humans were their slaves. Well, humanity, under the power of the Church, rebelled and largely exterminated the species. They also, which still hasn't been fucking explained, managed to sterilize the remaining vampires. So the unaltered vampire blood is blood of a random vampire who wasn't sterilized. Anywho, the Five injected themselves with the blood giving each some cool new ability or trait. Watson's natural intelligence was heightened to superhuman proportions. Druitt developed teleportation abilities, unfortunately during transit of a teleport some bat-shit crazy abnormal piggy-backed into him and made him Jack the Ripper. Helen Magnus became essentially immortal. Nigel Griffin became a human cloaking device. Nicola Tesla, due to a vampire ancestor, had dormant vampiric genes awakened and became a vampire...who can manipulate electricity.
So for 120 or so years, Nicola larked about, trying to use his blood to make other vampires. He finally succeeded in the 21st century. But they weren't playing by his rules so, using a fail-safe device, he devamped them. Unfortunately, while he was devamping the last asshole vamp, the guy grabbed him and pushed him onto the device, which apparently worked at both ends. Thus Nicola was devamped...as I said, stupid huh? And to make it even more irritating, he became Magneto.
Well in the most recent episode of Sanctuary, The Awakening, our Nicola gets revamped. YAY!
So he and Helen are investigating a cave that was supposedly Praxian (the underground beings who went, well, underground to escape the rule of the Vampires) but was taken over by the vampires. The vampires put a booby-trap in it and Tesla gets shot with a laser. While investigating the site at Tesla's "dying' request, Helen uncovers a stasis pod with a vampire in it. Realizing that this woman probably predates the sterilization of the vampires, she goes all HULK on the crystal and withdraws some blood...and revamps Tesla. YAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vampire Tesla...AGAIN! As it should be!
However, in the process of HULK STRENGTH, she destabilizes the pod and it starts disintegrating...and the vampire is set free. Originally I thought her name was ATHENA...which makes sense to me as she was quite Goa'uld-like...but apparently she's AFINA. Whatever. Anyway, she decides that the world should be taken over by vamps again, tosses Nicola down a big ol hole, and takes Helen hostage to be her own undying meals on wheels or meals in heels to be more accurate. They go into another chamber deeper in the cave where there is a big ol room full of vampires in stasis. She starts the wake-up call. Helen attacks her. Bad move Helen...this is a VAMPIRE...
Meet Athena or Afina.
Meanwhile, Tesla is trying to get the fuck out of the hole. AND apparently he still has his magneto powers and is able to grab his pack, which has a very convenient grappling hook and apparently a shitload of rope. And thus saves Helen from being all killed by Afina. He throws the grappling hook at Afina and the momentum knocks her across the room. Anyway, while he and Afina have a big ol' vamp fight, Helen stops the other vamps from being awakened...but Afina wins the battle. Helen stops her by saying she'll give Afina the crystal that had the location of the Praxian city if she lets them go and tells them how to get out of the cave...unbeknownst to said vamp, the crystal has a fail safe in it that creates A BOMB if a vampire gets a hold of the information. Helen and Tesla haul ass out of the cave while vampires go boom and MAN WHAT A BOOM. There's a big ol crater from the boom.
Oh, meanwhile, the rest of the gang deal with Kate's ol mercenary gang. But I really didn't care about that subplot except for the part where Kate tells her ol' gang that they have one chance to get out of dodge posthastey as she is now part of the Sanctuary and thus is a bad-ass for good!
That's about it. Vampire Nicola has been resurrected (he actually uses that term) and Kate is scary when she's pissed. So all in all a great episode. Which is nice since I couldn't care less about the past couple of episodes.
Good Night and Tesla Bless You!
Merlin: Still giving the finger to Continuity
Hello my Children. Den Mother Colleen here with a review. I have finished watching the third season of Merlin and thus have updates on character and plot developments...as well as more veering from the accepted myth. When I wrote my last review I was still fairly early in the third season. So a whole bunch of stuff has happened. Follow me to the list.
1) Merlin still needs to grow out his hair. Seriously, Colin Morgan's hair stylist should be shot for cutting his hair that short. His ears just take over his entire head.
ATTACK EARS! Seriously, grow out the hair.
2) Morgana continues to be a bitch and a traitor.
3) Sir Gwaine, the biggest lush of the Knights of the Round Table, enters the scene and much drinking and brawling ensues. He is portrayed by Eoin Macken and appeared in four episodes of season 3, including an episode labeled "Gwaine." He has a lot of issues with the noble class, though he is part of said class himself. It appears that the writers have decided to be pretty true to myth with Gwaine...which is a nice change. Anyway, Gwaine and Merlin get on quite well. Oh and I totally want to fuck him.
Meet Gwaine. He likes to drink. A lot.
4) Apparently, Guenevere has a brother named Elyan, portrayed by Adetomiwa Edun -haven't a clue how to pronounce THAT name. Which brings us to change in myth number 11: Elyan was a knight of the round table according to the myth, but was in no way related to Gwen...and was called Sir Elyan the White, son of Lord Bors. I wonder if the writers of Merlin were being deliberately ironic here. Anyway, he's a decent guy with a penchant for getting into trouble. Morgause and her puppet King, Cenred, kidnap him to get poor Gwen to lure Arthur into their clutches. Trap ensues. Trap fails.
I give you Sir Elyan the White...no really.
5) Arthur almost marries a fairy. Wackiness ensues.
6) Morgana continues to be a bitch...oh I already said that. Well in this case, her bitchiness is due to her dreaming about Guenevere becoming Queen. So she sets up Arthur and Gwen up to be caught by Uther. Then she frames Gwen for witchcraft -as in she enchanted Arthur to fall in love with her. Merlin makes himself an aging potion so that he can be caught leaving the enchantments...and almost gets burned at the stake. Gaius saves him in the nick of time. Arthur and Gwen decide to keep their love on the DL...which lasts about two more episodes.
A much more familiar looking Merlin...
7)Harry Potter's cousin Dudley shows up for a tournament at Camelot. And MAN has he lost a lot of weight. Anyway, here he goes by Gilly. He is magical and uses it to try to win the tournament...and tries to kill Uther whom he fights in the finals. Its battle of the big ears when Merlin uses HIS magic to stop him. They talk later and Dudley decides that Merlin was right and he shouldn't have used his magic for personal gain. So yay all around.
vs
Big Ears and Yellow Eyes FIGHT!
8) Season finale part 1: The Holy Grail reappears. Morgause gets Cenred to capture said grail. They use it to make his army immortal in order to invade Camelot. Morgana is crowned queen. Fuck.
Queen Morgana...for now.
9) Season finale part 2: Arthur, Merlin, Gaius, Gwen, Gwaine, Elyan, Sir Leon (a knight of Camelot), hide out in a cave. Arthur broods over learning that Morgana is a) his sister and b) a TRAITOR. Merlin verbally bitch slaps him out of it. We learn that they are actually undead by the appearance of Merlin's dead girlfriend, Freya. Merlin learns from Gaius that if you empty the grail of the blood of the evil dead, they would actually die...permanently.
10) Part 2 continued: Merlin calls Mr Dragon for a ride to the lake of Avalon to retrieve Excalibur...apparently it can actually destroy the soldiers. He returns to the cave. The intrepid band of buggered are almost captured by Cenred's immortal army but are saved by the arrival Lancelot and Percival, played by Tom Hopper. He is really tall. And REALLY strong. He makes a whole bunch of big rocks fall on the undead soldiers.
Percival the freaking Tall!
So they go to some old ruins of a castle. Where we are finally introduced to the actual fucking round table. They decide to invade Camelot to rescue Uther. Arthur then knights Percival, Lancelot, Elyan, and Gwaine. Yay. Whilst the rest of the band go after Arthur's daddy, Merlin and Lancelot go after the Cup. All battle the evil dead.
The Round Table!
Merlin and Lancelot finally get through their bunch and Merlin is about to get the cup when Morgause shows up. She magically tosses Merlin across the room and is about to kill him when GAIUS magically tosses HER across the room. She is about to counterattack when Merlin finally decides to use his magic and magically tosses her into a column...and possibly kills her. Merlin uses Excalibur to knock over the grail and all the blood leaves the cup. And all of the evil dead go phoom. I would say boom because they all explode but its more of a puff than a BOOM. Morgana appears and goes apeshit when she sees Morgause possibly dead. She magically huffs and puffs and brings the room down all around her. She and Morgause disappear. So Morgause may or may not be dead.
Schrodinger's Morgause...
Arthur and Merlin sit on the steps in front of the Citadel of Camelot and discuss Uther. Apparently, Morgana's betrayal has massively fucked him up. Merlin tells Arthur he may have to take the throne. Then Gwen and the knights of the round table show up. Gwen and Arthur kiss...aww... Poor Lancelot.
Knights of the Round Table...at last.
Season ends with change in myth number 12: Merlin places Excalibur within the stone. Excalibur is NOT the sword in the stone. In the myth Uther's sword is the one in the stone. After it breaks during a battle, Merlin gets Excalibur from the Lady in the Lake and gives it to Arthur. But it was a cool scene anyway with Dragon voice over saying, "when its (the sword's) task is complete you must promise to put it where none can wield it." Take me up, cast me aside indeed.
Merlin's solution to the "where none can wield it" command.
And that's it for Season 3. I love that in one episode we get the Holy Grail, Excalibur, the Sword in the Stone, and the Round table! Huzzah for Iconic Overload.
Oh and while I was looking up images I found a picture of my FAVORITE Merlin. This is from the 1981 movie Excalibur. Merlin is portrayed by Nicol Williamson...who utterly ROCKED! When I think of Merlin, THIS is who I picture...plus I totally dig the skullcap. Also, it has Helen Mirren as Morgan le Fay...which was just awesome.
Bad news, Peoples!
Today I bring you a rather tragic edition of my on again/off again feature celebrating all things MST3K.
I rarely find myself writing about the glory that is this incomparable program with so heavy a heart, for you see friends--Tirol9's YouTube Channel has been pulled for copyright violations.
Perhaps I should explain in depth:
Yesterday my MST3K-themed TR Daily List was published, and thus I was in the mood for a bit of MSTie goodness. I proceeded forthwith to my Youtube account, where I have (or had) literally dozens of eps saved in playlists. As I have mentioned in the past, early in my online career, before becoming so wildly popular and successful (and delusionalXD), I spent the majority of my time watching MST3K on Youtube. Not only did I get to recapture treasured memories of my dissolute youth, I also got a chance to catch up on the Sci-Fi Channel seasons. SFC wasn't available in my area back in 1997, and I never had the chance to make up for the time I subsequently lost...Until now.
This miracle is largely due to the wonderful folks at the Digital Archive Project (originally known as the MST3K Digital Archive Project) . These diehard MSTies have put uncounted hours and incredible effort into locating, cataloguing, restoring, and downloading as many MST3K episodes as possible: From the pre-Comedy Channel KTMA shows, all the way to the end of the SFC run. They started in 2001, just after SFC had canceled the show, but while they were still showing it in rerun. Oddly enough, the DAP was started for exactly the OPPOSITE of what I uesd them for: See, SFC didn't have the rights to any of the Comedy Central shows, so MSTies who didn't get into the show until it's last 3 seasons were denied ANY exposure to the first 7! They started out simply doing what every episode suggests at the end--that is: "Circulating The Tapes", and eventually started transferring and uploading the shows, many of which would then end up on Youtube, which brings us to Tirol9.
I don't know him or her, we've never met or corresponded. All I know is of all the users who took the time and effort to upload MST3K for the benefit of MSTies the world over,Tirol was the most dependable and prolific. He had scores of eps uploaded, the sound and picture quality was always excellent, the 9 to 10 minute chunks the shows had to be cut into for uploading were always expertly edited--never cut mid-sentence, and never more that a second or two at most would be lost between chapters. We, the MSTies of the Youtube communtity, honored and apreciated his/her efforts, and will miss him dearly.
For you see, as always, if one person on Earth is having a good time there's another wondering why they're not making money off him. NBC/Universal, who apparently hate joy and spit upon all that is good and pleasant (a bit much? I don't think so) threw a shit fit. Already they had successfully blocked certain eps from being downloaded--or made others only downloadable if you cut out the intros--or had episodes blocked if anyone in the comments says the name of the movie (seriously, try to find Gamera on Youtube, and see what happens)
In poor Tirol's case--they managed to get his entire Channel pulled. Not only does this mean I lost about 75% of the episodes I had saved, but I also lost nearly ALL of my Joel episodes! I've got maybe 3 left...What would he say about such a cruel injustice?
Indeed!
Yeah, sure...They own the copyrights, they can do what they want...But was having a few episodes of a show that's been off the air for a decade available for the perusal of fans really hurting anything? Is it any different essentially from recording a program on DVR or tape and sharing it with others? Only the scale is different. Furthermore, no one's making a profit here, and I seriously doubt if having the shows on Youtube is discouraging anyone from buying the DVDs--there's no comparison as far as picture and sound quality, no clicking the next part every 10 minutes, and Youtube won't get you special features and other extras.
In other, more succinct terms:
Fuck you, NBC/Universal.
Seriously, Fuck you in the ear.
We'll miss you, Tirol9:
This is a musical tribute and send-off I found. I very much wanted to find a clip of "Clown In The Sky", but my search proved fruitless (and even though they had nothing to do with it, I'm gonna go ahead and blame NBC/Universal for this, too). Fortunately, I found this utterly sublime remix of every MST3K Theme throughout the show's entire history.
If you're anything like me, you'll need to watch it with a box of Kleenex.
KEEP CIRCULATING THE TAPES!!!
Scootbot
Today I bring you a rather tragic edition of my on again/off again feature celebrating all things MST3K.
I rarely find myself writing about the glory that is this incomparable program with so heavy a heart, for you see friends--Tirol9's YouTube Channel has been pulled for copyright violations.
Perhaps I should explain in depth:
Yesterday my MST3K-themed TR Daily List was published, and thus I was in the mood for a bit of MSTie goodness. I proceeded forthwith to my Youtube account, where I have (or had) literally dozens of eps saved in playlists. As I have mentioned in the past, early in my online career, before becoming so wildly popular and successful (and delusionalXD), I spent the majority of my time watching MST3K on Youtube. Not only did I get to recapture treasured memories of my dissolute youth, I also got a chance to catch up on the Sci-Fi Channel seasons. SFC wasn't available in my area back in 1997, and I never had the chance to make up for the time I subsequently lost...Until now.
This miracle is largely due to the wonderful folks at the Digital Archive Project (originally known as the MST3K Digital Archive Project) . These diehard MSTies have put uncounted hours and incredible effort into locating, cataloguing, restoring, and downloading as many MST3K episodes as possible: From the pre-Comedy Channel KTMA shows, all the way to the end of the SFC run. They started in 2001, just after SFC had canceled the show, but while they were still showing it in rerun. Oddly enough, the DAP was started for exactly the OPPOSITE of what I uesd them for: See, SFC didn't have the rights to any of the Comedy Central shows, so MSTies who didn't get into the show until it's last 3 seasons were denied ANY exposure to the first 7! They started out simply doing what every episode suggests at the end--that is: "Circulating The Tapes", and eventually started transferring and uploading the shows, many of which would then end up on Youtube, which brings us to Tirol9.
I don't know him or her, we've never met or corresponded. All I know is of all the users who took the time and effort to upload MST3K for the benefit of MSTies the world over,Tirol was the most dependable and prolific. He had scores of eps uploaded, the sound and picture quality was always excellent, the 9 to 10 minute chunks the shows had to be cut into for uploading were always expertly edited--never cut mid-sentence, and never more that a second or two at most would be lost between chapters. We, the MSTies of the Youtube communtity, honored and apreciated his/her efforts, and will miss him dearly.
For you see, as always, if one person on Earth is having a good time there's another wondering why they're not making money off him. NBC/Universal, who apparently hate joy and spit upon all that is good and pleasant (a bit much? I don't think so) threw a shit fit. Already they had successfully blocked certain eps from being downloaded--or made others only downloadable if you cut out the intros--or had episodes blocked if anyone in the comments says the name of the movie (seriously, try to find Gamera on Youtube, and see what happens)
In poor Tirol's case--they managed to get his entire Channel pulled. Not only does this mean I lost about 75% of the episodes I had saved, but I also lost nearly ALL of my Joel episodes! I've got maybe 3 left...What would he say about such a cruel injustice?
Indeed!
Yeah, sure...They own the copyrights, they can do what they want...But was having a few episodes of a show that's been off the air for a decade available for the perusal of fans really hurting anything? Is it any different essentially from recording a program on DVR or tape and sharing it with others? Only the scale is different. Furthermore, no one's making a profit here, and I seriously doubt if having the shows on Youtube is discouraging anyone from buying the DVDs--there's no comparison as far as picture and sound quality, no clicking the next part every 10 minutes, and Youtube won't get you special features and other extras.
In other, more succinct terms:
Fuck you, NBC/Universal.
Seriously, Fuck you in the ear.
We'll miss you, Tirol9:
This is a musical tribute and send-off I found. I very much wanted to find a clip of "Clown In The Sky", but my search proved fruitless (and even though they had nothing to do with it, I'm gonna go ahead and blame NBC/Universal for this, too). Fortunately, I found this utterly sublime remix of every MST3K Theme throughout the show's entire history.
If you're anything like me, you'll need to watch it with a box of Kleenex.
KEEP CIRCULATING THE TAPES!!!
Scootbot
BBC's Merlin: Fuck Continuity
Hello My Children. Den Mother Colleen has a new(ish) series to discuss with you all. Since Blog-Master Scooter posted pictures of Katie McGrath of Merlin, I figured it would be nice for you readers to learn about the show she's in.
Merlin is a BBC series, which gets points for that alone, that SyFy has opted to run with. Nice that Syfy does try to show Sci-Fi/Fantasy every now and then. Anywho, as you probably guessed, the show is about Merlin! and oh the rest of Camelot, I guess. One thing before following the jump, this show is not overly concerned with following the Myth as we all know it.
Let us begin with the Titular Character: Merlin, portrayed by Colin Morgan. Change in myth number one: Rather than being the wise older Brit Wizard that we all know and love, he is a young peasant, albeit a powerful young warlock. He would be HOT! if it weren't for his epic ears. Check out Merlin vs. Actor Colin Morgan with a hairdo suited to his EARS.
Meet Merlin's Ears! Colin Morgan with better 'do -OH and its from Doctor Who!!
Anyway, Merlin tramps on over to Camelot at his mother's behest to live with his great uncle Gaius, Physician to the Court, because she was worried about his being very "special." After saving Arthur's life, Uther "rewards" him by making him Arthur's manservant...which neither are initially thrilled about. This leads to Change in myth number two: Uther is still alive and king LONG after he is supposed to be...and he raised Arthur. Magic has been made a crime by Uther -change in myth number 3, so poor Merlin has to keep his secret from every body but Gaius. He still saves the day every episode but more or less this goes unnoticed as he generally can't take credit. Poor sweet almost hot Merlin. Anyway, Merlin does magic, is a dragonlord -Kilgarrah the dragon has to do his bidding-, and wants to help everyone...although sometimes the result can be catastrophic, such as the case of Morgana...which we will get into later. Oh and Merlin and Morgana are my number one couple to HATE-FUCK!
Next on the hit parade is Arthur, crowned prince of Camelot, played by Bradley James. Change in myth number 4 -Camelot has existed in some form for centuries as opposed to being created by him or his father (the myth varies as to WHO created Camelot). Now he is more or less the same as he is in the myth. Arrogant, being a prince and all, but generally a good-hearted young man who cares a whole mess for his people and his future kingdom...Although insulting and hard on his servant, Merlin, he does care about him and has put his life on the line for Merlin a number of times, since practically the beginning of the series. Change in myth number 5: He and Merlin are about the same age. Oh and he is a genuine hottie if you like blondes.
Hello Pretty Boy!
Although he has been raised to distrust magic by his father, he is far more reasonable regarding those accused of witchcraft or colluding with witches/warlocks. I will assume that when Merlin FINALLY gets around to telling Arthur that he is a warlock, Arthur won't be all "off with his HEAD!"
Next we have Uther...the BIGGEST source of changes of Myth! Oh and guess who plays him?!?
ANTHONY STEWART HEAD!!!!
For those very unfortunate few who live under a rock, Anthony Stewart Head played Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He is credited as Anthony Head, personally I think he should have kept Stewart in it. Anthony Head is a porn name. Anyway, Uther, as I have mentioned, is still alive. He raised Arthur and Morgana (since she was ten, I'll get to her next) and HATES magic. Change in myth number 6: rather than seducing Igraine, wife of Gorloix, via Merlin's Magic, Igraine was always his wife. She was barren so he went to Nimueh, a sorceress, to use magic to create a child. So magic is still involved but in the conception rather than him appearing to be Gorloix to Igraine. Anyway, it worked but, and YAY for this true tibit on magics, balance had to be restored. See you can't get something and not give up something when dealing with Magic. For a life to exist where it shouldn't, a life has to be taken. So Igraine dies in childbirth. Uther feels betrayed by the sorceress that did the magic so he decides to KILL ALL SORCERERS AND PRACTICERS OF MAGIC. Its good to be the king, huh? At heart, he is a good man and a good king, but his hatred of magic has led him to commit some great atrocities. This will be a GIANT issue for his "ward" Morgana.
And thus we transition to Change in myth number 7: Morgana aka Morgan le Fay, played by Katie McGrath. Who, thanks to Scooter's extensive collection of pictures, we all know to be quite fuckable. But here's a picture anyway!
Hello my Pretty!
Now in accepted myth, Morgana is the child of Igraine and Gorloix, thus through Igraine she is half-sister to Arthur. Now initially we just think the major change of myth is that she is simply a ward and NOT sister to Arthur. But we learn in season 3 that she is Uther's daughter...kinda the twist on how ARTHUR was supposed to be conceived. Rather than Uther fucking Igraine outside wedlock to conceive Arthur, he fucks Viviane, wife of Gorloix (who was "lonely" while husband was at war) and MORGANA is conceived. Initially in the series, Morgana is a very good natured young woman who is appalled at her "guardians" hunting people with magic. She cares about Arthur, Camelot, her servant-girl Guinevere -change in myth number 8- and becomes good friends with Merlin. But she has visions and eventually starts developing magical powers. She wants at first to use her magic for good, but unfortunately her mentor ends up being Morgause, her half-sister, who wants to destroy Camelot. If only Merlin HAD TOLD HER that he could do magic too when she confides in him, she may never had ended up an enemy. However, he listens to Gaius who tells him not to reveal his secret...dumb decision but then she is supposed to become an enemy. The final blow for Morgana is that, unbeknown to her, Morgause puts a spell on her that makes everyone around her fall asleep so that a bunch of unkillable soldiers can invade and kill Uther unchallenged...which cannot be broken unless the source is removed. Merlin and Arthur, having been away from Camelot, are all that stands between Uther and DEATH. So Merlin, in complete and utter agony, poisons Morgana with Hemlock at the end of the episode. Thus in season 3, Morgana has been utterly changed into a villain...understandably so I might add.
Here's that utterly heart-rending scene:
I wasn't kidding. Utterly heartbreaking. Merlin, in the ultimate act of negotiation, refuses to tell Morgause what poison he used until she lifts the spell -apparently knowing the poison would allow her to save Morgana whom she genuinely cares about-and so OWNAGE by Merlin. However, once best friends are now enemies. On the other hand, the interaction between the two in season 3 is Ripe for Hate-Fucking...and there are MANY fans who agree! Morgana, however, has everyone else convinced she is the same Morgana. And Merlin cannot reveal the truth because he is a servant and no one would believe him.
Moving on to what I have already deemed change in myth number 8: Guinevere, or Gwen as she's usually called, is played by Angel Coulby. Rather than being a child of a noble whom Arthur either marries out of love or for reasons of state or both, she is a servant. She is also Black.
Very pretty but obviously NOT a Celt.
Guinevere is the servant of Morgana, daughter of a blacksmith -who was killed for unknowingly helping a sorcerer. She and Morgana were very close friends before Morgana went to the dark side. As of yet, she is unaware of Morgana's powers or new allegiance. She has met Lancelot and there is a deep connection between the two. Oh change in myth number 9 -Lancelot is ALSO a commoner. But at the moment, she is genuinely in love with Arthur, who returns said feelings. Unfortunately for her, Morgana is aware of their mutual interest. This does not bode well for the pair.
Next is the aforementioned Gaius, played by Richard Wilson. Gaius is Merlin's mentor and guardian. He's the court physician and assisted Uther in his campaign against magic. Gaius went along with this campaign to a) be in the position to help practicers of GOOD magic get the FUCK out of dodge post-hastey and b) save his own neck since he too knows magic...kinda. Anyway, he does his best to calm the king down when he has his gander up, watch over Merlin, tried to keep Morgana from ever learning about her magical abilities through sleeping draughts -her magic originates in prophetic dreams. He wanted to keep Morgana in the dark due to her position as the ward of the King and thus prevent a rift between the two. He failed...miserably.
Gaius, the once and future collaborator
Merlin wanted to tell Morgana about his magic and that what she is going through is also magical in origin. Gaius tells him not to because it would put both of them at risk. Merlin decided to only follow part of Gaius's advice. He leads her to the druids so she can learn about what's happening to her...but DOES NOT tell her about his own abilities, as I mentioned earlier. Too bad for he would have been a much better teacher for Morgana then Morgause. Gaius had the best intentions in his dealings with Morgana. However, her road to hell was paved with HIS good intentions.
Finally, there is the dragon Kilgarrah, voiced by the esteemed John Hurt. He is the last of his kind, apparently. All the other dragons and their dragonlords were destroyed. He was captured and held prisoner under Camelot by Uther. Haven't a fucking clue how Uther managed this initially considering the massive issues they had with the dragon when Merlin set him free...which I'll get to momentarily.
Kilgarrah on his favorite rock.
Anyway, Merlin goes to the dragon repeatedly for advice and assistance. After X number of times, the dragon demands that Merlin release him someday in exchange for his continued help. Merlin agrees. Merlin sets him free. Chaos ensues as everyone knew it would. In revenge against Uther, Kilgarrah attacks Camelot. Merlin and Arthur set out to find the last dragonlord...oh and that happens to be Merlin's daddy. Merlin and Daddy meet. They bond. Merlin's daddy dies in a raid to protect his son. Merlin cries but also inherits the dragonlordliness upon Daddy's death. And thus now is master of Kilgarrah. And obviously stops the attack. Damn I thought this would take longer to explain. COOL! Anyway, the dragon can see the future and keeps telling Merlin he should eliminate both Morgana and Mordred(I'll get to him later)...which is weird seeing as THEY would be way more sympathetic to dragons than Arthur would. I personally think he intentionally caused Merlin to poison Morgana to create the rift between the two so Camelot could be destroyed... as it ultimately is when Mordred kills Arthur in the myth.
That's it for the main cast and some of the main plots. Because this is so frigging long I'm just gonna end with the cast of "big Bads" for Merlin.
Nimueh, played by Michelle Ryan. She wasn't supposed to ever have been a big bad but Uther's hunt and destruction of her kind led her to become a villain. She told Uther once in the show that she did NOT know that Igraine would be the one to die. If she had known she would never have used magic to help her conceive, considering the atrocities that would occur due to Igraine's death. Nimueh kept trying to undermine Camelot but Merlin kept interfering. She tries to kill Merlin, fails. Ultimately, Merlin kills Nimueh. Change in myth number 10. Nimueh, in certain myths, captures and imprisons Merlin. In other versions, they are lovers. In yet other versions, its both column A and B. And considering how fucking HOT Nimueh was, Merlin should have at least Hate-fucked her.
Nimueh obviously has a good anti-aging spell!
Morgause, played by Emilia Fox. As mentioned, she is the half-sister and mentor of Morgana. Morgause is allied to the Old Religion and the magics. She, understandably like all of her kind, wants Uther dead. She first tries to make this happen by leading Arthur to learn about the truth of his conception. Merlin reluctantly convinces Arthur that she was lying to manipulate him...even though its actually the truth. Now she is working through Morgana. And she may or may not (it hasn't been revealed as of yet on Syfy) be the mother of the ultimate big bad... Mordred. According to different versions of the myth, he is the son of either Morgana or Morgause... but the show has already decided to ix-nay much of the accepted canon. On a very strange note, my computer recognizes ix-nay as a proper word and thus recognizes pig latin.
Morgause, Master Manipulator and Most Likely Mother of Mordred. YAY ALLITERATION!
And Finally there is Mordred, played by Asa Butterfield. Also he is without a doubt, the creepiest kid on TV! He was introduced in season 1 as a child being hunted for his magic. Merlin, Morgana, and Arthur help him to escape despite Dragon telling Merlin that he will one day kill Arthur... in this they decide to stick to canon. Anyway, this child is as much responsible for Morgana's rift with Uther and her turn to the darkside as Morgause. Every time he shows up, Morgana and Uther have a confrontation... and Morgana is drawn that much deeper into the world of Magic. Although he initially is friendly with Merlin, Merlin's continuous choosing Camelot over Magic leads to him becoming an enemy. Oh this child is also telepathic. He mostly communicates by thought. His latest message to Merlin was "I will NOT forgive this and I will NEVER forget." Dun Dun DUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!
I would be way more frightened of THIS coming out of a TV then Samara.
So that's it. I did my best to condense two and half seasons. Hope you decide to watch it. You can Hulu the first two seasons.
Ahoy-hoy!
Some people may get the notion from many of my previous posts that this blog exists for no other reason than for me to showcase pictures of hot women for the ogling pleasure of myself and like-minded individuals.
Well, this ain't gonna help disabuse anyone of this notion.
Suck Me Sideways! ^p^!!
This here's KatieMcGrath: She plays Morgana LaFey in Sci-Fi's (I refuse to call it by its insipid new name) new (well, relatively new) series Merlin. Her name was dropped to me by TTOS contributor and blog den mother Colleen. She and her husband recently got the first season on DVD, and she's been raving ever since. The lovely creature above isn't the only reason she likes the show--but it wouldn't be amiss to name her as a contributing factor.
Anyhoo, I'll be adding her pic to the sidebar presently, and I've compiled a small number of photos for your enjoyment after the jump.
Oh, Colleen and her Huband are curently in California for a week, taking a break from the ridiculous amount of snow, ice, and ball-shrinking cold currently holding the midwest and East Coast in its frigid clutches.
In other words, I hate them.
Later Peoples!
Scoot (you think of something--I'm tired)
Some people may get the notion from many of my previous posts that this blog exists for no other reason than for me to showcase pictures of hot women for the ogling pleasure of myself and like-minded individuals.
Well, this ain't gonna help disabuse anyone of this notion.
Suck Me Sideways! ^p^!!
This here's KatieMcGrath: She plays Morgana LaFey in Sci-Fi's (I refuse to call it by its insipid new name) new (well, relatively new) series Merlin. Her name was dropped to me by TTOS contributor and blog den mother Colleen. She and her husband recently got the first season on DVD, and she's been raving ever since. The lovely creature above isn't the only reason she likes the show--but it wouldn't be amiss to name her as a contributing factor.
Anyhoo, I'll be adding her pic to the sidebar presently, and I've compiled a small number of photos for your enjoyment after the jump.
Oh, Colleen and her Huband are curently in California for a week, taking a break from the ridiculous amount of snow, ice, and ball-shrinking cold currently holding the midwest and East Coast in its frigid clutches.
In other words, I hate them.
Later Peoples!
Scoot (you think of something--I'm tired)
ALRIGHT BOYS AND GIRLS! SING ALONG!
Hello my Children. Den Mother Colleen here. I'm very perplexed by my latest entry of Weird News from the Interwebs. As many know, Syfy has taken to putting things on the network that are very much un-Scifi...particularly wrestling... Apparently sometime this year, a cooking show will appear. Anyway, I'm a fan of Bravo network's Top Chef series. This year they are doing Top Chef All Stars, where Runner-ups from previous seasons attempt for the top prize again. My favorite contestant from Season 2 of Top Chef, Marcel Vigneron, apparently has been slated for SyFy.
From his Bravo Bio: "Marcel considers himself to be first and foremost a “cook.” He previously worked as a Sous Chef at The Bazaar by Jose Andres, as a Master Cook at Joel Robuchon, and as a line cook for Michael Mina at Aqua before becoming an Executive Chef of his own kitchen in Los Angeles. He also has his own TV series titled “Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen” which is slated to premiere on Syfy in 2011."
What. The. Fuck? I mean I totally love the idea of this dude having his own show... but one would think he would be on, oh I don't know, THE FOOD NETWORK?!?! WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS???????
Syfy -pandering to all demographics!
~One of these things is not like the others...One of these things just DOESN'T Belong~
Hello my Children. Den Mother Colleen here. I'm very perplexed by my latest entry of Weird News from the Interwebs. As many know, Syfy has taken to putting things on the network that are very much un-Scifi...particularly wrestling... Apparently sometime this year, a cooking show will appear. Anyway, I'm a fan of Bravo network's Top Chef series. This year they are doing Top Chef All Stars, where Runner-ups from previous seasons attempt for the top prize again. My favorite contestant from Season 2 of Top Chef, Marcel Vigneron, apparently has been slated for SyFy.
From his Bravo Bio: "Marcel considers himself to be first and foremost a “cook.” He previously worked as a Sous Chef at The Bazaar by Jose Andres, as a Master Cook at Joel Robuchon, and as a line cook for Michael Mina at Aqua before becoming an Executive Chef of his own kitchen in Los Angeles. He also has his own TV series titled “Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen” which is slated to premiere on Syfy in 2011."
What. The. Fuck? I mean I totally love the idea of this dude having his own show... but one would think he would be on, oh I don't know, THE FOOD NETWORK?!?! WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS???????
Syfy -pandering to all demographics!
You probably already heard this news.
You definitly did if you read Topless Robot. A lot of what I feel and have to say about Stargate Universe can be found in the Topless Robot comments on the article.
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/12/syfy_cancels_another_sci-fi_series.php
But there are still a few things I want to say about SG-U and this seems like the best place to go on about it.
Let me start by saying that I have watched Stargate Universe and it had some good episodes that I enjoyed but for the most part I do not think it is a vey good show. There are a number of reasons why.
First of all this show does not know how to throw a punch. A lot of critics like to call SG-U "battlestar galactica lite" and they have a point. It tries to be all grim and hard like BSG was without any of the dramatic or emotional impact. BSG was a show that was never afraid to punch the audience in the gut with unexpexted events. It was never afraid to do horrible things to the characters. And I don't just mean killing them off. Yes BSG killed off characters but it also had many characters survive the horrors and live on to deal with the consequences.
In SG-U there are no consequences. More than once they had episodes end with some dramatic cliffhanger with characters stranded on alien worlds with no hope of rescue. They did this three times throughout the show. And every time the characters came back safe and sound as a result of some off screen deus ex machina. Every time there is a crisis or they need something to survive they find it, usually in the last five minutes, kind of like what used to happen on Star Trek Voyager, yeah I went there.
The biggest problem with Stargate Universe is really the characters. Now I do not really blame any of the actors on the show, they do not have much to work with. Lets go down the list of characters so you can get a better idea of what I am talking about.
First you have Brian J Smith as generic-heroic-soldier-guy
Then you have Aliana Huffman as generic-compassionatte-doctor
And there is also Elyse Levesque as generic-pretty-girl
And lets not forget David Blue as generic-nerd-genius
I think you get the idea. And you may disagree with me. But I am willing to admit that SG-U had some compelling characters. The most obvious one being Robert Carlyle's Dr. Nicholas Rush.
Rush is an interesting and compelling character and I wanted to see what would happen next with him from week to week. But he was pretty much the only character I was curious about. But there was also a problem with him. In keeping with the "BSG lite" theme it felt like the original purpose for creating the Rush character was to have a new Baltar. The Stargate franchise does not need a Baltar. No one needs a new Baltar. Baltar was a BSG character and that show is over now. They spent too much time trying to make Rush into a new Baltar instead of letting him be his own character. When he was his own character he has good episodes and the audience was able to sympathize with him. When they tried to make him Baltar he was a pointless psuedo villian.
You know who was not a compelling character, Col. Everett Young played by Louis Ferreira. I don't think this was the writers intention but at some point Col. Young became the shows heroic lead character and he was a poor excuse for one. I mean really if you look back at the show and all the things he did the guy is kind of an asshole. Which leads me to Eli.
Now I know what I said before but I do think Eli is a likable character and from what I hear actor David Blue is a great guy. But there is so much that could have been done with Eli that was not. Eli helped Col. Young spy on Rush and then helped him cover up his plot to leave Rush to die on an alien planet and yet they never gave David Blue the opportunity to play out any kind or real dramatic moral dilemma. Not to mention all the other things they do to Eli. His mother has HIV, the girl he likes is screwing a better looking guy and he is caught in the middle of the power struggle between Rush and Young. By the end of season one Eli should have been ready for a nervous breakdown. And that is not even mentioning some of the crap that happened to him in season two, more on that later. Is he really such a resilient individual? I think not. I think the writers have no idea how to handle character development and real human drama.
Speaking of drama there is one character I feel the need to mention. That is Julia Benson's Lt. Vanessa James.
The most shocking thing about this character is that SHE IS STILL ALIVE. No wait please here me out on this. Lets be totally honest, characters like her exist so they can be killed off later to gain unearned sympathy from the audience. I know that is not fair and I mean no disrespect to actress Julia Benson but Lt. James is generic-emotional-female-character in the end. The most unexpected thing they ever did on SG-U was not kill her off. But that does not mean the show is incapable of falling into that generic storytelling trap. Which brings me to my next point.
Julie McNiven
The moment I saw her on SG-U as the Lucian alliance girl Ginn I remembered her from her role as Anna on Supernatural, and I knew that poor girl was going to die. I mean did anybody who watches SG-U seriously not see that coming? It was obvious she was doomed. I mean come on, Simeon was played by Robert Knepper. I have nothing against Robert Knepper, he is good at what he does, and what he does best is play evil bastards.
Now I am all for killing off characters if it serves the story. In this case it was useful for one episodes worth of drama. They tried to drag it out but failed because the character was not nearly established enough for her death to really matter even when you take into account the semi relationship with Eli. The real victim here is the audience, and Julie McNiven, it has got to suck to keep getting killed off shows.
The last problem I want to talk about are all of the wasted resources they have on Stargate Universe. The first one being actress Ming-Na as Camile Wray.
She is a good actress and Camile Wray is a good character with a lot of potential for drama and development, but at some point they started to put her on the second tier in favor of playing up Dr. Rush and Col. Young more. Even Eli gets more character face time than her anymore. And there is the simple fact that she is a very pretty lady. There are a lot of very pretty ladies on Stargate Universe and they continue to fail to take full advantage of that.
Battlestar Galactica was a great show for many reasons. The fact that they had a number of attractive women in the cast and most of them appeared in some state of undress once in a while did not hurt. Whatever flaws Caprica may have it was never afraid to play dress up with star Alessandra Torressani. The same can be said for Star Trek Enterprise which never had a problem with making Jolene Blaylock strip down to boost ratings.
Stargate Universe did not call upon the resources of its female cast members nearly as much as it could have.
Julia Benson has a very impressive bustline. I want to take a moment to apologize to all women everywhere. I do not mean to be sexist but ther truth is Stargate Universe was not good enough to get by on its own merits. Maybe breasts were not the answer but it could not have hurt to try.
Now onto another matter, Elyse Levesque who plays Chloe Armstong AKA generic-pretty-girl character. for most of the first season Chloe did not do anything. She got kidnapped by aliens one time but then she got back to the ship safe and sound and went back to doing nothing until it turned out the aliens were using her brain to spy on the Destiny and learn its secrets. Wait what? They actually did something that sounds cool and interesting with her character? Thats amazing. Oh wait, as usual it was only good for one episodes worth of drama and then she spent the rest of the season in a room doing space math except when they needed her as a plot device.
Take a look at Elyse Levesque.
The best thing the writers could come up with for her to do was sit in a room and do space math. Seriously.
Well I better wrap this up before I talk myself into a corner or offend someone. Although I have probably already done both. To be honest this is probably not the last word I will have on Stargate Universe. No this calls for more than a blog post. This calls for a video. And it will be done whenever the hell I feel like it. And it will be something similair to this.
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