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Saturday, October 23, 2010

- Caprica Open Thread (Season 1.5)













Hey, feel free!





62 comments:

  1. Caprica has restarted over at April's 'Discuss' page. It's a bloody mess. That Clarice is a messed up woman, though I would be far more careful about expressing my thoughts about her than brother Obal Ferras. That Barnabas Greeley better keep his head on a swivel. Probably doesn't even realize she wasn't in her car when the bomb planted went off. Sloppy work for an attempt on someone as dangerous as the good Sister. You don't get two tries at something like that.

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  2. Lacy is still alive in the V-world as far as we know. She stopped going when Zoebot was in the crash. Two points–I would think that the Cylon would be designed to survive an old car crash and one would think that Lacy would be checking the V-world anyway–just to be sure. I guess she had other things on her mind with her Barnabas/STO cell.

    Does anyone believe that Barnabas is dead? Leave him handcuffed to a vice with all kinds of tools and powertools in sight and give him five minutes. Doesn’t Barnabas self-abuse with barbwire just for the heck of it? If he didn’t undo the handcuffs, I expect to see his hand and his arm agree to an amicable separation before a hasty departure.

    I expected Zoevatar and Tamaratar to have de-resed that audience just on principle, when they finally joined forces. Pimply-faced guys are “into” catfights solely because clothing may become dislodged/ripped/moved during the struggle. But these clowns have been raping/killing/torturing for fun, so they need more. That may be true with our “yutes” who are playing those ultra-violent video games as well. A few generations ago, I saw that Grand Theft Auto was awarding a point or two for mowing down “ho’s” with the cars. And the graphics attempted to show what would happen
    with gushing blood, severed limbs, etc. Training for a generation of serial killers. And I suspect that they go further with each generation.

    Yes, that scene when Amanda meets Clarice’s “Big Love” household was something else. What a warm welcome! Clarice has been deficient in her marital duties with all her wives and husbands during Amanda’s rehab and it shows. Right now Amanda is “the other woman” so I don’t know how easily she’ll win allies. Sister Clarice is a tough act to follow. Of course Amanda could find the child/children that belong to the disaffected lass on the couch and take her away from Clarice’s nut house to her luxury home. Serge and a clutter-free existence might do the trick.

    Yeah, Durham is my “religious” “role model.” Left-leaning folks always believe that they are in tune with what the other side (us) is thinking/doing. But they when we are singing “Holy God We Praise Thy Name” they are humming/screaming “Paparazzi.”

    Now this may make more sense if you read Cathy's
    comments at April's. And Ilion can solve the code problem there, like he did in the past if we ask him nicely enough. Google Chrome opens it nicely, but IE doesn't.

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  3. It's gotten harder to find a character in this series that I can warm to. Dr. Graystone yo-yo's from cool and calculating to impatient whiner. Amanda blows around like the wind. Those kids are so committed to their cause that they will each leave a bomb at the space port, but are aghast at the possibility that they might go to jail. And by the way, if that was Barnabas' second effort at taking down Sister Clarice he may as well put a gun to his head. This guy is no genius planner. Killing someone is not that hard, it's the getting away and leaving no trace of who you are that takes planning and patience. In this case, he doesn't have the time. Who Barnabas has to be afraid of is not the law but the good sister herself. She will be coming to kill him he can have no doubt. No need to wonder where Pan and Apoloena are, as he should know. I'm surprised that the 'soldiers' didn't blow themselves to bits - in fact they nearly did. Well, I could go on down the list but the most likeable characters in my book are that thug Sam and his brother.

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  4. It was a little more fun when we were wondering how it was all going to work out. Sister Clarice is a power mad, scheming, lying, murderously violent sack of crap. So what is it about her that everyone finds so appealing? The rigid, brittle need to be over on everyone, the short dismissive answers, the complete disregard for others - not exactly the Den Mother type. Clarice just strikes me as too overt and too thick to be as effective as she has been. She is not a clever woman. But Amanda Greystone says she's her best friend? Is Amanda that slow as to not be able to tell when Clarice is pushing a hidden agenda? Does she not realize her own intimate position near Greystone industries makes her a person of interest to ... anyone interested in messing with the nations foremost defense contractor? And by the way, Serg doesn't strike me as adequate security for the Greystone residence.

    Anyway, not of her own instincts but on the basis of an awkward, ineffectual detective, she is seeing that Clarice may have been responsible for Zoe's death. I tell you what, seeing that woman with her holo-band on the bed whispering her mumbo-jumbo, and then hearing her utter my daughter's name would really set me on edge. Amanda's first interactions with Clarice following the detective interview in the rain were far too blunt and confrontational to be of any use. More likely it would place Clarice on her guard. Now it would seem Amanda has regained control and is playing a deeper game, with her working an invitation into the collective. This could be interesting, but I'll tell you right off if it were one of my daughters that this gas ball messed with, used and managed to get killed, I'd be looking to take her out.

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  5. So Zoe and Tammara are going to try to figure out how to get back into the real world. They will need help from that Lacy Rand I presume, and though the good doctor will likely get the prototype back up and running, Zoe will likely not be willing to reveal her presence. The doctor will harbor his suspicions, though. Okay, that could be interesting too.

    And how bad is the Adama family going to break with Tomas Vergis? They expect to kill him, but he was protected. Trouble on Tauron, or will they try to keep they're involvement helping Daniel Greystone a secret? Things could get violent on Tauron, as both Vergis and now Greystone are mobbed up.

    I liked the interplay between Greystone and Adama, Greystone asserting the violence and blackmail was beneath him, Adama knowing all too well that it is a human commonality, that the pretensions of sophistication are all superficial, as Greystone has been willing to ruin lives and even cause lives to be lost. The difference between the two men is that Adama, who has a better moral compass and is more repulsed by the violence than Dr. Greystone, can be honest about the dark aspects of his endeavors, whereas Greystone cannot.

    And who is the gravel voiced V-world creep Sister Clarice is talking with? Is that a fellow servant of the one true god? Or is that the only god she will ever know?

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  6. Well, Amanda *is* looking to take Clarice out; that would be why she fetched the gun from her home. But then, apparently, she decided that she needed to be sure on her own part, and not just act on a suspicion built on the “certainty” of the sloppy cop combined with a few experiences with Clarice which are compatible with his suspicion.


    I tell you what, seeing that woman with her holo-band on the bed whispering her mumbo-jumbo, and then hearing her utter my daughter's name …

    That’s one of the things which annoys me … you’re in this virtual reality which so totally overwhelms you senses that you see and feel (and, I assume smell) and move in the VR without actually moving in reality … and then you mumble in reality as you interact with the VR.


    But, back to Amanda … true, she has been blowing in the wind. But, she has been doing that for many years, since her brother died. She apparently hasn’t yet really reintegrated her personality after her “nervous breakdown.” She seems to finally be doing that now, after almost succeeding in suicide.

    As for Clarice, you might be surprised at the percentage of (real-life) people who would fall for an act such as she puts on. Remember, we’re in the audience, and so we see a side of her that Amanda and Zoe, and until recently, Lacy have not seen. They’ve seen the “Oh! I am so concerned for you! Let me ease your burden” side … and people, being inescapably self-centered, very much want to believe that when they encounter it.

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  7. And will Tammara and Zoe work with Sister Clarice, or will the kill the woman that killed them?

    I don't like that double talking Zoe, though the Zovatar is an improvement over the original. I do like Tammara. The Tamvatar is going to be different than Zovatar.

    And who or what is the double Zoe that Zovatar sees and is encouraged by?

    Too many questions. You know, a good movie is a good break from these shows.

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  8. "And how bad is the Adama family going to break with Tomas Vergis?"

    I guess you're still one show behind.

    "And who is the gravel voiced V-world creep Sister Clarice is talking with? Is that a fellow servant of the one true god?"

    Yeah, good question, and something I wondered at the time. If they don't answer that question, eventually, I'll take it as a mark of poor writing that they even introduced it.

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  9. "They’ve seen the “Oh! I am so concerned for you! Let me ease your burden” side … and people, being inescapably self-centered, very much want to believe that when they encounter it."

    Yes, that's true, though I think it is often people believing that others are motivated by the same things that they are, and when trouble comes they want to still believe it. people that are good at taking advantage are good at projecting a front that sounds and appears to be the reality of the other person, though it is all a false front.

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  10. So far, I don't care for Tamvatar (even if I understand some of what she has done).

    "And who or what is the double Zoe that Zovatar sees and is encouraged by?"

    Something else they'd better eventually explain. I'm tentatively putting this 3rd Zoe down as the spirit of the real Zoe.

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  11. Tamvatar? Tamaravatar? Tamarvatar? Tamaratar?

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  12. So what is it about her that everyone finds so appealing?
    Besides from being our spiritual leader, once you're born a snake handler you figure to die a snake handler, if you know what I mean. :-) Maybe we can ask her wives/husbands. Or those English boys who develop a life-long love for their headmistress. Or anyone that comes along to remind them. Wallis Warfield Simpson was rumored [or shall I say rumoured?] to have said something about a soiled nappy and the discipline that Prince Edward was lacking in his life in their first meeting when Wallis was presented at Court, while other guests were going the "it's such an honor to meet you!"
    route. Besotting is such a mystery.

    On a more serious note, Amanda was lost after the death of Zoe and not thinking clearly. Wives (spouses) tend to blame husbands for their actions, or lack of them, in situations like this, so that distance is created. Clarice's actions which seemed clumsy to us, were the only outside contact Amanda had. That was especially true when Amanda made those public declarations. That non-judgmental closeness with physical contact and comforting from someone who had declared to have deeply cared for Zoe, created an instant bond. And the self-medicating and history of mental instability didn't help either. Now that Amanda believes she had been betrayed, it creates a powerful enemy.

    I mentioned Graystone's appalling lack of serious security last year. There is no justifiable explanation, except one that gives the writers a way to have characters popping in and out at will, putting the Graystones in danger.

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  13. "And who or what is the double Zoe that Zovatar sees and is encouraged by?"

    Flesh and blood Zoe is dead. Before that happened, she created the Zoevatar. Now when the Zoevatar "recalls" "her" childhood and the fire
    [and it is so vivid that she's actually "reliving" it], she can conjure up her "adult" self to guide her through those scary experiences. We never saw that "spirit guide" when we were seeing human Zoe's memories in the early episodes--even though we saw a similar scene of the fire. That's my take which I gave to Cathy on April's, when she questioned this creative device. I also said the show's creative people might think that it s cool. So there is that.

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  14. Oh, my! A computer program with delirium tremens.

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  15. Human Zoe was just that good a programmer. "Ghost Zoe" makes more sense? Is that what happens to my computer?

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  16. Well, the original rationale behind screen-savers was so that the (older) computers *wouldn't* develop "ghosts."

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  17. Hey! That's the monitors!
    Maybe that why they don't like to degauss?
    Sorry, that's de-res. . .

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  18. I didn't think of calling it degaussing ... I like that!


    the original WV for this post was "evele"

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  19. How/why did you guys add comments between the already posted comments? Lots weren't there when I made mine originally. Are we supposed to go to the top and read down every time? Is it something with the time difference between Chicago and Portland? Does Wordpress use a 24-hour clock?

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  20. They seem in order to me; I don't notice any that have popped into existence between any I saw before.

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  21. Perhaps your browser is/was showing you a cached version of the thread?

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  22. Jim was in the process of moving comments over here to this new, separate, Caprica thread when I first arrived after Mass. Maybe it continued throughout the day.

    You know, a good movie is a good break from these shows.
    Those movies are why you are behind on all the shows. ;-)

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  23. After FIRST new episodes (#10)
    (Originally posted at April's on Oct 20)


    So, let’s see.

    Daniel is trying to video-woo his estranged wife (we knew they wouldn’t kill Amanda off; she’s way too hot), who gave up on life last Spring over his involvement in the theft & murders at Vergis’ company. At the same time that he’s striking just-hope-you-don’t -get-asked-to-kill-someone-you-love deals with the Tauron mob represented by the Adama boys, back in the saddle again.

    Estranged wife Amanda has escaped death by bridge-jumping and is living in a cabin in the woods with Clarice. (Did the siding look like gingerbread to you?) Which explains why Clarice is so confident she can get at the Zoe program.

    Clarice makes a quick trip to a sound stage left over from some under-funded version of LOTR, and, after a vaguely Gothic Horror take on Murder on the Orient Express, gets official permission from the headmistress of the Renaissance Actors’ Guild to take complete control of the STO. (Barnabas had better watch out; she’s got Diego on her team now.)

    Of course, this promotion may only be temporary, as the headmistress seems rather complaisant about rubber-stamping proposals from whomever appears to have the upper hand among the Troupe at the moment.

    And Zoevatar appears to be cursed to walk the V-world for eternity, easily dispatching the virtual thugs that Tamara-vatar has commissioned to make her life-after-death miserable. (Should I know where Zoevatar’s sword came from?)

    One thing I’m curious about — what’s Lacey up to? After the whole pushing-the-button-to-blow-up-Clarice nightmare, I fully expected Lacey to be locked in her bedroom fighting off a nervous breakdown. We don’t know whether any of Barnabas’ gang are aware that Clarice escaped the bomb, but I’m assuming Barnabas is in a pretty tolerant mood to put up with Lacey’s “what-everrr” approach to his blood ritual. Did she call attention to herself on purpose on the bombing mission? She seemed genuinely rattled back in the car, but I couldn’t tell whether it was from getting caught by the security guard, or getting him killed.

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  24. After SECOND & THIRD new episodes (#11 and #12)
    (Originally posted at April's on Oct 22)

    Daniel is so tiresome – always so sure he knows more than everyone else. His proposal to Vergis certainly could have made for an interesting story line. Of course, if Daniel gets investigated for the disappearance or Vergis (they never get up all the blood), that may be it for Mrs. Graystone — she has little reason to believe that he wouldn’t kill someone else in his way. And frankly, I thought there was a hint of a twinkle in Durham’s eye when he was talking with her about getting the goods on Clarice. Yes, I like our Amanda. She was all set to kill Clarice but has apparently decided to take her apart slowly, instead.

    And speaking of Clarice — her husbands may still be enthusiastic about avenging her betrayal, but if there was ever a put-upon-looking wife that I’d guess was one decent night’s sleep away from mutiny, it was the gal on the sofa. Really, the best thing Amanda could do is offer to babysit a few times, and she’ll find herself with at least one willing partner in crime. Or anti-crime, as the case may be. (I can’t imagine how else Amada is going to be able to snoop around with a house FULL of other people.)

    It will be fun to see what Amanda finds when she gets some time alone with that Holoband. Talk about your infiltrating!

    I feel like there’s a big chunk missing from the Lacy-and-Barnabas story — like the various reactions to learning that Clarice was still around. Perhaps that was what the blood ritual was all about — a renewal of vows for the anti-Clarice contingent. I have noticed a couple of times that the what-happened-last-time montages have bits with a line or two that were cut from the scene that aired. Or, maybe I just missed something. ;)

    But I really liked the scene with Barnabas demanding Lacy swear allegiance to him. I suppose his desperation came from having lost or disposed of all his other hench-children, but it seemed for a moment more personal than that. And though I’m still unclear about Lacy’s motives for continuing to work with Barnabas — are we supposed to believe that she thinks STO terrorism is going to unite everyone? — I do like the tough-cookie-Lacy that has been emerging. Especially when she’s eyeball-to-eyeball with Barnabas and tells him she’s completely committed — to god. And I liked her efforts, to escape (so, OK, she’s new to attic-imprisonment), and to force Clarice’s hand.

    (Oh — something I can’t remember from the Spring. Did Lacy get killed in the V-world]? Or could she go back if she found out Zoevatar was still there without the Zoebot interface?)

    What is it with people liking girl-on-girl violence? (I prefer to assume it’s primarily guys that find this appealing, because I don’t want to think other women are into it.) Not that they shied away from having Sweet Young Virtual Thing getting brutally assaulted by a series of men, first. I’m happy to admit to being far from objective, but I’m still sure there could have been another way to team up Tamara II and Zoevatar. (Cute parallel to Daniel’s efforts with Vergis.) But the fight scene conclusion/new partnership didn’t feel right –Tamara II’s announced motivation for the blood sports had been revenge; so being shown that the audience didn’t “care” about her shouldn’t have clinched the deal. (Picky, picky.)

    As for Barnabas, I’m hoping he will have as miraculous an escape as Amanda did. He is most certainly a bad, bad man; I just don’t mind having him on screen. Perhaps he will survive with a head injury that produces a kinder, gentler Barnabas. Yes, it could so!

    Oh, Darrell! I’m sure you caught the suggestion — from his colleagues — that Durham’s ability to work the monotheist terror case might be compromised by his being religious himself. There they go, promoting religion again! :)

    NOTE -- This preceded Darrell's Oct 23 comment that begins:

    Lacy is still alive in the V-world as far as we know.

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  25. Well, there's also the fact that men enjoy looking at or watching women, and enjoy looking at women in motion. Myself, I prefer the movement to be a bit slower, and more graceful, than what one might see in a mud- or jello-wrestling contest.

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  26. On the sheeple thing ... one may notice that "women's sports leagues" never seem to work out or last. I think that's because when men watch sport, they want to see sport (and excellence in same), and T&A disguised as sport just doesn't have the staying power to hold their interest.

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  27. Myself, I prefer the movement to be a bit slower, and more graceful...

    Then go here, Ilion, and click the link in my first comment.
    http://thehyacinthgirl.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/the-allure-of-her/

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  28. Just watch out for that crazy monkey.

    Sure, he acts like it's all a big joke, but is Cheeta really Tarzan's best friend? I wouldn't trust him.

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  29. Cheeta--Jiggs--is a member of the genus Pan, which is considered to be part of the subfamily Homininae--like us. It drives him nuts when someone calls him a monkey rather than an ape. And Jane is, well, Jane. I don't blame him a bit for taking in that beauty when he gets the chance. I wanted more too. Can't a scene like that last for a half-hour or so? If I were the director, I would have shot that first and run through my entire budget on film. That is the only reason they never ask.

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  30. "Then go here, Ilion, and click the link in my first comment.
    http://thehyacinthgirl.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/the-allure-of-her/
    "

    Tarzan as rapist?

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  31. Diving and swimming instructor.

    He thinks he's the king of the jungle, but he doesn't know what he's getting into.

    Jane, with her breathless "Tahzen" sliding off her tongue with that little East Coast accent. No wonder he keeps saying "Me Tarzen. You Jane."

    She's never gonna get it though. I think she delights in throwing him off his game, with that tittering laugh. She'll never stoop to entertain the suggestion of pronouncing names as the locals do.

    Irritates the hell out of him, I'm sure. But he'll put up with it.

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  32. So that's what you take away from the clip? Or did you even click it?

    Nick, in “Tarzan the Ape Man,” when Jane is teaching him to speak English, one of the first sentences he manages is “Tarzan, Jane, hurt me, boy, love it, Jane.” “Darling, that’s quite a sentence,” she says by way of encouragement–then pokes fun at him with her gentle, rippling little laugh. That sums up the male/female relationship, Jim. And Tarzan and Jane were there to teach you.

    Tarzan was actually an astonishingly advanced model for the modern evolved male--one who was self0-made without ever attending a single class or seminar. Perhaps you heard Jane (O'Sullivan) say, "Remember, there's only one man that means anything to me, and that's Tarzan." Her upper-crusty accent and her delicately fluted consonants can't hide what she really means. Tarzan doesn't just accidentally fulfill Jane's every wish-- he works damn hard at it -- so hard that you have to stop and remind yourself that these were movies made by men, not women. In "Tarzan and His Mate," we see the two of them in their little love nest high above the ground, buoyed by a soft bed of fluff that might be ostrich down or lion fur. He blows in her ear to wake her, and the first words out of his mouth, spoken as two discrete, flat, but enthusiastic phrases, are "Good morning, I love you!" "Tarzan Escapes" shows us the luxurious jungle "townhouse" he's made for her, complete with an elevator and a ceiling fan, and whose kitchen, she tells a visitor, was built to her specifications. When Jane has to return to London to settle some estate business, Tarzan leans against a tree, covering his face as if he's dead-set on hiding his feelings even from the birds and monkeys around him. He flops to the ground, his eyes still hidden. When he's done with his sulking, he returns to Jane, and as she explains to him that she will come back ("Tarzan makes me alive," she says simply, with a directness that's touching), his eyes look suddenly just the slightest bit liquid, and you can see deep into them. Weissmuller was hired as a fine specimen of a man first and foremost. But even if his capabilities as an actor are limited, the sorrow you see in his eyes at that moment is, pure and simple--the work of a performer who's put all his trust in his instincts -- and they don't fail him. It's easy to see why it never occurs to Jane to spirit her mate away from their jungle love den. "I wonder what you'd look like dressed?" she muses aloud in "Tarzan the Ape Man," but then the thought flits away like a bird of paradise. If Tarzan lived in civilization, he'd be the kind of guy who'd always have to be reminded which fork to use, who'd always get mustard all over his front, whose wife would surely have to pick out each and every one of his shirts--and ties to match.

    If there is a purer love story in multiple parts you have to point it out for me.

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  33. Darrell, I was just having a little fun at Tarzen's expense. He isn't a kept man, and whatever issues there may be with the opposite sex, they belong to me and not the character of Tarzen as crafted by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The cynicism in the comment was supposed to be a well apparent projection that was humorous in it's over the top bitter jadedness.

    I should leave humor to ... others more gifted in that line.

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  34. No, no, no, Jim. I wasn't responding to you. Your take did bring a smile.

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  35. That's OK, I knew who you meant.

    I saw a mostly naked man chasing a woman, then, upon catch her up, suddenly throw her into a river ... while simultaneously ripping her clothing off.

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  36. Speaking of characters we love to hate ... how's that Dr Rush Isn't So Bad project going?

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  37. If there had been only a Col. Young camp, there would be no one left to watch. But feel free to pass judgment. Of course you have the slight advantage of the writers making the Rush character darker since I made my plea. Now he's compounding matters by avoiding sleep and taking it all on himself. But still, at the first opportunity, he was the one that hatched the plan to use the excess power from the Gate Seeding ship to send everyone (else) home. Ambition to rule must be made of sterner stuff. Rush wants to rule no one. Rush wants to endanger no one. Rush has dedicated his life to knowing Destiny.

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  38. "Of course you have the slight advantage of the writers making the Rush character darker since I made my plea."

    Or, perhaps, I simply understood Rush's true character all along.

    "But still, at the first opportunity, he was the one that hatched the plan to use the excess power from the Gate Seeding ship to send everyone (else) home."

    He did nothing of the sort.

    "Ambition to rule must be made of sterner stuff. Rush wants to rule no one."

    When have I ever said *that* is his flaw?

    "Rush wants to endanger no one."

    But he will, if he "must."

    "Rush has dedicated his life to knowing Destiny."

    Regardless of how many lives he "needs" to endanger.

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  39. "But still, at the first opportunity, he was the one that hatched the plan to use the excess power from the Gate Seeding ship to send everyone (else) home."

    He did nothing of the sort.


    Oh, then, fill me in on whose idea it was. Rush walked into the control room and said that they might be able to link to the supply ship and power the gate.

    Young endangered everyone multiple times during the Lucian Alliance incursion. Rush tweaked the balance on the shields to give them the upper hand, then stuck with the plan. I expected one of the LA leader's own troop to off him before the clock hit zero. It was a feature of the plan, not a weakness. Rush told the shuttle crew about the anomalous atmosphere on that planet before they arrived and they still did nothing different. How about an orbit or two to spot a weak spot? How about some terrain mapping beforehand to pick an open area to attempt a landing?

    We all make our own destiny. The way I see it, you bet it all on Young and the score is now 0 survivors--Game Over. I, on the other hand, continue to play, down one for sure with Riley and possibly two, if Telford is really dead. The scientist that sat in the chair made his own seat, so to speak. Rush wanted the signal analyzed and an interface/buffer made. Like he did himself.

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  40. Ilion, how can you understand Rush's *character* when he is a fictional person in a TV series, the writers of which may be somewhat... finicky. They have changed his appearance and delayed giving crucial background information. With a broader perspective on how he came to be where he is now, we can understand better what makes him act as he does.

    It seems to me that as irritating and over the top Rush is at the present time, Darrell's read is about right. He is attempting to deal with the 'problem' of saving crew members as though it were a math problem. It's not that he doesn't care, it is that he is forcing himself to act without passion or compassion.

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  41. I do see that Young is now becoming the kind of leader that he should have been all along. The rigidity of undeserved/unearned confidence is gone and he is looking at multiple decision paths. And input. Rush needs to be in a support role--their "ace in the hole." I would think that the perfect compromise would be the Admiral Nelson/Captain Crane relationship from Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea--if I can ask anyone to go back that far. Rush should be deferred to, as Admiral Nelson was, when it comes to technical matters about the ship and scientific matters. Young should have day-to-day authority/military mission control.

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  42. I do confess that I have the advantage of not abiding by the 30-day delay. I haven't given any spoilers,but some of what I said in the last comment was influenced by the current episode.

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  43. I don't know... I don't think Rush is supposed to be a bad guy -- he's been willing to help wherever he could and put himself at risk for others -- but he's so obsessed that I don't know (and perhaps I'm not supposed to at this point) whether he could walk away from the unanswered questions about Destiny and the Ancients, if that was what was required to save someone else. And Col Young is a disaster, although I realize he is, generally, trying to do the right thing.

    Sigh.

    I think Jim's comment about Caprica, that It's gotten harder to find a character in this series that I can warm to. is, sadly, just as true for me with Stargate. I can appreciate that drawing main characters human in their faults and failings can keep stories lines interesting -- maybe even more believable -- but I don't think the writers take into account how discouraged the audience can feel when the protagonists -- especially characters we may have cheered in the past -- are always, well, behaving badly.

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  44. Hooray! Cathy!!!

    Now I wonder what you think of my take on Tarzan.

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  45. Huh. Darrell's latest comments didn't show up till I posted mine -- maybe things will seem a little less bleak -- in a month or so!

    Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea -- Movie Club selection? ( I've already got the Tarzan's on my list.) :)

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  46. The VTTBOTS that I referred to was the TV show with Richard Basehart and David Hedison, circa 1964. The movie was quite a bit different, if I recall.

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  47. Well, hi!

    I watched another clip from Tarzan and His Mate, and absolutely loved the tenderness and playfulness of the Good Morning scene that preceded the Swimming Lesson.

    So now I want to watch the whole series of Weissmuller/O'Sullivan Tarzan's.

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  48. The VTTBOTS that I referred to

    Wow -- I missed that completely! (Probably just as well -- I can only handle references to so many different shows, and your memory is way too good for me to keep up.)

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  49. So now I want to watch the whole series of Weissmuller/O'Sullivan Tarzan's.
    I want to be on the set. Weissmuller's stand-in for blocking will do. No stand-in for O'Sullivan. Sorry.

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  50. The VTTBOTS movie has a Captain Nemo shading to Walter Pidgeon's Adm. Nelson. The plot has something to do with Global Warming, though--caused by the Van Allen Belt "catching fire." Don't worry, though. A well-placed nuclear explosion will take care of that!

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  51. Ah. Perhaps this explains your... unusually impassioned prose regarding the Tarzan movies!

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  52. (Pssst. If you don't plan on sleeping at all, the first episode of The EVENT still has "2 hours" on Hulu. For what it's worth, the President gets over his we're-Americans-we-don't-do-that- bias pretty quickly.)

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  53. I am, however, now obsessed with how Josephine Eveline McKim (the swimmer) and Weissmuller were both stars at the same Olympics and how great it was to do that scene together. I bet the coaches never saw that coming. If that scene weren't cut (and all other ones were similar), I predict the world would be different today. All boys (later men) would be able to swim at least 30-seconds under water at a time. And there would be no breast augmentation surgery save for medical/malformation corrections reasons. And all women would be happy. Exceptions apply.

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  54. And all women would be happy.

    This calls for further discussion -- tomorrow. My eyes won't focus any more tonight!

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  55. "The way I see it, you bet it all on Young and the score is now 0 survivors--Game Over."

    Is this sort of attitude and behavior really necessary?

    "Oh, then, fill me in on whose idea it was. Rush walked into the control room and said that they might be able to link to the supply ship and power the gate."

    I find the discussion bores me.

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  56. Is this sort of attitude and behavior really necessary?

    What? Stating the facts? You wanted Rush dead on that planet Young abandoned him on. You made that quite clear. You aren't exactly Mr. Diplomatic, and you've said so several times. [Tarzan as a rapist? If that is what you saw, then we quite clearly have a different definition of rape.] Without Rush, the Stargate crew would have all been dead. There is no malice in saying that, it's simply the truth.

    Rush did tell Young that the Seeder Ship had enough power to dial the gate and get them home, but I'll concede that Eli brought up the power readings initially (saying "Am I reading this right?" To which Rush says "If you have to ask, the answer's probably no." There is reason to suspect that Rush would not have brought it up if no one else noticed it. And Eli might have taken the next leap all by himself. And Rush was sitting at the console, so no walking was involved--a misstatement on my part.

    I'll avoid further comment about the interest factor.

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  57. Boy's, it's a long stretch of sea ahead us.

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  58. But did you like it?

    We'll since I was a fan of the original, I was disappointed that they didn't keep anything the same. And a little miffed that they would take the iconic name. Why not just start fresh? The
    teasers for the show made it look stupid--at least to me. But I gave it a chance (online) and it's OK in its own right. I've only seen a couple of episodes so far. At first I thought James Caan's real-life son (Danno) was annoying at first, but I guess I got used to him after a bit.

    As for The Event, I don't know if I want to get invested. And I don't know if the US would have handled things this way if we did have space aliens landing here after WWII. I suspect that we would do something more along the lines of the town in Eureka, only with more security.

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