The crow flies straight... a perfect line.
I like Cookie like I like cook food!!!
Ah, gotta love those Donkey Balls.
While I am not precisely liking the dubious new addition to the ship's complement, because he feels treacherous, he sure does come up with some good ideas.
This episode had some beautiful moments.
While I am still not enjoying Chrisjen's wooden delivery of dialogue, I very much liked that we got to meet at least one of Holden's parents. It would have been a bit more interesting if we had seen the whole unit of them, but who knows why production felt just his body-mother was required. Frances Fisher does a great job, making a meal of a small role, and we get a great look at Holden's backstory. This late in the season though, I suspect we won't get anyone else's backstory until Season 2. I don't know about you, but I am chomping at the bit to find out Naomi's story.
Miller's sad and wistful goodbye to Octavia, as he heads off into the black chasing Julie Mao; the tense but funny process of getting into the lockbox to find the black ops codes to evade the blockade, these both give us more character depth. Miller is turning into a different kind of man, and the Rocinante crew's democratic, yet effective teamwork makes them a lot of fun to watch as they're grinding through trying to get to the bottom of Lionel Polanski, the Scopuli and the Anubis.
I'm also enjoying the little things in the show: The Belter's patois, although largely incomprehensible, is a nice touch that adds a lot of dimension to the Belter's as an insular, underdog group. That they evolved their own language, says much for the alienation they must have to the rest of the solar system. Jared Harris as Dawes, has the most beautiful sing song thing going on, and it makes his character a much more seductive and enchanting force in the story's play...
Regardless of the next few episodes, which i suspect will be relentless, Sy Fy has done a marvellous job of fueling this production. Despite a few obvious TV gaffs here and there, for the most part the show is really well put together, and the concepts, sets, action sequences and character development almost make you pause, because Sy Fy has gutted us more than once since Battlestar Galactica went off air. I say again, this is the best show I've seen on TV since BSG ended... and that Sy Fy is coming through for us, is something to celebrate.
This show is pure science fiction and it's commitment to creating a believable story, is tremendous.
Well ok! Now we're getting somewhere.
Although, one could not reasonably expect all the answers in episode two, the second episode rapidly advances the story and we finally start to get a sense of why The OA is so seemingly 'unhinged'.
At last, the 'villain' appears. I am also finding the growing byplay between the characters and their rough sketches interesting as well. We get only a little of that in this episode, but I am curious as to what their role is and why The OA needs them to be there. Brit Marling, who plays The OA, and produced, and mostly wrote, is doing an excellent job of conveying all of this character's many textures. While she appears unhinged, she also appears perfectly calm, resigned, aware and purposeful.
I am absorbed as her five listeners to her unfolding tale, and while there are no bells and whistles, this is a story being told in performance and writing, I am immensely curious as to why Hap's creepy serial killer like self is really about. As weirdness goes, this is not Twin-peakish, but it's certainly weird-as-all-out in a very human kind of way.
On to the next episode.
Although the premise of the show was wearing thin with so little to go on in terms of why, this episode is frustrating in you get more with no concrete answers.
I adore the Reilly Dolman's Phillip; his performance the most nuanced of the cast. He is so handsome in an off kilter manner, he is the only character I find engrossing.
Everyone else, and everything else on this show feels off. It's almost like it's trying too hard to be edgy, and without either the visual texturing or special effects to shore up some very obvious plot devices, I find myself wondering if I am going to make it through the rest of this season.
However, I am not a fan of procedural shows, and I know this is colouring my take on this. Either way, this show is lacking some kind of oomph.
Plus there's the obvious question, "If they're trying to save the world, and there are lots of teams running around surreptitiously working to do this, if they reach some critical mass event wouldn't they and the technology they're using all cease to exist? How would they 'get back to their own timeline, or are all these people expected to be stranded where they are'?"
Time travel paradoxes are already popping up with this, and it's episode five. I'm just not sure how much I can suspend my disbelief.
It's engaging enough for me to see what happens in the next episode, but skating on thin ice. I'd still watch a dozen episodes of Quantum Leap, because I like my time travel with some real human connections. I like all my sci fi this way. This is what I think is missing in this show. It's so busy with the premise, that there's almost no real human connection. Either to the team we're following, or with the mysterious 'Future', or with the people supposedly being saved.
Without that, I'm just not interested enough in anyone other than Phillip.
There I am, engrossed for nearly an hour in one of the strangest stories I've been told in a while, and THEN I see the open credits appear. That it came at a point in the story where the 'weird' turned up 'extra', I must admit, my jaw dropped for a moment. If for no other reason, I can say, I did not expect that.
For a first episode, this does very little in terms of telling us more than Prairie... my bad, The OA, is... well what is she? I don't think any of us could guess from this first episode. The basic premise as it stands is: Blind girl disappears. Girl reappears with sight. She's tapped into something we can't see, but maybe some people can 'feel'.
The way the narrative is built, the way it engages you in a subtle way... yes, let's watch on and see where this goes, but as of this writing, I cannot guess as to what is happening.
This show is oddly creepy, but at the same time, inspiring.... I'd invoke 'Twin Peaks' but maybe it's too soon for that.
While the first two episodes lay the ground for the characters, and sets the basic players and plot in motion, here the stakes are upped in a significant way.
The way in which the stories seem very separate, the play with the survivors of the Cant and the Martian Navy, the play on Mars and Miller's probing on Ceres, but also layer by layer appear to grow more intertwined is well paced throughout this episode.
Like no other show I've seen this year, the production aesthetic is richer and deeper, and the interiors while close, never seem claustrophobic, merely a form of texturing. All the space sequences so far have been exceptional, and the Earth-based spaces all strike the right notes of familiar and futuristic at the same time.
I do not like Shohreh Aghdashloo's Chrisjen Avasarala. I love her accent and her styling, but there is something about her delivery that doesn't quite make me believe that she believes what she is saying.
Steven Strait, Cas Anvar, Dominique Tipper and Wes Chatham and all great as Holden, and crew, beautifully playing out the tension, suspicion and steadfast loyalty, as the Mars Navy gets a hold of them and questions them about the destruction of the Canterbury.
All in all, this episode beautifully advances the plot, without ever appearing to play the characters or the story cheap.
I must agree with another reviewer/commenter who said the show has a 'film' feel to it. This is something to note, as the feel of the production is richer than anything I've seen on television since Battlestar Galactica. For me, that's a huge thing.
I am in the middle of a rewatch for the sole purpose of reviewing and in preparation for Season 2, due February 2016. I'm still shocked it took me a whole year to know about this show, but really thankful I have all ten episodes to binge on.
This looks interesting... First episode is well constructed.
Oh I cracked up! This episode had so many funny moments... but now I am truly intrigued by the La Dame Blanche.
This show is exquisite... The character development in two episodes has beaten two seasons of anything else I've watched since Battlestar Galactica.
I've just got around to watching the finale, and as a practitioner of the ATRS, it is incumbent upon to register my disappointment in the production team and @RonDMoore for producing this racist shit for television.
There are any number of ways they could have portrayed the African Traditional Religions, however they chose Hollywood's white washed view of MY religious traditions, instead of anything like historical accuracy, or for that matter anything congruent with truth.
There are any number of practitioners that could have advised them, but they chose to prey upon the traditional view of Europeans towards African religions instead of treating it with respect. I am so disappointed in their handling of this portion of the story, it's my lowest rated episode of this show, ever.
And after three seasons, I find myself questioning this show's integrity. Just to be clear: the kind of hodgepodge shit that you portrayed on screen borrowed from several traditions and did not portray any of them fairly or accurately.
#disappointedasfuck in all of them. The ATRs are not some hodgepodge you can borrow from to colour your story without committing to accuracy. How could they get it so wrong in 2017?
So many emotions! I cried more than once... I love the character growth on this show, and the writing is getting better and better every season.
Still one of my favourite episodes... The drums underscoring the Six's Baltar-assisted escape remain one of my favourite drum sequences of this entire show, and that's saying something considering Bear McCreary's utterly amazing score across all the seasons. But also "You're not my type", Roslin & Adama's sweetness at the end, and that sequence where the combined squads attacked the Resurrection Ship... just fine television. Stands up A DECADE after its release. Now THAT is good television.
Oh I am soooooo glad they kicked Acid Betty to the curb! Lawdamercy... couldn't stand her snarky, superior, arrogant self. Yay for Bob The Drag Queen!!
This episode still cracks me up after all these years. Hilarious! Robert Picardo is BRILLIANT!
This show is VERY entertaining. I am endlessly fascinated with anime’s ability to make a story out of anything. It makes for a more compelling contrast to typical Western fare, which rules out stories simply because they want to appeal to a mean audience.
Anime for me is like an anathema to this... The strangest and most outlandish stories are made into gripping drama, laughs, tears, emotional growth... and it could be a show about ANYTHING.
At any rate, this has been an entertaining six episodes. The writing is good to keep me very much keen to see what happens next. These little punk boys are one of the best stories I’ve seen this year.
I want to see Takemichi’s rage crumble in the next episode, and still manage to keep his immediate goal from falling apart. I also like how every episode manages to advance to overall plot just a little bit more. I’m also amazed how much damn story they manage to fit into 20 odd minutes.
On with the story!
Trying to distract myself with a Game of Thrones rewatch while I wait on the premiere. Because, this is my shit right here.
I found myself unsurprised about the double elimination... that was truly an uninspired lipsync to a GAY ANTHEM!!! WTH!
Every damn week I feel like screaming at the beginning of the ED. My emotions be high, my feels be feeling...
MAPPA has paid some much loving attention to the back half of this season, it truly elevated the source material and does it justice.
Gosh... this second half captures the soul of Seasons one and two, in the way it evokes all the feelings, and the way it continues to up the ante with every frame.
I freaking love this show!
I screaaaaamed! This episode was SO SO SO FREAKING GOOD! The voice acting was incredible... and I’m warming up to MAPPA’s art. When it’s all done, I’ll need to rewatch for nuance, but I’m warming up to it. But seeing Eren’s growth as a character from the first episode to now, it’s chilling and thrilling to watch. I watched this episode with an aching heart... but damned if it didn’t start pounding when Grisha said only Eren gets what he wants now. SCREAAAAAMMMMED AT THE SCREEN when the credits started rolling!
I freaking love how the Goblin Knights handled Abel’s crew. They really are a tightly woven deadly team, and Yukimaru wasn’t even there!!!
Golly... wild how the awful music this season has grown on me. Especially the closing theme.
That double chanté! I thought I was about to lose a favourite and was literally shouting 'NOOOOOOO!" at the screen.
The arrival of Andy! This show kicks off at his point of entry...
Acid Betty is so freaking annoying... I don't get why she needs to be so damn bossy. I adore Bob The Drag Queen!! She's so fierce! And so happy Chi Chi made it through!
I adore Yukimaru and his red ears!
I want to cry! My sweet, pure, beautiful Sang Sang! Episode is almost over. I may be warming up to Dylan Wang a bit. He did so well in this episode. The entire episode all I keep thinking is, “I have one sword to protect Sang Sang so she sleeps well at night.”
This was the episode that melted me... I am now officially hooked.
Mikey (Manjirou) Sano of Tokyo Manji is a lil badass. That is all.
Oh my gosh!
“Have a seat over here.”
“Sure.”
“Close your eyes and count to sixty.”
“Huh? Is this a joke?”
“No it’s not. Close your eyes and don’t open them.”
“But what for?”
“Now! One...”
“Eyes are closed!”
“Twoooo... Threeeee...”
:heart:
