I agree. There was one season where it was heart wrenching to watch, but I also believe that it was necessary on some level. The best writing that they did in the entire series was during that time frame.
On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 3:57 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote: > > > In the last few years, I bought a house, lost my mother, my wife's mother, > my sister has fought two bouts with cancer, I got a boss I despised at my > old job, then lost that job because of him, spent most of a year unemployed, > helped my older brother convalesce from back surgery, and had to deal with a > diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. > Not to be depressing and all, but there were times I was pulled in so many > directions, that even my years long Friday night scifi fix suffered. I catch > an ep of BSG here, record one there, then just forget or get behind, never > to catch back up. Also--and this is really major for me, the original fan of > serious scifi--I think the BSG theme started weighing on me a bit. It's a > great show with its serious tone, its dark themes. But I noticed that it > always seemed i was trying to watch a recording of it at night, and the > darkness of the show--literal and figurative--seemed to make me feel a bit > down. > I guess that's my typically long winded way of saying it was a bit heavy > for me during times when i have dealt with a lot of emotional stress. Again, > that's unheard for me. I kept up on the Stargates, Star Trek reruns, etc., > but never got back to BSG. I think I'm at a point where I'm ready to catch > up now. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tracey de Morsella" <tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com> > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 6:47:30 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most > Promising New SF Series > > > > Had I known what I know now, I probably would not have seen the Finale. > Why did you miss the finale? You were one season behind right? You will > probably like Caprica, because you do not have the bitter aftertaste of the > finale. Lucky you. I think it’s a pretty good show. I’m a fan of Esai > Morales and Eric Stolze, and they put some effort into this. Moore is not > attached, as far as I know. So, despite its origins, I hope it does well > > > > Speaking of Enterprise. One storyline that surprised me in its depth was > the ongoing saga with the Andorians and The captain’s evolving relationship > with their leader. I really liked that > > > > *From:* scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] *On > Behalf Of *Keith Johnson > *Sent:* Thursday, January 28, 2010 3:21 PM > > *To:* scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > *Subject:* Re: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most > Promising New SF Series > > > > > > > I still haven't seen the BSG finale, so maybe I'll be immune? > Caprica is being shown again tonight at 11 pm EST, right after a four hour > marathon of "Enterprise". The first half of that is the unfortunate time > travel saga after the defeat of the Xindi, where the crew is blown back in > time to a Nazi/alien occupied NYC. The second half is the good ep when Phlox > is kidnapped by the Klingons in order to cure a mutated strain of the > Augment DNA, which is changing its victims into the more human looking > klingons of Kirk's early years. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tracey de Morsella" <tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com> > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 5:16:04 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most > Promising New SF Series > > > > I think I might watch it. They have showed it like 15 times this week and > even though I saw the DVD, I checked out the last 30 minutes and it was > really good. > > That being said, I have a visceral response to anything remotely related to > BSG and it takes a lot for me to set it aside. I went months before I saw > Moore's Space show. > > I think there are a lot of people who feel intense negative feeling > regarding BSG after being big fans. I wonder how that is going to impact on > ratings? > > -----Original Message----- > From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto: > scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com>] On > Behalf Of B Smith > Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 1:36 PM > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com> > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising > New SF Series > > Three. > > --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com>, Martin > Baxter <truthseeker...@...> wrote: > > > > > > That's two of us, Bosco. > > > > "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in > bloody hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant > > > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik > > > > > > > > > > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com> > > From: ironpi...@... > > Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:51:13 -0800 > > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most > Promising > New SF Series > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > BSG ending was unforgivable. I'm boycotting this on prinicple alone. > > > > B > > > > --- On Wed, 1/27/10, Tracey de Morsella <tdli...@...> wrote: > > > > From: Tracey de Morsella <tdli...@...> > > Subject: [scifinoir2] 5 Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising > New > SF Series > > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com>, "'Cinq'" > <cinque3...@...>, "'glenn'" > <ggs...@...> > > Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 3:11 AM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > What do you think. I'm still smarting > > from BSG and a little put off that this is an original story that was > blended > > into BSG to piggyback off of its success. But I do like it > > > > 5 > > Reasons Caprica Is The Season's Most Promising New SF Series > > > > This Friday brings the first episode of Battlestar Galactica > > spinoff Caprica, a noir-scifi drama set on the planet Caprica 58 years > > before the cylons nuke it into oblivion. Based on the pilot, we think > this > > series could become a classic. > > > > > > Of course there are many reasons Caprica might fail, not the least > > of which would be poor audience ratings. Many fans of BSG are still > smarting > > from that series' disappointing conclusion, and are predicting that > Caprica > > might take an abrupt nosedive into lameness. But the current facts are > these: Caprica > > is a completely different series, and based on what we've seen so far, it > is > > the coolest new SF show on the air. Here are five reasons why. > > > > > > 1. Intriguing, thoughtful worldbuilding > > > > As I wrote > > a couple of weeks ago, the worldbuilding that went into creating Caprica > City > > and the culture of Caprica is simply superb. We're introduced to a > > culture where paganism is mainstream and sexual mores are extremely > liberal, > > but immigrants still suffer discrimination and monotheists are outcasts. > Unlike > > most SF shows, where worldbuilding is often something like "everything is > > the same except the technology is better," Caprica challenges us > > to imagine a society radically different from our own. Also, the concept > design > > of the city - which was shown off to great effect in the broadcast > version > of > > the pilot - is breathtaking. The futuristic technology isn't bad either. > > > > > > 2. A "birth of AI" story that feels original > > > > A lot of contemporary science fiction, from the Terminator franchise to > Star > > Trek: The Next Generation, deals with what happens when we finally create > AI. > > Will it rise up and destroy us ala Skynet or will it nerdily attempt to > fit > > into human society ala Data? We've seen dozens of vengeful bots and dorky > AIs, > > but a virtual religious zealot computer genius teen trapped inside the > body of > > a killing machine made by her manipulative zillionaire father? Not only > is > the > > premise fresh, but so are a lot of the emotional and ethical issues it > stirs > > up. > > > > > > 3. The Adama family > > > > Rarely has a family unit in science fiction been as interesting as the > Adamas > > seem to be in Caprica. Trapped between two cultures, straddling the > > line between criminality and respectability, Joseph Adama is a character > who > > has problems I want to know more about. Plus his brother Sam, a smalltime > > gangster with a heart of gold, is another guy I want to know better. I'm > sold > > on the idea of gangsters on another planet. > > > > > > 4. Excellent acting > > > > With Essai Morales and Eric Stolz as our leads Joseph Adama and Daniel > > Graystone, it goes without saying that the acting in this show is going > to > > rock. (There was also a lot of terrific acting in BSG, so Caprica > > maintains the quality of this aspect of the franchise.) Sasha Roiz as Sam > Adama > > is already terrific, as is Magda Apanowicz as Zoe Graystone's friend > Lacy. > > Alessandra Torresani is probably the weakest link as Zoe - she's a little > > one-note - but she could improve over time. Given that this show hinges > on > > personal drama as well as epic SF storytelling, it's crucial that the > leads be > > able to show us subtle emotion and conflict - and damn, they are > delivering. In > > the pilot, Stolz does a perfect job embodying a guy who is incredibly > > manipulative while also being sincere. > > > > > > 5. Drama that depends on science fictional plot points, but isn't > > completely focused on them > > > > I already suggested that drama is one of this show's strong points. One > of > the > > ways Caprica has already become a standout this season is that it manages > to > > give us human drama of the sort we might expect on The Wire, while also > never > > losing sight of the fact that its plot arc is centered on something > basically > > science fictional. This is a series about how two new technologies - the > > holoband and the cylon - come together to create artificial life. And > much > of > > the human drama hinges on these technologies as well. In other words, > this > is > > fiction fueled by drama and science, which is a rare and awesome thing. > > > > > > Who knows where the show will wind up, but for these reasons alone I > think > > it's worth tuning in Friday for the first episode. > > > > > > > > > > Send an email to Annalee Newitz, the author of this post, > > at anna...@io9. com. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________________ > > Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. > > http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/196390707/direct/01/ > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Post your SciFiNoir Profile at > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYa > hoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
