1GF Watches TV: Ash vs Evil Dead

Is it ok if I wank to this?

Touche.

Doctor Who

The Christmas Invasion and Revival Series 2 - Part 1

The Christmas Invasion - The TARDIS crash lands back in London 2006 at Christmas time.  With the Doctor still recovering from his regeneration process, Rose is forced to stand by idly as an alien invasion proceeds on Earth once again.

New Earth - The Doctor and Rose venture five billion years into the future once again, and land on the colonized planet New Earth.  The Doctor investigates miracle cures at a hospital yet discovers a horrifying secret.  Meanwhile, Rose bumps into Lady Cassandra, who steals her body.

Tooth and Claw - The Doctor and Rose travel back to Victorian England and have the honor of meeting Queen Victoria.  Having been invited to the castle, they soon discover that there is a werewolf being harbored on the premises.

School Reunion - The Doctor and Rose investigate a school with an oddly growing academic rate, which may be the result of alien staff members.  This has also attracted the attention of former Doctor companion Sarah Jane Smith.

"Am I...ginger?"

The first regeneration of this revival series is mostly successful.  I think David Tennant is more charismatic than Christopher Eccleston, and so far the episodes themselves have been pretty fun.  I had a few reservations about The Christmas Invasion special, which I think runs in its tracks for a little while while Rose waits for the Doctor to recover, but I understand the intent of the episode.  The main drama has little to do with the aliens that are invading, but more about Rose's uncertainty in whether or not the Doctor will be the same person or whether he will fully recover at all, before climaxing with the Doctor waking up and solving everything in two minutes because he's still the Doctor.

I'm also not quite sure I like some choices done with Penelope Wilton's character, who was hyped up as a great leader in her previous episode, then the Doctor decides, "You know what, I don't like you.  I'll ruin you."  But I'm of two minds on this, because I do like the idea that presents history painting this character in a positive light, then she does a despicable deed in front of the Doctor, causing him to realize "Wait, you're kind of horrible."  It's a complicated moment, as I'm sure it's intended to be.

The next series kicks off with some fun monster-of-the-week romps. We have a returning villain in episode one, Cassandra, who is now body jumping and setting up some amusing performances by Billie Piper and David Tennant. I like how Tennant is always aware that something is wrong with Rose but doesn't vocalize it until he's staring down who he thinks is responsible. The Victorian werewolf episode is also an amusing horror-in-a-castle aside.

Probably the highlight of these episodes is School Reunion. Most Doctor Who fans may get a kick out of seeing Sarah Jane and K9 again, though I have no context for them at this time (it's going to be about ten seasons into original Doctor Who before I bump into them, by my understanding). But even though I didn't quite know who they were, I was charmed by their presence. Sarah Jane is very charismatic and I like how gung ho she is, while K9 is just deliciously cheesy. I liked Sarah Jane's interaction with Rose, which they react like bitter/jealous girlfriends before bonding over gossiping about the Doctor's little quirks. It's kind of interesting how the revival of Doctor Who has been teasing Torchwood for a few episodes now, which would later get its own spinoff, but Sarah Jane just kind of flies at us out of nowhere in this episode, who also got her own spinoff in The Sarah Jane Adventures (K9 also got some sort of spinoff too, though short-lived). Doctor Who was really branching out into a TV universe during this period.

What I really liked about this episode though is just how Buffy the Vampire Slayer it is. I mean...a school with kids dying/or disappearing, full of monsters, and it even has Anthony Head in it! Holy crap dude! That's gotta be self aware of something!

It's February! That means one thing...NEW ULTRAMAN RELEASES!

The Return of Ultraman and Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga come out on the 25th, so Toku fans best get their preorders in pronto!

Next on the assembly line is Ultraman Ace and Ultraman X in a few months. So amped!

Doctor Who

Season 1 - The Keys of Marinus

The Sea of Death - The TARDIS lands on a planet where the sea is acid and the beach is glass.  The Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara explore but are soon enlisted to retrieve five keys to a supercomputer that will decide the fate of the world between two warring races.

The Velvet Web - The Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara teleport to Morphoton, which appears to be a Utopia.  But Barbara breaks out of a hypnotic spell and discovers their all being brain washed by mind controlling creatures.

The Screaming Jungle - Susan, Ian, and Barbara teleport to the next location along with indigenous companions Altos and Sabetha.  When Barbara becomes lost in a temple, Ian stays behind while Susan, Altos, and Sabetha teleport to the next location in case Barbara did.  Reunited with Barbara in the temple, the remaining duo fight booby traps and a living jungle to find the next key.

The Snows of Terror - Ian and Barbara teleport to the next location to meet Susan, Altos, and Sabetha but are greeted by intense cold and a snowy landscape.  They are saved by a shady trapper who may or may not know where their missing friends are.

Sentence of Death - In the fourth location, Ian attempts to take the final key, but finds a dead body and is knocked out.  Upon awakening, he discovers the key stolen and that he is under arrest for murder, in which on this planet he is deemed guilty until proven innocent.  The Doctor acts as his attorney as he, Susan, Barbara, Altos, and Sabetha try to solve the mystery.

The Keys of Marinus - The Doctor, Susan, Barbara, Altos, and Sabetha solve the murder mystery and free Ian.  Now in possession of all five keys, the group returns to Arbitan, unaware that he has been murdered by the Voord.

One...two...skip a few...

Well, I reached my first batch of episodes I couldn't watch, as all six episodes of the Marco Polo serial are lost.  There were a few avenues I could consider, like a surviving audio recording or an 80's novelization of the story, but I just jumped ahead to episode 21, which already makes me halfway through season one.  I wish I could feel more accomplished than this.

I like the idea of this serial, as The Keys of Marinus sees the Doctor and his companions on a lengthy MacGuffin quest, and each episode has its own trial to overcome before the group can move on.  It's a pretty smart usage of the serial storytelling format, but the serial itself could use some spit and polish.  I find myself wishing the trials could be a bit more interesting, as really the most interesting one is dropped first and then it somewhat limps out as it goes.  I don't think the aliens who project a Utopia is ideally executed, as I was a bit confused how Barbara was there for seconds before the rest but acted as if she were there for days when everyone else arrived.  None of the companions question that, but as the plot unfurls, I found myself going "Sure, I guess." The quests then go from a jungle temple to an Arctic wasteland, the latter of which sees our heroes pretty much stumbling on the key by pure chance rather than them actually know what they're doing.

After that we get a murder mystery trial. Don't ask me why. The transition into the court episodes is strange, because Ian, Barbara, Susan, Altos, and Sabetha teleport out together, only to hard cut to Ian by himself trying to steal the last key from a facility. It's a disorienting transition that left me a bit lost as to where we were in the story. The rest of the trial story is mostly fine, and had it been a story by itself I think it would be solid, some of the story mechanics and plot twists are pretty swell, but as a part of this particular ongoing serial it's odd and out of place.

The serial is a bit underwritten, as well. With goofy exchanges such as...

"Is it frozen?"
"Impossible at this temperature.  Besides, it's too warm."

But I very much enjoy the crappy but resourceful special effects in this serial, where the Voord are played by men in wet suits and the teleportation is portrayed in the most obvious split screen you'll ever see (at one point Ian's arm crosses the split and his entire hand disappears). And the finale is a hoot, where we see a Voord wearing a cloak over his awkward costume trying to hide his identity, casually having a conversation with Ian and Susan.

But probably the one lingering aspect about the serial that might hurt it is that William Hartnell is absent for two episodes. What is Doctor Who without the Doctor? I don't particularly think it hurts it, as I liked the isolation of Ian searching for Barbara in a temple and the snow caves (also a snow rapist). A little research suggests Hartnell was allowed a vacation from the series, and these two episodes had to drop him.

The Keys of Marinus feels like it could be better, but it's rocky and uneven. It's cheesy enjoyability is still present though, and I liked it better than Edge of Destruction at least.

I don't have TV or Hulu at the moment. I'm not up to date on The Conners.

Doctor Who

Revival Series 2 - Part 2

The Girl in the Fireplace - The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey find a derelict spacecraft, and in it time windows to the life of a woman from 18th century France named Reinette, the future Madame de Pompadour.  The Doctor travels through the window at various points in her life to find her in danger of cybernetic beings.  As the Doctor drifts in and out of her life, Reinette falls in love with him.

Rise of the Cybermen - The TARDIS breaks down in a parallel universe and the group has 24 hours to explore before the TARDIS is recharged.  Rose seeks out her parallel parents, Mickey is questioned by his double, and the Doctor discovers that this world is about to give birth to a new breed of Cybermen.

The Age of Steel - After narrowly escaping a Cybermen rampage, the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey infiltrate the conversion factory to destroy it.

The Idiot's Lantern - The Doctor and Rose land in 1950's London where an incorporeal alien has invaded broadcast waves to steal the energy of television viewers in an attempt to gain physical form.

Another thing that was lost as television evolved into a serialized format was the shining individual episode.  Episodes that rely too heavily on what comes before and after rarely have the opportunity to be anything special, something we revisit over and over again because it's that one episode where you sat down to relax to just another episode of your favorite show but instead it just floored you with how good it was.  Stretching one story to season length is at a disadvantage if it aims to do this because episode stories become threadbare and individual episodes lack an entire experience.  But if you have a premise for a show that allows a different adventure every week, the potential is far greater.  Granted you'll see some shit along the way, but the beautiful flowers will be worth the view.

I say this because I loved, loved, loved, loved LOVED The Girl in the Fireplace.

It's been a really long time since I've seen an episode of television that made me stop what I was doing (in this case I was moving, and really shouldn't have stopped) and just watch it play out.  God that feeling is just irreplaceable.  And the episode in question, a tragic romance through time, has several flaws in its villains' concept (several of which are questioned throughout the episode), but the strength of the relationship between the Doctor and Reinette keeps the episode engaging.

After that, the series goes full Sliders by visiting a parallel dimension.  I wasn't too into part one, which was mostly a "Rose with daddy issues" episode.  We've already seen that episode, and it was done well last time, so I didn't really need another.  Then it abruptly turns into zombie outbreak/"We are the Borg, resistance is futile" by reintroducing the Cybermen into Doctor Who, and the remainder of the story is chaos.  Part two is quite a bit stronger than part one, as it's exploration of the tragedy of the Cybermen aims squarely for the remorse center of your brain and is mostly successful.

We also bid a seeming farewell to Mickey, who stays behind on the parallel world with little hope given by the Doctor of returning.  He was a decent companion for the few episodes that he lasted, but Rose always has the best interplay with the Doctor so if one had to go, I'm glad it was him.

Then we conclude this batch with a killer TV that sucks people's faces off.  'Kay.

Wait...wasn't this the Riddler's plan in Batman Forever?

Swamp Thing

2019 Series - Part 1

Pilot - Dr. Abigail Arcane and biologist Dr. Alec Holland investigate a epidemic in a Louisiana swamp and discover it may be related to dangerous mutated plantlife that has been growing and killing people.

Worlds Apart - After losing Alec in the swamp and seeing a humanoid plant monster, Abby assumes the worst.  But she is forced to venture into the swamp again to search for Susie, a little girl who contracted the Green Flu illness.

He Speaks - Now believing the Swamp Thing to be Alec, Abby believes he is the only hope to understanding more about the Green Flu as it gets worse.  Meanwhile, a corpse in the swamp is brought back to life by a swarm of insects.

Darkness on the Edge of Town - After a corpse is found in the swamp, an infection is passed from person to person showing the carrier's worst fears.

I'm not quite sick of Doctor Who yet, but I've got some other, shorter shows that I want to get through real quick now that they're on blu-ray.

Of all the shows on DC Universe the one that was going to make me hunker down and actually purchase a membership was Swamp Thing.  Swampy is a childhood favorite of mine, and a new series featuring him excites me.  Let's face it, the 90's one that aired on the USA network was pretty bad, much worse than the two feature films that preceded it (and those weren't very good either).  A more respectable, less goofball version of the character would have been welcome to me, because Swamp Thing can be the source of some pretty powerful stuff, as well as awesome monster mayhem.

But the writing was on the wall, and Swamp Thing was cancelled almost immediately after its first episode aired and before I could even put a credit card number in.  After that, I just shunned the service.  Titans looked awful, and while I've loved what I've seen of Doom Patrol and Young Justice so far, I wasn't going to reward the service that pretty much admitted it was never going to give the show a chance.

But you know what cheeses me off in retrospect?  This show got ten episodes.  The last one had seventy-two.  How in the hell did that show get seventy-two episodes?  Why is that the successful Swamp Thing show?

Fuck.

At least this show lasted longer than the animated series, which only had five episodes (and a kickass toyline).  But even that show was better than the 90's live action one.

Fuck.

Now I'm finally sitting down to watch it.  This show is awesome.

FUCK!

The previous Swamp Thing series relied on camp and oddity to sell itself, which has some amusement value, but sells Swampy even shorter than the 60's Batman series did to the Caped Crusader.  Swamp Thing has a very dark and twisted lore that should be embraced, and giving the series a horror vibe takes the idea in the right direction.  The original, 80's Swamp Thing film was directed by horror legend Wes Craven, who infused more pulp and folklore-like flavor into the film than actual chills.  Meanwhile, its sequel ramped up the kitsch to the point where the opening credits jammed to "Born on the Bayou."  This really hadn't been an approach anyone had tried, even though the property is begging for it.

It all clicks into place. The look of the series is flashy and moody without being overwhelmingly so, and while the chills can suffer from TV budget syndrome, they're mostly played smartly and effectively. The cast is wonderful, with Derek Mears playing the title role as well as can be hoped, gentle and soft one minute and a badass the next (the only other live action Swamp Thing was Dick Durdock, who was good, but I think I'm team Mears). Crystal Reed is probably the best screen version of Abby Arcane we've seen, surpassing the lovey dovey Heather Locklear and the bizarre I-don't-know-what-this-is character that Kari Wuhrer played with the greatest of ease. Reed's Abby is allowed to be smart and cunning, at the very least a match to keep up with Swamp Thing and be his eyes and ears on the townsfolk who do nasty things to the bayou.

And those nasty things bring the f'ed up shit that Swamp Thing is known for. I only have ten episodes of this and so far they're making them count.

House M.D.

Season 1 - Part 1

Pilot - A kindergarten teacher (Robin Tunney) collapses in class and is referred to Gregory House, an arrogant but brilliant doctor who specializes in diagnosing diseases that have suspicious causes.

Parentage - House takes on a case of a lacrosse player who suffers night terrors, while he and his team take bets on whether or not his father is his biological father.

Occam's Razor - A college student collapses after having sex with his fiance.  Without one disease explaining all of his symptoms, House deduces that he may have two separate diseases that hit him at the same time, which Foreman disbelieves and tries to disprove.

Maternity - When infants start getting sick immediately after birth, House suspects the hospital may have a life-threatening epidemic in the maternity ward.

I've been having some issues lately.  I've needed some comfort food content.  I've been watching the Three Stooges during my lunch breaks at work, which relaxes my head and gives me a solid belly laugh when I need it the most.  I've also dusted off some old DVDs of House to watch after hours.  On the surface level, this doesn't seem to be one of my go to shows, but I'm fond of it for several reasons.

My mother is a medical drama fiend.  She's watched everything, way back in the day she'd watch every episode of shows like E.R., Chicago Hope, Nip/Tuck, and even down to Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.  She's also one of the women you have to thank for the endless run of Grey's Anatomy, of which she never misses.  I think we all have a go-to genre of TV, and that's most certainly hers (me?  I'm more of a sci-fi adventure guy).  While I would occasionally watch an episode of whatever show was on with her, very few really caught my eye.  The one that did was House.  It was formatted differently, had more interesting characters, a more biting sense of humor, and it kept me engaged with each episode I caught.

This is also a show that me and my ex used to watch together, because she was fond of it too.  You would think that this would taint the show for me in retrospect, though sitting down and watching the latest episode is actually a fond memory of the period.  That's also the reason I have the DVDs, because I bought them so we could bingewatch together.

It's been a while since I've watched some of these early episodes. I remember bits and pieces about them. I remember the coloring on the pilot bothering my then-GF, who said that everyone looked weird in it. She was right and it's hard to unsee once you've noticed it. I remember looking up what was up with the color in that episode and I came across something on Google that pointed out that the episode was originally filmed in black and white, but Fox refused to air it in black and white, so they had it colorized. It looks really, really bad. Everyone has an orange-ish tone to their skin color, which is kind of funny because there is a character who's skin color is supposed to be orange, but he looks like everyone else! One thing I noted on this rewatch is that the episode isn't entirely supposed to be black and white. A good amount of it is filmed in color, and I'm not sure whether it was because they stopped filming in black and white somewhere during filming or if the show was supposed to have black and white sequences interchanged with color sequences, but there seems to be no thematic match between what was color and what wasn't. Dramatic scenes are in both formats and comedic scenes are in both formats, while sometimes the episode can jarringly juggle the format in places where I'm not sure what the hell I'm looking at. It's also possible that the color scenes are reshoots, and I'm overthinking this. It was silly to think a network television station would air something in black and white anyway.

I also remember my partner at the time had issues watching the fourth episode, which she said she didn't want to watch again, because she had emotional trouble with the story killing an infant halfway through. Because of that, I've always remembered this episode, but I didn't remember it came so early on. It is a bit of an upsetting episode for sensitive viewers and it doesn't shy away from grim details, such as a baby autopsy and sequences of sick infants wailing. While it does get across that House isn't a sugar-coated show, this is a pretty extreme episode to be airing as it's fourth. It seems like an idea that should have been saved for a third season.

Observations watching these episodes now: There seems to be an uncertainty of how much this series is going to play into medical drama conventions and juggling that tone with House being an asshole. I think they eventually realized Hugh Laurie was the show's biggest asset and would soon play him up more, but it's almost as if the show wants to warm viewers up to him and lets them ease into it with the Foreman, Cameron, and Chase characters, who are more in line with what a medical drama would offer, and we get a lot of scenes of their bedside manner. One can also see the wheels churning hard trying to establish character relationships as hard as it can, with Foreman's distrust of House's arrogance laid on thick, Chase's admiration of him (he literally says "He thinks outside the box!" at one point. Thanks for pointing that out, because I wouldn't have noticed), and sexual tensions between House and Cuddy because of course they want each other but she's his boss and HOUSE GETS ON HER NERVES. Then there is Cameron. She's a lady. She worked hard to get where she is. Yep. Because of that, these episodes get a little more tiresome, because they're not quite at their formula yet.

The diagnosis detective aspect is still fun though, and that's a huge part of what made House great. That's why we burned through these like House did with Vicodin back in the day, and that's why I want to watch more now.

It was, once!

I'm keeping an ear out for lupus references.  I'm curious how early that joke started.

Lol.  Of course there is.

House was good shit. Shame about the ending.