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ria_oaksSpent the evening watching Farscape with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
garran... 2.19-2.22, Liars Guns & Money pts 1-3 and Die Me Dichotomy. End of s2 are among my favourite eps in the series. Some brilliant stuff in those episodes, and some fantastic acting by Ben Browder (as usual). One of my favourite parts of season 2 was the gradual breaking down of John - I think it's fascinating that they actually went so far towards having him on the brink of insanity. It started with the Aurora Chair in s1, but it was really the emergence of Harvey in Crackers Don't Matter that did it. Watching him break down by increments as he's tormented by the neural clone in his brain is painful and powerful. Especially in 2.15, which I haven't seen for awhile but it's one of my all-time favourites - I love episodes that delve into a character's psyche, and that episode went straight to John Crichton's core and tore him apart piece by piece. I'd like to see it again, actually, to appreciate just how damned fucked up he was going into eps 19-22. Which, of course, were the height of his breakdown in s2.
It's fascinting to watch how they built it up over the season, and especially over those few episodes - his increasing desperation and anger at the clone in his head in ep19, and his attempts to act against the clone's wishes, culminating first in ep19 by that incredible scene with him fighting Scorpius and crawling away from him, practically clawing his way away from Scorpius as he fights the need to return to him. And one of my favourite shots, in ep21, of him standing in the hallway of the Shadow Depository facing Scorpius with his gun pointing at him, screaming as he tries to shoot Scorpius but is unable to. Hats off to Tony Tilse; there are some brilliant shots in that episode (also that shot from behind of Aeryn shooting, with her coat flying out behind her - that one's a classic). Oh, and that great shot of John sitting, defeated, on the floor, saying that he's going to go to Scorpius and Aeryn just saying "frell you are" and knocking him unconscious. XD Ahh, says so much about both the show and Aeryn, really. Love it. Anyway, I love how it all culminates first with John begging D'Argo to kill him at the end of 2.21 (and oh, John...) then with him screaming incoherently on the table at the end of 2.22. Fitting way to end the season and John's arc in s2, really - with all hope seemingly gone, the woman he loves dead by his hands (at least in his mind), and his brain splayed out on the table. Yikes.
I want to watch 3.1 now.. I'm blanking on how some of it went down, and I'd like to see it again. Fortunately I now own s2 and 3, so can watch anytime. ^__^ (okay, I had burned copies before, but now I own them legally. Yay!) I also want to watch the Die Me Dichotomy commentary with Ben, Claudia, and David Kemper. Since I own the DVDs now I want to enjoy all the extras. ^__^ And might re-watch "Won't Get Fooled Again" then watch the commentary for that, too. I'd like to do a semi-rewatch of s3, maybe... like, 3.1, 3.3-4 maaybe, 3.6, 3.8, 3.10-11, 3.14-15, 3.17... yeah. And then straight to the end of the season. Dammit, that's like the entire thing, isn't it? I was trying to think of the best eps, but they're almost all good lol. So much for "highlights of s3". ^^;; Anyway, not sure if I'll bother. I've seen them all several times, and not that long ago (last year) and I'm a bit Farscape-d out after tonight (is that blasphemy? But I've seen 2.19-21 quite a few times and I was starting to get a bit twitchy by halfway through 2.20 even though I enjoyed them overall). Anyway, for now I'm going to stick with rewatching Babylon 5, and rely on my memories and maybe some carefully chosen re-watches of FS for my paper. Which I'm still looking forward to - I got "Investigating Farscape" by Jes Battis (who, incidentally, teaches English at SFU! How cool is that? Makes me wish I could go take a class at SFU. If I had another year to go on my degree, I'd seriously consider it, but no point anymore) out of the library and have been greatly enjoying it. Total geek fest for my inner academic and TV fan. XD XD Yeah, I get a ridiculous amount of enjoyment out of reading about and discussing the gender politics and shit of Farscape and whatnot.
Anyways, speaking of Babylon 5 - I blasted through the end of s1 over the last couple of days and have watched the first 2 eps of s2... Yup, end of s1 is still awesome. I pretty much blasted through Voices in the Wilderness to Chrysalis in a few days, and greatly enjoyed it. So much foreshadowing that it's ridiculous.. I especially enjoyed Babylon Squared and Chrysalis, and spent a lot of time trying to remember just what the fuck happened in War Without End while watching Babylon Squared. Realized I've forgotten quite a bit... like, the first figure in the spacesuit they encounter, the one kneeling in the hallway that Sinclair tries to touch - was that Sheridan? I seem to recall it was, but I'm not sure... And I can't remember exactly what happened to make B4 'unstuck in time' - I remember our guys going back to save it from the Shadow attack or something, but can't remember much of what happened after other than the big stuff (and by big stuff I mean "and it all ended with Sinclair becoming Valen and going back in time the end". What happened in between? Big blank. -_-) Am partially tempted to go look up summaries, but think I'll just wait until I get there - it's nice to have some vague surprises (not much, really, but it'll be fun to see how it all fits together again). I was curious while watching it, though, about what JMS had planned for that storyline at the time of writing that episode? Did he know that he was going to replace Sinclair yet? If so, how was War Without End supposed to go? I believe it was originally intended as the series finale, but I'm interested how it would have originally fit into Babylon Squared if Sheridan hadn't existed. Or maybe he did already have it planned based on Sinclair leaving at that point, I don't know. But as I was watching it, I was thinking "was this written with the version of WWE that we got already planned? Or was WWE changed to fit BS since Sinclair left?" Since I usually watch the show with the assumption that basically everything was planned out, it was bothering me. Heh.
Likeness, Chrysalis was excellent and did a great deal of setting up for things to come. The second meeting of Londo and Morden, and the end result of that, was chilling. Especially because it's evident that Londo is starting to regret what he's doing, but he keeps doing it anyway - he seems genuinely appalled that Morden would kill thousands of Narns, so I guess that's something. ^^ But of course he keeps going down that slippery slope, and well, we know how it ends. :( I might possibly have cackled evilly in the ep after (either 2.1 or 2.2, can't remember) with the classic quote "Why don't you eliminate the entire Narn homeworld while you're at it?" "One thing at a time, Ambassador, one thing at a time" Ooooh yeah. It's like watching a trainwreck, and it's brilliant... :)
Also, it made me sad to watch the last Sinclair ep until s3, especially because I realized as I was watching that this would be the last time that Garibaldi would ever see him. :( :( Speaking of those two, I was surprised while watching Babylon Squared, and seeing the flashback to Lise and Garibaldi's argument when he left for B5, to hear Lise say that he had only met Sinclair twice before going to B5 - clearly my sense of personal canon is a bit different from the reality of the show, lol. I had genuinely thought that they were good friends before he went to B5, and that that's why he went. There goes part of the basis for the Garibaldi/Sinclair fic I wrote a couple of years ago and reposted recently. Otoh, there's something to be said on a slashy level for the fact that he left the woman he openly admits he wanted to marry, to go off to some space station just because this guy he'd only met a few times asked him to. Heee. Just what happened at those meetings?? XD Anyway, did we ever hear anything more about their backstory? I thought there was a lot more, but I guess there wasn't. Wah.
Anyways, it was interesting to rewatch the start of s2 and see Sheridan's first episodes... sad to say goodbye to Sinclair, but I love Sheridan too and, after all, he's really the main character of the show even if he doesn't appear until season 2. :) It makes me kinda sad to see him at the start of s2, so.. hopeful. And kinda bouncy. Poor guy will have a lot of that beaten out of him by s3 and beyond, lol. I also get a bit giddy whenever I see his first encounter with Delenn, because dammit I'm a romantic at heart. Because he's totally staring at her, and I like to think that it's not just the "omgwtfshehashair" thing and is in part "wow she's gorgeous". ^__^ I've always loved the two of them - they're a fairly conventional couple, I suppose, and their arc is quite straightforward, but in some ways I liked that about them. Not much angst or 'will they won't they', which don't get me wrong can be good when handled right (see: John and Aeryn), but a fairly simple (though not without hardships) movement towards falling in love and having a nice and functional relationship. Nothing wrong with that, when it's done well.
Well, things are starting to really amp up, anyway - the Shadows are becoming a larger and larger looming force, and people (well, G'Kar anyway) are starting to realize that they're back and that the shit's about to hit the fan so to speak. We had our first mention (and view) of Z'ha'dum in 2.02 which made me all bouncy, especially since they put it in the same episode as the initial backstory on Anna Sheridan - some nice subtle intertwining of storylines there. It's nice to watch the progress of the show as it gets better and better - s1's got some good points, but it's not really until the end of s1 that it starts to hit its stride (same with Farscape, really, and various other shows).
Ramble ramble... okay, I'm done. :) Missed Prison Break and The Sarah Connor Chronicles tonight, but they're both taped and ready to go. Will watch them tomorrow night at my grandparents' place most likely - off to class tomorrow. How exciting. (okay, I'm actually quite enjoying the class... and hopefully will get to finally talk to my prof tomorrow about my paper). Also planning to go to the library to pick up a couple of academic books on Seinfeld cause I'm a GEEK ya'll. But I was watching it last night and thinking that I've never read anything on the show, and am curious what has been said about it academically. So of course I set off online to see what was available, and found two books at UBC about it. Yays.
Better head to bed now.. tired. *yawn*
garran... 2.19-2.22, Liars Guns & Money pts 1-3 and Die Me Dichotomy. End of s2 are among my favourite eps in the series. Some brilliant stuff in those episodes, and some fantastic acting by Ben Browder (as usual). One of my favourite parts of season 2 was the gradual breaking down of John - I think it's fascinating that they actually went so far towards having him on the brink of insanity. It started with the Aurora Chair in s1, but it was really the emergence of Harvey in Crackers Don't Matter that did it. Watching him break down by increments as he's tormented by the neural clone in his brain is painful and powerful. Especially in 2.15, which I haven't seen for awhile but it's one of my all-time favourites - I love episodes that delve into a character's psyche, and that episode went straight to John Crichton's core and tore him apart piece by piece. I'd like to see it again, actually, to appreciate just how damned fucked up he was going into eps 19-22. Which, of course, were the height of his breakdown in s2.It's fascinting to watch how they built it up over the season, and especially over those few episodes - his increasing desperation and anger at the clone in his head in ep19, and his attempts to act against the clone's wishes, culminating first in ep19 by that incredible scene with him fighting Scorpius and crawling away from him, practically clawing his way away from Scorpius as he fights the need to return to him. And one of my favourite shots, in ep21, of him standing in the hallway of the Shadow Depository facing Scorpius with his gun pointing at him, screaming as he tries to shoot Scorpius but is unable to. Hats off to Tony Tilse; there are some brilliant shots in that episode (also that shot from behind of Aeryn shooting, with her coat flying out behind her - that one's a classic). Oh, and that great shot of John sitting, defeated, on the floor, saying that he's going to go to Scorpius and Aeryn just saying "frell you are" and knocking him unconscious. XD Ahh, says so much about both the show and Aeryn, really. Love it. Anyway, I love how it all culminates first with John begging D'Argo to kill him at the end of 2.21 (and oh, John...) then with him screaming incoherently on the table at the end of 2.22. Fitting way to end the season and John's arc in s2, really - with all hope seemingly gone, the woman he loves dead by his hands (at least in his mind), and his brain splayed out on the table. Yikes.
I want to watch 3.1 now.. I'm blanking on how some of it went down, and I'd like to see it again. Fortunately I now own s2 and 3, so can watch anytime. ^__^ (okay, I had burned copies before, but now I own them legally. Yay!) I also want to watch the Die Me Dichotomy commentary with Ben, Claudia, and David Kemper. Since I own the DVDs now I want to enjoy all the extras. ^__^ And might re-watch "Won't Get Fooled Again" then watch the commentary for that, too. I'd like to do a semi-rewatch of s3, maybe... like, 3.1, 3.3-4 maaybe, 3.6, 3.8, 3.10-11, 3.14-15, 3.17... yeah. And then straight to the end of the season. Dammit, that's like the entire thing, isn't it? I was trying to think of the best eps, but they're almost all good lol. So much for "highlights of s3". ^^;; Anyway, not sure if I'll bother. I've seen them all several times, and not that long ago (last year) and I'm a bit Farscape-d out after tonight (is that blasphemy? But I've seen 2.19-21 quite a few times and I was starting to get a bit twitchy by halfway through 2.20 even though I enjoyed them overall). Anyway, for now I'm going to stick with rewatching Babylon 5, and rely on my memories and maybe some carefully chosen re-watches of FS for my paper. Which I'm still looking forward to - I got "Investigating Farscape" by Jes Battis (who, incidentally, teaches English at SFU! How cool is that? Makes me wish I could go take a class at SFU. If I had another year to go on my degree, I'd seriously consider it, but no point anymore) out of the library and have been greatly enjoying it. Total geek fest for my inner academic and TV fan. XD XD Yeah, I get a ridiculous amount of enjoyment out of reading about and discussing the gender politics and shit of Farscape and whatnot.
Anyways, speaking of Babylon 5 - I blasted through the end of s1 over the last couple of days and have watched the first 2 eps of s2... Yup, end of s1 is still awesome. I pretty much blasted through Voices in the Wilderness to Chrysalis in a few days, and greatly enjoyed it. So much foreshadowing that it's ridiculous.. I especially enjoyed Babylon Squared and Chrysalis, and spent a lot of time trying to remember just what the fuck happened in War Without End while watching Babylon Squared. Realized I've forgotten quite a bit... like, the first figure in the spacesuit they encounter, the one kneeling in the hallway that Sinclair tries to touch - was that Sheridan? I seem to recall it was, but I'm not sure... And I can't remember exactly what happened to make B4 'unstuck in time' - I remember our guys going back to save it from the Shadow attack or something, but can't remember much of what happened after other than the big stuff (and by big stuff I mean "and it all ended with Sinclair becoming Valen and going back in time the end". What happened in between? Big blank. -_-) Am partially tempted to go look up summaries, but think I'll just wait until I get there - it's nice to have some vague surprises (not much, really, but it'll be fun to see how it all fits together again). I was curious while watching it, though, about what JMS had planned for that storyline at the time of writing that episode? Did he know that he was going to replace Sinclair yet? If so, how was War Without End supposed to go? I believe it was originally intended as the series finale, but I'm interested how it would have originally fit into Babylon Squared if Sheridan hadn't existed. Or maybe he did already have it planned based on Sinclair leaving at that point, I don't know. But as I was watching it, I was thinking "was this written with the version of WWE that we got already planned? Or was WWE changed to fit BS since Sinclair left?" Since I usually watch the show with the assumption that basically everything was planned out, it was bothering me. Heh.
Likeness, Chrysalis was excellent and did a great deal of setting up for things to come. The second meeting of Londo and Morden, and the end result of that, was chilling. Especially because it's evident that Londo is starting to regret what he's doing, but he keeps doing it anyway - he seems genuinely appalled that Morden would kill thousands of Narns, so I guess that's something. ^^ But of course he keeps going down that slippery slope, and well, we know how it ends. :( I might possibly have cackled evilly in the ep after (either 2.1 or 2.2, can't remember) with the classic quote "Why don't you eliminate the entire Narn homeworld while you're at it?" "One thing at a time, Ambassador, one thing at a time" Ooooh yeah. It's like watching a trainwreck, and it's brilliant... :)
Also, it made me sad to watch the last Sinclair ep until s3, especially because I realized as I was watching that this would be the last time that Garibaldi would ever see him. :( :( Speaking of those two, I was surprised while watching Babylon Squared, and seeing the flashback to Lise and Garibaldi's argument when he left for B5, to hear Lise say that he had only met Sinclair twice before going to B5 - clearly my sense of personal canon is a bit different from the reality of the show, lol. I had genuinely thought that they were good friends before he went to B5, and that that's why he went. There goes part of the basis for the Garibaldi/Sinclair fic I wrote a couple of years ago and reposted recently. Otoh, there's something to be said on a slashy level for the fact that he left the woman he openly admits he wanted to marry, to go off to some space station just because this guy he'd only met a few times asked him to. Heee. Just what happened at those meetings?? XD Anyway, did we ever hear anything more about their backstory? I thought there was a lot more, but I guess there wasn't. Wah.
Anyways, it was interesting to rewatch the start of s2 and see Sheridan's first episodes... sad to say goodbye to Sinclair, but I love Sheridan too and, after all, he's really the main character of the show even if he doesn't appear until season 2. :) It makes me kinda sad to see him at the start of s2, so.. hopeful. And kinda bouncy. Poor guy will have a lot of that beaten out of him by s3 and beyond, lol. I also get a bit giddy whenever I see his first encounter with Delenn, because dammit I'm a romantic at heart. Because he's totally staring at her, and I like to think that it's not just the "omgwtfshehashair" thing and is in part "wow she's gorgeous". ^__^ I've always loved the two of them - they're a fairly conventional couple, I suppose, and their arc is quite straightforward, but in some ways I liked that about them. Not much angst or 'will they won't they', which don't get me wrong can be good when handled right (see: John and Aeryn), but a fairly simple (though not without hardships) movement towards falling in love and having a nice and functional relationship. Nothing wrong with that, when it's done well.
Well, things are starting to really amp up, anyway - the Shadows are becoming a larger and larger looming force, and people (well, G'Kar anyway) are starting to realize that they're back and that the shit's about to hit the fan so to speak. We had our first mention (and view) of Z'ha'dum in 2.02 which made me all bouncy, especially since they put it in the same episode as the initial backstory on Anna Sheridan - some nice subtle intertwining of storylines there. It's nice to watch the progress of the show as it gets better and better - s1's got some good points, but it's not really until the end of s1 that it starts to hit its stride (same with Farscape, really, and various other shows).
Ramble ramble... okay, I'm done. :) Missed Prison Break and The Sarah Connor Chronicles tonight, but they're both taped and ready to go. Will watch them tomorrow night at my grandparents' place most likely - off to class tomorrow. How exciting. (okay, I'm actually quite enjoying the class... and hopefully will get to finally talk to my prof tomorrow about my paper). Also planning to go to the library to pick up a couple of academic books on Seinfeld cause I'm a GEEK ya'll. But I was watching it last night and thinking that I've never read anything on the show, and am curious what has been said about it academically. So of course I set off online to see what was available, and found two books at UBC about it. Yays.
Better head to bed now.. tired. *yawn*
