Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Best of My Buddies - Part One, Green Lantern Corp and Creative Cosplay

You may have noticed that I am not posting as much of late.

Part of that is because I am insanely busy...

And part of that is because I am a little lazy on top of the busy.

For instance, I meant in the last couple of weeks to post reviews on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (liked it) and Captain America: The First Avenger (absolutely loved it). 

However, neither of those posts or any of the other possible posts I was planning occurred.

Since I still want to maintain a presence on the World Wide Web (as it is sometimes called), I thought to myself, "Self... we need to come up with a way to post things that won't take us much time to put together, thereby posting something and maintaining a presence, yet not getting in the way of the business or laziness that otherwise occupy our time."  Seeing as I made a good point, I quickly agreed and tried to think of something to post.

Luckily, at around the same time, two of my friends (both in real life and online) both posted some interesting things that I feel are worth highlighting.

So, I present to you the newest feature on Fat Train, BEST OF MY BUDDIES

Good stuff from online postings of friends of mine that I will share also with you, my readers.

First, a tweet from my buddy Chad (@OptimisticChad on Twitter)

Optimistic Chad

So go give that post a read, and remember that I'm still here, even if not as present as I was earlier this year.

Until Next Time, the return of series 6 (season 32) of Doctor Who is August 27, also known as one short month away, and I will (despite my business and laziness) continue to post my thoughts and reflections of those episodes shortly after they air!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Torchwood: Miracle Day, A New World, first thoughts

The first episode was amazing!  Torchwood is back!

If you haven't seen the first episode of this fourth season, you might not want to read this blog as there will be spoilers, and if you've only seen the first episode of the fourth season, meaning you haven't checked out the show previously (although you totally should, all three previous seasons are available on Netflix Instant) you might be a bit confused, because my thoughts will contain some information from the previous three seasons.

So, no one can die, except for the man that can't die.  Captain Jack's ability to immediately heal from any wound appears to be gone.  My immediate thought is that this is the reason for Miracle Day; somehow it is counteracting Captain Jack's ability (for more on Captain Jack's ability check out the first season of the new Doctor Who).  Whoever made Miracle Day happen did it in order to kill Captain Jack Harkness.  That's my first theory.

My second theory is that this has something to do with the resurrection glove.

The resurrection glove was first seen in the first episode of Torchwood.  It made another appearance in the eighth episode of season one.

Its pair appeared in the seventh episode of season two.

If you haven't watched the first three seasons of Torchwood and want to remain unspoiled, this might be a good time to stop reading.

One of the members of Torchwood, Owen Harper (and I loved Captain Jack using Owen's name as his FBI alias) was shot and killed.  Captain Jack uses the second resurrection glove to bring him back.  It brings him back to life, but it doesn't heal him.  He remains injured, and cannot heal.


Sounds a lot like what is going on here.

Owen is not the only one rumored to have had this glove used on them.  In the same episode we heard a story about a girl that was brought back to by the glove, a girl named Faith.  In the episode, Jack visits a tarot card reader who is a little girl.  In a later flashback episode, we see the girl again, this time a century earlier.  Perhaps she is the Faith that was saved by the glove.  If we see her again this season, then the likelihood of the glove being involved would seem to increase.







The other callback to previous seasons was the use of "456" which of course was the frequency the aliens used in season three "Children of Earth."

While it wasn't made clear in this episode, Torchwood takes place in the same universe as Doctor Who, and in that universe, Earth is very aware of the existence of extra terestrials, due to the Christmas Invasion and other alien attacks on London, as well as the events chronicled in Children of Earth (as that, like Miracle Day, took place worldwide, not just in London).  I wonder if there will be some concrete confirmation that the world is aware of the possibility of alien influence or if it will remain like it was this week, where if you know of the past three seasons (and/or the history of Doctor Who) then you're aware that they know about aliens, but if you don't it isn't a big deal and it isn't spelled out for you?

I suppose the second way will more easily allow people into the show who haven't seen it before.

Either way, I thought it was a great episode, and I can't wait to see Captain Jack and Gwen in action again!

Until Next Time, let me know what you think might be the reason and the cause for Miracle Day.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Summer Lovin': Lovin Me Some Summer Television

Tonight brings us the premiere of the fourth series of Torchwood.

Titled Miracle Day, the fourth season of Torchwood is about the earth having first one day where absolutely no one dies; then another; then another, until the fact that no one can die leads to a multitude of problems.

It is a co-production between the BBC (who solely produced the first three seasons) and the American cable network Starz.

Not to worry, however, Russell T. Davies, the creator of this Doctor Who spinoff (and former Doctor Who showrunner who rebooted the show so successfully six years ago), is still the man in charge of the new season.  The first three seasons are available on Netflix Instant, so do yourself a favor and get caught up quickly!

This season looks to be pretty fantastic, adding Mekhi Phifer, Bill Pullman, and Lauren Ambrose  to the surviving cast from the first three seasons.

Monday brings us the third season of Warehouse 13 and the long awaited second half of the fourth season of Eureka.

Warehouse 13 is a goofy little show that might be more fantasy than science fiction, but it grows on you quickly, and the characters are fantastic making the sometimes absurd storylines intriguing and well worth investing in.  Aaron Ashmore joins the cast this season as an agent who is a human lie detector.  Hopefully Mika will be back as well sooner rather than later and H.G. Wells as well (who by the way is a woman...)

Eureka is probably the finest sci-fi show currently on the air, and the second half of the fourth season brings back Wil Weaton as Dr. Parrish and introduces Felicia Day to the cast as well!  I can't wait to see some more repercussions from the altered timeline.  The first three seasons of Eureka are available on Netflix instant streaming and the first half of season 4 just came out on DVD and BluRay.

I'm very excited about each of these shows, as well as loving what Falling Skies has been giving us so far.  While the network television was certainly down this past year, the summer series seem to be delivering quite nicely.

Until Next Time, I hope you have a chance to catch some Summer television!  Enjoy it, I know I will.