Here are some links to some of the things I’ve written about several different television shows from last year. You can read about how Fringe wants to be the new X-Files or the five best TV shows that we’ll never get to see. I also posted my first thoughts on Privileged, revisited Beverly Hills with the new 90210 and expressed my doubts about where Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles is headed. Also, Elizabeth compares True Blood to the Sookie Stackhouse books. There’s more, but I’ll share that later.

What at first seems to be a relatively simple corporate espionage kidnapping and extortion scheme turns out to be a brilliantly intricate tale of family deception. Paralleling the lie that Walter Bishop and his son are living, James Carson, a top Massive Dynamic scientist, has been telling his son an alternate version of the truth. And as the episode concludes, we find out that the truth that Tyler thought he had found out was not even close to the real truth — i.e. the Massive Dynamic truth.

Many, including myself, have understood from the beginning that while Fringe held a lot of potential, it had to get over a couple of initial hiccups to become awesome. Some have been dealt with, and others not. I seem to not be the only person very happy to see it blooming wider open with every episode (even if it seems to somewhat stall at times). In my opinion, “Of Human Action” demonstrates how far the show has already come, and gives me great hope for the end of this season.

The opening scene is very reminiscent of yet another X-Files episode, “Pusher” (season three, episode 17). Police officers drive, hellbent, to a parking lot, where three individuals are in a car: two adults and a teenager. The adults are forced outside of the car – and this is where things become a little “Pusher”-ish. One police officer starts walking backwards until he falls off the parking lot’s ledge, and another one shoots her fellow officers before turning the gun on herself.

But this is where the similarities end, for where “Pusher” was about an individual with a brain tumour who had acquired the ability to control others, the person to control other’s actions here is courtesy of none other than Massive Dynamics’ scientists. And once again, we realise that Nina Sharp is in on it, far more than she lets on.

I am now convinced that Nina Sharp is using everyone for her own agenda. While it seems that she is only doing it out of loyalty to William Bell, I’m certain she will end up betraying him, too, because while her own agenda is probably intricately linked to that of William Bell’s, it will somehow be different because of some fundamental yet seemingly small difference.

“Of Human Action” really was a great episode. The plot was advanced indirectly, a brilliant ploy making the experience all the more interesting. We don’t know how Peter will react when (if) he finds out he’s from the other world, but we have an idea of how Tyler reacted when he found out about what he thought were his real origins. We don’t know what her role is, but we do know that Nina Sharp is incredibly good at lying and manipulating, even to Broyles, with whom she is romantically involved. We also know that her connection with Bell, who is in the other dimension, isn’t solid; some sort of interference has occurred which makes the messages she sends him all the less certain to reach their destination.

The pacing of the action increased substantially from the previous rather slow ones, and the writers had more than one trick up their sleeves. The visuals were great — from the first shot from above of the police officer and Fringe Division looking down to the shot of Peter and Walter at Massive Dynamics, we were treated to both typical and atypical visuals. One particularly striking scene was that of the FBI agents moving in on the abandoned hangar. We were tuned into what the agents and Fringe Division could hear wearing the headphones, and it lent an air of tension and slight confusion to a scene which was otherwise visually simple.

This episode makes me wonder what else Massive Dynamics is up to, since their blatant lack of respect for human life is made all the more apparent in their creation and use of the Tylers. This particular storyline has great potential for more than one interesting ethical dilemma concerning the needs of the many versus the rights of the few. For example, the Tylers (brief X-Files flashback here – remember when Mulder walked into a room filled with clones in tanks?) had to be created to experiment if mind control would work so as to prepare our side for the imminent invasion promised a couple of episodes ago. Does it warrant such  horrific, lifelong experiments (and necessary lies)?

Of course this episode of Fringe wouldn’t be complete without a couple of Peter/Walter and Walter moments:

Peter: Walter, remember that conversation we had about personal space?
Walter: I’m bored.

Walter [briefing the FBI agents]: Do not remove them under any circumstances. If you do, you may die a gruesome and horrible death. Thank you for your attention, and have a nice day.

Walter: That was quick thinking. You proved to be more resourceful than I give you credit for.
Peter: Is that supposed to be some sort of compliment?

Walter: Don’t be ridiculous. You were abducted. Of course you need crepes.

Fringe intertitle, image via Wikipedia

It’s fitting that this show will premiere on Fox, since this was the network of the X-Files. Fringe has got much in common with the X-Files, yet it is different. Fringe is the latest show of wunderkind J.J. Abrams. Like most new shows, the pilot was leaked on the internet a few weeks ago.

Just like a few other shows, like True Blood, I’m happily surprised by Fringe. The production values are great and I’m enjoying it a lot. A lot of money has been pumped into this show, and it just looks fabulous. The protagonists are also an interesting bunch. There isn’t much more that we learn of the Pattern, but Massive Dynamics is most definitely deeply connected with those events, even though they aren’t sharing their information with Agent Dunham.

I think that this show takes a few common elements from Alias, especially for all the things that concerned the mystic scholar Milo Rambaldi. The same kind of esoteric science is involved in this show. It’s done very well. I’d actually like to see this type of mystic science have more of an impact on the show. It would suit the show very well. A bit of the supernatural wouldn’t be bad either.

Warning: spoilers ahead

* * * * *

The code for this week is BLIGHT. This episode is all about the Observers. We learn a bit about them, but not much. It’s kind of annoying, but it lets you believe that something bad is going to happen to Dunham quite soon.

Fringe is one of the best shows on TV right now. It’s getting better and better, and I like it maybe a bit more than X-Files. Why? There are less filler episodes. Most episode deal with the mythology of the show.

* * * * *

An Observer is observing and taking some strange notes. He’s got some alien technology with him. A vet gives him a flag pin. He’s looking for something. He tries to abduct a girl and then is forced to fire his ray gun. He tranquilizes the girl and puts her in a car. A guard fires at him, but it doesn’t affect him. He starts the car with his finger.

Olivia is hanging out with her niece. She gets a call about the incident. She has to leave. She calls the Bishops about the Observer. The check the footage and see that it isn’t the same Observer that they encountered before. They also see him catch a bullet with his hand as if it was a fly. Walter isn’t talking.

The Observer is tying up the girl in a motel. He says that it will be safer for her. Her name is Christine Hollis. Broyles says that she is quite normal. Her parents are dead. Dunham doesn’t know what to think. They usually only observe.

Peter is trying to find out more about the Observer, but Walter isn’t talking much. Peter finds some blood on the page. Astrid isn’t making progress with the writing. There are no repetitions in it. It looks like Walter knows what the code is saying, but he isn’t talking.

Astrid finds out that Massive Dynamic is researching the symbols as well. They go back to the earliest writing of mankind. He shows them art where the Observers have been captured. He says that they aren’t limited by the human perception of time. He says that we think of time as linear. He says that they are observing time and show up at important moments. It’s very rare. There have been maybe 2 dozen different appearances over the last 5 thousand years. Recently, he’s charted 26 sightings in the last 3 months.

We cut to a scene with some observers having some Indian food. They like it very hot. Another Observer arrives and says that they have a situation with August. The girl was supposed to be on a flight. It looks like the flight was important. The elder Observer says that they need to repair this irregularity. He wants Donald contacted. We see Donald. He’s some kind of alien fixer.

Christine’s roommate says that she was leaving for Italy. Her family died in San Francisco in ’89. In the last photo of her family, we see an Observer in the background.

Meanwhile, Christine gets loose but August returns. He sees that she has hurt her wrists trying to get free. He brought her some food. She wants to know why he abducted her. He shows her the news. The flight she was on crashed. Dunham and Peter hear this on the radio as well. The Observer tells Christine that she isn’t safe yet.

They find that the blood is actually chili sauce, the hottest kind. They try to trace it. August appears before his fellow Observers. August thinks that Christine is important. The only time that they interfered was to correct something that they caused themselves. They tell him that they sent someone to correct his mistake. Walter is being secretive.

Walter gets a message and meets August. He doesn’t want them taking Peter. He needs his help.

The bagman arrives at August’s flat. Peter and Dunham are on their way there. The bagman has the address of the motel. The bagman has a gun on Peter. Peter is fast enough to disarm him. The bagman runs away. He’s fast for a fatty.

August says that the others are trying to kill Christine, no matter what he does. Walter says that he must make her important. That would solve his dilemma. He comes back to Christine and has some instructions for her.

The bagman finds the motel. August has the man shoot him a few times. The bagman tries to get away, but Dunham is after him. August gives Peter his ray gun. From the effects, it looks like a plasma gun of some sort. The bagman is about to shoot Olivia when Peter takes him out. Dunham shoots him as well. They find that August is gone. They only find his hat. Dunham finds Christine. She’s fine.

Another Observer got August out of there. August tells him that he developed feelings for her. He thinks that he loves her. The other Observer says that she will be safe because August made her important.

Broyles says that the bagman was an assassin. They also cannot fire the ray gun anymore. They think that Peter fired the last round. The tip off to find the Observer came from the motel.

Ella and Olivia go to the amusement park. Two Observers are watching. The older one comments at how things are going to get so hard for Olivia.

* * * * *

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Fringe intertitle, image via Wikipedia

It’s fitting that this show will premiere on Fox, since this was the network of the X-Files. Fringe has got much in common with the X-Files, yet it is different. Fringe is the latest show of wunderkind J.J. Abrams. Like most new shows, the pilot was leaked on the internet a few weeks ago.

Just like a few other shows, like True Blood, I’m happily surprised by Fringe. The production values are great and I’m enjoying it a lot. A lot of money has been pumped into this show, and it just looks fabulous. The protagonists are also an interesting bunch. There isn’t much more that we learn of the Pattern, but Massive Dynamics is most definitely deeply connected with those events, even though they aren’t sharing their information with Agent Dunham.

I think that this show takes a few common elements from Alias, especially for all the things that concerned the mystic scholar Milo Rambaldi. The same kind of esoteric science is involved in this show. It’s done very well. I’d actually like to see this type of mystic science have more of an impact on the show. It would suit the show very well. A bit of the supernatural wouldn’t be bad either.

Warning: spoilers ahead

* * * * *

The code for this week is ARRIVE. A Massive Dynamic employee’s son is kidnapped. We learn that there is more to this than meets the eye. It’s part of William Bell’s experiment in mind control.

Fringe is one of the best shows on TV right now. It’s getting better and better, and I like it maybe a bit more than X-Files. Why? There are less filler episodes. Most episode deal with the mythology of the show.

* * * * *

In Queens, NY, two men kidnapped a boy. When they get cornered by the cops, something happens to one of the uniformed officers. He is pushed off a parking structure. Another cop is forced to shoot the cops and then shoots herself.

The kid is Tyler Carson, 15 years old. Walter says that the victims were mesmerized. He’s bored. The kid’s father works for Fleming Monroe, Massive Dynamic’s aerospace division.

Walter, Peter and Dunham go to MD. Carson is there with Nina Sharpe. Patrick Hicky and Tom Dobinson have nothing to do with MD. They are the kidnappers. Both Sharpe and Dunham believe that these men are trying to extort corporate secrets from MD.

Walter is amazed and despondent at how much William Bell has achieved. He tells Peter that Bell introduced him to his mother in Berlin.

One of the men has got these mesmerizing powers. He uses them to great effect and in front of security cameras. It seems like they don’t have any plan. The boy isn’t running. Maybe the boy is controlling the men.

The kidnappers were great used car salesmen. Peter and Dunham float the idea that they were foreign spies. Walter is examining the brains of the victims. He says that it isn’t hypnosis, but mind control. The brains had hematomas, which could be caused by brain control. Walter hypothesizes that the mind control is used by sound.

The kidnappers make their demands. They want $2 million. That’s strange. Nina Sharpe says that they will cover the ransom demand. Dunham says that money is a distraction. They took Carson’s son for a reason. Walter is going to use white noise in order to block the mind control. Dunham is planning on laying a trap.

Do not remove the headphones under any circumstance, if you do, you might die a gruesome and horrible death. Thank you for your attention, and have a nice day.
Bishop briefing the tactical assault team

The tactical squad is wearing headphones which are used as relay points to play white noise to block the mind control. One of the kidnappers comes to get the money. They move in when they don’t see the hostage. His partner tries to drive away, but his car hits an obstacle, and tumbles and explodes.

The kidnapper is trying to kill himself. He was being controlled by the boy. The boy takes Peter hostage. He wanted the money. He says that the headphones won’t work.

Sharpe says that Carson was collaborating with a pharmaceutical company for a hands free piloting project. The pilot was given a drug to enhance his brain waves. Carson thinks that Tyler might have found the samples of the drug at home.

Bishop proves that it’s possible that since Tyler is a teen, he was taking ADD drugs, it created a mind control cocktail.

Peter and the kid get stopped by a cop. Tyler is about to make Peter shoot him with his own gun. He knocks him out instead.

The Director of the FBI classified Tyler as a National Security threat. They have to stop him. Tyler bought 2 tickets to go to Costa Rica before this all started. This could mean that he is working with a foreign handler. Broyles says that they need to stop him ASAP, or Peter could become collateral damage.

Olivia and Astrid find out that Tyler was looking for his mom. Tyler tells Peter that his mother was dead when she was alive. Tyler discovered this. They arrive in Springfield. They meet Renee Davies. She tells him that his dad isn’t to blame. He doesn’t know that Renee has a new family. She isn’t going anywhere. He makes Peter get the gun.

Walter is modifying an electro-magnetic pulse to affect Tyler’s brain. They don’t have time to wait for Bishop. Broyles storms the front door. He tasers Tyler, but it isn’t enough. Tyler has Peter shoot him in the arm. They leave. Bishop fires his device. Peter uses the few seconds he has to crash the car.

Broyles is fine. Peter managed to shoot him in the arm. The kid wanted to shoot himin the head. Tyler’s powers wore off when the drugs wore off.

Sharpe briefs Bell. She says that one of the Tylers did display mind control abilities. It was part of their experiment. Davies wasn’t his mother, but his surrogate mother. Sharpe is suspending the project. Their experiment was a success. Tyler Carson was just one of many copies.

* * * * *

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Fringe intertitle, image via Wikipedia

It’s fitting that this show will premiere on Fox, since this was the network of the X-Files. Fringe has got much in common with the X-Files, yet it is different. Fringe is the latest show of wunderkind J.J. Abrams. Like most new shows, the pilot was leaked on the internet a few weeks ago.

Just like a few other shows, like True Blood, I’m happily surprised by Fringe. The production values are great and I’m enjoying it a lot. A lot of money has been pumped into this show, and it just looks fabulous. The protagonists are also an interesting bunch. There isn’t much more that we learn of the Pattern, but Massive Dynamics is most definitely deeply connected with those events, even though they aren’t sharing their information with Agent Dunham.

I think that this show takes a few common elements from Alias, especially for all the things that concerned the mystic scholar Milo Rambaldi. The same kind of esoteric science is involved in this show. It’s done very well. I’d actually like to see this type of mystic science have more of an impact on the show. It would suit the show very well. A bit of the supernatural wouldn’t be bad either.

Warning: spoilers ahead

* * * * *

The code for this week is DEJA VU. People are dying and falling into ashes. Broyles was involved with a similar case years ago. This is the case that broke his marriage. He gets personally involved in the investigation to resolve it.

Fringe is one of the best shows on TV right now. It’s getting better and better, and I like it maybe a bit more than X-Files. Why? There are less filler episodes. Most episode deal with the mythology of the show.

* * * * *

A man is planning on surprising his wife and gets killed by a shadowy thing. His wife finds his body as he collapses into ashes.

Walter rules out fire as a cause. There were no scorch marks. Broyles comes to the scene. He says that it’s not the first time he saw this phenomenon. Four years ago, victims were turned into dust just like Danzig. Each of the vics worked at or had been at Tyson General in DC. Broyles was contacted by someone who claimed being the killer. He would turn himself in if they could decipher his formula. Some sort of compound was injected into the patients.

Danzig visited his mom at Latchmere General. At Latchmere, the shadowy man stalks through the corridors.

The FBI arrives at the hospital to take over. They think that someone is involved in this hospital, either a patient or a part of the staff. The body doesn’t contain any radiation, which is strange because everything has background radiation. Walter hasn’t cracked the formula, but thinks that it’s organic in nature. Broyles says that the killer was distraught, like he couldn’t help himself.

At the same hospital, a fly touches a patient and she crumbles into dust. They have a name. His name is Thomas Kozalov. He’s a night nurse. His place is empty. He knew they were coming. He was building something. Kozalov is an alias but he’s definitely Russian.

Broyles gets a call from a friendly Senator. The CIA wants to take away his case. The Russian is searching for this guy. Apparently, he removed some Russian property. Broyles tells Dunham that he was ordered to hand over the case to the CIA, but he won’t. From this point onward, they will put nothing down on paper nor computer, everything will have to be said in person. Dunham is worried about Broyles. Who will protect him? Dunham finds a shadowy man stalking the corridors on the security footage.

Kozalov arrives in his motel room with a bunch of car batteries and some more gear.

Walter thinks that this is part of some Russian Fringe Science experiment. Broyles gets a package from Senator Van Horne. He knew that Broyles wasn’t going to follow orders, so he sent him what he had. Timor abducted his brother in Russia. His brother was a cosmonaut. He was being studied and Timor removed him from the ward.

Walter thinks that the entity is absorbing radiation. It is going after radiation and while it does, it vaporizes the victims. All of the victims had higher levels of rads than normal. One of the nurses finds Timor about to take out a patient. Broyles and Dunham find her sedated. Timor is moving out his brother.

Walter is making some progress on the formula. He’s quite engrossed. He says that it’s something inside the cosmonaut, some kind of organism that he brought back. The organism projects another version of himself without leaving the host body. Walter thinks that he can solve the formula. They leave Timor a message. Timor is trying to contain the monster. He’s partially successful. It comes after him. He uses electricity. He used too much and his brother Alex flatlines for a few moments before coming back.

While using Tinkertoys to make a physical representation of the molecule, Walter makes a bad discovery. He tells Dunham that the Russian tried to remove the organism, but failed. The two organisms merged. There is no way of removing it without killing him. Broyles tells Timor this. While he is talking on the phone, Timor is vaporized. The line is still open and Alex’s shadow leaves the room. They arrive and Walter notices that the shadow is gone. Alex’s body has no radiation. Peter suggests distressing the host, since that was what Timor was using. They hear a scream. Broyles shoots Alex in the head. I think that the organism moved onto the little girl, who’s acting strange.

Broyles tells Dunham that this case was the one that broke his marriage up. Broyles tells his ex-wife in person that he closed that case. Broyles meets a CIA bagman. He is told not to make a report. They took the cosmonaut. Once he started breathing, they launched him into space. At least, that’s what the bagman implies.

* * * * *

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Well, I would love to share the sequence of my interests, experiences and discoveries in chronological order with you on this blog, but that’s just not going to happen. Sorry. You will just have to take it in whatever order my silly mind spits it out. I’m not the greatest writer the world has ever known.   I’m trusting that eventually you will come to feel like you know me, as well as what I think about, quite well! If you leave me comments, then I can get to know you too, which I would love.

There is a lot of strange stuff in my life at the moment that I am making sense of.  I run a kind of paranormal topic group for my community. I attract various speakers on topics that we are all curious about.  Last month’s speaker was a trim and neat appearing woman with a background in corporate America, whose path had radically shifted. She is now a shamanic practitioner and explains that she is aware of her multidimensional existence.  In one of these dimensional existences she attends meetings of something called “earth council” and often communicates with aliens and beings from other dimensions.  Yeah. exactly. You can take a minute to read it again.

Now, I watched the x-files like so many of us, and even grew to develop a deep crush on Fox Mulder for many years (it still lives somewhere deep inside me….*sigh*. He was so PASSIONATE about finding the truth, God love ‘em).  But somewhere along the way in my life, I started to feel that there was too much paranoia and disfunction in the ufo/abductee community for me to be able to take it seriously.

So when I met this woman who explained she frequently spoke with and saw aliens, I was stumped. You see, as a doctor, I have sat with many people who see things we don’t see and need medication to make their lives functional–schizophrenics, those with schizoaffective disorder or depression with psychosis.  You get the idea.  I have always suspected that these folks may be tapping into some kind of spiritual realm at times, but that something has gone terribly wrong with the regulation of that within the brain. The bottom line is, they don’t do well in the physical world and are the poster children for “crazy”.

Well, this lady had nothing in common with them. She was educated, focused, intelligent and articulate.  She was not sharing her information for monetary gain. And she stood the risk of public ridicule and rejection.

She was so different from my stereotype of one who loses functional contact with reality, that I was forced to do some reading.  So, after a good 20 years having passed from my childhood queries, I re-investigated what was available about UFO’s and aliens.  And my paradigm definitely has changed, just in the last two weeks! For the witnesses coming foward have become more credible, and the amount of documentable facts has grown to something I cannot ignore.

There is this recent giant leap in my paradigm regarding other forms of life in our universe and its contact with us.  Simultaneously, I have begun spending time with a talented clairvoyant (Pat Bruckmann, www.36stones.com )who works at an upscale  resort. She too has a corporate background, and is very intelligent and articulate.  She wholeheartedly believes that her intuition (which can be so accurate that it creeps her out at times) is a concrete brain function.  She is as curious about getting into her head and poking around to see how things work as I am!

Our personalities are a natural match and we have become friends, and also partners in doing her weekly channeling work.  I am there to probe, prod and ask questions as she brings forth some incredible material.

Lastly, I have signed up to do a remote viewing workshop in a few weeks. The gentleman who runs it claims that he has only met one person who could not learn this function from him.  Well, I’m ready to put myself to the test and try.  They say you need to set the logical mind aside to do it, so I am going to have to really work to get there, but I absolutely believe that I’ll get it. The CIA used it, we know this now for a fact. Also, many corporations are now using it.  Isn’t it odd how everyone is cashing in on its usefullness, but no one is saying “OH MY GOD, what does this then mean about the way everything works!!!??!!”. Its implications are HUGE, yet constantly overlooked by our culture. interesting.

These are examples of the current topics that I am sorting my way through. I will share it all with you as it unfolds. Just please give me a shout out once in awhile in the comments section. There are days when I already feel crazy enough…don’t want to feel like I’m talking to myself!

Here you will see the script, 3d models, storyboards, conceptual art, technical information and test footage for the film The Outing.

I blog today as a sick woman… Unfortunately, I got sent home from work ill. However, having spent the day in bed, I feel no better and am now just getting plain bored. On a plus side, it’s allowed me to break open the Mad Men box set I ordered about a month ago. So far, I’m not hugely enamoured. I like it well enough; but the storylines are playing second fiddle to the whole look of the series at the moment.

Joan: my new style icon!

I do love the setting and the costumes of the programme, but apart from Joan, I’m not really loving the characters yet. Also, there is the whole smoking and sexism issue. I know this is a major part of the programme, and the era for that matter, but it’s a little grating at the moment. I feel like I’ve been watching the two episodes I’ve watched so far through a haze of smoke and glass ceilings…

Cigarettes aside, Joan (played by Christina Hendricks) has the most amazing outfits! I just love her whole look, from the red hair to the tight dresses and the fact that she isn’t a size zero is fab. This is definitely a vintage look I would like to emulate, and for once, it’s something I could actually attempt to achieve.  The Mad Men website has a little tool where you can Mad Men yourself.  Here’s my attempt:

 I would actually dress like this all of the time if I could! Really, there’s no reason why I couldn’t do so. I already wear the brooches, much to the amusement of my colleagues and students. I think I might even be starting a brooch revolution. Before I left this morning, one of my students walked in wearing a Hello Kitty brooch on her blazer: wrong brooch, right idea…

I love the green dress that Joan is wearing in this picture – I’d like that for my Christmas do this year, please.

Another retro-set television programme that I am enjoying at the moment is ‘Carnivale’.  It’s set in 1930s America, following around a carnival troupe in the Dust Bowl.  Again, costumes are gorgeous, but this series has a supernatural twist to it that has caught my attention more.  Unfortunately, I’ve been able to watch it on Youtube; furthermore, there’s only the first episode fully uploaded. So my appetite has been whetted but not satisfied with this one. I might have to give in and buy the box set for this as well.

30s fashion in 'Carnivale' - Libby Sue Dreyfuss

There’s a link between ‘Carnivale’ and my next TV programme that I wasn’t aware of until I researched some pictures for this post.

Mulder and Scully

The link between X Files and Carnivale is this: Michael J. Anderson was a guest star on “Humbug,” a 1995 episode of “The X-Files” in which he played a hotel owner who was offended when Mulder mistook him for a carnival worker (the episode was about a town inhabited by a large number of retired or wintering carnies). In “Carnivàle” (2003), Anderson plays the head of a traveling carnival. (Taken from IMDB.com)

Quite a good link between the two, I think. The episode, Humbug, is one of Aidan’s favourites, but it genuinely gave me the creeps!  To be honest, most of the X Files episodes scare me a little bit…

X Files is a more recently set TV programme, but the only one actually produced in its decade.  It wasn’t considered retro at the time, but when you watch it now – wow – I didn’t realise how much fashion had changed since the early Nineties!

There are some truly retro moments in nearly every X Files episode, including: Scully’s reflective, round glasses; the enormous computer in the ‘Ghost in the Machine’; Mulder’s high trousers, the bouffant, unstraightened hair, politically incorrectly named episodes such as ‘Gender Bender’; the pairing of maroon and brown suits with Scully’s red hair… it’s an early Nineties’ extravaganza!

I do want to believe: that one day, I’ll look back at television being produced today and truly appreciate the vintageness of it because it is so set in its era.  It’s difficult to imagine what the defining look of the early 2000s will be.  Reality TV? Celebrity culture? Not sure.  I also want to believe that British television producers are seeing the success of shows such as ‘Carnivale’ and ‘Mad Men’ and are thinking about creating something vintage for British TV.

For now, I’ll content myself with watching my ‘Mad Men’ boxset; though hopefully I won’t be ill everytime I do so. Just had to mention it again for another picture of Joan’s dress:

Title: Fox Hunt
Author: TSWheaton
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2963
Characters: The Doctor, Grace Holloway, Fox Mulder, Dana Scully

Mulder is on the trail of an alien encounter as ever. This is fun and the twist in the last line is guaranteed to raise a smile.

Follow along with The X-Files season 3 roundtable podcast as we go over episode by episode of the third season of the X-Files.  This podcast is exclusively found on The Film List  and Re-Opening the X-Files podcasts. Ratings are out of 10 point scale.

Podcast goes live on talkshoe at 1030pm est, tonight 11-17-09.  AD Heath Solo, Agent Donald and Agent Shadow will be joined by a new agent, Agent Nathan.

X-FILES SEASON 3

Season 3, Episode 1 – Aired: 9/22/1995

The Blessing Way (2)

Scully finds her career with the FBI in jeopardy as Mulder is still missing and The Cigarette Smoking Man is pursuing the stolen files. The Navajo elders find Mulder’s body in a cave and perform an ancient ceremony to call the spirit back to the empty vessel.

RATING : 9.5

Paper Clip (3)

Assistant Director Skinner and Scully are at a standoff when Mulder bursts in and discovers that Skinner has the digital tape. Reunited, Mulder and Scully travel to a secret vault inside a mine and find an elaborate filing system of medical records which reveals that Mulder’s sister may not have been the first choice for abduction. Meanwhile, Skinner deals with the Cigarette Smoking Man for their safety.

RATING : 9.8

D.P.O.

When a small town chalks up five lightning-related deaths, Mulder suspects something is amiss in rural America. Despite the apparent validity of the autopsy results Mulder asks her to review, Scully, for once finds herself in perfect agreement with her partner- especially when the suspect jump-starts his boss’s heart-bare-handed.

RATING : 8.2

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose

In the midst of a psychic sideshow while on a murder case, Mulder and Scully enlist the help of a man who may have a true psychic ability to foresee how people will die to help the agents catch a man killing fortune tellers.

RATING :  9.3

The List

No-one takes much notice when a death row inmate vows on the electric chair to come back from the dead and kill 5 men who have wronged him during his time in prison; until a guard is mysteriously murdered in the former inmate’s cell.

RATING :  8.6

2Shy

A serial killer with unusual tastes is doing his stalking on the internet, luring women to him by capitalizing on their vulnerabilities, using his knack for playing into the most desperate desires. His ‘long distance’ approach makes apprehension difficult-and complicating Scully and Mulder’s investigations further in his habit of digesting his dates, making it nearly impossible to identify his victims.

RATING :  8.7

The Walk

After a suicide attempt and multiple murders at a military hospital, Mulder and Scully meet a quadruple amputee who has gained the power of Astral Projection and is taking out his personal frustrations on his commanding officers.

RATING :  7.7

Oubliette

Mulder seeks the help of a woman whom he believes has a special connection with a young girl who has recently been kidnapped by the same man who held her captive many years earlier.

RATING :  9.1

Nisei (1)

An investigation into a video of an alien autopsy puts Mulder and Scully in the middle of a conspiracy involving WWII Japanese scientists brought to America to continue their experiments which may shed light on Scully’s abduction.

RATING :  9.5

731 (2)

Mulder is trapped inside a train car which contains a suspected alien-human hybrid and also a bomb, while Scully pursues the truth about her abduction and the mystery behind the implant in her neck.

RATING :  9.2

Revelations

Mulder and Scully swap roles as they pursue a man killing priests who claim to have the wounds of Christ. The agents find and must protect a young boy who may be a real stigmatic. While Scully’s faith draws her closer to the boy, Mulder is convinced of another explanation.

RATING :  8.2

War of the Coprophages

Widespread panic is caused in a small community after numerous deaths are linked to killer cockroaches and a government agricultural agency is discovered to have set up a secret experiment involving insects.

RATING : 9.8

Syzygy

A rare planetary alignment causes strange behaviour in the residents of a small town but particularly in two teenage girls who were born at the exact same moment on that particular date.

RATING :  7.9

Grotesque

A serial killer is captured after a three year manhunt and he claims an evil spirit is responsible for the crimes. When the killings continue as he sits in jail, Mulder’s battle with a former colleague gets more heated when he suggests that something more paranormal may be involved.

RATING : 9.1

Piper Maru (1)

A French salvage ship searching for a lost WWII fighter plane unknowingly surfaces an alien which appears in the form of black oil and has the ability to jump hosts. Mulder heads to Hong Kong to investigate the salvage broker who sold the information to the French and he encounters Krycek, who has been selling information from the MJ Documents. As Mulder prepares to take Krycek back to the US, the alien makes its way to Hong Kong and takes control of Krycek.

RATING :  9.7

Apocrypha (2)

Mulder pursues Krycek, not knowing about the alien that has taken over his body, to get back the DAT tape containing the MJ Documents. Meanwhile, the shooting of AD Skinner uncovers evidence that could lead Scully to her sister’s murderer.

RATING :  9.3

Pusher

Mulder and Scully are asked to help in a case involving Robert Patrick Modell, a murderer possessing a psychic ability to force his will onto people. Due to a brain tumor that is slowly killing him, he is searching for a “worthy adversary” and he forces Mulder into a battle of mind over matter.

RATING :  8.9

Teso Dos Bichos

When a series of deaths occur immediately after an ancient artefact is brought to Boston from an excavation site in South America, Scully believes the deaths appear to be the result of political terrorism, but Mulder suspects something more improbable. He thinks that the deaths are linked to a shaman spirit released by the Ecuadorian Amaru urn.

RATING :  7.6

Hell Money

The deaths of several Chinese men found to be missing vital internal organs that were removed prior to death leads Mulder and Scully to a deadly Chinatown lottery where men wager their body parts for a chance to win a cash jackpot.

RATING : 7.7

Jose Chung’s From Outer Space

An alien abduction of two teenagers with different versions of the same facts prompts a science-fiction novelist to write a book about the incident. However no one involved with the investigation can tell him the full story with any accuracy.

RATING :  9.0

Avatar

During a one-night stand in the midst of his divorce, AD Skinner becomes a murder suspect, and Mulder and Scully return the many favors that he has done for them by analyzing evidence that someone doesn’t want uncovered to prove his innocence.

RATING :  9.7

Quagmire

When a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances are reported near a lake in a small town, Agents Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate. With local folklore of a killer sea serpent running rampant amongst the locals, the agents must take their search for the truth to the water. But before long the agents find out that there may be more to the legend then they first thought.

RATING :  9.6

Wetwired

After a man kills three people and his wife because he mistook them for a ruthless Bosnian dictator, Mulder and Scully discover a test involving mind control using television signals that make people’s worst fears become real in any form.

RATING :  9.1

Talitha Cumi (1)

Mulder and Scully search for a mysterious man with the power to heal, whose actions risk exposing the existence of aliens on Earth. Meanwhile a confrontation between Mrs. Mulder and the CSM leads Mulder to the discovery of the only weapon which can kill the aliens.

RATING :  8.9

SEASON AVERAGE RATING :  B+ (8.8)

Television They Forgot to Make

An X-Files X-Mas

Agents Mulder and Scully  investigate a sleigh-like object that has crashed in the Nevada desert.  When the craft’s sole occupant is later discovered unconscious after getting stuck in a chimney, Mulder remembers the story of a mysteriously jolly creature from his youth. Scully pretends to listen, but she is clandestinely compiling a wish list for the holidays that is composed mostly of shoes.  Later realizing that the shape-shifter known as SC has been secretly planting mind-control devices in homes around the world, the agents race to the North Pole, where they discover that a secret base known as “the workshop” has closed and that all its work has been outsourced to China.

LIVE on Talkshoe.com at 1030 pm est, The Film List podcast in association with Donald Chavis’ Re-Opening the X-files podcast will participate in X-Files : Season 3 Review.  Agents Donald and Shadow will join AD Solo in re-opening the season 3 X-Files.

Participate in the chat :  the X-Files Roundtable 

I’m too sad to write about it. I’m not going to be able watch it at Christmas. The Tennant was the only reason I watched it! *Cries*

It was bloody good though! Better than the one with Zoe Slater! It had X-Files-y tones to it. I prefer the episodes like that and being an X-Files fangirl, it was just up my street! And LOL at Trina from Eastenders being in it (or Crys-taaaal from Bad Girls if you prefer). The Doctor said about water waiting and being patient. How it always wins and that is a a very true quote. I thought the ending was good too but it made me sad =( as my friend @stev02008 from Twitter said, the Doctor is pretty scary when he lets the power go to his head! I just remembered that I have a few of my Doctor Who books to read so I can carry on with *my* Doctor still even when Emo Boy does take over. I’m going to miss him =( Chris showed me earlier that he’s going to be in a movie with Simon Pegg.

So I’m a Celeb is on now and as Simon Pegg said, when are they gonna do a series with famous people? The only person I really like is Kim Woodburn from How Clean is Your House! Colin and Justin (LivingTV babies), some Italian tv chef, Lucy Benjamin and some others. Bloody hell, the only reason I watch this is for Ant & Dec. I love their presenting style, they never fail to make me laugh! Oh, and Sabrina from Misteeq? They haven’t released a song since 2002/2003!!!! Oh well, it’s a bit of escapism. It’s ok so far.

So back to X-Factor! LLOYD IS STILL THERE?!?!?!?! I mean ffs, at least Jamie can at least SING. Glad Stacey is through because I like her and I know that she has a lot more to offer and same goes to Joe. Glad they stayed and don’t care about anyone else! The charity single is ok (You are Not Alone) but I think most charity singles are a bit cheesy tbh.

Oooh, Baileys Coffee ad. I must try my free sample. I love Baileys! I haven’t seen the Coca Cola Christmas advert yet so I don’t think it’s anywhere near the 25th of December!

Anyway, bored now.

x

- Kurt Johnston, the youth pastor at Saddleback Church in California whose idea ‘Random Randomness’ actually is, is a huge Denver Broncos fan. Earlier today I mentioned him in a tweet about how Jay Cutler stinks as a quarterback and is also a whiny poor loser. I figured he would appreciate reveling in Cutler’s misfortunes as a Chicago Bear. Now I’m hoping that Jay Cutler and Kurt Johnston aren’t friends or distant relatives…

- I’m watching the newest X-Files movie, ‘I Want to Believe’. It just reaffirms my firm conviction that the X-Files tv show should have ended after season 8.

- Speaking of tv shows ending, I find myself in a state of high anticipation for season 6 of Lost this morning. I couldn’t tell you why, I just am. Maybe it’s because Lost is one of my current favorite tv shows, and the X-Files is a past favorite…

- I’m discovering the power of social media. I created a Facebook event for tonight’s BHS football game and invited all of the students, parents, and volunteers in our ministry (total of like, 14 people). As of now, we have 7 confirmed attendees and 6 maybes – and out of those 13 people, only 4 of them are people we sent invitations directly to. And 2 of them are me and my wife! Should be fun tonight…

- I am more and more thankful all the time for my awesome volunteers. They make what we do at Flashpoint Student Ministry possible, and I would go crazy without them. Thanks!

Peace.

Nathan Bransford makes it simple: the format of your query letter should be boring and straightforward, and the description of your work is the part you need to “sweat.”  (By the way, I stole copied borrowed the blog title emphasis style from Nathan.)

He also links to two other very good recent blogs on query letters.  Holly Root at the Waxman Agency also emphasizes the importance of good writing over all else, while Michael at Dystel & Goderich downplays the formatting details while playing up the importance of reflecting your work in the query.

For my own part, I was never too obsessed with formatting issues like font or paragraph style.  Considering that I work as an editor in an organization with very strict formatting standards, and regularly kick writers in the face for daring to give me something in Courier New rather than Arial, I can’t decide whether it’s ironic that I’m more relaxed about format than the typical writer (as described by agents) or it’s expected that familiarity with ferocious format issues makes me less skittish in their presence.

But, I have to confess that I aaggoonniizzeed over how to accurately and adequately describe The Ligan of the Disomus in my queries.  Asking for suggestions from the handful of first-readers didn’t help much (thanks, tho, guys!) and neither did digging through photocopies of the original short story version that had been marked up by workshop partners.   “Melville + film noir + X-Files” was the best I got from them, and that just makes you think of an alien sea beast being hunted by Sam Spade.

Actually, come to think of it … symbolically that’s not as far off the mark as I, in my moment of self-deprecatory sarcasm, would have liked it to be.*  It’s … an unusual book.

Given the advice from Nathan, Holly, and Michael, I’m glad that the description is the part of the query I decided to obsess over, even if I’m still apprehensive about how well I captured the story and setting.  Zero responses so far, but that also means zero rejections!

_

*Confession: the train of thought presented here in regard to the workshop’s description of Ligan actually happened months ago, at the beginning of the query process.  Like a good writer, after rolling my eyes at myself, I tucked it away for later.

… that i’m so buying.

so, yesterday Riley and I were at Target.  And we were looking at toys… when my child had her head stuck deep in a shelf of dolls.

“Riley?”

“Mommy…  it’s Edward….  HE GLITTERS!!!!!!”

let me first tell you that my child has recently discovered Martha Stewart.  And… if you know anything about Martha…  she glitters everything.  And…  if you know anything about Riley…  she loves anything that glitters.

“Let me see that thing!”

you have to look really closely (just like in the movie… even though the book said it was like he was covered in diamonds… whatevs)..  but the doll actually glitters.

“put it on your list to Santa… we need this!”…  i said.  what is wrong with me?

this doll is total creep status, though.  it reminds me of something.  ed grimley meets X files.

Do you believe you have an identical twin somewhere on this planet ? I asked myself the question because in the space of a month 4 people have sworn to God they’ve seen “me” either in the streets of Paris or in the subway even though i’m not living there.It’s kinda weird but i feel a strange presence when i’m alone and i have a lot of deja vu.I wouldn’t mind seeing my twin just to see for myself if we really do look alike. That would be kinda freaky !

]]> http://shamelesstv.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/eastwick-a-failure/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:41:32 +0000 Kerri with a "K" http://shamelesstv.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/eastwick-a-failure/

It has just been announced that ABC has effectively cancelled the low-rated series, Eastwick.  Although, ABC will air all the remaining 6 episodes of the original 13 ordered.

Alright, gentle readers.  Here’s the thing.  This was another show that I really WANTED to watch, but never got around to it because there was always something else on.  I’m not entirely sure what that something else is, but it was always there.  I did catch an episode on my DVR because I did try to watch and I went as far as recording it to watch.  But when I went to watch it, I found myself a little bored.

The show claims to be the Sex and the City of Salem.  Um.  Ok.  I could see that.  Maybe throw in a little Desperate Housewives, perhaps?

Single-handedly, housewives accomplish astonishing things… and together, watch out. In the seaside village of Eastwick, this might just be evidence of their inner-witch rising to the surface. Based on the 1987 film (The Witches of Eastwick), three women are drawn towards a mysterious man who bestows unique powers in them.

Ok, so reading that description, I’m interested.  For about 30 seconds.  But the simple fact is this:  networks need to stop trying to remake or rehash old ideas.  I LOVED the movie, but I don’t really want to see a tv series about it.

TV and movies both have a difficult time in the crossover.  It may be a good tv show, or a good movie, but the second it tries to do the other thing, it tends to not go well.  TV was written for TV and movies were written to be movies.

Now, that’s not to say that there hasn’t been SOME success.  The X-files for one was a great TV show, and then a great movie – the first one, not  the second – but after the movie, the show started going downhill.  Something similar could be said for the Buffy series.  The movie started the whole story, and it was a mess.  A cult classic now, perhaps, but it is still an awful movie.  Then comes the TV series, and it couldn’t be more different because it ended up being THAT good.

Again, there is always a chance that success could be had with an old idea.  But sometimes it’s just not a good idea.

So, with that said, I am sad that Eastwick didn’t get a chance to develop a little more.  And perhaps it would have gained more viewers, but sadly, that wasn’t the case.

What do you think of networks rehashing old ideas and trying to turn them into something shiny and new?

So, networks, please hear my plea.  Stop trying to remake things.

I am a lover of television that is both intelligent and different. I like controversy and strong character development. I like plots that delve into the unknown and challenge the watcher to think beyond the norm. 

Hence, I absolutely love The X-Files. The show was created by Chris Carter and first aired in 1993, and ran for an amazing nine seasons. The show revolves around Agent Fox Mulder, a man who’s belief in extraterrestrials and the paranormal pushes him into seeking the truth in every step of his life even as an FBI agent. The other leading character in this show is the stoic Agent Dana Scully, also a medical doctor, who is originally partnered with Mulder to disprove his theories on the X-Files by FBI higher ups.

Over the many seasons, Mulder and Scully uncover a conspiracy involving the US govern

Pop Culture Reference made famous by The X-Files

Mulder and Scully

ment along with beings from… Well, you know. Up there.

They fight, together, to uncover the truth, each step of the way finding new tidbits of information. Scully rationalises Mulders far-out theories, while Mulder pushes Scully to see the truth. To see that there really is more out there than science can easily explain. 

The X-Files series is a integral piece of television history, for both it’s impact on pop culture and it’s many legions of fans. But for me, it’s simply a brilliant show that is led strongly and beautifully by two amazing and flawed characters whose only real constant is their faith in each other.

This is a show for those who want to watch a masterpiece of science and the supernatural, of conspiracy and government entanglements, of human nature and inhuman evil.

Still to this day, I can watch and re-watch an episode and see something I had missed previously. This show has so many layers it just never gets boring.

Fox is a curious network. They greenlight really interesting shows like x-files, Sliders, Space: above and Beyond, firefly, Dollhouse and except for x-files, they didn’t give them a decent chance. Though at least they gave us more Dollhouse.

I was a big x-files fan for the first four seasons. Then I just list time to watch it, and this was pre-TiVo. In fact, firefly was pre TiVo, too, or I would have watched it then. 2002-2004 I watched very little Tv. TiVo saved me!

Anyway, why do they greenlight these awesome shows and then destroy them?

We have our next few months booked solid, nerdy style. Here’s what is on the docket for Jess and Julie.

1. Jess is teaching Julie how to play D&D. We shall see what hijinks ensue when she debuts her cleric that heals via an oozing flesh wound.
2. Julie and the Internet are teaching Jess how to play Magic: the Gathering. She already plays one table top RPG made by Wizards of the Coast, how can she say “no” to another table top RPG made by Wizards of the Coast?
3. We will finish watching the first three seasons of The Tudors before the fourth season starts. It’s not a matter of catching up, we’ve read books, it’s a matter of watching one of our favorite historical periods acted out by super sexy people. We can’t wait for Caty Howard to die.
4. We are preparing for our Firefly weekend. Julie watched it when it was on tv, but doesn’t remember it well. Jess was late to Sludgeblood’s shower yesterday because she was watching the movie. We need this to happen soon.
5. Jess is going to co-teach Julie how to play video games. We are expecting an increase in our already high amount of panic attacks.
6. We are going to spend the spring watching X-Files. We’re out once Mulder is out.
7. Julie has agreed to help Jess with her case mod. We will probably be covered with more paint than the case, but it will be so worth it.
8. We are going to make Full Metal Alchemist aprons and oven mitts. Julie doesn’t watch the show (except one time because there was a mini panda), but she loves craft night. There will be cookies to celebrate.
9. We are going to paint a picture together for Jess’s room. It’s going to feature Tesla using Sith lightning to attack Edison.
10. We will get our nerd tattoos.

So there you have it, our agenda for the next few months. That and Julie’s Gold Party will keep us entertained for the next few months. We will post the results of this list as we complete them.

-Jess & Julie