Deutsche Version | Season 2: Disc 1 | Season 2: Disc 4 – 6

Disc 2

Crackers Don’t Matter

Synopsis: D’Argo has brought an alien onboard who claimed that he could cloak the electromagnetic field of Moya’s. They would become invisible to sensors which has become necessary since Scorpius deployed wanted beacons all over the place. Thy make a test run on Farscape-1 and it actually works and then they agree to follow T’raltixx to his home planet, but they have to pass a cluster of five pulsar stars and their light has side-effects on less-developed life-forms. Soon the crew starts to get aggressive and suspicious towards one another but it doesn’t stop even after they passed the pulsars. Something else is going on.

My Opinion: The funny thing is that John didn’t wear the “armour” shown in the picture above when he was nuts, but when he started to get a clear head again. I love it when fictional characters go crazy and paranoid, it’s a lot of fun to watch them: “Why don’t you want to show me the record, what are you hiding? … So now you suddenly want to show it to me? Why? What’s on it?” and so on. And why was John the hero of the day? Because Humans have less precise senses and aren’t affected as much by the light. Inferiority can help survive.
Spoiler (mark to read):
And I am not sure whether or not we’ve seen the introduction of Harvey. When John sees the transmission by Scorpius during his aggressive phase, Scorpius seems to become real and gives him advise. And Harvey is the mental image of Scorpius which lives in an implanted chip in John’s head. He will be introduced later in this season.

The Way We Weren’t

Synopsis: Chiana finds a Peacekeeper recording device which documents that Aeryn has been on Moya before and that her squadron has killed the former pilot. Aeryn didn’t know that it was Moya because she had been on many Leviathans. Slowly she begins to remember what happened back then and how Pilot became Moya’s pilot. But she’s not the only one remembering, Pilot does it as well and he’s not amused.

My Opinion: Everyone has a past and naturally Aeryn’s isn’t one painted in pink. I really liked the flashbacks because it gave both Aeryn and Pilot more background and once again it wasn’t all black/white. OK, Aeryn’s past was black, but Pilot’s past wasn’t exactly white. And again there are some parallels to Stargate SG-1: Both Teal’c and Aeryn had to leave everything behind even though Teal’c’s leaving was more a choice than Aeryn’s. Both were necessary to get the show moving but both seemed sudden. And both series showed in later episodes such as this one that it wasn’t such a sudden move after all. It just seemed that way because we the viewers didn’t know their past.

Disc 3

Picture if You Will

Synopsis: Rygel and Chiana trade for some items and Chiana discovers a picture that seems to depict her. But the picture is changing, it seems to predict the future: First her legs get broken and then she dies in a fire. The crew is still shocked about this when the picture suddenly shows D’Argo and his death. Every attempt at destroying the picture fails and they fear to get picked one-by-one. Back at the trading ship they find out that the picture is a creation by Maldis – the sorcerer who captured John and was defeated by Zhaan.

My Opinion: I’d would have liked to see Maldis longer, he’s such a good diabolic character. But to introduce him earlier would have meant to reveal the answer to soon. This way the episode turned from “weird in the beginning” to “really weird in the end”. I love it. The special effects may not be so special but you have to have the idea and the ultimately go through with it and tell the story.

Home on the Remains

Synopsis: The crew is seriously starving and Zhaan begins to blossom (literally). She needs meat or she will die. So Moya lands in the corpse of a Budong*, the greatest space-living creature known. There is a mine and a colony in which Chiana and her brother have lived a while ago. The minerals in the Budong’s bones are valuable, but it’s dangerous because there live other creatures, too, who feed from the rotting corpse or a miner.

My Opinion: I loved the way John killed the Keedva. It simply had to be a homage to Luke’s killing of the Rancor in Return of the Jedi. But I also liked how Chiana was willing to do anything to get meat for Zhaan and how D’Argo couldn’t bear it because he cares for Chiana. We’ve seen traces of this development in previous episodes but after the kiss in the end it’s very obvious.

*The classification of the Budong on the Farscape Wiki is also fun to read:
Height of average adult: Big
Average length: Really big
Average wingspan: Really REALLY big

Season 2: Disc 4 – 6

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Farscape Marathon
Tags: Farscape · Star Wars · Stargate SG-1
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Deutsche Version | Season 1 | Season 2: Disc 2 / 3

Mind the Baby

Synopsis: Moya and what remains of her crew can’t return to the asteroid field as long as the Command Carrier is there. But she wants to go back to her son who is still hiding there and is now under the command of Crais. Fortunately Aeryn has found D’Argo and John floating in space and has brought them to an asteroid that has an atmosphere. There they’re biding their time in the hope that they will somehow get out of there.

My Opinion: Until short before the end of the episode it remained unclear where Crais’s loyalties really lie and whether Aeryn’s loyalties may have shifted (it’s a new season after all). I also liked how John taught D’Argo rock-paper-scissors and how the latter insisted that rock should defeat paper. But at the end if the episode everything returned to the way it was before the Gammak story. Ok, not everything, Crais and Talyn will go their own way but they will cross paths with Moya and their crew again, but not for a while.

Vitas Mortis

Synopsis: D’Argo has the great honour to meet an Orican – a holy woman of the Luxans. She’s the only one of their race there and she will die soon. After Ka D’Argo has proven his strength he’s allowed to participate in the Ritual of Passing. But when she senses how powerful he is she changes it to the Ritual of Renewal and is suddenly young and strong again. But something must have gone wrong because Moya’s systems begin to break down and Pilot is dying.

My Opinion: A rather uninteresting story. And it didn’t happen much either.

Taking the Stone

Synopsis: Chiana was just informed that her brother has died but no one takes the time to comfort her. In her grief she leaves the ship and flies to a planet. John and Aeryn follow her but when they find her she seems to be a different person. And there seem to be no elders there, nobody older that 22. As it turns out everyone participates in a ritual of “taking the stone” where one jumps down an abyss and is caught by a sonic net enabled by one’s own voice. But that’s a trickery business and if one fails, one is dead. And Chiana is planning to make that jump herself.

My Opinion: I really like it how John tries to keep the crew together and how he tries to care for each and every one of them – this time for “Pip”. That’s of course because he’s the main character, but I still really like it. Everyone contributes their strength and his strength is to keep them together even if that means that he has to eat weird drug mushrooms.
But sometimes I wonder where the Australians find so many strange people to let them be seen on Mad Max or Farscape.

Season 2: Disc 2 / 3

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Farscape Marathon
Tags: Farscape · Mad Max
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Deutsche Version | “Xena: Warrior Princess” Marathon | Season 1: Disc 2

1×01 Sins of the Past

Synopsis: Xena has left her old ways behind and even intends to bury her weapons and armor when she “encounters” a group of mercenaries who try to kidnap a group of young women from a nearby village. The mercenaries belong to Draco, an old acquaintance of Xena’s who plans to march into Xena’s home valley. She has to protect her home village and at the same time that young girl who’s now following her: Gabrielle.

My Opinion: If you already know the character from the Hercules episodes then you have no problem understanding this pilot episode. If you don’t then the writers gave you a glimpse into her old life by using Draco as proxy since it is made clear that Xena was much like him. And it’s also a good introduction to Gabrielle and her greatest talent: Her mouth. Xena wears now her final costume which changed slightly during and after the Hercules episodes. I think it’s a good introduction to the show.

1×02 Chariots of War

Synopsis: Xena gets shot by an arrow when she tries to help some villagers who were under attack by a local warlord. One of the villagers invites her to his house until she’s healed. Meanwhile Gabrielle waits in another town for her return and makes the acquaintance of a young man who happens to be the son of said warlord and is supposed to become his father’s successor.

My Opinion: Sometimes this show is a bit clichéd. For example you can always tell the absolute bad guys by their deliberately ugly teeth. But that doesn’t mean that nice teeth indicate a good person, it just indicates a main character for the episode. And while the warlord has quite a number of scars, his son is pretty good looking (with blue eyes and all).
I liked it that they expanded on Gabrielle’s character trait to let her talking be her greatest strength/weapon.

1×03 Dreamworker

Synopsis: Gabrielle gets kidnapped by a group of Mystics who want to marry her to the God of Dreams, Morpheus. For this she has to lose her blood innocence and has to kill a man (but she doesn’t know that). In order to save her, Xena has to enter the Dreamscape where she not only encounters the people she killed but also her old self.

My Opinion: “You look bigger”. I really liked it how Gabrielle got rid of her enemies without killing a single one of them and I liked it how Xena faced her old self and came to the acceptance that she is part of her and always will be. And I love these contact lenses(?) that colour the entire eye totally black. That looks awesome every time someone wears them (e.g. Lyta Alexander in Babylon 5).

1×04 Cradle of Hope

Synopsis: Xena and Gabrielle find an abandoned baby that has become victim of a prophecy that says that the child will one day sit on the throne of the local kingdom. But they also encounter the granddaughter of the famous Pandora and she’s carrying the box and has to prevent hope from escaping out of it.

My Opinion: As I said in the beginning, I like the mixture of mythologies they are brewing here. I don’t have a problem with them being at Troy one week and meeting Cesar the next. And so they encounter Pandora (named after her grandmother) and her box this week. And Lucy Lawless (what a name! ) danced a beautiful oriental dance…

Season 1: Disc 2

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Xena Marathon
Tags: Babylon 5 · Hercules: The Legendary Journeys · Xena: Warrior Princess
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Deutsche Version | Season 1: Disc 1

Every story has a beginning and the beginning of this story I will tell you now:

1×09 The Warrior Princess

Synopsis: Xena is a fearsome warlord who raids defenceless villages. And as basically every warlord of that time she wants to slay the son of Zeus: Hercules. But first she has to break him. And what better way is there than to seduce his best friend Iolaus and let them turn against each other?

My Opinion: I have to admit, the only one who really convinced me here, was Xena. Neither Hercules nor Iolaus behaved liked you would expect them to. They’ve travelled so much together, fought side by side and back to back. And suddenly Iolaus believes her more than he does believe him and even challenges him to the death? Unlikely.

1×12 The Gauntlet

Synopsis: Xena has raised a new army but unfortunately her soldiers don’t follow her code of honour. In her absence they raid a village without warning and kill every man, woman and child in it (except for the one baby she can save). Her second-in-command, Darphus, sees this as a weakness and starts a mutiny. He puts her through the gauntlet, a ritual that nobody has ever survived – until now. Now she wants revenge and she gets help in the form of Hercules who wants to stop this army, too.

My Opinion: Here they started to build up the character for her own series and except for her sudden fondness for Hercules in the end there was nothing that contradicts with her former appearance. I liked how they changed her character because she’s already much more like the Xena I know and love. But Salmoneus was also great. Both shows have a good number of supporting characters that act as comic relief and Salmoneus is one of them.

1×13 Unchained Heart

Synopsis: Ares, God of War, has resurrected Darphus and has given him his favourite “pet”. Xena and Hercules decide to stop him once and for all, but they are not alone. Salmoneus is still with them, even if he’s not the bravest of guys. And Iolaus is also joining them, despite his and Xena’s history.

My Opinion: If you watch the show you have to admit that the effects have never been the best or even slightly realistic. But if you can look past this then it’s really enjoyable. It makes it up with interesting characters, cool stories and a nice potpourri of Greek, Roman, Christian and whatnot mythology.

Season 1: Disc 1

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Xena Marathon
Tags: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys · Xena: Warrior Princess
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I seriously have to revise my former statement. Whoever created the pilot was an idiot. That or he/she didn’t know where the show was supposed to be going.

If you only watch the pilot you will get the feeling of watching “Transylvania 90210″ and might feel the urge to turn it off. Don’t. Watch at least to the fifth episode to get a glimpse of where this show is really going and I promise you that you will see a lot more depth than was to be expected considering said pilot.

Categories: Short Review
Tags: The Vampire Diaries
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The Vampire Diaries @ Wikipedia
The Vampire Diaries @ IMDb

Stefan Salvatore is at least 160 years old and a Vampire. He returns into his home town of Mystic Falls to “blend in” as high school student. He lives with his nephew who pretends to be his uncle but unfortunately his brother Damon is also turning up. Damon sees Humans as nothing more than playthings and food and he wants to make Stefan’s life a nightmare. Stefan tries to hide his true identity (even before his new girlfriend) but that isn’t easy with a brother like that.

I thought I give it a try but I am underwhelmed. A Vampire who tries to blend in with the crowd but his evil Vampire buddies don’t let him. Been there, done that (with me being the evil Vampire I mean Wink). And these diary entries at the end don’t make it better. I will watch a few more episodes but I don’t think that this is a show for me.

Update: “The Vampire Diaries” Revised

Categories: Short Review
Tags: The Vampire Diaries
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Deutsche Version | CW 45 | CW 40-47

The Good Wife 1×06 Conjugal
I love the unusual (and yet serious) way how they solve their cases and I like how they often find a way to involve Alicia’s husband in the case even when she has to sacrifice his reputation in the end.

Two and a Half Men 7×07 Untainted by Filth
Charlie’s going to marry! The world comes to an end even before 2012! Loved the flashback to the “threesome” and how he managed to disguise his uncomfortableness by telling his mother’s story. One story worse than the other.

House M.D. 6×06 Known Unknowns
Loved Cuddy, Wilson and House at that conference, especially the the (19)80s party and House being totally serious when he held Wilson’s speech and keeping his friend out of trouble. As usual, I didn’t care too much about the actual case.

The Big Bang Theory 3×07 The Guitarist Amplification
Penny’s and Leonard’s first real argument. How cute. But once again Sheldon stole the spotlight from all of them. I am quite sure when the writers invented the show they didn’t imagine Sheldon becoming basically the comical center of the show but that’s how it turned out. Unfortunately I slowly get the feeling that the other four are slowly becoming supporting cast to give him an anchor for his lines.

Supernatural 5×08 Changing Channels
One week’s worth of television in one episode. So cool, especially the CSI parody. But one thing I haven’t understood: Was the Trickster we’ve known before never a Trickster and always Gabriel? Or did Gabriel choose the face of the Trickster for some reason afterwards?

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Categories: TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: Bones · Castle · Cougar Town · Dollhouse · Friends · Gossip Girl · Heroes · House M.D. · How I Met Your Mother · Supernatural · The Big Bang Theory · The Good Wife · The Shawshank Redemption · The Vampire Diaries · Two and a Half Men · V
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Categories: DVD / Blu-ray
Tags: Gladiator · Independence Day · Star Trek
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First steps are done. Tomorrow a friend will drop by to help me lift the old telly. I also need to go back to the store to buy an optical audio cable. So far I used a coaxial cable for digital sound but the Blu-ray player does not have an coaxial digital out, only analog.

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Categories: DVD / Blu-ray
Tags: No tags
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How it began.

One Month Later.

11/06/2009:

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Categories: Misc
Tags: Cactus
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