2010 A.D.: Arturo vs. Doctor Who: The End Of Time!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Everybody knew The End Of Time was all about one thing: the final moments of David Tennant as The Tenth Doctor - a perfect 10, for this new (re)generation of Whovians. Much like Ten, it's hard to imagine many of us thought about a season where he wouldn't be guiding some well-meaning sap, and us, through time and space. Life After David? Even Inigo Montoya would have called it Inconceivable even a year ago.

But, again, much like this Doctor, we've had a teeth-gnashing few months to prepare for the inevitable. The end of his Song had been signed and sealed. All we could hope for was a fittingly grand delivery. And Tennant was more than up to the task. The problem was, show-runner Russell T. Davies - penning his own swansong as well as Tennant's - came up way too short in swinging for the fences one last time.

Most of the two hours preceding Tennant's final moments in the TARDIS revolved around The Doctor seemingly facing three different threats, but the sum of his three adversaries was decidedly less than each of the parts: The creepy neo-futurist Naismith family stuck out like Week 6 baddies in over their depth, solely introduced so they could introduce the latest thingaMacguffin. And for all the bluster and gravitas Timothy Dalton provided as Chancellor PalpatineLord President Rassilon, the emergence of a war-crazed, nihilistic batch of Time Lords was good for nothing more than a two-minute scare. After the events of The Stolen Earth, it was more surprising the average Londoner didn't see Gallifrey hovering above, shrug and huff off complaining about why it's always Saturday when the nutters come out.

In reality, the Doctor's last dance partner was, fittingly, John Simm's Master, resurrected by a horribly disposable set of worshippers as a binge-eating, energy-blasting cross between Goku and Agent Smith, particularly when he uses the Macguffin Ray to go John Malkovich across the whole planet.

"What would I be without you?" Ten asks the Master at one point, in one of the little moments they share just before each shuffles off. And it's in those moments where the story, such as it is, stops to breathe and feels more natural as a result. Those bits of humanity also resurface in the conversations between The Doctor and good old Wilfred Mott, where the Doc finally releases the guilt that's been building at least since The Waters Of Mars. He also tells Wilf, and us, why the thought of this death rattles him so, when it would likely lead to another Regeneration, anyway.

"Even if I change, it feels like dying," Ten sniffs, fighting his sadness and anger at once. "Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away. And I'm dead." When the mysterious Four Knocks signalling his death finally come, at the hands of a trapped Wilf, the Doctor actually hesitates before coming to the rescue, complaining, "I can do SO MUCH MORE!"

And it's those moments which finally set up the end of his road, making the rest of the story's misfires and unanswered questions - who was the woman coming to Wilfred? Where did the Master and the Time Lords end up? How could Donna's mental block survive this whole thing? etc. - tolerable, if nothing else.

Because for all that went wrong with this story, and with this Doctor, the heart just kept shining through. This Doctor loved life seemingly more than all his other incarnations, making his final few words truly heart-breaking. But time must move on, even if Time Lords don't, and here comes a new era, bounding in with big hair, a burning TARDIS and a "GERONIMO!" ...

Turn Wrong: Arturo vs. Doctor Who: The Waters Of Mars!

SPOILERS AHEAD AND IN THE LINKS POSTED HERE

There's a moment in "The Waters Of Mars" where we see The Tenth Doctor doing his ... well, his Thing: working another last-ditch plan that he knows is going to save everyone, and you know it's going to save everyone, and so does the person he's rescuing.

But what makes this episode work is that, even as we see the Doc at his most life-affirming, his most ambitious moment yet, both you and the rescuee - in this case, the formidable Capt. Adelaide Brooke - know that he is absolutely wrong.

As we learn nearly immediately upon Ten's arrival on the Red Planet, the case of Capt. Brooke and her crew represents, like Pompeii did, a "fixed point" in time, which has come to be short-hand for an awful thing that Must Happen. Brooke's death, he confesses, is the impetus for all tomorrow's star treks: "Your death creates history," he tells Adelaide, who must realize she spent her whole life building up to its' end.

Once again, The Doctor isn't there to save anyone, merely to bear witness. And this time, the Doctor - a truly Lonely God, without a Companion to buoy him or his fellow Time Lords to rein him in - cracks. Seemingly on the side of good, initially, as he gets Adelaide and some of her staff out of harm's way, but the slope is already slippery; as she chides him for breaking his own rules, his only response is a raised eyebrow and one word: "Tough."

If all this sounds like it's ignoring the baddie of the week or the rest of Adelaide's crook, well, it kinda is. They're not bad, as "mid-season" episode groups of characters go - the unnamed lifeform that picks off the crew is clever enough to up the ante as need be - but the episode turns on the final 10 minutes, when Ten goes off the rails and realizes it too late. The Cloister Bell is tolling for him. And this time, both he and you know the end is coming.


Top image courtesy of oneGemini Studios

HOUR 42: Two Days Of Richard Hatch!

So, yeah, lots going on. I've got more thoughts on that later. But things have been exciting around the HOUR 42 camp, too, as we did two back-to-back shows Sunday and Monday as @ThePeterPixie and I set out to answer the question: Who the Frak is Richard Hatch?

Last night, we aired our nearly hour-long chat with RH in its' entirety - covering not just his TV career, but his thoughts on a new BSG movie, and his work as a motivational speaker. That's the first thing you can listen to on the player below.

Just behind that is our regular Sunday show, where we played excerpts from the interview, and also discussed:

* The Megan Fox-as-Catwoman rumor, and the Chick we endorsed for the role
* The latest discussion over what constitutes comic-book "gossip"
* It's Nerds v. Jocks - at Marvel!
* My newest dating adventure at SoulGeek

Thanks to everybody who's been listening so far. Enjoy these two shows, and as ever, we've got more in store for you ... as soon as this bloody heat stops.

Open Thread: The Best Of The Doctor

As reported by Tennant News this morning:

Doctor Who Greatest Moments is a new series taking viewers on a journey through time and space to relive all the action from the legendary sci-fi show, featuring exclusive interviews with key actors offering unique insights on the classic moments.
In the first hour long episode, the likes of David Tennant, John Barrowman, David Morrissey and the League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss guide us through the Time Lord himself's greatest moments.

Watch Doctor Who's Greatest Moments: The Doctor on Thursday 20th August at 20:00pm on BBC Three.

So that got me to wondering: what are your favorite moments from the series? Whovians old and new are invited to chime in.

The End Is The Beginning: Arturo vs. Dollhouse: Epitaph One!

For the most ballyhooed episode that hasn't been part of Dollhouse's brief run, J. Whedon cued up his favorite song: One Girl To Save The World.

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS

Disconnected from virtually the entire season that preceded it, "Epitaph One" is based around a simple premise: everything's gone to hell, and the Dollhouse is the reason. At least, the body-swapping tech it's been using is: as we learn in imprinted flashbacks, what began as a plaything to give people "what they need," as deWitt continues to believe has morphed into a mass commodity. And even Adelle and Topher are horrified by the implications.

As we learn from the team of refugees who stumble into the 'House, what ends up developing is a war between "Actuals" and body-hoppers. "Kids with matches," one character sums up. "Burned the whole house down." (Browncoats will appreciate the implication of "the signal" in this reality, in a cruelly ironic sense.)

We get glimpses of the rest of the L.A. Actives and regulars throughout the episode, as well as an extended visit from Whiskey, in both her Dr. Saunders persona and her "natural" state, which gives us a chance to see Amy Acker look her most otherworldly since playing Illyria a few years back. If what happens from there is to be taken as canon, then Whiskey gets the best character arc of the whole episode, with a small heartbreak as culmination.

And, of course, there's Caroline/Echo. She's referred to as both during the course of the episode, as we learn that her relationship with Agent Helo evolves after Ballard joins the 'House staff. And, again, if what happens here is what's meant to happen in Season 2 and beyond, then Echo might hold the key to salvaging what's left of the world she now inhabits - though perhaps not in the fashion you'd expect.

Reportedly, "Epitaph One" was an effort by Whedon to not only give Fox a 13th episode for overseas distribution, but show them he could make a taut, capable thriller with a smaller budget - and, in this case, the effort was successful. The group of refugees, led by Felicia Day, were developed just enough for viewers to care about them, which made us experience their discoveries alongside them. And the glimpses into the nightmare scenario that ultimately undoes the 'House, and the world around it, are jolting enough to make regular viewers care about the journey even more, now that we know the show's coming back - even if it's still in a Friday night time slot.

The Pop Culture Jump-Off: Notes From The 2009 Comic-Con

You can trace the story of this year's Comic-Con with a line. Not a straight line, necessarily, but one that seemed to wind all over the building at various points all day all four days. If you were at Con, it's almost a given you were in the line, or a line, maybe for hours, maybe even overnight. The phenomenon of the Line marked 2009 as a turning point in the Con's 40-year history, for a variety of reasons.

1.The New Demographic
Besides the Twi-hards, who spawned their own controversy – more on that in a bit – this year was a coming-out party for the latest anime/manga generation. A/M cosplayers seemed to outnumber their “traditional” superhero/villain counterparts around the floor; you couldn't walk more than a few feet without seeing another pair of furry ears, or a group of young people offering free hugs, or busting out some moves to entertain themselves and the crowd:




In fact, from the floor this year's Con looked like it featured the most diverse group of attendees in years. POC creators like Gene Yang, Dwayne McDuffie and Leinil Francis Yu were among those showcased in spotlight panels. And two pro-diversity panels received a strong attendance, from both POC and white fans, despite some at-times questionable panel placement: as we noted before the con, they were booked to start at 6:30 p.m., nowhere near “prime time” hours. There were also more POC-related properties and creators on the floor, a few of which we'll be spotlighting later. The question going forward is, how much attention will this market get from the comics/pop-culture profiteers?

2.The Uninvited Guests

“… The 10,000 Twilight fans at the con really were a problem for the show, but a lot of the reasons that got floated came from a sexist, xenophobic, bullsh-t fanboy place. I actually feel bad even writing this, but truly, legitimately, 6,000 people at the show just for Twilight means 6,000 people that weren’t spending money at the show means 6,000 people that might’ve wanted to go that had an interest in dropping a few bucks at the various vendors? Shut out.”
- Christopher Bucher, co-founder, Toronto Comic Arts Festival

Love 'em or otherwise, the Twilight fans were the topic of discussion throughout the convention, even moreso than the film series they're so devoted to. Some blamed them for the fact that tickets to the event sold out two months ahead of time. The line for Thursday's New Moon panel reportedly started Wednesday, before the convention even opened, and grew to Star Wars-like proportions. Tents even popped up in lines for showing of the series' eponymous opening film at a nearby theatre. Twi-hards, though, encountered a rarity at a geek gathering: a backlash.

Smart-asses bearing TWILIGHT RUINED COMIC-CON signs, while not abundant, were definitely on the premises, even after Thursday. The negative response was, no doubt, at least partially based in gender; here you had a flock of young women not just stepping into a traditionally male-based arena, but stepping into it without the “proper” fandom. Female fans of Joss Whedon and his BBD collection (Buffy/Browncoats/Dollhouse), for instance, tend to get a free pass. And it should be noted that people of both genders also reportedly camped out overnight for Saturday's Lost panel, without catching much flack. But on another level, the complaining about the Twi-hards wasn't so much about the nature of their devotion as it was about what it represented.

3.(Lost In) The Hollywood Shuffle

ITEM! PRACTICALLY NOTHING EVER HAPPENS OR IS REVEALED AT SAN DIEGO THAT F-CKING MATTERS. THE ENTIRE F-CKING THING IS LIKE A MOVIE TRAILER THAT LASTS FOR A F-CKING WEEK!
- mightygodking.com

Most of the biggest panels – and by that I mean the ones that were booked in the SD Convention Center's biggest rooms and drew the biggest lines – shared one disconcerting characteristic: none of them was related to comic books. Iron Man 2, remember, is an ongoing comic adaptation, not an original comic work. The same can be said for the much-applauded panel for Mark Millar's Kick-Ass. But, even if Twilight is being adapted in a manga format, its' panel was part of the ongoing encroachment of Hollywood into what used to be a comic-book convention. There were panels for, among other things, Lost, District 9, True Blood, James Cameron's Avatar, Burn Notice, Chuck, 9, the instantly odious Glee, Stargate Universe, and even web series The Guild – and none of these is based off of a comic book. And these are only a few examples on the tv/movie side. Even Kevin Smith showed up for his own panel, for no other reason than he's Kevin Smith and people will still line up to hear him ramble about nothing in particular.

That crowding for attention has spread from the ballrooms to the showroom. At least one end of the floor was dominated by video-game displays, and there were also booths dedicated to shilling material for films like The Collector and Sorority Row. The allure of the Hollywood dollar could also have bad implications for the Con's core constituency.

4.The Shifting Tide

With a reported waiting list of 300 media/consumer products companies lined up for booth space here at San Diego Comic-Con International, the convention feels absolutely no restraint as regards raising booth rent. What does exist is a totally uneven playing field, where mom-n-pop comics retailers, publishers, and creators are now being asked to pay the same cost per square-foot as the international corporate giants. That being the case, it should come as no surprise that we comics exhibitors are rapidly being priced out of our own house. I heard from several comics retailers who have been here at the convention for decades that they are either cutting back for 2010, or completely pulling out of the show.
- Chuck Rozanski, Mile High Comics

More and more each year, Comic-Con has billed itself as a “pop culture” extravaganza. It's not implausible to suggest this year marked the point of no return in that evolution. With Hollywood continuing to not only pay to play on geeky turf but re-sell geeky ideas and content to the multiplex masses, I heard more than a few local fans complain, privately, that the heart of the city's biggest non-athletic attraction was being torn out.

That loss might be more than metaphorical soon. It was reported during the Con that organizers are already threatening to move the event unless additions are built to the Convention Center, which is hemmed in on all sides by hotels, downtown San Diego, and the San Diego Bay. It's also no secret that officials from Los Angeles and Las Vegas have pitched their respective cities as preferable alternatives once SDCC's contract ends three years from now.

But what convention will we – and by “we” I mean comic-book fans - even be going to by then? If the Con continues to march toward becoming a mass-media trade show, will we even have a reason to go? If a more diverse demographic continues to attend, will the exhibitors pay notice? Will sitting in the Line for hours for the chance watching maybe two or three minutes of clips – the Avatar panel, featuring 25 minutes of footage, has to be considered an exception to the rule – be worth it in three years' time? Will camping out in the Line overnight, or holding your spot with the help of friends and family, now become an accepted practice? And if the Con does end up moving, who would go with it?

Fashion Police: Gallifrey

Filming started this morning on next year's season of Doctor Who, sez the BBC, with the pic above to prove it. The Doc Martens there are a nice touch, but the overall gear gives off a certain kind of vibe ...



Also, it looks like the new Companion, Amy, is indeed keeping the 'Round The Way look.

(thanks to @PopCandy for the link)

Update: The Sun has posted a slideshow, complete with a look at a guest-star, and The Daily Mail has more pics of The Doctor and Amy, along with some exterior TARDIS shots. (Props to Gallifrey News Base.)

Notes on Torchwood: COE Part 5!

* Brutal. Just brutal. Brilliant, but brutal. This episode - the best RTD finale ever - took us to the unimaginable, and then pulled the trigger.
* In an indirect way, the events here proved the worth of characters like Harriet Jones - and, yeah, that other guy, who gets name-checked. And how not everybody can reach that level, try as they might.
* The big question: Now what?

Notes on Torchwood: COE Part 4!

* NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ahem. I'll try to keep it together.

* I just want to take a minute and point out: Peter Capaldi has been tremendous all week as Mr. Frobisher. If you want to see him really cut loose, check out The Thick Of It. I'll put up a clip at the bottom of this post.
* Y'know, if @ThePeterPixie and I are right, the ol' TWmobile might be getting a little more crowded next year ...
* Can RTD finally close a story satisfactorily? We'll find out tomorrow
* Still, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Okay, here's the clip. Language is definitely NSFW, but if you're into polite verbal brutality, you'll enjoy it.

Notes on Torchwood: COE Part 3!

*It's crazy, but I'm actually used to the level of awesome in this mini-series so far
* One man is put in an unenviable position, while another isn't as good a poker player as he thinks - neither is whom you might suspect
* Turns out one of the villains has some humanity, after all
* Anybody else get an ID4 vibe from a few scenes there?
* "We want 10 percent"
* More dirty secrets come out
* Ratings-wise, the series is easily justifying a fourth, full season: as noted on Gallifrey News Base, Day 3 was No. 3 in the overnights for BBC1, a day after Day 2 topped the charts; Day 1, by comparison, started the week in 5th place

Previously:
* Notes on Day 2
* Notes on Day 1

Optimus brings the LULZ

Notes on Torchwood: COE Part 2!

* Not only did the pace pick up acceptably well in Day 2 of the team's worst week ever, but John Fay's script supplied a surprising amount of good humor, including a solid turn by ANDY of all people.
* Bombshells were dropped, literally and figuratively, and handled adroitly by everybody involved.
* One ace in the hole came into play, and even though there were moments of Canon Sue, the character is still likable enough to root for after this mess is done
* Gwen's still running the show capably - capably enough for me to worry about her, to be honest - but Ianto really stepped up here, too.
* Day 3 promises to be the turning point, as we might get the one big question hanging over all this answered.

Previously:
* Notes on Part 1

Notes on Torchwood: Children Of Earth, Part 1!

Just to be nice, I'll keep things spoiler-free as much as possible, but here goes.

The challenge for Torchwood this year is quite different than the one faced by its'parent program. Without the benefit of either a sentimental farewell tour or a standard-length season, Children of Earth has to both haul ass and kick ass. And after "Day 1," it looks like it's on pace to do both.

Again, no spoilers here, but the lack of time to waste made the opener feel looser than the standard episode. The sides are quickly drawn; we get a welcome hand-wave to explain a potentially annoying absence; the villains we've met so far are, respectively, mysterious and suitably ruthless; and best of all, each of the three principals not only gets a good turn, but a welcome extra layer to each of their characters. It was particularly satisfying to see Gwen look finally, fully, a part of the team. So far, so good, definitely.

New at The R

Pop culture history is fraught with the archetype of the do-gooder rich guy. Bruce Wayne. Tony Stark. Daddy Warbucks. Richie Rich. Now NBC is attempting to trot out its' own version, Teddy Rist, aka The Philanthropist, in a show "based on" real-life humanitarian Bobby Sager.

So how did they do? Well, The Roundtable and I are happy to tell you.

The Bastard Sons Of Joel McHale: Arturo vs. Tosh.0 & Web Soup!

Joel McHale is to TalkThe Soup what David Tennant is to Doctor Who: maybe not the very best star the show's ever had – Greg Kinnear started somewhere, remember? -- but certainly the guy who's made it a hot commodity.

Naturally, this means the copycats are now out in full force. First there was Sports Soup on Versus. This week saw two different web variants on the Soup formula in G4's Web Soup (produced by the folks behind McHale's show) and Comedy Central's Tosh.0. Both follow the basic formula: skinny white guy (Aisha Tyler, I guess, was the exception proving the rule) narrating various pratfalls, this time spotlighting the hapless Internauts unwittingly running for a Darwin Award.

In a case like this, it's up to the hosts to provide that little bit of difference that will make one of these shows watchable and the other a bad idea. And this is where Tosh is the decidedly better show.

Soup host Chris Hardwick inadvertently undermined himself during a brief cameo by McHale during Web's debut, when he defensively cried, "I hosted Singled Out!" during a mock rant by Joel. And that's the biggest problem - that show is more than a decade old. Citing a lengthy career works for Oscar winners; not so much for clip-show hosts.

And even during his Singled days, Hardwick wasn't the lead; it was always more about spotlighting a young, hot (if unfunny) Jenny McCarthy, who's managed to redefine herself as a reliable guest-star and more importantly, a caring mother and activist. Hardwick, though, still comes off like ... well, the Chris Hardwick of more than 10 years ago. Hardwick can be funny in his own right, but, perhaps by design, the Soup producers seemed determined to strip him not only of the ferocity McHale gets to show off, but of his own gift for snark. The awkward act we get in exchange isn't likely to keep peoples' attention between the clips.

By comparison, Tosh host Daniel Tosh, while projecting a relaxed vibe, doesn't lose the viewer. And his show offers the most unique feature on either program: “Web Redemption,” a visit, seemingly played straight-up for now, with the “star” of a random viral meme. In the opener, Tosh interviewed the guy known as the Afro Ninja, and rather than settle for the cheap joke, we got to see the guy and his family. Even Tosh got into the act, busting out a backflip of his own. If “Redemption” continues to engage these would-be micro-celebrities as people, we might get a welcome injection of heart into a TV formula that's already in danger of getting stale.

We are LIVE in three hours ...

Lots to talk about tonight on HOUR 42, including:

* The new Doctor's new Companion
* One convention sells out, while another honors two hall-of-famers
* The dismissal of Dwayne McDuffie from one of DC Comics' flagship titles
* The latest on the reboots, prequels and re-sets being talked about, including El Secreto's plan to build the next generation's Slayer and Peter Pixie on Megan Fox's controversial comments
* Plus your comments and questions at 646-716-4799, LIVE tonight at 8pm PST (11pm EST) on HOUR 42!

BREAKING: BBC Announces The Doctor's New Companion

Word came in this morning via Gallifrey One that the BBC has just named the Companion for the 11th Doctor next year - 21-year-old Karen Gillan. From the release, these words from new show-runner Stephen Moffat:

"We saw some amazing actresses for this part, but when Karen came through the door the game was up. Funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy. Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it. A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too."

I'll be the first to say it: Okay, yeah, I can see a bit of the ol' Rose in her. But ye gods, this is gonna be a pair of young'uns. Cue the Doctor Twilight jokes!

Talkin' Heroes at The R

After a bit of a delay, you can now catch the season-ending Heroes Roundtable over at Racialicious, and get our take on:

* The season-ending death and ensuing twist
* The continued victimization of Claire
* Mohinder's medical qualifications
* Predictions for next season

As ever, the ladies I work with on this are great fun, and the hardest part of compiling this article from our chat was doing the editing -- I started with almost 20 pages of transcript and had to parse it to less than half that. Still, they bring the snark, as ever. Hope you like it.

BREAKING: Dollhouse reportedly renewed!

Props to @FuryOfSolace and @The_Orphan for the tip: slight report here. This will surely be updated throughout the weekend.

Update: @feliciaday linked to this story from THR.com also reporting the news, saying the move will be formally announced Monday.

Quick Notes on the Smallville finale

After you give up on something, it's natural, after some time has passed, to reconsider your feelings -- was your judgment rushed earlier? Were there qualities you'd forgotten about when you chose to walk away? Would time and distance give you a new perspective if you made the choice to come back?

Thank you, Smallville, for renewing my faith in my own instincts.

After sort-of keeping up to date on the season thanks to SV loyalist @ThePeterPixie, I tuned in for last night's season finale and saw the same things that drove me away. It's not about canon -- that got thrown out the window the minute Lois was brought into the picture. It's the relentless monologuing by everybody about everything they're going to do. This particular episode, it was the tease of a Legion return and possibly a team-up with the Little League, which yielded a pointless cameo by Cosmic Boy, and the rest of the team looking like imbeciles. Really? Hog-tying Doomsdreamy was the big plan? Would a Wet Willie have "crossed the line"? It's little wonder Bruce Wayne hasn't been allowed to associate with this batch of whiners -- it'd be like sticking Denis Leary on a soap opera:

Bruce: Okay, we're gonna send Doomsday to the Phantom Zone. Here's what we --
Chloe: But there's still a real person there!
Bruce: SHUT THE FU*K UP! NEXT!
Bruce: After that's done, we're taking down Lexcorp.
Ollie: Um, I already had an idea about --
Bruce: SHUT THE FU*K UP! NEXT!

Ok, maybe that sounds more like Frank Miller. But you get my point.

And then there was the long-promised throwdown between Super ... guyClark and the Doomsday entity, which lasted all of a good three minutes, sacrificed for the sake of, what, Lois and Tess hurling pronoun modifier smack at each other? Bart Allen's Spicoli impersonation? Look, Clark Kent's morality and immigrant issues can make for a good story. But sometimes, Clark just needs to beat somebody down.



See how satisfying that is for everybody? Anyway, I'll spare you more vitriol. If you check out my twitter feed, you can see how upset I got watching the show. And if you check out the HOUR 42 show blog, wonder of wonders -- Peter didn't like the show either!