In this episode…
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A short story inspired by The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Written by Kreg Steppe and brought to you by the Technorama Podcast at Chuckchat.comPodcast: Download
Narrated by Stu Helm from the International Mac Podcast
Music by Drastic Harmonic
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Please share on your Social Network of choice and Happy Towel Day 2011!
Last night one of the show’s familiar characters bids farewell when they are shot by Booth’s former sniper buddy Jacob Broadsky. Yeah, he’s still out there fighting crime in his special way. So why was one of the Bones team taken out? Ooooo…
At the top of the show, Broadsky kills (what appears to be) a young protoge and the team has no idea why. When Broadsky stops at his wife’s grave, another Special Agent Genny Shaw reports the sighting to Booth. Booth shows up and finds that Broadsky not only left flowers, but a cell phone. When it rings, Broadsky tells Booth that he’s never going to see the bullet with his name on it. Game on!
Later, Booth, Bones, and Mr. Vincent Nigel Murray are in the lab investigating the younger gunman’s remains to determine how he died. Everything is in his wallet except one card. Can Hodgins figure out what the card was and did it leave any clues that might lead them to Broadsky?
The phone Broadsky left behind rings and Booth hands it to intern Mr. Vincent Nigel Murray so Booth can run a trace on it using an app that Angela gave him earlier. From far away, Broadsky has a bead on the Jeffersonian lab from a construction crane and he’s brought along an infrared camera/scope to help see people more clearly. He fires a shot and hits Mr. Vincent Nigel Murray in the chest, piercing his heart and he dies moments later uttering the words “Don’t make me leave.” Bones assures him that he can stay, but he fades in seconds.
The whole team is shocked and angry. Booth tells them to take some time to process it and they’ll start fresh in the morning (that’s time?) Booth tells Bones that she’s staying at his place tonight to keep safe. They figure if anyone is on Booth’s side, they’re next. Booth offers to sleep on the couch, but Bones makes some logical excuse and Booth gets his own bed. In the middle of the night, Bones walks in to Booth’s room where he wakes quickly and pulls a gun (but doesn’t fire.) She is troubled over Murray’s last words about “don’t make me leave”. She thinks he was talking about her, but Booth assures her that he was talking to God (or the Universe when Bones says he was an atheist.)
She lays down and cries in his arms and… The next day in the lab Brennan tells Angela that she slept with Booth. Is she being literal (slept with) or did they actually “seal the deal”? Angela wants to shout for joy, but us still troubled by Vincent’s recent death. When Hodgins walks in with news on the case, she yells at him to go away and tell Cam whatever it is so she can get more dope from Bones, but we don’t find out any more on that story. (My vote is that she just fell asleep. Only the writers know the real story at this point.)
I won’t spoil any more save a few key points about the acting… Everyone had to get their “grief face” on for this one and they did a great job. I also love the fact that Vincent’s death scene caused Bones and Booth to talk about God and the afterlife a little more. It re-assured us that Booth is a rock for Bones even though she can (usually) separate herself from emotions with logic. Sounds like a Vulcan we all know and love. Hmmmm… Bones/Star Trek?
This show explored some exciting and powerful emotions and the actors did a first rate job. There were only a few key points in the story that I thought needed a little help. One, why did Broadsky need an access card to the ship yard if the guy at the gate said he’s seen him here before working on one of the boats? Why was Broadsky, a trained sniper, trying to stand out like a sore thumb in the shipping yard on top of the truck trailers which made for great camouflage? And since when can one user send another user an app such as the one Angela sent Booth to track Broadsky’s call? Does she have her own app store? If so, I want one.
I’m no arms expert, but it looks like there was some level of consulting for how the actors handled the weapons (or they have prior experience). The way they moved around the containers and stayed ready to shoot was good, although some of the mistakes by Broadsky were a little obvious (sticking his gun out to give away position.) Perhaps some real servicemen/women can chime in on what they saw. It looked good to me (save a few hokey spots.)
Overall, great show. One of my favorites. Sorry they lost one of their interns. He was a nice addition – especially the confessions he gave up a few weeks ago. 😉
Rating: 9.5/10
Coming up in this episode…
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Chuck and Sarah are winding up the plans for the wedding. There’s just one problem, Chuck’s Mom (aka Frost) has gone missing. She attempts to infiltrate a Volkoff stronghold to retrieve the Norseman device and gets caught. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey put together a rescue mission, but when they find her, she’s defiant about being rescued. Chuck gets in a tangle between Sarah and his Mom and we see he’s still got some learning when it comes to marriage.
Casey is very much against Morgan being part of the mission and benches him, but doesn’t say why. When General Beckman calls and informs the team that Vivian Volkoff is going to sell the Norseman to the highest bidder, their only unrecognizable agent is Morgan. Casey is against it, but I won’t spoil it for you. I’ve said enough. You’ll enjoy seeing Morgan on his first “solo” mission.
This was a great follow up to last week’s final stinger about Agent X. Vivian finds out the truth. Not only about Agent X, but who is responsible for making him that way. You think she’s happy about the Bartowski’s now? Hell hath no fury like a Woman’s scorn – and scorn she does. Chuck’s friends/relatives are in mortal danger.
Overall thoughts – Classic Chuck. It’s got the danger, story, some geek humor (several Star Wars references that Sarah just doesn’t get.) FWIW, I still love looking around Chuck’s room during those scenes to see what I can spot. Note the Perl Programming book slightly obscured in the headboard of the bed, and of course, the ComicCon mug. Maybe I should send them a Technorama mug as a prop! Hey, Zachary Levi might be listening!
Rating: 9.5/10
“It’s not dead – it’s resting” — Monty Python (Dead Parrot Sketch)
Nice way to put the series to bed – with the option to open it up for movie, future series, or whatever. In one final act of desperation, the crew of the Destiny sees that they are facing a no-win scenario against the drones and needs to take a longshot at getting somewhere else. It seems that the drones and their command ships are camped out at every star and every gate along Destiny’s path. If they’re going to refuel or resupply, they’ll going to have to fight for it. With Chloe’s help, they can make some good calculations and use the element of surprise, but they’re going to take a beating and that won’t last long.
We see some awesome acting in this final episode. I hope it means lucrative careers for the actors in the future or at least guest appearances at Dragon*Con, ComicCon, etc. 🙂 I loved the conversation near the end when Rush says to Eli (paraphrased) “You’ve come a long way since that video slacker a year ago.” and Eli’s response “You’ve… remained consistent.” OH SNAP! I’m going to miss moments like that. Col. Young does a great job of portraying the weary, beat-down, commander who just can’t find any rest. I felt like reaching through the screen to help hold him up like Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross for Jesus. (OK, a Monty Python and biblical reference in the same post – first). Eli’s final observation deck scene is also classic. The look on his face was priceless.
My gut tells me that this show is going to have a loyal “Firefly-esque” following because the fans love it and the network shut it down too early. I for one will miss it. It was definitely in the top 5 list of best Sci-fi shows in the past 10 years. FWIW, the second (aka final) season is available on DVD May 31. That didn’t take long!
Farewell SGU – I hope you wake up someday and continue the voyage!
Our intrepid traveling trio find themselves stranded aboard a pirate ship which itself is stranded in the doldrums. To make things worse, anyone who is injured with the least scratch is visited by a sexy, but deadly Siren (Lily Cole). The victim becomes entranced by her song which has to be the same vocalist that’s been hanging around for the past several seasons doing bits when the Doctor is really sad (e.g. when Rose was trapped on the other side.) The bad news – Rory gets injured while Amy tries to save him and the Doctor.
The Doctor formulates a theory that she uses the water as a portal – so they try staying away from water. That’s not quite right. The Doctor turns out to be more wrong than right in this show right up until the end.
During the show, we get another glimpse of the lady with the eye-patch that Amy encountered in the orphanage last week while they were tracking down the little girl. Is this our “crack in the wall” or “bad wolf” reference that takes us through the season? Amy is just about to tell the Doctor, but he interrupts and says he feels someone watching. It makes me stroke my (fictitious) beard and think “hmmmm”. There’s also another possible hook left hanging at the end. I won’t spoil it, but the final pirate scene could come back in a future show if the writers wanted to. And in the final scene with the Doctor we find him looking over the positive/negative pregnancy test again. I’m still going with a “Time Lord” baby that cannot be detected. Perhaps that has something to do with the eye-patch lady…. (stroking beard again.)
An overall interesting story about this Siren picking off people one by one. The way the Doctor kept formulating theories and getting them wrong kept the show from being predictable. A little perplexing how the TARDIS became one of the victims. How was it “injured” and taken by the Siren? For some reason, nothing really seemed to grab me in this show. Good, not overly great.
Rating: 7/10
Thor - The God of Thunder
This movie does the Marvel character justice in spirit, if not in technical details. I didn’t read Journey into Mystery, but I distinctly remember some kind of connection between the god and a human host. Although Thor was meant to be a viking, not a knight, Chris Hemsworth pulls off the latter quite handsomely. Natalie Portman who plays Jane Foster, the astro-physicist / love interest didn’t quite grab my interest the way she did in the Star Wars prequels. I can’t quite put my finger on why, maybe it’s just the role she’s in this time. This incarnation of Jane Foster seems like a rip-off of Julianne Moore’s character from 2001’s Evolution, but it lacks … something. Anthony Hopkins delivers his usual outstanding performance and fits his role of Odin the All Father like no one can.
The action scenes in the movie are epic in scale, like the galactic or cosmic nature of the storyline. I think I’ve become too jaded by epic fantasy battles. I would have eaten this up before I saw Lord of the Rings, but now it feels like they are checking off a box in a punch list. I’m more interested in the small(er) scale fights like what I saw a month ago in Sucker Punch. I like it better when I can see recognizable characters in the melee rather than two armies pretending to be oceans.
Overall, I give Thor 4 stars out of 5. I think this film will be remembered as being better than average by the end of this summer’s movie season. I don’t think it will be the stand out. If you like comic book stories, this is definitely the film for you, go see it in the theaters. If you’re a fan of sci-fi and fantasy, but not so much the comic books…it’s a maybe, but put it in your Netflix queue at least.
And finally, Slice of Sci-Fi had an open ended question / lament about movies of the past decade and how there are almost no memorable quotes from genre films. I have to agree with their assessment. The writing and dialog in sci-fi and fantasy movies have not penetrated the mainstream consciousness. But there are good quotes from the last ten years that remain in the minds of geeks. And I think Thor will add one more quote to the zeitgeist. “Uh base…we have Xena, Jackie Chan and Robin Hood over here”.
Marv
The Fringe producers never cease to amaze me. Don’t you just love what they did to Broyles in this picture? Wait until you see some of the others! No spoilers, I promise.
From last week – Peter ends up 15 years in the future. C’mon, you know they’re not going to leave the show on that time line indefinitely – OK, it worked on Eureka.
Every commercial break on this one was a WTF moment – although I found the overall story a bit predictable from the ending of last week’s show where Peter lands in a post-apocalyptic New York. Some of the details in between were nice smacks upside the head, but the makeup department forgot to age most of the characters 15 years, apart from Walternate’s white hair and Olivia’s neice (rrrrraaarrrr).
The basic premise of the story (without ruining it) is: When Peter jumped in to the machine in 2011, it set up a chain of events that destroys the other universe and in doing so, starts to tear ours apart. That’s when things really get bad – at least for us. Walter is locked up (for reasons I won’t share here) and Peter needs to convince Broyles to let him go so he can assist with decoding some evidence they found at one of the fringe events.
So what else can I tell you without giving away some of the awesome surprises. Cars and phones don’t look too different in 15 years. I was hoping that Walter would have made them fly, but I suppose with all the efforts going to stop holes in the fabric of space/time, we didn’t have much time or money to live like the Jetsons. Unless, there’s some crazy way that we can fix all this… You’ll just have to watch and find out and then you’ll be curled up in a fetal position on the floor like me until the fall.
Rating: 9/10
A deaf mute girl is found covered in blood wielding a large knife. Dr. Brennan is perplexed that her skills are needed on this case because they have no victim and the girl is “still alive”. All signs point to the fact that she’s killed someone, but the team has their work cut out because she’s terrified and uncooperative.
No spoilers, but be sure to have the tissues ready at the end! See if you can hold it together past “the bunny” – I didn’t.
Dr. Brennan starts out as her usual dispassionate self – trying only to get the facts as quickly as possible until Sweets reminds her how frightened she was when she was in the foster care system as a child. Slowly the story unwraps and they determine where she is from among other things. To add to the story, she’s not just afraid of the Jeffersonian team; her parents aren’t what they seem either.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Julian makes another “charming” appearance. Her comments to Booth as he puts together pieces are always enjoyed.
We’re also given some tender insight to Brennan’s past as she starts to relate to this girl, thus opening up the communications and solving the mystery of what happened. On a lower note, Booth looses it in the interrogation room and regrets it, giving thoughts about how he was treated by his father and that he wants to be better to Parker.
Sideline story – Angela is getting closer and Hodgins looses his cool and forgets his training at the onset of false labor. It made for some good laughs (particularly if you’re a parent.)
The writers really left the playbook on the table this time – and did a spectacular job with this show. This show was a bit darker than most, which is rather difficult when you’re dealing with a show about death/murder every week. McKenzie Applegate does a great acting job as the mysterious Jane Doe throughout the show. The story was quite a bit different than most as it centered around the girl and we’re left to the end of the show to find out until the end what happened to the victim and why. Normally those facts are brought out pretty early. It had me scratching my head a few times, but I found the change of pace refreshing.
Rating: 10/10
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