Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Orv
May 4, 2011
Every time Lost gets brought up (and let's be clear Lost is hot garbage), I want to go back and watch the first season of Prison Break. Probably because while Lost was stumbling around in the jungle looking for its writing team, Prison Break had a really good first season and then just shot itself in the head for two seasons before finally dying. And it deserved better, but everyone was all up in arms about Lost. gently caress Lost.

And no it's not just because I'm infinity-gay for Dominic Purcell. :colbert:

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

WampaLord
Jan 14, 2010

Orv posted:

Probably because while Lost was stumbling around in the jungle looking for its writing team, Prison Break had a really good first season and then

This is exactly what happened with Lost too. Lost Season 1 is loving amazing.

Orv
May 4, 2011
It's not bad. :shrug: I mostly wasn't a fan of the cast, which is a problem for that kind of show.

skasion
Feb 13, 2012

Why don't you perform zazen, facing a wall?

WampaLord posted:

This is exactly what happened with Lost too. Lost Season 1 is loving amazing.

Signed. Even season 2 isn't that bad. After that point it became completely clear that they weren't building up to anything but winging it season by season.

Small Strange Bird
Sep 22, 2006

Merci, chaton!

WampaLord posted:

This is exactly what happened with Lost too. Lost Season 1 is loving amazing.
I was addicted to the first season of Lost, right up until the cliffhanger ending. Then for some reason it clicked that they were never going to give decent answers to any of the big questions, just more questions, and I never watched another episode.

(I also agreed with Charlie Brooker that the survival adventures on freaky polar bear island were far more interesting to watch than any of the flashbacks.)

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 4 hours!
It always feels like you've been duped and taints everything when you realize those cool mysteries are just the writers making it up as they go along with no plan and often to intention of giving any sort of satisfying explanation or resolution. Not to get too nerdy in the star trek thread, but it all gives me flashbacks to my friend telling us he had written up a huge pen and paper RPG horror world and wanted us to start a campaign. We were all excited, and a first few games seemed great and it was really creepy and there were so many cool mysteries and interesting world-building. But as it went on it was clear he was just making poo poo up as he went along, not really taking notes, but also getting really pissy if we called him out on inconsistencies. He could never say "oh poo poo right I forgot about that" he's just introduce even more convoluted magical mysteries. "Perhaps your memories have been altered!" "That's not a plot hole I forgot about, it's all planned, maybe it's part of the mystery!"

Wheat Loaf
Feb 13, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
I followed Lost for a while but the thing I most remember is that I saw the first two episodes while I was on an aeroplane.

Eandr
Oct 9, 2012
Sorry to interrupt Lost chat. Do I remember right that there's a site with a list of all the crap the Axanar guys have pulled? Someone on my FB just mentioned Axanar being the great hope for Trek, so I could use an educational link.

RaspberrySea
Nov 29, 2004
http://axamonitor.com/doku.php?id=start

FAQ is the best place to start.

8one6
May 20, 2012

When in doubt, err on the side of Awesome!


As someone who wasted their youth reading Star Trek novels I can say definitively the Stargate novels are loving garbage in comparison. Just the absolute worst fan fic trash you can imagine.

Eandr
Oct 9, 2012

Thanks!

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

8one6 posted:

As someone who wasted their youth reading Star Trek novels I can say definitively the Stargate novels are loving garbage in comparison. Just the absolute worst fan fic trash you can imagine.

The Buffy novels were pretty terrible too. They were basically their own universe due to characters who had left the show/died still being around in stories set after those events.

Pacra
Aug 5, 2004

Trip report on Enterprise season 3, I'm up to ep 22: it's not as bad as I thought!






heh





Trip report

Nerdietalk
Dec 23, 2014

I'm definitely in the "who cares about the mystery I love these characters" camp of Lost but even then there's the Kate problem.

If the creators hadn't been convinced not to kill Jack in the pilot, then Kate would've been the main character. But then Jack was alive which left Kate with almost nothing to do except angst about a criminal past that should've been explained in the first three seasons and flip-flop between dudes. Kate could've been great, but instead your two main characters are garbage for most of the show.

That said, its almost worth it for every time Jack learns he's wrong and Rose making fun of his catchphrase

skasion
Feb 13, 2012

Why don't you perform zazen, facing a wall?

nerdman42 posted:

I'm definitely in the "who cares about the mystery I love these characters" camp of Lost but even then there's the Kate problem.

If the creators hadn't been convinced not to kill Jack in the pilot, then Kate would've been the main character. But then Jack was alive which left Kate with almost nothing to do except angst about a criminal past that should've been explained in the first three seasons and flip-flop between dudes. Kate could've been great, but instead your two main characters are garbage for most of the show.

That said, its almost worth it for every time Jack learns he's wrong and Rose making fun of his catchphrase

0% chance the show would have gotten a second season if they made Kate the main character. What a terrible, boring, petty rear end in a top hat.

Though on the other hand, Jack.

Really they should just have made it the Locke and Sawyer show

Tikifire
Jun 22, 2006

Would you like to touch my monkey?

Pacra posted:

Trip report on Enterprise season 3, I'm up to ep 22: it's not as bad as I thought!






heh





Trip report

Nice... It definitely got better as it went along. 4th season rules, once you get past the first couple of episodes (and ignore the stupid finale).

Angry Salami
Jul 27, 2013

Don't trust the skull.

Tighclops posted:

My problem with it was that if you bothered following along to it's logical conclusion than everybody in the BSGverse was being strung along for hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of years by an inscrutable force that watches entire civilizations live and burn over and over in order to appease it's own sense of curiosity

I kind of feel DS9 had a little bit of the same problem - not to the same extent, but it never really properly established the Prophets as sympathetic. "The Reckoning" basically has them indistinguishable from the Pah-Wraiths, just as willing to use people as puppets to play out their wrestling grudge match; they pretty much rape Sisko's mother to ensure his conception; they never do anything to help Bajor. But no, by the end of the series, they seem pretty arbitrary classed as 'good guys' who Sisko should sacrifice everything to help.

Like, it's one thing to put gods in your sci-fi - but being a god doesn't mean you should be immune to moral judgement.

Pakled
Aug 6, 2011

WE ARE SMART
Well, the Prophets do interfere to help Bajor. They got Sisko to keep Bajor out of the Federation so it could eventually sign a non-aggression treaty with the Dominion and thus be spared occupation, and later they destroyed a Dominion fleet to help the Federation retake DS9.

MrJacobs
Sep 15, 2008

Angry Salami posted:

I kind of feel DS9 had a little bit of the same problem - not to the same extent, but it never really properly established the Prophets as sympathetic. "The Reckoning" basically has them indistinguishable from the Pah-Wraiths, just as willing to use people as puppets to play out their wrestling grudge match; they pretty much rape Sisko's mother to ensure his conception; they never do anything to help Bajor. But no, by the end of the series, they seem pretty arbitrary classed as 'good guys' who Sisko should sacrifice everything to help.

Like, it's one thing to put gods in your sci-fi - but being a god doesn't mean you should be immune to moral judgement.

The give the orbs to Bajor, and they do care about it, but until Sisko shows up they don't even know about linear time. In their eyes they just sent out the orbs last Thursday and now the Sisko just showed up. They also stopped the fleet from decimating Bajor, since by that point the Dominion wouldn't give 2 fucks about the planet and it has a reputation for being rebellious anyway.

Fat Shat Sings
Jan 24, 2016

Kibayasu posted:

A lot of BSG's problems with its spiritual stuff can be solved by removing all references to any kind of Cylon plan. As soon as that word shows up you start setting up expectations of explanations because how could the Cylons have a plan if they didn't understand it?

Also Kira is great. She isn't at her best in the first season though. Either through acting, direction, or both a lot of her anger comes down to just yelling a lot but then you have moments like that time she knocks Damar right the gently caress out.

I recently re-watched BSG and the show is about 100x better if you skip any scene with baltar being with the cylons. As soon as the piano music starts, skip.

You get through season 3 pretty quickly and don't miss anything, at all. That cuts out about 2/3rds of the religious bullshit too.

Fat Shat Sings fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Feb 4, 2017

Astroman
Apr 8, 2001


BSG did have something interesting to say, God or no God. It had an interesting and dark take that humanity is doomed to develop AI androids over and over again which will destroy it, and those AI Androids will even go so far as to make themselves almost completely human and then create their own AI Androids who will destroy them. An endless loop of apocalypse.

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 4 hours!

Astroman posted:

BSG did have something interesting to say, God or no God. It had an interesting and dark take that humanity is doomed to develop AI androids over and over again which will destroy it, and those AI Androids will even go so far as to make themselves almost completely human and then create their own AI Androids who will destroy them. An endless loop of apocalypse.

A pretty hosed up god.

MrJacobs
Sep 15, 2008

Baronjutter posted:

A pretty hosed up god.

Like there's any other kind of god. :rolleyes:

Orv
May 4, 2011
Look man, sometimes you just need that starship.

Gonz
Dec 22, 2009

"Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?"
https://twitter.com/USNavy/status/827813647162408960

Nessus
Dec 22, 2003

After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!



Astroman posted:

BSG did have something interesting to say, God or no God. It had an interesting and dark take that humanity is doomed to develop AI androids over and over again which will destroy it, and those AI Androids will even go so far as to make themselves almost completely human and then create their own AI Androids who will destroy them. An endless loop of apocalypse.
If you think about it, Frankenstein was the real monster.

Powered Descent
Jul 13, 2008

We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.


All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer by.

And Ed Balls. Definitely Ed Balls.

Tighclops
Jan 23, 2008

Unable to deal with it


Grimey Drawer

Angry Salami posted:

Like, it's one thing to put gods in your sci-fi - but being a god doesn't mean you should be immune to moral judgement.

This is one of the important things I've learned from science fiction and Star Trek in particular

Astroman
Apr 8, 2001



"Jim, the Enterprise is 57 years old. We feel her day is over."

macnbc
Dec 13, 2006

brb, time travelin'
The best part is that at the same port that Enterprise is being decommissioned they're building the fancy next generation carrier meant to replace her awaiting sea trials.

So if someone were to happen to steal the Enterprise, they'd have to send the experimental prototype ship out to catch her. Sound familiar?

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

Astroman posted:

"Jim, the Enterprise is 57 years old. We feel her day is over."

Plenty of letters left in the alphabet.

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

My god, Bones. What have I done?

MikeJF
Dec 20, 2003




Baronjutter posted:

A pretty hosed up god.

Well the entire point of what God was doing was to try to figure out a way to stop the AI apocalypse cycle.

MikeJF
Dec 20, 2003




Not a huge Sovvy fan but I like it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LIpSpQHcHA

CPColin
Sep 9, 2003

Big ol' smile.
"Go to hell."

Farmer Crack-Ass
Jan 2, 2001

this is me posting irl

MikeJF posted:

Not a huge Sovvy fan but I like it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LIpSpQHcHA

Man, the underside of Sov's nacelles is the worst part of that design.


Doesn't stop me from collecting it though. Someday I want to have every Enterprise in 1:1400 scale. Except for -B, that one's just going to be a regular Excelsior.

Arglebargle III
Feb 21, 2006

For real though USS Enterprise is so old keeping her in service would be an unnecessary hazard to her crew.

twistedmentat
Nov 21, 2003

Its my party
and I'll die if
I want to
So, does anyone think the Maquis was correct in their actions? I always felt they were being incredibly selfish, the Federation was willing to do pretty much anything to help the settlers relocate, but nope, they refused it, then got pissed off that the Cardassians treated them like poo poo.

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 4 hours!

twistedmentat posted:

So, does anyone think the Maquis was correct in their actions? I always felt they were being incredibly selfish, the Federation was willing to do pretty much anything to help the settlers relocate, but nope, they refused it, then got pissed off that the Cardassians treated them like poo poo.

It's pretty much universally accepted that they were selfish idiots and trying to paint them as victims of ethnic cleansing or poor natives driven from their sacred homes holds no water since they're all fairly recent colonists who were forewarned those planets were in a politically sensitive area and were offered to be re-settled to actually better places and given more resources.

I think the Maquis are an interesting study on what sort of delusions and social issues could stem out of a post-scarcity utopia. Some people just need to feel like they're an oppressed underdog despite nothing being at stake.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


It's just a shame it's not possible to cut the reactors out of the Enterprise and decommission it in a non-destructive way so it could be a museum.

BTW, you can look at the Enterprise in 3d on Google Maps.

https://goo.gl/maps/XE7NNaHfxeA2

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply