Finding the Doctor - Series 5

It can be overwhealming trying to figure out where to start watching a show like Doctor Who. It has been around for fifty years with so many different actors, plus all the mythology involved with things like a TARDIS, Daleks, and Sonic Screwdrivers. Where does one start?

Well we started with Series 5 of the modern Doctor Who, which is the first season of Matt Smith playing the Doctor (the 11th Doctor). We were hooked! Below are my ratings and brief reviews of this particular series.

Note that you should watch the episodes in order. It is hard enough trying to keep the time-jumping story lines straight in your head. Watching them out of order would make it impossible!

BEST OF THE SERIES

Vincent and the Doctor (210)
Incredible heart. I am mid-way through Series 6 and this is still my all time favorite episode.

FAVORITES

The Eleventh Hour (203)
This is the premiere episode of Matt Smith and Series 5. This story got us wanting to watch the next one immediately!

The Lodger (211)
This is another episode with great heart. A love story between two people and the Doctor showing his compassion for others (albiet in his own goofy way).

Amy's Choice (208)
I always enjoy a good reality-bending story. Which one is real and which one is a dream?

The Big Bang (212)
The conclusion to Series 5. It ends with a bang and had me practically jumping out of my seat cheering for more!

ENTERTAINING

The Beast Below (204)
This one has really stayed with me. If you can get past the premise of the Star Whale, it does raise some interesting ethical questions.

Time of the Angels (206) and Flesh & Stone (206)
The Weeping Angels are fantastic monsters. This is very much like the movie Aliens.

Cold Blooded (209)
This second part to the story arc started with The Hungry Earth was much better than the first part.

The Pandorica Opens (210)
It took me a little while to get into this one. For long time Who fans, I am sure the appearance of all these villains was a lot of fun. Still, it was entertaining and a great set-up for the finale, which I loved.

A Christmas Carol (213)
A Doctor Who take on the classic Charles Dickens story.

NO THANKS

Victory of the Daleks (205)
I liked the concept, but the show suffered by poor casting for Winston Churchill and it pushed a little too far into the goofy realm with propeller aircraft flying through space attacking a Dalek ship.

The Hungry Earth (209)
The is the first of a two-episode arc that introduces us to the Silurians.

STINKER

The Vampires of Venice (207)
This was my least favorite episode. I just couldn't get into it at all. I am just tired of the vampire thing as well.

Steampunk

A sub-genre of fiction that I have always been intrigued by, but have never read, is steampunk. It is a fictional 19th Century world driven by steam-power. I suppose I should qualify my first sentence in that I have read - and have always enjoyed - Jules Verne, whose works have been a primary inspiration to modern steampunk fiction.

I recently purchased the 80 Days app on my iPhone and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It takes Verne's novel, Around the World in 80 Days and put an extra steampunk layer of fiction on top of it.

Below is a list of steampunk ideas that I will look into. I would like to read at least one *good* steampunk novel sometime soon!

Wikipedia cites these works as precursors to steampunk:

• The Aerial Burgler by Percival Leigh - A short story written in 1844.
• Metropolis - A 1927 film by Fritz Lang. I have seen this film several times as a kid. It is a very nice work and you can clearly see how the robot that is featured in it inspired the design of C-3PO
• A Nomad of the Time Streams Trilogy by Michael Moorcock - Novels written in the 1970s.

The term itself was coined by author K. W. Jeter as an attempt to describe the style of fiction written by himself and his peers in recent years:

• The Anubis Gate by Tim Powers (1983)
• Homunculus by James Blaylock (1986)
• Morlock Night by K. W. Jeter (1979)
• Infernal Devices by K. W. Jeter (1987)

However, other fictional works preceded the use of the steampunk neologism:

• Worlds of the Imperium by Keith Laumer (1962)
• Queen Victoria's Bomb by Ronald W. Clark (1967)
• A Transatlantic Tunnerl, Hurrah! by Harry Harrison (1973)

Here are other interesting steampunk-type books:

• The Last Man by Mary Shelley (1826) - Apocalyptic
• The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (1990) - Victorian
• The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld - Victorian

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

It is time for a blog post for a sister franchise of Star Wars under Disney - Marvel. Specifically this is a synopsis of all the episodes from the first season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. I have DVR'ed the first full season and had watched a handful of episodes. However, I was disappointed in the acting and storytelling as the first part of the season progressed and stopped watching. However, my DVR dutifully recorded every episode and I held off on clearing it out simply because I love the Marvel movies and I knew this show would be an extension of the ongoing canon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I couldn't quite give up on the show.

I am so glad I didn't!


1.01 "Pilot"
Director: Joss Whedon
Writers: Joss Whedon & Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen



1.02 "0-8-4"
David Straiton
Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon & Jeffrey Bell



1.03 "The Asset"
Milan Cheylov
Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen



1.04 "Eye Spy"
Roxann Dawson
Jeffrey Bell


1.05 "Girl in the Flower Dress"
Jesse Bochco
Brent Fletcher


1.06 "F.Z.Z.T."
Vincent Misiano
Paul Zbyszewski


1.07 "The Hub"
Bobby Roth
Rafe Judkins & Lauren LeFranc


1.08 "The Well"
Jonathan Frakes
Monica Owusu-Breen


1.09 "Repairs"
Billy Gierhart
Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon

The lowest of the low. This episode was just plain bad - the worst of the series. The storytelling was muddled to the point that although his was supposed to be the transformative episode for Agent May's character, I didn't get it - I didn't care.

1.10 "The Bridge"
Holly Dale
Shalisha Francis

This is the episode that turned the series around for me. Up to this point there were a few high points but for the most part the episodes were mediocre. Whether it was better writing, better directing, or better acting, they seemed to have fixed the problems starting here.

1.11 "The Magical Place"
Kevin Hooks 
Paul Zbyszewski & Brent Fletcher

I am so glad the creators decided not to string us along for several seasons on the mystery of Coulson's miraculous recovery. It was also nice to see Shepherd Book back on TV!

1.12 "Seeds"
Kenneth Fink
Monica Owusu-Breen & Jed Whedon

Having seen this episode weeks after Winter Soldier, I noticed some of the hints bein dropped in this episode about the future. I think this is the first time in the series that Hydra is mentioned by name. This was mostly a standalone episode but contiuned the overall story arc and spawned a new potential villain for the future.

1.13 "T.R.A.C.K.S."
Paul Edwards
Lauren LeFranc & Rafe Judkins

This reminded me a lot of the train heist in another Whedon TV series, Firefly. I love the time freezing type weapons introduced here. A heart wrenching third act.

1.14 "T.A.H.I.T.I."
Bobby Roth
Jeffrey Bell

Big revelation on the source of the medicine used to bing Coulson bak from the dead. Perhaps this will tie into Guardians of the Galaxy?


1.15 "Yes Men"
John Terlesky
Shalisha Francis

This seemed like a one shot episode and a promo for the lesser known Asgardian women. While it was that, it was still very entertaining.


1.16 "End of the Beginning"
Bobby Roth
Paul Zbyszewski
We find out Fury has returned to the Triskelion from Agent Hand, who then orders Agent Sitwell to go to Lemurian Star (set-up for Winter Soldier movie). The Clairvoyant found and eliminated - or is he?

Deathlok (Mike Peterson) - gets a rocket launcher and continues his cyborg transformation
Thomas Nash - An index reject, paralytic, supposedly the Clairvoyant? Ward kills him.
Edison Po - Clairvoyant says he is the one who came up with the name. First seen in Girl In The Flower Dress.
Agent Hand - Takes over the plane and tells team to kill everyone except Coulson.
Agent Blake - First appeared in short Item 47.
Agent Sitwell -


 1.17 "Turn, Turn, Turn"
Vincent Misiano
Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen

Phew! What an adrenaline rush. This is the episode that ties into The Winter Soldier and, man, is it a tie in! Huge revelations and truly a game changer. So much happens here it will take several days and episodes to sort this all out.

1.18 "Providence"
Milan Cheylov
Brent Fletcher



1.19 "The Only Light in the Darkness"
Vincent Misiano
Monica Owusu-Breen


1.20 "Nothing Personal"
Billy Gierhart
Paul Zbyszewski & DJ Doyle


1.21 "Ragtag"
Roxann Dawson
Jeffrey Bell


1.22 "Beginning of the End"
David Straiton
Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon








http://www.sfx.co.uk/2014/04/18/marvels-agents-of-shield-1-16-end-of-the-beginning-tv-review/

1.16 End of the Beginning
Writer: Paul Zbyszewski
Director: Bobby Roth

Your Own Theme Music

This is a short blog post on a type of music I have really gotten into over the past few years - epic music. You may have noticed in trailers for video games and movies that the background music is different from what might be on the actual official soundtrack. A perfect example of this is the music to the trailer for Inception. The incredible work is *not* done by Hans Zimmer, even though he did the soundtrack. It was written by Zack Hemsey and you can find the song, Mind Heist, on You Tube.

The song that started this all for me was Immediate's Darkness on the Edge of Power. Follow the link and listen to it now. This will give you an idea of what I am talking about! What I love about this is that you can listen to it while working, driving, household chores, or any mundane task and it adds an element of significance and drama to what you are doing. It helps me to focus and work more efficiently - especially those mind-numbing repetitive tasks you just have to do.

I imagine most of these musicians and fans, such as me, can trace their interest in this style of music to the seminal works of John Williams. So there is your Star Wars tie-in to this blog!

You Tube has a huge selection of epic music to listen to with a simple search. The musicians for this whole sub-genre of music have started releasing "public" albums of their works. They are amazing and you should buy them on Amazon and iTunes! Here are my top choices, ranked in order:

Invincible by Two Steps From Hell
This "group", which I think has a lousy name, is probably the best of any of the epic music musicians. This particular album has wall-to-wall greatness. My favorite is Velocitron.

Illusions by Thomas Bergersen
This album is by one of the members of Two Steps From Hell. There is not a single bad track on this album either. It is hard to pick my favorite, but I'd say Immortal and Rada are my top two.

Trailerhead: Saga by Immediate
This album has my first favorite, Darkness on the Edge of Power, which I mentioned earlier. It is hard ranking this album only third, but I'd say these top three are all "must buys".

I would also recommend any of the soundtracks by Hans Zimmer. He is an amazing talent. Two Steps From Hell has several other albums out as well (check out Aesir from Archangel), which I would recommend. But I hesitate a bit with SkyWorld. There are a few vocal tracks on that album that just don't fit and one of them is just plain bad.

Immediate also has several albums out that are all great. Take a listen to How to Control the Dream from Trailerhead: Triumph and The Reluctant Warrior from the original Trailerhead.

Lastly, I will mention Globus, which has some great choral type of music. My personal favorite of their's is Preliator. It sounds like a martialing of an army heading to a decisive battle.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the albums have 20+ tracks and if you get the MP3 version it is only nine or ten bucks - a fantastic bargain!