Dear Kyle XY Writers

 Pop Culture  1 Response »
Mar 182009
 

Kyle XY

Kyle XY: Textbook case of how not to write a season / series finale

I am unimpressed with you. I’d tell you that you suck, but I’m pretty sure it’s not your fault. I’m more unimpressed with ABC Family because they’re the ones who canceled the show, but I digress.

Here’s a hint to television writing: all episodes should feature at least a little closure on a story line, even if it is just a tiny piece of a larger puzzle. It makes the viewer feel like the plot is going somewhere. Season finales should wrap up the overarching plot line(s) of the season. It should do so more than two minutes before the end of the episode, and it should have some sort of denouement. If you have the chance, you can introduce a new mystery, or let the main character react to the closures they’ve witnessed. This show needed at least three more episodes in order to handle all the stuff that was done in this episode to make it work. Everything seemed half-assed.

Closure is important. I don’t even think as a season finale this episode did enough to create closure. You want closure? Here’s closure:

  • After Cassidy told Kyle he was his brother, have Kyle say something sappy about how Josh Trager is his real brother, and then snap the crap out of his neck.
  • Have Jessi bomb the shit out of Latnok, and then have a big group hug.
  • Make Kyle pick between Jessi and Amanda, not that anyone really cares about that subplot.
  • Declan and Lori don’t get back together because life’s not like that. They stay with their current boy/girlfriends and remain friends.
  • Fade to grey.

Or, more realistically, but less spin-off friendly:

  • Kill off Kyle and/or Jessi in the process of destroying Latnok. Have the rest of the points above stay the same.
 Posted by at 7:43 am  Tagged with: , , ,

Foundation And Empire

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Jan 292009
 

Isaac Asimov - Foundation And Empire

Isaac Asimov - Foundation And Empire

Isaac Asimov
1952

Foundation And Empire picks up from the story told in the first Foundation, with the Foundation kicking galaxy periphery ass, and the remains of the old Empire crumbling slowly. This book happens in two distinct parts.

The first half of the book is a narrative about the war between the old Empire and the Foundation. It flows the same sort of way the first book does, though the narrative is more detailed, taking in roughly half the book rather than the 25 to 30 pages that Foundation used in each of its stories. It may not surprise you to find out that due to the inevitable course of psycho-history as predicted by the great Hari Seldon, the Foundation won the war. I guess the slight twist was that this victory was despite the utter failures of the two protagonists, which was rather amusing.

At this point, I was a little wary of starting the second half of the book. The premise of reading more stories where anything a character does has no effect on the eventual outcome was starting to wear a little thin.

The second part of the book takes an about-face with a new mysterious individual that is not accounted for in the Seldon plan: The Mule. It follows a newly married couple, Bayta and Torin, as they harbor The Mule’s runaway clown through the realm of the Foundation. Bayta and Torin witness all of the catastrophes of the war, including the fall of the Foundation’s home planet, the fall of Torin’s home planet, and the eventual spread of The Mule’s influence all the way to the center of the galaxy, Trantor. Bayta and Torin realize that in order to save the galaxy, they must contact the only group they think capable of stopping The Mule: The Second Foundation.

This second tale is a lot more riveting than the first. For the first time you see people reacting out of emotional motivations rather than blind ambition, and it is a nice change. I saw the big reveal at the end of the book coming from a long way off, but it was satisfying when it came. My favorite character, Bayta, was multi-dimensional and a strong woman.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book to others. I am looking forward to the next book, Second Foundation

 Posted by at 5:50 am  Tagged with: , , , ,

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

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Jan 122009
 

Philip K. Dick - Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep

Philip K. Dick - Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep

Philip K. Dick
1968

A police officer hunts down rogue androids in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future. While hunting down the androids, we explore the topic of what makes us ‘human’. Humans in this future are faced with a grim reality of toxic dust which alters one’s DNA, few remaining animals, and a huge decrease in population. They counter their sad existence with a dial-an-emotion boxes, television, and a religion centered around shared experience. Our hero, Rick Deckard, has to hunt down six androids who are on Earth illegally and “retire” them, before they kill him.

I am not generally into dystopian sci-fi books. I read it because my fiance loves it, and I wanted to see if I would like it or not. The short answer? Not so much. I liked that there were fake animals, and fake people, and that is about it. I hear that Philip K. Dick is a great writer, and this book was exceptionally well written, but the story just wasn’t for me. I like happy future sci-fi books.

 Posted by at 12:56 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Arthur C Clarke – Childhood’s End

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Feb 262008
 

Arthur C Clarke - Childhood's End

Arthur C Clarke - Childhood's End


A fleet of highly advanced aliens come to earth in peace. They allow the people of earth to mostly continue on the paths they have chosen, with a few exceptions. All war ceases. Scientific inquiry is allowed to flourish with the exception of space travel, religions slowly peter out. After a couple of decades, the human race has mostly been pacified and domesticated. The overlords are essentially benevolent non-dictators and their presence is mostly a positive one. Society seems almost Utopian. And then the damn humans have to go and mess it all up, because people can’t stand Utopian societies. They always go wrong.

Childhood’s End is a really fun book. The alien overlords seem nice and mostly harmless, and even though the plot isn’t exceptionally shocking, it flows at a nice pace and keeps one interested. I like how there was a Trojan giant squid that didn’t really seem to further the plot line at all, and how a Ouija board played a central part in the major turn in the plot. It was good.

This book was my first Arthur C. Clarke, and from it, I would definitely read more.

 Posted by at 9:01 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Shannon’s Weekend Update

 Life  No Responses »
Feb 242008
 

I have recently become interested in viewing some of the original Doctor Who stuff. Some of it is just awful. The Underwater Menace is a perfect example of this. First off, video only exists for the third of the four parts of this story. The other parts are simply black and white photos with descriptive text. The other thing is that the story makes next to no sense. It’s campy, but not awesome. I will not watch it again, but I will pass it on to Courtney to watch.

I spent my weekend doing very domestic and boring things: grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, etc. Alan and I are trying to make a copycat recipe for Tony Roma’s Kickin Shrimp appetizer. We know it has mayo and this awesome Asian sweet chili sauce, but beyond that, we’re still experimenting. Also made a chicken and banana muffins on Saturday, and today chicken noodle soup, and apple crumble.

I am reading my first Arthur C. Clarke book, and so far it’s quite good. Will post a short review when I finish it.

 Posted by at 10:46 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,
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