An Idiot Abroad: S02 Ep04

What happened?

Karl was discharged to Alaska to fulfil the once in a lifetime event of seeing whales in their natural environment (although he didn’t realise he’d be doing this from the vantage point of a working fishing boat). On the way he stops off to see parts of the Arctic circle, with Inuits to eat frozen chopped whale, to trek through wilderness in deep snow and to be pulled by huskies across a frozen lake.

Thoughts

I don’t judge the quality of an episode of An Idiot Abroad by how funny it is. Funny is good, but my enjoyment of the programme isn’t based on how much I laugh. It’s a mixture of amusement and interest and seeing something refreshing. Following Karl, we invariably get taken to poke around in quarters of the world most travel documentaries don’t bother with, or overlook, or put a nice gloss over. Karl will turn up at an Insuit’s house and be hospitably treated and only remark about how he’s being given cold food when they have an oven there they don’t seem to be using.

And what other show will let the viewers know about the “honey bucket” system, which is basically a bucket that the locals use as a toilet and then stick into a plastic bag to be emptied and returned, just like we have refuse collectors. (The poor guy that was desperately holding out for a replacement honey bucket also made for priceless TV!)

Sure, Karl’s perpetual moaning does sometimes feel a little over-egged. When he was roaming the snowy wilderness, in a barren, frozen desolation, his complaining about how there was nothing to see and the sun was making him go blind felt unbalanced against what must have been an incredible sense of wonder. He’s not that much of a Philistine and the natural world is one that interests him so, even if for a little while, I don’t doubt that this man who craves solitude and peace must have found something rather marvellous in his journey North.

The guide Ricky and Steve initially hooked him up with was a joyously irritating find. He even had a high-pitched laugh of mocking delight like Gervais’; the irony was rich. And after chugging through deep snow, dragging an abundance of provisions on a sledge, the final resting place being a cold hut with no toilet (just go outside and wipe yourself with a frozen hunk of a snow afterwards!) was a perfectly miserable start.

For the most part, though, Karl seemed in good-humour. He had enough hubris to dryly remark about how this was all “things to do before you die”, like when he was charged with chopping up dead fish on a boat that was making him seasick. And his bemused chuckle when chatting with the truck driver who merrily informed him the last place he’d go to was exactly where Karl was headed. It’s all the touches like that which make the show flow more enjoyably for me than all the big contrived stunts that seem to want to force through humiliation and attempt to mine laughs.

That being said, the highlight of the episode had to be when Karl was being dragged (I’d like to say riding along with, but that wouldn’t be an accurate reflection) by huskies. His swearing, his tight grip, the brief moments of downtime to chat to camera about how the frozen river was tough terrain and the huskies just did not obey commands and the brakes didn't work, they all added up to a great section of the show that certainly did have me chuckling out loud (and at the time of watching the show I was riddled with a horrible aching flu and felt like shit so that was no mean feat).

As is becoming something of a motif of the show, the actual ‘thing to do before you die’ was an anticlimax, although this one felt rather more poetic than just straightforward disappointment. Suffering aboard the fishing boat, chopping octopus, nausea overcame Karl so that by the time whales were spotted surfacing in the waters he was stifling the urge to vomit. He hauled himself over to catch a few glimpses but, cruelly yet typically, his lot would have it that he missed the best things on account of himself – barely able to keep his eyes open let alone stand and get a clear view.

To be fair, aside from the odd flipper or tail, it didn’t look like he was missing much.

What was the best part?

Easily the husky drag, which did look like a lot of fun though I can well see how, hanging on to the back of the sled being dragged uncontrollable across a frozen lake, it would well have felt very treacherous. What made the sequence great was Karl’s out and out anger and frustration, from cursing at the dogs to yelling at the people with him about how long this was going to go on for. You'd never see that with Palin! Terrific viewing.

What do I think will happen next?

Next stop Africa, I believe, from the preview at the end of the episode. As said, I was rather ill when I watched this so I can’t actually remember what the ‘bucket list’ event is for the next one. The fever was taking hold. I’m sure I can stand the surprise!

Fringe: S04 Ep03 – Alone In The World

What happened?

A strange fungus appears to have formed a psychic connection with a small boy. However, this rapidly-growing fungus is killing those that come into contact with it and so it’s down to Walter to break the psychic link between the boy and the organism before Broyles orders it to be destroyed. Walter eventually realises that it is the boy that is in control and, clearly confused by thoughts of the young Peter he lost, he endeavours to save his life and does so.

Still seeing visions and hearing voices of Peter, although he doesn’t know who he is, Walter believes he is going crazy and to prevent being sent back to the asylum he attempts a lobotomy on himself. Olivia arrives and stops him and then reveals that she too has been dreaming about this same person, placating Walter’s fears for his sanity and forging a resolve in him to find out who he is.

Thoughts

Apart from the terrific last scene (Fringe is rather good at producing last scene kickers to sign off its episodes with) this wasn’t the kind of episode to write home about. The main plot of the boy and the fungus brain thing was bizarre, even by Fringe standards. It started out well, I thought. The intrigue surrounding the organism and the boy was good, mainly because the boy had a slightly otherworldly feel about him that created a sense of mystery. And when Lincoln and Olivia were shining a light on the fungus, and getting ready to burn it, and the kid was freaking out, there were moments where I was rather excited about what the eventual explanation would be.

Turned out there wasn’t much of an explanation at all. A rather boring story of a miserable child finding an emotional connection that needed to be broken wasn’t particularly inspiring. But more baffling was how this strange organism thing even came to exist in the first place. Broyles and everyone else were quick to want to get rid of it without questioning where on Earth it had come from!

If, indeed, it did come from Earth!

Really it was just a bit of a lame Macguffin to get Walter in cahoots with a little boy so he could peel back some layers and confirm this universe’s history of Peter and the tragedy in his life that had damaged him so. It was detailed that Walter did lose his original son, and then crossed over to the other universe and snatched Peter. The different with this universe, and what was supposed to happen without Observer September’s intervention, was that Peter fell under the ice and drowned at Reiden Lake.

It’s straightforward enough, and as I had figured it (although for some reason I had it in my head that Peter must have died in a car crash into the icy lake – which I seem to recall now was actually the cover story fed to Peter to explain his dim memory of nearly drowning).

I think I said this from the last episode, too, but I don’t see anything to suggest that when Peter is eventually recalled there will be a fundamental change to the universe as it is shown now. This world is here to stay, it’s just that Peter is likely to be dragged into it as a strange ‘foreign’ object that really ought not to be there but exists anyway. A living paradox. It’ll be interesting to see if what he has to say prompts the likes of Olivia and Walter to have better memories of their former lives, though. . .

The ramifications of what might occur should Olivia and Walter and others realise this universe wasn’t the ‘original’ version remains to be seen – potentially this is a dynamic that could form the arc for this season. Potentially Peter’s return could make this universe unstable so that it becomes essential for things to be ‘reset’.

I hope not. I’d much rather prefer Peter was brought back, fully aware of his former life, and this universe and people had to try and wrap their heads around it and then move forward. The question then is: move forward to what? Where is the next dramatic conflict coming from? Potentially it could be from The Observers themselves who would seek to eradicate Peter themselves, and thus it would be our heroes versus these strange bald people!

Outlandish stuff, I know, but then you have to figure The Observers will have to be brought into the fold more at some point. I haven’t yet got any kind of idea about how the ‘first people’ thing from last season will be integrated into the grand scheme of Fringe. Let’s just take one big idea at a time and see where it gets us.

So Walter’s crisis with the kid making him relive his fight to save Peter in this episode felt a little heavy-handed, though it at least served the purpose of making it clear to everyone exactly what the situation with Peter’s history was. Fringe does sometimes feel clumsy in how it always needs to link in the current case story as a parallel to ongoing character drama – I know it helps forge the line between standalone episodes and continuing the serial drama but it does sometimes clunk like dropping bricks.

Credit to John Noble as Walter, though, who at least helped sell how bereft and undone he is compared to the man that we once knew – the man that had saved Peter and had him to help rehabilitate him. This Walter had no such solace in his past, and no crutch in his present, and it really comes across at how he clutches to a sane reality by his fingertips with only Astrid and Olivia there as his safety net to keep him in check. Whilst this universe may remain the same with Peter’s return I have to wonder if perhaps the ‘old’ characters that Walter and Olivia used to be might re-surface along with their awareness and, perhaps, memories of Peter.

For all of its clunking plot beats the episode served a purpose. It’s got Walter and Olivia united in a common cause of trying to find Peter. I kicked myself at the end for not being more suspicious of Olivia at the beginning. I knew she had been searching for Peter’s face on the computer and yet for some reason I just rationalised it as her having been given the description by Walter and she was just checking it out for herself. It didn’t occur to me that she was searching for her own purposes, even though she blatantly kept it a secret from Lincoln!

That’s just sloppy attention from yours truly, but it at least meant the end scene held a little more impact when she revealed she’d been dreaming of Peter so Walter could quit drilling into his brain and get on with figuring out who this ‘ghost’ really is!

What was the best part?

The best parts were really all about Olivia’s revelation that she too was sharing visions of Peter. I particularly liked the little scene where she was searching the facial recognition database for his image, a moment that registered with more impact only at the end (at least for me) when she revealed that she had been dreaming about this man and drawn his image so that she might figure out who he is.

What do I think will happen next?

Hopefully the search for Peter will now begin in earnest. With Walter dispensing with the paranoia that he is going insane, and with Olivia also on board now, I can well envisage the next episode really focusing on getting to the bottom of this mystery. I did predict that Peter would return within about four or five episodes so it seems about the right time for Fringe to cut the foreplay and get on with the main event!

Terra Nova: S01 Ep02 – Instinct

What happened?

The Terra Nova settlement area has a problem – the area they settled in is the migration point for reptilian birds that have come home to roost as part of their cycle. Coming in dribs and drabs at first, they attack and kill various settlers. Whilst Liz Shannon works with a man she knew in college, called Malcolm, who is also responsible for requesting her to be there, it becomes clear that thousands of these birds will descend on the compound and decimate the place unless something is done.

A plan is conjured where the pheromone scents the birds are attracted to is manufactured and relocated to a point further away. Terra Nova is saved once more, though during the operation Jim has become aware of Malcolm and his possible intentions towards his wife and has issued a warning to steer clear.

Thoughts

This ‘proper’ first episode outside of the pilot episode perhaps demonstrates better what kind of show Terra Nova is. And, by the looks of it, it’s rather old-school sci-fi with modern day effects. There is something distinctly old-fashioned about it; I have actually wondered if the tale of The Shannon family in prehistoric times might not harken back to the old shows like Land Of The Giants and, in particular, Lost In Space, high-concept shows that week by week stick with the same core characters through various adventures.

There was really nothing about this episode that pushed ahead with anything like a sense of progression in the drama. Ostensibly birds attacked Terra Nova until our heroes figured out a means of resolving the situation. Status quo resumed. That's not really a put down, mind. It was actually rather good in delivering a decent build-up, a credible threat and a decent set piece in the main attack on the Shannon household. The resolution was a bit lame and thus the only real weak point - it's hard to imagine a species would be so easily-fooled into a new breeding ground by the dispersal of manufactured pheromones elsewhere.

Actually, the dialogue was interspersed with a lot of cheese. If Terra Nova wants me to take it more seriously as a credible drama show then it needs to take itself more seriously.

There was promising future drama in the introduction of Malcolm, the scientist who clearly still holds a torch for Liz (don’t blame him, she’s smoking). This antagonism did at least allow Jim to stop being quite the douche about the house for a minute or two when he got to play alpha male regarding his wife. Hopefully that’s a side-edge that will continue (though if it goes down the route of Jim getting paranoid and jealous over really pathetic schemes by Malcolm I’m going to get annoyed – it’ll be better if Liz genuinely becomes conflicted between the two of them).

There wasn’t much else, character-wise, going on. The story involving the migrating birds did unsubtly parallel their quest to get down to some action alongside Jim and Liz getting some one-on-one time. To be fair to Jim he has spent many years in a prison with absolutely nothing so, frankly, how he hasn’t ravaged Liz before now is hard to fathom.

I did think that those Terra Nova homes didn’t exactly scream privacy. Those poor Shannon kids are going to grow up to the sounds and silhouettes of their parents at it. That’s unfortunate. Though the two eldest siblings already have their respective romances burgeoning, though Sky and the soldier-boy one (so bland I haven’t even identified his name) were hardly given much to do other than hang around the Shannon’s. Honestly, what did they do before they arrived?

It’s the tone of Terra Nova that was most prominent here, though. And I very much got the sense that it was a more family-oriented, early-evening kind of slot that this show is aiming at. If it weren’t for the gory, scratched-out eyes of one of the victims this would have been Doctor Who standard family viewing. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't think that's exactly where Terra Nova is aiming to be. As it is, with the blood, this isn’t exactly a show for kids. So the tone is a little bit of a concern, unless it’s a show that’s starting off light before it goes into darker territory.

For the moment I’m still enjoying the show, in the sense that it’s more interesting than most television, but it’s nowhere near got me hooked or gripped. If it’s aiming to be light and enjoyable, then it needs to up its game. If it’s aiming to be mysterious and thrilling then it needs to cut through the froth. There’s time yet, and to be fair I think the show does need to spend time with the characters and the world of Terra Nova before it heads out into grand territory, but my early instincts are telling me that this doesn’t feel like a show that’s got the legs to last longterm.

What was the best part?

It was a brief moment, but the wide shot showing the masses of gathering reptile birds spiralling into the sky before they made their attack, watched on by Jim, was good stuff. It reminded me a lot of the movie Pitch Black, an effect that was probably intentional.

What do I think will happen next?

I can only assume that the introduction of Malcolm will also introduce complications between Jim and Liz, and meantime I expect the other Shannon kids will further blossom their romances with their paramours. In terms of the wider mythological drive of the show, however, there was little forward momentum in that regard to make further speculation.

An Idiot Abroad: S02 Ep03

What happened?

This week’s bucket list charged Karl with being sent off to Australia to swim with dolphins. However, he was sent to Thailand first as a stopping off point to see ladyboys, visit Monkeytown and fight in a blind Thai boxing tournament. It was only when he arrived in Australia was he informed “swimming with dolphins” had changed to “swimming with sharks”, and Karl was placed into a cage and lowered in to the water with the deadly fish.

Thoughts

It was good to see An Idiot Abroad feel like it was back on form with this week’s episode. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and perhaps it was telling that the actual ‘bucket list’ event of the episode was the least engaging part of it. Better was the bulk of the episode that followed Karl in Bangkok and, as usual, participating in stuff and witnessing things that other travel documentary shows shy away from.

It was very strange seeing Karl dressed up as a woman by the ladyboys. They actually did a good job in making him look feminine! If they could have persuaded him to shave his beard off then he might have actually made you look twice. Of course, the genuine ladyboys were practically indistinguishable from regular women, and it was fun to see Karl confronted with it and then question his own sense of gender. I’m sure Suzanne his girlfriend would be thrilled to hear that if he found out she was a guy all along then he’d probably stay with her anyway – albeit demanding that she participate in more heavy lifting!

This episode certainly did make me laugh and chuckle pretty frequently. Karl getting put through his paces by the Thai boxing instructor, and looking like he was genuinely getting angry and stressed out by the physical endurance and being harassed by a dog at the same time. The blind Thai boxing part did succeed in making Karl look silly, but I’m glad they didn’t dwell on it.

It was good that Karl actually (well, seemed to) go out and see something that he wanted to see. Going to Monkeytown was just bizarre. Monkeys are those kinds of animals that are cuter in idea and perception than they are in reality; they are smelly, scavenging and pretty wild. That there was this entire area called Monkeytown that was given over to the monkeys (and, naturally, the tourists) just boggled my mind.

Karl has been synonymous with monkeys for quite some years, for anyone that ever heard the podcasts or watched The Ricky Gervais Show, he was regularly reading out ‘monkey news’. Clearly he has an interest in them, and so to see him broken down and disappointed, lamenting ever meeting his heroes, was pretty funny.

I did think Karl was in very good form here, and it’s his mood that can very much make or break the show. He really seemed to go with the flow in Thailand in good humour – from the moment he turned up there to be fired at with water and paste, trundling into his hotel looking like a refugee, he got involved in everything that was thrown at him. Kudos as well for remarking how picturing a naked Rupert Murdoch in his head made him think of a turtle without its shell!

When the climax of the episode came, the swimming with sharks bit, I just didn’t feel it. I think the editing of the piece did its best to make it look exciting but, really, it was just Karl in a cage looking frantically around him as, occasionally, sharks came near. Can’t really expect more, of course – I am not suggesting I would only have been satisfied had his cage been attacked like he was Richard Dreyfuss in Jaws – but I did wonder if maybe the original plan of swimming with dolphins might have produced a genuinely good, golden moment.

It wouldn’t be in the spirit of An Idiot Abroad to have Karl enjoy something and have it be wondrous, but coming at the end of a gruelling episode and journey I don’t think anyone would have begrudged him a joyful experience at the close.

What was the best part?

I thought Monkeytown was the best part, purely because it was a fascinating place to see anyway. But watching Karl being accosted by monkeys crawling over him, snatching food out of his hands, amidst this strange little area of Bangkok was something I found interesting and entertaining.

What do I think will happen next?

Karl is being sent off to some frozen wastelands to see whales, by the looks of the clips at the end of this episode. Should be interesting, actually.

Fringe: S04 Ep02 – One Night In October

What happened?

There have been a series of murders by brain-freezing Over There, but a break in the killer’s identity have posed the notion that they can get his counterpart from Over Here to provide insight into who he is, and more importantly where he is. Olivia takes Dr. John McClennan to the alternate universe, working alongside her counterpart Fauxlivia and other members of Fringe division there.

The investigation does lead them to find the killer Alt-John, whose deep unhappiness went unaddressed in comparison to Dr. John McClennan who had more love in his life. Unable to cope with his new sense of conscience, the killer commits suicide, but having performed the brain freezing technique on Dr. John his memory has been irreparably damaged (and thus his awareness of the alternate universe erased).

Meanwhile Walter has taken to covering all reflective surfaces and playing loud music to try and block out Peter. However, alone at night in his room, Peter’s voice can be insistently heard, telling Walter he is right there with him.

Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. There was an assurance about the whole thing that really shone through – from the acting to the pacing to the themes being explored. For what fundamentally amounted to mostly a standalone episode, too, and early on in the new season as well (when most shows usually trot out their weaker stuff) it was quite the pleasant surprise.

I really liked the dynamic between Olivia and Fauxlivia. The previous episode set up the antagonism between the two of them, but it was good to see that it had shifted by the end of this episode. Olivia’s more serious manner and rare smiles were more understood by Fauxlivia upon hearing that she had been abused by her stepfather and then subsequently killed him.

When the two of them are together on screen it’s easy to tell them apart, even if they have the same clothes and the same hair colouring. Anna Torv’s performance(s) are excellent, with her Fauxlivia’s cocksure ease with a smile and relaxed posture making her the more ‘fun’, but she’s not quite as ‘good’ as our Olivia. (I liked the bit where Olivia’s photographic memory trumped Alt-Astrid’s 13-hour analysis!)

I also liked how anatagonism between Over There and Over Here wasn’t quite as pervasive as the interactions between the two Olivia’s in the previous episode might have suggested. Both Broyles and Lincoln are alive in the other universe, and were far more accommodating and accepting of Olivia. Indeed, I got the impression that Alt-Lincoln and Olivia may be on course for some romance of their own.

Astrid made a remark to Olivia about their Lincoln being cute, which Olivia fired down. That might turn out to be ironic. But it was Lincoln, who we know has a major thing for Fauxlivia, making his remarks about liking blondes that felt loaded with potential. Considering that Fauxlivia in this version of the universe remains with Frank then it puts her off-limits; Lincoln certainly seemed friendly enough with Olivia and I can’t help but feel that this was all deliberate.

This is what I mean about how the episode had a confidence about its execution; comfortable with this array of characters. Barring a little bit of exposition from Walter at the beginning about the history of this universe to fill in one or two gaps Fringe has just got on with telling its story, sure that the audience will be capable of going along for the ride without having every detail painfully signposted.

The plot of the episode, as they tend to do in Fringe, fed back into the themes at play. John McLelland the killer was a man that had suffered as a result of what had happened to him as a child, but we could see from his alternate what a difference some love and compassion could make. (I’ll be honest, though, some of the memory flashbacks we saw in the barn totally went over my head. Either I missed something or it was badly edited.)

Clearly there’s parallels to be drawn with everyone and this world where Peter no longer played a part. Whilst for the likes of Alt-Broyles and Alt-Lincoln it’s worked out well (they’re alive!), Olivia is detached, Walter is a mess, and Olivia’s baby is non-existent. There is some give and take between what has been gained and what has been lost, but it seems to me that there are plot threads being picked up here (like Alt-Lincoln and Olivia’s potential romance) that suggest this universe, the one we are seeing, will be one that persists even after Peter returns.

The way I see it, Peter ought to eventually ‘pop’ back into existence, and although he will have full memories of the other universes, the other history, everyone else won’t. Peter could very well, once more, be a man out of place in the world. His voice at the end was certainly stronger, almost like he was able to see Walter. Is he only able to contact Walter? So far that seems to be the case – or it might be that Walter is the only one that is receptive to the loss so much that he alone is the only one wrestling with what no one knows they once had.

Two last points to make. The first, I am liking how Lincoln Lee may assume the role of new ‘wrong name reference’ from Walter. It used to be Astrid – getting called all kinds of things that weren’t her name. Now Walter, it seems, may refer to Lincoln by different kinds of presidential names other than, of course, Lincoln. It’ll be amusing to see that take shape (and, again, is another seed being planted to suggest this is a universe that is here to stay for a while).

Last point: I have absolutely no idea what the episode title means. By the time you’re reading this I’ll have probably read other stuff and found out but, right here and now, I don’t have a clue.

What was the best part?

A strong episode for Olivia and Fauxlivia leads me to conclude that the best part of this episode was their little chat in the car. For one it showed that Fauxlivia had softened her exterior a little to try and understand Olivia better since she was the one that offered her the ride and, by the end of the journey, I think it’s fair to say that her impression of Olivia has been suitably altered. There’s a reason Olivia is colder and more uptight – childhood abuse, killing her own stepfather, not to mention the Cortexiphan trials! I don't think they're going to be best friends, but the antagonism should certainly have eased.

What do I think will happen next?

Walter has surely got to start seriously investigating ‘Peter’ rather than trying to hide away from it. This might mean him reaching out to Walternate to aid him? Seems unlikely, considering how vocal he is in his dislike and distrust. But then I figure that this initial hatred will be part of his character arc and must surely soften and lead to acceptance as the season progresses in a similar manner to Olivia and Fauxlivia.

I also expect Alt-Lincoln to start making moves on Olivia. This will surely complicate matters further between those two, Fauxlivia and Peter (when he eventually shows up!).

Terra Nova: S01 Ep01 – Genesis Parts 1 & 2

What happened?

Earth in the 22nd century is over-polluted and oxygen-deficient. The Shannon family have contravened the laws that state only two children per couple, and the father Jim Shannon is locked away as a consequence. However, his wife Liz is granted passage to Terra Nova – a colony set up from a discovered crack in time and space leading to Earth 85 million years earlier. The Shannon family manage to all escape together to Terra Nova, and there set up life in the prehistoric compound.

Liz Shannon is enlisted as a doctor, whilst Jim Shannon is at first given agricultural duties before his instincts as a cop prompt Terra Nova founder and leader, Nathaniel Taylor, to give him a badge and a gun. He needs it when he is called out to rescue his son, Josh, and a bunch of other kids that ventured outside the fence and got caught up with Sixers (a rogue faction of colonists that splintered from Terra Nova) and attacking dinosaurs.

Everyone is brought home safe, though the kids all discovered a secret that Nathaniel would rather remained unknown; an area of diagrams and equations that the Sixers believe was written by Nathaniel’s missing son, harbouring information about the truth of Terra Nova.

Thoughts

Ah, that tricky first episode. Carrying the burden of introducing new characters, a new world, a new concept, and having to make the whole thing quickly appealing, engaging, but also providing fertile ground from which the show can grow and develop. It’s no mean feat, and as such, so long as a show keeps my interest, I am prepared to overlook other deficiencies at first on the basis that with time the actors, writers and crew will all settle down into understanding what their show is, what its strengths are, and grow into itself.

Terra Nova definitely has room for improvement.

Main character Jim Shannon was rather problematic for me – I didn’t really take to him. He basically came across as a bit of a dork. That would be fine if that was his character, but instead he’s supposed to be straddling both the everyman and action man role (which he does also manage) so these douche-elements aren’t blending well.

His wife Liz fares better (helped by the fact that she’s gorgeous) in terms of her credibility, but she doesn’t escape the trap of being rather one-note. It’s a fate that the Shannon family share. Son Josh does petulant, the geeky daughter is really unsubtly sold as being brainy (much of the exposition falls to her but her shoehorned in dialogue ain’t as pretty on the ear as she is on the eye) and youngest daughter Zoe has little to do but look cute.

As stated, this is just the first episode so there’s time for these people to be fleshed out. And Terra Nova did do the smart thing in focusing on them for the majority of the time rather than deluge us with an extended cast. Keep it simple, let the complex stuff come later.

The only other non-Shannon family characters to get any kind of exposure were founding father, Nathaniel Taylor and hot girl with balls, Sky. The relationship between Sky and Josh felt rather unlikely (Sky’s group were altogether way too trusting of the new boy with their secret booze and rule-breaking exploits!) but that one moment where she looked over at Josh being hugged by his parents, given she had been orphaned, was a bittersweet moment that did more for her as a person than all of her previous screentime.

Nathaniel Taylor was the real star of the show. It was perhaps hard to shake off Quaritch from Avatar (gruff man in charge in a foreign environment!) at first but, eventually, his founding father role was slowly earned. However, shows like Battlestar Galactica and even the ill-fated Outcasts, which have dealt with similar premises of a small pocket of humanity forging a new civilisation, generally involve more political and social structure emphasis. I don’t see Taylor as being realistically capable of maintaining law, order, social structure, government as well as defending the camp – but whether the show really gets into other authoritative hierarchy is another matter (they do tend to get a bit boring and perhaps Terra Nova would rather avoid the political aspect).

The CG-effects were a major talking point of the hype for the show, mainly because any show that is attempting to have dinosaurs as a fundamental part of its world is going to have to work hard to not make them look dreadful. Whilst the dinosaurs themselves looked decent (not exactly Jurassic Park standard but better than your average television effect) in a pilot episode with a lot of money thrown at it, I would expect either the quality to diminish or there to be less direct dinosaur action on the scale of, say, the brilliant cars versus Carnosaurs sequence during the regular episodes. Hopefully my cynicism will prove unfounded as there’s no question that dinosaurs are cool and some top notch man vs monster action will go a long way to cover plot holes and bad dialogue!

Steven Spielberg’s presence as executive producer kind of worries me, especially because the show seems to be favouring a safer, more wholesome feel than the opening scenes on Earth might have suggested. Hopefully I am wrong, because what Terra Nova really needs is to retain some kind of raw edge to compensate for the cheesy dialogue and lack of genuine peril. (Was anyone under any illusions that any key character wouldn’t survive?)

There’s promising plot threads trickling through to give the series somewhere to go. Nathaniel’s long lost son was one, with the strange markings he was leaving that hint at a truth about Terra Nova clearly being pencilled in early to pave the way for big mysteries and revelations to come. The key question would be to challenge the validity of the claim that Terra Nova is in a different “timestream” to the Earth they left. Just because that’s the official story doesn’t necessarily make it so.

I’d be willing to bet there’s a good chance that they really are part of Earth’s history and the potential effects of that are yet to be revealed (like, for example, why they can’t go back!). Failing that, they may not even be on Earth at all. So far there’s been nothing to substantiate that ‘given’ (admittedly they would therefore have to be on Earth-like planet that also has a moon similar to our own, so the odds of this being an alien world are pretty remote!).

So Terra Nova opened with a fairly predictable ‘kids in danger’ plotline to get our heroes outside of the compound and face-to-face with dinosaurs, and Sixers. It was eventful, served as a good introduction but did nothing particularly daring or groundbreaking. Again, with a show that cost this much money, you have to wonder how ‘risky’ it’s willing to go (in its favour, there were some moments of violence and gore that were stronger than I might have expected).

Terra Nova survived the test of the pilot episode in that it kept my interest throughout and has done enough to keep me willing to come back for more. Fingers crossed it gets better because I am intrigued to see where it’s going.

What was the best part?

As good as Terra Nova looked, and as exciting as a couple of the dinosaur attacks were, the most arresting sequences were back on Earth. The Shannon family hiding their daughter, the advertising boards and smoke-filled air, and then the walk towards the portal – these all had atmosphere and drama that loaned proceedings a sense of edge. Once the family were at Terra Nova that level of jeopardy just wasn’t present; it was entertaining but it felt safe.

What do I think will happen next?

I would anticipate that the next few episodes probably won’t look too deeply at the ‘bigger’ mysteries of the show, and will hopefully instead concentrate on the characters and everyday life in Terra Nova. I would also expect the Sixers would retain their presence, if only to create conflict, but maybe we’ll get to see them in a more sympathetic light and uncover why they split and what they’re all about. Mostly I expect exploration of both family and new world in the immediate few episodes, and I think that is precisely what the show can afford to spend some time on.

An Idiot Abroad: S02 Ep2

What happened?

Karl was sent to experience the Tran Siberian Express; one of the longest train journeys on Earth on a train that contains the most opulent and fantastic standards of travelling alongside third-class levels. En route he is taken to experience zero-g effects at a Russian astronaut training facility, meets a man that can stick metal to his body and finishes up in a Chinese dwarf village.

Thoughts

Well, it was better than last week’s! I felt like Karl was given a little more licence and freedom and there was less pre-arranged stunts or events for him to contend with. Again, like the bungee jumping last week, the one genuinely amazing experience put in front of him (of going up in the plane to experience true weightlessness in zero g conditions) he elected to wangle his way out of.

I know it’s his character, and he is being absolutely true to himself in not going ahead and doing stuff he resolutely doesn’t want to do just because he’s on television, but at the same time it’s plain annoying to watch. I don’t find it funny. I don’t find myself on his side. I find myself disliking him for squandering these amazing opportunities.

I never felt like that watching the first series. Throughout that one I was always sympathetic to his plight but, for series 2, this idiot abroad is only really being idiotically resistant. So instead of him on the flight we had to settle for a bag of Revels being flung about in zero g in his stead. That’s not good entertainment.

More entertaining was Karl being made to wrestle for the honour of some Mongolian tribe. Not only did he look ridiculous but his fed-up reaction to it was terrific. The difference here was that he actually did get on with it. He stayed with the people (joining in with their chanting singing!) and practised the wrestling and then turned up and competed. As he said, there was no surprise in that he didn’t win but at least he gave it a go! So long as he does that the show works – it’s when he just turns his nose up, folds his arms and refuses to play does it get frustrating.

On the plus side there was a lot more of this episode that felt like the first series, and was better for it. His arrival in Moscow, with the most grumpy taxi driver ever, was amusing. But better was the look on his face when he went into the bar and spotted a bunch of guys sat at a table wearing only towels; just that glancing expression of disbelief to camera when he had passed them was priceless.

It was also interesting to see him aboard the Tran Siberian Express, particularly when we followed him being moved through the train, down the class levels, into the nightmarish conditions of third class and his bed that was little more than a shelf. It was utterly contrived but made for good viewing, seeing him perched up there hating every second of it.

Where this show actually succeeds is in being a kind of anti-travel show. Normally such shows will seek out new places and far off lands and show them in the best light. In the first series of An Idiot Abroad the strength and freshness of it was in having Karl turn up at the pyramids and remark about how scruffy the place was, or arrive at the Great Wall of China and fail to see the wonder in a wall that had been patched up and re-built in the modern age. This episode had touches of that down-to-earth, this is how it is viewpoint with the unflinching look at how crap the third class conditions were; this is where the show validates itself and was something last week’s jungle-based expedition completely lacked.

Maybe it’s just the joke is wearing thin. It’s not a concept that can be spun out for much longer. Maybe. I’m not completely down on it because there was plenty to chuckle at and enjoy. Like the dwarf village was fascinating and weird, and it was a nice touch to have Karl contact Warwick Davis and discuss it with him. That Karl was, for once, positive about something that Warwick could see nothing positive about was typical: Pilkington remains a man forever at odds with popular perception!

What was the best part?

For all the centrifugal machinery and dwarf villages, the best part of the show is Karl being Karl. As such the best part of the episode for me was, having met the man that could stick metal to him, Karl was asked what kind of power he would like to have. The following little monologue about how he’d be ‘bullshit man’, turning up and remarking “bullshit” wherever anyone was talking crap, was absolutely genius.

What do I think will happen next?

Next week Karl is to go swimming with sharks. If there hadn’t been some clips with him actually in the cage, in the water with the sharks, then I’d have worried it would be another case of him being presented with another experience he’d refuse to properly take on. I still doubt how much of it he will do, but we’ll see. The episode does have the potential to have more contrivance, though, so my hopes aren’t particularly raised.

Fringe: S04 Ep01 – Neither Here Nor There

What happened?

It’s a world without Peter, with no memory that he ever existed, and the two realities of parallel worlds have been bridged (though knowledge of this happening has not been released to the general public). Whilst there is a form of truce between the two Fringe divisions, it’s a pact currently running on distrust from both sides.

Agent Lincoln Lee, in this reality oblivious to the world of Fringe Division, is on a callout with his partner when they run into a bizarre, translucent human. Lincoln’s partner is killed and, searching for answers, Lincoln is integrated into Fringe division where it transpires these translucent humans are a new form of shapeshifter, and considering that Walternate was responsible for the first shapeshifters Olivia and Walter are immediately suspicious that he may have a hand in these latest incarnations.

Meanwhile The Observers watch on and deem it essential that this world is never aware that Peter the boy became a man. But September, charged with erasing him from existence, falters over flicking the switch. Peter repeatedly appears in glimpses, struggling to bleed back into existence. . .

Thoughts

Good to have Fringe back, although if anyone thought the bridging of the realities and the removal of Peter would somehow give the show a kind of blank slate feel to re-build anew then they’ve got another thing coming. Right out of the gate this episode demands that the viewers are well up on their mythology and it was really only the re-introduction of Lincoln Lee as a ‘new starter’ to Fringe Division did the episode make a little concession for anyone coming in cold.

The episode wasted no time setting up animosity between the two Olivias. Considering this is a world where Peter never existed I can only figure the antagonism is down to the fact that Olivia was still kidnapped Over There, and replaced by Fauxlivia for a while, and this is cause for a rift. It was perhaps slightly irritating that these two level-headed, intelligent characters had defaulted to such opposition so early but, I suppose, this season needs to find its conflict from somewhere and just erasing the friction between both sides might have also felt just as irritating.

It was interesting to see that without Peter, Olivia hasn’t progressed much from the person in the Pilot episode. She still lost her partner but never found a replacement, and instead was the one to release Walter and take responsibility for him. Walter, too, is a slightly different beast. Afraid to leave the lab, more untethered to reality, and the one being ‘haunted’ by visions of Peter.

The Observers discussed amongst themselves a few bits and pieces that were interesting. The general idea seems to be that September – the Observer we usually see – intervened in the way the course of events was supposed to run when he saved Peter’s life. This re-written universe has it, I presume, that Peter as a child died.

Walter made a remark about how a person can die twice, so I have to conclude that his original son, Peter, died from illness like he always did. And Walter then crossed over and kidnapped the other Peter. The difference here is that Peter wasn’t saved in the car crash that September once got involved in? That’s my best guess. So Walter has had to live with losing his own son, and then kidnapped Peter’s alternate and seeing him die also. No wonder he’s messed up.

September being sent off to permanently erase Peter is bizarre (God knows what the heck that thing he gathered bits and pieces together for was going to do!) but I get the feeling he is going more ‘rogue’, perhaps curious about the extent to which he can effect the course of events (and the consequences of doing so). Perhaps he’s just curious about Peter, and how he manages to still bleed through.

Still not really any closer to knowing what The Observers fundamentally are, mind, but then this is one of Fringe’s biggest and most enduring mysteries (it’s their Black Smoke!) so I don’t expect that to be explained anytime soon.

I enjoyed Lincoln Lee in this episode. The bespectacled version of him is a likable and yet admirable character. He shows he’s got the smarts, and the action skills, but mostly he’s got amazing acceptance of whatever’s going on. Walter hands him a dead pigeon that springs to life, flies around, and then drops to the floor – Lincoln barely bats an eyelid! It’ll be interesting to see if Alt-Lincoln is on the scene Over There, and whether he retains a ‘thing’ for Fauxlivia (I would suspect he’s still dead, though).

All in all it was a more measured return to the fold. It was good in the sense of showing rather than telling, drip-feeding information about what this world was and currently is as a result of Peter’s absence. It’s perhaps a sharp point, but I didn’t find myself missing Peter. I did want to pick up more with Fauxlivia and Walternate and see where they were really at (I hope Fauxlivia still retains a sympathetic side to her rather than the sneering person we saw here).

Of course, Peter will return. The big question has to be: When he does return, will he return to this world, or will the worlds shift once more – and if they do, what will it be like? It’s big, heady territory for Fringe but the show has been good at straddling bold ideas in a sophisticated manner so far so there’s no cause for concern at present.

What was the best part?

Whilst there was a lot of strong interplay between these established characters displaying the subtle differences between their ‘old’ versions and their ‘new’ versions, for me the best part of the episode was the transition from Lincoln and his partner talking in the kitchen to giving chase to the shapeshifter. It was a cool cut, with an energising music cue that also involved Lincoln showing some sweet, fast moves when he apprehended the guy he was chasing despite the guy having a gun to his head! In a subdued episode it was the one real pulse-raising sequence (though hats off to the scene where Olivia and Lincoln bagged a shapeshifter each, that was good too).

What do I think will happen next?

I expect we’ll get a perspective on how things are with the ‘Alt’ characters; Walternate, Fauxlivia and the rest. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next episode shifted focus onto their side in a similar way to how it alternated sides during Season 3. As for the question of whether Walternate is responsible for the new shapeshifters, that’s a tough call given we’ve really no understanding about what kind of man this ‘new’ version of him is. My gut, however, says the alternates are not directly involved in the sense that they are trying to wage war with the other side.

The big question, of course, is about Peter. I fully expect that he will get ‘remembered’ and bleed back into reality. I also expect this to happen around about episode 4 or 5 (can’t see a lead character like his being left out longer than that). I suspect that the Observer, September, will be a pivotal part of that – perhaps further disobeying his orders to erase Peter and instead choosing to do the exact opposite.

Doctor Who: S03 Ep07 – 42

What happened?

The Doctor and Martha are propelled onto a cargo spaceship in dire distress; plunging into a sun and, at the time of their arrival, there’s approximately 42 minutes left to impact. With the TARDIS confined to a red hot ventilation shaft, The Doctor, Martha, and the handful of crew must somehow restore the ship’s damaged engines and auxiliary system in the short time available.

As if the situation wasn’t difficult enough, some strange entity is taking over members of the crew and with a fearsome cry of “Burn with me” is picking off the remaining people one-by-one. The Doctor eventually realises that this strange entity is the sun itself, attacking the ship for pillaging its energy as fuel.

The Doctor is almost killed by this energy but Martha is on hand to save the day, venting out the fuel and returning it to the sun before he dies. She is rewarded with her own key to the TARDIS in addition to the earlier gift she received; a universal telephone. Using this phone she had spoken to her mother and arranged to go and see her, unaware the call was under surveillance by people working for the illusive “Saxon”.

Thoughts

Let’s just say this now: Best episode of Doctor Who I’ve seen so far. Not just of this series, but stretching back to when Christopher Ecclestone was the main man (I don’t have any real awareness of Doctor Who prior to its modern revival). Aside from some fringe elements regarding Martha’s call home and Saxon, this was a stand alone episode that rarely relented from the moment it started and reached a near feverish level of intensity.

The title 42 referred to the number of minutes remaining before the ship crashed, which basically meant the episode ran in real time, adding to the drama. It’s a well-worn premise, seen countless times in films and TV: small group of people in a confined, contained position of jeopardy , getting picked off one by one to keep tightening the dramatic noose. It’s well-worn because, when done right, it makes for a top notch thrill ride.

What really helped this episode sail through was that the crew were a hardy, likeable bunch. We joined them at crisis point and they quickly accepted the sudden appearance of The Doctor and Martha and put them to use whilst they tried to save themselves. Between the devoted captain and wife, the lonely, disconsolate young man and the glass-half-full engineer they seemed varied and managed to bring a sense of history to their cookie-cutter collection of caricatures.

The monster of the week was more compelling when it wasn’t fully-explained. If the episode had a weak point then the monster itself, and most particularly the explanation as for why it was taking down the crew, was definitely it. The notion that this ‘sun’ was a living entity I was OK with, but the scooping out of its heart by this ship mining it for fuel and it then possessing them to drag them back to it. . . That was a bit hard to swallow.

I think it was the energy being classed as its heart that I got most hung up on. It’s not like my enjoyment was totally destroyed it just jarred me a little. But otherwise the ‘monster’ possessing the crew and intoning the deep-throated “burn with me” was imposing. Although it did become a little laughable that the threatening gesture of attack was a hand poised at the eye shield visor!

Minor niggles though, because for the majority the episode shone (pun intended) as a terrific jolt of adrenaline; it hit the ground running and then worked up to a breathless sprint. Even The Doctor seemed to get swept off his feet by it, with some interesting character traits fired out from him when he became possessed by the sun monster. He panicked when he was being put into the freezer, admitting that he was scared even, before trying to say something to Martha about his capacity for regeneration (frustrating, really, that it wasn’t quite clarified what he was trying to put across).

Perhaps most interesting was his strange manner at the end of the episode, back in the TARDIS. Martha was jubilant and rightly making a truthful joke about the fact that she had saved the day again and it was thus worthwhile her being around, but his reaction was momentarily cold and distant. Again, it was hard to gauge where his head was at during this moment.

Given this moment of coldness came just before he handed Martha the key to the TARDIS I can only figure it was almost like he’d been hit by a blast of realisation, that a) Rose was definitely gone and b) He had gone and found a replacement. In short, he was officially moving on from Rose.

Whilst that’s the best explanation I can summon, I must say I found his stern expression difficult to rationalise with that interpretation. Odd.

The episode closed out with another ‘cliffhanger’ surrounding the identity and purpose of this mysterious “Saxon”. Whilst I expect there’s going to be big reveal about this I have to say I am not as blown away by these Saxon-related stings as the show seems to think I should be. I simply cannot be stunned or excited by something or someone I don’t know anything about!

Martha has made arrangements to go and meet her mother on Election Day, but luckily she can travel in time so there’s room for a few more episodes of adventures yet, I am sure, before she drops by on that same day and, presumably, walks straight into whatever this Saxon character has waiting for them.

What was the best part?

The moment where Martha and the other guy crammed themselves into an escape pod that was then jettisoned prompted one brief moment of eerie silence. As the pod drifted helplessly towards the inferno, Martha and The Doctor looked at each other through the porthole windows, calling out to one another. It was a classy, emotional punch running counter to the high-octane pace of the rest of the episode.

What do I think will happen next?

Almost certainly The Doctor and Martha will return to Martha’s mother, on Election Day, as they discussed on the phone. There they will encounter these people that rerpresent Saxon, and presumably Saxon himself. Whilst I didn’t closely watch this series of Doctor Who when it was first-aired (in fact, having been re-watching, I am actually startled as to how few of them I watched originally – less than three so far) I am reasonably sure that this Saxon fellow will turn out to be The Master (though, I’ll be honest, his significance in the Doctor Who universe isn’t one I am aware of).

An Idiot Abroad: S02 Ep01

What Happened?

Having traversed the Seven Wonders of the World, Karl Pilkington's new globe-trotting agenda has focussed on him experiencing selected items from a 'Bucket List'; a list of things to do before you die. In this episode he is sent to the South Pacific where he gets to spend a whole night alone on his own desert island (but not before he is offered opportunities to bungee jump, and landjump with tribal natives. . .).

Thoughts

I was always of the opinion that An Idiot Abroad was at its best during the first series when there was less 'forced' event and more of Karl Pilkington being documented experiencing the things he came up against that were not prompted or predicted. It's for this reason I felt this opening episode of the new series felt just too forced, felt like it was trying too hard, and it just didn't translate as naturally well.

For example, in the first episode of the first series, when Karl visited China, there was a period of time where he was left to his own devices to go and walk around and explore the place. It was during that time he came across the various stalls selling crazy food, and saw a guy walk by carrying his own toilet seat amongst other things; it was like a little treasure trove of insights about what things are really like there that offered amusement and some genuinely interesting views of a country you've probably never been to presented in a way most travel documentaries don't dwell on.

It was refreshing.

This episode didn't capture that refreshing vibe. As I said, it felt like it was trying too hard, constantly throwing pre-arranged stuff at Karl as though afraid that letting him just be left alone to show us where he was through his eyes would be too boring for the audience. The very thing that I thought was the show's biggest strength is the very thing the show creators seem too afraid to fall back on. And so seeing him forced into ingratiating himself to tribes, and barely want to adopt their customs, dress and practices simply made for uncomfortable viewing rather than the feel of 'one of us' reacting to life 'over there'.

Admittedly there was the funny moment, when he was refusing to wear the leaf pants of the natives, where Karl acknowledged to the crew behind the camera that it was awkward - only for the native, 'Jon', to push on and insist that it was going to happen anyway. But that amusement was tempered by the feel that Karl was probably being rather insulting to these people; his belligerence and stout English mentality wasn't translating as humour and more like narrow-minded ignorance. Not cool. I know it's very much Karl's character to be resistant to new experiences but, fact is, he was in their tribe with a film crew all around him and to just point blank refuse to get involved became tiresome.

Same goes for the bungee jump at the beginning. To be fair, Karl had said he definitely would never do such a thing. But then why get all trussed up for it, camera mounted on his helmet, and have the bungee guys all urging him on, only to refuse to do it? It made for infuriating viewing. I really wanted the bungee guy just to put a boot on Karl's back and shove him off the ledge because, as Ricky Gervais was saying in one of his phone calls, there's every chance he'd have found it more of a thrill and a rush than his fears were screaming at him. As viewers, we wanted to see Karl take the jump and be amazed and enthralled by the experience of it - instead we got him backtracking.

The landjump was similarly disappointing, though it did yield the amazing rarity of Karl in fits of laughter afterwards when even he realised how utterly pathetic his small five foot 'fall' into mud had been in comparison to the thirty foot plus jump he was supposed to attempt (in fairness, leaping off the rickety scaffold to practically land headfirst in the ground with your fall broken only by a special vine didn't look very health and safety conscious!).

So from a tribe that worshipped Prince Phillip (I shared Karl's confusion about how such a thing happened) to sliding down the side of a volcano on an arseboard (didn't look like much fun since there appeared to be more pushing than sliding) we finally arrived at the climax of the episode; a night on a desert Island. It certainly looked miserable. Pissing down with rain, sitting on shingle sheltered only by palm leaves, eating some miserable potato-like vegetable slow-roasted over the embers of a dismal fire. This, of course, is what An Idiot Abroad wants to be about this series; pushing Karl into conceptually amazing experiences and converting them into the most arduous and embarrassing and fun-sapping results. It's a good pitch but, incongruously, it demands more set up and pre-arrangement and that drains the vitality that the first series possessed.

Hopefully it'll get better. It's still an amusing show, and still one to have recorded on series link to ensure you don't miss it, and for sure it'll be one that people will be talking about at workplaces all over the land on Monday morning. But, for me, being so excited about it, it's return to the screen was marred with more disappointment than entertainment.

What was the best part?

Karl discussing with Ricky his accomplishments with the landjump, and breaking down into laughter when he realised how pathetic his efforts had been. It wasn't so much the subject matter that was so funny, it was more just the sight of Karl laughing hard. Whether it's a well-cultivated demeanour he maintains, or whether he really rarely laughs, or whether the first series just edited out such giggly glee previously, it was hard not to laugh along with that miserable sod as he cracked up.

What do I think will happen next?

Given this is a documentary and not a drama it's not really essential to make speculation about what I think will happen next. I know from the 'next week' preview that Karl will be venturing aboard the Transsiberian Express and, from the few clips shown, it looked like a lot more interesting and engaging subject matter. Hopefully it'll be the return to the feel of series one and re-capture that magic.