Evolution of the Daleks

The Daleks are one of the main antagonists in the show Doctor Who. However hard the Doctor tries to destroy them, the Daleks keep coming back. Although this creatures have been in Doctor Who since 1963 the Daleks have changed in many ways, in both appearance and mechanics. Even though there have been multiple remodelings of the Dalek, I'm just going to discuss the original version and the 2005 Dalek.

The original Dalek made its television premier in 1963 in "The Daleks." The appearance of a Dalek, if you have never seen one, is basically a trash can with a plunger and a whisk sticking out of it. I did a bit of digging and I found  a video explain why it looks the way it does. (It is posted below.)  I discovered the only reason Daleks have plungers and whisks as weapons is because the BBC could not afford anything more. They had to put a magnet in the plunger so it could carry objects. The actual body of the Dalek was originally designed as taller and cylindrical but then made short so the actor could have more comfort. Playing a Dalek was quite difficult, although the designers did make the Daleks shorter so the actors could sit, they props themselves weighed a lot. It was difficult just to move, but they also had to aim the rays (whisks) and push buttons every time that certain Dalek talked. The buttons made a light to tell which Dalek was talking, this was a last minute decision. 

(part 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJak2P61GrAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJak2P61GrA

 

(part 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KidjDHxi2oMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KidjDHxi2oM

The first appearance of the Daleks in the new 2005 series of Doctor Who was in the episode "Dalek," named after the original episode above. These Daleks basically still looked the same, with a few minor changes because of a bigger budget. A major change of the Dalek were that they now could fly. Yep, so now stairs are not a problem. The movement of the Daleks have gotten easier because one other advances of the Daleks which were that the eyestalk, lights, and arms were then remote operated, this put less pressure on the actors. A few other small changes to the design were the Daleks now had a glowing eyepiece and an all over brass finish.

Evolution of Sam Winchester

This is going to be a special post about Sam Winchester from Supernatural, this is a step-by-step of Sam Winchester becoming who he is.For those who watch Supernatural, you know Sam has a very unlucky life you can say. But if you haven’t seen the show I will need to explain a little bit about his early life first.

            Even when Sam was a baby he had rotten luck. It all started when he was six months old, he was asleep in his cradle one night when the demon, Azazel, who cut his own wrist and feed baby Sam demon blood. Hearing Sam cry his mother walks in, disturbing Azazel’s ritual, Azazel pins her up to the ceiling and burns her alive. Sam and he’s brother Dean are now demon hunters.

            In season one Sam is a Stanford Law student with his girlfriend Jess. Sam has given up hunting demons but when Dean arrives he sucks Sam back into hunting.  When Sam returns from the ghost hunt he finds Jess pinned to the ceiling and then she burns alive just like his mother. In the end of the season Sam finds a clue to why Azazel feed him demon blood, he is now having visions and telekinesis.

            In season two Dean finds out why Azazel gave Sam these powers but he refuses to tell Sam. Finally, after being pestered by Sam, Dean tells him; Sam is to be in Azazel’s army. In the season finally Sam is kidnaps by Azazel with four other kids like him. They have all been brought together to fight to the death so Azazel can find the leader of his demon army. Sam and another kid, Jack, have almost escaped when Jack stabs Sam in the back, killing Sam. Sam is brought back to life when Dean sells his soul for Sam.

            In season three Sam is looking for a way for Dean to get his soul back. This season seems like it is a Dean season but no, they won’t let that. Throughout this whole Dean dilemma Sam is still discovering his powers. Sam is challenge by a demon named Lilith, hearing of Sam’s powers. Sam is greeted by another demon, Ruby, who claims she knows how to stop Lilith; he must drink demon blood to strengthen his power, the same thing that got him into this mess. Sam refuses to drink blood and cannot stop Lilith before she can collect Dean’s soul, killing Dean. 

            In season four Dean is brought back by Castiel, an angel. He brought Dean back because Lucifer is rising and he wants Dean and Sam to stop it. Sam, in the meanwhile, started hanging out her Ruby again and is drinking demon blood. (Real smart, Sam.) Dean obviously finds out later in the season and is very disappointed in Sam. Dean then locks Sam up trying to get him ‘sober’ of demon blood. But when Sam is on the brink of recovery Castiel, thinking he is doing well, lets Sam out.  Sam then goes find Lilith and kills her. But in that he discovers Lilith was the final sacrifice for Lucifer, Lucifer has risen.

            In season five Lucifer is set free but his human vessel to possess, which apparently is Sam. Lucifer wants to bring the apocalypse and his brother, Michael the archangel is trying to stop it. Sam refuses to be possessed Lucifer but Lucifer does not give up trying to persuade him. Finally at the end of the season Sam agrees to be Lucifer's vessel, and goes to a field to battle Michael. Dean comes to the battle ground to try to talk sense into Sam, who is possessed by Lucifer. Lucifer, getting annoyed with Dean, starts beating Dean up, claiming Sam is gone. Suddenly Sam takes control of Lucifer and opens a portal into Hell. Sam, with Lucifer, grabs Michael and jumps into Hell. So Sam is now in Hell but in the very last scene of the season we see Sam lurking outside of Dean's window.
             In season six we see that Sam is back, and later Dean finds that out as well. Sam was pulled out of Hell by Castiel, an angel, but not all of Sam has been brought back; Sam's soul is still in Hell. While Dean is trying to find some way to bring Sam soul back, Sam kind of being a jerk. Dean finds Death, one of the four horsemen, and pleads with him to bring Sam’s soul back from Hell. But in giving the soul back Sam gets all the memories back from Hell, the torture and agony.
             In season seven Dean and Sam are hunting this season's monster, the Leviathans, God's first creation. But in the meanwhile, Sam is still struggling with his memories of Hell. Sam starts to see Lucifer wherever he goes and it's literally driving him insane. Finally, Sam is sent to a mental institution for this. Lucifer is still trying to convince Sam he is still in Hell and it is working, Sam is refusing to eat, sleep, and in general is being tortured. Finally, Dean finds Castiel and Castiel takes Sam insanity away from him on to himself. In the end of the season Dean kills the Leviathan, but in the process is also sent to Purgatory with them.
              In season eight Sam is trying to make the best of a bad situation since Dean's disappearance. Sam is now living with his new girlfriend, Amelia, but a year later Dean pops up. Sam cannot decide whether to go with Dean or stay with Amelia, but in the end he goes with Dean. Sam and Dean then find a ritual with three trails to close the Gates of Hell, and they try it. Through course of events, Sam is the one who performs the trials over Dean. Dean is not happy with this because he sees that these trials are killing him. Right at the end of the season when Sam is about to close the Gates of Hell, Sam collapses.
             In season nine we find Sam in coma at a hospital. Dean is freaking out because he knows Sam is about to die, but he won’t let that happen. Dean calls to any angel listening and begs for help, and an angel named Ezekiel appears. Ezekiel agrees to help Sam get better but in doing that Ezekiel needs to possess Sam.

Yeah. So Sam is now possessed by an angel. Again, Sam does not have the best luck.

GUEST BLOGGER!!!!

 

“On Leather Wings”

                                                                             by: Tabitha Jones

“On Leather Wings” is the first episode in the Batman Animated Series. The episode is a sort of Jekyll and Hyde story. A scientists who wants his colleagues to respect him, creates a formula. The formula turns him into a giant bat like creature. After breaking into a pharmaceutical building and attacking a guard, Batman gets on the case. After investigating the crime scene, Batman finds oddly shaped footprints and the guards tape recorder. Batman goes as his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, to interview some scientists at the local zoo. One of them is Kirk Langstrom, who is also the scientists who turns into the bat creature. After more detective work, Batman goes to confront Langstrom who then turns into the bat creature. After flying through the city and fighting each other, Batman is finally able to defeat Langstrom. Batman drops off Langstrom with his wife, who gets the formula out of his system. Batman doesn’t believe that it’ll be last time he sees Langstrom though. This episode shows the old style detective Batman and the new action and adventure side. The episode is well done and a good-kick start for the series.

*Special thanks to Tabitha Jones, film study major at Webster University, for writing this post!

 

Grimm

 

 

Let Your Hair Down: Season 1, Episode 7, Written by: Holly Dale

                We start by seeing a young couple hiking in the woods when they encounter a drug dealer. The drug dealer takes the young couple to his camp, threatening to kill them, when they start hearing something following them. The drug dealer goes to investigate, but seconds later, we see his silhouette being torn to pieces.

                We then see Detective Nick Burkhardt and his partner Detective Hank Griffin driving up to the camp site/crime scene. While examining the body, Hank notices that the drug dealer’s neck is severely bruised and that there are some long brown hairs on his body. While Nick goes deeper into the woods, he spots a dark figure watching him. He pursues the figure, but when the figure turns around Nick sees that she is a little girl; not only that, he also sees that she is a Blutbad. A Blutbad is kind of like a werewolf. Back at the station, Nick and Hank get the hair, most likely belonging to the girl, analyze and they find out it belongs to a girl named Holly Clark, a girl who disappeared years before. Nick, who is a bit confused with this whole Grimm thing, goes to Monroe, his friend who is also a Blutbad.  Monroe agrees to help find the missing girl. The next morning, Nick and Monroe go into the woods where Nick last saw Holly, so Monroe can sniff her out. After they find Holly, they chase her to a tree where she suddenly vanishes. Not knowing where she went, Nick and Monroe climb the tree. Up there they find a little hideout and in it Holly is treating her wounds. Nick realizes that the wounds are too bad for her or Nick to heal, and decides to take her to the hospital. Monroe thinks that is a terrible idea because she is a wild Blutbad who hasn’t been around civilization, but Nick does not listen to him. After she is treated and us checked out of the hospital, Holly is reunited with her family.

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Comments:

-          One thing I love about this episode is the relationship between Holly and Monroe. When Nick and Monroe first found Holly, she was frightened, but once she realized Monroe was like her, he became almost like a father figure to Holly.

-          I think the writers did an excellent job of making the Rapunzel story modern. In the actual fairy tale, the Brothers Grimm make it seem that nobody really cares that a girl is missing, but in modern times, it’s everyone’s top priority to find a missing child, and I just find it fascinating how they brought out how the people in the fairy tale could have reacted.

-          I like that in this episode Nick is still so clueless about the world of Grimm. In the most recent episodes, Nick is use to this world and all its monsters so it is refreshing to look back at when he knew nothing and was as clueless as we, the viewers, are.

Here's the promo for the episode!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ReVTRD94sc

Grimm

Pilot: Season 1, Episode 1, Written by: Marc Burkland

    
      The show begins with Detective Nick Burkhardt coming home from work to find a woman in his house. It is Nick's Aunt Marie, who tells them they need to talk. They go outside where Marie tells Nick that she is dying; she then him the family secret: he is a Grimm. Marie explains that the Brothers Grimm fairy tales are true and that there actually are monsters. Being a Grimm means he is one of the few people with the ability to see those monsters. The next day, Nick is still freaked out about his conversation with Marie, but is distracted when his partner Hank Griffin calls with a missing person case. Nick meets up with Hank in the woods where he gets a brief recap of what happens.  A young college student went on her morning jog through the woods and has not been seen since. Nick finds her body torn to shreds and sees a footprint nearby. The next day, Nick gets a call about a little girl going missing in the same woods. Nick and Hank follow the path the little girl likely took and find the exact same footprints. They follow the footprints to find that it leads to a man; but suddenly Nick sees this man’s face change -- it changes into a monster, and then it returns to normal. Nick assumes this monster-man is the culprit, and runs him to the ground. After a ton of police work, this monster-man, whose name is Monroe, is released without any charges being filed. Nick, still suspicious of what he saw, goes back to Monroe’s house. Suddenly, out of his house comes this big wolf-like creature. It’s Monroe, he is aBlutbad, which is more or less a werewolf. After assuring Nick he does not eat people, Monroe becomes helpful in the case. Monroe helps sniff out the real culprit, who is another Blutbad. Monroe leaves because he does not want to get involved, so Nick calls Hank. A middle-aged man lets Nick and Hank into the house; they search the house, finding nothing. Just as they are about to leave, Hank hears a thud. When they turn back to the house the middle-aged man, who is a Blutbad, is ready to fight. In all the commotion, the Blutbad gets shot. He dies before he can say where the girl is. In their search for the girl, Nick finds a trap door in a basement where they find the little girl.

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Comments:

-This show interests me.  It takes a new spin on cop shows by incorporating this mystical feel. But instead of making it nice and sweet, they show not only thatmonsters are terrifying, but sometimes monsters are humans, and humans have those dark sides too.

-Another reason why I love this show is that almost every episode of Grimm deals with a different fairy tale. Fairy tales are supposed to be happy and nice but the writers reveal them for what they really are: horrifying. (This episode is ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, if you were wondering.)

-I love Monroe. I look back on this episode and find it hilarious that Nick could ever possibly think a nonthreatening-looking-guy like Monroe could possibly be evil.

 

Stay tuned for my post next week!

Supernatural

Hook Man, Season One, Episode Seven, Written by: John Shiban

This episode begins with a couple making out in a car. The guy starts to take advantage of the girl when they hear something scratching on a nearby sign. The guy steps out to investigate. After waiting a few minutes, the girl, Lori, hears a thudding sound on the roof; she steps out of the car to find the boy hanging on the tree above the car’s roof.

            In the next scene, Sam and Dean are coming into town pretending to be college students. They find out where Lori is and go to talk to her. She tells them that the police do not believe her because she says that the murderer was invisible. This, and the fact that the boy was hanging dead from a tree, led Sam and Dean to the conclusion that the murderer is the Hook Man, because the Hook Man is known for hanging his victims. Later, Lori goes up to her room to find her roommate, a party girl, asleep; when Lori wakes up the following morning, her roommate is dead in her bed. Sam and Dean go to the room to investigate and try to find a connection between the two murders. That same evening, Lori finds out her father, a minister, is sleeping with a married woman. After a heated argument between Lori and her father, the Hook Man comes and tries to kill the father. At this point, Sam and Dean are certain that the Hook Man is connected with Lori and that he is punishing everyone Lori thinks is doing something wrong.

            Sam and Dean discover that the only way to kill the Hook Man is to burn his hook. The next evening, Sam finds Lori in the church where they are looking for the hook.  Lori has made the connection that she is somehow to blame for these murders. She therefore believes that she should be punished, and the Hook Man will be happy to take care of that by killing her, too.  The Hook Man corners Sam and Lori, but Dean finds the hook at the last minute and throws it in the fire. The Hook Man burns along with his hook.

Here's the Hook Man death!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPnBKWR-Ts0

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Comments:

-I like this episode because the creators dug up a really old and famous ghost story that had been forgotten about, and they made it more modern.

-The beginning of the episode was very stereotypical - a guy and a girl in a car making out.  That doesn’t happen very often in Supernatural.  I found it funny how the creators did something so out of character.

-A final reason to love this episode, although it wasn’t central to the plot, is that Sam and Lori kissed!  Remember, since the first episode when Jess died, Sam hasn’t been in a romantic relationship.

Supernatural

Bloody Mary: Season 1, Episode 5, Wriite by: Ron Milbauer & Terri Hughes Burton

                This episode begins with a game of truth or dare at a little girl’s slumber party. One of the girls picks “dare” and is dared to say “Bloody Mary” three times in the bathroom mirror. We then see the girl’s father in the upstairs bathroom mirror, where he sees a reflection of himself while his eyes are being scratched out; suddenly his eyes start bleeding. The girl’s sister, Donna, comes home to find her father lying on the floor dead with his eyes gouged out. In the next scene, Sam and Dean have arrived in the town to investigate the strange death. They first visit the father’s daughters, where they learn the little girl was playing Bloody Mary that night. Curious, Sam and Dean go up to the bathroom where the father died; however, they are interrupted when Donna’s friend, Charlie, catches them and demands to know why they are snooping. Sam and Dean explain to Charlie that Donna’s father may not, as she had thought, died of a stroke.  The next day Charlie, still pretty wigged out about what she had learned, calls her friend Jill and tells her that the father might have been killed by Bloody Mary. Jill then goes to the bathroom mirror where she says “Bloody Mary” three times, thenscreams. Charlie is listening over the phone line and is really freaked out, but when she hears Jill’s mocking laugh, she hangs up, believing Jill was simply mocking her. Later that night, Jill is at her mirror and, looking at her reflection, sees her eyes being scratched out. The next thing we know Jill is dead with her eyes gouged out. Charlie calls Sam and Dean telling them everything. Sam and Dean ask to get into Jill’s room to see if there is any evidence.  Sam finds the name of a little boy written on the mirror. It belongsto a boy Jill killed in a hit and run accident.  The trio then goes over to Donna’s house to see if anything is written on the mirror. They see Donna’s mother’s name, implying that the father killed his own wife. At school,Charlie decides to tell Donna about Mary; Donna gets so upset she says Bloody Mary in the bathroom mirror. Charlie starts to see Bloody Mary and calls Sam and Dean. Charlie tells them she walked out on her boyfriend and he killed himself and that is why Mary is hunting her. Sam comes up with an idea to kill Mary, suggesting they summon her and then smash the mirror.However, when Sam goes to a mirror and summons Mary, she overpowers him. Just as he is about to get his eyes gouged out, Dean comes running in and smashes the mirror.

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Comment:

In my opinion, this episode from season one is one of the scariest episodes of Supernatural. Unfortunately, in more recent episodes, the creators have moved away from this concept, and made the episodes more serious.  That takes away from some of the fantasy and therefore the fun. But I still love the new episodes.

I appreciate how the creators have researched the legends involving Bloody Mary, many of which have her gouging people’s eyes out.  The episode takes an old legend, but makes the more realistic and therefore scarier.

What is fun about this episode is that it takes a game many girls have played at slumber parties and the next time they play it – if they dare -- the game will be even scarier.  

Hey! Stay tuned for my post next week!

Torchwood 

                                               (Adam is the creep dude in the background)

Adam: Season Two, Episode Five, Written by: Catherine Tregenna

​This episode starts with Gwen Cooper returning to Torchwood from vacation. She sees someone in her work area; it’s not one of her colleagues, so she freaks out. Her coworkers, Jack and Ianto, rush over to Gwen thinking something’s wrong, but they notice nothing unusual. “Whois this?” Gwen asks, shocked that they’re not shocked, “Adam, remember, he’s worked here for three years.” Jack replies. Adam, the new guy, then touches Gwen on hershoulder, and then Gwen believes that Adam has been there for years. (The viewers all know something’s up now, what with the touching and the fact we have never seen him before.) Worried about Gwen, Jack and Ianto take her home. When they get to Gwen’s house, Gwen finds somebody in the house, and starts attacking him. Jack and Ianto come in yelling, “It’s Rhys!” (Gwen’s fiancée). Gwen does not remember Rhys at all, so Jack and Ianto take her back to Torchwood to take some tests to find out where her memories have gone. (Gee, I wonder whose fault that is!) As they keep a close eye on Gwen, Ianto realizes something; he never has talked about Adam in his records.Right when he is going to mention this to Jack, Adam comes up.  Adam is suspicious that Ianto knows something, and starts accusing Ianto of a number of murders. Ianto denies these accusations but then Adam touches him andIanto believes him. Ianto starts to panic because he knows he could never have murdered someone but he can’t deny his memory. Ianto runs up to Jack, wanting to resign because he thinks he himself is a criminal. This is the final straw for Jack; two of his best friends are going insane. Jack realizes something; these memory mess-ups happen right after Adam touches the person. Jack does some research and discovers Adam has only popped up three days ago. Jack then hunts down Adam, demanding to what he is. It turns out that Adam is an alien who feeds off of people’s memories. Jack then threatens to kill Adam if he ever returns. Later, Jack drugs his friends and himself so they have no idea what happened over the past three days.

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Comments:

-This episode, when you watch it, is a filler episode,but is one of my absolute favorite episodes. I love how the writers, who built up these characters to be indestructible, just tear the characters down with this one alien showing that they are not as indestructible as we think.

-I love Ianto! And seeing him break down makes me love him even more! Ianto is probably the sweetest character on television, and to introduce a character who can convince him that he is a monster, well you just can’t help but hate him.

-Rhys does not concern himself with the world of aliens or monsters, so he is just plain freaked -out. I feel so bad for Rhys because here is the person he loves and she can’t remember him. Yes, Jack and Ianto feel sorry for Gwen and Rhys, but they are aware are they can bring her memory back.  Rhys doesn’t know this and has to live in the fear that the love of his life might be gone.

That Captain Jack Harknees episode is from Torchwood.

Captain Jack Harkness: Season 1, Episode 12, Written by: Catherine Tregenna

This episode starts out with Captain Jack Harkness and Tosh Sato investigating an abandoned dance hall, which is said to be haunted by ghosts. Suddenly they slip through a time portal and they are back in the year 1941. They find themselves in the middle of a World War Two shipping-off party. While here, they hear a familiar name, Captain JackHarkness. This makes zero sense to Tosh because Jack’s age has always been a mystery she thinks she may now find out what has happened in Jack’s past to make him immortal. (Unless you have seen Doctor Who. Spoiler Alert!  Too make a long story short, Rose, who was possessed by the TARDIS at the time, brought Jack back to life.) But Tosh does not find out because this is a different Captain Jack Harkness in 1941, although he is the man whose identity Jack stole after 1941 Jack died. Jack then realizes that tomorrow is the day when 1941 Jack goes off to war and dies. When Jack realizes this he goes and talks to the other Jack to get to know the person whose identityhe has stolen. While Jack and Jack are talking, they notice they are both attracted to one another. But this is weird for the 1941 Jack because it is the 1940’s and being gay is taboo. Meanwhile, Tosh is finding out how to get back to the present, and she realizes she needs to make another portal. As she tries to work out how to get them back to the present, Jack and Jack’s romance blossoms, Jack asks 1941Jack to dance. As everyone stares at him, wondering what he will say, 1941 Jack walks up to Jack. Jack and 1941 Jack dance together! But just, the portal returns and Tosh runs to it dragging Jack with her. Before he leaves he runs back to1941 Jack and passionately kisses him. Then he steps into the portal, never to see the first Captain Jack Harknessagain.

-------------------------

Comments:

-I love this episode because is the first really good episodes of Torchwood.  Before this episode, I wasn’t quite sure I was a fan.

-This is a really sad episode because not only does the present day Jack have to leave his love, but the 1941 Jack got over his fear of what everyone else would think of his homosexuality and then it’s taken away in an instant, shortly before he dies.

-I think this episode was really cleverly done.  Even though the viewer knows how present day Jack became immortal, we are still learning about his past.  I like how it was set up for us to think we would learn more about that past, but then the writers tricked us.

Hey guys, stay tuned for next week's posts!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 

Normal Again: Season 6, Episode 17, Written by: Diego Gutierrez

                 This episode begins, as many do, with Buffy Summers fighting a demon in a park. The demon stabs Buffy with a needle-like skewer and suddenly Buffy is in a mental hospital getting a shot.  She comes to, dazed and confused, Buffy is in the park and the demon is nowhere to be seen. Buffy walks home but she keeps having flashes of herself in a mental hospital. Later, Buffy is talking with her friends when she collapses. She then finds herself back in the hospital with a doctor telling her that everything is a lie, that she has been in this hospital for six years. Buffy’s parents then come in, which confuses her even more because Buffy’s father left years ago and her mother had recently died. The doctor tells Buffy’s parents that Buffy has been schizophrenic for six years and that she has made up this world of demons to cope with the fact she is insane. When Buffy awakens she is back in her house. She is telling her friends everything that has happened in the hospital, and she reveals that, in the past, she actually spent a short time in a mental hospital, and is wondering if she did ever leave. Buffy’s friends try to convince her that being home is reality and that the belief that she was back in the hospital, is the result of the demon stab, but Buffy just will not believe them. Later, her friends make an antidote that will fix all this, but Buffy refuses to take it because she chooses the other world over the real one; Buffy then tells the doctor in the other world that she wants to be rid of this world of demons. The doctor says that Buffy needs to destroy everything that draws her to that world, including friends and family. Buffy then ties up her friends and family, who are desperately trying to convince her that this is reality now. Buffy’s mother, in the other hospital world, tells Buffy that she can fight the harshness of the world because she has those who love her.  Buffy applies this advice to the real world and unties her friends, to show that she choose reality over the hospital.

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Comments:

-  This is a fabulous episode because it shows Buffy’s inner conflicts with the world around her and that she knows if anyone else spoke of demons they would most likely be in a mental hospital.

-The fact that this episode is called Normal Again implies that Buffy knows how messed up her life really is and that, deep down, she wants a normal life. It shows the basic challenge Buffy faces – the choice between being “normal” or being in a hellish reality with those she loves.

 -  The fact that Buffy’s parents are both at the hospital is a big reason why Buffy wants to stay in the hospital world.  Her father was absent most of her life and so her mother was even more important to her.  Her mother’s sudden death has left Buffy feeling alone.  A part of her would give anything to have her parents back.

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 

 

Hush: Season 4, Episode 10, Written by: Joss Whedon

 

                This episode starts out with Buffy Summers napping in class, and while she is sleeping, she has a prophetic dream. In the dream she sees a little girl holding a weirdly- designed box.  The girl was singing a strange rhyme about creatures known as “The Gentlemen.” Startled, Buffy calls her mentor, Giles, who says he will look into it. But he did not get started soon enough and that night, while everyone is asleep, these Gentlemen begin wandering through town sending out white wisps that float through the atmosphere, jumping from person to person. In the morning, Buffy wakes up and goes about her normal business, but when she tries to talk to her friend, Willow, she realizes that neither of them can speak! Distressed, they run outside and discover that no one can talk! Buffy and Willow race to Giles’s house to see if he knows what is happening.  Giles makes the assumption that it has to do with the Gentlemen Buffy dreamt of. The next night, the Gentlemen return, but this time they are not stealing voices, they are stealing hearts. This is the missing clue Giles needs.  With it, he discovers the plan of The Gentlemen -- they are gathering seven hearts to complete a ritual, and they take away voices so that no one can hear the screams of the victims. Giles finds out that the way to defeat he Gentlemen is for them to hear a human scream. The next night Buffy decides to follow one of The Gentlemen to the lair where the voices are kept in the weirdly designed box. She fights her way through all of the Gentlemen to get to the box, and when she finally gets there, Buffy smashes the box into bits. When Buffy smashes the box her voice returns, and when her voice returns she screams until the Gentlemen explode.

---------------------------------

Comments:

- This episode is awesome! The fact that they don’t talk in this episode reveals two things about the show:  first, the acting in this show is incredible and second, the show is awesome even without dialogue!

 

-This episode might sound familiar.  That’s because it is based on a Grimm fairy tale.  I like how Joss Whedon, the director, wanted to do this episode so much that he made the effort to find the perfect story in which it made sense to have no dialogue.  Otherwise, it could have been gimmicky.

 

-  In the Grimm fairy tale the scream that saves the day comes from a princess.  In this episode, it is Buffy’s scream that saves the day.  Joss Whedon is making clear his belief that women have the power to save the day.

Hey guys! Stay tuned for my new post next week!

Sherlock

 

 

The Reichenbach Falls ; Season Two, Episode Three, Written by; Stephen Thompson

This is the depressing and amazing finale to season two of Sherlock. It starts out with John Watson talking to his therapist.  The therapist is trying to make John admit something, when finally John mumbles that Sherlock Holmes is dead. We then go back about six months earlier, when Sherlock had become a local celebrity, attracting the attention of James Moriarty, Sherlock’s archenemy. Moriarty, to attract Sherlock’s attention, broke into the museum where the Crown Jewels were kept, and at the same time, broke into the Tower of London and let convicts out of the high security prison. Thereafter, Moriarty went to see Sherlock and told him that he owes Sherlock a fall to his death; he then leaves. Sherlock and John did not hear from Moriarty for another five months or so. During this period, they found a new case involving missing children, which Sherlock solved rather quickly. When Sherlock began to ask questions of one of the children, she began shrieking at the sight of Sherlock. This made one of the police officers Sherlock worked with suspicious; it is thus revealed that this was Moriarty’s plan -- to make everyone question Sherlock. It worked. The police showed up at Sherlock’s apartment, but Sherlock and John refuse to go quietly and made a run it. As both Sherlock and John were running, Sherlock realized that this was the beginning of Moriarty’s plan, and that he was about to die. Sherlock decided he would die on the rooftop of the local hospital. Sherlock met Moriarty, who proposed a deal -- all three of Sherlock friends would die unless Sherlock jumped off the building. Sherlock was just about to jump when he realized Moriarty was bluffing because he noticed that Moriarty had not given a sign to tell the gunmen to shoot. Right after Sherlock points that out, Moriarty gave the signal, i.e., Moriarty killed himself.  At this point, Sherlock knew he had to commit suicide to save his friends, but just as he was about to jump John called to him. Sherlock gave his farewells to John and then jumped. But as we see John going to Sherlock’s gravestone, the camera pans over to a figure watching him -- it’s Sherlock!!!

 

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Comments

 

-I did not include in the summary the scene where Sherlock asks for Molly Hooper’s help.  Although this doesn’t advance the plot, I feel this is important because it shows that Sherlock really does care for Molly, even though he always acts cold and pushes Molly away.  In this moment, Molly realizes that Sherlock cares for her.

Here is a link to watch the adorable Molly Hopper scene!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48WI7SsPn6A

 

 

-I loved the phone scene Sherlock and John had before Sherlock jumped.  It showed how much their friendship meant to each other and far Sherlock would go to protect his friend.

-This episode is depressing, but it is wonderful because it reveals so much emotion that I don’t think Sherlock even realized he had. 

Sherlock 

The Great Game Season 1, Episode 3, Written by Mark Gatiss

                This episode is the season finale to the first season.  Sherlock receives phone calls from an anonymous source, giving him time limits for solving his current cases, threatening that if he doesn’t, in each instance, someone will die. In the first call, Sherlock is told that, in the next twelve hours, he must solve the murder of a boy that occurred years earlier, or an old woman will die. Sherlock discovers the boy was poisoned through eczema medication; the old woman is released. The next puzzle is solving how a man disappeared from his car, and Sherlock only has eight hours to do so. He solves this one fairly quickly, finding out that the missing man’s insurance agent was recently on vacation, which leads Sherlock to conclude he helped the missing man disappear.  Again, the victim is released. The third call tells Sherlock to find out, in the next ten hours, how a local celebrity was killed. Sherlock and John Watson visit the celebrity’s housekeeper, who does not seem that broken over his boss’s death. Sherlock notices that the celebrity has had many Botox injections, and pins the death on the housekeeper for Botox poisoning.  However, even though Sherlock successfully solved the crime, the identified victim died because he started describing the caller to Sherlock. In the fourth and final call Sherlock is instructed to find out how it was obvious that a certain painting is a fake.   Sherlock has only ten seconds to analyze every detail and find the mistake, or a child will die. At the very last second, Sherlock notices the mistake -- there is a star there that should not be. Sherlock then meets the anonymous caller to gloat -- which never ends well -- and finds John with a bomb strapped to him. He has to give up a flash drive to the anonymous caller to save John. The caller is revealed to be James Moriarty, who has his gunmen ready to shoot, but, out of nowhere, Sherlock pulls out his gun and points it at the bomb, that is strapped to John. 

My comments

- I like the fact that this is all from John's perspective, which is more of a compliment to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle than the show, because like in the books we get to see how Sherlock deducing things  out of thin air.

- It amazes me that a man, fictional or real, could do what Sherlock does. He can just look at a person, for example, in the second case he just looked at the man and could read the history of this man.

- In this episode, Sherlock actually did meet Moriarty earlier, but it was so unimportant to Sherlock it did not really fit in the summary.I love Moriarty because he is almost exactly like Sherlock-- he's a super genius, he easily gets bored with everyone, and he commits crimes because he is bored; the only thing dividing them is that they are separated by good and evil.

Hey, guys! Stay tuned for my next post on a different show!

Th

Merlin

The Darkest Hour Part 1&2 : Season 4, Episode 1,Written by: Julian Jones

    This two-part episode of Merlin is the first episode of what I call the darker seasons. While the first three seasons definitely had a lighter tone, with this “two-parter,” it is apparent the show is taking a darker turn, and not just because the title has the word darkest in it.

    The episode begins with us seeing a lone traveller.  The traveller is revealed to be Morgana, Arthur's half-sister and the show’s main antagonist; and with her is her sickly half-sister, Morgause.  It is because of Morgause that Morgana turned as evil as she did -- Morgause revealed to Morgana the true extent of her power, and in the process fueled her hatred toward Uther and Arthur. Morgause shares with Morgana her final plan to open a portal to another dimension, and asks for her help. To open the portal, the two must travel to an abandoned temple and make a sacrifice.  The sacrifice will be Morgause. To be honest, I hate Morgana -- but I full-on hate Morgause, so when I heard this I was elated. Meanwhile in Camelot, Uther is a shadow of his old self, grief-stricken because he believes he turned Morgana evil. With Uther in this state, Arthur is running the kingdom with the help of his uncle, Sir Agravaine. When Morgana opens the portal, she and Merlin go unconscious and they both witness the portal opening. The gatekeeper tells Morgana that her enemy is also watching, but because she cannot see that enemy, she doesn’t realize the gatekeeper is referring to Merlin. After Merlin regains consciousness, a village girl tells Arthur and Merlin of a ghost-like creature she has seen, and Gaius, the court physician, assumes the portal has been open. Arthur, Merlin, and the knights go to the village and Merlin discovers his magic does not work on the ghost-like creature. Magic is his only defense, so I just felt so sad seeing Merlin so vulnerable. Gaius then tells Arthur, Agravaine, and Merlin that the only way to close the portal is to travel to the temple and make another sacrifice. When they hear this, Arthur automatically offers to be the sacrifice, and I'm just thinking, "No your not, you’re the main character!" Then it's revealed that Merlin plans to be the sacrifice in place Arthur, and again I'm thinking, "No, you’re also the main character!" Agravaine then betrays Arthur and tells Morgana of his plan. Part 1 then ends with Merlin and Arthur being attacked by a ghost-like creature.  Just when the creature charges for Arthur, Merlin shoves Arthur out of the way, taking the attack, and appears to be dead.

    Part two begins with Arthur insisting on taking Merlin back to Camelot. Arthur is told he cannot abandon his quest, so Sir Lancelot takes care of Merlin. Lancelot then stumbles upon river spirits who promise to shelter his group for the night and heal Merlin. The next morning Merlin has recovered and he and Lancelot hurry to catch up with Arthur. The following night, the creatures attack them, and not having any defense, Merlin calls on his dragon. Meanwhile, knowing Arthur is out of the kingdom, Morgana attacks Guinevere, knowing that if she marries Arthur, Morgana cannot become queen. I find this really cold of Morgana because Morgana and Guinevere used to be best friends, and now Morgana wants to kill Guinevere. This is the reason I hate Morgana so much by the end of this episode. Meanwhile, Lancelot and Merlin finally catch up with Arthur and, when they arrive at the temple, monsters ambush them. Arthur then finds the portal, but the gatekeeper tells him she cannot close it, only a sacrifice can do that.  When Arthur is about to sacrifice himself, Merlin runs to stop him. But suddenly Lancelot comes up and stops Merlin, knowing his plan, and jumps into the portal, sacrificing himself. This episode was so intense that, after I watched it, I literally needed to take ten minutes to process everything that happened.

Merlin

The Dragon's Call:  Season 1, Episode 1, written by: Julian Jones

     This is the first episode in the wonderful and magnificent series, Merlin. It all starts with a young Merlin traveling to Camelot.  When Merlin first arrives, he sees a witch being persecuted by King Uther, who tells everyone that magic has been outlawed. Uh-Oh, this is terrible news for Merlin! The witch being persecuted suddenly escapes, promising to take her revenge. Merlin then finds his mother's friend, Gaius, who he will be living with, and Merlin accidentally reveals to Gaius that he has magic. This is very bad because Gaius is the king's physician and Merlin is now his assistant. While Merlin is running an errand for Gaius, he sees a knight picking on a peasant. Merlin threatens this knight, which makes me embarrassed for him because I know he can't use magic and he is a thin stick of a boy. Obviously, this knight turns out to be Prince Arthur. Merlin is put in the stocks for threatening Arthur and there he meets Guinevere. A few days later, the witch, disguised as a queen, comes to Camelot, bent on destroying Uther by killing Arthur. Meanwhile, Merlin hears someone calling his name.  He sets out to find the voice, and soon discovers that the voice belongs to a dragon. The dragon reveals to Merlin his destiny – that he is bound to Arthur and that he must keep Arthur safe. Merlin hates Arthur, so this may be a problem. In the meantime, Merlin becomes very suspicious of this "queen" and closely monitors Arthur at a banquet. When Uther invites the "queen" to sing, she rises but instead of singing, she casts a spell that makes everyone but Merlin sleep. Merlin stops the witch mid-spell and everyone wakes up. In one last desperate attempt at murder the queen hurls her dagger at Arthur, but Merlin pulls him out of the way at the last second. King Uther, thrilled that Merlin has saved his son, gives Merlin a job in the castle as Arthur's servant. This is awesome because even thought, at first Merlin and Arthur hate each other, they become best friends -- and it's adorable!

Star Trek: The Original Series

 

here's the scene that picture is from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bprgl_4z6gYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bprgl_4z6gY

The Trouble with Tribbles: Season 2 Episode 15 Written by: David Gerrold

    This is just a fun episode, and that why I love it! For those for have not seen Star Trek and only know one episode this would most likely be the episode. So, in this episode the Enterprise docks at a star base for some time off. In a bar one of the ship's officer, Lieutenant Uhura, buys this puff ball called a tribble. These creatures are so adorable that if I saw one in a store right now I would buy it, even with the trouble it causes. Uhura brings it on the ship but notices one tribble has now become seven tribbles, and they keep reproducing very fast. This causes a problem for Kirk because he also is now aware a Klingon spy is lurking about. Soon these tribbles overrun the entire Enterprise. Yay, adorable puff balls everywhere, who would not want that? But soon we notices how annoying these thing can get, they get into machinery, private quarters, people's food, and people's clothes. But in the end we realize something, tribbles hate Klingons. (This makes no sense, but is a great episode.) Kirk then can detect the Klingon spy by using a tribble. He succeeds, and everything works itself out in the end.

Star Trek: The  Original Series

City on the Edge of Forever: Season 1 Episode 28 Written by:Harlan Ellison

     This is a great episode! In this episode the ship's doctor, Doctor McCoy, jumps into a time portal, and Kirk and Spock follow him. Kirk and Spock jump in the portal a few seconds after McCoy so they are transported back weeks before McCoy shows up.  They jump into New York City during the Great Depression, so it is interesting to see the two, who were born centuries in the future, fit in. I find this fun because this episode was only shot thirty years after the Great Depression, so I was thinking "Shatner, Nimoy you two are from this period." In this period Kirk and Spock find a job at a soup kitchen and Kirk falls in love with their boss. (Of course.) Later Spock finds out she is about to die, she will get hit by a bus, but if Kirk saves her history will be altered and she will be president. I understand why Kirk would save the woman but it would never work out because Kirk will eventually go back to the future. So to me it was obvious that he should just let the chips fall where they may. He decides to not interfer but right before she gets hit McCoy shows up and tries to save her. Kirk stops McCoy. McCoy freaks out because Kirk just let her die! But McCoy does not know what would have happened. They then return to their own time, being gone for only seconds.

Star Trek: The Oiginal Series

                                                                        (By: me)

                                                            Space...the final frontier 

                                                                

The Menagerie Part 1 & 2 Season 1 Episode 12 & 13 - Written by: Gene Roddenberry 

   This episode is one of my favorite episode of the Original Series. It is more or less the pilot episode, but from the perspective of an older Spock. In this episode Spock is on trail for kidnapping his former captain, and Captain Kirk is the one who is running the trail. This whole situation is impossible for Kirk to believe because Spock is one of his most loyal friends. When it was revealed Spock did go behind the Kirk's back everyone who ever watch this episode was probably thinking Spock is up to something, I know I was. This episode interest me because you get a look at the days before Kirk. You get to see Spock's former captain, Captain Pike, and the differences between him and Kirk. In ways they are very similar, they bother get easily distracted by beautiful women (let's be honest, Kirk is quite the ladies man), they also both seem too eager to beam down and go on dangerous adventures, and they both are devoted to their duties. But one big factor (and this might be us not seeing enough of Pike) but it seems, to me, Kirk is more open about talking about his past, where Pike seems more secretive, that is just the vibe I got from Pike. In the end of the episode the whole trail turns out to be an illusion from the planet they are orbiting. The ending just made me go like, " wait, say again?" which is almost always what all Star Trek: The Orginal Series episodes do.

The last link I posted was not good, so do not click it.

Doctor Who

The Wedding of River Song- Season 6 Episode 13- by:  Steven Moffat

Warning: huge spoiler!!!!

     I absolutely love this episode! This episode is probably  one of the most complex episodes of the new series of Doctor Who (so this episode is really hard to explain, so, sorry). I now I might upset some fans, but I love River Song, his companion.

    The episode starts out with the Doctor heading to his death, and the one who kills him is, none other than, River Song! I know this sounds like River is evil, but trust me she is awesome. River is being manipulated by an organization called The Silence, who are determined to destroy the Doctor. River decides not to kill him,but in doing this she messes up time. This is where it gets weird, she rewritten permanent moment in time, she was meant to kill him. Time is now all jumble, for example Winston Churchill is the Holy Roman Emperor of a future Britian with the Doctor as his soothsayer. This, to me, did not seem so bad, I mean, the Doctor did not die and the new world they are in seems at peace. Then it is revealed that the world is slowly destroying itself, this is really bad not only because time is collapsing but the Doctor has a very limited time to find River, and try to make River kill  him. River is in a pickle, for one, she loves the Doctor and does not want to be his murderer, but she also knows the world will be destroyed if the Doctor lives. The Doctor finds out a way to get her to kill him, they get married! *Squeal* This is the moment that those who like River died of love. The Doctor does this only partly to convince her, but really he does this because he also loves her and knows this might be the last time in a long time he will see River.  In this moment she realizes that this is not the Doctor physical body, but that the real Doctor is in a robot body of himself. Confusing, I know, but it makes more sense when you wacth it. When he kisses the bride they all go back to the real world, and River knowing that she is not killing him, she kills the Doctor robot. Yay! The Doctor is alive!

Go to this link, or click it to watch the wedding!

http://youtu.be/7Mf82XP_x8Y

     So, now I want to address this hate River Song deal. Everyone has a right to their opinions, but those who hate River only seem to see one side. To understand this,  you have to understand when the Doctor regenerates he has a completely different personality. To those who do not wacth this show and are reading this for fun, regeneration happens when the Doctor is dying, it is basically his genetic structure chancing which makes him almost like a new man. This goes back to Rose and the Tenth regeneration of the Doctor, those to were like soulmates. Suddenly the Doctor meets River, and they also seemed like soulmates. But with River the Doctor was in his Eleventh regeneration, so he was almost completely different from his Tenth regeneration. So, what I believe, and most who feel the way I do, River is not stealing the Doctor from Rose, but yet River is to Eleven as Rose is to Ten. But you are entitled to any option you wish.