Amazed & Confused

Smallville Series 9

Say it with me... "Flights and tights!  Flights and tights!  Flights and tights!"

So Say We All!

Today is a sad day... the greatest show ever to grace our Television sets has come to a rip roaring end.  The Battlestar Galactica and the remnant of the 12 colonies has come to rest after a long and beautifully developed journey.  I spent all last night dreaming about it like my subconscious couldn't let the characters slip away. 

I've loved this series and was entranced from the get-go.  I remember with affection watching the repeats of the original and joined other old school fans with trepidation to see the re-imagining of the camp space adventure which featured sexy cylons and a female Starbuck (!!!).  Like so many I was quietly impressed by the production values, script, performances and depth.  Alongside President Laura Roslyn, Admiral William Adama, Pilot Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace and Captain/Vice President Lee 'Apollo' Adama I've explored the philosophy and morality of democracy, martial law, abortion, genocide, racism and the rule of law.  I've gotten tangled up in the flawed and fleshed out character's with their unique lives, loves and weaknesses and drawn into their response to being hunted and oppressed.  Like all good science fiction Battlestar Galactica has not flinched from discussing issues incredibly pertinent to the Western world and in particular our need for power and what makes us human.  

I've loved the interplay of stunning action sequences, political intrigue, philosophical musing and spiritual overtones.  Particularly I've enjoyed the parallel to the story of Israel in the Old Testament (check out everything from the Exodus through to the restoration of Jerusalem - amazing reflections and references) and the acknowledgment of a higher power/God so concerned with the survival of mankind.

As they answered an incredible number of questions and tied together plot strands that have developed since the first pilot, I sat amazed, dreading the end of the episode when those titles flash up at ridiculous speed and it's all over.  Last night and this morning Steve and I lamented and celebrated the conclusions of the characters we've known and loved and what we wished could have been for them...

I found this online today.  What other TV show is invited to share their thoughts on race and racism at the United Nations???  Amazing...  It seems like a fitting salute to a show that dared to ask difficult questions and hold a mirror up to some of the uglier features of the Western world.

 

Intertextual Overload

It's funny how tiredness can take you on strange mental tangents that open up new mysteries of the Universe for your sluggish and slightly demented mind to explore. My latest rabbit trail was provided curtusy of JJ Abrams...

Alias

I have a new addiction! She's about 5,9, brown hair, chocolate eyes and has several gorgeous men adoring her from afar. Her name is Syndey Bristow and she's everything I wish I could be. I don't know what it is about espionage but I've always been attracted to the skill, danger and adventure of it...

24!

You've got to love Kiefer Sutherland!  You've got to love 24!  It is impossible to watch more than three episodes and not get sucked in...

To Spook or not to Spook?

Hurrah! It has returned! The TV Series that inspired me to apply to become a Spy! (Long story, if you don't know it I'll tell you over coffee some time... See I do interesting and crazy things mwahahahahaa!) If you didn't catch it last night you missed out... fan-blinking-tastic.

Don't hate me for this, but I'm not a big Bond Fan. I've watched them all, everytime a new one is released I'll go because it's something of a cinematic spectacle. I don't really enjoy it though, it's a little too far fetched and patriarchal. Spooks (and the Jason Bourne series for that matter!) seem a little more close to what I imagine the truth to be. Sacrifice, pain, tough decisions.

Ok so if you think I'm caring too much about a TV programme you're probably right... and if any of you are secretly spies and are chuckling at my romantic notions then bravo! You've fooled me. It's a good job I didn't follow through on my MI5 training or you'd all have something to worry about...