(no subject)
Oct. 25th, 2017 01:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seekingferretEpisode 6 was my favorite Star Trek Discovery episode so far, because it was by far the most character focused. There were discrete and interesting character arcs for Michael/Sylvia, Michael/Ash, Michael/Lorca, Michael/Sarek, Lorca/Ash, and Lorca/Cornwell. And they all had some sort of payoff, though none in any way conclusive. And while Stamets didn't get any real work, he delivered my favorite bit of the episode, his manic and undisguised glee at getting to play experimental neurosurgeon on Michael. Me and Star Trek engineers, it's a deep and enduring love affair.
I actually had a moment or two in the episode where I was grateful for something I've previously complained about: the slow build and the hesitancy to build an ensemble. I'm glad we only met Ash in Episode 5 and slowly are learning who he is in relation to characters we've already been getting to know. I guess if you've got the time, (and Discovery was just renewed for Season 2 already... they must have had some confidence that they'd get the time.) it's a storytelling luxury to be able to slowly fold in new ingredients and see how they affect the overall flow. I'm willing to be at least somewhat patient with this show, there are enough good things about it to wait out the bad and the bizarre.
---
I'm a little over halfway through N.K. Jemisin's The Stone Sky, and it's as excellent as the other two books in the Broken Earth series, though I'm not exactly finding it bingeable. I really need to finish so I can start Yuletide canon review. I'm also not connecting to Nassun's storyline as much in this one as I did in The Obelisk Gate, but Essun's story is sufficiently compelling that I'm not too bothered by that. Does this book seem more brutal than the others? Perhaps it's that we aren't seeing any of pre-Season life except for the megaflashbacks to an era that seems so utopic it actually makes the contrast to Season life seem even starker. Perhaps my memory of the other books has sanitized some of the more brutal story elements already. Anyway, I'm looking forward to finishing it.
---
I finally am caught up on The West Wing Weekly, an episode by episode podcast about the West Wing hosted by Joshua Malina, who played Will Bailey on the show, and a musician/podcaster/superfan named Hrishikesh Hirway.roga recommended it at Vividcon and then a couple times after that on her DW, and I finally listened and got deeply hooked and listened to all >60 episodes thus far in like two and a half months. It's been a great listen, particularly the episodes where they've gotten cast and crew members to come and talk about their roles in a specific episode. DVD commentaries tend to be a little careful with respect to criticism of the show, but the cast coming on to a podcast geared around loving criticism has enabled them to be really open and generous with their perspective, and it's cast a lot of new light on the show and its context for me.
---
And of course my number one TV obsession, the show I do not miss as soon as it's available to me, is Only Connect, the best quiz show ever created. I know nobody joins me in this obsession, but I'm just noting that the obsession still burns deep in my heart.
I actually had a moment or two in the episode where I was grateful for something I've previously complained about: the slow build and the hesitancy to build an ensemble. I'm glad we only met Ash in Episode 5 and slowly are learning who he is in relation to characters we've already been getting to know. I guess if you've got the time, (and Discovery was just renewed for Season 2 already... they must have had some confidence that they'd get the time.) it's a storytelling luxury to be able to slowly fold in new ingredients and see how they affect the overall flow. I'm willing to be at least somewhat patient with this show, there are enough good things about it to wait out the bad and the bizarre.
---
I'm a little over halfway through N.K. Jemisin's The Stone Sky, and it's as excellent as the other two books in the Broken Earth series, though I'm not exactly finding it bingeable. I really need to finish so I can start Yuletide canon review. I'm also not connecting to Nassun's storyline as much in this one as I did in The Obelisk Gate, but Essun's story is sufficiently compelling that I'm not too bothered by that. Does this book seem more brutal than the others? Perhaps it's that we aren't seeing any of pre-Season life except for the megaflashbacks to an era that seems so utopic it actually makes the contrast to Season life seem even starker. Perhaps my memory of the other books has sanitized some of the more brutal story elements already. Anyway, I'm looking forward to finishing it.
---
I finally am caught up on The West Wing Weekly, an episode by episode podcast about the West Wing hosted by Joshua Malina, who played Will Bailey on the show, and a musician/podcaster/superfan named Hrishikesh Hirway.
roga recommended it at Vividcon and then a couple times after that on her DW, and I finally listened and got deeply hooked and listened to all >60 episodes thus far in like two and a half months. It's been a great listen, particularly the episodes where they've gotten cast and crew members to come and talk about their roles in a specific episode. DVD commentaries tend to be a little careful with respect to criticism of the show, but the cast coming on to a podcast geared around loving criticism has enabled them to be really open and generous with their perspective, and it's cast a lot of new light on the show and its context for me.---
And of course my number one TV obsession, the show I do not miss as soon as it's available to me, is Only Connect, the best quiz show ever created. I know nobody joins me in this obsession, but I'm just noting that the obsession still burns deep in my heart.