The Broken Truth Hurts

Intro/Overview

I spent the last two days going to The Houston Aquarium and Space Center Houston as opposed to sitting at home on the computer all day. I've put my pictures up on Facebook, if you're interested. Link in the bar up there.

Both days we were joined by groups of kids from various daycares. Let me just tell you how incredibly annoying it is to be in enclosed spaces with giant groups of daycare kids. Yesterday we went out to have lunch and I could see three separate groups of kids from where I was sitting out in front of the Space Center.

Anyway... tonight I have some possibly brief reviews for the Season Finales of Defiance and Warehouse 13.

Defiance - "Everything Is Broken" - Review

Can I just say how much I honestly did not care about this episode? I was lost pretty much immediately. I can't exactly put my finger on why that was, but "Everything Is Broken" was by no means an episode I ever want to watch again.

We got some payoff with Irisa, but that was really vague and nonsensical. And then she dove into the machine-thing/ship/whatever it was and Nolan's suddenly alive again. Yay?

Detak won the election, but I had no doubt that he would end up deposed either by the end of the episode or by the first episode of next season. What do you know, I was right. I can't say I'm sorry to see the Earth Republic guy dead.

The only remotely interesting parts of the episode for me were the scenes between Stahma and Kenya. Stahma really had me going. I was just as surprised as she was when Kenya pulled the gun on her. As it stands, I'm really annoyed with Stahma and I want to know if Kenya is actually dead or just hidden away somewhere. I didn't think that was very clear.

Yeah... that's pretty much what I thought of the Season Finale. Let me know what you thought in the comments.

Warehouse 13 - "The Truth Hurts" - Review

I'm so annoyed at Pete right now! Was he just not getting bad vibes off Paracelsus or was he just that desperate to save Myka? And where the hell did this attitude about Myka dying come from? Last episode he was okay, this episode he's getting duped by Paracelsus because of it. He really should have known better. I really wanted to smack Pete over the head with something while he was doing what Paracelsus said.

I did not at all enjoy the scenes with Nick and Sutton. I was right there with Claudia when she called Nick out. I was really distracted by Sutton's hair. All it needed was a lot of bleach and he'd be back to looking like Spike... And honestly, I couldn't care less about the pair. I wish they hadn't been in this episode at all. Maybe there would have been actual story development rather than their filler.

Which brings me to the cliffhanger. I did not like this cliffhanger at all. The battle between Paracelsus and Claudia should have happened in this episode. The outcome of the non-existent battle should have been the cliffhanger. Or, perhaps, Claudia beating Paracelsus and becoming Caretaker should have been the big end-of-season thing. But no, of course not. Why the hell not?! Apparently lead-in for next season. I'm not happy with it. It was not at all satisfying like Season Finales should be.

Let me know what you thought in the comments, if you would be so kind. I need someone to rage with.

Love ya, Jessie.

The Past Bride Wore Prologue Black

Intro/Overview

Ya know how I said I was giving up on those reviews I didn't do last week? Well, I kinda lied. I did them while Defiance was on last night. However, today's just going to be Defiance Reviews and then an Altador Cup Update.

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen the last two episodes of Defiance, please leave the blog and come back after you've seen them. My reviews always contain spoilers.

Defiance - "The Bride Wore Black" - Review

My big thing this episode was the wedding. I thought it was nice, though I would have liked to see more of it, especially how they blended Castithan and Earth customs. However, I have a niggle about the veil. I completely understand that Christie didn't want to wear the Tilo and her motivations behind that. I liked that Stahma made her a traditional wedding veil to wear instead. My niggle comes in concerning a possible compromise that was missed here. Perhaps if Christie had wore the veil as an actual veil rather than a hairpiece, it would have been seen as more of a blending of traditions rather than something Detak could get uppity about. Yeah, the veil isn't the Tilo, but it could have essentially served the same function.

As for the other events, I'm more interested in the aftermath of what happened rather than what actually took place. We pretty much knew Nicolette was a bad guy. This episode served more to solidify that and to get rid of her. She's dead now so... that line of villainy is over.

It was somewhat interesting to see that Kenya was an abused wife before she became a prostitute. Knowing that didn't really change anything for me except that it made her advice to Christie a bit more interesting. I'm glad she learned from her mistake with Hunter Bell.

I very much liked Rafe in this episode. I like knowing that he's willing to put aside his differences with Castithans in order to make Christie happy.

Defiance - "Past Is Prologue" - Review

Detak's airing of Nolan's dirty laundry reminded me a lot of what's been happening lately with Paula Deen. It also reminds me of how much I hate politics. If people are doing good things now and have essentially paid their dues for what they did in the past, that past should stay in the past. The fact that it never stays buried bugs me a lot. I have no doubt that Nolan has paid his dues for what he did. It's really obvious he doesn't believe as he used to. Irisa is living proof of that. I felt that Nolan made the right choice. I had no idea that Alak's friend was holding a paintball gun until it was obvious to everyone else.

Flipping around from last week's episode, I'm really angry with Rafe. Beating the crap out of anyone, let alone your son-in-law, in order to send a message is barbarically ridiculous.

I thought the weird-machine things what Doc had and was in Irisa were incredibly strange. I hope we get an explanation for them soon. They seemed almost sentient when they began reaching for each other. It was creepy, but really interesting.

Next week looks like it's going to be interesting.

Altador Cup Update

This year saw the fastest turnaround on scores in a couple years. The Altador Cup Prize Shop is now open.

Tyrannia took the cup this year. Altador came in second. Roo Island came third.

Unfortunately, Shenkuu tied with The Lost Desert for 12th place. Hope we have better luck next year or I'm defecting.

Love ya, Jessie.

What Matters If I Leave This World Alive

Overview

I was sick yesterday so I didn't put up a Warehouse 13 review... so I'm also giving you a Defiance review as well. That'll be pretty much it.

Warehouse 13 - "What Matters Most" - Review

I quite enjoyed this episode. I thought the artifacts were interesting. I liked most of the character bits. This episode was nicely solid.

Although I wasn't particularly interested, I thought getting more backstory on Abigail was nice. I kind of want to know if the patient she "couldn't help" is going to be showing up at some point. I thought the fact that she got her character moment with Jinks was good. Seeing Jinks paired with people other than Claudia this season has been really nice. It was also kind of funny that he got Goo-residue in the face because he was talking too much and not wearing proper safety gear. He kind of deserved that.

I really loved the Claudia/Artie storyline. It was nice to see Claudia having those moments to bond with the kid and be really mature was great. I liked that Artie was there to have "Liquid Pride" moments while Claud was being awesome. The artifact in that section was kind of interesting as well. I do question what would have made someone put those goggles on while doing math in the first place... ya know, if it hadn't been a set up. Knowing that it was a set up makes me slightly sad for Claudia, being taken in like she is. I have a feeling she's going to be heartbroken and angry about it when she finds out.

The Pete/Myka storyline was great until the end part... and all the "Pete's worried about low testosterone" bits. I didn't buy Pete going overboard about the low-T thing. I understand where the writers were trying to come from, but I don't think it worked very well. In fact, it upped Pete's ridiculousness factor... which he has plenty of already. I also didn't find Pete's confession thing particularly touching or engaging at all. At this point in the show's run, we all know that Pete had a drinking problem and was a horrible person in his past because of it. His guilt over almost killing his friend, while a realistic guilt to have, didn't fit with the rest of what was going on in the episode. That said, I liked that there was an artifact created from the Soddom and Gomora thing.

Last notes: I kind of want to punch the spy-kid. I was floored by the revelation that Myka has Cancer. That's horrible!

Defiance - "If I Ever Leave This World Alive" - Review

To sum this episode up: Predictable to the n-th degree.

There's a plague that would have been a much more effective plot device if it had lasted more than a single episode. The plague, predictably, wipes out almost all of the major human characters... except not because they're all still alive. That, in itself, was rather predictable. Kind of annoying they killed off Connor; I liked him a lot.

Also predictable: Quarantining the Irathients because they carry/cause the plague but don't get sick from it. That entire plot was predictable. Of course they're going to do something that inadvertantly pisses off one of their captors. Of course that captor is going to be a ridiculous hot-heat and try to physically stop them. Of course someone pivotal to the not-captured-Irathients' plan is going to be killed by the hot-head. Of course there's not going to be any actual repercussions from that.

I'm glad Nolan and Connor were able to get the cure. I don't really understand Datak's reasons for killing Connor. Yeah, Connor witnessed him beating the crap out of the Irathient chick, but Datak was angry... I'm pretty sure Connor wouldn't have said anything. Datak just up and shooting him was really unexpected and weird.

It figures that Quentin would give Nicki the artifact. It figures that Nicki's trying to get Yewll to work with her again. It figures that Datak is going to run for Mayoral office against Amanda. Odds are, he'll win so things can be more interesting around Defiance.

Yup... Defiance was incredibly predictable this week. I've seen this story loads of times in other TV shows and movies and books. Same old, same old.

Let Me Know What You Thought In Comments!

Love ya, Jessie.