X-Files

14 years after the show ended,  and 7 years after the film They have made a 10th season of the show.

Now pay attention Hollywood!

Not a reboot,

Not a remake!

But a continuation, building off what has already been done.

Because of this new season, I have been re-watching the original season (way back from 1993) and I have noticed two interesting things.

1:

The technology is so primitive, The “advanced” technology the government has in the show, seems to be just a few steps up from chisels & slates. Yet I am sure when I last watched it, way back in 93 I was impressed with the technology. And lets just gloss right over the outfits & hairstyles of the time.

2:

Each episode consists of Mulder & Scully investigating an X-File. Mulder believes from the beginning, while Scully is the sceptic. And together they solve the mystery. BUT! once or twice an episode, Scully will go to make a phone call, go home, go to a lab to run tests, basically leave the area. As soon as she is gone, Mulder will witness something “supernatural” like a UFO, A lizard man, Alien Abductions, some weirdness.  Then when the “close encounter” is over and everything’s back to normal, Scully will come running up looking for Mulder.

Now I ask you. Where have we seen this behaviour before?

Clark Kent running off to phone for help, and as soon as he is out of sight Superman arrives to save the day. Then the day being saved, Superman flies off and Clark returns from “getting help”.

How about Peter Parker, running away, running for help, being trapped and Spider-Man turning up to do his thing. Then after Spidey leaves, Peter is found/returns.

We know..

Clark Kent = Superman

Peter Parker = Spider-Man

So following Sci-Fi Logic

Dana Scully = All supernatural events! or a shape-shifter. (Martian-Manhunter?)

 

Basically. I suspect it is all her! that is the way the evidence points!!!!

RIP Leonard Nimoy

Growing up watching Star Trek, my two favorite characters were Spock & Scotty. The Scientist and the Engineer. It’s sad that we have now lost Spock, who showed a generation that Brains and Intelligence were powerful and worthy traits.

It show’s how loved a character and actor he was, that when they decided to reboot Star Trek, and have a whole new cast of actors playing the characters in a different way. Leonard Nimoy’s Spock still made an appearance, because even though the universe of Original Trek no longer existed, Nimoy was so loved his character survived it.

So where ever you are now Mr Nimoy, know you still exist in the minds & hearts of your fans,

I may never have been lucky enough to meet him in real life, but to quote the man himself.

“I have been . . . and always shall be . . .your friend.”

Live Long and Prosper

Final Tweet

We are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honored dead. And yet it should be noted, in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new world; a world that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. He did not feel this sacrifice a vain or empty one, and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. Of my friend, I can only say this: Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most….human.

James T Kirk eulogizing Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

one by one

The Original Suicide Squad

I have recently been watching the odd episode of Star Trek (TOS) and it has occurred to me that, we may all joke about “Red Shirts” and how as soon as you see an unnamed character that they are going to die, but think about it for a minute.

These “Red Shirts” are the Security Members, the military part of the crew. They had training in combat, weapons, survival, etc.. Had to pass fitness tests that would probably be equivalent to the military ones today. And yet these trained soldiers, whose only role is security & combat get beaten up or killed by the simplest of things. In a landing party consisting of

  • The Captain (Ok, he is a hands on, fight them all kind of officer),
  • The Scientist (OK, he is an alien whose race is stronger and tougher than humans),
  • The Doctor (Who is older than the rest, spent years learning medical stuff so not much survival/combat),
  • The Engineer (OK he is a Scottish brawler type)

Now those four occupations Officer, Scientist, Doctor & Engineer normally need a high level of specialised knowledge. And to be the Head of that area means even more skill, knowledge & experience. SO not really much time for super fitness, weapon & combat training, or survival. Especially when compared to Soldiers whose only role is soldiering.

But there is more, They often take a female officer with them, Such as a Nurse, Captains Secretary, Lab Assistant,  And yet, when the bad stuff happens, these desk jockeys survive and the trained combat guys die.

Lets take 2 examples to look at this phenomenon.

Example 1: An armed security officer is escorting an old admiral (You know, takes a long time to get to that rank, and lots of sitting at desks) who has gone days without sleep, is hungry, tired, stressed to the medical station. The Admiral has other plans to decides to escape, and beats up the security guy who tries to stop him.

Example 2: (My Favourite so far) An away team beam down to a planet they describe as “Paradise” the team consists of, Captain, Scientist, Doctor, Secretary, Navigator (guy who plots course) and 3 Security guards. Now all three guards die, 1 gets shot by a flowers poison darts, 1 is struck by lightning, and the 3rd steps on an explosive rock and blows up. Bad luck right? but wait, the Scientist gets shot with more flower darts than security guy, gets hit by an identical lightning blast, and picks up a highly explosive rock, snaps it in two and throws it on ground, yet he lives.

So you have to ask yourselves, just why are the Security/Soldiers in the future so weak and pathetic?

Do they abhor violence so much, that to prevent any more wars they only let the weakest, most puny people join the military? and then give them no training at all?

Do they have strict moral rules on Suicide, so anyone who wishes to kill themselves is put in a red shirt? so those with incurable diseases sign up to be paper-clip fodder, and at least die in a none suicidal manner?

Did none of the writers ever ask these questions?

And why did Star Fleet not just fill its ships with old doctors & secretaries? That way they would not loose security personnel and basically be guaranteed to win every conflict they entered.

*Answers on a postcard please* or you could just leave your answer in a comment!

Doctor Who?

Doctor Who is a Timelord, and as it’s been stated many times over the years TimeLords can regenerate 12 times. It is a fixed number! Now counting the original Form + 12 Regenerations A time lord basically has 13 Lives. After that he is no more, Unless like the Master he steals other people bodies, or other such things to keep living. This is set in stone Doctor Who cannon “Twelve Regeneration”

Some people were starting to worry that with Matt Smith stepping down we were running out of the number of regenerations left to the Doctor, which would then lead to major problems when future actors step down.

Then to make matters more interesting Moffat Slipped in a New Regeneration. We never saw Paul McGann (8th) regenerate into Christopher Eccleston (9th).  Now we find out that there was a regeneration between them “The War Doctor” the incarnation the Doctor hides even from himself. So from 9 upwards we now have to add 1. Mr Smith goes from 11th Doctor to 12th. We are still ok for the Xmas regeneration since there can be 13!

BUT. Tennant used up a regeneration to save off death after being shot by a Dalek. Which makes Mr Smith the 13th and final Doctor. (A lot of people were saying the Tennant extra regeneration did not count, since he did not change form. Moffat has now admitted that it does count and Mr Smith is the 13th)

 

Doctors:

1st  Doctor William Hartnell
2nd  Doctor Patrick Troughton 1st  Regeneration
3rd  Doctor Jon Pertwee 2nd  Regeneration
4th  Doctor Tom Baker 3rd  Regeneration
5th  Doctor Peter Davison 4th  Regeneration
6th  Doctor Colin Baker 5th  Regeneration
7th  Doctor Sylvester McCoy 6th  Regeneration
8th  Doctor Paul McGann 7th  Regeneration
War Doctor John Hurt 8th Regeneration
9th  Doctor Christopher Eccleston 9th  Regeneration
10th Doctor David Tennant 10th & 11th Regeneration
11th Doctor Matt Smith 12th Regeneration
12th Doctor Peter Capaldi ????????

 

So how are they going to fix it?

First off lets remind ourselves why there is a limit to the number of times a Timelord can regenerate. It has been stated that a Timelord has a fixed amount of regeneration energy inside them, enough for 12 regenerations. Although it can be used for other stuff, like The Doctor using a small part of it to repair rivers broken hand in the Daleks take Manhattan.

 

1: Sisterhood of Karn

The writers could have claimed the “War Doctor” did not use up a regeneration since the Sisterhood of Karn held off his death and gave him a choice of what he wanted to be. And they are the keepers of the Flame of Eternity. This would only give them one extra regeneration, so not a good long term solution. +1 Regerneration.

3: Bad Wolf

Another option they could pick (And we know how they like going back to Rose/Bad Wolf). When Rose took the Time Vortex inside herself and became the Bad Wolf Girl she had silly amounts of power (Technical Term). She ended the timewar by turning all the surviving Dalek’s to dust (Even though they returned several more times since) And she brought Captain Jack Harkness back from the dead so well she made him immortal. It would have been very easy for her to have topped up the Doc’s energy store, reset it to full. Or even make it never run out. Unlimited Regenerations.

4: River Song

This would be my preferred solution, and the one I would pick myself if i was the writer. In the episode “Let’s Kill Hitler” She poisons the Doctor with a kiss. The poision not only kills within an hour but DNA locks out his ability to regenerate. She then relents and kisses him again, using up all of her future regenerations to save the Doctor. Now it has been revealed in past episodes a Timelord can give up their regeneration energy to other people, but it will leave them basically human and no longer a Timelord (Which happens to River). If I was writing it, I would have the poison have wiped out all the Doctors remaining regenerations, but Rivers energy being available to him. We know she regenerated at least twice, plus power needed to save the Doctor means a possible nine left. +9 Regenerations.

 

I am not a fan of the idea of giving the doctor unlimited regenerations, it would make him reckless and take out and risks from future episodes. But 9 more? That is a nice number. And it allows for the possible future Valeyard (The Dark future incarnation believed to be between his 12th and final regeneration) And also from the hints given by the Curator (Tom Baker) that in the future the Doctor may look again at old favourite faces. And his implication that he is a future version of the Doctor.

 

Whatever the writers decide. The Xmas special should be interesting!