Two for the price of one: thoughts on Dr. Horrible Act III and SGA 5x02

[locker_monster]

Oh Joss. The Whedon clan is a talented bunch.

I was waiting for a twist in Act III. Like, "Penny's an evil super villain too!" Or "Everyone realizes Captain Hammer is a big jerk!" Nope, this is Joss Whedon and in his worlds, happy couples can never be. Not that I hate the ending. It's the only outcome that makes sense to the whole arc of Dr. Horrible. He achieves his goals but he loses everything else important in the end. It's weird how Act I and II were these happy romps but Act III goes a little darker. And poor Billy. I like how the last shot is just him, sitting in front of his web cam, looking depressed. He's totally aware of what he's done but there's no going back. I wouldn't mind seeing another Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. It would probably be less light and fun, but this is a fun little world Joss and Co. have created.

Randomly: Hee, it's like Joss called up all the old Buffy/Angel writers and was like, "Dudes, I wrote a musical. Wanna be in it?" I know that at the time none of the writers had anything to do, so this was probably a nice little thing for them. I just laughed when I realized the news casters were Marti Noxon and David Fury. Natural choices, of course. Both of them were in Joss' last musical. Even Doug Petrie and Drew Goddard got a little cameo, not that I recognized them until I saw the credits. No cameo by Joss though. I was kind of hoping he would show up somewhere. And was Dr. Horrible's "death ray" just a repaint of an Alliance sonic gun with a few modifications? It looked like it to me. Oh, and they just rented a horse to play Bad Horse. :-D

I'm also loving the theme music. I know people out there have been making mp3s of the songs. Can anyone direct me to some? I hope they release a soundtrack; I'd buy one. I already have a Captain Hammer shirt on the way. Now I'm tempted to dress up like Captain Hammer for Halloween. The costume would be fairly easy. Hammer t-shirt, cargo pants, army boots, and some gloves. A trip to a thrift store or an army clothing place and you're set.

And now, for something completely different. Well, different show. Still with the thoughts and stuff.

Not much to say about SGA, but just a few things. I'm actually not hating Woolsey that much. It's probably because he's so different from Sam and Elizabeth. He's there because of the IOA and their agenda. The IOA wants more control so they send their guy, though their guy quickly learns that rules don't apply in the Pegasus Galaxy. It'll be interesting to see how Woolsey is going to balance his needs for rules against keeping people alive. And I've said it before and I'll say it again: Woolsey needs to wear a suit! The Atlantis uniform just doesn't work for him for whatever reason. I don't know if they'll play him up as a first class jerk or try to make him more relatable. His first scene with no big rousing welcome speech does set him up nicely as a character. This guy's no nonsense.

And wow, they wasted no time bringing back Carson this season. I thought they would wait a bit. Still, the resolution's a big lame. Yay, Carson's better! Oh, they're sending him back to Earth. I know you can't have Keller and Carson, but it doesn't seem fair to have him go away again. Yes, he'll probably be back mid season or something, but that's awhile from now. And what happened to Carson's hair while he was in stasis? It doesn't stick up anymore. :-(

Random: Funny how they explained away the change of tables in the conference room. I appreciate they addressed it though. Fans will notice if you suddenly changed table without reason. :-) Is there daycare on Atlantis? Who's watching Teyla's baby while she's on duty? I was wondering if they were going to mention Sam being quarantined back on Earth, because she was on the planet too, and they did, which is nice. It's been a month though since then, which is conveniently enough time for Continuum to take place. :-D And they're running with the Rodney/Keller relationship it seems.

And yay, another week or so and Stargate Continuum is out! I've been hearing random tidbits about it thanks to the Stargate Atlantis season four DVD commentaries and I can't wait.

Comments

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

I like that they named the league of evil in the credits. "Evil Thomas Jefferson!". I knew it was going to end badly, but I was kind disappointed all the same. I dunno, it just seemed... unfinished, like there was more to be said. I think it's the kind of thing where they did a sequel (and it's a comic book universe, they could easily bring Penny back, or hell, that could be his whole goal of the second one, whether he succeeds or not), I'd be okay with it, but if it forever turns out to be just standalone, it's weak.

Atlantis was a big standaloney, fillery, and trial-by-firey for Woolsey, all with sort of "yeah we have to do this so let's just get it out of the way" kind of feel, to me. Okay, but not memorable.

I actually watched Continuum this morning due to... magic. Enjoyed it for the most part.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

It's kind of funny the effort they put into the ELE members. They all have names even if they aren't mentioned.

I did find in ended abruptly. Considering all the buzz that's been generated, I wouldn't be surprised if Joss revisited this at some point in the future. But just as a standalone, yeah, it does feel like there should have been more. Or maybe Joss just ran out of money. ;-)

Oh, you and you're magic. :-) I'm tempted to try magic as well to watch it, but I really want to support these DVDs. But as someone who's watched it, it's pretty cool? I understand there was a boat set that could tip 8 degrees; it was actually recycled into the set for "Trio".

[sunnytyler001.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought that Penny was Bad Horse too. But then, as you said, that's Joss Whedon. We've known him for years now. We should have known better...
And Yay! for Keller/Mackay. I loved how he was worried about her. And Keller's little conversation with Teyla in the begining of the episode was very sweet "He surprises me sometimes"... awww!

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Okay, good to know that I wasn't the only thinking, "Maybe Penny's Bad Horse..." I wasn't expecting Bad Horse to be an actual horse, so I considered that until Act III hit.

We've known him for years now. We should have known better...

I know! Every story of his I see or read, I always forgot going in that it's probably going to end horribly. ;-) But we love him anyway.

I was wondering if they were going to follow through on McKay and Keller. Sure you see them getting together in "The Last Man" but that time line got negated. There needs to be a happy couple somewhere in sci fi.

[sunnytyler001.livejournal.com]

Didn't Sheppard made a reference to "the last man" and Mackay/Keller in the beginning of the episode?

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Did he? Was it during the meeting? Well, he is the only one who knows that McKay and Keller got together.

[sunnytyler001.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was during the meeting. He said something like "There were other things Mackay predicted" while looking directly at Keller and Rodney. Of course the poor dears couldn't understand!
LOL!
Oh, I LOVE your icon! Liiizzziiieee, I miss you!

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I'll have to watch the episode over. It'll be funny to see if Sheppard keeps making remarks like that all season.

[beachkid.livejournal.com]

songses. http://syndicated.livejournal.com/abeybaby/687328.html?style=mine

i do not think i will be hanging out tomorrow. but i will see you eventually. *nods*

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Whoo, songses! Thanks a bunch. These mp3s remind me of when "Once More With Feeling" first aired. Everyone ripped the songs right from the TV, complete with background sound effects.

Hope you feel better soon. Still got Batman and X-Files to see, remember. :-)

[littlebatti.livejournal.com]

OMG! He totally did it again and 'Jossed' Penny. Like sunnytyler001 said, we should know better by now.
I was thinking that since this was something new, that Joss would do something different this time and not have it end all horrible. (Was that a pun?) You are right though. Its the only ending that really makes sense for the character.

Damn you Joss. You make me fall in love with the idea of a wonderful couple and then you rip my heart right out again and again and again. And I love it.

(Least for Serenity I was expecting it and took extra tissues).

Am I alone in not being surprised that Bad Horse was an actual horse? I need to get a hold of music too. I've got part of one of the songs stuck in my head all day and its been driving me crazy.

I hope that Joss does more of this stuff. It's wrong for me to hope for another writers strike so that he has time, isn't it?

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I think it's happened so many times now that it's easy to shrug off when a character is "Jossed". But it's never a character death for the sake of a character death. When someone dies, there's a reason to it (for the most part).

A friend sent me this link:

http://www.theninemuses.net/log/2008/07/ive-uploaded-songs-from-part-iii-of.html

It has all the songs for download.

Well, another writers' strike would give Joss the time. Maybe once Dollhouse establishes itself he'll revisit Dr. Horrible.