From Heroes to Zeroes?

Have our heroes turned into Zeroes?

Short answer - Yes!

Long answer - Hell yeah!

Volume four - Fugitives - opens with the heroes all trying to live under the radar having returned to their normal, mundane lives. Key word here is mundane and serves to describe the episode in full.

While a group of Nathan's Hunters begin rounding up the heroes in order to send them to his version of Guantanamo Bay, Claire is the only one who finds out the dastardly evil plan Nathan and Angela are plotting - cue evil maniacal laugh - oh wait there wasn't one! This show is a shadow of its former self and isn't even so bad it's good! 

The whole plot device of having claire running around in a desperate effort to save Parkman only for her to put her hands up when the hunters arrived, was very, very weak. It only served to position her as the saviour of those captured and allow them to commandeer the plain flown by none other than her daddy!

If there is one piece of advice I have for the writers of this show, it is to stop ripping your ideas from other shows. The last few years we've had plenty of ideas and even guest stars from the badly missed 4400 (a show with class, style, originality and plenty of substance) and now it seems you're raiding the rejection bin at the Days of Our Lives office. This show is going down hill so fast, I can't keep up! It needs to sort itself out quick. Either that or the show will end up like Prison Break, which would be a shame given it has such potential. I can't be the only person who feels this way, just look at the plummeting viewing figures on both sides of the pond!

The only reason I'm continuing to watch at the moment is the excellent, underused Angela Pettrelli who knows how to play all sides from all angles whilst making a fish pie! Bring her to the forefront and give her time to shine and I'm a happy bunny. Either that or I feel next year the bad guy, probably still the ran-his-course Sylar, will be stroking a cat in an underground lair!

Goddess of SciFi verdict 3/10

Battlestar Galactica - Deadlock

This episode sees the return of Ellen to the fleet with the help of the original Boomer. First off, am I the only one who felt close to vomiting at the reunion of Tigh and Ellen? It was nauseous and more off putting than the entire run of the re-imagined Bionic woman! Kate Vernon was one of the saving grace of this poorly written episode. She relishes her role as Ellen and pitches her character at just the right level. Even the confrontation with Caprica before she loses her baby, is beautifully pitched.

The other highlight is Baltar. Having lost his way since New Caprica to the extent of almost being sidelined and brought out for comical value, he gets a moment to shine. Having abandoned Galactica during the 'rebellion' he returns to his wenches to find he has a challenger for the role of their leader. How did he get them back on his side? the promise of big guns to which they all applaud.

As for Adam, he spends the episode stroking the hull of his ship.

Lets ignore some of the glaring plotholes such as the Cylon workforce moisturizing the hull even though, it was Adama's one wish it was an all human workforce, and the obviously over easy escape of Ellen Tigh from the rebel Cylons and concentrate on the positives... ... ... ... ...

In conclusion, I am glad this series is scrapping it's way toward the end in more ways than one. The whole idea of the Galactica falling apart is an intriguing story, but it's realization on screen is disappointing. Given the extent of the damage to some parts of the ship, Adama really needs to have a chat with his repair crews - what the frak have they been doing these last few years? Surely he has a crew as maintenance of the only defense against the enemy should have been vital priority ? So, forgive me when I say I have little sympathy.

Personally, I expected far more from these episodes and if the end wasn't in sight, I would seriously consider whether to continue on.

Goddess of SciFi verdict - 6/10

The Unborn

The Unborn is a supernatural thriller starring Gary Oldman as Rabbi Sendak and Odette Yustman as Casey Beldon. The film follows a family as they try to rid a young girl of an evil spirit.

I won't go into much more detail as to put it simply, this film is a total waste of space and should be avoided at all costs. It's a preposterous and laugh-out-loud and not for the right reasons! It's a horror that completely falls apart under the weight of it's overuse of mystical jumbo, predictable shock scares and hammy acting. It also suffers from a cliche ridden script providing nothing we haven't already seen in any other movie about demonic possession.

Goddess of SciFi verdict - 2/10 

Being Human - 1.5

As fans of this show will know, the BBC press release for this show is:

"A comedy drama series about three twenty-something housemates trying to live normal lives in Bristol, despite struggling with unusual afflictions - one is a werewolf, one is a vampire and the other is a ghost." (BBC Website)

Now to call this a comedy drama pushes this in the wrong direction. You'd expect laugh-a-minute gags, which just isn't so. That doesn't mean it isn't funny, you just could not place it in the same category as Friends, Frasier or Will and Grace - That would be crime! Personally I would classify this as a Horror/Drama with dark comic undertones similar in style to Dead Like Me. And I love every minute of it!

In this fast-paced story driven penultimate episode, Mitchell portrayed perfectly by Aidan Turner, returns to the vampire fold having given up on humanity.  Aidan fits the role nicely showing Mitchell's darker side without going over the top. The scene in the kitchen where his housemates find out what he has been up to, is a piece of great writing and superb acting by all three. Aidan has a moment to shine as his darker ego, but at the same time George (Russell Tovey) and Annie (Lenora Crichlow) provide the humor in their reactions.

Inevitably, Mitchell uncovers the true nature of his vampire family, when he uncovers a locked room full of homeless children used as nothing more than food. A horrifying and somewhat unexpected scene showing just what this show can do, leads to a confrontation with his boss Herrick (Jason Watkins).

The B story, just as strong as the main story itself, leads Annie to confront her murderous ex-husband Owen (Gregg Chillin) - after a little practice of course!

The writer (Toby Whitehouse) took the opportunity to play on Annie's key traits and when she does "haunt" Owen the outcome is far from the norm and he turns the tables as he did in life leaving Annie in tears. However, her friends come to her rescue allowing her to finally confront him and in the process reveal the darker side of the world. I still want to know what she whispered in his ear to make him run to the police in such a state.

The end of the episode gives Annie the opportunity to pass to the other side, but she torn after Herrick stakes Mitchell and George begins to panic. Will Mitchell survive? Does Annie pass over? Will George stop fretting like a girl? The answers will be revealed Sunday 9pm BBC3!

Overall, I am throughly enjoying this strongly written, well acted hour of television. And to think the appalling car crash trash that was Phoo Action, was the show BBC originally picked to take to series? Thank God for fan intervention. My only gripe is that it is hidden away on the Tweeny-yob channel BBC3. Surely it deserves better than this? If Torchwood (More soon) can make it to BBC1, then I see no reason why this shouldn't too!

Goddess of Scifi verdict - 9.2/10

Missed it? - How very dare you! Watch it courtesy of BBC IPLAYER. Or I'll send the wolf round!

Goddess of SciFI

The Sarah Connor Chronicles - 2:12 "Alpine Fields"

This episode makes a nice change from the recent run of slow-burning weak episodes and jumps straight into the action with Sarah stuck in a cabin deep in the woods trying to protect a family from being eliminated by a T888.

The writers opted to utilize the shows strengths by using different points in the timeline to reveal which family member the T888 was after and why they needed to be saved.  This worked well and lead to a thoroughly engaging story leading to the realization by Derek that the unborn child (Sydney) of the dying mother in the present, held the cure for a deadly disease in the future. A nice emotional twist leads to Lauren, the unborn baby's sister, making the transition from a nobody to the doctor who actually injects Derek in the future with the cure after he saves Sydney yet again.

Whilst this episode was stronger than recent offerings, it wasn't without it's downside. The father, played by Carlos Jacott was badly portrayed. Whether this was bad writing or acting it is hard to tell, but either way I felt nothing towards this character and wanted the T888 to put him out of his misery. I also felt we could have seen more of the Terminator threat. We knew he was in the woods, but what took him so long to find the cabin even after Cameron was thrown through its roof? A little alteration and the pay-off would have been far greater. As it was there was very little tension, apart from a brief sequence in the car when the gang try to escape giving the excellent Summer Glau a chance to shine.  

The best thing about the episode is the lack of the awful Thomas Dekker, the poorly cast Shirley Manson and the almost pointless Richard T. Jones. The writers need to address the teenage whiny aspect to John soon as I find it unfathomable that anyone would want to follow this guy into battle. If I were Sarah, I'd contemplate taking the brat out myself! With regard to the Weaver/Ellison story, this just isn't working for me. Shirley is supremely awful leading to most of her scenes being cringe-worthy. Ellison worked better on his own and was a much stronger character last season.                                                           

All in all, a good fast-paced, emotionally driven episode showing just what this program can do when the writers try. 

Goddess of SCIFI verdict - 7.5/10