1,681

(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I think people are probably upset by the fact that Laurel was an unkept promise. Everything you say about her early on is true. The question was always supposed to be, how does she get to a place with Oliver where you could see them drinking coffee and talking about nothing in particular? How do Laurel's path in life and Oliver's path in life eventually bring them to a place where they have more in common?

We don't get the answer now. We saw them getting a little closer, but it was still a work in progress. Laurel telling Oliver that he was the love of her life was something that shouldn't have been a death bed confession that occurs midway through the character's arc, which is all we will ever get.

And on top of that, she never really became *the* Black Canary. She was just a sidekick... It is like killing off Bruce Wayne while he is still learning how to fight.

Laurel should have left the show for a while, and then come back as the full version of Black Canary, who can stand as Oliver's equal and not just a trainee on his team.

If she really isn't dead, I suppose they could still do that. But if she is dead, I get the outrage. For me, it is just frustrating to watch the show these days.

1,682

(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Here's the thing for me... I liked the first two seasons. I liked the show being serious, the fight scenes being well choreographed and all of that. The characters had some issues, but overall, I liked it. They committed to the show, so it was comic-booky enough, but you could tell that they actually took it seriously. And the arc of the first two seasons, with Slade, was nicely done. The group dynamic was nice. There were layers to the Oliver/Felicity relationship. I liked having her swoon over him while he just kinda tolerated it. He relied on her and loved her, but it wasn't wishy-washy. And Diggle was an equal partner then.

I didn't like that they were holding off telling Laurel's story for so long, because she was a series regular (and the female lead) and not having a clear arc for her was just unacceptable. For two years, she had nothing but placeholder plotlines. But it was okay, because it was leading somewhere and we all knew it.

Then season 3 happened and they stopped taking the show seriously. They stopped caring about trying to make the plots feel plausible. Oliver became completely incompetent as a fighter and strategist. Felicity was moved into the role of female lead, which she has no business being. They stripped the Oliver/Felicity dynamic of every layer it had and made it into the most bland pairing on TV... it is essentially what was wrong with Laurel in the first two seasons. They're forcing something that doesn't feel right. Diggle can't possibly be an equal in the Oliver/Felicity relationship, as he once was.

The show has become more about servicing fangirls than it is about the stories. The producers think of Black Canary fans as a "vocal minority", which shows how little they even think about the comic books anymore. The team never wins a fight, because they have to fight the same enemy week after week, for a whole year (no more villains of the week). Oliver has to be dumbed down in order to make room for the rest of the team. An the writers care about the stories they're telling so little that small things like Oliver being stabbed through the chest and thrown off a cliff, or Damien's totem being smashed, are completely forgotten.

My issue isn't really about hating Felicity or loving Laurel. It's about wanting to smack the writers in the face for blowing a job that so many writers would LOVE to have the chance to take on. They just don't care, and I sinceriously don't understand why.

You look at Ra's on Legends of Tomorrow and he is actually interesting, in the few minutes that we actually see him. He is played as strong, but smart. He doesn't just kill because he's evil, he has thoughts and an understanding of what's happening. His relationship with Sara is intriguing.
Or you look at Felicity on The Flash, and she is the same character that we know and love from the first two season of Arrow. She puts her foot in her mouth. She is geeky. She is part of the team, but not forced into a leadership role that she is completely incapable of pulling off.

Then you look at the crossover and Felicity is such a selfish, arrogant, petty woman. How did they get there with her?

For a long time now, I've wanted to see Oliver and Laurel actually interact as the friends that they've been for a very long time. The producers haven't wanted to do this, first because they wanted to play the anger of their history, but then because they wanted to push Felicity as the love interest and having Oliver interact with Laurel would threaten that. So we never get to see them reach a place where they are close friends who have a long history and can actually lean on each other. Green Arrow and Black Canary were not only not a couple on this show, but they didn't even like each other for most of the show!
Then, in the last couple of weeks, since Felicity has been away, Oliver and Laurel have been talking. Growing closer. Showing their history. It felt natural and good, and it seemed like the writers were finally allowing them to be natural around each other.

I'm not a shipper. I just ask for natural interaction. Forced stories are like a hammer to the head. So this was nice. There was something right about them being closer... And then they kill her. They were just allowing them to be friends because the threat would soon be gone. And in her final moments, she pushes Olicity. After all of their years and all of their history, the last words that she speaks to Oliver are about f***ing Felicity!

And why avoid the threat? Why not have Laurel reveal the picture and have Oliver find out that he was the love of her life, and allow that story to actually play out? It doesn't mean that he has to end up with her. It just means that for once in her damn life, Laurel is allowed to be true to her character.

Was it Tracy Torme who said that when he watched Exodus, he was baffled by the way the show missed its chance to play the obvious drama in having families separated, with some living and some dying? Children being torn from their mother's arms. I think it was him. It is a vague memory, but it's a lesson that stayed with me. Those small, natural moments are the things that make a story feel real, even if it is complete fantasy. Deny that true moment of feeling, and you destroy the only reality you have to work with.


Legends of Tomorrow is a ridiculous show. It is a Saturday morning cartoon in live action. It's plots are thin, but what makes the show interesting to watch is that they explore the characters. The characters make that silly TV show more interesting than most of the Marvel universe.


Will Laurel come back? I don't know. Katie is still working in that circle, I know that much. Would her return be completely stupid? Yes. But does that matter at this point? The show, like Supergirl, needs to be seriously overhauled. They should take after the comic books and have a new showrunner come in, with a vision of what they want to do with Green Arrow. A plan. An arc. I'm tired of the show just being on TV because it hasn't been canceled yet. I want it to be on TV because there is a story to tell. And there is a story to tell! The character has been around forever. They have to have some ideas beyond Batman villains and Olicity.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

True enough. But Laurel's death doesn't really help in that department. She was killed by a magical paralysis wave of the hand, caused by a totem that has already been destroyed. She couldn't even put up a fight. It was a pathetic way to go out.
On top of that Damien didn't even stab her to death very well. If she didn't die by some fluke later, his big message to Quentin would have been a flop.

Diggle is to blame for her death, but Andy didn't even kill her directly. Malcolm could have killed her, which would have been interesting.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Rumors are suggesting that Felicity will become Black Canary. It would be ridiculous, I think, but I can't honestly say that I don't think the writers would go there.

Felicity provided the consequences this year, without the need for anyone to die. Paralyzing someone should be a pretty big consequence. But it wasn't.

I don't know. I am seriously considering how much this show is worth to me anymore. I keep holding out hope for it to get better, but can it get better if the writers just don't care? I like the cast (mostly) but is that enough?

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I don't know that there was a good way to resolve the grave mystery. It was a useless mystery that meant nothing, and they backed themselves into a corner with it. Laurel or Diggle could have left the show without dying. Laurel had a greater destiny, and Diggle is raising a kid in the DC equivalent of Detroit. Those are good reasons to leave. Felicity had a natural out already. This would have all been fine, but they wanted a hook, so they came up with a death that they had no idea how to resolve.

At this point, I find the death frustrating because of how it happened and why it happened, not *because* it happened necessarily. The episode revolved around a prop that was already destroyed and had no reason to exist. It revolved around them knowing that Damien could get his power back with this prop, yet they kept it in a display case in a bunker that a random dude literally stumbled into last week.

There is no indication that next year will be the last. It should be, but I doubt it. The show needs an overhaul. Have Barry's time travel ripple through, or flash forward five years. But I don't think that Laurel's death adds much of anything new.

And then to have the producer insult a lot of the fans so openly is just weird. I think the show is imploding. Katie is probably lucky to get out now.

Would I have preferred a useless character to die instead? No. I would have preferred better writing with natural progression instead of cheap gimmicks. smile

Still avoiding this thread because I haven't had time to see the movie. But I saw another article that I wanted to comment on...
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/warn … 29376.html

The headline implied that this was the scenario that HitFix suggested earlier. Panic. Desperation. But the article itself reveals that the only change is *more* movies on the slate. Aside from this not sounding like panic to me, I thought that it was always the plan to add more movies. Probably Batman, probably Superman and maybe more... Possibly Birds of Prey, if some recent theories prove true.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I'm not against them killing her just because she is Black Canary. I'm really not. It is just the whole situation that bothers me.

They didn't do everything they could with the character. They spent two seasons purposefully not doing anything with her, and by the time they got around to using her, they were pushing Felicity as the female lead. And now they killed Laurel, and have her endorse Olicity in her final moments... And then the producer craps all over fans of the character, calling them a "vocal minority", which is exactly why Olicity exists in the first place.

While Legends and The Flash are embracing their comic book roots, Arrow seems ashamed of them and disrespectful to them. There are decades of stories with this iconic character, and the writers refuse to use any of them, because they conflict with Olicity!


Comic book characters die all the time. I'm not opposed to it really. But this whole situation sucks. It was disrespectful, the way it was handled. And ultimately, it was only done because they had to kill someone and they didn't like Laurel. Now we have another Lance daughter dying. How is this a fresh story to play?

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Arrow...


Arrow...


Hmm...

I'm not happy. The question is, is this the "not happy" that I'm supposed to feel? Or is it a "not happy" that is the result of one more bad decision?

I think it's mostly the second option, with only hints of the first. The writers messed this up. I agree that Laurel could have left the show, because I don't think that Black Canary could be just a sidekick forever. She is an icon and should have been respected a lot more than she was on the show. The threw her aside and forced Felicity down our throats over these last two seasons. So yeah, if Laurel left to become her own hero, I'd be okay with that.

But they killed her. They killed Black Canary... again (if you count Sara as a version of the character). They killed Laurel before she was allowed to become *the* Black Canary. The one who could lead the Justice League. That irks me, because I've always liked Black Canary more than Wonder Woman and thought that she was the best female superhero.

Legacy aside, I don't get the constant need to kill Lance women. We've already seen how Quentin will react, so what point is there in that? It feels more like they did it just to get rid of the Oliver/Laurel relationship once and for all, after neglecting it for most of the last two years. And the weird thing is, I was finally starting to enjoy the group dynamic tonight! With Felicity gone, Laurel and Oliver were finally having conversations that weren't arguments. They were acting like old friends, as they should have been all along. They were letting Laurel do more on the show. They were letting her interact with Thea nicely. I was actually thinking how much smoother the group scenes were without Olicity drama in the background. Then they killed Laurel, who was a big part of that, and this will undoubtedly bring Felicity back to take down Damien.

And it wasn't well done. The way they let Damien get his idol back was sloppy. Laurel's death was the result of stupidity, resulting from bad writing (Andy shouldn't even be a factor). They should have kept Damien powerless and locked away. They should have made Malcolm the villain for the rest of the year, and they should have killed him once and for all. He is quickly becoming the Crowley of this series, and that's not a good thing.

In terms of the story, I liked seeing Oliver relate to Laurel. I liked seeing her open up to him at the end. It was honest. It's the story that the writers have been desperately trying to avoid for two years. But it was useless to throw it in at the end.

And Laurel's death just seemed like a ploy. They cut away before it happened, giving the impression that it's a trick and she will be back later. But the writers have insisted that they intend to make this death stick. So was it just bad editing/writing? Or are they lying about it? (Katie isn't exactly moving on with her life. I won't say more than that, in case it counts as a spoiler).

I don't know. It doesn't feel good either way. I'm not happy about the death or the writing.



EDIT: and in case anyone doubts my comments about bad writing... Vixen smashed the Damien's totem. Now it's back together because... it is.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I don't think the DEO stuff works at all. I think that, like ARGUS, it would be okay to have them exist and sometimes work with Supergirl, but having her work with them all the time isn't right. There is a reason why Superman isn't a member of the military. It's because having someone like that work as a government agent is a scary thought. It's one thing to have the flag waving behind Superman, but it would mean something else entirely to have him marching under the President's orders. He is the everyman, not "the man". So, I strongly believe that they need to go. And honestly, the soldiers running around in the background as Kara fights bad guys are just silly. The whole thing is just there because every CBS show needs a poorly lit, techie looking facility where the walls are lined with flat screens.

So if I were executive producing the series, I would get rid of that facility. I'd have Alex leave them behind and go into a more intellectual field (it is ridiculous to have her act as a soldier next to Kara). Maybe with the mystery of her father solved, Alex can let go of her anger and go work for a university or a tech company or something.

J'onn can't be a sidekick. His role is unsustainable on the show. He needs to resolve his role as guardian of the Danvers girls and move on to find a life of his own.

Jimmy... I honestly don't see any chemistry between him and the rest of the cast. I would get rid of him too.

I don't think this is a complete overhaul of the series. I think that it could all be natural progression over time. The Cadmus storyline could make Kara rethink her role as a government agent pretty easily. Same with Alex. And Jimmy could decide that he'd rather be a photographer in the field, and go off to take pictures around the world. He could come back to National City from time to time, but he wouldn't be a regular.

Winn and Kara work well together. Kara and Alex work well together. Kara and Cat work well together (though the dynamic needs to change, because I think that Kara needs a job that means something to the character). Basically, as much as I hate that they used Clark's story for Kara, most of that stuff can stick around. Getting rid of the DEO will allow Kara to be her own person and would allow more of her fun personality to come through. I want her to be the girl who flipped out when Barry handed her ice cream, but I want that excitement to be about her own role in the world.

Unlike Clark Kent, Kara Danvers is a cover persona (not to the extent of Bruce Wayne, but more than Clark). We aren't being shown who the real Kara is.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I don't know... Isn't the DEO just a super fancy police department for aliens? And technically, she is just a consultant there, since she isn't an agent and gets no money from it. So... Yeah, it is pretty much every procedural on TV, with an S on the chest.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Sometimes, it's enough to like the cast of a show. As much as I've had issues with Arrow lately, I do like the cast a lot. I want the show to be better for them.

In the crossover, it was fun to see Kara's reaction to Barry. Her reaction to getting the ice cream. The fun of it. I think that's an interesting element for the character. She could be fun and happy and enjoy this life, but the world they've put her in doesn't allow for that. She is either being yelled at by a boss that she's scared of, or she is stuck in a poorly lit cave, surrounded by super soldiers. This is the problem with the show. They've tried to make her something that she isn't, and the character is rejecting the story. Sadly, being a CBS show likely means that there will be no drastic changes to the formula, so this is what she is stuck with for the rest of the series.

There were times when I was reading the Supergirl comics that I thought she acted a lot like Buffy Summers. She was a badass, but she was also fun and quirky. The show would be so much better if they did away with the government element and put Kara into a world where she could have some fun. I'm not saying that it has to be a comedy, but there isn't much that can hurt her. She's already lost everything she loved. She watched her home blow up. The worst things imaginable are already in her rear view mirror. She should either be more traumatized and messed up, or she should lighten up and be fun. I'm just not sure how I'd go about restructuring the series at this point. It would probably require a massive cast overhaul. I'd get rid of the DEO entirely. Martian Manhunter would be cut back to an occasional guest star (he can't stay on the show as he is. He is too big of a character to be a supporting character to a secondary superhero). I'd ditch Jimmy. He just doesn't work on the show. And Lucy would go too.
There might be a way to stay at CatCo, but I'm not sure how. Kara needs to stop living Clark's life, so how would she go about doing that while remaining at a massive media outlet?

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(120 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Looks like Smallville will be streaming on Hulu this year... http://comicbook.com/2016/04/03/smallvi … this-year/

Unfortunately, I don't know that this will help it's legacy much. Hulu confused the audience when it couldn't decide what it wanted to be, and now it isn't exactly a go-to source of entertainment. But hey, it is more than we have now, so that is something.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

That is true, but a lot of the weaknesses are just in the writing and directing. There is no excuse for having Alex shouting Kara's secret in a public place.

A lot of writing for television involves finding ways to work with what you have. You can't just throw your hands up and blame the network for every little thing.

Though to be fair, CBS does have remarkably bad shows. They must be messing things up somewhere.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Agreed.  It is hard to believe that this show is produced by the same people as The Flash or Legends.

It's interesting to me that so many people consider the Amazing Spider-Man movies to be such bad movies. I don't think they're any worse than the Disney-produced Marvel movies. In fact, I think there is some stronger character work in them (whether they could have been better or not) than there is in most, if not all, of the MCU movies.

I know that Spider-Man is supposed to be a huge deal in Civil War, but is it really that exciting? I think I would have been more psyched to see the movie if Daredevil had shown up in the trailer, rather than Spider-Man.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

With Supergirl... I think it will probably be renewed, but the network definitely isn't as happy with it as they'd like to be. It wasn't included with the early renewals, which is telling. But more than that, the Flash crossover tells me that they were looking for a boost from a fan base that they don't see tuning in. The show isn't generating much heat.

I don't think that Legends necessarily needs to have a full overhaul of the cast, but I'd like to see some swapping out each season. Stein is married. He needs to go home (while remaining a part of this overall universe).

It's isn't really that I hate Arrow, it's just that I don't feel like the writers are present there. It irritates me when solid potential is wasted. I liked seeing Laurel and Oliver showing an actual friendship. It makes sense, and it always seemed awkward when they weren't closer (usually because they were trying to force Oliver to interact with Felicity all the time).
I don't really care who is in the grave at this point. By that, I mean that the buildup was useless. It was a waste of time, because there were no clues and none of the mystery had a purpose. I would hate to see a couple of the characters die. I'd be upset if they killed Laurel, because Black Canary isn't a throwaway character. I'd be upset if they kill Diggle or Thea. Other than that... they have killed Oliver and it meant nothing, so they have to earn back the emotional response. My prediction is that it will be someone who doesn't really matter. Curtis' husband, Alex, Donna or even Quentin don't really matter.


Barry discovered time travel much earlier on The Flash now. Has he used it more than before? They could pretty much use that change to alter anything. Ronnie could walk through the door next week and it could be explained with a shrug and "Time travel!"

Talia would be older, but she might not look older. She could be Ruve Darhk... but would that be too much?

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

There were parts of the crossover that were fun. The goofy interaction was enjoyable, and Kara had more chemistry with Barry than pretty much anyone else on the show. Having him there exposed a lot of the show's weaknesses, because it was awkward to see him in something so far beneath the quality of his own show. The writing and directing were horrible. It felt like a last minute attempt to save the show, which has failed to reach the level of acclaim of the other DC shows, and which hasn't yet been renewed. It didn't feel like a real event crossover, as it should have.

I wouldn't mind seeing Kara show up on The Flash if her show is cancelled (like Constantine did on Arrow) but if they did that, they should use Melissa to bring in Power Girl, and avoid having to rebuild this version of Supergirl from scratch. Though they could use her if they get to the Crisis point in the story.


Legends took some risks this week, after the first 1950's episode completely failed to hit the mark. It was a really interesting episode, having three characters stranded for two years and revealing Rory to be Chronos. It makes me think that they will be switching up the cast next year, but we will see.

Arrow was horrible. So, so horrible. They took one of the worst Flash villains and put her on Arrow, and made the plot revolve around a silly McGuffin that shouldn't exist in the first place, for so many reasons.
I agree that the team was better without Felicity. I don't necessarily like the Curtis character too much, but at least he isn't a whiny, annoying, self righteous, horrible CEO, which Felicity has become.


The Flash was really interesting. Barry changed the past. How does that alter his present? How can he live in a world that he knows is wrong? I know that technically, his entire timeline was wrong to begin with, but the world he knows is essentially gone now. He is like Quinn Mallory seeing his dead father walk through the door.
It's interesting that Sara messed with her past too, on Legends this week, but those changes were used to create the timeline that she already knows.


So question... Will Talia be used in the future, or was her introduction just a wink to the audience?

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(742 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

It has taken me a long while to get to a point where I can read something of my own and enjoy it. Even now, I could love the characters and what they say or do (or hate what they say or do, depending on the character) while picking apart all of the descriptions, because in my mind, the characters control themselves and I am just describing what they do, so if they say something stupid, that is their fault. The rest is on me.

Is that weird?

I had to go out of town for a few days this past week, so I didn't get much work done. This means that this coming week, I have to create a "final" version of my eBook and get that submitted for publication on my release date. I'm sure that I can go back and make minor corrections after that, but I'm using it as my deadline to just wrap up this project and move on to book 2. So I will be using your feedback a little bit this week as I go through the book again. I'm sure I've already fixed some of the issues, but we will see!

Then I get to work on marketing. I hate that part the most. smile


The interesting part of writing is getting different feedback from different people and seeing so many different angles from which to approach the story. While editing, you have to try to consider everything while maintaining your own perspective. But the whole process is interesting. I've had family members read my books and some won't really like them while others will love them. Then you have debating and arguing, and as a writer I know that you can't please everyone, but part of me loves to hear the back and forth. It makes me feel like I've done something right, if others will have those discussions without having me add anything new to the conversation.

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(742 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Cool. Excellent thoughts. Thanks for reading it and letting me know how you felt about it. It's hard for me to see the story on a book-by-book level, so it's cool to hear that perspective.

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(12 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Brimstone comes up in conversation a lot for a show that was cancelled so quickly.

Man, I wish someone would release these shows. I think SeaQuest is on Netflix. That might be worth checking out sometime. I never really watched it when it was on. My only memory of that one is watching it in the waiting room of an ER while my brother had his finger stitched up.

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(855 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

It's hard to say. Her character was trained from birth to be detached and kinda withdrawn. She got a lot of criticism for being "cardboard" but it was kinda within character.

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(742 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Thanks. Looking forward to it! Please keep in mind that it was an pre-release draft! I'm still making some fixes to it. smile

EDIT: minor fixes. Not changing anything substantial.

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(855 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I fully support Adrianne. She is a great actress who does deserve as much success as she can possibly get. And on top of that, she is even more beautiful in person than she is on TV. I don't know how that happened, but it did.

I just hope that her show is created, written by, and produced by people who care about the product a lot more than most of the Marvel properties. She is capable of Daredevil-level television, so let's not keep her stuck with Agents of SHIELD level material.


That said, I don't know that I'd call Fox or Alba talentless. Fox turned in a surprisingly impressive arc on New Girl this year, showing that she does have some talent. And I've been a fan of a lot of Alba's work for a long time. Plus, she knows business, so she deserves some props for that.

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(742 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Avoiding the BvS thread like a plague, but I just wanted to say that news headlines are already filled with huge spoilers. The movie has been out for a day!

What the f---- are these a------- thinking? Son of a b----! I can't drop everything and run to the theater the second a f----- movie comes out!

F---!!!! S---! M----- F------!

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(855 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

AoS doesn't deserve a spinoff. Don't get me wrong, those are two of the better characters/actors (though they never really made up for Bobbi's double cross last year, in my opinion) but that whole foundation is broken. Looking at AoS next to something like Daredevil makes it look so amateurish... Even if it does look more like the movies than Daredevil does.

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(855 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I don't get the last episode of Agents of SHIELD. Why would Bobbi and Hunter have to be disavowed by an organization that has already been disavowed? Aren't all of the SHIELD agents already considered terrorists by the world?

Another look at the upcoming Wonder Woman movie...
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/24/wo … ow_twitter

I'm not usually a huge fan of the character, but it looks like they're going in a pretty good direction here. I like the style of DC. They use film imagery the way really good comic books use art.

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(7 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Interesting thoughts. I can't really discuss much of them right now, but I'm glad that you enjoyed it more than you thought you would.

There appears to be a major difference between critic reviews and audience reviews. Interesting.

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(12 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Some good shows listed!

Some of VR.5 is on YouTube, but it is missing just enough to make it impossible to watch.

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(90 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I wonder if they will be doing a flash-forward at some point.

I don't mind how it's playing out. People always ask if the villains created Batman or if Batman created the villains. Now we know. And I don't necessarily dislike that the big crime lords during the Batman years are getting their start now. It takes time to get there. And then you have to consider that Penguin and Riddler both more or less retire from their crime careers during Batman's time.

I have seen some bad reviews, but I've also seen some really positive reviews. I think it will divide the audience. I think some will legitimately hate it, but I also think that some reviewers are going negative because it's been so cool to have the movie lately.

I haven't seen anything near the "disaster" that people predicted.

Based on a comment or two that I saw, I'm wondering if this is like a Batman movie with Superman as a secondary character.

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(12 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Today, it is easy to hold onto shows that are cancelled. All we have to do is download them or stream them on Netflix. But there are some shows that were cancelled after one season that I would love to watch again, but I can't find.

The recent resurgence of VR goggles got me to thinking about VR.5, which premieres around the same time as Sliders. It focused on a woman named Sidney, who could plug her special VR headset into a phone and use it to enter the minds of people she called. I would like to see that again.

Other shows that I would love to see:

Strange Luck
Freakylinks (I do have most of these on vhs)
Deadly Games (stupid UPN show)
Grosse Pointe

I know there are some that I'm forgetting. What short-lived series stuck in your head?

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(4 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

...I am way behind in my rewatch.

Happy Anniversary, Sliders!

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(2,574 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

That is why the Republican party is seeing such a huge internal backlash now. The politicians aren't in line with the voters. That is why the two front-runners are considered anti-establishment.

I disagree that we just have to throw up our hands and give in to universal healthcare. I don't see it as inevitable. If we learn the lesson of those countries who have universal healthcare now, we won't go anywhere near it.  There is still plenty of time to avoid that iceberg... But it will take work, since the media rarely discusses the downside of universal healthcare, and most voters don't know anything beyond "Free!" (Not that even this part is true)

1,716

(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I don't have anything against her necessarily, I just hate how the character is written. I think the show is an uninspired waste of potential.

This week, we saw a glimpse of Kara's younger years. I wish they focused more on that. Not like a Smallville clone, but more of her struggle as an alien in this strange place. Learning the language, learning how to speak it without an accent, learning the culture while mourning for the loss of her own. I don't get the sense that the writers love Supergirl because she is being forced into this Superman-shaped hole. It's the same with Arrow. After season 2 was over and Slade was gone, it's like the writers got bored by how much Oliver isn't Batman.

The Flash and Legends feel like the writers are having so much more fun and are excited to be there. Same with Gotham.

1,717

(2,574 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I know some libertarians, and they tend to vote along the republican/conservative side in major elections because their own candidates don't usually make it far. Libertarians and conservatives have a lot in common, though there are significant differences.

I have to disagree with your comment about ordinary republicans supporting large government programs. While this may be true for the more moderate/liberal republicans, it's not true of the majority. The republican voters tend to be pretty conservative. Conservative values are about less big government control over our personal lives. You paint this as only being interested in what helps them, and no interest in helping others. That's not the case.

The programs that you're talking about are programs that people pay into with every paycheck. The government takes that money from the people, and the people do have an interest in getting it back. However, if you listen to a lot of republicans, they also talk about restructuring those programs to give individuals more control over their own money and taking the federal government out of it.

Universal healthcare is a failing policy. It has been proven time and time again to reduce the quality of care, while driving taxes through the roof. That is the standard viewpoint of the average republican in this country. If it weren't, every republican candidate out there would be running on a platform of passing universal healthcare, but it's not as simple as "everyone gets taken care of" and republicans tend to know that. Someone is going to have to pay for it. Who? We're already in enough debt. And once you're in the business of approving or not approving medical procedures, you're in the business of turning down those who aren't seen as a worthy investment. Conservatives do not like a big government approach to life. They want more local controls of health, schools, and most other things. Your theory that most republicans support universal healthcare goes against the very fabric of republican (and definitely conservative) ideals.

Look at the standard republican/conservative point of view... they are about reducing government, not growing it. (of course, there are some republicans who support programs that would grow government, but that is not where the party's voter base is coming from)

1,718

(2,574 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I would disagree that republicans want universal healthcare. Conservatives and libertarians want the government involved in as little of their lives as possible. Putting the government in charge of healthcare is exactly what they don't want.

1,719

(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Yeah, that was bad. I am just not a fan of "James" Olsen, so I didn't mind it much. There is just nothing right about that character. He is a boring, lifeless, cookie-cutter love interest character who is undeserving of his iconic name. I can't tell how whether Mehcad is a bad actor or just has a crappy role to play.

Though it contradicts my opinion of Kara, I did think that Melissa did a nice job with the aftermath. Her breaking down was nicely played... But I would still prefer her to have a back bone regularly.

1,720

(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Really? I mean, aside from doing the obviously bad things, I kinda liked her that way. There is really no reason why Kara shouldn't be strong and capable in her daily life. Taking down Siobhan wasn't evil, it was the work of someone who wasn't afraid to get rid of the person who is trying to destroy Kara and undermine Cat. I loved it when Siobhan cowered out of the place and Kara made a snappy comment to her. THAT is the Kara that I want to see around, not someone who is pretending to be shy and nervous and constantly pushing up her glasses.

I remember reading some Supergirl comic books a while back and thinking that she reminded me of Buffy. She was strong, but had a sense of humor and youth that she wasn't ashamed of, which set her apart from Superman.

I mean, yeah, throwing Cat off of a building was a bit much and letting the alien go shouldn't happen. I think there would be a nice middle ground somewhere.

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(2,574 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I'm sure that Hillary is part of the reason. Trump can be whatever people want him to be. He has expressed just about every belief out there at one point or another. Democrats can like him because he says a lot of Democrat things. Republicans can like him because he says a lot of Republican things.

The only thing that is needed for someone to like Trump is a lack of real research.

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(1,635 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Is it weird that I liked Supergirl more when she was under the influence of red K? It was nice to see some personality that wasn't just Clark, even if it was still based on a version of Clark.

The show would be more interesting if she had a little more edge to set her apart.

I think HitFix just needs to sit down (to borrow a phrase from Wendy Williams... I don't know why). Now that BvS is being seen and people are liking it, they need more click bait. Wonder Woman is out because people have already seen her, and footage from her movie. So they're picking something down the line. They're taking a quote where Snyder said that the Arrow/Flash universe is not the same style as the movie universe, and they're using that to make all kinds of assumptions about future movies.

Don't get me wrong. I think BvS will not be universally beloved, and I have my own concerns about some choices being made. But HitFix is just trying to go back to the well after getting a ton of publicity by crying wolf about BvS.

I've seen a few early comments on BvS so far. People seem pretty positive about it.

If this movie can make Wonder Woman work, it must be good. That character rarely works in the comic books and is usually a disaster on screen. She tends to lack focus.

I probably won't get to see it for a while. Be sure to let us know what you think... But with spoiler warnings. smile

Can I just say that it is really annoying how so many people around the internet have been pre-reviewing this movie? They go on about it being too jammed with heroes and villains. They go on about the movies that should have been released first, to establish characters. They go on about the tone of the movie. They go on about so many things that they can't possibly have an informed opinion about, just because it will draw clicks. It is really annoying.

1,727

(855 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I'll try to respond to what I can smile

Spider-Man... I don't get the eyes. I don't get why they need to grow and shrink. Is it supposed to serve a purpose? How does narrowing his field of vision help him? When I saw that, my only reaction was "Why?".


Civil War/Justice League... I actually don't think that the Justice League element was added because of the Marvel franchise. The way it played out seems like they brought Batman in to serve a specific purpose, and as the process went on, Batman's role became bigger and he was given full-on star status, complete with name in the title (which Iron Man should be getting, but isn't)
Snyder recently said that when the idea to have Batman fight Superman came up, it sounded crazy to him that they would really be fighting at all, but it opened up this whole world of possibilities. If Batman and Superman exist together, the whole Justice League could exist together in the same movie universe, which has never happened before.

I would call BS on that, since it could easily be a response to Marvel, but it kinda makes sense. The way it played out in the press, from the earliest buzz about a Man of Steel sequel, which turned into Batman v Superman, which turned into a chance to introduce this whole world... the progression of those elements felt natural, as though they were being added as the story called for them. I don't think it was as much a "We need our own Avengers movie NOW!!!" reaction as it was "What if this coming together of Batman and Superman in such a public way draws the attention of others out there? What if their conflict exposes a whole world of heroes and villains?"

People say that the movie is too crammed with other heroes, but I think they're misunderstanding what happens. I think it will play out like the introduction of Kendra at the end of season 1 of The Flash. A glimpse of who is out there, setting up what is to come. I think the trailer is making Wonder Woman's role look bigger than it is, just because this is her first appearance on the big screen and that's a big deal.

I think that DC's approach has been better, honestly. They're making real movies, not live action cartoons. The look of the Marvel movies is very simple. The lighting is basic and too perfect. The coloration is bright, with no atmosphere. The shots are very basic, just to convey the idea of what's happening, without much art behind it. Marvel is creating products as quickly as they can, and it's working for them. But DC's movies are epic and beautiful. People didn't care when aliens attacked New York and the government ordered a nuke attack on the city. There was really no reaction to that at all from the public, and why not? That should be a big deal, right? So where is the investment?

Say what you will about Man of Steel, but it got people talking. People cared about how much damage happened to Smallville and Metropolis. People cared about Zod's end. We still debate the emotional motivation of the final shot in the movie, whereas nobody cared that the Avengers were joking around with each other while people were picking up the pieces of their lives around them at the end.


Treatment of characters... I disagree that Marvel is handling their characters better. They are managing their products better, perhaps, but not their characters. There is very little actual character work put into Marvel's characters. They're pretty two-dimensional, with special recognition given to RDJ for infusing life into one of those characters. The others have no real arcs. No emotional center. No real personalities. There really is no Steve Rogers, there is only Captain America. They keep throwing away chances to make him more than that. First, by bringing him to the future too soon. Second, by not really focusing on how out of place he is here. And poor Black Widow (who also has no real story... and I don't even think Scarlett Johansson has been given a multi-film contract yet, much less her own character arc) is tossed around from movie to movie, being the love interest of whoever needs one at the moment.

The business side of their movies, Marvel has handled well. They make unoffensive movies that almost everyone in the family can watch and enjoy, and they have a ton of merchandising to go with it. The Disney model. It works for making money. But the characters themselves have been treated horribly.



Going ahead with the next phases... yeah, they will probably just swap out the old characters with new ones. But what I mean is that while people are praising the popularity of Iron Man right now, it's not really Iron Man that's popular. It's RDJ. I don't think that these movies have propelled Iron Man to the level of Batman or Superman, as some people suggest. I don't think that the character will continue to be as popular once RDJ is gone.



Daredevil... I've only watched the premiere of season 2 so far, but the quality of that show is far beyond anything else that Marvel has put out. There is more care put into that TV series than any of the huge Marvel movies. The lighting and use of shadows, the camera placement, the coloration, the line delivery... it looks more DC than Marvel, quite honestly. I mean that in a very good way. I can't speak for the overall writing of season 2, but the other stuff is still strong.

1,728

(120 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Really? I've never seen Smallville on Netflix. Whatever the case, I hope they put it on there soon.

The show did have many flaws. The circular plots were a huge problem. The way they forced characters into arcs that they shouldn't have been involved with (Lana should have never been more than the small town girl. Running the Talon was a huge stretch, but everything beyond that was just insanity). Yet, it's one of those shows where there are enough elements in place to make it worth sticking with. The cast, for the most part, was great. The way they interacted with each other was great. Seeing Tom grow into not only the role, but his own talent as the series went on... it was like the Superman arc playing out in front of and behind the camera at the same time (in a way). Allison was great. Kristen did the best she could with the crap they gave her. She had a thankless job on that show. She had genuine charisma and chemistry with the others, but they never used her properly. Annette and John were perfectly cast. As was Michael.

And as the series went on, there were great additions. And eventually, the story became better.

The show was well shot. The atmosphere was nice. The visuals were great for their time (Clark's first flight scene still ranks amongst the best Superman flying scenes. I think Man of Steel took some elements from the show)

It is a real shame that the writing was lacking so much, so often. Everything else was in place.

1,729

(120 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

It isn't on Netflix yet. The only place I've seen it available to stream is Vudu, and you'd have to pay for it. I think that is a large part of why it is fading from memory so quickly. People love the show, but they can't actually watch it without buying it.

1,730

(120 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I figured that since the show ran for so long, and because it isn't part of the current DC TV universe, it deserved a thread of its own.

While browsing through Vudu today, I noticed that Smallville was listed for sale. This surprised me, because I've never seen the show available for streaming before, especially in HD.

I watched a couple of the two minute previews and it looks pretty nice. The CG effects (especially in the pilot) don't compare to The Flash, but the normal scenes are well shot.I don't know that these are rescanned from the original film, but they look good. I would have to compare them to the DVDs in order to judge the detail.

It is nice to see the show available for streaming. I would like to see it on Netflix. It is a good show that ran for a long time, so it doesn't deserve to fade away because nobody can find it.

I wonder if it will ever get the full bluray upgrade.

1,731

(2,574 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Yeah, but Trump would build a wall around every voting booth to keep democrats out.

I really don't think that Trump will be the nominee. But that could be desperate hope talking.

I think he shaves it. At least, judging by the picture that I saw. I'd post it, but I don't know where it came from and I don't want to spoil anything by mistake. But if you search Google for "Batman v Superman Lex", it should be the fifth image result.

1,733

(2,574 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I really don't know much about him. I've heard a lot from both sides and I haven't really had time to do much research this week. But the fact remains, there is really no incentive for the republicans to approve him. There is a very solid chance that a republican will be President by this time next year. You can say that Hillary has a lot of support, but she hasn't even begun to be held accountable for her actions in the public eye and neither Donald Trump nor Ted Cruz would allow her to slip by without throwing those actions in her face. Romney or McCain probably would have, but they're not around (yet).

Hillary's campaign doesn't have the energy of Obama's. She isn't going to make non-voters get out and vote. She isn't going to convert republicans. I'm not convinced that she will solidify her own party. I don't think democrat voter turnout will be impressive, just because she's a rich old white lady who acts like a rich old white lady. And on top of that, it would be super easy to make campaign ads featuring Hillary in a spinoff of Orange is the New Black.

Trump is a disaster. Don't get me wrong about that. I don't like him. I don't want him. I don't know if I'd bother to vote if he's the nominee. But his supporters are riled up and energized. He is a rich old white man who talks like a rich old white man, but he uses enough bad language and shocking threats to attract the angry voters.

Having these two in the race is embarrassing.

So it is a wig? I wasn't sure if he was going to lose his hair in the movie or if it was a wig.

I guess a wig could be like Clark's glasses. It makes people see him a certain way. With the hair, he looks like on of those stupid young techno wiz kids who you don't really have to take seriously, despite his earning a lot of money. Bald might make him seem more imposing.

But I just saw a picture of him from he movie, with very shortly trimmed hair... are you sure it's a wig?

1,735

(742 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I've just started wearing sunglasses when I'm using my computer. The screen became a bit much for my eyes. I've tried that sort of screen filter thing that adjusts the coloring, but I found that when I wanted to watch movie trailers or look at pictures, I didn't want to have to turn it off. I really should keep using it. smile

I'm used to just shutting my laptop when I want to go to bed at night. It used to put it into hibernate, but I've made some changes an now it just sleeps the computer. The problem is that sometimes it will turn on in the middle of the night for no reason and the fan will wake me up. It's really annoying, so now I just shut down completely. Fortunately, I installed a SSD a while back, so it doesn't take several minutes to get everything up and running anymore.

1,736

(2,574 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

A republican senate isn't going to confirm a very liberal nominee. Even if they went through the whole process and only rejected him in the end, people would complain that they're not doing their job, because that's what the liberal politicians are saying. They will continue to say it unless Garland is confirmed, especially since it's an election year and it makes for a good stump speech.

1,737

(2,574 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Confirmed in an election year, but the process started much earlier than that, and Kennedy came about after another nominee was rejected. And that was after a Planned retirement, not a sudden death.

We are eight months from the election. Eleven from inauguration day. The Republicans aren't going to approve Obama's nom. There is no reason for them to. They could put on a show, but wouldn't that be wasting everyone's time?

1,738

(2,574 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

A really good business man, I could see in office. If it were someone who knew what he was talking about on the issues, who had a talent for surrounding himself with great advisers and who knew how to be strong in diplomatic situations... sure, why not? I have a bigger problem with the idea of people who have been in Washington for 80 years.

But Trump isn't that type of person. He doesn't seem to have a firm grasp on much of anything. So in this particular situation, I think it would be a disaster.

That said, I don't think Trump's path is clear now. With Rubio dropping out and his team telling supporters to back Cruz, there could be a significant shift in support for Cruz, while I don't think that Trump will get many of the Rubio supporters. At the same time, the establishment lost their only horse left in the race. After trying and failing to make Cruz kiss their ring (not literally), they have the choice to either back him or back Trump. Now we're seeing much more support from the establishment republicans who don't want Cruz in office, but who see him as the lesser of two evils.

Obviously, we will have to wait and see how much of a bump Cruz gets from this point on. However, I think Trump has a much lower chance of getting all of the votes needed to take the nomination outright. Which will lead to a brokered convention. That's when things could get sloppy. If the republicans named someone like Romney or Ryan at the convention, I think hell would break loose. They might do that, and try to force us to take our medicine (if forced to choose between Romney or Clinton, most would choose Romney, even if they had to close their eyes and pinch their nose to do it). It would be a slap in the face to the voters who have made it very clear that they don't want an establishment nominee this time around. The party needs to reevaluate where they stand as it is, but this would be fighting words.

I think that Trump would throw a fit if the nomination went to Cruz at a brokered convention, but I don't think it would cause the same reaction as choosing someone who hasn't even been in the race. Cruz has been doing respectably well in the primaries, and when you factor in the votes that have gone to people who aren't even in the running anymore, I think that a good case could be made for him taking the nomination. It would be a lot harder for Trump's supporters to riot at a Cruz nomination.

So, I don't think Trump's way is clear yet. I think we will have to see where the Rubio supporters go from here.


As for the republicans not humoring Obama's nominee for Supreme Court Justice... I don't think it's unusual or unexpected. There was just a line in an episode of House of Cards about voting in a Justice during an election, as though it was unthinkable. And that would have been filmed long before it was a real life issue this year.

1,739

(742 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

No rush. I hope you're feeling better.

My phone could be doing that. Or it could just not be doing anything to the apps that I tell it to move to the SD card. I deleted the Star Trek game and now it seems to be running smoothly.

1,740

(855 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Fair enough. You may be right (though I still argue that the movie's Iron Man vs. Captain America theme, at least as it appears in the trailers, still seems like incredible coincidence if they didn't up Iron Man's role to counter BvS).

That said, for as long as people can argue that DC/Warner Bros. is trying to catch up to Marvel or copy Marvel, I can argue that at least they didn't directly copy the idea for the movie's plot after it was announced. That seems fair, since the original claim isn't based on rational thought or logic in the first place. Deal? smile


As for them thinking that DC is a joke... I may agree that DC hasn't always handled their characters in the best way (neither has Marvel). However, Batman or Superman can keep the company afloat on the power of their logos alone. That's not a laughing matter. The fact is that if Robert Downey Jr. walked away from Iron Man and a new movie came out three or four years from now, with Matt Damon in the role, the excitement wouldn't be there. The people making these movies have to be aware of that. RDJ *is* Iron Man to most of this audience, and the second he walks away from it, Iron Man will go back on the shelf where RDJ found him. No actor has ever defined Batman or Superman. The closest they came was Christopher Reeve, and even that was different.

Batman vs Superman can bomb, and those characters will still walk away whole. And that's the difference. Man of Steel might not have made a billion dollars at the box office, but just having a new version of the logo to put on products will make DC money for years to come. Aside from Spider-Man, I can't think of any Marvel characters who have that power. Marvel is cashing in on this franchise while they can, but I don't know how sustainable this is. How many of these movies are classics that will be revisited over and over again? Whereas DC is making movies like Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Man of Steel (I like others, but these are the big three) that are able to sit on a shelf with movies like Dances with Wolves or Field of Dreams (why am I only listing Kevin Costner movies?!).

Ultimately, they're just playing different games. Who is doing better probably depends on how you define "better". I just think it's a mistake if anyone is not taking the other seriously, because both have lessons that the other could stand to learn.