But at its heart and soul, Chuck has been about transcending the physical for the emotional and the heart of the hour belonged to Chuck and Sarah. His lady is still hurting and it was painfully funny to see Chuck trying to make things right with her. Sometimes it was a bit overdone. I thought Chuck trying to clear the air with Sarah in the middle of a mission–like literally during their cover–was a bit much. But the sentiment behind it was real, and I’ve always admired shows where the emotion feels genuine.

The show also understands subversion in that it does not always have to be happy, jokey stuff. That’s a mistake a lot of programs make when they try to be edgy for the sake of cool. This show used the old gag where two characters feeling animosity toward each other, have it out physically and work themselves up into hormone bombs of unreleased sexual energy. Hell, I was one of ‘em. I couldn’t wait for Sarah and Chuck to get their freak on with their bos.

But instead we got a heartbreaking scene where Sarah attacked Chuck to get him to shut off his emotions and use the intersect as a weapon as intended. A cold, reactionary tool. And Chuck is too in love with Sarah to ever hurt her–even in training. We truly saw the depth of Sarah’s pain at Chuck’s choice in the scene. She doesn’t just want to ignore her feelings for him; she wants to kill them. But in that very act she’s proving to him and herself how much she still loves him. Because as hurt as she is the reason she’s doing it is for the only reason that it’s been since she’s met him. To keep him alive.

I really like how the creators seem to have a set piece or two devoted to Chuck’s surprising abilities with the intersect upgrade, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that Chuck saves the day because of the upgrade. Here we get a glimpse as Chuck’s empathy and resourcefulness vanquishing the foe. While the gun runner’s first and foremost a badass ruthless bad guy, he’s also heartbroken by Carina’s betrayal and Chuck picks up on that, even directing some of his empathy to Sarah. But what it comes down to is Chuck throwing a torch in some alcoholic concoction that Lester makes which takes out most of the apartment courtyard.

But the ending really reminds me of why I’ve come to love Chuck. Carina takes off but not before giving Sarah something she needs to see. Not spy stuff she finds out, but what Chuck said when he thought he was going to die. About why he wanted to become a spy and break her heart. Because of her. Because of what she taught him about not thinking of himself but others. To use his abilities to help others and to make a real difference out in the world. To be the hero she believed he could be. He became a spy and broke up with her because he loves her. To paraphrase one of my favorite quotes from Veronica Mars, it’s hard to hate someone who breaks up with you because of wanting to become a better person.

After this I got the sense that Sarah finally forgives Chuck, but it’s gonna take longer to forgive herself. And Yvonne Strahovski reminds me yet again why she’s the secret weapon to the show. Seeing Sarah’s dawning realization and proud sadness of her nerdy Padawan spy broke my heart.

Three Words may not be the ultimate Chuck episode, but it is representative of what the show offers. As long as the balance between goofy and gallant is maintained then this season is off to a pretty nice start.

TallGent

So with all this potential for spy and espionage success we get failure and dejection. Chuck wallowing in a ratty bath robe developing a concerning addiction for cheese balls as he finds himself kicked out of spy school. As an aforementioned fan, it was uncomfortable at the very least seeing Chuck floundering adrift in loser land.

That’s not the half of it, though. Getting kicked out of training is one thing. Sacrificing the love of your life to be all you can be is something else. Through flashback, we discover why things are chilly now between Chuck and his lady fair of fisticuffs, Sarah Walker. Apparently Sarah already had a future in mind for Chuck away from the spy world, but with the upgrade Chuck can’t pass up the opportunity to become someone who matters. If you got the chance to be a super spy–or hero–most people probably wouldn’t pass that up either. And while the scene itself may have rubbed some fans the wrong way, it made sense to me. After all how often in real life can we eloquently explain why we do what we do? But the bottom line is that Chuck done broke Sarah’s heart.

The chill has even expanded into the show itself. A shocking death gives indication that for Chuck and for the show the kid gloves are off. There’s danger out there, and while Chuck may have the Force he cannot control it. His erratic emotions cause the intersect to fail at the worst times. Like William Katt in The Greatest American Hero, he‘s discovering his new abilities on the job and it leads to awkwardly funny moments . It’s painful to see Chuck blow a sting operation so badly and to see his staunchest allies, Sarah and Casey, angrily dismiss him.

But in a nice parallel, Chuck is faced with the same scenario that got him handed the pink slip in the first place with one significant difference–Sarah. And that turns out to be the key for Chuck to get the intersect under control. When his lady love’s life is threatened, that’s when our boy buckles down and kicks butt. Guy’s so in the zone he even uses a zip line flawlessly.

So Chuck is back with the gang, both the real gang and his cover gang with the Buy More. Even Morgan returns from his aborted attempt to be a Benihana chef. The episode does its job at getting the audience back to square one. And perhaps something to look at with a mini-theme that might bear riper fruit as the season goes along. As remarkable as Chuck can be with the enhancement of the intersect, he truly needs his friends and family to function at his potential. Kind of seems a bit foreboding if he somehow ends up isolated. But to speculate on such things seems kind of silly with one episode having aired.

Chuck is back, friends. That’s good enough for now

TallGent

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#3 - Caprica (January 22, 2010)

In the words of Anakin Skywalker, I am a slow learner. I really thought Ronald Moore and David Eick were swimming with arrogance and cockiness when they devised the idea for Caprica, their prequel to Battlestar Galactica. No way would this fly. But I saw the pilot and, my word, was I impressed. Mind-bogglingly impressed. Caprica may do with the family drama what BSG did for the military drama. Caprica is really the story of two families: the Greystones and the Adamas, and how tragedy and terrorism paves the way for changing the human race forever. You don’t have to have seen BSG to understand Caprica, but for those who have it greatly enriches the experience. And with a crackerjack cast led by Esai Morales and Eric Sloltz we may see a fascinating look at how a small family drama gradually morphs itself into an all-encompassing epic about civil war and how the future of the human race is threatened by the consequences of the most banal and well-intentioned of acts.

#2 – Lost (February 2, 2010)

I really don’t feel the need for some long, drawn out explanation as to why. If you’re a fan you damn well know and if you’re not a fan then stop reading this now and get caught up. I will say this, however. Last season’s Lost ended with a hell of a bang, perhaps a time altering one. And if you thought that was a mind fuck then prepare to have multiple brain lobish orgasms with alternate realities and timelines. We may actually see evidence of the Stephen King influence that producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have been declaring in the form of John Randall Flagg Locke. And along those lines if things do play out with alternate timelines and realities and the like I suppose I can forgive you guys for not doing The Dark Tower like you said you would. After this brilliantly WTF show ends, I wouldn’t want to tackle it either.

#1 – Chuck (January 10, 2010)

Now we’ll see if all the Subway sandwiches were worth it. Chuck changes the game plan somewhat in season number three. Chuck Bartowski got pretty much all the information the government has accumulated downloaded in his noggin. Well, it finally got removed only to have him download a new and improved intersect in his noggin. How improved? Now instead of accessing data he can actually access knowledge of kung-fu, languages, firearms, dancing, instrument playing, and I’m sure how to cause cardiac arrest with just his pinky is buried in there somewhere. So why is this ranked so high when Chuck 2.0 seems like Jake 2.0? Because Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz are smart enough writers and creators to understand that everything has consequences. While Chuck has the skills of the spy he doesn’t have the heart of one, or more specifically the cold heart of one. He still wears his heart on his nebbish and nerdy sleeve. Couple that with his handler Sarah Walker and Chuck all but announcing they are officially a couple at this point and that could lead to huge consequences–the kind that could threaten not only Chuck but everyone around him. The new intersect requires laser like focus and knowing Chuck focus doesn’t come naturally to him. Thankfully, all the natural pieces are in place. Sarah and Casey will be back as Chuck’s mentors, the Buymoria gang is back, and Awesome and Ellie Bartowski are back. This time though Awesome is officially a part of Chuck’s crack spy squad so that should be fun to see. Chuck has always been a show that has used its guest stars brilliantly and this season provides quite a crop. Brandon Routh, Kristin Kreuk, Angie Harmon, and even Stone Cold Steve Austin will make appearances. Also, just released by Entertainment Weekly, comes news that Scott Bakula will be back to play Chuck’s spy pop, Steve Bartowski. Chuck has a lot of work to do to even equal the brilliance of last season, but it may promise to be very compellingly angsty to see a Chuck who’s all that and more discover that even as a super duper spy stud he still can’t get by without a little help from his friends and family.

TallGent

So here then is a small summary, analysis, and wishes for the TV shows I have kept up with since they premiered in September. In retrospect they are amazingly slim pickings, but things should ramp up nicely come 2010 which will also be addressed in more detail. But here’s a hint. How the Cylons came to be, a final season, and an intersect is back and it’s badass.

The Big Bang Theory

The show came into its own as a legitimate hit for CBS’s Monday Lineup last season. Right now it seems poised to eventually unseat the longtime success of Two and a Half Men as the number one sitcom for CBS.All that said, however, this season has really demonstrated that the show is a work in progress. What seemed like a natural, strong chemistry between the principal players has instead shown that there are strong points and weak points abundant throughout.

Number one, obviously, is the group works much better as a foursome than split into pairs. The show works best when they can just bounce off each other and let that well-honed chemistry just shine. Case in point is one of my favorite episodes from last season with Penny trying to start her own business. Hilarious and showed all the main characters’ personalities to a T. At its best it resembles the great ensembles of years past and new classics like Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, and Arrested Development.

This season there haven’t been many opportunities to demonstrate this well-oiled machine. Well, one cog is running just fine.

I am referring to the brilliant work of Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper. He’s the home run guy and has come through every time he‘s at the plate. But he also seems to be the crutch to make up for the show’s shortcomings.

Right now the glaring one is they’ve gotten away from what made the show work in the first place. The guys all gathered in Leonard’s apartment playing the newest in video game geekery or conducting some convoluted experiment or using their brilliant analytical minds to solve daily rituals like going to the movies or deciding on dinner.

They’ve also for some reason seemed to emphasize the outsider status of the four of them rather than make them relatable. What drew me to the show in the first place was the exaggerated pop culture knowledge they all had. Well, it was about sci-fi and comic book stuff, but to them they were serious subjects to explore and dissect., just like any other experiment they conducted.

And speaking of grand experiments, we’ve finally seen the first union (though probably not last) of Penny and Leonard. We have kind of seen them struggle to find a common ground with their two very opposite life paths and personalities. But I’m glad the show has shown that these two do care for each other and enjoy being with each other. I don’t think they’re going to be able to sustain it. While we haven’t seen a true conflict, we’re due for one. And to be honest I see both Penny and Leonard not really comfortable with letting the other completely into their world, though Penny seems to be making more of an effort than Leonard at the moment.

I don’t want a case of Penny playing musical nerds with everyone, bouncing hither and yon amongst the brainiacs. Although, considering the comic chemistry Kaley Cuoco and Jim Parsons generate maybe a temporary pairing between those two would be interesting. And speaking of Ms. Cuoco, enough can’t be praised for how she has developed Penny. One can see the influence of John Ritter in her delivery and all too rare moments of sarcasm. I like how they’ve toned down her mother hen routine. She still loves them, but like any friend sometimes you have to tweak their quirks and eccentricities. You’re allowed to be frustrated with your friends.

It’s hard to criticize a show that has consistently delivered week-by-week. But there are chinks in the armor and if left unchecked they will become more and more noticeable as the show goes on. Right now everyone seems comfortable with comedy hit. But the potential is there to be one of the great all-time comedies. Let’s hope the cast and crew see that potential, too.

V

As with most of my insights, this one came when I had a nice pleasant buzz at a birthday party in conversation with a perceptive fellow genre fan. The show of the fall I was most looking forward to was not the show I had in mind. Not even close.Having said that we’ve only seen four of them so we’re really not given much of a sampling to make a determination either way.

But, man oh man, why do I sense a missed opportunity?

In my drunken lament, one thing we each agreed on was ABC still determining what kind of show they had. That’s to be expected four episodes into a season, but it’s unusual when a show doesn’t embrace its premise and purpose. Basically, it plays off of the paranoia of terrorism sleeper cells and not really telling who the enemy is. Stuff Battlestar excelled at. In fact, I can see a lot of similarities, intentional or not. Morena Baccarin plays the Six-like Anna, using her feminine qualities and attractiveness to hold the human race in her sway. And along those lines we have Scott Wolf who plays a less ambiguous wild card a la James Callis’s Gaius Baltar. We know he’s looking out for himself, but for right now he lacks Baltar’s charisma and the audience’s wishes that he land on his feet.

But it’s still early and there are some intriguing avenues they can take the show if they wish to do so. The characters have a lot of potential.. I love the idea of rebel aliens being introduced so soon into the story and I’d love to see what Morris Chestnut’s role was before he went native. One assumes it was falling in love, but I first theorized he was part of the first band of peaceful explorers for the Vs before they decided to become conquerors. He also needs a catalyst to devote himself to the resistance fully so expect something to happen with his wife. And speaking of resistance, the more we find out about the Fifth Column and the mysterious John May the better this show will be.

But this show should have mo [problem getting better because there are a lot of things in place already. I love the whole dynamic between Elizabeth Mitchell and Joel Gretsch. Both of them with a crisis of faith, both of them being forced to break away from old allegiances–or having them torn away.

Which is why the subplots that don’t quite work now, may turn out to be masterstrokes as we get deeper down the line. For instance the teen romance between Mitchell’s son and the V, Lisa, is the weakest point right now of the show. Yet we’re left at an intriguing place with the revelation of Lisa being Anna’s daughter and the way Anna is taking Tyler Evans under her wing. What if Anna’s influence on him slowly destroys his humanity, taking away the thing that attracted Lisa in the first place? What if Tyler becomes a lieutenant to Anna and openly defies his birth mother, who is slowly becoming a serious threat to new his family? And what if Anna teaches her protégé too well to the point where he takes over?

But then are the Vs really in control or do they serve another master? In the final episode of 2009, we were introduced to Bliss, something like a V soma that puts the aliens into a docile and tranquil state of peace, love, and understanding. Just as the humans are becoming devoted the Vs, so too may the Vs becoming addicted to the Bliss. And the armada creeps ever closer.

Again four episodes isn’t a lot to go off of, but the shows have been getting steadily better. Save for one scene, in fact, the third episode, “A Bright New Day” was damn near perfect. If it stops trying to be a show for everybody, and instead lets everybody come to the show then we may see something that while not on par with Battlestar reaches for quality comparable to it.

Supernatural

Hardcore genre fans have a tendency to romanticize final seasons without taking into account their flaws. Buffy’s final season promised going “back to the beginning” which many fans took as a return to the more light-hearted episodes in the first season’s run. Joss Whedon actually meant that the Slayer’s origin would be addressed, but the season was hindered by humorous sidebars that distracted from the main arc involving Buffy’s war with the First Evil.Angel’s last season has been called the best season of Whedon’s five-year show about the vampire with a soul, mostly because of the addition of Angel’s rival Spike. But fans tend to forget that the season took awhile to find its footing because of Spike being a “ghost.” The early episodes were standalone trifles that really didn’t seem to have much of a point but to make Spike into comic relief.

And so has Eric Kripke encountered with his latest season of Supernatural. To come back a bit from the dark schism that broke the Winchesters in twain, but also led to the show’s best season to date, Kripke has added some genial light-hearted fare into a season that portends the end–literally. A duel with Lucifer, the end of the world, and the angels sending forth righteous judgment unto the earth. And it was Kripke’s original plan to have five years anyhow.

This season thus far can be best analogized in the following example. Last season there was an episode where the Winchesters discovered that a down-on-his loser-luck schmoe named Chuck was capitalizing off of their life story by writing their tales to rapidly rabid and growing fan base. The fan base was very creative much to the boys’ chagrin, even so far as discovering slash incest (or Wincest.) Dean summed it up nicely. “Dude, that’s just sick!”

That was thirty minutes in. Once we hit the thirty minute mark, The Winchesters’ angel buddy, Castiel, appeared and told the boys that the schmoe was to be protected at all costs. Seems it wasn’t just a supernatural oddity. He was a prophet of the Lord. The Winchester story will become Gospel.

Here we have a metacommentary, wink-wink of an episode turn on a dime into a critical and compelling advancement of the overall arc, and the tone change is so abrupt yet fluid. It flows from what went on before.

Now we jump to the season with a quasi-sequel. Apparently the Winchester cult has gotten so huge that they are gathering for their first Winchesters convention filled to the brim with Dean and Sam wannabes. Apparently, the house they’re meeting at is already haunted and before you can say Scooby snacks, the boys try to figure out what’s going on while poor Chuck is trying to keep the fans occupied. Anyway, that’s not the important part. What is is they discover that a long lost powerful weapon ain’t so lost after all and their mission to end Lucifer takes the forefront again. This bit is revealed with about three to four minutes left in the episode.

This is Kripke’s problem this year. He’s trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and the strain is showing. Having said that, though, this episode did lead into one of the best the show has ever done that led to the death of two beloved characters. Just the kind of thing Supernatural needs to remind the viewers that there is actual gravitas here.

The rest of the season promises more apocalyptic shenanigans and the appearance of God Himself. And, lest we forget, in the end below all the phantasmagoria and gory makeup effects this is a show about family. If the show is leading where I think it’s leading we’re about to see a brotherly showdown between Lucifer and Michael with Sam and Dean as their vessels–or perhaps we may see a break in the hateful cycle if God has anything to do with it.

But not only does the show feel ready to close its book, but in real life both Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are ready to open new ones. Both of them are engaged to Daneel Harris and Genevieve Cortese respectively. I seriously doubt that they pull an X-Files and move down to L.A. from Vancouver. Talk about undignified end. I have more faith in the creators that they’ll go out with a big bang. Kripke only knows what we’ll do without it.

* * *

Due to life, heath (Nothing major. Bad cold.) and everything I will have part 2 posted tomorrow evening.

TallGent

One of my favorite games of LAST generation has unequivocally got to be God of War 2.  I have not owned a single Sony console in my life, but I did borrow a PS2 from The DLB and worked my way through the entire game, a full two years after the launch of the Xbox 360.  While the God of War series isn’t really a poster child for subtlety and restraint, the execution of the action, the breathtaking boss battles, and the ever-changing-but-always-well-delivered set pieces made me feel like we had actually moved the ball forward to the endzone known as True Cinematic Gaming™.

You can imagine, then, that I had (perhaps unreasonably) high hopes for Dante’s Inferno.  A combination of God of War-style gameplay and a studio that created one of this generation’s coolest games?  Instant win, yes?I regret to inform you that this isn’t the perfect game.  I also regret to inform you that it’s not even close to that.  A few of the high points first:

- If you’ve played God of War, you’ll be very at home here.  The combat system, the power-up system, even how you acquire health, experience and mana, are painfully and shamelessly ripped from Kratos’ world.  God of War IS genius, though, so if you’re going to copy something, make it the best.  (I am reminded of Uncharted’s “homage” to the Gears of War-style stop and pop style of gameplay, a system that they recognized as genius for the type of game they were creating and ran with it to wonderful effect).

- The presentation elements surrounding the game are pretty wonderful.  The cutscenes are a mix of pre-rendered CG movies and in-game interchanges, but they take advantage of the extra fidelity during the CG portions by blending high-quality renderings and a disturbingly effective hand-drawn animation style (this is sold to you through the era-appropriate tapestry artwork that starts moving from time-to-time).  None of it ever felt forced, and it was usually quite chilling, which a game of this subject matter should achieve.

As for the other shoe:

- It’s wonderful that the game is running at 60fps at all times (especially during the more stunning moments such as the church falling apart around you), but I can’t help feeling like we could’ve used just a bit more in the lighting/texture work/animation department and trade that in for something closer to 30fps. (while inconclusive, DigitalFoundry is banking on God of War 3 being 720p/30fps, and everything we’ve seen so far is nothing short of stunning in comparison to Dante’s Inferno).  There are definitely “seams” in the presentation that feel a bit like a step backward in terms of the generational leap we’ve been experiencing in game engines over the past few years.  Levels feel very “geometric”, animations of enemies are synchronized like a robotic dance squad, and the lack of some now fairly common special effects (depth of field in particular comes to mind), all scream last-gen.  There are some AMAZING moments of high-quality texture work, though: the fire effect used for your “you can’t move forward until you beat up these guys” wall, the lightning storm outside the church, and a few other moments of note all pop off the screen.

- The voice acting is a little bit on the suspect side.  For such a narrative-heavy game, I really do wish they landed this part.

- Shock value is great, but sometimes the showing of breasts without any real meaningful context feels more juvenile then perhaps originally intended (of course, it’s looking like we won’t be stopping at naked boobs…).  The violence portion of the game isn’t really a huge deal for me in a game where you FIGHT through hell, but the nudity just didn’t come off as serving any purpose outside of getting people to talk about the game.  Congratulations guys, you win.

If the demo is the sole basis one should use in considering this game, I currently am going to classify it as a rental.  As is typical for most demos, there is a sizzle reel of upcoming moments in the full game (which I had already seen once before), and after playing through the demo and peeling back the mask of the quick cuts and explosive musical score, I found myself a little less excited for Dante’s trip through Hell.

What did you think?

More surprises. Kara Thrace discovers her own charred and burned body amongst the wreckage of a very familiar Viper. Amusingly, even Leoben is at a loss for words and backs the hell away from her. Kara does the only thing she can do under the circumstances. Burn the evidence.

Meanwhile, Dualla begins her sad march to her final fate after getting back to Galactica from the dashing of all her dreams. Her last moments are innocent and ideal as she rekindles her relationship with ex-husband Lee Adama. No sex. No baggage. Just a kiss and the hint of a tomorrow. Then she calmly removes her ring, hums her melancholy song, and after Gaeta hobbles, she emotionlessly puts the gun to her head and pulls the trigger. The first time I saw that scene, I yelled out. It’s just blam and it’s done.

The other is much quieter but no less painful as Deanna decides to stay on their wasteland of a paradise and die. All the risk and sacrifice for nothing. Still like Dualla she seems tragically content with her choice. It’s over. That’s the important thing. It’s finally over.

All that’s left now are to pick up the pieces and answer the questions. Lee implores his father for something–anything–but since Roslin is burning Pythian prophecies instead of dropping pithy sound bites of resilience, he figures inebriated honesty will do as well as anything. “I don’t frakkin’ know.” It’s a sobering and brave moment when the writers allow everything to be so dire that even Adama is pulling out a flask from his sock.

And with that one tragedy, that one reaction of despair and hopelessness, the other dominoes fall in suit. Fights break out, trash is strewn. The Admiral of the Colonial Fleet walks with pistol in hand giving two shakes of a rat’s ass about the chaos around him. He only wants to talk to his former best friend.

It’s a stunning scene of hatred and bile; Michael Hogan and Edward James Olmos give it their all. So where Adama is falling and begging for Saul to end him, Tigh for the first time rises to the occasion. Reconciling with his Cylon side has centered the embittered, alcoholic Colonel and he refuses to shoot Adama. With that the fight goes out of both of them and they decide to press on or die trying.

As Adama gives his Spartan speech, the montage shows the crew trying to process it all. Even Roslin who lies dormant still holds onto the tiny plant with all the strength she can muster. She’s clinging to life with what little she can cling to.

Which brings us back to Earth for one final farewell and revelation. Earlier in his quarters, Adama revealed to Tigh the story about the hounds who drowned while chasing the foxes–some of them voluntarily. After talking with Deanna, it seems Tigh sees himself in the same predicament. But after an episode of disillusioned disappointment and despair comes hope in the form of the past. Tigh already lost everything when he had to kill his wife. Strangely enough his wading out to death brings him back to life as a realization takes hold. Ellen is the fifth Cylon. Ellen’s alive.

And perhaps this is just the boon that Galactica–that everyone–needs.

In the commentary, Ron Moore said this is probably the best script Bradley Thompson and David Weddle have ever written for BSG and it’s hard to argue with that. It is uncompromising in showing a ship’s morale coming apart at the seams. The only way you could get the Enterprise crew to act that chaotic and self-destructive is if they were all infected by an alien virus. But not here. The meltdown happens for the most understandable of reasons. Because you just can’t take life beating you and laughing at you anymore. We don’t get a rousing Win-One-For-the-Gipper speech from the steadfast leader. He looks doubled over in pain as he tells the fleet they are going to journey on. To what end? Will there even be one? Who knows. But they’re going anyway. Because that’s what they’ve always done, what they seem to be damned to do.

And unlike so many So Say We Alls the quick cuts around the CIC show that not everyone is on board…and something is simmering to a boil. Adama may have quelled collapse, but only for the time being.

Nice hopeful way to start out Galactica’s final run. Would we expect anything less?

TallGent

1. Meteor Blitz

This is probably the most traditional of the dual stick shooters I’ve played on the Ipod.  In it, you tasked with defending several planets from incoming meteors, aliens, and assorted baddies.  The board loops around rather than giving you a walled level, so if you’re in trouble, you can fly off in one direction and come back at the bottom of the action, you know, like orbiting around a planet.  (Think SuperStardust HD).

The game features refined graphics (not mind blowing, but pleasant, and smooth), and with the amount of stuff going on on screen at times, there is never a hiccup.

There’s a persistent power up system for your three guns (cannon, fire, ice – which each excel at a different type of meteor), speed, grav gun (a tractor beam which lets you pull in a chunk of meteor or unhappy alien and then throw it out causing mass destruction), and boost, which you will use to bust out of ugly situations.

The game features a number of levels for each of the 6 worlds, and each level ends with a boss fight (always the same swirly boss who throws steel balls at you).

The game absolutely nails the pick up and play concept of ipod gaming.  If you take your thumbs off the sticks, the game automatically pauses.  This is incredibly smart and totally necessary, as having to reach for a pause game would undoubtedly end in your certain doom.  Likewise, dropping out of the game will automatically save the game exactly where you are to return whenever.

Essentially, this is the Iphone’s geometry wars.  A must have shooter that can entertain you for a few minutes or a few hours.

Highly Recommended.

2. Minigore

Minigore riffs on the dual stick shooter as a survival game.  Basically, you play on one level, with adorable and evil fuzzy things constantly coming at you.  Your goal is simply to not die for as long as you can.  You’re assisted in this task by occasionally getting a shotgun or grenade launcher, but most of the time, it’s just you and your trust machine gun, mowing down fuzzy dudes.  You can also occasionally collect enough powerups to become an angry fuzzy dude of your own, ripping the little critters apart just by touching them.

What makes minigore fun, and memorable is it’s unique art style, unlockable characters, and fun tempo.  It’s also priced well, at .99.

The developer seems to put a lot into the game in terms of updates, and it’s easy to recommend if you want something a little different. different feel.

Recommended.

3. Project Phoenix

I picked this up for free as part of the appventcalendar.com promotion, and was pleasantly surprised.  This takes the dual shooter genre in the direction of Assault Heroes, except, instead of a progressing level, you’re dropped onto a map, RPG style with a mission (generally to blow up a lot of stuff).  You have a tank to help with this, and as you explore the map you uncover more of it.  The game can get very frantic, and there are a ton of items to buy for your tank with the loot you get for killing baddies.  The game is relatively short (under an hour of play if you’re really working it), but by the end you definitely get the sense of being an unstoppable dual stick killing machine.  If you’re at all good at dual stick shooters, this probably isn’t going to be extremely challenging, but the graphics are great, the maps are big enough to be fun to explore, and there’s enough weapon variety to keep it interesting throughout the missions.

This is one that I’m comfortable recommending, although if the developers came up with a way to have a randomly generated level system, that would greatly add to the replayability, and make this a highly recommended game.  In that vein, I note this game was just released (12/02/09) and per the developer:

“We are already working on an update that will add more levels and some major features to the game in the future, including something really special.”

It’s still easy to recommend with the amount of game already there.  It’s fun, frenetic, and has just the right touch of “something different” to stand out in a sea of shooters.

Recommended.

On the other hand, we haven’t seen the Pre or Pixi spread to any other carriers, and we’ve seen the launch of the Droid, and with that, all manner of analyst write-ups signaling the end of Palm.  It makes sense that, with big red’s media blitz of all things “Droooooid,” eyes would glass over a bit, but it’s way too soon to count Palm out, especially considering that the Droid, while much prettier than previous Android phones, is still running the same OS that was in the marketplace when the Pre launched 6 months ago.

That said, it’s crystal clear that Palm has a couple of moves it needs to make once we get through this long December.

1. Carriers

It’s been absolutely beat to death, but it needs to be said again and again.  Sprint is bleeding out, and no matter how sexy your hardware, it just isn’t a carrier most people are willing to move to to get your phone.  This is a soft spot for me, since I migrated to the Pre with my fiancee because we wanted to be on Sprint.  Since we’re both heavy data users, the Sprint Family Data plan was by about 40-50.00 the cheapest plan available on any carrier.  129.00 a month gets us basically unlimited voice (especially with unlimited mobile to mobile going to any carrier’s cellphone), unlimited text, and unlimited data.  It just can’t be done cheaper anywhere else.

But, people still hate Sprint, and if Palm is going to have a chance at the kind of super adoption it needs, they need to cell the phone through more carriers.  Verizon is an obvious choice, and has been mentioned most often, but along with that, I think it’s important to offer a GSM version compatible with AT&T.  The lack of Iphone competitors on AT&T certainly makes that possibility look bleak, but instead, I’d recommend offering an unlocked GSM version for direct retail sale, as they did with the Treo Pro.  If they can get the retail price to a reasonable point (sub $500.00), while they might not move a ton of units, they will gain a huge amount of mindshare just by being available.

2. Multimedia

The WebOS platform is still lagging as a media device.  There’s been considerable (wasted) effort to continue the cat and mouse game of hacking itunes compatibility.  That effort is useless if the Pre is not where I want to keep my music.  I’ve already replaced the default music player with the remixed homebrew version by Hedami Software.  This should be a major point of focus, especially since Palm is going after the consumer market.  It could also be a huge point of distinction between WebOS and the equally anemic media qualities of Android.

3. Native Apps

WebOS is amazing in how it uses web standards to build apps.  Having zero prior experience programming, I was able to build a working (but ugly and buggy) game in a couple of days.  It absolutely lowers the barrier to app creation, and with Palm’s upcoming Ares platform, all the budding developer will need is a dream and some time.  That said, the lack of graphically intensive apps, especially games on the platform is a major limitation of the platform and something that, ultimately, will not make it a decent alternative to people sucked in by Apple’s gravitational pull.  Palm needs to turn on that graphics chip collecting dust inside the Pre and give developers a way to get at it, it’s that simple.

4. Community Involvement

I mentioned that my solution to the gimpy media player was to install a homebrewed alternative.  There are hundreds of community made patches that improve, fix, or augment bits of the platform.  For example, in the unpatched email program, if you swipe an email off the screen (a common WebOS gesture), you delete it.  I mean, you seriously delete it.  It’s gone buddy, hope you didn’t need it.  There’s a patch that enables a confirmation to appear under the swiped away email “delete, or cancel.” It’s simple, and absolutely necessary.  I think one surefire way for Palm to get ahead, being the substantially smaller than Google and Apple and Rim and Microsoft company that it is, is to incorporate the best of these patches into their updates.  Just give credit for community contributions on a credits page somewhere.  You have a passionate community that is working hard to improve this phone, so it should be used wherever the community has succeeded.

That’s pretty much it.  There’s still plenty of room in this market for competition, but Palm definitely needs to be already thinking about WebOS 2.0, and where to take the platform next year to stay one step ahead of the next Iphone if they’re going to have a shot.  Here’s hoping they do.

So, not really for the kiddies…keep THAT in mind when you think about downloading/playing it.

There is a basic tutorial mode in the beginning that demonstrates what a badass bitch you are in the game.  After that, they dump you into the most intensely confusing and difficult 3 minutes of gameplay you’ll ever play.  I played it twice and nearly turned the demo off because I was SURE this was not a game for me.

It is totally worth it to play through, though.  The game then pulls that, “Well wasn’t that trippy?!  Now let’s start back at the beginning of our story” sort of bit (albeit with a different narrative trick), and then the actual demo starts.  The demo material that follows is MUCH easier on you, and actually lets you figure out how to apply those tricks from the tutorial in the beginning.  Without spoiling the moments, I actually didn’t want the demo to end, and considering how I almost deleted it from the first “mission”, that’s a pretty amazing feat.

The game is exceptionally weird, with the full Japanese womanizing erotica and absolutely strange mashups of different genre pieces (angels, fairies, and torture devices?  Ooooo…K?), but it was dealt with so confidently (especially when you are introduced to new enemies…weird but clever “journal entries” are presented referencing them) that somehow it all “works”, at least as well as this sort of quirky Japanese actioner can work.

The graphics are pretty nice, ranging from “meh” to “wow, that is actually an enormous hair monster eating a mini-boss”.  Nothing that is advancing the state of the art, but very confidently delivered and it runs smooth as butter even when craziness is at its peak.

It’s definitely something that sticks with you, and not necessarily in a bad way.  In a sea of gaming experiences, that’s saying something.

But that’s been analyzed to death in other forums, blogs, and water-cooler geek gaggles. Instead, I want to focus on what in the second season got it canceled. I think the biggest thing is Fox deciding not to show Epitaph One, pretty much heralded now as the best Dollhouse episode up to this point and quite possibly the most significant. For it’s in this episode that we finally get a glimpse of what the Dollhouse technology has wrought. If we didn’t get why the Dollhouse was such a threat to humanity, the audience sure as hell got it now. Only the audience comprised of Itunes subscribers and DVD buyers, not the general viewing public.

So therefore when it was time for the second season to start with Echo acting as bride for Jamie Bamber as an undercover mission set up by Ballard, we didn’t really get what the big deal was if you hadn’t have seen Epitaph One. Without Epitaph, the ending to the episode is kind of pat. Ballard will work with Echo to take down the Dollhouse. Same tune, different conductor. But it’s these two that end up as key cogs in the resistance once the Dollhouse tech has run amok in the dystopian future of Epitaph. Without Epitaph the ending doesn’t have the intended resonance.

And Whedon made a huge mistake in not getting everyone up to speed with what happened at the end of the first season. It took me a long while to get my bearings on where everyone was at. I think a recap and some exposition would have been beneficial. With jumping right in where we left off, the viewers probably got frustrated and switched to something easier to grasp. Say this for procedurals and episodic drama, it’s not really essential to follow long arcs. Even if you don’t really know the characters, you know their job (cops, detectives, lawyers) and you know what the plot is (solve murder, successfully bring someone to justice).

In any case the decision is made so we’ll see what happens in its final stretch beginning with two back-to-back episodes tonight. We know that Wesley Wyndham-Pryce himself Alexis Denisof is in a recurring role as a senator (possibly of the Kelly persuasion) but we also know that Summer Glau is returning to the Whedonverse as a nemesis for Echo. Hopefully, the show will go out with the bang it so richly deserves. The episodes have been getting better. The last episode recounted Sierra’s story and turned out to be the most emotional and tragic story of  Dollhouse thus far. And where Joss goes more pain is sure to follow step for step.

So what happens now? Weep not for Whedon. For the old fashioned medium of motion pictures he’s soon to be releasing Cabin in the Woods with his old Mutant Enemy ally, Drew Goddard. Then it’s time to recruit the pipes and personalities in part two of the Dr. Horrible series. And speaking of series, Season Eight of the relaunched Buffy comics is entering its home stretch. After a quick break, Whedon will return to wrap up the Buffy comics series (and possibly the Buffyverse) with season number nine.

And what will befall our Dollhouse family?  Where will their respective chips fall you wonder?

Eliza Dushku is a resilient actress who always seems to find some new venture. She’s got a doozy right now that she’s also producing, a biopic on Robert Mapplethorpe starring her brother. I’d love to see Dushku successful doing independent features a la Parker Posey.

Tahmoh Penikett might be the biggest question mark, but not the cause for most concern. He’s got Ronald Moore and Joss Whedon in his corner so I’m sure he may call in a favor from either of the two auteurs. And speaking of favors, don’t be surprised with SyFy giving him a cameo or two on their programs. Helo’s a marketable bloke. He should be fine.

Harry Lennix and Olivia Williams are professional character actors. They’ll also be fine.

The concerns are for Fran Kranz, Enver Gjokaj, and Dichen Lachman. They’re relatively unknown and I can see them getting pigeonholed very easily. Now granted Whedon’s last television venture, Firefly, led to some non-names getting assigned names pretty easily. Summer Glau got the lead role of Cameron in the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Nathan Fillion is reaping much-deserved success as Richard Castle. And Morena Baccarin is finally getting notice as the leader of the Vs, Anna.

But with the Dollhouse actors I believe it’s different. Even when it at first wasn’t getting much notice, Firefly and Serenity amassed such attention that you kind of knew that its actors would thrive elsewhere, either in genre or out of it. Dollhouse is such a divisive show even amongst fans who follow Whedon, that I think the best we can expect is a guest spot on Warehouse 13 or Eureka. The chances of these actors finding success in the mainstream doesn’t seem likely.

Because whether we like it or not the delineation between genre and mainstream entertainment has reestablished itself. Television has become very cliquey again what with dancing shows, weight-loss shows, and weight-loss shows featuring dancing littering the broadcast landscape, with one or two oases of creatively diverse entertainment.

Which is why for the time being Joss Whedon’s best option is to lay low and let his imagination proliferate through the internet or comics. Dollhouse seemed to be his attempt at another uber-feminist hero journey with a more apocalyptic slant. The public’s not ready for that. But as Whedon has shown with his past creations he’s always been a bit ahead of the curve. And eventually everyone catches up.

No time like the present for that to be proven once again.

TallGent