Big Night on Siffy

[sith_killer_99]

For those who watch SyFy (formerly Sci-Fi) tonight sees the return of Eureka and Warehouse 13 along with the premier of Alphas!

Looking forward to a great night of new programming.

I'm not really up on Alphas, but I am hoping to add another good new show to my regular viewing, so here's to hoping it's good (and that if it is good, it doesn't get cancelled).

[JEDIpartner]

I had no interest in Alphas, but did tune into the other two, which I really enjoyed. After one seriously mediocre season, Eureka managed a good reboot with the time-travel convention. They worked in an interesting plot and created story potential going forward. I liked that. I throughly enjoyed Fargo and Zane stepping into different shoes. Andy and S.A.R.A.H.? Silly, but kinda sweet.

Warehouse 13 has just been a good tongue-in-cheek romp since day one. The characters are really fun and they have actually developed them quite nicely. I hated Claudia in season one, but really like her snark as there's a little more to her than just that. I always welcome any scene with Mrs. Frederick 'cos she will cut a b**th and it makes me laugh. I'm curious as to how long they will keep Steve Jinks on as a partner seeing as how they already tied up "that one carry over plot point" from last season. I enjoyed him.

[JediTricks]

I have been with Warehouse 13 and Eureka since the beginning, so I was happy with their returns. I didn't initially DVR Alphas, it looked like just another Siffy flop, but at the last minute I read an article headline saying it wasn't as bad as they thought it'd be, so I hit the DVR and sure enough, Alphas was really good! People were... PEOPLE! They actually bothered to make the characters first, then play with the interactions that those personalities would create when thrown together, all before giving them powers. And the powers? They ain't even that good, they're almost reasonable (except for the kid who sees RF, that was a stretch, he not only would have to see the RF but have an instant digital processing power to go with it). And David Strathairn was awesome as the head of the group, tons of personality, a "good guy" but not too noble. Hell, even the Fed handler was interesting, and he could have been a nebulous villain or a throw-away.


As for Steve Jinks, it felt a little forced, but he wasn't too bad. I suspect they'll keep him as a partner for Claudia, since it's getting a little silly to have Artie go into the field with her so much. Oh, and side note, what was with Pete's hair?!? Yikes! Normally I don't care about that stuff, but they almost pulled a "Felicity" with that one.

[sith_killer_99]

Yeah, Alphas was better than expected. Too bad it will probably end up cancelled. That's sort of the way it goes with these shows, character driven shows either end up doing REALLY well, or cancelled. I don't think it has enough mojo to skyrocket. I like the way it was done with the abilities (except as you mentioned) being mostly plausible.

I also liked the twist at the end when the bad guy way dying "You're on the wrong side." hmmm. It looks as if maybe they are all being manipulated into thinking they are doing good, but secretly working for the bad guys.

[JediTricks]

I'm hoping it's more nuanced, that the Red Flag people think of themselves as freedom fighters, but use tactics closer to terrorists, so they think any Alphas should be siding with them. Anything where it's about shades of gray rather than black and white is good in my book, having a "good guy team" and a "bad guy team" is pretty juvenile these days for this sort of thing. Look at Magneto in the X-men comics, that is THE bad guy and yet sometimes... not.

[sith_killer_99]

I'm hoping it's more nuanced, that the Red Flag people think of themselves as freedom fighters, but use tactics closer to terrorists, so they think any Alphas should be siding with them. Anything where it's about shades of gray rather than black and white is good in my book, having a "good guy team" and a "bad guy team" is pretty juvenile these days for this sort of thing. Look at Magneto in the X-men comics, that is THE bad guy and yet sometimes... not.

I agree, too much black and white, good vs bad is just a bit too hokey.

[JEDIpartner]

I'm kinda wondering where they are going with the Allison neural implant thing. The fact that she wouldn't recount the events of the day either points to sloppy writing OR it points to a larger story where Beverly is covering her tracks so that Allison feels something happened, but doesn't let anyone else know so the event was covered up.

SO glad that Allison's kids were featured in this episode as well. There are times when I think they forget that she has any. Kevin went missing for almost two seasons, which was really bizarre.

WH13 was a lot of fun and JT was right about Jinks being partnered up with Claudia. YEA!!! Another gay character on TV that bucks the stereotypical caricature and represents someone more like me!! That was surprising and a little contrived, but... whatever. SyFy shows aren't really known for their complex ideas. LOL Still, I'm glad that both shows are starting to ramp up their exploration of the emotional relationships between the characters. I think that is necessary to give the shows legs. They can only have the disaster/artifact of the week aspect take them so far if there's nothing to be done with the people populating these shows.