I like that the characters are acknowledging that SARAH is annoying.

As long as it remains benign, and not "OMG! AI HOUSE TURNED EVIL!" I'm willing to give it a tiny bit of slack.

I like SARAH. And Allison. I don't get a clear Allison/Jack vibe, but I don't think it's been too overplayed so far. It's a little annoying that every show has to have a love triangle, but...every show has to have a love triangle. I suspect studio execs have to sign a contract in blood that says Thou Shalt Have A Love Triangle In Every Show Whether It Needs One Or Not before they're allowed to oversee any shows.

(And seriously, don't change the show based on what people on the internet say. Even us. We don't always know what's best for us.)

Change the show based on what I say. Ignore Jessica.

I'm willing to allow an exception for people on the internet who can also kick your ass in person. I'm generous that way.

So aparently I'm having a sci-fi theme week in my dreams. Yesterday was Eureka, today it's Doctor Who. Thank Heaven it was the Fourth Doctor. He and some new companion were caught in a castle made of old bones. The bones were so brittle that they broke as the Doctor et al. were attempting to climb down the walls. It was a high enough fall that the Doctor had time to summon the TARDIS, using an ordinary-looking car key fob remote, to materialize around them to catch their fall. That worked great, but then the Cloister Bell started sounding. The Doctor thought maybe his own TARDIS from another part of the time stream was attempting to materize inside this one.

Turns out it was just Daniel's boss asking if he could come in to work on his day off.

Hmm, might have made the start of a very cool episode. The castle of bones was exceptionally creepy-looking. It looked so creepy, I could smell the dusty decay. And it's always great to see Peter Davison.

What are you guys thinking so far?

Good show. The lead guy is great.

What do you want more of?

More Henry. And at some point, an explanation of why he doesn't seem to work at Global Dynamics, just saves the day a lot.

And oh-my-god-please-no-more less of?

1. Frewer's accent 2. Zoe. Completely unnecessary

I like the quirky townspeople, but I don't want the writers to fall victim to one dimensionality. They find that there is an aspect of a character that people like, and they beat it to death. Like The Stupid One ^TM. Character is a little dim, sometimes the butt of jokes, sometimes the person that asks the obvious question to allow exposition. As time goes on, they get stupider and stupider, and that's the only aspect of their character. Joey on Friends is a good example.

I like that they were trying to make Carter a family man and I see the reason for Zoe. She's still sort of annoying.

And I HATE the fact that they made Allison a parent to an autistic boy. I know his autism was an important plot point in the pilot, but it's now bothering me that Allison could just fall asleep and stay away all night with a single throw-away line about picking up her son from a friend's house. If he is as profoundly autistic as they played him, no way is Allison going to have that much free & flexible time in her life (especially as a single parent) to just vanish for a night like that.

Although, it would explain why she was tired enough to fall asleep like that.

Becoming a parent has ruined all fiction this way for me. Must realize that teevee kids can just vanish for long periods of time and are magically fed, bathed, clothed and educated while their parents solve crime, save the world and have dates--all the while looking incredibly well groomed.

Guess that's why they call it "fantasy."

I came across a short, favourable review of Eureka, especially re. that wonderful third episode (my personal favourite so far) over at teevee.org. [link] I pretty much agree with everything Nathan said.

About the show in general:

I like the quirky in small doses. Vincent and Fargo have been amusing without being caricaturish. I adore Henry & Jo & Jack show. I've warmed up to Beverly and her machinations. Stark? Has potential. I'd say, give him more good moments (like the scene where he gave Jack the chance to talk down the gang holding down the congressman.) We know he's shady, but the shadiness and betrayal would be more interesting if we see there is some kind of struggle between ambition and his more decent side.

Of all the cast, I think Allison is most problematic. She needs to be more than a limp potential love interest/nursemaid to Jack. I agree with whoever said that she seems to have no real authority in the goings-on in Eureka. She's supposed to be a woman in a position of some power -- I'd say, make her more of a hardass, instead of having her run around pacifying people, like she's some glorified secretary.

I'm not really fond of the whole super-single-mom-with-autistic-son storyline either, but that's another rant.

I know his autism was an important plot point in the pilot, but it's now bothering me that Allison could just fall asleep and stay away all night with a single throw-away line about picking up her son from a friend's house.

Yeah, that bugged me too. I have friends whose son is autistic, and I can't see either of them ever doing that, even if it is the best mattress on Earth.

Both of the potential relationships have some problems for me. Both Jack and Allison are technically still married. Also, Jack is still wearing his wedding ring, so I wonder how available he really is. As far as Jo goes, Jack is nominally her superior at work, so any potential relationship there would be Jack/Sam from SG-1 all over again.

David Hewlett has a blog.

The blog has an RSS feed.

I just added David Hewlett to my friendslist.

!!!

[link]