Saturday, May 20, 2017

12 MONKEYS: 3x02: Guardians: Catching up w/Jennifer Goines…

A transcript—so, y’know, *SPOILERS*—of the opening to season 3 episode 2 of 12 MONKEYS. Our hero, Jennifer Goines, finds herself in 1920s Paris, having survived being dropped into the trenches of WWI four or five years earlier…


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Where am I right now? Somewhere warm? Safe? With people who care about me? Nope. Not me! Some of us got left behind. So, what do you do when you're stranded in the wrong place…? The wrong time…?
JENNIFER: Just take these and mail them to America in 95 years.
PRIEST: We'll all be dead in 95 years.
JENNIFER: Then get God to do it.
PRIEST: You're insane.
What do you do when not even God will help? You accept that the only one you can rely on is yourself.

How do you send a message to the future? How does ET phone home?

You need a venue. You gotta make a splash big enough to hit ‘em a hundered years from now.

Make ‘em laugh!
[ CHAPLIN ]

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Make ‘em cry!
[ E.T. ]

Give ‘em what they want!
[ ALIEN (a masterful production =) ]

Just when you've got ‘em right in the palm of your hand…
[ JAWS ]

…you hit ‘em w/the goods!

Your message—your piece de resistance! The story you were born to tell!
GODDESS: People of Earth…I am the Goddess of Time. I have traveled many centuries to vanquish my enemy…the Witness.
WITNESS: Never! Despite your mesmerizing beauty and your luxurious hair, my army will destroy all of time!
GODDESS: No, you won't! [Thrusts sword.]
WITNESS: [Gags.] Blood! Blood! Blood! [Croaks.]
GODDESS: The Army of the 12 Monkeys is no more! Now, I must travel back to my own time!
Je Splinter! (I splinter!) The end.
[ Francois tears up the poster for L’ARMEE DE 12 SINGES. ]
JENNIFER: But Francois, give it a chance! If you don’t advertise, how will I build an audience?
FRANCOIS: No one understands “time travel”!
JENNIFER: Uh, the smart ones do.
FRANCOIS: Do the space one! Or something with magic. People love magic.
JENNIFER: But I need this to be a hit! For the history books! So I can be discovered!


I do believe that Sean and/or Terry have just revealed their true purpose behind 12 MONKEYS (and perhaps a version of the show’s behind-the-scenes struggles?). They've created the show—and its audience—as a message in a bottle, tossed into the timestream, to be recovered by *their* Lasky, Adler, and Jones. I do hope that their Team Splinter finds this post and comes back for them!

But, y’know, maybe not til they fix the mess that we call reality—*cough*2016election!

And/or finish up season 4. =)

Unmake history!

Keep on keepin’ on~

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

12 MONKEYS: Season 3 pre-binge thoughts…

Some last-minute SEASON 3 thoughts and wishful thinking…

TUNING FORK/TEMPORAL FENCE?

I still like my previous thoughts on this device as something that helps James focus his abilities, or as a piece of appropriated Witness/Black Hat tech that he psychometrically reads.


However, over the weekend I caught an ad on Syfy that shows James apparently planting the/a fork in the ground, like a flag. Maybe he just needed to support his weight on a trek or climb, but it really had the feel of a claim or border staking, y'know? Makes me think that it may be used to set up a spacetime perimeter, perhaps to protect a region of time and space around 2044 and the Splinter Facility. Or maybe a temporal roadblock, to protect the past from further interference from the future. The idea would be that wherever and whenever these forks are planted some kind of temporal interference wave would be generated, causing time traveling and time scanning tech originating from the future to read only noise. Maybe only one needs to be placed, maybe a set of them, to define a fence, wall, or ring.

Hrm…Maybe it's a temporal perimeter alarm, a tripwire for an early warning system for Cole and Team Splinter?


THE BLACK HATS.

Are the hats functional? A component that's paired with the vests? And matching shoes and gloves? Is there a lot of rain (or too much sun?) in the far future? Or in the red tea zone? The rain always HAS washed away most of the blood, right?


What about the style/design? We look at the Witness in Titan, and his followers all wear uniforms based on his garb. So, just for the heck of it, let's assume the Black Hats are doing the same, dressing to honor and identify with their leader. Who do we know that kind of owns that silhouette?

Tall Man! Possibly and/or Tall Dad, now that we've seen him.

So, I'm predict-o-hoping that we'll see Tall Man stage a coup in Titan, having recruited a chunk of the Witness's followers to his own brand of Time-entology, and scarper off to some hidden Time fortress or zone of his own. Could there be a second Titan? Why build one when you can have two for twice the price, right? From there he did/can/will launch his attacks on our Team Splinter and the Witness in order to ensure some cosmic outcome or order—or chaos, he seems to like that—of his own.

I really do like that option. He gets to throw off the rigid fate-itude of the Witness's machinations. He gets to kick the Witness in the pants for deceiving his Messenger mother (Mantis/Vivian/Mother). And with a Time force of his own, he will get the chance to "set things right." Remember what she told Tall Boy on her death bed in 1971…
MOTHER: Have faith that the Witness has spoken, and that one day you, my son, will set things right…
And he can launch his coup while the Witness is weak, a child or adolescent, still learning the Witness trade. Remember, he's *safe* in Titan. No one's saying he's *powerful* in Titan. Maybe Tall Man's schism is history to the Witness's personal timeline, but (intentionally?) hidden from him since he was a child or youth at the time and required/requires TM's apparently faithful service in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

In any case, if Tall Man does break away with his own Time-tech-savvy army, he becomes a perfect greater enemy to both Team Splinter and the Witness.


JENNIFER + DEACON!

DEACON: See something you like, Granny?
JENN: Not yet.
Jennifer 2044 recognizes Deacon and we think the "not yet" refers only to the scar on his face. I think and hope now that it means Deacon himself, whom Jennifer 2016 will eventually fall for. They have the clever/snarky pop culture common ground and "self preservation was never my thing" could probably apply to both of them at the right time. Also, crazy as it seems, Deacon killing her was kind of the ultimate ice breaker. A testament to the talents of the creators and writers.

I love it when Deacon nods in approval at…
JENN: It's better to have a hen today…then an egg tomorrow.
What's the best "ship" tag for them? #Jenncon? #Deanifer? #Teddifer? #Jennodore?

And of course Deacon survived the attack on Titan! He's safe under that dumpster—duh! =)

Seriously, tho. He definitely survived. He's f@cking Deacon! Captured, maybe, scarred, definitely, but not dead. I like him for an unlikely knight of Time. I saw some fan art that evoked for me the Hound of GAME OF THRONES—Deacon Clegane. I so want that. Protector of one Mother (of the Witness) and partner of another (of the Daughters)?


FURTHER (PAST) ADVENTURES OF AGENT GALE.

I really need the S-Files ("S" for "Splinter" =) of Agent Robert Gale revealed this season. At least ONE of them, pretty pleez?
GALE: Y'know, Cole. I've known you a long time…
COLE: Whaddyamean? We met once, in 44, right?
GALE: Right…
And I *so* want his granddaughter to be staking out the Emerson in the hopes of meeting, and helping, Cole and company. Remember, there was an empty TaB can in room 607.


TITAN ICON/SIGN OF THE WITNESS.

I'm really hoping we'll see a meaningful origin or explanation of the Titan icon. It evokes a figure and an arrow. Seeing an arrow in the world of 12 MONKEYS, I think of Time. So it makes sense that it would be a representation of the Witness himself—a being of Time. Who first makes the mark, tho? I know the teaser showed us the icon painted in red (blood?) on a wall, with Jennifer and probably young W gazing at it, but I'm not convinced that's the moment of its creation. Does it create itself? Copied from one of the pendants? Perhaps it originates with the Druze, once they learn what the Witness is and can do. It's their sign for him, glazed into their centuries-old pottery time capsules.

Other ways to read the glyph? It could be two figures, defining the arrow with the space between them. Cassie and Cole? Back-to-back step dancing? =)

I wonder if it tessellates interestingly. I think the result would give us a kind of a mask, not Witness/plague doctor shaped, tho. Maybe its first inscription is in a different orientation, as an arrow pointing to something.


THAT KID.

Remember that time when Whitley, Deacon, and company were on patrol while the red skies were moving in? They run into a kid whom they assume came from a closeby refugee settlement…
KID: They're all gone…
WHITLEY: Your parents…They get caught in it?
KID nods, then walks back into time storm…
Think we'll get to see the other side of that storm this season? See where and when that kid came from as well as who his parents are?

Of course I *want* him to be young Witness, and his parents, "caught in it," would be Cassie and James. Maybe little Hot Pocket is being put through some tests or training by Tall Man using the splinter tunnels of Titan, or experiencing the onset of his temporal abilities in an unexpected and uncontrolled way.


Only two days til the 3-night event! Guess we'll get some answers soon enough =)

Unmake history!

Keep on keepin' on~

Friday, May 05, 2017

GOTG 2: First screening spoiler-ful brain dump…

Saw GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 tonight for the first time—woo-hoo!

I'm not gonna go into much in the way of criticism of the film here except to say that it's a rockin' good time that goes deeper on character and a little shorter on plotting than the Volume 1. What I *am* gonna do is some half-baked comic book fanboy rambling and appreciation.


Gotta say, I was kind of WTF? when I realized that Sylvester Stallone's character, Grand Poobah of the Ravagers, was going by Stakar, who in the Marvel Universe is also known as Starhawk, aka "The One Who Knows." It seemed like a weird direction to take that namesake. Of course, it's still pretty much in line with Yondu's translation from page to screen, right?

I didn't think that while watching the movie, tho. What "fixed" Stakar for me was one of the end credits scenes, where we see Stakar saying how pleased he is to be able to reassemble old friends-slash-teammates, including Martinex (Stakar's crystalline right hand, Plutonian in the comics), Charlie-27 (superstrong Jovian in the comics, played by Ving Rhames), and Aleta (comics Starhawk's wife, played by Michelle Yeoh). This is Starhawk assembling a roster of the OGs, from the 30th century team of Marvel comics!

But—it's not to do any guardian-ing, but instead so they can go rob the heck out of the galaxy. Hrm…Some pretty heavy hitters—Sly, Ving, Michelle. How do they fit into upcoming MCU shenanigans? GOTG allies? GOTG imposters? Maybe their story-slash-heist unfolds in end credits scenes over a few movies? Right now they don't click in place for me.

Still, very fun to see the MCU's version of the 30th century OGs.

Tazerface! The reaction to that name in the film is so perfect! I wonder which Marvel writer created him and what s/he thinks about what's become of him? From what I remember of the comics, he was some kind of enhanced Badoon who had a personal beef w/the 30th century Guardians.

Nice to see Yondu upgrade his arrow fin tech to more closely match Marvel comics' Yondu's natural fin. Legitimately sad to see him go already, even if he did get a proper Ravager funereal sendoff. He got a pretty decent arc, and even though you could see the biodad vs. real dad conflict-slash-realization from 40 clicks away, the actual unfolding of it was pretty rewarding and okay, even a bit emotional. Nicely done, Rooker and Gunn!

Kurt Russell as Peter's dad. Kinda perfect. Ego as Peter's dad? Weird, but a good and creative answer to the question of MCU Peter Quill's paternity. I don't think comics Ego ever walked as a man, but I also don't think he was ever just a floating space brain, either. *Immediately* flashed to FUTURAMA. =)

I think I first met Ego in the pages of FANTASTIC FOUR. Or maybe it was ROM? In any case, I thought he was part of the FF's universe, so was surprised to find him playing a part in the MCU. But then I remembered that when he met the FF, he'd already encountered Thor, so he's fair game as an Avengers connection. We did get one shot of Ego the Living Planet as he looks in the comics, a giant face defined by the landscape and funky organelles of the planet. I was hoping for more, tho, and maybe some of the funky macro-microbiological stuff from the comics, too, like humanoid antibodies and freaky scaled-up cells and organs, y'know? Instead, we get some gooey energy tendrils and Ego's Kurt Russell—and David Hasselhoff!—looking host body in various states of disrepair. Not bad, but y'know, a comic fanboy's heart wants what it wants—giant antibodies! =)

It's nice to see Mantis on the GOTG roster, but her introduction seemed a bit crowbarred in. Ego keeps her as a pet and sleep aide. Her unique empathic powers enable her to help Ego sleep, because apparently he has trouble sleeping? Would've been nice to get a better explanation for her presence. Maybe she helps tame Ego's growing insanity/instability?

Huh. Ego calls himself a Celestial, and Peter immediately asks him if he means that he's a god. So, MCU spacefarers are familiar with the term? Until Ego called himself one, I thought that Celestial referred exclusively to the giant space gods, one of whom's head has become the world-station known as Knowhere.

I think in the comics, Ego is a legitimate Elder of the Universe, like the Collector and Gamemaster. Celestial as a title for him doesn't seem quite right to me, but o well…

It *does* perhaps help with the logic of Mantis attaining a title of Celestial Madonna, tho.

I wish there was maybe one or two more scenes-slash-steps to Nebula and Gamora's hatchet burying, but the arc does work quite well. Also very touching and smart to have Peter's eulogy for Yondu—the part about searching for something for so long only to realize it was next to you all the time (would getting Survivor's "The Search is Over" have been too nail on the head?)—apply both to the sisters' bond as well as "this unspoken thing"/CHEERS-Sam-and-Dianne between Peter and Gamora.

The make-your-own-family theme is pretty irresistible. For a 40-something story consumer like myself, on paper that notion can seem trite and tired, but with these characters, and this writing, it still works on me. Several crescendos really helped, I think. Peter's reaction to Ego's admission of giving his mother that tumor (that was a smart stroke, no sympathy for Ego after that). Nebula's description of the duels Thanos forced on Gamora and herself, and the price she paid for her losses. Yondu and Rocket's breakthrough therapy session.

Heh. Nice to see Stan Lee as a distinct space-suited character in conversation with the Watchers on the surface of some planet or moon in one of the stargate jumps, and then in one of the end credits scenes. The Watchers actually walk away from him as he explains that he's still got more stories for them. Very nice. =)

In retrospect, I want to say that I should've seen the Adam Warlock cocoon coming when we were introduced to the golden-skinned Sovereign, but no, there was too much fun stuff going on with them to make me think of that while watching the movie. LOVE their ENDER'S GAME-y remote control space navy action.

But, yeah—Adam Frickin' Warlock! =)

Love the sweet laser balls weapons system on Yondu's heist ship, perfect for general offense and defense, reconfigurable for drilling into the core of a living planet, as well as a Death Blossom! =)

When Howard the Duck showed up again in a space bar where the Ravagers were hanging out, the audience reaction was loud enough that I couldn't catch any of his dialogue. Nuts.

Hrm…I think that's all I've got right now. I'm a bit frazzled when it comes to processing cinema right now as I'm coming off of eight days and 21 films of festivalizing. If I come up with more thoughts before my next GOTG2 screening, I may add/edit to this, and if a next screening fires up the tired synapses with more ideas, observations, and/or crazy talk, I'll ramble out a new post.

Keep on keepin' on~