Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 320

Helix 1.8: Glacial Speed

I know that things move slowly in the extreme cold, but in the case of Helix 1.8, that apparently applies to the speed with which the story unfolds.   The one good result of this is that we're still in suspense about what is really going on.  But there's only so long that a plot can stay in the deep freeze.

Ok, one big change did occur in 1.8, but that concerned a major player who was just introduced to the series last week.   It was satisfying to see Sutton garroted to death, especially after Alan and Sarah's attempt to get rid of her figuratively blew up in their faces and not enough in Sutton's to more than muss her hair.   And, yeah, it was good to hear Hiroshi say we're back in charge, and with it the hope that we'll soon be getting some answers.

But where are they?  Implications of aliens and beasts, almost reminiscent of what resides beyond the wall in the north in Game of Thrones, are shown to us in every episode, but it's time we found out more about them and their connection to what's going on in full view on the screen.  The eyes like silver dollars are a good clue, but we saw that last week, and learned little more about them tonight.

In many ways and with just a few exceptions, Helix is still playing like a very good prologue to what we can only hope is a better story beyond.   Prequels can work very well, but only when we already know what they are prelude to.   In the case of Helix, we can only guess, and not with very much information, about what lies ahead.

There's lots that's possibly good about this series, and I just hope that the upcoming episodes confirm this.

See also Helix 1.1-1.3: Zombies with Biology ... Helix 1.4: Cold DNA ...Helix 1.5: In the White Room ... Helix 1.6: Good New Clues, Nutcracker Not Sweet ... Helix 1.7: Bright Eyes


Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

#SFWApro
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Banshee 2.8: Sneak Preview Review

Continuing with my sneak preview reviews of Banshee - this time, episode 2.8, set to air February 28, 2014 - courtesy of a screener disk provided by Starpulse. As always, these reviews will deal in generalities and avoid specific spoilers.

Racism is the theme of this episode of Banshee - with an escalation of Hood's attack on Proctor - in two separate threads of the story.

Among the most significant elements -

Someone we haven't seen hurt before gets punched out in the street and ends up in the hospitalSomeone we haven't seen under arrest before ends the episode screaming in handcuffsSomeone who was the soul of self-control loses it for entirely understandable reasons and  may as a result be occupying a different position in the storyHood continues his unique brand of keeping the peace, enabling the escape of criminals in the act at the start of the episode and ready to countenance a highly unlawful act near the end.  Meanwhile, he uses extra-legal means to go after Proctor.  Brock and Siobhan variously notice some of this, and guess who tries to have a heart to heart talk with Hood about it.

Only two episodes left, and the battle between Proctor and Hood is boiling.

And I'll be back here between February 21st and 28th with my sneak preview review of episode 2.9.

See also Banshee Season 2 Premiere: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.2: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.3 Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.4 Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.5: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.6: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.7: Sneak Preview Review


Like crime stories that involve the Amish? Try The Silk Code

#SFWApro

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

I'm on Monster Storm Tonight on National Geographic Channel

NatGeo's How to Survive the End of the World series returns tonight at 10pm Eastern (with repeat at midnight and tomorrow at 6pm Eastern) with its fourth episode, "Monster Storm," and, yep, I've made my way to that bunker again, in an undisclosed location (but it's in a catacomb in Brooklyn), to give a little "expert" commentary on the media and cultural implication of the planet nearly wiped out.

You may recall that I did this for the first three episodes - "Zombie Earth,"  "Hell on Earth" (volcanoes), and "Frozen Earth" (see vid clips below) - and it's been a wild two months in the ravaged streets, let me tell you.   What happens is after my expert commentary, I walk through a door, but it takes me into another dimension.  So I've gone from a world plagued by zombies to a hellish world of molten lava everywhere to a world with bone-chilling temperatures that make the last two months that you've just experienced feel like a walk in the park.

It's good to be in the bunker again, with that Monster Storm approaching.  I'm glad to see David Bartell has made it too, with the extensive packet of notes he carries.   Switching hats to another perspective, for a second, these scenario shows are based on sound scientific and sociological analysis and speculation.

Anyway ... the rain's beginning to pick up, I'm going to see if there's anything decent to eat in this bunker, and I'll see you tonight (I hope) at 10pm.  In the meantime, clips from the previous three episodes follow ...



Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Intelligence 1.7: Nanites

Nanites made their way on to Intelligence 1.7 last night, in the high-tech bio-tech science fictional manner which the series does so well.  Nanites have played a quasi-metaphysical role on Revolution this season, and will be the subject of a How to Survive the End of the World episode on the National Geographic series this season (the "Monster Storm" episode airs this Wednesday - all episodes feature brief appearances by me as an "expert" in an undisclosed underground location).

The plot features a latter-day uni-bomber who fields nanites that invade and quickly kill the body.   His targets are his competition, and eventually the elder Dr. Cassidy is "mechanically infected".  The nanite bomber turns out to be one of Cassidy's "favorite" students, but not the brightest, and his quest for fame and power got the better of him.  Cassidy survives a close call, but I wouldn't go to him for a letter of reference if someone was applying for a job at Fordham University, where I teach.

The personal chemistry between Gabriel and Riley is still percolating, which is good and I hope continues and develops into more.  Riley's defense of Gabriel as human, because he makes choices rather than responds to commands, is not only gratifying to Gabriel but makes an important point that goes beyond a man embedded with a telecommunicating chip.  To the extent that we just respond to stimuli or orders or anything without deliberation in our work, we are behaving more like robots than human beings.

Intelligence has struck a winning balance between high-tech and human life, in a way I find more satisfying and real than, say, Person of Interest, which also explores this intersection.  I'm looking forward to more.

See also Intelligence Debuts ... Intelligence 1.2: Lightning Changes ...Intelligence 1.3: Edward Snowden and 24 ... Intelligence 1.4: Social Media Weaponry ... Intelligence 1.5: The Watch ... Intelligence 1.6: Helix meets Rectify and Justified

#SFWApro


Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

The Following 2.5: Turning Tides

One way I like to keep track of what's happening on The Following is noting, in each episode, how many of the following Ryan and any of the good guys are able to bring down.  Often the only killings in the show are victims and law-enforcement.  In fact, nearly an episode goes by without some innocent being killed by one of the psychos, or a cop or FBI agent wiped out by one of them.

Tonight, in episode 2.5, we get a refreshing reversal.  Although the young woman that Lily kidnapped to serve to Joe is indeed slaughtered by him, Dexter style, Ryan at the end of episode has taken out two of the following, including Gillian, one of the worst psychos of all.  That's a pretty good tally for the agents of good, and one which we didn't see too often last season, and only one other time this season, when all of Emma's group were eliminated.  But they were already sidelined, and didn't pose much of a threat.

Also a development for the better tonight is Mike finally realizing that Joe is alive, which Ryan's niece Max is starting to acknowledge, too.  The only chance of getting Joe and his new band is all law enforcement working with Ryan.

But the forces of bad are coalescing, too.  Joe may be accepting Lily as a benefactor, and certainly as a lover.   The twins are still alive and very much kicking.   And Emma, while not forgiving Joe for abandoning her, is at least on the premises, and will be a force to reckon with as Ryan and the FBI close in.

But the most deadly weapon Joe may have at his disposal may be Mandy.   She has already demonstrated her attachment to Joe and willingness to kill for him, and as powerful a force as Lily may be, Mandy may be more so.  A lover of his own age and stature in Lily, and a surrogate daughter in Mandy, will be formidable allies indeed.

See also The Following Is Back for Its Second Season ... The Following 2.2: Rediscovering Oneself ... The Following 2.3: Coalescing ... The Following 2.4: Psycho Families and Trains

And see also The Following Begins ... The Following 1.2: Joe, Poe, and the Plan ... The Following 1.3: Bug in the Sun ... The Following 1.4: Off the Leash ... The Following 1.5:  The Lawyer and the Swap ... The Following 1.7: At Large ... 
#SFWApro



Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Almost Human 1.11: The Metaphysics of Flesh

Tonight in Almost Human 1.11 we get another good future crime story - involving both the digital and the tangible - as well as an important piece of the ongoing Dorian biography with implications for the overall Almost Human narrative.

The crime story is centered around a smart home, which we're just beginning to see emerge in the 21st century.  Our homes today can and are constructed to regulate temperature, what's on television, and other benign and helpful things, as well as call police when intruders - i.e., people who don't have the requisite code or other characteristics - break in.   How big a step would it be to program homes to kill an intruder whom the home deems a danger to its denizens? In a stand-your-ground world taken to its logical, deadly, sick extreme, a smart home kills a teenage boy who climbs over a wall in Almost Human 1.11.  This in turn sets in motion a revenge plot in which Kennex and Dorian must overcome masterful hacking and killer androids - or a combination of cyber and physical - to stop further killing.

The smart house, like the smart car, and smart phone, represent the continuing evolution of what the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty called the "metaphysics of flesh".  Homes and cars and phones of course are not flesh, but they can be animated and driven by information in the same way as living beings.  Important and instructive to see this on a television show.

Also expansive to see another hacker on the side of the good in addition to Rudy - in this case, Nico, who manages to out-hack Emily, the master hacker seeking revenge.  But Rudy plays the more significant role in the ongoing story, discovering that Dorian has been embedded with human memories.    Rudy removes that module, but the reason for the embedding remains to be uncovered - including who did it - and will likely have a decisive role in the series.

There are just a few episodes left of Almost Human this season, with still no word that it will be renewed.  I hope it is.   What certainly hasn't helped in building an audience for this good series is that, for whatever reason, it episodes have been presented out of order.   The labyrinths of television programming can rival the metaphysics of androids and smart homes of the future.

See also: Almost Human debuts: A Review ... Almost Human 1.2: Sexbots ... Almost Human 1.3: Change of Face ... Almost Human 1.4: Almost Breaking Bad ... Almost Human 1.5: Clones and Holograms ...Almost Human 1.6: The Blackmarket Heart and Double Dorian ... Almost Human 1.7: Meets Criminal Minds ... Almost Human 1.8: Guided Bullets ... Almost Human 1.9: Literally Bad Robot ... Almost Human 1.10: Killer Genes

#SFWApro


Like science fiction about bio-programming? Try The Silk Code Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Black Sails 1.4: The Masts of Wall Street

If you think of most of the action dramas on cable television these days - whether taking place in the present, like Banshee and Strike Back, or in the past like Da Vinci's Demons and Vikings - the story moves along pretty quickly, sometimes at blinding speed (in the case of Strike Back), with every episode whipping the narrative forward around sharp and dangerous curves.   In contrast, Black Sails is dangerous, all right, but it's story almost seems to stand still at times.   And that's a change of pace for television that I very much like.

In episode 1.4, much of the action centers around a ship in the sand, and the pirates' attempt to make it more suitable to their needs.   The ship stands there, like a majestic skeleton to a nearly forgotten past, except in Black Sails it's very much happening.   The ship, of course, as would be any massive sailing ship, is an emblem and enabling technology to the life and pursuits of the pirates.   In a world before planes, the sailing ship was the only way to move across great distances.   But in Black Sails, this distance is as much political and economic as physical.

Richard Guthrie provides us with some important back story, including the way Flint and Miranda got together and its social context, but also his take and opposition to Flint's vision of a utopian pirate island untrodden by the monarchies of the day.  We already knew that Flint and Miranda are cultured people, and that money is the lubricant of this whole on-the-margin society, but in 1.4 we get a taste of the economic sophistication of many of the major players.   The pirate leaders and their colleagues, male and female, are in many ways more akin to The Wolf of Wall Street than any show now or ever on television, and that makes Black Sails worthy of note as well.  Or, looked at in other way, we could say that the pirates represent the 99% in the Occupy Wall Street of that day.   The ship in the sand stands at the fulcrum of those two forces.

Any way you look at it, Black Sails is as much a feast for the intellect as it is for the eyes, and a pleasure to see on television.

See also Black Sails: Literate and Raunchy Piracy ... Black Sails 1.3: John Milton and Marcus Aurelius




#SFWApro

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Helix 1.7: Bright Eyes

Finally some progress in our understanding of what is going in Helix in 1.7 tonight, mostly from Constance Sutton played by Jeri Ryan, who arrives with an expeditionary team to get some answers, results, and in general command of what is going on.

The first thing we learn is that Sutton and her team are not government but the facility's corporate controllers, and we soon hear from Sutton, in a conversation with a distressed Hiroshi, exactly what the corporation wants: a virus and a cure.  A virus, moreover, which will kill everyone the corporation wants dead, who will be given the virus but not the cure.  Further, to make matters even worse, Sutton learns from Hiroshi that the zombies are products of a second virus, which didn't quite work out, but turns its victims into foaming, raving lunatics rather than just killing them dead.

And there's one more thing: Sutton's eyes have an alien gleam - literally.  So who, then, is the "we" that Sutton references when she says that "we have waited too long"?  Aliens?  Humans who were already exposed to some kind of virus?   Not enough info on that, as yet.

But Julia, who was exposed to the virus, has lost all of her symptoms and developed a new one: she, too, now has bright eyes.

So the fog may be finally beginning to lift around Helix.  And this time l liked the music - "Fever" by Peggy Lee, which makes good accompaniment to a virus, alien brewed, engendering, or otherwise.

See also Helix 1.1-1.3: Zombies with Biology ... Helix 1.4: Cold DNA ...Helix 1.5: In the White Room ... Helix 1.6: Good New Clues, Nutcracker Not Sweet


Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

#SFWApro
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Banshee 2.7: Sneak Preview Review

Continuing with my sneak preview reviews of Banshee - this time, episode 2.7, set to air February 21, 2014 - courtesy of a screener disk provided by Starpulse. As always, these reviews will deal in generalities and avoid specific spoilers.

Revenge is the theme of this episode of Banshee - revenge for what happened to young Hood at the end of 2.6.

Proctor is actually a far more effective enemy to Hood than Rabbit has been - because Proctor is younger, just as tough, and at least as smart as Rabbit.  Proctor has been strengthening his ties with Alex all season, and this continues in 2.7, to the point that Alex is now completely in Proctor's debt.   Is there any real chance that Hood can bring down Proctor and his allies, assorted and some sordid?

You can make your own predictions - and the answer will be presumably be known, at least in part, by the end of this season.  But I think not.  One thing that Hood's focus on getting Proctor does seem to be resulting in is a little more cooperation between Hood and Brock, which we see to good effect in 2.7, as Brock tells Hood that nabbing Proctor will be a long haul.  But this has its limits too, and in the end the only allies that Hood can count on are Sugar and Job.

He can count on Siobhan, too, as far as the Banshee police, and probably on Carrie, too, if push came to shove, which it usually does and more on Banshee.  But Carrie has her hands full with a family crisis in 2.7, which is also one of the best episodes we've seen in a while about the Hopewells.

And I'll be back here between February 14th and 21st with my sneak preview review of episode 2.8.

See also Banshee Season 2 Premiere: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.2: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.3 Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.4 Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.5: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.6: Sneak Preview Review


Like crime stories that involve the Amish? Try The Silk Code

#SFWApro

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Banshee 2.6: Sneak Preview Review

Continuing with my sneak preview reviews of Banshee - this time, episode 2.6, set to air tonight, February 14, 2014 - courtesy of a screener disk provided by Starpulse.  As always, these reviews will deal in generalities and avoid specific spoilers.

This episode of Banshee had two big surprise twists, each stunning and unforeseen in its own way, though there was groundwork in retrospect for each of them.

Among the major elements of 2.6, some of which have to with the twists, some of which do not, we have -

a new character in town, with an accent, who handles himself very wellBrock stoking his suspicions of Hood, and getting a little evidence in handlots about young Hood, who again gets some good loving, and moreProctor in his cat house, and just what you'd expect to see thereProctor continues to be the fulcrum of this season, making things happen even more than Hood, who in this episode reacts more than instigates.   One of the best things about the series and the way it's been presented is that the essential insanity of Hood's position - pretending to be someone he isn't - is never far from the surface, and threatens to erupt and disrupt at every turn.  It's not the source of the major shockers in episode 2.6, but it plays a role, and makes at least one of the shockers that much more unexpected.

And I'll be back here between February 14th and 21st with my sneak preview review of episode 2.7.

See also Banshee Season 2 Premiere: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.2: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.3 Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.4 Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.5: Sneak Preview Review


Like crime stories that involve the Amish? Try The Silk Code

#SFWApro

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music