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riverdressesOkay, so I was going to post a bunch of sad, self-involved, navel-gazing rambling, but no, I'm going to try & stay a bit more positive & talk fandom instead!
I finally got to hear the second series of Cyberman audios, thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
infinitejoys! ::blows kisses:: I haven't had a relisten to it yet, but a quick summation of my feelings about it? Mmm, mixed, I'd say. I loved hearing it after waiting for so long for to do so, but I just felt it wasn't quite as spectacular & chilling as series one had been. This series was, no puns intended, more human & organic-feeling. I felt it focused more on the human turmoil & emotion, rather than the Cybermen systematically asserting power on Earth. Also, the cast of characters was bigger in series two, so I suppose it feeling more human was inevetable. I did enjoy it, but I can't quite put my finger on why I felt slightly disappointed by it.
But, I have to say, I wasn't as disappointed in it as I was with Solitare!
& a few spoilery points I wanted to specifically flail & wibble over.
- LIAM & SAMANTHA OMFG. ::jumps up & down::
- Samantha really pissed me off in her interactions with Hazel & the rest of the underground - she came off as so bloody arrogant & self-righteous that I wanted to deck her. I think Liam tempers her behaviour around other humans better, which is part of why I love them so much. They may be total opposites & of course, not even the same species, but I think they do a lot of good things for each other, even if they don't realise it right away.
- I really love the concept of Cybrids - I'm not sure if that's canonical to the classic series (no Cybermats are involved in creating a Cybrid; it's just partial Cyber-conversion involving the brain), but even if it isn't, I love it!
- Paul Hunt continued to scare me throughout all four audios. But, I have to admit, I found myself sort of pitying him during his conversion. I mean, I felt really kind of sad for him & he creeped me out in six audios! Then again . . . as I've said, I love Cybermen, but they scare me a lot & I really get a bit disturbed by onscreen, if you will, conversion scenes. They're definitely more disturbing to hear than to see. I was the same way when I listened to Sword of Orion & I was walking home when I listened to it!
- I think I was a touch disappointed by the ending - Samantha's destruction of the Cyber-controller with the truth - with peace, really - while I liked it, I was kind of hoping for more action & more intergalactic drama than what we got. Maybe that's what this was missing - more action! This felt more involved, plotty & talky than series one did. It was a good drama, but I think I wanted more of the action of series one. That might be why I felt slightly disappointed in series two.
- Hazel was a fresh perspective to the series, but I'm kind of neutral on her. Nothing more to say about her, really.
- Overall, I did like this series, but not as much as the first series - the first one had more action & suspense to it, while this one . . . well, it felt like a meatier, more in-depth studied sequel, than the action & suspense thriller that the first one felt like. But then again, I had many chances to relisten to series one while I waited for this one, so that might be part of why I felt this one lacked the 'oomph' of the first one.
O, yeah . . . I might have caught a few episodes of series nine of Smallville recently. & by 'caught a few episodes', that means 'I may have mainlined all of series nine, save for two episodes which I just couldn't get into within the first five minutes, within three nights'.
Now keep in mind I've never seen any Smallville prior to this & my overall impression? It's kind of like Torchwood, but with less death every five seconds. But it has that cracky I-can't-believe-I'm-watching-this-but-I-can't-look-away aspect, I thought.
But you know, that might have had something to do with Callum Blue being in a lot of leather at times. ::shrugs innocently::
(P.S. I lied; I watched Lazarus tonight & that's all I'm going to say!)
Shocking thing? I actually have thinky thoughts about series nine! I didn't even notice those thinky thoughts sneaking in - sneaky thinky thoughts are sneaky! But I did have the occasional thinky thought about Torchwood when I watched it, so fair's fair, I guess.
Okay, okay, in all seriousness, I did have fun watching Smallville & I think I did like it a bit more than I expected. But if I went back to see anything past series nine, I think it would just be series eight, so I could see more of Tess & of course, Zod's arrival, since Tess & Zod came out as as my two favourites, with Chloe coming in third - she's so Tosh-esque! How could I not love Chloe? & I think, in comparison to Torchwood . . . & here's where everyone's probably going to slap me . . . I liked it more than I liked Torchwood, really. But just a bit. For me, Smallville's in the same category as Torchwood - I watch it for fun, but I might not really get involved in it beyond a few characters & pairings.
(& all of this Torchwood-Smallville comparing is quietly lolarious since the whole time, I kept thinking Clark = Jack, Oliver = Owen, Chloe = Tosh, & Lois = Gwen. But I didn't much like Oliver for most of the time! & I love Owen! Hmm.)
BUT! I got a pleasant surprise in Absolute Justice when Michael Shanks showed up! With scruff! & being a bit Daniel Jackson-esque, but with a seriously acidic personality. & he threw down with Oliver! LOVE LOVE LOVE. SO MUCH APPROVAL. & of course, I was like, 'OMG, surprise!Daniel Jackson! Awesome!' Fandoms colliding!
Also, Zod can build Cybermen. ::gigglesnort:: More or less.
Okay, that's it for now. ::looks slightly sheepish:: I think I've embarrassed myself enough for one post. Must go locate Zod & Tess icons. ::skips away::
O! & I looked at Big Finish's website to see when Project: Destiny would be released & I'm pretty sure it's out now!! OMFG FINALLY! ::DANCES:: (but I'll probably cry my way through it, you know.)
I finally got to hear the second series of Cyberman audios, thanks to
infinitejoys! ::blows kisses:: I haven't had a relisten to it yet, but a quick summation of my feelings about it? Mmm, mixed, I'd say. I loved hearing it after waiting for so long for to do so, but I just felt it wasn't quite as spectacular & chilling as series one had been. This series was, no puns intended, more human & organic-feeling. I felt it focused more on the human turmoil & emotion, rather than the Cybermen systematically asserting power on Earth. Also, the cast of characters was bigger in series two, so I suppose it feeling more human was inevetable. I did enjoy it, but I can't quite put my finger on why I felt slightly disappointed by it. But, I have to say, I wasn't as disappointed in it as I was with Solitare!
& a few spoilery points I wanted to specifically flail & wibble over.
- LIAM & SAMANTHA OMFG. ::jumps up & down::
- Samantha really pissed me off in her interactions with Hazel & the rest of the underground - she came off as so bloody arrogant & self-righteous that I wanted to deck her. I think Liam tempers her behaviour around other humans better, which is part of why I love them so much. They may be total opposites & of course, not even the same species, but I think they do a lot of good things for each other, even if they don't realise it right away.
- I really love the concept of Cybrids - I'm not sure if that's canonical to the classic series (no Cybermats are involved in creating a Cybrid; it's just partial Cyber-conversion involving the brain), but even if it isn't, I love it!
- Paul Hunt continued to scare me throughout all four audios. But, I have to admit, I found myself sort of pitying him during his conversion. I mean, I felt really kind of sad for him & he creeped me out in six audios! Then again . . . as I've said, I love Cybermen, but they scare me a lot & I really get a bit disturbed by onscreen, if you will, conversion scenes. They're definitely more disturbing to hear than to see. I was the same way when I listened to Sword of Orion & I was walking home when I listened to it!
- I think I was a touch disappointed by the ending - Samantha's destruction of the Cyber-controller with the truth - with peace, really - while I liked it, I was kind of hoping for more action & more intergalactic drama than what we got. Maybe that's what this was missing - more action! This felt more involved, plotty & talky than series one did. It was a good drama, but I think I wanted more of the action of series one. That might be why I felt slightly disappointed in series two.
- Hazel was a fresh perspective to the series, but I'm kind of neutral on her. Nothing more to say about her, really.
- Overall, I did like this series, but not as much as the first series - the first one had more action & suspense to it, while this one . . . well, it felt like a meatier, more in-depth studied sequel, than the action & suspense thriller that the first one felt like. But then again, I had many chances to relisten to series one while I waited for this one, so that might be part of why I felt this one lacked the 'oomph' of the first one.
O, yeah . . . I might have caught a few episodes of series nine of Smallville recently. & by 'caught a few episodes', that means 'I may have mainlined all of series nine, save for two episodes which I just couldn't get into within the first five minutes, within three nights'.
Now keep in mind I've never seen any Smallville prior to this & my overall impression? It's kind of like Torchwood, but with less death every five seconds. But it has that cracky I-can't-believe-I'm-watching-this-but-I-can't-look-away aspect, I thought.
(P.S. I lied; I watched Lazarus tonight & that's all I'm going to say!)
Shocking thing? I actually have thinky thoughts about series nine! I didn't even notice those thinky thoughts sneaking in - sneaky thinky thoughts are sneaky! But I did have the occasional thinky thought about Torchwood when I watched it, so fair's fair, I guess.
Okay, okay, in all seriousness, I did have fun watching Smallville & I think I did like it a bit more than I expected. But if I went back to see anything past series nine, I think it would just be series eight, so I could see more of Tess & of course, Zod's arrival, since Tess & Zod came out as as my two favourites, with Chloe coming in third - she's so Tosh-esque! How could I not love Chloe? & I think, in comparison to Torchwood . . . & here's where everyone's probably going to slap me . . . I liked it more than I liked Torchwood, really. But just a bit. For me, Smallville's in the same category as Torchwood - I watch it for fun, but I might not really get involved in it beyond a few characters & pairings.
(& all of this Torchwood-Smallville comparing is quietly lolarious since the whole time, I kept thinking Clark = Jack, Oliver = Owen, Chloe = Tosh, & Lois = Gwen. But I didn't much like Oliver for most of the time! & I love Owen! Hmm.)
BUT! I got a pleasant surprise in Absolute Justice when Michael Shanks showed up! With scruff! & being a bit Daniel Jackson-esque, but with a seriously acidic personality. & he threw down with Oliver! LOVE LOVE LOVE. SO MUCH APPROVAL. & of course, I was like, 'OMG, surprise!Daniel Jackson! Awesome!' Fandoms colliding!
Also, Zod can build Cybermen. ::gigglesnort:: More or less.
Okay, that's it for now. ::looks slightly sheepish:: I think I've embarrassed myself enough for one post. Must go locate Zod & Tess icons. ::skips away::
O! & I looked at Big Finish's website to see when Project: Destiny would be released & I'm pretty sure it's out now!! OMFG FINALLY! ::DANCES:: (but I'll probably cry my way through it, you know.)
no subject
Date: 2010-09-27 02:23 am (UTC)Hah, Smallville :D I used to watch that show religiously throughout the first three seasons. Then I got tired of it eventually . . . I'll definitely watch the last episode though just to see how it ends! Now that you mention it, it is very Torchwood-eque. I remember liking Lionel a lot in it but I'm sure he's not on it anymore, he was never that popular a character. I had no idea Callum was in it!
I'm always torn over Torchwood. Some episodes are blow-me-out-of-the-water amazing, but some episodes make me cringe. And Children of Earth was basically mostly depressing, thanks a lot, Peter Capaldi.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-27 10:07 am (UTC)Isn't that the loveliness of fandom? It can always put a bit of good cheer in one's soul.
O my! I don't think I knew you'd seen any of it - what good news! I'm not planning to see anything before series eight, oddly enough, but that's only because everyone seems to think it was a bit train-wrecky by then, but I do believe Zod & Tess first appear in series eight & I loved both of them, so I definitely want to see their first episodes. & isn't it? I was totally having flashbacks any time Chloe was inside Watchtower - it's very much like the Hub! & YES, Callum is in it & he's just wonderful as Zod - very evil & of course, very sexy. :D I'm planning on capping all of his scenes for
& I'm the same with Torchwood - I love series two, but series one & three . . . I don't know. The former doesn't hold me as much as series two, & the latter was just so depressing, like you said, & the way people reacted to it really just put me off it as a whole. :(
no subject
Date: 2010-09-28 02:50 am (UTC)It's interesting to know that Smallville got better! Because it's very true, it was a trainwreck when I watched it, which is why I stopped :p Can't wait to see the caps though!
The episodes I really remember liking of Torchwood were Ghost Machine and Captain Jack Harkness In series one, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Sleeper, To the Last Man, From Out of the Rain Fragments and the Owen rough two-parter, Dead Man Walking and A Day in the Death. Oh, Owen :( Oh, everyone, really :( I can't get myself to rewatch Torchwood at all.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-28 05:54 am (UTC)That's what
Ghost Machine has always been one of my favourites of series one (but I like little bits of Countrycide even though it freaked me out so much) & I ♥ Sleeper, To the Last Man, Something Borrowed, A Day in the Death & From Out of the Rain (♥♥♥). Series two had the stronger episodes, I feel. & while I sort of want to rewatch From Out of the Rain soon, I can't really bring myself to. :( But I definitely think it's one of the best episodes of all three series, really.