48 thoughts on “October 11, 2017: Series Finales”

            2. A sentiment I've run across repeatedly over the years. It's why I never talk about music with anyone offline.

  2. So...after four episodes of Star Trek: Discovery...I don't know. Beautiful effects, but the fact that it's serial instead of episodic, and has such a dark tone, it has a whole lot more in common with The Expanse than with the Star Trek universe. I guess we'll see.

    1. DS9 was serial but would interrupt the serial for the occasional light-hearted one-off episode, which I think helped.

      1. It was, but it wasn't. Almost every episode was self-contained, but the overarching show was serial.

    2. I’ve really enjoyed The Expanse, which I’ve watched via Amazon; it’s the first sci-fi series that I’ve had any time for since Battlestar Galactica. Then again, I enjoy a dark, serial shows with high production values.

      One of the thing I have exponentially decreasing patience for is the “ship in a bottle” stuff where everything is reset at the beginning of the next episode, a bad writing habit which both TOS & TNG were pretty guilty of all the way through their runs. Similarly, I have no patience for the ability to apparently replicate shuttlecraft & whole subsystems of a starship at will, despite being cut off from all logistical support in another quadrant of the galaxy. Ahem.

      1. Is BSG worth sticking with? I gave up on it when it seemed to have more flashback episodes than current ones. Also, I heard bad things about the finale.

        1. Eh, the finale is fine. I wish it was better than fine, but it's not actively bad.

          If you watch the majority of BSG episodes as a stand-alone piece, they'll be pretty good. Unfortunately, the writers are willing to rewrite characters in new and unbelievable ways in order to tell a story, so there's this constant minor retconning going on.

          The show also LOVES to make it clear when a character is about to die.

          2. When I accepted that BSG was a show about how myths & metamyths circulate through humanity’s past, present, and future, and that specific characters’ arcs were various expressions of the monomyth, I became a lot more tolerant of minor retconning.

            2. Even with that... it didn't seem aware enough of that on its own. Its like it stumbled into being about myths while trying to be something else, and so even your tolerance as such requires a type of retconning.

          3. Unfortunately, the writers are willing to rewrite characters in new and unbelievable ways in order to tell a story,

            So much this. It got so painful. From one episode to the next, without explanation.

            I watched the whole show, found almost none of the payoffs after Season 1 to be worth it. Heavily recommend not wasting your time.

            1. Perhaps this is simply the other side of the coin that Trek writers too often flip, with character retconning taking the place of “miracle technology/drug/procedure developed by (resident genius major character or single-serving character crew hobbyist) inexplicably saves the day & restores status quo ante episodium.”

      2. I too have watched (and liked) all of The Expanse. I don't mind episodic TV, but I'm thinking that most Trek fans are going to be put off. I wish The Expanse could have had the effects production that Discovery has instead of the typical SyFy treatment. If you read the discussions going around, people are troubled by Discovery painting the Klingons into the wrong political corner.

        This is something that gives me more hope.

  3. I wonder if John Farrell still has a job today if Petunia didn’t throw an entitled temper tantrum that would’ve been embarrassing from a rookie, let alone someone with the presence of mind one would expect of someone who’s played that many playoff games.

  4. This year (like last year) the Truebloods have arranged to do a blood drive in honor of their son on November 11th (it would have been Emerson's 6th birthday). If anyone is inclined to drive to Coon Rapids to donate blood, you can sign up here and enter code 4491. Thanks!

  5. 100 years ago on this day, John McGraw's New York Giants beat Pants Rowland's White Sox 5-0 to even the World Series at 2-2. Game duration: 2 hours, 9 minutes.

  7. One of my best friends is a Red Sox fan. He's not thrilled about this.

    1. When you donate enough money, the least they can do is name the magazine after you and include photos of your son.

    2. Huh, might have to track that down.

      He worked for Wilderness Inquiry this summer. Must be from that.

      1. I'm trying to be understanding. He's not worth a max contract, and various language suggests they know it, but he was going to be offered max regardless and I think the Wolves are trying to win now and wanted to do something that suggested as much?

        If we let him walk, even if he was overvalued, who replaces him? Ugh. It's tough to control an all-offense guy. An all-defense guy is just as valuable but doesn't cost sh*t in comparison.

        1. The crazy thing is, I'd feel better about it had they traded Wiggins for butler and given Lavine the max, since he was better in pretty much every way. Except defense, they both really suck at defense.

          I don't know who's coming up in free agency next year, but I imagine they could have gotten someone who would fit real well in between butler and towns for, like, half the price.

      2. I hate to say this, but the situation kind of reminds me of Delmon Young. One of those high draft picks with supposedly high potential but everyone looking at the numbers kind of shake their heads.

        The one difference is that Wiggins is actually really young so it might turn out for him. He has gotten a little better each year.

        1. That's a good comparison.

          A strong argument could be made that he was worse last year, though. A lower TS%, a lower WS/48, worse drtg, obpm and dbpm. The only thing he did better was score a couple more inefficient points per 36. Ugh.

  10. After almost a month away, we're finally moved in back home (although without most of our furniture). About time...

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