Series Review: The Office (U.S. Version)

This review is a lot more casual than my average review, as it was initially a Facebook status addressed to friends. It's a brief overview of my thoughts on the series, and it does not address the story, premise or characters in any detail.

I recently finished all nine seasons of the U.S. version of the sitcom The Office. When I started the show, my mindset was something along the lines of, "...What the heck am I watching?" As it turns out, I was watching what would eventually become a hilarious and amazing show that would bring me great enjoyment for nearly two months of binge-watching.

It's true, the show is pretty consistently stupid. It's full of crude humor and facepalm-worthy moments, but it's also full of quality humor, great one-liners and lovable characters. While it's designed so that you can watch most episodes without having seen the rest of the show, the subplots make it absolutely worth watching in order.

The Office does something that no other show I've seen has been able to successfully achieve. All of the characters have this perfect blend of being unrealistic for the sake of comedy, and being very believable and real. This is particularly apparent in the first few seasons, but it is noticeable throughout the series. Most similar shows completely butcher that attempted blend.

My personal favorite episode is "Niagara, Part 2". It's the only episode that I watched more than once before finishing the show. (I actually watched it thrice.) However, this episode will mean absolutely nothing to you without five seasons of build-up and context.

I realize the show's not for everyone. It can be very inappropriate, and I only recommend it to people who are not easily offended by crude humor. (Trust me, it can get bad.) If that's not a problem for you, I'd also like to point out that if you're really turned off by the first few episodes, stick around for a while. It very definitely gets better. Oh, and be prepared to cringe whenever the character Todd Packer comes around. If you think Michael Scott is bad... geez.

So yeah. There's my super short, not-very-in-depth review. It's a great show. Well, it's great when it's not being super stupid. Which, to be honest, does happen a lot. Still, I may have cried near the end. Like, legitimately cried. Because storytelling can be awesome.

Television Review: Arrow - Seasons 1 & 2

First off, I am not much of a DC fan. By no means do I dislike DC; I'm just not into it as much as I'm into, say, Marvel. (Guardians of the Galaxy just came out. Did you see it? Dang, it was amazing!) Something that I have very much become a fan of, however, is the television series Arrow, which is loosely based on the DC comics superhero named "Green Arrow". To put into perspective how much I love this series, I will tell you that I watched the entire first two seasons (46 total episodes, 42 minutes each) in six days flat. That's averaging almost episode episodes per day. So what makes this series amazing? Let me tell you.

The story focuses on Oliver Queen, a young man from a family of billionaires. Five years ago he went on a trip in his father's yacht with his father and his girlfriend's sister. (That last part was obviously not a good idea.) Something happened, causing the yacht to sink. Oliver was the only survivor, and after days in a lifeboat he made it to an island where he would be stranded for the next five years. Fast forward to present day, Oliver is finally rescued and brought home—but unknown to those around him, he was given a mission by his father before he died, and Oliver has every intention of carrying it out. At night he dons a suit and hood with the intent of putting an end to the corrupt men and women who take advantage of others and rule their city through fear.

Right off the bat, the series shows itself to be strong. A young man returns home after being stranded on an island for five years... but nobody knows what really happened to him. He's a mystery. Unbeknownst to the people of Starling City, Oliver has also acquired incredible skills in archery and other manners of physical abilities. What's more, the viewers don't know how he acquired these skills either, which introduces us to one reason why this show is so spectacular: It shows the story of two timelines, not one.

The narrative alternates between the present-day adventures of the mysterious "Vigilante" and the five-years-past adventures of a broken and lost Oliver Queen, and how he becomes the so-called Vigilante. The latter storyline is usually depicted gradually, with an episode's narrative focused on the present day. However, at least one episode of each season switches the priorities of the narrative, meaning that, conversely, the episode focus is on Oliver's island story and the present-day part is shown in shorter fragments.

The Present-Day Story of Oliver Queen

Oliver returns home to a family and city welcoming him with open arms. There are, however, two people who aren't happy to see him: Laurel Lance, his former girlfriend whom he cheated on with her sister on the yacht trip; and Quentin Lance, a police detective and Laurel's father, who blames Oliver for the death of his other daughter on the yacht trip. And, you know, they certainly had every right to be pissed at him. Oliver had not been a good person five years ago, and he knows it.

However, Oliver has higher priorities to think about than his furious former friends. He's on a mission to save his city. Before his death on the yacht, Oliver's father told him that he'd not been the person Oliver thought he was. He'd done terrible things, and wished more than anything that he could atone for his sins. He told Oliver to make things right, and now Oliver has every intention of doing just that. His father left him a book of names, of corrupted people in Starling City who were taking brutal advantage of people lesser than them. Oliver uses this list as a reference as he sets out to give these corrupt individuals a second chance, and if they refuse than to take more drastic measures.

What follows is an epic and thrilling adventure full of action, mystery and betrayal. An unforgettable cast of characters is introduced throughout the story, portrayed by some of the most superb actors in the industry. The writing is superb, the actors are fantastic, and the presentation is incredible. Oh, and the music? It's awesome. As the series progresses the characters continue to change and develop, and the story goes in all sorts of different turns. Throughout the first two seasons you get to watch as Oliver Queen, the Vigilante, gradually transforms from a dark antihero into the savior of Starling City. But still, after all this, there is so much we have not learned about how he became who he his.

Oliver Queen and the Island

Oliver tells people that he survived on the island alone for five years. However, that is quite a distortion of the truth. His body is covered in scars—how could this be so if he had been alone? Beyond that, the viewers know that he somehow turned from a spoiled kid into an expert warrior and archer during his time on the island. Again, how could this be so if he had been alone? Well, the truth of the matter is, he wasn't. In fact, he had many adventures on this island, and most of them were not pleasant.

As time passes in the present-day narrative, the same amount of time passes in the island narrative. Meaning, at the end of Season 1, the present-day narrative shows an Oliver that's been home for a year, and the island narrative shows an Oliver that's been on the island for a year. With that being said, after the eventual Season 5 (if the series lasts that long—which I most certainly hope it will), the island narrative will probably cease, because it will have reached the point at which Oliver got rescued present-day at the beginning of Season 1. I honestly cannot wait to see what they do with the narrative after that.

The island narrative is a really cool part of the series. First you have this really cool present-day story involving dark heroes and mastermind villains, while at the same time being shown the story of a castaway on an island full of danger and fear. I've done my best not to spoil much of the story for either narrative, as I feel it's best for you to experience them for yourself.

The Terrible and Brilliant Drama of Arrow

If there's one thing my dad doesn't like, it's character and relationship drama. Disagreements, misunderstandings, dysfunctional relationships... they can really ruin a story. Unfortunately, Arrow is full of this drama. Fortunately, it's not too much to ruin the story. On almost any other series it would be, but yet Arrow is additionally full of brilliant writing and story that is able to outweigh some of the drama that we wish would not be there.

Arguments happen, relationships happen, drama happens. Oliver knows that he was not a good man five years ago, and he retains some of his not-so-great tendencies to the present day. He still knows they're wrong, and that's one of the more intriguing parts of his character development over the years. Other characters have family and relationship problems, and they intermix, and... well... I'm not sure my dad would like this show.

...But it's so awesome! I said it before; the storytelling definitely makes up for the drama.

Even when the drama is at its worst, the actors are so incredibly amazing at acting the parts. So, even when a scene is not the funnest to watch, the presentation is still top notch. I cannot stress enough how amazing these actors are.

Season One vs. Season Two

There is actually quite a contrast between the first two seasons, both in the present-day narrative and the island narrative. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I will only talk about the present-day narrative here.

The first season is about a man making up for the wrongs of his father. Oliver Queen is on a mission to cleanse Starling City of the corrupt individuals who hold the citizens of the city in a state of fear. He's ruthless, and while always making sure to give his adversaries a chance to right their wrongs, isn't afraid to drop bodies to make a point. He's by no means a hero; he simply has a mission and needs to see it carried out.

Season 2 is different. Things have happened, and he's changed. He goes from being not a hero to trying to be a hero. He doesn't care about a mission any longer; he cares about the people of his city, and wants to do his best to save them without sending goons and villains to the morgue. This radical change in his character starts a new chapter in his life, and is a focal point in the story of the season.

Another interesting difference between the two seasons is that Season 1 feels more grounded in reality. It feels like it's a story that could have actually happened. All sorts of pop culture references lead to a feeling that this story actually takes place in modern-day, on Earth. The second season is what makes the series start to feel more like it's from the DC universe. Subtle hints are dropped that there may exist people with supernatural abilities, and a serum that can induce superhuman strength is introduced and has a key part to play in the season plot.

In fact, a spin-off of Arrow is coming in October, called The Flash (based on the DC character of the same name). That series looks like it's going to have superpowers everywhere. As with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the world is changing slowly from a relatable world to a world dreamed up in a comic book. I really liked the feeling of the first season, so I'm more sure if I'm a huge fan of the way this is going. At the same time, though, the series is still incredible and is no way growing any less in its level of awesome.

Conclusion, etc.

In the end, Arrow is a wonderful telling of two adventures. The characters are amazing and relatable, the actors who play them are incredibly good at what they do, and overall the presentation is top-notch. I've also noticed a number of recurring or guest characters who are portrayed by actors I know well from other series I love. So far I've recognized two actors from Doctor Who (John Barrowman and Alex Kingston), two actors from Stargate SG-1 (Ben Browder and Teryl Rothery), and two actors from Firefly (Summer Glau and Sean Maher). I also discovered that Manu Bennett, the actor who plays the character Slade Wilson, also portrayed Azog the Defiler in the Hobbit films. That's pretty darn awesome.

I hope I've done well in explaining why I love this series so much. Honestly, you'll just have to watch it to see all the stuff I've left out. I don't expect you to watch it nearly as fast as I did, but you may be tempted. This series is da bomb! If you haven't seen Arrow yet, I very highly recommend it.

Also, for the record, I'm known for being passionate about people watching things in order, but that's usually for a good reason. The episodes of Arrow are most often not self-contained. The series is a constantly progressing story, and if you jump in at a random episode, you will jump smack into the middle of that progressing story. It'd be like opening an action-packed novel to a random chapter and reading from there. It's just not a smart thing to do, and I really don't recommend it. Please start at the beginning.

Now go watch it. Peace!

I Am a Whatvian

Disclaimer: I have done my best to avoid any and all possible spoilers in this article. I'm not one of “those people.”

As some of you know, I recently became interested in the British science fiction series Doctor Who. At this point I've seen all of it since the 2005 revival, and I've also checked out various spin-off material and several episodes from the classic series. I know you're wondering: What made me turn away from the sane side of the internet? Well, truth is, I'm still more sane than about 95% of the internet.

Let's start with the age-old question: What is Doctor Who? It's a science fiction television series that initially aired back in November of 1963. It lasted until 1989, when it was officially canceled. There was a movie in 1996 that was meant to revive the series, but it failed. Eventually it was successfully revived in 2005, and has been going steadily ever since. Now, it's important to note, the series was not rebooted in 2005; it was revived. It's the same continuing story.

Now, how can a series go on for that long without rebooting? The main character must be old by now! Well, technically, the main character is even older than you might think, considering he's currently over 900 years old. Enter "the Doctor," a Time Lord from a planet far, far away. He's a traveler. He looks like a human, but apparently his race looked like that first. Doctor Who is the story of his adventures through time and space with whatever people he decides to bring with him along the way.

Time Lords might look like humans, but they are completely different. They have two hearts, and brilliant brains. Enough to baffle even the greatest Earth geniuses. They also don't age—or, at least, their lifespans are massive. In addition, when a Time Lord is about to die, he or she can regenerate into a brand new body. This is how the series has been able to switch actors but keep the same main character over the years. It might sound like a cheat, but it's actually pretty awesome and pulled off very well.

At the beginning of the revival series, many years have passed since the 1996 movie and the classic series. We are greeted by the Doctor in his Ninth incarnation (portrayed by Christopher Eccleston). He just recently returned from a war—the Last Great Time War, fought between the Time Lords and a great enemy—of which he is the only survivor. The Time Lords were fairly frequent throughout the classic series, but now they're all gone. Forever.

So, this is an interesting turn of events. It makes the whole story of Doctor Who a little darker, and a lot more sad; but at the same time it makes the story awesome.

Now, the only place to start watching the Doctor Who revival series (which I recommend doing over starting at the beginning of the classic series) is at the beginning of the 2005 season. At that time they had a very low budget, the CGI was pretty awful, the acting wasn't too great, but you need to get through it first, no matter how cheesy it might seem at the beginning. Believe me, it's worth it. This is the kind of series that you cannot watch out of order.

Why do I love this show, you ask? Well, for numerous reasons.

1. The Story

Doctor Who has one of the best stories of anything I've ever watched, read, or played. It's the story of a lone Time Lord traveling the universe and all of time with his companions, for no other reason than to explore. Of course, there are over-arcing stories, usually with key story points in the season finales. These are brilliant, but so are the individual episodes.

The writers of Doctor Who are some of the best writers I've encountered in my years of watching television. Logic as we know it doesn't exist in the Whoniverse, because the time-travel theories are all out of whack and so many things just don't make sense, but that's the way things work in that universe. It's not the same as our universe, and it's not even supposed to be, and that's just something you have come to grips with. Earth might exist and play an important role in that universe, but it's not our Earth. After all, the world wasn't actually invaded in 2006.

However, the fact that the Whoniverse works so very different from our universe is part of why the story is so good. The writers get to do things that people would never think of. Writing for Doctor Who allows one to let their imagination run wild, and create things so far outside the box, but things that at the same time are so very brilliant. Basically, by the time you get a few seasons into the series you'll know exactly what I mean.

2. The Characters

Doctor Who has a brilliant cast of characters. The current showrunner and head writer Steven Moffat is amazing at creating characters you will never forget, and all the characters introduced before he took over were often brilliant as well.

The Doctor is one of my absolute favorite fictional characters. If someone were to ask me my favorite action hero, I would say the Doctor in a heartbeat. While he does have a habit of saving the world time and time again (not to mention the entire universe now and then), he's not always a hero. He has great power, with all of his technology and brilliant brainpower. Being the last of the Time Lords, he is quite possibly the most important person in the universe; but with great power comes great responsibility.

A number of times, far too much power has been placed in his hands, and he doesn't always make the right choices with that power. He's flawed; he's just as human as anybody. (Though technically, he's not actually a human at all.) He faces all of the emotions, struggles, and internal battles that anyone would face in the situations he's placed. Speaking of which . . .

3. The Emotions

What goes along with the story and characters in Doctor Who is the emotions. When I said that the writers were brilliant, I neglected to mention just how much they can get under your skin. This television series is more emotional than any other I have ever watched.

Something Doctor Who is known for on occasion is devastating emotion. The kind that makes you want to find a corner and sob for a while. But the story is sooooooooo freeeaaaking gooooooood! This amount of emotion adds to the brilliance. While so many episodes have happy endings, sometimes they're not so happy. Sometimes they're bittersweet, or sad, or even downright devastating, but it makes for amazing story.

For all of the amazing episodes with Happy Happy endings, just one Sad one in every few is just as memorable as all the rest, if not more so. I apologize for using this word so much, but it's brilliant.

4. The Music

I didn't notice the music of Doctor Who really until the third season. That was when I noticed it and thought, “This is actually really, really good.” As time progressed I fell in love with the show's soundtrack, and I've purchased nearly all that have been released. I listen to the music almost every single day, and as a matter of fact, I'm listening to it as I'm typing this article.

My brother's favorite composer is Howard Shore, who is the creator of the beautiful Lord of the Rings and Hobbit scores. I agree that Shore is one of the greatest composers in the entire world, but my personal favorite is Murray Gold. He has a unique style, and it's brilliant. I've never fallen so much in love with a soundtrack that I immediately went and purchased it. That is, not until Doctor Who.

5. It's Very Clean

Doctor Who has always been partially directed at children, and that is how it can be one of the best science fiction series of all time, and also be one of the cleanest science fiction series of all time. I must emphasize, however, that being partially directed at children does not at all mean it's a “children's show.” In fact, it can be enjoyed even more by an adult than by a child. (I mean no offense to any younger kids who might read this—I mean you'll probably enjoy it even more when you're older!)

There is, however, the occasional content to which people I know may object. The creators of Doctor Who are very much for the acceptance of homosexuality, and so that comes up every now and again. It's not explicit, and if all else fails, you can just ignore it. There is one (occasionally) recurring bisexual character who would be found offensive regardless of the fact that he's bisexual. Just ignore him (even though he can be rather hilarious at times).

6. It's a Legacy

Doctor Who is coming up on fifty years this November. Fifty years! It's been around for a loooong time. It is the longest-running science fiction series in history, and it's one of the most well-known science fiction series, both for the classic and revival series.

I haven't watched a lot of the classic series, but I've really liked what I've seen. Of course it has cheesy effects and stuff—all science fiction did in the age that it was made! However, I would watch classic Who over classic Star Trek any day. For old 60s-80s science fiction, it was brilliant. Not to mention, it's the same main character that I love so much from nowadays. Unfortunately a lot of episodes of the classic series are missing from the BBC archives, so it's impossible to watch them all in order, but I've really enjoyed watching what I've seen.

Doctor Who has withstood the test of age. When there were talks of reviving the series that led up to it actually being revived in 2005, everybody was on board. Even the network was on board, which shows that British television networks are about a thousand times better than American networks, who care considerably more about money than the content they produce. What started as one simple sci-fi show in 1963 has turned into one of the greatest series in the history of the universe.

Also, because the series has been around for so long, it has built quite a lot of lore. Planets, universes, various things stretching across billions (er, trillions) of years of time, and it's constantly being expanded even more. In addition to the television series there are books, graphic novels, audio plays, and just about every kind of media out there.

So, there you have it. That is a summary of why I love Doctor Who so much. I still reject the term “Whovian,” which is used to describe fans of the series, but I will definitely say that I am a fan, and you should be too.

(Special thanks to Adam Bolander, Eli Johnson, Ashley Procko, and Taylor Bomar for your proofreading and constructive criticism!)

Series Review: Stargate Universe

The Stargate franchise has come a long way, and now it has finally come to an end, without even a concluding ending.

Stargate Universe is not a TV series to start with. Before watching it, I would recommend watching the movie Stargate, and then watching the entire ten-season series of Stargate SG-1. I say watching Stargate Atlantis or the other movies is optional, but still recommended.

The story of SGU starts with a group of fifty or so people being stranded on a ancient spaceship billions of light years away from Earth or any galaxy they had encountered before. The group desperately not only tries to find a way home, but tries to survive on a failing ship so they even can make it home.

The first episode is interesting, but soon after the series gets sour and disgusting. The first half season of SGU (the series was released in half seasons) doesn't even deserve to be included in the Stargate franchise, because it's just like . . . a soup opera in outer space! Thankfully, it gets better by the end, to the point that I am impossibly mad that the series was cancelled.

Review: Stargate Universe Season 1.0 - Rating: 5/100

The pilot was good, but pretty much after that the series was a disappointment and failure. The story progressed extremely slowly, but they had at least one thing relating to it in every single episode, so skipping episodes wouldn't be recommended. And that just plain sucks, because the entire half season is full of the characters hating each other, PG-13 sex scenes, and not that great of a story.

There were a few good episodes. One was "Air", as it was the pilot. It wasn't nearly as good as any episodes from past series such as SG-1 and Atlantis, but it was decent all the same. The second good episode in the half-season was, even though this was in SGU's worst era, one of the best episodes in the series. The name of the episode was "Time". It had an awesome story and it was done very well. The pretty much only other pretty good episode was "Justice", the half season finale. It was, in fact, a murder mystery, and that's right down my alley.

There are two episodes in season 1.0, "Earth" and "Life", that I would not recommend to anyone. Even if you planned to watch every episode in the series, skip these. Take my word for it.

Review: Stargate Universe Season 1.5 - Rating: 40/100

You can see from my rating that the series just got a lot better. Still not really good, but still a decent series. It went from being absolutely horrible to being an alright series over the course of . . . one episode. This episode was "Space", the half season premier, and it was one of the most interesting SGU episodes to date.

After that the series started going a bit more uphill. The characters still hated each other, but not quite as much. Well, after a while, that is. This half season also marks the discovery of some intelligent races in this strange galaxy far, far away.

Some really cool episodes were "Human" and "Lost", which had amazing plots and showed some character development. If you were to skip any of the episodes in this half season, though, I'd say skip "Pain".

Review: Stargate Universe Season 2.0 - Rating: 67/100

The story started progressing at a much quicker pace, thank God, and it actually becomes a pretty cool story. You think that from the rating I'm giving these half seasons that 67/100 must mean the series is by this point amazing, especially because I rated season 1.0 a 5/100. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as by this point the series still didn't come anywhere close to how awesome the past Stargate series have been (this is pretty much why it was cancelled). 67 still isn't that high a number.

I do have to say, the series did get even better here, and by the end of the half season it was pretty darn cool. It still wasn't what the fans really wanted, though they did enjoy it more.

One thing I love is that by the end of the half season the two main characters who hated each other for the entire series so far actually became friends, or as close to it as they could get at the time. The character development by this part of the series is incredibly cool, and I say the creators of Stargate are complete masters of character development, if nobody else is.

A couple really good episodes in this half season were "Trial and Error" and "Malice". By this point in the series, there aren't any episodes in the half season that I would recommend skipping, as they're all good. A few episodes though, such as "Awakening", are a little boring.

Review: Stargate Universe Season 2.5 - Rating: 95/100

How could a series that started being so terrible turn into one of my favorite science-fiction series of all time? Well, it was all because of the final five episodes, though the rest of the final half season are pretty awesome as well.

The half season starts with a cool conclusion to the previous episode, which ended with a cliffhanger. After that was an episode that, though you don't realize it at the time, starts a chain of events that eventually opens up an entirely new side story, which by the end of the series turns into something incredibly awesome.

By the end, almost every single character has had some life-changing character development. The story, directing, writing, everything was better in the last ten episodes. The last five were by far the best, and they may have even surpassed their fellow Stargate series in terms of being amazing.

The ending did not tie up all loose ends, or even end the story, as they had already filmed it by the time they found out that there would not be a season 3. They did change it, though, so it was more fitting to end a series, rather than a season, and the final result was one of the best series endings I have ever seen.

I sincerely wish people could enter the series in season 2, so that they did not need to tolerate season 1, but unfortunately that would be a stupid thing to do, as then they would miss so much of the story, and that is unacceptable.

And now that Stargate Universe has been cancelled, it's been announced that all four Stargate movies that were in development have been cancelled, and the franchise as we know it is gone now. Thankfully, the creators of this franchise are making another science-fiction series, Echoes, though it will never be what Stargate was.

So yes, that is my review. It's my first ever "series review", and it's about as long as I figured it might be (which is pretty long).

Long live Stargate's memory, and hopefully it'll be back someday.

~Reuben/Arkatox~

P.S. After writing such a long review and having to go back and revise the entire thing (not fun), I have gotten sick of writing for today. That basically means no novel or fanfic writing today. . . .