SciFi Weekend: Doctor Who; Sherlock; Age of Ultron; Jessica Jones; The Flash; Arrow; Supergirl; Back To The Future (Bernie Sanders Meets Doc Brown); Gilmore Girls; Maureen O’Hara

Doctor Who The Woman Who Lived

The Woman Who Lived works as a stand alone episode of Doctor Who which did not really need to fall directly after last week’s episode, The Girl Who Died. Maise Williams’ character is seen eight hundred years later. It was strange that she remembered the Doctor and Clara and not her own name or village. She also had a colder attitude which can be seen in this exchange:

The Doctor: Anyone is that village would have died for you
Ashildr: Well, they’re all dead and here I am. I guess it all worked out

The show described the problems with immortality, and Ashildr’s frustration: “I have waited longer than I should ever have lived. I have lost more than I can even remember. Please Doctor, just get me out of this. I want more than this. I deserve more than this.”

While her life span was increased her memory was not so she had to resort to her journals, tearing out the pages of things she wanted to forget. She did keep the pages about her children dying of the plague, as a reminder to never have children again.

The Doctor did not take her with her, but did tell her , “I travelled with another immortal once. Captain Jack Harkness.” Will she ever meet up with Captain Jack (John Borrowman)? Plus Sam Swift may or may not also be immortal.

Nerdist reports that Maise Williams will return to Doctor Who:

Over the weekend, at London’s MCM Comic-Con, “Face the Raven” writer Sarah Dollard confirmed that Ashildr/Me would be back for her episode. During “The Woman Who Lived,” we find out that the character decided to be there for the people the Doctor leaves following his swoop-in/swoop-out style of day-saving. “Someone has to look out for the people you abandon, who better than me? I’ll be the patron saint of the Doctor’s leftovers,” she told him. She also says, “While you’re busy protecting this world, I’ll get busy protecting it from you.” When the Doctor expresses that he thinks he’s very glad he saved her life, she replies, rather ominously, “I think everyone will be.”

This could make her an interesting recurring character, and provides job security should she be killed off on Game of Thrones.  She is present in the background of a picture at Clara’s school shown at the end of the episode. I’ll accept the coincidence that she is present in the first picture that Clara showed him after this encounter, but what about all the companions prior to Clara? While that probably cannot be shown on screen, she could be an interesting addition to books or fan fiction. With Jenna Coleman reportedly leaving after this season, possibly Maise Williams will play a part.

The above trailer announces that the long-awaited Victorian version of Sherlock will air on January 1 in both the UK and the Unites States and will be named The Abominable Bride.

I’m going to post this link without reading the article. I haven’t looked at the deleted scenes on the Blu Ray of Avengers: Age of Ultron yet, and will do so before reading this, but Den of Geek has a detailed description for those who might want to read about them without viewing.

After a bunch of teasers, Netflix has released a full trailer for Jessica Jones (video above).

I avoid watching Amazon pilots until a series is about to be released in full, but I am really looking forward to The Man In The High Castle. Reviews of the pilot have been fantastic. Now Amazon is going to make the first two episodes available, even to non-prime members, here  from 12am Pacific on Friday, October 23rd until 11:59pm Pacific on Sunday, October 25th. The first two episodes will remain available to Prime members, with full release on November 20. While I already had an Amazon Prime membership for the free shipping, with streaming becoming a huge player, I now consider Amazon Prime, Hulu (commercial free subscription), and Netflix all essential (with HBO Go and comparable services from the other pay cable networks  also available due to cable subscriptions). Many evenings I do not go beyond my Roku box for watching television.

This raised another thought. When traveling I prefer either a Roku box, or my Roku stick to travel more lightly, as it has all the streaming services I use set up conveniently. It includes Amazon Prime, while some competing devices do not. I also do have both a Google Chromecast and an Amazon Fire Stick. (This comes in handy when staying in friends’ condos in Florida which have televisions in the bedroom and living room).  I have also found the Amazon Fire Stick essential when traveling to hotels which require a sign on to use their WiFi. Only the Amazon Fire Stick can handle this without resorting to making a hot spot with a travel router.

Danielle Panabaker of The Flash was on The Talk (video above). She discussed her transformation to the villain, Killer Frost.

All of the DC comic based shows have been off to a good start this season. Arrow, which just brought back Sara Lance to lead into Legends of Tomorrow, is much stronger this season, including a much bigger big bad. The flash backs are also more interesting with the return to the island. Plus someone will die in six months. Supergirl officially starts this upcoming week. The pilot, which has been available for months, was excellent and those who like The Flash and Arrow should also like this show. Over at Fox, Gotham has turned much darker, and is showing more potential than in the first season.

Also notable in the past week, You’re The Worst, while it has not been as  good as the first season, has had many excellent moments. This included the revelation of  what is wrong with Gretchen last week.

Hulu has renewed Casual for a second season. I highly recommend that show. I have not watched The Whispers, but I note that ABC has canceled it. CBS has ordered a full season pick up of Limitless. It is a lighter but entertaining show with a genre element.

Bernie Sanders Back To The Future

I previously posted the video of Bernie Sanders on Jimmy Kimmel Live last week. Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown) was also a guest, along with Michael J. Fox,  for an opening skit for the date he came into the future in Back To The Future 2. Bernie Sanders posted the picture along with this caption on his web page:

“Tell me, future boy, who’s President of the United States in 2017?”
Bernie Sanders.
“Bernie Sanders?! From Vermont?”

So this our destiny. I think this is a fixed point in time which cannot be changed.  The skit with Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox is below:

Speaking of time travel, Simon Berry has provided some information following the  Continuum finale. I will hold off a little longer to discuss the finale a second time to allow more time to see if further material of interest becomes available.

Gilmore Girls revival

Plus we have something else from the past to look forward to. Netflix is planning a revival of Gilmore Girls. The current plans are for four episodes, ninety minutes each, which take place in real time, eight years after the finale. We will finally see the final four words planned for the show by Amy Sherman Palladino.  While not finalized, Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Kelly Bishop and Scott Patterson, along with many of Rory’s suitors, are expected to appear. Edward Herrmann obviously will not appear but perhaps the funeral for Richard Gilmore, taking place after the actor actually died, could be a good point at which to reunite the other characters. The series ended with Rory Gilmore covering Barack Obama’s campaign in Iowa. Might she now be covering  Bernie Sanders?

This will not be the only case of Lauren Graham being united with a star from a previous show. She will reunite with Mae Whitman of Parenthood in an adaption of the The Royal We, a book on the courthouse of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Maureen O’Hara died at age 95. From The New York Times:

Maureen O’Hara, the spirited Irish-born actress who played strong-willed, tempestuous beauties opposite all manner of adventurers in escapist movies of the 1940s and ’50s, died on Saturday at her home in Boise, Idaho. She was 95…

Ms. O’Hara was called the Queen of Technicolor, because when that film process first came into use, nothing seemed to show off its splendor better than her rich red hair, bright green eyes and flawless peaches-and-cream complexion. One critic praised her in an otherwise negative review of the 1950 film “Comanche Territory” with the sentiment “Framed in Technicolor, Miss O’Hara somehow seems more significant than a setting sun.” Even the creators of the process claimed her as its best advertisement.

Yet many of the films that made the young Ms. O’Hara a star were in black and white. They included her first Hollywood movie, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939), in which she played the haunted Gypsy girl Esmeralda to Charles Laughton’s Quasimodo; the Oscar-winning “How Green Was My Valley” (1941), in which she was memorable as a Welsh mining family’s beautiful daughter who marries the wrong man; “This Land Is Mine” (1943), a war drama in which she was directed by Jean Renoir; and “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947), the holiday classic in which she played a cynical, modern Macy’s executive who tries to prevent her daughter from believing in Santa Claus…

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