Rebuttal: Veronica Mars Was Way Ahead Of It's Time, But It Wasn't Perfect

Rebuttal:  Veronica Mars Was Way Ahead Of It's Time, But It Wasn't Perfect

(reference:  https://www.cracked.com/article_26554_veronica-mars-was-way-ahead-its-time-yet-crazy-dated.html )

Veronica Mars captured a strong, devoted fanbase in three short years on a channel usually written off as "teen-ish" or "teenybopper," in that back in that time, UPN and CW were not known for their adult fare.  Supernatural springs to mind as an example of that, and the show has matured with the network.  Veronica Mars, however, had the misfortune of coming along during the changeover period from UPN to CW, and coming along a few years ahead of it's time.

As noted in the Cracked article, Veronica Mars did tackle a good number of topics that were prescient for their time, but ho-hum for today.  And yet, as with many other television shows that age gracefully, they're still relevant.

Separating Venom From Spider-Man: Venom (2017)

Tom Hardy as Venom (gif from doktorgirlfriend)

Most of the hardcore Marvel fans know that Venom was first introduced as Spider-Man's "bio-organic" suit during Secret Wars, and was eventually revealed to be a sapient organism ("symbiote") that he eventually peeled away from because Peter disagreed with the symbiote's influence and what it was doing to him. It's only after the rejection of the symbiote by Peter Parker that it seeks a new host, and that new host is Eddie Brock.

The recent Sony movie, Venom, separated Venom from that storyline, giving him his own genesis that had nothing to do with Spider-Man. Of course it was probably a legal decision; Spider-Man is a Marvel property, owned by Sony, and on loan to Marvel Studios (hi there, Tom Holland! waves). So eliminating him from Venom's story is a wonderful solution to a host of problems.

It's also an amazing storytelling opportunity, and the Venom scriptwriters take full advantage of that fact.

Tonight, On The Nostalgia Channel... Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

Thanks to the internet, in large part, I watch a lot of TV.  Not current TV, except for a few shows.  Mythbusters, The Walking Dead, things like that.  Older TV.  So, thanks to a few different websites, I can find a lot of TV shows that either aren't on Netflix anymore (looking right at you, Doctor Who) or never were in the first place (paging Justified, paging Justified, Hannibal will see you now.)

One of the shows I find myself watching these days?  Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

Supernatural: Demonic Possession Lore in Supernatural

(originally posted 2/13/2007)

As I am wont to do, I rewatch episodes and last night, I rewatched Phantom Traveler. As I am also wont to do, I take notes. Most of my Phantom Traveler notes revolved around demonic possession, as this is the first time we see it in the series. Contains spoilers up through and including 2.14, Born Under A Bad Sign

Supernatural: Jump The Shark

(originally posted 4/24/2009)

Hi, me again.

Most shows wouldn't be ballsy enough to have an episode titled Jump the Shark. That Supernatural does makes me extraordinarily happy, because (as if The Monster at the End of the Book didn't prove that) they can still poke occasional fun at themselves, and I feel like that's been missing a lot this season. However, I tribute a lot of that to Kim Manners' untimely death because (and I've noticed this from watching not only Supernatural, but his X-Files episodes and his Adventures of Brisco County, Jr episodes) that he brings a real flair even to dry scripts, and this episode could've definitely benefited from his magic touch.

That's not to say that it's a terrible episode, no. It had some really decent parts, and I'm still digesting how it makes me feel about Dean in particular (although I'm really, really leaning towards "DUDE, STFU ALREADY, JESUS!") so all in all, it gets about a B- from me.

Supernatural: The Rapture and Star Wars Mythology

(originally posted on 5/1/2009)

I guess you can count me in as the only person in the Supernatural world who is sick to the teeth of the angels.

I'm not anti-religion by any means. You can have any religion you want, I don't care. Just have it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off over there and don't involve me in it. And yet, Supernatural is shoving it so hard down my throat it's kicking off my gag reflex, and believe me, gagging I am.

They really, really need to drop the angels, let the apocalypse come, give half their budget and somebody's first-born to get Jeffrey Dean Morgan back on the show, and let John rip both his kids a new one and get them back on the path of the family business. Cause, as much as I dislike Dean, he's got the right idea; "Remember when our job was helping people, getting them back to their families?"

Oh, yes. I remember that. I remember that quite fondly, in fact. Shockingly, you and I both agree on it, and I'd love for you to get back to that, too.

The Arthurian Cycle In Disney's "The Lion King"

The Arthurian Cycle in Disney’s “The Lion King”

When Disney studios released The Lion King, it was proclaimed to be the first “original” Disney story—that is, not a remake of a fairy tale, a ballet, or retelling a novel (such as they did with retelling The Once and Future King in The Sword And The Stone.). That isn’t true. The Lion King can be seen as an animalized retelling of the Arthurian cycle.

In both stories the central character is a male. In the Arthurian cycle, the central character is Arthur, the son of King Uther Pendragon. In The Lion King, the central character is Simba, the son of King Mufasa. Both are male sons of a king, princes, in fact, of their realms. Simba and Arthur also had similar childhoods. Simba’s father, Mufasa, was killed, and Simba leaves, disappears from sight until he has grown, taken care of by the surrogate family of Timon and Pumbaa. Arthur, however, was taken away from his father and fostered to Sir Ector Morven, and raised by Sir Ector as a part of his family. Both future kings grew up without the guidance of their birth parents.