Star Trek Into Darkness

I had to love this movie. Anything in this series is just lovely. Because it’s bringing Star Trek back in a way that makes it relatively mainstream. Which I approve of in any Science Fiction series.

Once again – and of course – the cast provided a delightfully updated version and I found myself walking out of the theater honestly wondering if I could choose between the new and old cast. The only one I’m still upset about is the fact that Khan was white. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bandersnatch Cumberbund… but Ricardo Montelban was amazing as Khan and I loved that he was the superior man, and wasn’t white. It was the biggest disappointment for me in the film overall.

Honestly, this film is just a wonderful jaunt through a fast paced sci fi universe that I can watch over and over again.

A Peek into the Weirdness that are My Dreams.

You know how dreams rarely make sense?

A few nights ago I had a dream and knew immediately, I had to write it down and save it for posterity.

Ryan Gosling (from young Hercules) was fighting King Kong on a barge in the middle of the Coos Bay. While this was occurring, I was racing through a crowd of mannequins set up on the shoreline, frantically searching for the perfect brown bowler hat among the plethora of random hats atop the mannequins’ heads. While there were many different types of hats on these mannequins, they all wore the same coat because one of the mannequins was Sherlock (of the Bandersnatch Cumberbund varietal). The magic of the perfect Brown Bowler was keeping Sherlock frozen as one of the mannequins and I had to get to him and remove it so that he could save Mr. Gosling (and my home town) from the menace of King Kong.

And then, as with most of my dreams, the ending (the one that I remember anyway) was super random.

Suddenly, Reece Witherspoon, from The Importance of Being Earnest, was handing me a cup of tea in a beautiful English garden and telling me that what set us apart from Mrs. Snootywilkins was that we didn't leave our lesson plans out.

Sherlock Season 2, Episode 3: The Reichenbach Fall

Feeling Sherlock has become too complacent, Moriarty stages a robbery of the Crown Jewels and tells him he’s created a computer code that would access anything and everything the internet has to offer – claiming its how he pulled off his crime.

When two children go missing, Sherlock solves the case – in a way only he could – and suspicion starts to mount that perhaps he is providing crimes to solve. With his reputation shattered, and the lives of his friends on the line. Sherlock must make the ultimate sacrifice.

My Thoughts:

It’s sad how easily people cling to the hope that someone’s got a dark mark hiding underneath their varnished exterior. How quickly people accept the bad, and are willing to explain away the good. But that is the way of things. As a whole, humans need to feel that those who perform exceptional tasks have some sort of leg up, or that they cheat. We tend to assume that others can’t possibly be able to do something, for no other reason than that we ourselves cannot do it. Humanity is a very blemished species.

Here we have proof that being mean doesn’t help you. Sherlock may be antisocial (perhaps even asocial) but a little kindness would have saved him a load of trouble. He may be the master of unraveling plots, but he has yet to understand the power of common courtesy. Perhaps he has it harder than the rest of us, because he can see our faults well before the good bits have a chance to shine through. And that is a pitiable thought.

In the category of things I didn’t expect: Moriarty shooting himself to screw Sherlock over. Seriously didn’t see that one coming – and it kind of proves how deeply psychotic Moriarty was.

I absolutely adore how mad Mrs. Hudson is with Sherlock at his grave. It’s adorable and a completely natural reaction to grief. And it makes her feel even more real than she did before.

Sherlock Season 2, Episode 2: The Hounds of Baskerville

When brought a case that has threads of the supernatural involved, Sherlock and Watson head to Dartmoor to investigate the claims of a man who feels the Baskerville government research station is breeding mutant animals. As they tour the facility, they find nothing concrete, and the admission of local town-folk to a hoax with a large-breed dog seems to be the end of it. In the end, it may likely be a foe posing as friend who’s behind it all.

My Thoughts:

This take on the original story is quite intriguing. I like the idea of a military cause behind the hounds. And that the main clue to who the culprit is was in the slip up of calling a mobile, a cell. Also, why do we Americans have to get all the rubbish terms for things? The Brits always have better names or pronunciations.

I love that we get to see Lestrade out of his usual element. I also love that Sherlock has no clue what his first name is.  And that Sherlock is forced in this episode to admit that he doesn’t have friends… just one.

The part where Henry Knight is at home, alone and freaking out, was admittedly rather creepy. The worrisome part about that lay more in the fact that he was alone, than the idea that there really was a ravenous beasty out to get him.

The idea of vegetarian inn owners buying loads of meat for a dog to drive up business is oddly fanciful to me. The poor blokes. I also love that one of them tries to claim he’s fallen off the wagon and has been eating meat, and that Lestrade doesn’t fall for it. It’s actually a rather comical scene.

Sherlock Season 2, Episode 1: A Scandal in Belgravia

While investigating a bizarre rural murder, Sherlock is pulled to Buckingham Palace where he’s asked to deal with Dominatrix Irene Adler. Adler claims to have compromising pictures of a member of the royal family and while she’s not asking for anything and isn’t making any threats, they don’t trust her. Upon meeting with her, Sherlock is intrigued, and finds that she possesses secrets more dangerous than the one he’s been called in to retrieve when a CIA team bursts in and tries to remove the information from her possession. As events unravel, Sherlock tries to figure out if Irene can be trusted… or if she’s in league with Moriarty.

My Thoughts:

Irene’s strategy is balsy, and I kind of love her for that. I also enjoy how it confuses the heck out of Sherlock. I think there’s some degree of shock to his inability to read her – more than the idea that reading her requires her to be clothed. I’m sure he could tell something from the way she put her hair up, or some lines or marks or bruising. But it is fun to see him stymied all the same.

I appreciate that she’s not traditionally gorgeous. She’s pretty, but her attraction comes from her power and her intellect. It’s nice to see a female in that sort of position.

Seriously, CIA douche. NOBODY hurts Mrs. Hudson. That sort of behavior calls for the deepest pits of hell and the longest death to get there.

And once again, here I am feeling terribly sorry for Molly. I just want to jump in the TV, give her a hug and gently pet her hair.

I was a little sad when I thought, at first that she might actually have been playing him the entire time. I do greatly appreciate that he’s put one past his brother and Watson when he goes to her rescue at the end.

Sherlock Season 1, Episode 3: The Great Game

When a bomb blast leads to a string of abductions that place the abductees’ lives on the line, Sherlock is given clues to solve a series of puzzles in order to save them. After solving a 20 year old murder, an insurance scam and a paint forgery, Sherlock realizes the case he’s been ignoring – but that John has been looking into are related… and his lack of interest in the case may prove to be John’s demise.

My Thoughts:

It’s interesting to see so many cases shoved into one episode. Like Sherlock is speed dating cases. Or he’s in some hellish school exam where the deadlines are crazy and the tasks near impossible.

Poor old blind woman. Moriarty really should have picked his people better. It is interesting to see him carry out his threat – even though Sherlock solved it. It speaks to what kind of a person Moriarty really is. I always enjoy a villain who’s more substance than fluff.

To be honest, the bomb vest feels a little unsophisticated for Moriarty. But it’s mobile, wearable, and let’s face it, an easy out.

I think the painting was my favorite of the cases he had to solve. Mostly because of the set up earlier in the episode – where we learn that Sherlock didn’t know the Earth revolves around the Sun. And because it frustrates him so terribly much just before he manages to get it.

If there’s one thing this episode illustrates, it’s that crime is a broad spectrum that is littered with pockets of new and old games. Murder, Fraud, Forgery… As a people, we’ve come up with a lot of ways to hurt others… and we’re always thinking of more. What does that say about us?