I think everyone’s familiar with the Star Wars prequels, and how universally panned they are. There are a lot of reasons: bad writing, bad acting, pushing the limits of CGI and greenscreen way past where the early 2000s could realistically support them… but not all of the problems are so easy to explain. Some of them aren’t limited to just Star Wars, but rather common afflictions of all (or at least most) prequels. So today we’re going to examine the concept of the prequel, as one of the inevitable ramifications of the rampant efforts towards franchise creation over the last 20 years, and look at just where they often go wrong.

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Remember what I said about Defiance taking one step forward and one random step? This week is the perfect example. An unfortunate revisit to the Casti-cosplay club, Datak and Rafe get to live out some more Pulp Fiction fantasies, a ton of eye gore, and the Hellbugs are back. They aren’t the only things returning, however… read on for more.

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Could the NX-02, Columbia, have appeared again in Enterprise season 5?

With all this talk of cancellation, I thought it might be interesting to go back to some of those shows that were struck down in their prime, to see just what we all missed out on. One of the most well-documented cases is that of Star Trek: Enterprise season 5, which the former producers have been quite open about discussing. While some people hold out hope that Enterprise might be revived on Netflix, the reality is that as long as the movies are going, there’s no chance, and even if it was to somehow return, they’d likely have to come up with some new ideas (preferably ones that avoid the problems with prequels). Given this, let’s take a look at the fifth season we might have seen, in some alternate universe where networks in 2005 understood the concept of DVRs. Read more

So Defiance‘s San Diego Comic Con panel was earlier today, and we got a few glimpses of the future, and some very mixed signals about whether the show will continue. Spoilers of varying significance for the rest of season 2 ahead.

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For every step forward that Defiance takes, it then proceeds to take one step in a random direction. Sometimes that’s forward, sometimes it’s backwards, but often it’s just a lateral shift that comes out of nowhere. This episode is kind of halfway in between, with two very interesting plot threads and two serious headscratchers. Read on for more.

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Defiance is often touted as a one-of-a-kind, groundbreaking multimedia franchise, the first time that a video game and a television series have been so closely tied together. But most fans of the show aren’t aware that a TV series tied in to a video game has been done before. And, of course, where better for such an experiment in cross-media storytelling to take place than Japan? Just over a decade ago, the .Hack// franchise emerged, all at once, across every form of popular Japanese media available. And while it probably wasn’t the first, it’s one of the best examples I know of where it began in multiple, connected forms instead of spreading out. Read more

As a character-focused episode, the events of Defiance‘s Season 2 Episode 5, “Putting the Damage On,” give us an interesting glimpse into the psyches of three of the main characters. Since this is likely to have big ramifications moving forward, I thought it’d be interesting to take a look at just what these revelations mean for each of them.

Spoilers for episode 5, if that’s not already obvious.

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After the revelations about both Pottinger and Amanda’s characters last week, the preview for this episode had me a little concerned. I think the problem was dealt with well, however; at this rate, I may have to start giving Defiance the benefit of the doubt. Look at you, winning back respect with season 2! Instead, we ended up with a great character episode for all three in the spotlight this week, including some long-awaited backstory on Doc Yewll. Big spoilers ahead.

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After the wham episode that was last week, Defiance takes an odd turn, but keeps the intensity going. Alliances and relationships are shifting in a way that could either be excellent or disastrous, and with this show both options are equally likely. Read on for more.

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Watching Star Trek TNG as a kid, one of the things that I always wondered about was why an upstanding, philosophical guy like Picard would ever want to run around in the 1940s noir-style world of Dixon Hill in his free time. It just didn’t seem like the kind of thing that would appeal to him, and yet it’s one of the few moments in the entire series where we see Picard earnestly having fun. But now, having read some of the most famous books of that time, I think I understand why.

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