Cultural Wormhole Presents: X-Nation Episode 5

In this installment of X-Nation, Antony, Elizabeth, and Paul sift through the latest news in the X-Buzz, discuss October’s X-Books in the Month in X, and take a trip to yesterday with Days of X-Men Past.

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Download: X-Nation Episode 5

Month of X – October 2010
Wolverine #2, Daken: Dark Wolverine #2, X-23 #2, New Mutants Forever #3, X-Men Forever 2 #9, X-Men Forever 2 #10, X-Men #4, X-Men Vs. Vampires #2, Uncanny X-Force #1, New Mutants #18, X-Factor #210, Uncanny X-Men #529, X-Men: Legacy #241

Days of X-Men Past
X-Treme X-Men: Savage Land #1 – 4

Caprica - "False Labor"

Polly Walker as Clarice Willow on 'Caprica'.

Photo Credit: Syfy

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Caprica'
Season 1 - Episode 13
"False Labor"

Despite the directionless feeling that seems to hang over 'Caprica', I still enjoy the program when the writers decide to stabilize the focus on particular subplots. "False Labor" concentrates mainly on three that are some to the more interesting of the series so far. We had Sam's confrontation with the gun runners, Daniel's struggles with perfecting an Amanda avatar, and the real Amanda attempting to earn the trust of the Willow household so she can dig up STO info. I also doesn't hurt that none of them occur in New Cap City.

Stargate Universe - "Cloverdale"

Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) officiates over Chloe (Elyse Levesque) and Matthew's (Brian J. Smith) "wedding".

Photo Credit: Syfy

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Stargate Universe'
Season 2 - Episode 5
"Cloverdale"

This sort of episode has become a sci-fi staple: a member of the cast is injured and while unconscious, he or she has visions of another life where those familiar to them have been recast in various roles. One of my favorite takes on this ideas was a sixth season episode of 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' called "Far Beyond the Stars". Captain Sisko had visions that he was a science fiction writer in the 1950s where he worked along side other writers that had the same faces as his crew mates. Other than the fun factor of seeing this ensemble play other personalities and some without their usual alien prothstetics, the episode added depth to Sisko's struggles as the Emissary to the Prophets, and commented on racial attitudes of the mid-twentieth century.

Stargate Universe - "Pathogen"

Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) tests to see the extent of alien influence on Chloe (Elyse Levesque)

Photo Credit: Syfy

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Stargate Universe'
Season 2 - Episode 4
"Pathogen"

Ug... another musical montage at the end of an episode of 'Stargate Universe'. As soon as the music started and the camera began cutting between various characters on the ship, I was cringing in anticipation of some vocals with lyrics that were too on the nose, again. Thankfully, it was only instrumental. Still, this is getting really, really, really old.

Caprica - "Things We Lock Away"

Lacy Rand (Magda Apanowicz) outside Sister Clarice's home.

Photo Credit: Syfy

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Caprica'
Season 1 - Episode 12
"Things We Lock Away"

I'm trying hard to like 'Caprica', but it's not making it easy for me. I like it when sci-fi shows or movies try to break stereotype, but sometimes it feels like the creators of this show are trying a bit too hard. They are trying to instill a feeling of weight and importance, that it's predecessor 'Battlestar Galactica' had. It doesn't seem to be succeeding and episodes like "Things We Lock Away" do not help matters.

Rubicon - "You Never Can Win"

Will (James Badge Dale) and Truxton (Michael Christofer) finally have that important talk.

Photo Credit: AMC


Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Rubicon'
Season 1 - Episode 13

"You Never Can Win"

As much as I really enjoyed this first (and hopefully not the last) season of 'Rubicon', I was disappointed in the handling of the episode's conclusion. Don't get me wrong, James Badge Dale and Michael Christofer were as excellent as always and the scene crackled with tension. However, we're left with both Will and Truxton knowing that the other knows about everything involving Atlas MacDowell and the Galvaston attack. Spangler walks away daring Will to go public. Fade to black.

Mad Men - "Tomorrowland"

Joan (Christina Hendricks) and Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) discuss their positions at SCDP.

Photo Credit: AMC

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Mad Men'
Season 4 - Episode 13
"Tomorrowland"

That was certainly sudden. However, looking back at season four as a whole, this did appear to be the end result Matthew Wiener had intended. Megan had been floating around the background for half the season until her key moment of comforting Sally. That was also the same episode that we learned that Dr. Faye wasn't good with children and had no real desire to change that matter.

Fringe - "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?"

Astrid (Jasika Nicole) and Walter (John Noble) explore the mysteries of the Massive Dynamic cafeteria.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 4
"Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?"

One of the major tensions of Faux-livia hiding in plain site is the question of how far she would be willing to go to maintain her cover. She replaced our Olivia right as her relationship with Peter was beginning. Strangely enough, Faux-livia has had to partake of those first few dates of a blossoming romance for Olivia. Now Peter and Faux-livia are at the point where most couples would take it to the next level physically. The problem is that Faux-livia has a very solid and healthy relationship back on her world.

Caprica - "Retribution"

Sister Clarice (Polly Walker) on a particularly rainy day in Caprica City.

Photo Credit: Syfy


Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Caprica'
Season 1 - Episode 11
"Retribution"

The creators of 'Caprica' have openly admitted that they had to change gears on their original characterization of Sister Clarice. The original concept was to have her played more humorously, along the lines of  Gaius Baltar on 'Battlestar Galactica'. However, due to Clarice's dark associations and the calibar of actor that Polly Walker, this had to change and quickly. The second half of season one has seen a dramatic change towards proactiveness from the character.

Stargate Universe - "Awakening"

Sgt. Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) inspects the seed ship.

Photo Credit: Syfy

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Stargate Universe'
Season 2 - Episode 3
"Awakening"

Enough with the musical montages already. The one at the end of the season premiere was understandable, because it gave us a glimpse of the new condition of the cast after the Lucian Alliance takeover had been undone. Also, I didn't care if the music was contemporary pop rather than scored, unlike a number of naysayers online. However, we're three episodes into the season and two have ended with a pop ballad montage. Even the second episode had a mini-montage with scored music as Col. Young cried into his moonshine near the end of the program. It's crossed into cliche and it didn't help matters that last night's montage song had lyrics that were too on the nose.

Rubicon - "Wayward Sons"

Will  (James Badge Dale) visits Katherine Rhumor.

Photo Credit: AMC

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Rubicon'
Season 1 - Episode 12

"Wayward Sons"

For the last eleven episodes, we've been introduced to and tracked the development of characters that have never appeared on the screen. Kateb, Tanaz, Boeck, and Popovich have been spectres in the background and the people of interest being investigated by Will team at API, all the while not actually appearing in a single episode. That is until now.

Cultural Wormhole Presents: The Merc Report Episode 1

Spinning out of X-Nation, The Merc Report is your monthly review of the many Deadpool comic books published by Marvel Comics. This episode Corwin Crowl takes us through the Month in Merc for September 2010.

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Download: The Merc Report Episode 1

Reviewed this episode: Deadpool Pulp #1, Deadpool #27, Deadpool Corps #6, Deadpool Team-Up #889, & Deadpool: Wade Wilson's War #4

Mad Men - "Blowing Smoke"

Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) and Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) as their empire slowly crumbles around them.

Photo Credit: AMC

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Mad Men'
Season 4 - Episode 12
"Blowing Smoke"

I know that there is one episode left in the season, but "Blowing Smoke" felt like a season finale. The episode ended with a feeling of uncertainty, yet with a direction more towards a positive outcome. Yes, SCDP is having to down-size, resulting in the firing of big chunk of the staff, but thanks to the partners ponying up some money, the bank has granted them a loan to keep the company afloat for another six months.

Fringe - "The Plateau"

Walternate (John Noble) over sees Olivia's progress at the Fringe Division headquarters 'over there'.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 3
"The Plateau"

If there are any new viewers have started watching 'Fringe' starting with this season, then they're are probably wondering what the hell is going on. The confusion would be understandable if a newcomer didn't know anything about the two parallel worlds and the fact that most of the cast has a double on the other side. To make matters even more complicated, the two Olivias have been switched, with our Olivia now thinking she's actually Faux-livia. So, yeah, not very new viewer friendly.

Stargate Universe - "Aftermath"

Dr. Franklin (Mark Burgess) reappears to offer Dr. Rush some advice.

Photo Credit: Syfy

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Stargate Universe'
Season 2 - Episode 2
"Aftermath"

When is Dr. Rush finally going to learn that keeping secrets is going to continue to make things worse for him and for those aboard Destiny. Even when one of his poor decisions results in the death of recurring character, he finds a way to rationalize his choice. He's holding on to as much information about the operation of Destiny as long as possible. This way he has some form of power over Col. Young. Rush even was able to unlock and power up the ship's bridge. But at what cost? Luckily, Destiny isn't going to make it easy for him.

Caprica - "Unvanquished"

Zoe Greystone (Alessandra Torresani) takes on some A Clockwork Orange rejects in the VR world.

Photo Credit: Syfy

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Caprica'
Season 1 - Episode 10
"Unvanquished"

The programmers at Syfy found it in their hearts to air the last half of the first season of 'Caprica' in the fall rather than having us wait until January. I've never understood Syfy's programming strategy. They've always broken up their shows' seasons in halves with a very long hiatus that can last up to half a year (see the final season of 'Battlestar Galactica'). It just seems like a momentum killer and a perfect accuse for view attrition.

Rubicon - "A Good Day's Work"

Truxton Spangler (Michael Cristofer) enjoys a glass of "the good stuff".

Photo Credit: AMC

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Rubicon'
Season 1 - Episode 11
"A Good Day's Work"

The presence of Andy in Will's life has provided a voice for the idea that intelligence work is glamorous and action packed. What we've learned watching 'Rubicon' is that it can be slow and tedious, and in Will's case, the action is brutal and vicious. So, it's no surprise that when Andy makes a badly timed appearance at Will's apartment just hours after he had just killed a man in self-defense (and whose body was chopped up and removed), it makes sense that he doesn't want her around anymore.

Mad Men - "Chinese Wall"

Stan Rizzo (Jay R. Ferguson) and Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) get ready to make a presentation.

Photo Credit: AMC

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Mad Men'
Season 4 - Episode 11
"Chinese Wall"

The future of SCDP is looking very uncertain at the moment. Roger's big secret about Lucky Strike came out via the grapevine and now the entire company has to scramble to find replacement accounts, while trying to reduce the fears of their other clients so they don't jump ship as well. Of course, this is also the perfect time for Baby Campbell to make her debut.

Cultural Wormhole Presents: X-Nation Episode 4

Join Antony, Elizabeth, and Paul as they catch up on the latest X-Men news in the X-Buzz, take a look at the X-Books for September 2010 in the Month of X, and visit the stories from years ago in Days of X-Men Past.

Subscribe to the show: RSS Feed & iTunes
Download: X-Nation Episode 4

Month of X - September 2010: Wolverine: Road to Hell #1, Wolverine #1, Daken: Dark Wolverine #1, X-23 #1, X-Men #3, X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – Smoke & Blood #1, X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – X-Men vs. Vampires #1, Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis #3, X-Force: Sex & Violence #3, New Mutants Forever #2, X-Men Forever 2 #7, X-Men Forever 2 #8, X-Factor #209, New Mutants #17, Uncanny X-Men #528, X-Men: Legacy #240

Days of X-Men Past: New X-Men 2001 Annual, Uncanny X-Men #397, X-Treme X-Men #4

Fringe - "The Box"

Faux-livia (Anna Torv) lets Newton (Sebastian Roche) know who's the boss in this trans-dimensional operation.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 2
"The Box"

While 'Fringe' can provide entertaining "Monster of the Week" episodes, it really clicks when the writers focus on characters and the show's mythology. Two episodes out of the gate and season three has been doing just that, and rather well, too. Last week's premiere was all about Olivia, who was alone and trapped in the other universe. This week we catch up with the rest of the cast, Peter, Walter, Broyles, Astrid, and even Nina Sharpe. Unbeknown to them, the Olivia (FOX refers to her as Bolivia, but I like Faux-livia) in their midst is actually the one from the other side.