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They will explain why there are slums but if you want to know now people often show up looking for jobs and have no money for fare to get off the station, or worked on the construction of the station and had no money to leave
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# ? Nov 2, 2021 03:35 |
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# ? Mar 29, 2024 08:48 |
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Powered Descent posted:Now that I'm looking at it, the little fighter ships have a neat design, with the engines out on the wingtips that can fire forward or back. Looks maneuverable as all hell. IIRC NASA was interested in the design precisely because of this, and JMS said they can use it as long as they keep the name Starfury. quote:So Delenn grabbed the Commander's gun right out of his holster and genuinely tried to murder a guy, but it's okay since she said she's sorry. Diplomatic immunity.
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# ? Nov 2, 2021 03:37 |
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Powered Descent posted:Those itty-bitty Noisy Cricket rayguns are great. PPGs. I believe they fire bolts of compressed plasma, because you do NOT want projectile weapons going off when there could be a thin layer of metal between you and the vacuum of space.
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# ? Nov 2, 2021 03:40 |
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Blindeye posted:They will explain why there are slums but if you want to know now people often show up looking for jobs and have no money for fare to get off the station, or worked on the construction of the station and had no money to leave I wouldn't even call this a spoiler, if you feel like looking, Powered Descent. But, yeah, the slums on B5 (they call them "Downbelow") will play a major role from time to time throughout.
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# ? Nov 2, 2021 04:09 |
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Double-header tonight. s01e03 - Born to the Purple.
s01e04 - Infection.
One final note: Do G'Kar and Londo only appear in odd-numbered episodes? And the doctor only in even numbers?
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 03:35 |
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B5 has a fairly large cast and they just don't try to shoehorn everyone into every episode.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 03:43 |
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One thing that’s helpful to understanding telepaths in B5 in general: Not all (or even most?) of the limits the shows telepaths operate under are limitations of ability. For every “Telepaths can’t do this”, there is “Telepaths won’t do this” or “Telepaths are forbidden from doing this”. The implications of that statement, and where the boundaries between those three categories lie, are an exercise left to the viewer to wait and see.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 05:21 |
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Grand Fromage posted:B5 has a fairly large cast and they just don't try to shoehorn everyone into every episode. Also, not enough money to pay everyone in the large cast to appear in all 22 episodes per season. 13 is more common, with 22 episodes reserved for the main human cast, although later seasons may change that up some. That means some characters have to be “rested” because they have to sit out 9 episodes. B5 is pretty good about making you lose track, though.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 05:27 |
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Powered Descent posted:There are some good bits in here, but man, this episode is just all over the place. If nothing else, I enjoyed your description of the shifting focus. Really captured the feel of watching Infection. I look forward to your thoughts on the next few. fake edit: Also, yes, B5 has a Dukhat and even a Lyta (she was in the pilot movie). I forget if there are any other name overlaps, but the actress for Lyta was the stuntdouble for Terry Farrell and Nana Visitor, which I find hilarious.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 06:10 |
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Narsham posted:Also, not enough money to pay everyone in the large cast to appear in all 22 episodes per season. 13 is more common, with 22 episodes reserved for the main human cast, although later seasons may change that up some. I suspected budget might be involved but don't know how actor pay works. Do they only get paid for episodes they're in or is there some sort of base pay for main cast + bonus for being in an episode?
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 06:11 |
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Narsham posted:Also, not enough money to pay everyone in the large cast to appear in all 22 episodes per season. 13 is more common, with 22 episodes reserved for the main human cast, although later seasons may change that up some. It's a standard part of a TV actor's contract that they get paid for every episode on which they are credited, whether they appear or not. They are also not able to work on other projects on shooting days in case rewrites require them on set.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 09:07 |
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Jedit posted:It's a standard part of a TV actor's contract that they get paid for every episode on which they are credited, whether they appear or not. They are also not able to work on other projects on shooting days in case rewrites require them on set. But also, when negotiating said contract, it can be understood “but we only actually need you on set for one day out of three, so this rate for all 22 episodes? It’s a bit lower”.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 14:51 |
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Jedit posted:It's a standard part of a TV actor's contract that they get paid for every episode on which they are credited, whether they appear or not. They are also not able to work on other projects on shooting days in case rewrites require them on set. JMS has repeatedly contradicted that statement, and he ought to know. Actors who are series regulars may indeed have contracts that specify they get paid for the whole season, appear or not. That ends up being an issue with salary negotiations at some point (can’t say more in the newbie thread, but everyone who watched the show knows what I refer to). But the terms of a contract are whatever they are written to be, and that includes receiving on-screen credit while being unpaid. I don’t know what the union rules were in the 90s, but I’d guess you don’t either; I know the B5 crew were non-union, and would assume the actors all were union. Could be Chevy Slyme’s workaround, could be something else. I don’t know why JMS would lie or why he’d have paid actors for all 22 episodes and then only used them in 11. I’d refer you to that interview I posted previously, but somehow I posted the wrong link. A quote from JMS: “ Some actors were hired for a full 22 episodes per season, some were hired for 16, some were hired for 11, some were hired for 8. So I had this spreadsheet in my office of what episodes we could put actors into. And an actor I might need to have for a particular arc piece might not be available to be in that episode. So do I move the arc piece earlier, or pay the extra fee to have the actor come in? Or give the arc slot to someone else? It’s like this giant LEGO set. But the difference is the pieces are always moving.” Edit: link removed out of spoiler concerns. Narsham fucked around with this message at 14:50 on Nov 4, 2021 |
# ? Nov 3, 2021 15:21 |
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Narsham posted:JMS has repeatedly contradicted that statement, and he ought to know. Well obviously I'm going to believe JMS, but that is very unusual and they were making work for themselves. Anyway, we should take this to the non-blind thread if we want to discuss it further.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 15:42 |
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Narsham posted:JMS has repeatedly contradicted that statement, and he ought to know. Actors who are series regulars may indeed have contracts that specify they get paid for the whole season, appear or not. That ends up being an issue with salary negotiations at some point (can’t say more in the newbie thread, but everyone who watched the show knows what I refer to). But the terms of a contract are whatever they are written to be, and that includes receiving on-screen credit while being unpaid. I don’t know what the union rules were in the 90s, but I’d guess you don’t either; I know the B5 crew were non-union, and would assume the actors all were union. Could be Chevy Slyme’s workaround, could be something else. I don’t know why JMS would lie or why he’d have paid actors for all 22 episodes and then only used them in 11. And a picture that's from way later - Blind watchers: this is not a place of honor. There is no treasure here. Jows fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Nov 5, 2021 |
# ? Nov 3, 2021 15:46 |
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Yeah general chat about b5 should go to the other thread tyvmia
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 21:12 |
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I always felt the use of actors was more plot-driven. For the initial set here, they are just introductions to the principle cast. Midnight: The world and setting (also Londo and G'kar) Soul Hunter: Sinclair and Delenn Hooker with a heart of gold: Londo and Garibaldi Infection: Garibaldi and Stevens (Two very different characters so the episode doesn't gel but bless them they tried) Parliament: G'kar and Sinclair [spoiler]"And the Sky Full of Stars" (episode 10 by HBO MAX counting) is really when "introductions" are done and the show starts actually moving. It's a show where seeing how the characters change is very important because they do. So they really have to hammer home who the characters are at the start. It feels a little clunky and redundant but that's S1 B5. Somebody fucked around with this message at 12:56 on Nov 4, 2021 |
# ? Nov 4, 2021 06:30 |
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Please be more comprehensively spoiler-aware in future.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 12:59 |
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Jows posted:And a picture that's from way later - Blind watchers: this is not a place of honor. There is no treasure here. I don’t think you’d know that picture was a spoiler unless you’d watched to that point, but I’ve pulled the link anyway.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 14:51 |
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Narsham posted:I don’t think you’d know that picture was a spoiler unless you’d watched to that point, but I’ve pulled the link anyway. Thanks for that. Blind watch thread is blind.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 15:17 |
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Two more episodes, with only brief comments since I'm tired: s01e05 The Parliament of Dreams: I liked this one. Some of the dialogue with the Commander's un-ex-girlfriend was a little corny, but in the end it all worked, and the Narn assassin plot was good fun. I kind of want to see more alien religious rituals now. And... does this mean Sinclair and Delenn are kinda-sorta married now? They were the ones with the meaningful eye contact while eating the maraschino cherries. s01e06 Mind War: Oh yeaaaah, I remember hearing that Chekov is a recurring character on this show. Neat. Got some good background on telepaths and the psi-corps and all that, although the guy evolving into pure energy or whatever feels kind of like a retread of the TNG episode where a fugitive with mysteriously-expanding psychic powers that people fear evolves into pure energy. Ah well. As for what Catherine encountered at Sigma 3.1416, I guess this is where I follow the thread title and speculate that it was a Zorlon? Whatever it was, I liked G'Kar's ant explanation. One last thought: The whatever-it-was may mess up ships that come by, but it seems to have left the nearby jump gate alone. And thinking about that is getting me curious about the rules for how jump gates work in this universe. Do you need one on both ends? Who builds and maintains them? Are there limits for how far you can go with them? How do they get them there in the first place? (Seems like that last one in particular would be a bit of a chicken and egg problem.) I'm sure they'll get around to all this stuff sooner or later. Overall, I'm digging the show. The characters are really starting to grow on me. Powered Descent fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Nov 6, 2021 |
# ? Nov 6, 2021 04:53 |
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Powered Descent posted:One last thought: The whatever-it-was may mess up ships that come by, but it seems to have left the nearby jump gate alone. And thinking about that is getting me curious about the rules for how jump gates work in this universe. Do you need one on both ends? Who builds and maintains them? Are there limits for how far you can go with them? How do they get them there in the first place? (Seems like that last one in particular would be a bit of a chicken and egg problem.) I'm sure they'll get around to all this stuff sooner or later. It's all explained eventually, but it's not a spoiler to answer this question. Jump gates: There's regular space and hyperspace. Everything in B5 travels at sublight, but in hyperspace distances are different so you can travel at effectively FTL speed. There are two ways to use hyperspace. One is the jumpgate. You have to have one both to enter and to leave hyperspace. They broadcast beacons, which are used for navigation in hyperspace. Without those you can get lost, there aren't any physical features and there's a flow that will pull you off course if you aren't following the beacon. The other way is a jump drive. Larger ships can create their own jump points and enter/exit without needing a jumpgate. That's what solves your chicken and egg problem--a big ship with a jump drive goes out scouting, finds a new place, and builds a jump gate there. Then ships without jump drives are able to use the gate to access it. As for who builds and maintains them, there's no single answer. Earth builds ones in Earth Alliance space, Centauri in theirs, etc. Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Nov 6, 2021 |
# ? Nov 6, 2021 05:02 |
Grand Fromage posted:It's all explained eventually, but it's not a spoiler to answer this question. Jump gates: There's regular space and hyperspace. Everything in B5 travels at sublight, but in hyperspace distances are different so you can travel at effectively FTL speed. There are two ways to use hyperspace. One is the jumpgate. You have to have one both to enter and to leave hyperspace. They broadcast beacons, which are used for navigation in hyperspace. Without those you can get lost, there aren't any physical features and there's a flow that will pull you off course if you aren't following the beacon. The other way is a jump drive. Larger ships can create their own jump points and enter/exit without needing a jumpgate. That's what solves your chicken and egg problem--a big ship with a jump drive goes out scouting, finds a new place, and builds a jump gate there. Then ships without jump drives are able to use the gate to access it. As for who builds and maintains them, there's no single answer. Earth builds ones in Earth Alliance space, Centauri in theirs, etc. One cute detail I've always appreciated is that most Jump Gates we see in the show are Centauri manufacture from back when they had a big empire all over the place, or Human manufacture...which look the same as Centauri ones because Humans bought Jump Gate tech from Centauri traders and use the same basic design. However, when we see a Narn Jump Gate it only has three parts rather than the normal four because the Narns are starved for resources and are more willing to risk a bad jump than other races, which speaks to their economic situation post-Centauri occupation and the recklessness with which they're expanding their territory. It's a cute little bit of world building that's easy to miss, but speaks to how the show cares about the details.
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# ? Nov 6, 2021 05:43 |
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Powered Descent posted:Oh yeaaaah, I remember hearing that Chekov is a recurring character on this show. Neat. Got some good background on telepaths and the psi-corps and all that, although the guy evolving into pure energy or whatever feels kind of like a retread of the TNG episode where a fugitive with mysteriously-expanding psychic powers that people fear evolves into pure energy. Ah well. As for what Catherine encountered at Sigma 3.1416, I guess this is where I follow the thread title and speculate that it was a Zorlon? Whatever it was, I liked G'Kar's ant explanation. Re: The thread title; it's kind of a running joke that new viewers often find... creative spellings for many of the various alien peoples and individuals; Zorlon instead of Vorlons (You've met Kosh at this point, I'm pretty sure; he figured prominently in the pilot which IDK if you've watched as well), Mumbari for Minbari, etc. etc.
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# ? Nov 6, 2021 05:43 |
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Powered Descent posted:Overall, I'm digging the show. The characters are really starting to grow on me. Great! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Others have addressed the other little points (Josh the Zorlon, jumpgates), so I don't have anything to add beyond "hooray!"
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# ? Nov 6, 2021 07:00 |
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Chevy Slyme posted:(You've met Kosh at this point, I'm pretty sure; he figured prominently in the pilot which IDK if you've watched as well) If you haven't watched the pilot, now's a good time.
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# ? Nov 6, 2021 14:15 |
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ultrafilter posted:If you haven't watched the pilot, now's a good time. Yep. There is relevant stuff in there, and now the hook is set so you won't be driven away by how bad The Gathering is.
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# ? Nov 6, 2021 16:20 |
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The pilot is hot garbage and should only be watched after you are thoroughly in love with the show. Even then, it is dangerous. Like finding the coprophagy pornography your spouse did before you met them level dangerous. edit: I have been informed that I mixed my latin and greek. I apologize and the issue has been corrected.
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# ? Nov 7, 2021 07:19 |
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Imo it's just about ok, but very skippable: two of the actors are really bad and happily did not continue to the show (in their defence, they may not have received good direction). I liked the more sinister and alien version of delenn though.
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# ? Nov 7, 2021 07:25 |
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Convinced my roommate to start watching B5 yesterday afternoon and he powered through the pilot, which I told him he didn't have to watch first, and probably the first 8 episodes. He's said the graphics aren't that bad and paused the pilot to ask me if Michael O'Hare was still in the series because he was enjoying Captain Sinclair. I told him he was and am looking forward to hearing what else he has to say about the series.
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# ? Nov 7, 2021 12:53 |
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Sinclair is great, some people are down on him but I think he has a lot of presence.
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# ? Nov 7, 2021 12:54 |
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sebmojo posted:Sinclair is great, some people are down on him but I think he has a lot of presence. I'm up to like episode 15(?) and I think he's ok.
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# ? Nov 7, 2021 23:10 |
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Finally got a chance to resume the B5 watch! Tonight we screened s01e07, The War Prayer. Overall reaction: Well, the message of this one is about as subtle as a branding iron to the forehead. Pretty drat sad how much more relevant it is now than when it came out, though. I mean, the bad guys all but said "Make Earth Great Again". Specific thoughts: Speaking of the forehead brand, it's convenient that the Minbari poet kept it, because she and Delenn look rather similar and it helped tell them apart at a glance. (Does that make me space racist, thinking that they all look alike?) With Londo's accent and all the talk of tradition and arranged marriages vs. marrying for love, I felt like I was watching a production of Fiddler on the Centauri Roof. I guess the station's fancy restaurant has an official Old Flame Table that's reserved for the senior staff to have dinner with someone from their past. The biggest issue I have with the A plot (the attacks by the Home Guard people) is that Sinclair and company didn't have to actually solve the mystery, the answer just fell into their laps. It was literally "Hey, I recognize that guy" and from there it was paint-by-numbers to the end. At the start of the shootout with the Home Guard, Sinclair left the fish woman just sitting helplessly out there in the crossfire! He's the hero of the show, you'd think they'd have had him pull her to cover with himself and Ivanova. I'm disappointed in G'Kar. What does he even think he's going to accomplish, stirring up a crowd like that? Sinclair briefly reminisced about when Kosh first came aboard and was poisoned and a doctor who saved him knows what he looks like under the suit. Was this all stuff that happened in the first pilot that's been mentioned in the thread, the one that's legendarily awful? Detail I noticed for the first time: the collar on Ivanova's uniform goes the other way from Sinclair and Garibaldi's. Another detail I've started paying attention to: which way the station is rotating. I'm trying to catch them in an effects blooper since I could have sworn we've seen it going the other way. But in this episode at least, it was consistent, rotating clockwise when viewed from the end of the station with the big blue ball -- or moving "upwards" from the usual viewpoint, with the blue ball to the right, the nonrotating stick part on top, and that moon in the background. Speaking of which, I don't believe they've even mentioned that moon or planet or whatever it is. I wonder what it's called, and why it was chosen as the location of the big diplomatic station.
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# ? Nov 18, 2021 06:06 |
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Powered Descent posted:
Yes.
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# ? Nov 18, 2021 06:15 |
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Thanks. I'll have to track that down at some point here.
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# ? Nov 18, 2021 06:28 |
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It's like, Idk, 40% awful. Maybe watch it after you are done with s1
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# ? Nov 18, 2021 06:48 |
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Loving these write ups, btw. You're making lots of on point observations!
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# ? Nov 18, 2021 06:53 |
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Powered Descent posted:Speaking of which, I don't believe they've even mentioned that moon or planet or whatever it is. I wonder what it's called, and why it was chosen as the location of the big diplomatic station. This is sort of mentioned at some point I think but it's really background info that you get from other sources. Not really a spoiler but since you asked it's the third planet of the Epsilon Eridani system. The system is in neutral space between a lot of races, and there was nothing interesting found there, making it a good place to put the station.
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# ? Nov 18, 2021 07:02 |
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sebmojo posted:It's like, Idk, 40% awful. Maybe watch it after you are done with s1 I'd say watch it as soon as you know you're into the series. Lots of people saw it first and ended up as fans.
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# ? Nov 18, 2021 14:17 |
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# ? Mar 29, 2024 08:48 |
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Switching back to the bullet-point format so the blocks of spoilertext look nicer. s01e08 - Sinclair Gets An Anal Probe
s01e09 - Deathwalker
Last thought: whatever happened to the commander's girlfriend? It appeared like she'd be sticking around but she hasn't gotten so much as a mention in several episodes now.
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# ? Nov 20, 2021 06:28 |