The Name Of The Doctor: Review

At the very beginning of series 5 Prisoner Zero said “Silence will fall”. In the finale of series 6 Dorium tells the Doctor silence will fall when the question is answered, at the fall of the 11th, on the fields of Trenzalore. . .Doctor Who?!! So here we are. The finale of series 7 where we learn who Clara is and how she is the impossible girl. We also know this is leading the Doctor to Trenzalore and the revelation of the Doctor’s best kept secret.

The plot:

A bloke in a victorian jail possesses a secret – he has somehow acquired coordinates to Treznalore and offers this secret to Madam Vastra. Vastra summons a conference call, through psychic means, which consists of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, Clara and River Song. Vastra tells them what she was told and shows them the coordinates. During the psychic conference call these faceless monsters, Whispermen, in suits and top hats emerge into Vastra’s home and kill Jenny. When realised they are being attacked they all wake up. Vastra and Strax are taken, we don’t know what happens to River, and Clara finds the Doctor playing blind man’s bluff with the two kids Angie and Artie, who once again serve no purpose in the episode.

Clara tells the Doctor what has happened and he reveals to her what it all means. ‘The Doctor has a secret he will take to his grave” well, Trenzalore is the one place he should never go, why? It is where the Doctor’s real and final resting place is. His final grave. So breaking through time-streams The Doctor and Clara go to Trenzalore. Once there they see a giant Tardis door and the Doctor says that is his grave. ‘Where else would they bury me?’ he says.

Out of nowhere River Song appears, but can only be seen and heard by Clara. The psychic link from the conference call was still intact and River uses this to speak through Clara and aid the Doctor in finding a back entrance into his grave. Meanwhile Vastra and Strax wake and see the dead body of Jenny. But don’t worry kids, it’s modern Doctor Who, no one is actually dead. Strax uses a medical devise that revives Jenny just in time for the Whispermen to appear along with The Great Intelligence.

The Doctor and Clara make their way through the Tardis grave and Clara begins to recall her memories from Journey to the Centre of the Tardis where the Doctor confesses that he’s met Clara multiple times and has no idea why. With her memories restored the Doctor and Clara suddenly, and with no logical explanation, appear outside the giant Tardis door where the G.I. is threatening Vastra and co. The G.I. demands that the Doctor opens his tomb, but he refuses. The G.I. orders his whispermen to kill the others and the Doctor still won’t open the door. The key to opening the door is to utter The Name of the Doctor. Well, suddenly the doors to the tomb open despite the Doctor not saying a word. River Song was able to somehow open the door despite not physically being there, whatever.

Once inside they find what is left of the Doctor’s body. It is a clump of stringy lights ‘scar tissue’ from all the time travelling. The tissue connects to every point in the Doctor’s history. The G.I.’s master plan is to enter into the light and turn all the Doctor’s victories into defeats. He does so and the Doctor beings to die and Clara realises what she must do. How she is the impossible girl. She must enter into the light spreading herself throughout time and space and whether the Doctor knows it or not will be ‘saving him’.

When the G.I. is defeated Clara is left in this wasteland and the Doctor must also enter into his own time stream stringy light thing to pull her out. While Clara is there she sees ‘echos’ of the Doctor running past until finally The current Doctor is able to make contact with her. While they are standing together there is a figure ahead, with his back turned. Clara asks who it is, saying ‘I’ve seen all your faces, I don’t know who this is,’ and the Doctor says it’s him, but unlike him (11th), who chose the name The Doctor, this other one chose another name. This unknown Doctor turns around to reveal John Hurt. The show ends and leaves us hanging for the 50th. Yay. Another cliffhanger.

Thoughts

Clara Revealed:

The impossible girl. Was her mystery worth it? In the end, no not really. She jumped into the remaining essence of the Doctor which scattered her through time and that’s how she was able to meet the Doctor multiple times. The hype over Clara for that weak a resolution was massively disappointing. She’s not the impossible girl, she’s the improbably girl. I also must say that I wasn’t amused by the bad CGI fusing Clara into old Doctor Who episodes, nor was I amused that Clara was the one who told the First Doctor which tardis to take. It make no sense. The show has tried far to hard to force the importance of Clara in just a few short episodes and at the end of the day she is still one of the most boring, bland, unexciting companions ever.

Doctor and Trenzalore:

When the Doctor learns that everything is leading to Trenzalore he breaks down and starts crying like he knows what is coming. Suddenly when they get there he’s clueless. Why the big emotional outburst if 1. you don’t know what’s there and 2. you don’t know how to get there. One of the biggest issues this year is the Doctor appearing to know or understand something then suddenly is clueless. Such is the case with The Crimson Horror. The Doctor acts as if he knows who Clara is only to reveal later he has no idea. But boy what more can I say? Moffat has certainly lost the plot. Series 7 has been the biggest disappointment in the shows history. Yes, I am including the Colin Baker years and the bad film. Since series 5 we have wondered what “Silence Will Fall” means. We thought those questions would be answered in series 6, they weren’t, just merely added on too. “Silence Will Fall when the question is asked. The question will be asked at the fall of the 11th on Trenzalore” Well, here we are at the end of series 7 on the fields of Trenzalore. Did Silence fall? Well, no it didn’t. Sure the Doctor’s name was asked, but it wasn’t given. So what is the fall of the 11th? Is this something more to come? I’m still waiting for the Silence to Fall!  But also, if the Doctor turns into that strange stringy light when he dies, why did that not happen in series 6 when he was shot and killed? They burnt the body rather than leave it to rest in the Tardis. Too many inconsistency.

Vastra, Stax, Jenny:

I’m going to sum them up in one go. Pointless. Completely and utter pointless. They served no purpose in this episode at all. They were boring plot devices used to give the Doctor the coordinates to Trenzalore. Also, I’m tired of Moffat bringing everyone back to life. Sure it was a funny joke with Rory. But now Strax and Jenny have both died and come back with the wave of the magical wand. Get them off the show.

The Great Intelligence:

Well, he was certainly a wasted character. How he arrived from point A in the Christmas special to point B in the finale is quite unclear and rather sloppy. What was his point in The Bells of Saint John? The Doctor has fought the same villain three times and it seems that none of it was pointing to anything. The G.I. being a classic villain from the original series was not well utilized and that is quite a shame.

John Hurt is a Doctor

Well, here’s the Doctor’s best kept secret. He’s got an evil version of himself somewhere in time and space and will be facing off with him in the 50th. An evil Doctor is, well, it’s kind of cheesy if you ask me. But which Doctor his he? Speculation runs from being the real 9th Doctor to being a combination of them all to him being the 12th. Guess we’ll see in the 50th. His reveal at the end was not very thrilling, and fell a little flat. I do wonder if this Doctor is the one that causes so much fear in the universe, who is the On Coming Storm and all that nonsense that is so very unDoctor-like.

Does the Doctor Need to Die in Each Finale?

I hope other people pick up on this. Series 5 the master plan was that the Doctor was to great a threat that all the his enemies wanted to trap him in an unbreakable prison, pandorica, and therefore kill the Doctor. In series 6 the silence brainwashed River Song to kill the Doctor in order to stop him from reaching Trenzalore. Series 6 was all about the Doctor’s road to death and somehow averting it. Series 7 was virtually the same thing. Going to Trenzalore means going to the Doctor grave and i.e. his death. . .again! It seems each season is simply the Doctor going to his death. Should I also mention leading up to David Tennant’s finale was all about the 10th Doctor thinking he was going to die? Honestly, are there no other plots or epic conclusion for a series? The fact that since 2010 every season has culminated in a death of the Doctor shows great lack of creativity.

Final Verdict

Series 7 is by far the weakest we’ve seen, ever. It’s a shame as Matt Smith is a great Doctor. From Amy and Rory’s sloppy departure to the reveal of Clara and Trenzalore it simply feels like Steven Moffat is not giving the show the care and attention it needs to remain fresh and interesting. When shows get to this point you have to stop and ask yourself, why is it even continuing? Since series 5 there have been so many unanswered questions and unresolved plot points that it’s becoming too troublesome to even bother watching the show. The Name of the Doctor was wildly uneventful and nothing more than a silly build up to the the 50th. It was the rotten cherry on top of the rotten and stale cake we’ve been forcing down our throats since Aug 2012 when Asylum of the Daleks aired. I have no expectations whatsoever for the 50th now. I assume, much like this episode it’ll feature fusing current character with past Doctor Who Episodes in order to ‘bring the old ones back’. I wouldn’t be surprised if the focus will be 10 and 11 stoping John Hurt from going evil and saving their “evil self’s” regeneration. But we’ll see. This certainly ended on a dull note and has left me numb to excitement with the 50th.

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Be sure to check out my books:

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, & smashwords!

The Great Gatsby: Review

Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!, Australia, Romeo+Juliet) brings to life F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary classic, The Great Gatsby. A film that has been done time and time again dating as far back as 1926 in a silent film which is sadly lost. What people want to know is if Baz gave us something good or is it all show.

The film opens with Nick Carraway discussing events that transpired some time ago with a doctor. It’s implied that Nick had had a mental breakdown and was coming into full recovery. Reluctantly Nick tells his story. In summer of 1922 Nick takes a job in New York as a bond salesman. He finds himself a nicely priced home in West Egg, a small village in Long Island. Next door to his humble home is the lavish mansion of Mr Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire who throws regular, grand, parties. Nick goes to visit his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, who lives across the bay and had married his college friend, Tom Buchanan. Whilst visiting Daisy and Tom they introduce Nick to the beautiful golfer, Jordan Baker. When Tom is pulled away by a phone call Daisy storms off and Jordan whispers that Tom has a woman on the side, Myrtle. Though clearly taken aback Nick leaves it be and doesn’t address the issue with his cousin.

The film rushes along from here. Nick is quickly sucked in to the the world of “money”. He’s outside looking in, but also inside looking out. One day he receives a personal invitation from Gatsby to attend one of his parties. Thrilled, he accepts and learns he is the only one ever to receive a personal invitation. Attending this grand, loud, party Nick is inducted into the world of Jay Gatsby. A world of endlessly pouring booze, dancing woman, loose ethics, and falling money. Nick meets Jordan at the party and learns all sorts of wild stories about who Jay Gatsby is. Things from being related to royalty to killing a man, but it all changes when Nick comes face to face with they aloof millionaire.

Gatsby takes a shine to Nick, but all for a reason. As the two build their friendship and Nick learns more about Gatsby’s unknown past, a favour is asked of him. Gatsby wishes Nick to invite Daisy over to his cottage where Gatsby will happen to turn up. It’s revealed that Gatsby knew Daisy five years ago and has been in love with her ever since. However, they were separated because of the war and only now has Gatsby been able to return to her. Despite her being married, Gatsby wishes to get her back and make her his wife. This inevitably leads the characters down a very slippery road that can only end in a chaotic mess.

Visually the film is a thrill. It’s a very pretty film to look at. From beginning to end it’s simply rushing by. When driving or at parties, scenery whooshes by whizzing you from New York City back to West Egg, from Gatsby’s mansion to Daisy’s home across the bay. This film has a lot of colour, a lot of flair. Luhrmann’s 1920’s New York is a bustling booming place where money is raining down on the rich as they race past the poor without a second thought. It’s certainly embellished, but it has its roots in truth. This is a film that doesn’t care to keep things grounded, rather it wants everything to be big! Gatsby’s mansion, for example, is not a mansion, it is a giant castle more than anything as it sits next to Carraway’s humble, Disney like, cottage. Visually this film is loud, beautiful, and in your face. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There was an effort to immerse the audience in this grand, rich, world where nothing could apparently harm the wealthy.

With a cast like this it is hard to fault them. Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby works very well as does Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway. Throughout the film there is a level of superficial kindness between the characters as secrets fuel their private conversations. The only fault would really come down on Luhrmann. When the actors are able to step away from the superficial they are able to really shine in their roles. There was, perhaps, too much time spent keeping things surfaced, superficial, and romanticised.

The Great Gatsby is in no way a happy romance. It is a tragedy, and the film does play out as a tragedy. But at times it seems to forgot it’s a story about shallow rich people who hide in their money, obsess over what they want, suppress their true feelings, and indulge where they shouldn’t. No one is truly happy in this tale. Each character is a self-centre emotional tyrant, and I would say Luhrmann didn’t emphasis this enough. Gatsby is a much darker and mentally tormented character than we get to see, and this is due mainly to the superficial level that all the characters play at. I think that we needed to see past the superficial facade of each character and look closer at their selfish motivations which drives them throughout the plot. That said the film is an exciting and interesting ride. It is certainly a film that throws a lot at you and races you along. There is a certain grime to the story that lingers throughout the film which gives you the feeling that this ‘life’ is no life at all. The film is by no means great but it is a very good. There is certainly a lot of flash but there is also emotion. The film will inevitably lead people back to the book that was so wonderfully written by Fitzgerald. Overall the worst thing about The Great Gatsby is the music. While the tracks fit the tone of the film it doesn’t mean they are good. Finally, don’t waste your time on 3D – 2D the one and only way.

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Be sure to check out my books:

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, & smashwords!

Elementary Season 1 Finale: Review

Elementary Season 1 Finale

In the climax of the previous episode Holmes found his missing, presumed dead, love; Irene Adler. Episode 24, Heroine, follows Holmes and Watson as they try to find the the ones responsible for kidnapping Irene while also looking for a way to expose the fiendish criminal mastermind, Moriarty. When Irene is found her mind is in a shattered state, Holmes is to emotion to place his energies into the case, and thus leaves Watson to work with Gregson while Holmes watches over the safety of Irene.

Watson discovers a type of paint where Irene was held captive which leads Gregson and co to the kidnapper. In a turn the kidnapper gets away and has his sights set on Holmes. The kidnapper, who was in league with Moriarty, decided to turn on him and do the one thing he was ordered not to – kill Holmes. When a ‘threat’ is left for Irene in her room Sherlock decides she must be hidden and plans to send her away, but she will only go if Sherlock goes with her. Watson finds herself blindsided when Sherlock tells her that he will be leaving and will return once Moriarty has be stopped.

Then the twist.

While Sherlock and Irene are preparing to depart he notices that a mole on her back is missing. One he remembers from their sexual escapades back in London. Holmes confronts Irene accusing her of working for Moriarty, she gets angry telling Holmes he’s lost it and then leaves him. Once home, Sherlock rings Watson to inform her of his staying but is then ambushed by the kidnapper. Shot and injured, Holmes fights for his life. He finds himself in a corner about to die when gun shots rip through the kidnapper and Irene Adler emerges. Here we learn the truth about Irene, her death and Moriarty.

Simply put there is no Irene Adler – she’s not American, she’s British – oh and she is Moriarty. (Look she even dresses evil now!)

The rest of the episode revolves around Holmes and Watson trying to discover what Irene aka Moriarty was doing in New York. The grand game revolves around another kidnapping, a political matter in Macedonia, and the murder of a political player. Through the course of this second half Watson and Holmes argue, Holmes fakes an overdoses, and is able to trap Irene aka Moriarty. The big mistake – Sherlock fell in love with Moriarty and vice versa.

Does this two hour finale leave you thrilled or stilled?

With a running time of this length I expected a better story. To be the big reveal of Irene Adler and Moriarty I thought Irene-Moriarty’s master scheme to be a bit weak. I’ve seen enough stories where money is the main focus. For fans of Elementary I’m sure they found the finale thrilling, for fans of Doyle’s creation I’m sure they found it distasteful, for folks in the middle – well they are in the middle aren’t they. I wasn’t sold on the idea that Irene Adler was simply a disguise and that she was really Moriarty. Many times Irene Alder has been depicted as being in league with Moriarty; an idea that can be a little tiresome. To now see her as Moriarty seems even more cheap and painfully boring. It doesn’t do the character justice. The Irene Adler from the books is a savvy woman who uses her wits and genius to keep herself one step ahead. Here she’s been reduced to a sex fused criminal maniac. In the final confrontation Holmes tells her where they both went wrong – they fell in love. Again, the relationship between Holmes and Irene – though often taken as some sort of unspoken passionate love affair – is suppose to be one of admiration and deep respect. Not driven by a desire to get in her pants and vice versa.

Parts of the episode featured ‘London’. The backdrops used for London were dreadfully still New York. Lucy Liu is still a very unconvincing actress in this series. From the very start she has been plain and wooden. When she delivers her line ‘Let’s say we go stop this bitch’ I wanted to heave myself out a window. I am never convinced when she’s offering a deduction or making a medical observation. For this character/version of Watson to become interesting there will need to be some serious changes to the character in season 2. Johnny Lee Miller’s Holmes at the end of the day isn’t dreadful when he’s not crying, sleeping with prostitutes, or playing the wounded emotional damaged victim. He can, at times, convince me that he has the makings of a good portrayal, I fear the only thing holding that back is the series. It is difficult to view this show as a proper interpretation of Sherlock Holmes.

It has been Robert Doherty’s goal to make Elementary as different as possible to BBC’s Sherlock, but it seems he has a further agenda. Elementary needs to be completely different from the original books Doyle wrote. Throughout the series we’ve seen characters like Sebastian Moran, Augustus Milverton, Mrs Hudson, references to a Mr Stapleton, Irene Adler, and Moriarty; most are similar in name only. This has been one of the series biggest disappointments. They have tried far too hard to be different and have thus ruined original characters.

One thing I was glad to see was that the series did not end on a cliffhanger. A device overused in modern television. Elementary is a decent police procedural show, and there have been several decent episodes. Next season I would like to see a classical Holmesian approach to the characters and the stories rather than the show trying to hard to be different. The finale was, for me, to much of a stretch for the characters and in one swift kick ruined Moriarty and Irene Adler. I’d like to see more care and attention next year.

Next season sees Miller and Liu crossing over to London to shoot their premiere episode. This will be an interesting aspect given that we already have a modern day London based Holmes and Watson in Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Though I offer that Elementary use an open title as this for their London romp:

What did you think of the finale, Irene Adler/Moriarty, and what do you expect for series 2?

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Be sure to check out my books:

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, & smashwords!

The Office Season 9 Finale: Review

The Office: Series Finale

What started as a ratings dud quickly grew into one of America’s most iconic television series. The idea birthed by British comedian Ricky Gervais, quickly swept the American nation bringing a host of unique, weird, disgusting, hilarious characters into the homes of millions of viewers. However, it is now time to say goodbye to Scranton Pennsylvania and the workers of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.

After 9 years of The Office the show has finally come to a close. For some this day couldn’t have come soon enough, for others they wish it could go on and on. It can’t be denied that the show started to lose itself sometime after the 2007/8 writers strike. Nevertheless the show held up fairly well until finally the 2011 departure of fan favourite Michael Scott (Steve Carrell).

Season 8 saw a new boss in Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) as he attempt to fill the big shoes left by Carrell. With quite a lot of fan criticism, and rightfully so, there was a nagging feeling that the show had already ended when we saw Pam (Beesley) Halpert (Jenna Fischer) say her private goodbye to Michael in the airport. Still as season 8 trekked on fans remained overall faithful keeping the show going for two more years.

Season 9 was announced to be the final season and for myself it was a sigh of relief. Since the departure of Steve Carrell the show seemed to have lost its identity. It wasn’t a show about a paper company anymore, it was a show about an office that simply didn’t do any work and left you thinking ‘in real life these people would be fired’. With the reality of the show somewhat missing I was glad to see the show come to an end. Interesting developments saw the return of Greg Daniels (series developer) as a full-time producer/showrunner for the final season, who felt that he needed to be there to help with the direction of the show’s end.

While season 9 was rocky at the start and at times boring there were creative elements that helped the show. To see Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam struggling in their marriage, Oscar (Oscar Nunez) and Angela’s (Angela Kinsey) awkward love triangle resolve in an unlikely friendship, to see a bit more of the camera crew, and see the office be handed over to Dwight (Riann Wilson) as the manager; what seemed like two seasons of bad decisions for the show began to smooth out. The last four episodes really brought the show back to what it was. It brought you to a place where you were sad to see the show leave.

The Finale:

Between the finale and the previous episode a year has passed. Dwight is about to marry Angela, Oscar is running for political office, Darrell (Craig Robinson) is successful with the business he and Jim helped start, Stanley (Leslie David Baker) has retired, Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) and Toby (Paul Lieberstein) were fired, Nellie (Catherine Tate) moved to Poland, and the others are more or less right where they were when we last saw them. The finale sees the scattered employees reunite for a group panel interview about the documentary as well as for Dwight and Angela’s wedding.

The Office is every bit a drama as it is a comedy. It was a show that was not afraid to make you laugh so hard your head hurt or tug at the heart strings until you cried. In the 50 minuet conclusion both will happen. Many other familiar faces return to give us one last laugh: Kelly (Mindy Kaling) & Ryan (B.J. Novak) – who are still as messed up as ever – The Striper Lady – still doing her thing- , and Meredith’s (Kate Flanner) son – who needs to rethink his life choices. For all the hilarity there is a lot of seriousness; Pam struggles with Jim’s choice to stay in Scranton and as Erin (Ellie Kemper) meets someone very special.

As the episode looks back over this 9 year journey and to the future you will find yourself remembering how great the show was and is. Not simply because it made you laugh but because you were able to relate to the characters and felt that they, too, were apart of your life. The finale will make you laugh and it will make you cry. It’ll make you feel nostalgic and it will make you wish the show could carry on at the same calibre. What the finale (and the 4 episode leading up to it) did was make you forget how poor season 8 and most of 9 was. It reminded you that it was a show with immense heart and that in saying goodbye it was like saying goodbye to a friend. Thoughts and emotions like that can only come from good writers, actors, and showrunners. Greg Daniels return was indeed a very positive thing in helping turn the last half of the series around and giving the fans something very special. There are plenty of great character moments in the episode, many wonderful talking head moments, and great, weird, Schrute fun and a quite special ‘That’s what she said’ moment. The Office truly ended on a very high note, and I believe it will endure as one of America’s most beloved television series.

As Andy said: “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good ole days before you’ve actually left them”

Goodbye Office, what a climax. . .that’s what she said!

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Be sure to check out my books:

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, & smashwords!

Neil Gaiman, Doctor Who, and Writing

Lately I’ve had a lot to say about the current series of Doctor Who. I’ve been wondering how a show so good could suddenly become a weekly disappointment. After last weeks episode Nightmare In Silver I posed a question: What is the writing process like on Doctor Who? I asked this because Nightmare In Silver as compared to The Doctor’s Wife was, put simply, not very fun at all. This was surprising as I thought Gaiman would deliver. Unfortunately there were characters in the episode that were pointless, out of place, and out of character. I also felt like there were plot points which pertained to the series that felt forced, in your face, and over done.

In an interview with The Radio Times Gaiman spoke of the writing process and his reasons why he might not return, though still having a desire too:

Regarding how long it took to write the episode he said:

“Doctor Who has its own peculiar way of being written, so I started writing it about 14 months ago. I wrote about the first ten pages and then they said they’d changed the companion from what I was expecting to something else. Actually the original companion was going to be very much the Victorian governess we saw at Christmas and then we decided they can do more weird stuff if it’s now the contemporary third incarnation so I had to reshape it so it wasn’t the governess.”

When asked if he received character guidance he said:

“What I got was the scene that Steven Moffat wrote as the Clara character audition piece. He sent me that and said this is what she sounds like. But from that you just make her up as you go along. It kind of worked with Amy and the Matt Smith Doctor. I was writing them before either of them had been cast. But it still works.”

When asked about a third episode he said:

“On the one hand I don’t have time to write Doctor Who. It doesn’t pay very well, but you also have to rewrite it and rewrite it and rewrite it and never get paid, whereas in America you get paid for every rewrite, but here you keep going till it’s done. I don’t have the time, it doesn’t pay terribly well, and there are lots of things including movies, novels, an HBO series that I should be doing… On the other hand I haven’t done an episode set on Earth yet, and I haven’t created a new monster.”

There are several interesting points in this interview. As Gaiman says “they decided they could do more weird stuff with the contemporary companion”. I would like an explanation to this one. Creatively, the idea of the Doctor having a companion from the Victorian Era sounds much more thrilling than having another contemporary girl. “From that you just make her up as you go along.” That seems to be quite clear. Clara’s character has been poorly executed.  Clara has never felt like a relatable or flushed person. Other than speaking a thousand words a second each episode she feels like a different person. This was my point in my Nightmare In Silver review. Clara is suddenly leading a military platoon even though her day job is working as a nanny. Don’t buy it. And seeing that the episode follows directly before the finale yet the writer still didn’t have an idea as to who she was or where she was going isn’t a good sign. Finally it all comes down to money. Well not really, but kind of does. If you consider that the writers write and then have to rewrite and rewrite for one flat fee, that isn’t very good apparently, whereas other gigs pay for the rewrites I can see why some of the episode are not very well written. Is Doctor Who BBC’s rush job show?

What do you think? Does this interview give you some insight into how series 7 was crafted and possibly explain some of the pitfalls? Read the full Radio Times interview Here

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Be sure to check out my books:

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, &smashwords!

50 Dollars Worth of Magic for 15 Dollars or Is Mystery Often Better Than the Reveal?

Is mystery often better than the reveal?

After watching an interview between Mark Kermode and JJ Abrams on BBC2’s The Culture Show I found myself mauling over something that was discussed. Abrams revealed that when he was a child he was heavily into magic tricks. While visiting a shop there was an offer that he could not pass on: A box with 50 Dollars worth of magic inside for 15 dollars! The catch what was that everything inside the enclosed box was an utter mystery. Abrams said he realised that whatever was inside might not be as good as whatever was inside and thus the box remained, and apparently still remains, unopened. If you follow Abrams work you can see that this idea tends be find its way in a lot of his productions. Mission Impossible 3, Super 8, Lost, and Cloverfield. The idea of a looming mystery, an unopened pandora’s box as it where, made me start to think about the current run of Doctor Who.

In 2010 the running mystery of series 5 was who is River Song, who did she kill, why is she in prison. Series 6 took that once mysterious box – that box that, as you looked at it glowed at the seams while you churned endless theories as to who or what River was – and ripped the top off. As the seal was popped low and behold the mystery was the biggest dud for that entire series. One most of the fans guessed a mile away.

Here we are with series 7. A pair  of mystery boxes are placed before us, one in the form of Clara Owsin Oswald, the ‘impossible’ girl. The girl the Doctor has met three times and has seen die twice. Who is she? What is she? Does it matter? The second mystery box is the answer to the great question hiding in plain sight, Doctor Who? Who is the Doctor?

Something that I enjoyed about the Abrams interview was when he made the comment that sometimes the mystery is the point. Which isn’t to mean that a story shouldn’t have a point. You can have characters who go from A to B and grow and learn and change but there can be an unanswered thread. Take Mission Impossible 3, by far one of the best in the series. The entire film is focused on finding this mysterious “rabbits foot.” Lots of things happen in the film, characters change, the villain is taken down, but we never learn what the Rabbits Foot actually is. Does it ruin the story? I’d say, no it doesn’t.

Look at crime fiction. One of the most popular fictional criminals is Professor James Moriarty. A Napoleon of Crime, a spider at the centre of a web with a thousand strands and he knows exactly where each one leads. What makes him so appealing? It’s that Sherlock Holmes doesn’t know he’s there. As a reader we can look back and imagine Moriarty lurking in the shadows as the Granda series did. At the end of the day the reader never comes face to face with Moriarty. Watson is the primary narrator and all we have is Watson finding a little note left behind by Holmes and then Watson making the deduction that Holmes and Moriarty plummeted to their death at the Reichenbach fall.

Moriarty, the world’s greatest criminal mastermind, is an utter mystery. A box that sits before us teasing to be opened. Do the unanswered Moriarty questions ruin the character? No, it’s paved the way for countless interpretations on the character some of which are fun some of which are not so fun.

Doctor Who is a 50 dollar box of magic for 15 dollars. There is mystery in the name – a mystery that should never be toiled with. As the show spins towards its 7th series finale we are apparently going to learn who Clara is and why she is so important while also learning The Name of the Doctor, Doctor Who? There is something powerful in mystery, and in one episode 50 years of Doctor Who mystery is going to be revealed for good or bad. My question is, should it? Or should this box of magic remain closed, only glowing at the seams leaving us to speculate what is inside. Perhaps the future of Doctor Who could learn a trick or two from Abrams’ philosophy. At the shows current rate no mystery in Doctor Who has been worth the reveal. But tell me, what do you think?

What do you enjoy about a good mystery, and must there always be answers or can things be left open?

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See my current works

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, &smashwords!

My Next Big Adventure

Hey look, it’s me with Butterbeer:

I am very pleased to say that I have been accepted into the MA program at Regents College London School for Film, Media, and Performance. It is located in the beautiful inner circle of Regents Park, London. This is an amazing opportunity for me to further my writing career. It will be a lot hard work and dedication, but the end result will be well worth it as it will produce opportunities that I otherwise would never have. As many of you know I am a writer. I have been lucky enough to publish a few Sherlock Holmes novels through MX Publishing and even self-published a few bits here and there like Fragile Words and Luchrupan. Through my writing ventures so far I have been blessed to meet some incredibly wonderful people, be apart of some remarkable projects like the Save Undershaw Campaign, and have my own short story published alongside legends like Mark Gatiss (Doctor Who – Sherlock) and Stephen Fry that has now been translated into multiple languages.

What is life without challenge? You may see on the top right hand side of the screen a ‘Go Fund Me’ button. What you may not know is that it is very difficult to study abroad, as funding is nigh impossible. So not only am I telling you about my next amazing journey, and why I am so passionate about this new academic career in writing, I am also putting pride aside and asking for your support. The Go Fund Me project is a way to help to fund my Masters. I will personally be working very hard to save my monies and fund my study but any outside support, of any size, is truly a blessing to me. I need £11,000.00 to cover the cost of tuition and extra expenses for the entire course. It’s not crazy money, but it’s money I do not have.

Writing is my passion. As a child I’d grab note books and fill them with all kinds of stories that would be embarrassing to read now and so are safely tucked away in a garage in Indiana. It is what I’ve always wanted to do, write professionally. Ever since I obtained my undergrad I’ve been wanting to pursue this career but obstacles such as job redundancy and renewing my resident visa prohibited me from doing that in 2012. I cannot tell you how excited and eager I am to begin this new course of study. It is my goal to be able to write professionally for, but in no way limited too, film and t.v. I love stories and I love telling stories. They are powerful tools. I want to use the power of words to build majestic cathedrals, follow an artist as they paint a master pieces, orchestrate grand symphonies, create forgotten worlds, solve the world’s biggest mystery, travel to the furthest reaches of space, dive to the lowest depths of the sea, fall in love, experience heart break and betrayal, laugh uncontrollably, experience the deepest joy and darkest sorrow, and see everything from life’s first breath to its final exhale. I want to challenge people to wrestle with theology and philosophy and struggle with life’s big unanswered questions and see that the world is so wonderously diverse, so incredibly big, and full of beauty and goodness that by the time we die we have only just started to live; we’ve only just started to tell a story.

If you can, please help. You can click on the button on the top right or Click Here to be taken to my donation page. I thank you in advance for you support and thoughts as I begin this new path!

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See my current works

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, &smashwords!

Sherlock Series 3 & 4

Video

Red Carpet News caught up with Steven Moffat at the 2013 BAFTAs and questioned him briefly about Sherlock, its return, and what’s next for the show’s future. Apparently Benedict has commission series 4 and they are working on an even more sinister villain than Andrew Scotts, Jim Moriarty.

Take series 4 with a pinch of salt but I’m sure fans will relish in the thought of a series 4 even before 3 airs (hopefully) later this year. But who might this new villain be? A pre-established Doyle character or a brand new creation? What do you think?
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Did you know I write Sherlock Holme stories and more? Be sure to check out my books:

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, &smashwords!

Doctor Who Nightmare In Silver: Review

Neil Gaiman and Doctor Who

I don’t know what the writing process is like on Doctor Who. I don’t know how much free reign the writers have or what confines the have to work within when writing their episode. Looking back at Neil Gaiman’s first Doctor Who episode, The Doctor’s Wife, it would seem that he had free reign to write his own original story with only a few hints which pertained to the over all series plot. The Doctor’s Wife is by far one of the best episode of series 6 and is one of the best Doctor Who episode in general.

What happens in Nightmare In Silver?

Gaiman returns and this time he’s upgrading the Cybermen. This has been one of the most anticipated episode of the series. I mean Neil Gaiman, Cybermen, Doctor Who – a combination that should work thrillingly well!

The plot:

The Doctor, Clara, Angie and Artie visit an abandoned theme park planet. They are greeted by a man named Mr Webley who quickly hides when a military group comes running out. A quick flash of psychic paper and the platoon assumes the Doctor is connected to some Emperor and they stand down and depart. The Doctor, Clara and the kids go off with Mr Webley who reveals, in a Madame Tussauds type room, a chess playing Cyberman.

The Doctor is curious as to how it is working and reveals a controller, a man name Porridge (Warwick Davis), hidden under the table. We learn that 1000 years ago the Cybermen were all destroyed and this military group is stationed on this planet as sort of punishment for not following orders in the past.

Things begin to quickly change when Mr Webley is overrun by a group of tiny cybermites and the upgrade begins. A new Cyberman is born – very fast, very agile, very clever. When Angie and Artie are take captive by the Cyberman the Doctor puts Clara in charge of the military while he goes after the children. The Doctor confronts a cyber-upgraded Mr Webley and finds Angie and Artie have been now been partially upgraded too. Webley reveals that even the Doctor is not safe from upgrade and is attacked by cybermites.  While Clara is devising a militant way of destroying the coming Cybermen the Doctor is forced to battle a Cyberman trying to take over his mind, and it all hinges on a game of chess as to whether the Cyberman will succeed or not.

Thoughts On The Episode

Doctor:

This was an interesting episode for the Doctor or rather for Matt Smith. While we had the Cybermen running about (literally) Smith was playing two sides of the same coin: his normal Doctor self and the Cyberman-borglike entity attempting to take over. I can’t say it was genius, but there were some fun moments as Smith did this. I found it interesting that they showed us ‘inside’ the Doctor’s mind which led to nice nods to the former Doctors by showing quick glimpses of their faces. There are of course many comments regarding the ‘who is Clara’ question but naturally no answers. There was annoyingly a bit of ‘flirtation’ between the Doctor and Clara, which to me just doesn’t feel right. Even if it was the Cyberman aspect talking the show has been too focused on Doctor/Companion love stories. The unanswered questions and silly flirting only furthered my lack of interest for Clara and her quite dull story arc.

Clara:

Last week Clara had next to no lines, this week Clara is leading a military platoon. One thing is right, she truly is the ‘impossible girl’. Rather she is the ‘impossible person’ as her ability to adapt to the vast array of situation is quite remarkable if not incredibly far fetched even for Doctor Who standards. Clara has had an easy ride with the Doctor. Rose, Martha, Donna, and Amy & Rory have all had emotional rides with the him. Each of them have been shocked and taken aback by situations – not Clara. She just goes in guns blazing and to me it makes her an unrelatable character.

Angie and Artie:

My first thought when watching the episode was ‘why are those two kids from the Bell’s of Saint John popping out of the tardis?’ I know they exposed Clara as a time-traveller (weakly) in the previous episode but to suddenly see them traveling with the Doctor was just out of nowhere really. If these kids are meant to be important or friends with the Doctor their set up has been done very badly. It didn’t help either that Angie was a very moody and down right bratty character throughout the entire episode. I would have preferred her to be simply be taken over by the Cybermen and done away with. Artie did not bring anything to the table whatsoever either. To be honest it felt like ‘which producer of the show do these two belong to?’ I can find no good reason to have them in the show as the episodes they have been in their roles were quite pointless.  The Cyber-Doctor makes a very important statement while the Doctor is in the process of saving the kids “Two human children you barely know!” – That is my feeling. We barely know them and what we do know isn’t anything worth being attached too. They are expendable characters.

The Ending:

The episode started revealing to us that the way in which the Cybermen were destroyed was by imploding an entire galaxy. This was obviously seen as tragic but in a rather random twist became the resolution to solving this episode’s problem. What troubled me the most of about the resolution is that no one seemed to care that an entire galaxy was destroyed. Surely other living beings would have suffered from this? But The Doctor nor Clara or anyone else even flinched. The Doctor seemed to only care about making sure his Tardis was beamed up to safety. This episode would have done better to have a much more emotional impact on the Doctor, Clara and the two kids as a result of the destroyed galaxy.

Then Clara and the kids are taken back home and dropped off to which Clara says ‘See you next Wednesday’. I’ve not enjoyed this dynamic of the Doctor picking Clara up once a week for an adventure/Date. And yes the annoying kids make many references to the Doctor being her boyfriend. The entire point of the Doctor was to be swept away in as many adventures as possible, not looking at your watching going ‘man, I really need to get back. Britain’s Got Talent is on!’

How The Show Is Written:

This brings me back to how the show is written. Gaiman seemed to have almost free reign with the brilliant The Doctor’s Wife episode, but it seemed in this one he was forced to handle characters like Angie and Artie who have not been developed at all and try and make them fit into his story. The episode also seemed to suffer from the ‘who are you Clara’ bug that has dominated so many of the episodes yet nothing has been revealed. I am wondering to what effect some of this ‘Clara bug’ chatter is added after the finished script has been delivered. The Clara mystery didn’t seem like it should matter in this episode but Cyber-Doctor kept playing around with it yet according to the Doctor he still doesn’t know. However in an odd twist the ‘prequel’ to The Name of the Doctor finds him outright saying ‘I know who you are’. Seem really like the show can’t make up it’s mind when it comes to Clara and the revelation.

Verdict:

Overall the episode is a decent, but is not as memorable as The Doctor’s Wife. I don’t feel like Gaiman had the freedom that he did in the past when it came to Nightmare In Silver. The redesigned and upgraded Cybermen were interesting, but the episode didn’t have the horror element that you expect a Cybermen episode to have. Visually the effect were what you’d expect for Doctor Who. Sometimes the episode reaches outside it’s budget and it shows. Something that has happened quite often this series. Performances were overall okay, supporting characters i.e. Angie and Artie suffer from bad acting/delivery and were simply a waste of time and took away from the episode. Simply using these characters as a plot device to separate Clara from the Doctor and give Clara a reason to be angry at him was poorly handled and lacked heart. There is no real emotion in the story and just feels like a series of things happening because they need to happen but you don’t really care that they happen. And sadly that has been the mood for the entire seventh series of Doctor Who. I would love to see Gaiman return and be able to deliver a straight forward story without worry of series story arcs as it really felt that he was working within pre-established confines that prohibited the story from being something really good.

So Nightmare In Silver: Watchable but not memorable.

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Be sure to check out my books:

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, &smashwords!

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

Star Trek Into Darkness

With a trip that started on a cold-ish day in London I journeyed out to my local cinema, feeling under the weather, to have my first view of Star Trek Into Darkness. After purchasing my ticket, and only grabbing the receipt thus needing to go back to get the ticket from the machine before some lucky soul got a free pass, I soon found myself situated for a viewing experience of Into Darkness in wonderful 2D.

The screen goes into darkness

JJ Abrams and crew are back and sending the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise out on another exciting mission. In 2009 Abrams brought life back into the Star Trek franchise that had been slowly dying since Star Trek First Contact (1996) came out. Abrams very cleverly took us back to the origins of the original crew and found a way to tell old stories in a new way without being forced to follow ‘the canon’ as it where.

Into Darkness follows Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), McCoy (Karl Urban), and the rest of the crew on a more collective emotional journey than perhaps the first film did. Where the first film focused on the Kirk/Spock relationship this film’s central theme is family. The film begins with a sinister looking John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) unleashing a terrorist attack upon a Star Fleet base in London. As plans are made to hunt Harrison down another attack is made that hits close to home for Captain Kirk. With permission from Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) the U.S.S Enterprise goes on an undercover mission to locate Harrison and make him pay for his crimes. As the crew prepares for the mission a new member, the lovely Carol Wallis (Alice Eve), joins as a second science officer, to which has Spock raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Following a moral and ethical battle, emotions upon the Enterprise are stirred and tempers are flared as they go after Harrison. As Kirk and crew close in on Harrison the ship is suddenly left dead in the space. With little time, and in unsafe territory, Kirk, Spoke and Uhura locate the now hidden John Harrison and, in a turn of events, take him captive.

From within his cell Harrison begins to toy with Kirk and tells him why he attacked Star Fleet. This doesn’t help to ease the tension already onboard. Without warning an unknown ship approaches the Enterprise and everything is revealed. The crew of the Enterprise is suddenly caught in a battle for their lives as well as trying to expose a much bigger and serious threat from within Star Fleet.

It cannot be denied, Abrams has created a very worthy sequel. Something a lot of films fail to do these days. The film pays many tributes to the original series and films which I found to be very nice and not over done. I thought, for it being a more earth central story, it was well handled. And don’t worry the story is not void of its weird aliens and planets. Visually the film is stunning. Abrams knows how to create a really engaging, sleek, look with these films. Something that Abrams got a lot of criticism for on his first Trek film were the lens flares that popped up every two seconds. Though they remain in this film, I didn’t feel like they were as overdone as they were previous film. What we have in Into Darkness is a very well done, character driven story. Each member of the crew is vital and you feel like you witness honest character growth, and that is something that can be hard to do with such a large cast. It must be said, too, that Benedict Cumberbach gives us a rather thrilling ride in his role as John Harrison. He will certainly be a Trek villain to be remembered. His delivery is simply Shakespearian. The gap in time between Star Trek (2009) and Into Darkness (2013) was well worth the wait.

Criticisms. There are a few weak points in the plot, but even good films have their flaws. The few minor plot issues were not enough to take away from the adventure unfolding before me though. The one thing I will say, and this might be a spoiler so read at your own risk, I was not overly keen on seeing old Spock (Leonard Nemoy) return. I thought it worked nicely in the first trek film, but wasn’t needed in this. It felt like it was the film saying ‘remember, things are not the same in this universe’. Old Spock’s cameo had the opportunity to turn the Universe up side down, in a fun/creative way, but kept things inline with what we know about Abrams’ Trek universe and fell a little flat. I enjoyed the re-accuring musical themes, but I wasn’t wowed by the overall score. I don’t feel that anything special was done with it, as no new themes stuck out. All that said, hands down the good outweighs the bad by a very long yard as I am needing to be rather picky here!

Overall I think Trek fans new and old are going to really enjoy this film. It really is a non-stop action thrill ride. When the film kicks off with Spock trapped inside an erupting volcano and then excels from there and keeps you glued – something has been done right. I like that Abrams and co worked hard to keep characters identities secret (though you can always find the answers you want online). I purposely went in to this film wanting to be surprised and learn as the story moved along, and for me that made it a much better viewing experience. By the film’s end you are just as excited for a third (film) mission. . .a 5 year mission!

Star Trek Into Darkness is in Cinema’s now.

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Be sure to check out my books:

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good book stores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon,Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo.

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in paperback and ebook from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble, Amazon & Itunes. In the UK Amazon, Waterstones, Itunes UK. For fans outside US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle – A Graphic Novel. Available in paperback and ebook from all good book stores in US & UK and on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository. Alternatively you can order straight from MX Publishing!

Fragile Words: A Collection of Verses and Short Stories Available in both ebook and paperback! Go to amazon.com & amazon.co.uk for ebooks! If you are old fashioned and wish to have a physical copy go to lulu.com!

Luchrupan: Physical copies found at lulu.com. Ebooks found on,Barnes & Noble, itunes, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, &smashwords!