Torchwood and other replacements...

[fajrdrako]

fannish5: Five characters that replaced departing characters, and whether you considered each a gain or a loss.

1. Tosh and Owen on Torchwood. They were interesting characters, so their loss is a loss. On the other hand, I like it that the story evolves, that the characters aren't invulnerable, and that seriously bad things happen. Tosh, I loved; but she never lived quite up to potential (and never got to snog Gwen). Owen was problematic, but always interesting; I didn't like any of his storylines or themes in series 2, so I'm glad to see him gone.
   
   Who will replace them? There are numerous possibilities:
   • similar newcomers
     
   • newcomers who are totally unlike them
     
   • known TW/DW characters, like, potentially, Mickey Smith, Martha Jones, PC Andy, or Rhys Williams. (Too bad Sarah Jane Smith is out of the running, having her own show and all.) My choice? None of the above. I want Detective Swanson, from "They Keep Killing Suzie".
     
   • Actually I'd love to see more of PC Andy. But what they really need is a scientist and a doctor. I'd like to see an older character rather than a younger one - we have a bit of a 'simlar age' clump with the ones we have now. Or maybe one person just out of school and one person who's older and mature, like the doctor in Reset or Jack's old boss Alex - I'd like to see really different characters in the role. Hmm: they could hire an alien. That would be fun. Imagine Chantho in the Hub!
     
   • I have another idea, but I'm saving it for fanfic.
     
   • That being said, it would be great if Suzie came back, sane.
   
   
   
2. I don't even remember the names of the characters who replaced Mulder and Scully on X-Files, but they were comparatively substandard. Mind you, by that time, Mulder and Scully had become substandard, so it made little difference.
   
   
3. If you think of Amanda as replacing Tessa in Highlander, that was a move in the right direction. If you think of Methos as replacing Tessa, even better.
   
   
4. Sinclair replaced by Sheridan on Babylon 5? Oh dear, oh dear. This is one of many reasons I don't like or admire Babylon 5 nearly as much as everyone else seems to.
   
   
5. Remember when Professor X was replaced by Magneto as headmaster in The New Mutants? And Sienkiewicz was drawing it? Ahh, those were the days. I smile to remember.
   

Comments

[louiex.livejournal.com]

I don't even remember the names of the characters who replaced Mulder and Scully on X-Files

Wasn't it like, Doggett or something? And it was T1000? or whatever number he was? :D I did like him, but by that point the X-Files turned into a weekly 'insert spoon into brain and stir' hour of confusion~

As for the TW stuff, I would LOVE to see some aliens we DON'T have to kill~ While yes, having an alien that would live in the Hub might cramp Jack's 'hey, I live here and shag Ianto here' style but it would certainly be a change of pace. Hell, they could even have the alien and just give them some sort of holographic emitter that allowed them a 'human' appearance so they could go mingle with the world with often hilarious consequences~ The alien character could be male AND female if they wanted :D win-win!

[jkluge.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh, I loved Sinclair! Sheridan never, ever matched up, although I did like Babylon 5 and watched it loyally until they fucked it all up in the climactic wrapping-up of the alien storyline ("okay, fine, we'll just take our ball and go home" WTF?). Then they moved it to cable, so I never saw the 5th(?) season. I hear it was no loss. But for 4 seasons, it kept me hooked.

After that, I don't trust TV writers to be good enough to actually deliver what they promise with their big mysterious, multi-season buildups. And thus far, I've been proven right.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Doggett or something?

Doggett and Reyes, I think. The problem was that by then the scripts were so mediocre that it would take more than excellent actors to fix the show. And Mulder and Scully were so remarkable (at their best) that they were pretty much irreplaceable anyway. It was The Mulder and Scully Show and should have been renamed something else when the cast changed.

Besides, it was never the same without Krycek. [g]

I would LOVE to see some aliens we DON'T have to kill~

Yes. It seems even the good ones (like the space whale) get offed. As long as they don't kill the Doctor.

they could even have the alien and just give them some sort of holographic emitter that allowed them a 'human' appearance so they could go mingle with the world with often hilarious consequences~

I was thinking that - like Nightcrawler in X-Men, who used to make himself look like Errol Flynn.

[louiex.livejournal.com]

Besides, it was never the same without Krycek. [g]

Everything is better with Krycek in it!! :D The last few seasons of X-Files are a blur to me and I didn't quite care once the whole Scully being pregnant thing turned up to continue to pay attention~ Which is a shame, I know people fan it like crazy still, and good for them, but I was just LOST for most of it :D

And yes, just like Nightcrawler! I think that would be awesome. Work the whole, you know ALIEN angle of things :D Star Trek had Spock, Worf, Odo, etc, etc :D All aliens that worked along side with them without issue through the various incarnations of ST lore~ Lets goooooooo torchwood, embrace an alien for once, don't throw them next to Janet! That or give Janet an implant to make her smart and put her to work!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Everything is better with Krycek in it!!

Krycek was amazing. I wish they hadn't just wasted him in the end - but that's when they were starting to just waste everyone. I loved Skinner too. X-Files at its best was so wonderful that it was a double blow when it becaume dull. I felt bitterly betrayed. I don't even remember the stuff about Scully being pregnant - though I know I watched at least some of it. I remember it vividle when she had cancer - that was so dramatic. And "One Breath". That was brilliant.

The point of no return for me was when Mulder found out what happened to his sister and didn't care any more.

I think it would be great to have a shape-changing alien at Torchwood. Actually, they have had aliens (or at least non-humans of sorts) working at Torchwood - I'm thinking of Adam, who would have been fine if he hadn't been an evil and manipulative mind-wiper, or James in Border Princes, who was reasonably dull when he pretended to be human but very cool indeed as a Border Prince.

It would be fun to have Jenny join Torchwood, but I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen. (I wish, though.)

As for making Janet smart - yeah, that would be fun. Let her learn English and take Prozac and follow a vegetarian diet. I'm sure Gwen could arrange a fashion makeover for her.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I loved Sinclair, too. I was never the fan of B5 that some of my friends were and are - the pickings for SF TV were kind of slim that decade. I had no real problem with Sheridan until they turned the magnificent Ambassador DeLenn into Stereotyped Human Wife. Ah well. I didn't think the 5th season was much worth watching (even though I watched it), and I was infuriated by what they did to Garibaldi, whom I'd adored.

I must have sort of loved it at one time or I wouldn't have been angry with what they did with it. I watched it allm except the very last YV movie, which I found unwatchable.

I did like Crusade, though of course it didn't last long.

I think a multi-season build-up is doomed to disappoint. What we need is short, strong story-arcs. Even maybe series of mini-series, not things that continue past their prime, or even their last point of feasibility.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Didn't Mulder "find out about his sister", like, a half-dozen times? And it was always something different and even more implausible than the last explanation? I didn't blame the guy for not giving a good goddamn when they started talking about star dust and other assorted crap.

And I have cats named Mulder and Scully, so you KNOW I cared about that show at one point. The show went away but the cats remained, their personalities oddly reminiscent of the characters from whom they rec'd their names.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I love it that your cats live up to their names!

[fairestcat]

Remember when Profesor X was replaced by Magneto as headmaster in The New Mutants? And Sienkiewicz was drawing it? Ahh, those were the days. I smile to remember.

That was totally how norabombay got me hooked on the x-books. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Good for her! Those were good times for the X-Men. I don't remember if I was already hooked on Magneto then - if I wasn't, that clinched it. If I was, that fanned the flames.

House of M raised my enthusiasm for mutant comics again. Must get back to reading some.

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

I thought of Wesley - doomed twice to be a "replacement" and judged wanting, mostly through no fault of his own. A classic example.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Interesting thought.

So far, I like Wesley more than the characters in the show seem to.

B5 Garibaldi

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,
Hope you don't mind an anonymous comment; I don't have an LJ. I've been reading your Buffy reviews with great enjoyment and now I'm whooping because you not only prefer Sinclair to Sheridan - Sinclair was much the more interesting character - but you also liked Garibaldi who was and remains my favourite character in that series. The net seems full of John/Delenn sites/stories. Are you able to recommend any good Garibaldi fanfic? I'd be very grateful. Preferably no slash though.
Thanks again for many enjoyable entries.
Sue

Re: B5 Garibaldi

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Hope you don't mind an anonymous comment

Delighted to get it.

Yes, Garibaldi was by far my favourite character on Babylon 5. I loved the man. I never read any B5 fic, though. The only B5 fic I ever wrote was slash - a Garibaldi/Sinclair story for a fanzine.

Are you able to recommend any good Garibaldi fanfic?

I wish I could! But I haven't read any. If you find any, do let me know.

So glad you've been enjoying my posts.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Amanda was simply one of the best characters ever seen on television. I am delighted that they let her carry the show for an additional season, but not surprised that it did not last beyond that... sigh. It ain't fair!

Sheridan on B5... sigh, again. I kept looking past his utter pointlessness and lack of character and trying to like the show in spite of him. Once Garibaldi got mutated and then eliminated, there was just no chance that I could like it for only Ivanova and the wonderful aliens (best-delineated aliens I can think of right now; they were real people, just not human beings). Sinclair was marvelous... sigh. To get shafted into a cut-rate "I'm the savior of all" plot. Gad. It ain't fair!

As for X-Men... sigh. Delightful!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't think Amanda was a 'best on television' (though I might put Methos in that spot!), but she was terrific. There certainly aren't many that good.

"Pointlessness" is a good word to describe Commander Sheridan. I'm not sure why, but he seemed to manage to be eternally lightweight.

Yes, the aliens were good.

Last weekend I saw a bunch of first season episodes of B5 at Tasia's place - it was fun. I'd forgotten how good the writing was then.

Sheridan was magnificent as the Commander of B5. It made no sense to sideline him as a pseudo-mystic saviour.