…and so it was until the day a false sun exploded over trinity
The clock is ticking, brothers and sisters, counting down to Armageddon. The worm reveals himself in many guises across this once great land; from the intellectual elite cruelly indoctrinating our children with the savage blasphemy of Darwin, to the craven Hollywood pagans, corrupting them in the darkness of the local bijou, from the false prophets cowering behind our nation’s pulpits to the vile parasites in our banks and boardrooms and the godless politicians, growing fat on the misery of their constituents. The signs of the end times are all around us, etched in blood and fire by the left hand of god. You have but to open your eyes, brothers and sisters. The truth is that the Devil is here. The Anti-Christ, the Child of Lies, the Son of Darkness walks among us cloaked in the flesh of a man. Does the Lord not weep at this degradation? Does He not tremble with righteous fury? And shall he not seek retribution? I open my eyes and I see a black sky that tears apart and screams with a voice that is thunder, ‘Rise up, rise up brothers and sisters and take your place at my side. For you shall be my scythe and your face shall shine like a thousand suns and the streets shall be sanctified by the steaming black blood of the heretics.’ And together brothers and sisters, together we shall build a shining temple, a kingdom that will last for thousands and thousands of years.
This is the moment that Brother Justin Crowe finally comprehends the evil nature of both his gifts and his destiny. He has just discovered that his foster father’s greatest sin was saving Justin’s life. The black orbs that are his eyes become, from this point on, the indication that he is fully possessed by this evil nature.
Carnivàle with its Depression era dustbowl setting was canceled after only two seasons. The writers originally intended for it to span six seasons and culminate with the Trinity nuclear test at the Alamogordo. Floyd and I have enjoyed re-watching the series over the past week, and I find myself wondering how successful it would be if it were being aired now during our Great Recession. Comparisons between these two financial events are common, but re-watching the series in this context has forced me to contemplate the consequences if their similarities are extended into the future.
(image via Carnivàle)
Einstein
In this episode, an unnamed creature who Crichton glibly dubs “Einstein,”* explains the practical considerations of time-space travel through wormholes. They have adopted a variant of the many-worlds interpretation. My favorite recent fictional treatment of the many-worlds interpretation is Ian McDonald’s Brasyl. I don’t want to spoil it, but its treatment of the multiverse concept is very nice.
Unrealized Realities (Farscape S04E11)
*for black eyes or absence of eyeballs being used to indicate possession or alien nature see also the CyberKing. I love the aesthetic of off-the-rack special effects, but I will never <3 them.
Black Eye - Uncle Tupelo
when floyd read that I could eat the neck off a bottle of bourbon, she said that she could eat the butt out of a six pack of beer. happy sunday morning imaginary constructs -mumblelard
Miss Mercy Hartigan - the CyberKing
Mercy Hartigan is a great villain, but her motivations require more explication than the standard Doctor Who villain and she does not receive it.
Using the conceit of the deluded human who believes he is the Doctor and does everything he can to make his world fit this delusion effectively plays on the expectations of the audience for revelations about the fate of the serial after the departure of David Tennant. This cargo-cult Doctor was full of laughs from his not-so sonic screwdriver to his hot-air TARDIS. Maybe Rosita, with the name of one companion and a striking resemblance to another, will be a future companion of the real Doctor similiar to Donna Noble’s introduction in The Runaway Bride.
It was a fun special with several great elements, but I wish they were slightly better integrated so it would have qualified as one of the classic episodes of series.
(from The Next Doctor, Christmas 2008)
