Ringer

Sarah Michelle Gellar returns to the CW (formerly the WB) for her new series Ringer. The show will air on Tuesdays at 9PM. I'm a huge SMG fan from her All My Children Days, and of course, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer was one of the best television shows EVER, so I am very much looking forward to her new project.

Enjoy the Ringer Trailer here.

The Other World Spotlights --- Life with Archie

The Other World Spotlights --- Life with Archie

Who would have thought that one of the best parallel universe tales currently out there would be Life with Archie? The follow-up to the controversial Archie Marries Veronica and Archie Marries Betty comics that ran last year, Life with Archie allows readers to experience life in Riverdale in two very different parallel universes --- The Bettyverse, in which Archie is Mr. Cooper, and The Veronicaverse, where he is Mr. Lodge.

When the announcement was made that after over six decades of waffling between “sweet” Betty Cooper and “vixen” Veronica Lodge, Archie would get on one knee in issue #600 and propose, everyone assumed that long suffering Betty was about to get her man. But Archie chose Veronica, setting off a firestorm of criticism from both fans and the general public alike.

As a longtime Archie reader, it was always obvious to me that the red headed goof preferred Veronica over Betty, so it made sense to me that he’d chose her.  Popular or not, a writer has to take a story to its logical conclusion, and to me, it was logical that Archie would choose the girl he always wanted.

Also, as a fan of Betty, the chose made me excited.  Betty had wasted too many years of her literary life chasing after a guy who was just was not that in to her. Archie’s choice not only freed Betty from her “girl next door” prison, but it instantly made Betty more relevant than Veronica could ever be. For far too long, Betty had tethered herself to this fantasy that she could find her happily ever after in a man. Now, Betty was forced to face a truth that takes most young women by surprise --- the truth that no matter how sweet, loving and accommodating you are, it doesn’t mean that you are going to get the guy, and that’s alright. I was looking forward to Betty realizing that Archie’s choice was about him, not her, and seeing her building a new life. A few issues later however, readers were told that Archie’s wedding to Veronica was just one possible choice, and we see him go back in time and marry Betty!

Life with Archie shows us the consequences of both choices and it plays around with an idea that never occurred to me --- the idea that Archie marries Veronica, not for love, but for money and security. I find this idea intriguing. Archie has always been a bit blasé about life. He majors in history in college and his only ambition is to be a musician. Marrying Veronica is like hitting the “Perfect Life Sweepstakes.” He gets a gorgeous wife, a high paying job, and all the money he needs. He gets his life all wrapped up for him in a nice little bow.

Take a look at the two wedding covers ---

Archie seems thrilled to finally have “won” when he marries Veronica, while when he marries Betty he is truly happy!    

I never had a real preference when it came to who Archie should choose, however,  part of me always leaned towards Veronica. But this series has firmly put me on Team Betty because this is the first time that I actually believed that Betty was the one he truly loved, even when he didn’t know it himself.

By making Archie’s choice the choice between love versus money, Life with Archie gives us a morality tale about just how much of ourselves we are willing to sacrifice to be comfortable. It would be a lot easier to chastise Archie if Veronica was a shrew who was making Archie’s life miserable, but she is trying to be good wife, a good friend, and a good daughter, and you feel for her, even if you have to wonder if she didn’t know what she was getting into when she said “I Do.”

In The Veronicaverse, Archie has given up his music and settled into his life as a corporate shill, selling out his friends to please his father-in-law.  His marriage to Veronica is strained because they don’t know how to communicate with each other. While Archie is finding it hard to fit into Veronica’s world, Betty, after much hardship,  is coming into her own, finally finding romance with Reggie, a pairing I’ve been rooting for to take off forever.

But I have a feeling that this romance is doomed, because The Veronicaverse is a dark place and it seems as if Archie’s choice has cast a shadow over his own life and created darker futures for his friends as well.

In The Bettyverse, Archie and Betty are struggling to become successful in New York.  They soon return to Riverdale and settle in as teachers at Riverdale High School and I have to tell you, this is a universe that, in my opinion, is ten times more interesting then the corporate espionage going on in The Veronicaverse. We get a whole new generation of Riverdale High School teens who are dealing with contemporary social issues, and who link the new generation of Archie characters to the old. Also, Betty and Archie’s marriage is actually fun to read about. Let’s face it, Archie has always been a bit of a wanker, but in The Bettyverse, Archie FINALLY grows up. Forget about all the should ofs, could ofs, would ofs, the proof is in the pudding. Archie is happier with Betty --- she’s the one. 

One of the biggest complaints that I see about this series is that it’s a young adult drama being packaged as a tween saga. This is because it’s sold in a magazine style very similar to Tiger Beat. But Archie has always been targeted to teens and tweens. Riverdale has always been an idealistic world, a caricature of how grown-ups think teen life should be like.  Life with Archie let’s tweens and teens know that life will only get harder, but you can navigate it being true to yourself and not letting who you were, define who you are going to be.  It’s a more realistic look at life, for a hardened generation.

So, if you can get past the pictures of Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, and the cutesy bits about what Josie and the Pussy Cats think about Justin Bieber’s haircut, you’ll see a rich story that takes a sober look at what it means to be a grown up. Life with Archie dares to tackles the never ending battle between idealism and realism, and it will always leave you wondering, if you had the choice, what world you would choose?

Join the Other Worlds Chronicle Team



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The Other Worlds Chronicle is now accepting submissions for news, reviews and information relating to the world of science fiction and fantasy. Please send all submissions to:  theotherworldschronicle@gmail.com

My 1000th Visit!

Thank You to Everyone for Visiting this Blog! Today, I have crossed the 1000 hit mark! I hope you continue to return and I look forward to my next milestone.

The Coming of Arthur

Merlin ends its fantastic third season with a two-part finale in which Morgana finally comes out of the proverbial closet and let’s everyone know that she is EVIL.

The episode begins with the death of Sir Leon the Brave during a battle against Cendred’s army. A shell-shocked Arthur has to deliver the news to his father, who despite sending so many of his knights to slaughter over the years for personal vendettas and ill advised crusades, seems upset. Sadness quickly turns to joy, however, when Leon appears alive and well and informs them that a tribe of Druids found him and restored him to life.

Uther deduces that they must have used the mythical Cup of Life to do the deed, and instead of leaving it with the Druids, who you know, have managed to keep The Cup safe for hundreds of years, Uther in his great wisdom, decides to send Arthur too retrieve The Cup so that he can throw it in his Vault of Magical Trinkets. Arthur is all too happy to follow his father’s orders and he sets off with Merlin. The two are immediately kidnapped by a slave trader who has also somehow managed to capture Gwaine of The Luscious Hair. After much fighting and magical intervention, the trio escape, and Gwaine joins Arthur and Merlin for the latest adventure.

It doesn’t take long for the trio to find the Druids who are protecting The Cup. Arthur demands that they hand it over, but the Druids warn him that he is messing with powers he doesn’t understand. The Once and Future Princeling isn’t trying to hear that, though, and threatens to kill a druid BOY, unless they hand The Cup over. The Druids quickly comply and a satisfied Arthur leaves the cave, walking right into an ambush.

Cendred now has The Cup and creates an immortal army that marches straight into Camelot and seems to capture the kingdom with little resistance. Morgana is thrilled that at last one of her EVIL plans have worked and she crowns herself queen as a distraught Uther looks on. Uther doesn’t understand what is going on with his loving ward, so Morgana breaks it down to him that (a) she knows he is her father and she doesn’t appreciate him never acknowledging her, (b) she has been plotting against him and Camelot for nearly a year and he was too blind to see it (c) she has magic and (d) she hates his guts for everything, especially making her hate herself.

Morgana is thrilled that her coup has seemingly pushed Uther to the brink of madness, and now that she no longer has to hide her EVILNESS, she begins her glorious reign as Camelot’s Sovereign. But instead of legalizing magic, freeing the people from Uther’s oppressive practices, and showing the people why she is a better ruler than Uther could ever be, she decides that it would be much more fun to play dress up and be an even bigger tyrant then Uther was! She makes killing innocents the new national pastime and gleefully plots the murderers of former friends Leon and Gwen for their “betrayals.”  

Meanwhile, outside of Camelot, a depressed Arthur finds hope when Lancelot, and his friend Percival, show up to help after being summoned by Merlin. Now, Arthur has the makings of a knighthood that he can take into battle against Morgana and her EVIL friends, but will it be enough to beat back an immortal army and restore Camelot to the light?  

Merlin really found itself this season and I hope that the writers continue to build on the mythology that they have built. This season was really helped by the darker shift in tone and I look forward to seeing the show get even darker and more adult next season.

Being able to watch the beginnings of The Knights of the Roundtable is real treat from anyone who is a fan of the legend and watching Arthur knight men based on merit and not birth lays the cornerstone for what his kingdom is to become.

I have a few quibbles with Arthur’s characterization. I know this show is called Merlin, but Arthur is the King of Legend. We don’t need to see Merlin saving the day all the time. We need to see why Arthur will be the greatest king of all time. Also, enough with this blind loyalty to Uther. I know he is his father, but Arthur is a big boy now, he can see all the wrong that Uther has done and he needs to acknowledge it.

My only major complaint about this season was Morgana. While I liked that she went from spoiled princess to villain, I did not like that she was turned into such a one note character. I can understand that she hates Uther, I hate Uther, but to feel nothing but hatred for Gwen and Arthur, the two people she has been closets too her entire life was baffling. She could have still done bad things without being totally EVIL. This would have been a much better story if we saw her conflict about what she was doing and saw that she was motivated by something besides personal power. What happened to the Morgana of Season One and Two whose hatred of Uther was rooted in his tyranny? That’s the Morgana we should have seen this season, teetering on the brink of EVIL not totally lost to it.

All in all an excellent season and I can’t wait to see what Season 4 brings.

 Questions/Comments

So…um… Arthur is into killing kids in order to get what he wants?  I’m all for seeing Arthur’s dark side explored, but this seemed really out of character for him. Still, it would be interesting if the show plays with this a little. Arthur has no qualms about killing and let’s face it, you don’t become High King of all Albion by being a nice guy. Some of Uther had to rub off on him and it would be interesting to see how Gwen and Merlin would react to him doing some less than noble things to secure his kingdom.

How great was it seeing Uther on his knees being forced to watch Morgana crowned as Queen? Anthony Head played Uther’s anguish to perfection and I loved every minute of it.

Loved that the first thing Arthur did when he returned to Camelot was look for Gwen, but why is Elyan hiding in Gwen’s house? Had he already left his sister for dead?

Why did Morgana keep Gwen as her personal servant? Was she just too lazy to train another one? Did she get off on the idea “knowing” that she thwarted her own rise to the throne, or does she really still care for her?

Speaking of Gwen not only did she mention her dead father again (something I don’t want the writers to ever stop doing) but she also mentions that her mother was a Lady’s maid who worked for Leon’s family and that she and Leon grew up together. This was interesting and I hope it ties into something next season.

It was great watching Gwen use her detective skills to break Leon out of jail. Too bad that Morgana was on to her in a hot second, but hey, at least she tried.

Speaking of Gwen/Morgana, how much more interesting would this dynamic have been to watch if you had two friends who did not want to betray each other , but because of their views of what is right and wrong ultimately do. Was Morgana really hurt that Gwen chose Arthur over her, or just mad that Gwen lied to her? One of the strengths of this new interpretation is that Morgana/Arthur/Gwen/Merlin really loved each other. Why not play on that to add conflict.

Arthur and Gwen are clearly committed to each other at the end of this arc, and Lancelot, while accepting of this new dynamic, is still very much in love with Gwen. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Seeing the roundtable and seeing and hearing Arthur act like King Arthur gave me chills.  

Cendred, I barely knew yea, all that potential wasted.  Too bad.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Santiago as Lancelot and I think his friendship with Merlin is one of the most enjoyable aspects of this show. If I had one wish is would be that he could be a series regular.

It was nice to see Morgana show some emotion when her sister fell, it’s nice to know that she is still capable of feeling something for someone, but may I suggest that she take a page out of Morgan Pendragon’s book. Showtime’s Camelot may not get much love from me, but Eva Green’s Morgan is FANTASTIC and makes Merlin’s Morgana Pendragan look like she is just playing at being EVIL.

Gaius magic? Was I the only one surprised by that revelation or did I miss something in the earlier seasons? And am I to understand that he watched thousands of fellow witches and warlocks burn at the stack and continued to be Uther’s loyal friend and physician? What a guy!

Believe!

The CW just released one of the best promos I have EVER seen for the series finale of Smallville. Check it out.

The End of the Beginning

I am a die hard Superman fan and Smallville has been one of the few shows that I have watched for it's entire run --- ten years! I haven't always liked it, in fact there were times I found myself yelling at the television (bless my geeky heart), but I will miss it.  TV Guide is profiling the series finale in its latest issue. Love the subtle Superman imagery.



Tom Welling and Erica Durance



It's fitting that when a visitor arrives to the Burnaby, British Columbia, set of Smallville, he's quickly escorted to the Phantom Zone. The extra-dimensional prison created for planet Krypton's worst criminals is known for being nearly impossible to escape — a perfect metaphor for the show's desire to prevent leaks about the plot of the upcoming series finale. After 10 years on the air, there is, to put it mildly, intense anticipation for Clark Kent's final journey toward becoming Superman, set for May 13. (The last batch of new episodes begins Friday, April 15.) The big question, of course, is "Will he or won't he?" Will he put on the iconic costume of the comic-book legend? Will he finally learn how to fly? Will he be called Superman?

Read the rest here .

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