I can't wait to meet the 12th Doctor

I love Doctor Who, as you may have noticed from my other posts. I love each actor that comes to the role and most of the stories that happen in the show. There is plenty to love. Companions and monsters and all the rest. One thing that I find difficult to accept is that there are people that hold on to their Doctor. How many people can't get over David Tennant? I'm a huge fan of Tom Baker, he was and is my favorite of the bunch, and maybe it's not a fair comparison, but I've gotten over Tom leaving and lots of other Doctors coming into the mix.

There are plenty of people who are upset about Matt Smith Making a choice to leave the show, but for me, I'm just excited to see who the next Doctor will be. I've loved what has happened with everyone since the show came back, and I think it's just going to keep getting better even though I'm not excited with everything that Moffatt does with the story lines.

I have a theory about the Doctor though, and I'll share it with you:

The first three Doctors were

1. a GRUMPY old man
2. a daring ADVENTURER
3. a careless (and crafty) CLOWN

Ever since then, all of the Doctors are a combination of those 3 characteristics. What some proof?

1. Four-is mostly a clown, but also an adventurer
2. Five-a grumpy clown
3. Six-Lots of grumpy and an adventurer
4. Seven-Grumpy clown

You get the idea. So, the current Doctor is A clown that loves adventures as opposed to Tennant who was just plain grumpy in my opinion.

So what who will this new Doctor be? What will his defining characteristics be? I for one, can't wait to find out.

So you created a wormhole...

First, congratulations!
Second, what were you thinking? Don't you understand what you have done? How can you be scientific enough to have created a wormhole without having watched enough sci fi to know what's wrong with your discovery?

Let's look at some good reasons why you should shut your wormhole down right now:

Deep Space 9

Oh look, the Federation found a naturally occurring wormhole that is safe and reliable outside of the orbit of Bajor! How exciting!

However, the only reason the wormhole even exists is because of some cosmic jerks called "The Prophets" who keep interfering in everything, but not always to help out.

Oh, and on the other side of the wormhole is this group of conquering and controlling changelings called the Dominion that want to cross over the wormhole and take over our part of the galaxy, but hey, free wormhole.

Stargate

Ancient aliens left a series of gates that connect a huge number of worlds. That's a pretty cool opportunity to explore the universe, wouldn't you say? Too bad the universe is filled with the remnants of the creators of the Stargate, the Goa'uld, that enjoy enslaving humans and using them as hosts for their baby slugs that are their actual selves. (OK we find out later that they didn't create the Stargates, but whatever.)

Oh, they also have lesser slugs that make people into Jaffa, or slave warriors. The slugs keep them strong, healthy, and long lasting, but they don't get a lot of say in their lives.

So pretty much everywhere you can go through the universe in a Stargate has these guys on the other side so exploring sucks, and since you opened the gate, the Goa'uld are obsessed with messing up our world. Double win!

Farscape

So you figured out a way to make a mini wormhole by slingshot off the atmosphere of a planet. Congratulations! Too bad you have no way to control it. It's also a shame that you landed in the middle of a jail break and pissed off the leader of a group of Peacekeepers.

What are Peacekeepers? Well they look like humans, but they are engineered killing machines that no one in that part of the universe likes. So thing leader guy is now obsessed with killing you because his brother died when you jumped into space. You've got friends, but they don't always trust you to know what is going on, and you have to stick a bug in your mouth to brush your teeth, but at least you have Muppets to hang out with.

The Mote in God's Eye (and other books)

So it's far in the future, and you get to have and use this awesome Alderson drive that only works between stars, but only if you find the right start point. (Super difficult wormholes) You get to travel between worlds, but you have to deal with intergalactic wars and such problems.

Then this strange ships shows up and almost flies into a sun. It turns out that it has come from a region of space called the Mote which happens to be in God's Eye. So you jump in your ship and travel to the place the ship comes from, and you find a group of aliens you call the Moties, and they seem nice, but they probably aren't so nice. Maybe they are looking for a chance to take over your part of the galaxy too.

Wrinkle in Time

If you've read this far, you'd better know what a Tesseract is. Basically it's a wormhole without needing a ship. Sounds cool, right? It is until you end up on a 2-D planet and almost get crushed or you go to a planet with a giant brain thing that wants to use your baby brother to take over the universe.

Wrap up

So you managed to figure out how to create a wormhole, that's great, but now, you need to shut that thing off ASAP! Who knows what terrible things might burst through that thing. It's going to be a terrible thing for everyone. These are just a few examples of how things can go wrong, and I didn't even get into wormholes that get people lost. (Voyager, Lost in Space, etc.)

Top 12 Episodes of Firefly-Number 1

Number 1-Out of Gas

If you've been following this list, then you may already know my top pick. It might surprise you a little considering how the last few picks have been because they don't focus completely on Mal, but this episode is the exception to that rule. Sure we get to see lots of snippets about the characters and a look at some of the background of the crew, but the story is really about Mal trying to save his ship and stay alive.

A part goes wrong on the ship causing an explosion and the systems to shut down. In an attempt to save everyone, Mal sends everyone off in the shuttles and tries to keep the ship from dying. You don't get all of that from the start. It comes in flashbacks. Actually what you know at the start is that Mal is alone on the ship and in really bad shape. Probably dying.

One of the great parts is the way-back flash backs. We get to see Zoe and Mal the first time they walk onto Serenity. We get to see Wash when he gets hired to pilot the ship. We also get to see how Kaylee and Jayne join the crew. There is also the first time that Inara gets a tour of her shuttle.

In the present time, Mal is in a lot of trouble because a ship answered the distress call, and while he is trying to negotiate for the part that he needs, the captain of the other ship shoots him. Mal manages to work up the will power to keep himself going enough to stand up to the other crew, shoot his heart full of adrenaline, and get the ship up and running again.

• Young Wash's mustache.
• Mal fell in love with Serenity the first time he saw it.
• Mal wants to go down with the ship rather than leave it to die.
• It's Simon's birthday.
• Jayne sells out to the highest bidder most of the time.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 2

Number 2-War Stories

Mal and Wash have an issue because one of them is married to Zoe and the other one is her captain. While Mal is trying to take care business, Wash insists that he go on the mission instead of Zoe. This is an issue because an old friend, Niska, is looking to get some payback from a job the crew didn't finish earlier in "The Train Job."

This episode is great because it deals with the dynamic between Mal and Wash, but it also gives the crew a chance to show just how much they love Mal when they have to make a rescue attempt.

The biggest problem is that Niska doesn't just want to get payback, he also wants to "discover" who Mal and Wash truly are deep down. This involves lots of torture and pain.

Zoe tries to buy them back with the money that they have left over from the the hospital job in the last episode. Niska offers her one of them, and she quickly chooses her husband. They go back to Serenity to prepare a rescue attempt.

All of the crew insists on being a part of that attempt and they manage to pull it off, but not before Mal dies a few times and loses an ear. Niska gets what he wanted. He gets to see the real Mal.

• No power in the 'Verse can stop me.
• Hey, I've been in a firefight before. Well, I was in a fire. Actually, I was fired... from a fry-cook opportunity. I can handle myself.
• Mal and Wash arguing about Zoe while being tortured.
• Preacher talking about guns (Zoe: Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing? Book: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.)
• Kaylee ends up back at the ship, and she's in a lot of trouble until River shows up. River picks up a gun and kills all three men that are attacking. She does it however with her eyes closed. This gives a little insight into what is happening in River's head. After she kills the men, she says, "No power in the 'Verse can stop me."
• Tension arises between Kaylee and River because of this moment.
• Zoe make Wash a bowl of Wife Soup.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 3

Number 3-Trash

The episode opens with Mal sitting naked on a rock and he makes a comment, "That went well." It's a strong opening because it causes the watcher to wonder what could lead to Mal being where he is at the moment. I'm sure the female viewers enjoyed the sight too.

Jump back 72 hours where Mal has a chance encounter with the woman who was supposedly his wife in "Our Mrs. Reynolds." This episode is the reason that story didn't rank higher than it did. After revealing the truth to his smuggling buddy, Mrs. Reynolds talks to Mal about a plan to steal an ancient gun. He is reluctant at first, but eventually he becomes desperate to prove his skill and daring to Inara.

The plan itself is simple to start. Mal and his "wife' slip into the house and make their way to the gun. She uses her knowledge about the security system to shut it down so they can take the gun. Kaylee and Jayne modify a trash bin so they can control where it goes. And the bandits simply throw the gun away and go to pick it up later.

This story is about more than Malcom Reynolds. We get to see the development of Mrs. Reynolds (She's got so many names, I'm not sure which one to use, so I'll stick with that one.) We also get to learn more about Inara and her ability to fit in with the crew of Serenity. She is a good fit even though she isn't always a part of the plans.

Mrs. Reynolds does a great job of playing with the heart strings only to turn right around and kick you. She does this to Mal after they make their get away and leave him stranded while she goes to pick up the gun. He isn't too worried about it since they actually have a contingency plan for just such an occasion.

While Mrs. Reynolds is digging through the trash with no sign of the gun, Inara has already gotten there first and picked it up. She locks the other woman in the container and the crew manages to pull off a job according to plan.

Oh, and the best line in the whole show is when River tells Jayne that "Jayne is a girl's name"

Top 12 Episodes of Firefly-Number 4

Number 4-Jaynestown

While on a basic pick up trip, the crew discovers that Jayne is a local hero to the people who are indentured servants on a planet that sells "mud." Jayne is a hero because he had to abandon a case full of money and it landed in the middle of the town. The people think that it was done out of altruism, but it was just a mistake.

This is an important episode for Jayne. It shows that there is a time and circumstance where Jayne will stand for something more than just money. There isn't a whole lot more, but there is something.

In the end, Jayne has a confrontation with the old partner that ends in one of the "mudders" jumping in front of a bullet for Jayne. Jayne wins the fight with his old partner, but the young man doesn't survive. he never really stood a chance.

This episode is great because we get to see so much of Jayne in it. There are other things going on, but it isn't focused as much on Mal. Sure we get to learn more about him, but it isn't all about him. Besides, Jayne is an interesting character, and this episode really shows what kind of a man he really is.

Here are some other fun/important moments in the episode:

• Simon only swears when the need arises. (like finding a statue of Jayne-see above)
• Inara helps a young boy becomes a man, and learn to stand up to his father.
• Summer tries to repair the Bible.
• Preacher tries to interact with Summer, with limited success.
• Preacher's hair is crazy when he lets it down.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 5

Number 5-Ariel

This episode is a great chance to get to know almost everyone better. The only character you miss seeing is Preacher, and he wouldn't want to be a part of things anyway.

River just keeps getting worse and worse. Her brother decides that he needs to do something drastic to uncover what the alliance did to her mind. He has a crazy plan, that might just work.

Is the Simon some kind of criminal mastermind? It certainly looks that way. It takes a lot of preparation, but the crew is able to break the Doctor and River into the hospital by faking their deaths and pretending to be an ambulance crew. They are able to steal a ton of medication while Simon scans River's brain. It looks like it is going to work perfectly, until someone throws a monkey wrench in the works.

Let's take a moment before we get there to look at some of the character development moments. It's pretty much a tie between Simon and Jayne as far as who has the most character development so we'll talk about them separately later.

• Kaylee and Wash build a medical transport ship out of a scrap yard.
• Mal and Zoe struggle with all the medical lingo.
• Mal has to make some hard choices about who he supports and how he does so.
• Awesome medical scan effects.
• River's head is messed up thanks to the Alliance.
• There are some crazy, messed-up people after River.
• Do not mess with Mal-ever.

Stuff for Jayne

• Works hard to learn his lines and gives them just to prove he could.
• Betrays Simon and River for the money.
• Cares what people think. Even when he thinks he's going to die, he begs Mal not to tell the real reason he is going to die.
• When it comes down to it, Jayne is a fighter.

Stuff for Simon

• Simon comes up with a great plan.
• Simon saves a patient that gets the wrong treatment.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 6

Number 6-Objects in Space

Do you know what Firefly really needs? Someone to make Jayne look a little less crazy. That's definitely what you get with this episode. Jubal Early is definitely the craziest person to ever grace the decks of Serenity. He even makes River look sane.

It's sad to note that one of the best episodes around what is happening with River, is where the story ends thanks to Fox.

Jubal Early is a messed up bounty hunter who is trying to collect the reward on River. He does a great job of dealing with the crew and company. He does some extremely strange things. Check them out here:

Jubal's path:

1. Fights Mal and beats him pretty easily. Locks him up in his room. 
2. Locks up Zoe and Wash.
3. Is really, really mean to Kaylee. (Also suggests he might be Santa or a part of Serenity forever)
4. (He also threatens to rape her, which is not cool Joss Whedon.)
5. Knocks out Preacher.
6. Says lines like this: Doctor: Are you alliance? Jubal: Am I a lion? Doctor What? Jubal: I don't think of myself as a lion. You might as well though. I have a mighty roar. Doctor: I said Alliance. Jubal: 
7. Hits Inara.
8. Has a conversation with River as Serenity.

This episode speaks to so many great components of the show. It's good that this was the last of the episodes, but it's a shame that it had to end at all. "Does that seem right to you?"

Top 12 Episodes of Firefly-Number 7

Number 7-Our Mrs. Reynolds

Yes, pretty much every episode of Firefly is all about Mal. You'll just have to deal with it. In the beginning of this episode, the crew is celebrating with the local on a planet where they have just helped eliminate some local bandits (which included Mal in a dress and pretty bonnet.) Mal dances with a pretty girl and that seems to be all there is to tell. Not much of a story, right?

Wrong.

Back on the ship, Mal discovers his new wife waiting to serve him. No, he doesn't know anything about her until they meet again. Sure he enjoyed dancing with her, but that doesn't mean he wanted to be married to her. The crew takes advantage of the situation to give Mal a hard time even though Mrs. Reynolds doesn't seem to enjoy the situation.

However, it turns out that Mrs. Reynolds is not anything she pretends to be. She takes down pretty much the entire crew and sends Serenity on a course to get dismantled for parts. Here are a few interesting points:

• Mal breaks down and kisses poisoned lips.
• Inara breaks down and kisses Mal.
• Wash doesn't break down, but still gets hit in the head.
• Jayne is just Jayne, like always.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 8

Number 8-Shindig

This episode is a lot of fun. Not only to you get to see Mal in a duel, but you also get to see Kaylee in one of the most ridiculous outfits ever. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself again. Let's take a step back and approach this from closer to the beginning.

The crew gets a lead on a transport job, but because of a variety of issues, Mal has to prove to the client that he is respectable enough to take the job. This involves a variety of problems, but Mal manages to overcome each of them.

Inara takes a Companion job with a guy that turns out to be a complete jerk with control issues. He expects her to leave her life and become his Companion full time. She holds off on the question. Meanwhile, Kaylee is overcoming the silliness of her dress the only way that she knows, being an amazing engineer. After she gets put down by the mean girls, she's surrounded by men that are impressed by her knowledge.

At one point, Mal get frustrated by Inara's date and somehow ends up on the wrong end of a sword duel. Somehow Mal survives this and even gets the contract.

One major point for this episode is that it may or may not have the moment where Mal gets stabbed in the place of the pressure point the bad guy in the movie uses against him. I'm not 100% sure that is right, but it's pretty darn close.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 9

Number 9-Heart of Gold

How can you complain about an episode that tells us a lot about most of the characters and really pushes the limits of Mal and Inara's relationship? The answer is simple, you can't. To make things even more interesting check out the setting of this episode. (Let me step back and make a different approach to this.)

So Inara gets a distress call from a former companion and friend who has an emergency situation. She has a house of unlicensed companions and they are about to be attacked by a man that is convinced that one of the woman is pregnant with his child. Mal and company agree to help the women out and all sorts of interesting stuff happens.

Here are a few major elements to the story that develop character arcs:

• Preacher doesn't judge the women for what they do, continuing the character development of him as being nonjudgmental of sinners.
• Jayne joins the party because of the sexual favors offered.
• Jayne also shows off his love affair with guns.
• We get to see deeper into the relationship between Mal and Inara when Mal sleeps with the former companion and we see that Inara is not OK with that. 

Even as good as this episode is, there are better ones that happen on either side of this story. Be on the lookout for them down the road. 

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 10

Number 10-Message

I had to give the whole list another look when I saw this was next. The main reason is because the rest of the episodes are really good, and I'm not sure how I managed to rank all of them. Of the 10 remaining episodes, this is the least, and that's still an amazing place to be.

In this episode, we learn a lot about Mal and Zoe and their experiences in the war against the Alliance.

While checking on their mail, Mal and Zoe discover that they have received a dead body of a former war buddy. He plays the sympathy card and the two decide to take him home to his family.

Unfortunately, he isn't all that dead, and he's just trying to use Mal and the crew of Serenity to steal a genetically engineered heart. There is a group of government agents after him and the crew, and they aren't afraid to do some unsavory things to get what they want.

I won't give too much more away in case you haven't seen this episode. (If that is the case then what are you even looking at the list for? Go watch Firefly now.)

Here are some important moments:

• Jayne gets a hat from his mother. The hat explains a lot.
• Kaylee gets shot-again. Seriously, why does she get shot so much?
• We get to see more of Preacher and his strange mix of characteristics. How does he manage to almost save the day?
• "When you can't run, you crawl, and when you can't do that, you get someone to carry you."

Top 12 Episodes of Firefly-Number 11

Number 11-The Train Job

There's a reason that this episode feels forced. That's because it was forced. Fox decided that the original first episode, Serenity wasn't going to work as a start to the series, so this episode was mandated and aired first. It isn't a bad story, but it doesn't really do anything to move the main story of the show along. Well, we do get to meet a character that will show up later.

The biggest part of this story is that it shows the motivations of each of the people on the crew. Mal and Zoe are determined to make it right once they learn the truth behind the job they've just pulled. Jayne doesn't really care about the reasons, but he doesn't see the point in giving it back. What this episode is missing (because FOX insisted that it be added to the line up before the actual pilot episode, Serenity) is the rest of the crew. That's why it gets dropped down so far.

My favorite part of this episode, though, is when Inara gets to treat Mal like her runaway servant. It's just a great part of their story.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 12

Serenity

I know. I was just complaining about stories that are just about future story development, but this one is a bit different. After all, it was supposed to be the first episode before Fox started messing with the show. (I know they started be for the first episode.) As the first episode, you have to expect a certain amount of set up, so you can't complain about how this happens.

The episode does a great job of establishing the main characters and the relationships between them. Serenity picks up several passengers to help cover the costs of living. There's a Preacher and a doctor with a strange package and some other guy. (Sorry, I don't remember the other guy's cover story, and it doesn't really matter.)

It turns out that the doctor has something unusual in his luggage, a naked girl. She turns out to be his sister who was used in government experiments because of her unusual mind. The other guy is a government agent that is trying to turn in the doctor and River for the reward.

Even after all the trouble that happens, Mal shows who he is by keeping the doctor and River on the ship. We get to learn a lot about everyone and it really peaks the interest of the view to learn more. However, there are much better episodes on the way.

Top 12 Episodes of Firefly-Honorable Mentions

The best and worst thing about doing a Top 12 list of the episodes of Firefly is that there are only 14 episodes to pick from. On the plus side, you don't have to leave out any episodes that you love just because there aren't enough spaces for them, but on the minus side, it's harder to pick those two episodes that get left out of the list because there are so few to choose from.

Regardless I've got my two episodes right here for your perusal. I picked these episodes because to me they lack immediacy. What do I mean by that? Well, these stories seem to be more about preparing the audience for the future of Firefly. This is all good and fine, but while it is certainly important, it isn't going to make for an exciting episode. So let's get to our honorable mentions.

Safe

In an attempt to hint at the unusual nature of River's existence, we are treated to a backwater world filled with superstitious locals that take River's unusual abilities and ways as a sign that she is a witch. It's a good episode, but it's really just there to feed us information. We also get to find out more about Preacher's past. He's got some kind of background that gets him the medical attention he needs at an Alliance medical facility even though the rest of the crew was turned away without any consideration. We never really learn much more about Preacher's background, which is a bit disappointing.

Bushwacked

This episode would have been one of the most significant of the show if there had been more than one season. You get hints and whispers about the Reavers, but it isn't until this episode that you actually get to really see one.  If the show had continued and we'd seen lots of episodes featuring the Reavers, this would have been one of those episodes people always referred to as the one that started it all. Sadly it is relegated to just being a somewhat confusing tale. (Although the movie does help justify the concern about a single Reaver.)

Top Twelve Christmas movies (part II)

We've already gotten the preliminaries out of the way in part I so if you haven't seen that yet, check it out. Here's the first half of our list.

Number 12

"While You Were Sleeping" takes full advantage of the Christmas holiday to make Sandra Bullock's character's believable. A lonely single young woman saves the life of a man she's been interested in for years and is mistakenly thought to be his fiance through some miscommunication. Who can blame her for going through with the deception?

While the man she thinks she likes is in a coma, she gets to know his brother and things get really complicated from there. I'm not sure we can say that the movie does more than take advantage of the holiday to play with our emotions, but it isn't obvious about it. It's a fun movie, and if you haven't' seen it already, you should get your act together and check it out.

Number 11

"Babes in Toyland" has had a long history. It started as a popular operetta in 1903 written by Victor Herbert. In 1934, it was made into a movie that started the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy. This was probably their best-known and best-loved movie. In 1961, the Walt Disney company remade the movie. This version starred one of Disney's favorite Mouseketeers, Annette Funicello. 1986 saw yet another release with Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves, but not in romantic roles since Drew was playing an 11-year-old at the time.

These are the main three versions, and there have been plenty of others that I have no interest in at all. I also never saw the 1986 version. I recommend that you find one of the older versions (or both) and spend a night checking them out. I think it will be a fine addition to your holidays.

Number 10

"The Santa Clause" is the movie that kept Tim Allen from disappearing into obscurity after his television show, Home Improvement, went off the air. This movie has two sequels, and like most sequels they get a little more ridiculous as they progress, but it is a fun franchise to enjoy during the holidays.

The plot is pretty simple even if it is a little bizarre. Allen's character accidentally kills Santa on Christmas Eve. It turns out that there is a Santa Claus the makes whoever might kill Santa the new bit man of Christmas. Allen spends the next year slowly turning into Santa and fighting the change all the way. If you haven't seen this movie, get off your backside and watch it. Then you can decide what to do about the other movies.

Number 9

"Die Hard" is the ultimate Christmas action movie. This is the movie that made Willis an action star and moved him from TV to the big screen. Follow Bruce Willis as he plays John McCain trying to stop terrorists from killing his wife. Wait, let me back up a little bit.

John McCain is a NYC cop who has flown out to LA to see his estranged wife and kids for Christmas. She is working for a large corporation on the West Coast which just happens to get their building taken hostage on Christmas Eve.

 Look for Die Hard I and II to give you a healthy dose of Christmas action. There are plenty of explosions and Willis just dishes out the snappy banter throughout the entire movie.

Number 8

What are the people of Mars to do when their children discover Earth television and learn about Santa Claus? Well of course the best solution is to kidnap Santa and force him to make toys for all the Martian children. That's the plot for "Santa Conquers the Martians," and the movie is just about as bad as you might expect.

This is one of those "so bad it's good" movies. The kind they use on Mystery Science Theater 3000. (In fact, the team did release their commentary on this,) Special effects are seriously old school and the aliens are definitely just people in cheap costumes and let's not talk about the quality of the acting.Do yourself a favor and check it out even if you only see it once in your life.

Number 7

You know this kind of thing happens every Christmas. Some kid gets left behind in the chaos of trying to get the whole family to the airport. That's no big deal. Of course there has to be the burglars trying to get into the house while the family is away. Wait, when does that ever happen? That's right, it happens in the "Home Alone" movies.

A poor stranded boy stops two experienced thieves the only way he can-lots of goofy traps and pratfalls. Be on the lookout for the scene where Kevin orders a pizza and uses a movie to tell the delivery guy what to do

This franchise would get a much higher rating if the story hadn't been beaten to death. The first movie is truly a classic and deserves to be a part of your Christmas movie routine, and "keep the change, you filthy animal."


Be on the lookout for part III of the list coming out soon, and feel free to leave a comment below to tell me what you think.