Threshold ongoing thread (1 Viewer)

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Braga!

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

I don't watch much sci-fi, so...who is Braga, and why is he so reviled 'round these parts?

 

[Harry-N]

Brannon Braga is largely credited with killing STAR TREK. I've never gone that far, but many in the fan base have.

That said, I was fascinated with the first episode, but it's really slowed to a crawl after that. It needs to pick up soon, or I'll find something else to do with that 42 minutes.

Harry

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Really guys - just because some of you think that Braga killed Star Trek, does that mean that he can't do anything else? Is everything he does now automatically crap?

Glenn

 

[Andres Munoz]

Yes.

 

[Citizen87645]

Hmm...didn't see that coming.

 

[Jason Seaver]

A solid decade of uninspired mediocrity (on his good days) does tend to lose a man the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Ken Chan]

No, that comes right after, on the Sci-Fi Channel.

 

[BrianW]

Am I the only one who watched the most recent episode?

This show seems to be on a slow boat to nowhere.

If nothing happens in the next episode too, I'm not coming back. As much as I love the cast, the stilted writing and lack of getting-somewhereness have crippled this show since the second episode.
Yeah, but does that plan involve doing anything? Nothing they've done so far has been proactive. They just read the headlines, find something weird, and reactively follow up. What kind of plan is that?

It reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon in which the marketing department announced its new strategic plan to observe the market forces and react accordingly. Dilbert asked for an explanation of how that could possibly be different from having no plan at all. That's the way I feel about this show.

But since I'm a glutton for punishment, I'll give it one more chance. I'm not waiting a season-and-a-half for it to "get way, way better" like I did with Voyager. Like Bill Gates has taken enough of my money, Braga has wasted enough of my time.

 

[Citizen87645]

I did watch Friday's ep, but it took me a LONG time to remember what it was about. The preview for the next episode seemed to be more of the same - somebody has the signal and is trying to propogate it through the population. Ugh.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Yeah Threshold is rapidly losing me. I did appreciate that they were trying to increase some of the character background in the most recent episode but it all fell horribly flat. And the episodic formula is getting old really, really fast.

Yet I still stick with it in the hopes this will be one of those shows where the creators finally find their groove after a half season or so and things pick up.

 

[Citizen87645]

Well, keep us posted .

 

[Harry-N]

I've never been a Braga (or Berman) basher, but this show is rapidly losing me too. I'll give it a few more chances, but then that's it.

 

[BrianW]

Oh, and I completely forgot to mention how the science behind the episode made me want to scream at the TV. It's bad enough that the show embraces the premise that mere sound waves can alter our DNA. But in this episode, they put forth the notion that this DNA-altering sound, which can be recorded and effectively reproduced by a camcorder, requires hundreds of amps for a DSP chip to create from scratch.

If it requires a sophisticated DSP chip to create the sound in real-time, that's fine. But requiring hundreds of amps because of the complexity of the signal is beyond silly. It's like requiring hundreds of amps to add more icons to your computer's desktop.

If the signal is that complex, then just freakin write a program to run on a PC to build the signal in a .WAV file one bit at a time. Even if the computation requirements are so complex that it takes the PC days, weeks, or even months to complete the file, at the end you'll have the .WAV file, which is every bit as effective, and much more transportable, than a video recording, which they've already established works quite well.

And how could just shooting the device when they first discovered it not be the right thing to do?

I know that Trek Tech is more lenient in this regard, since such futuristic sciences don't exist and can't therefore be so easily criticized. But in this world, especially when targeting a geek audience, if you don't get the science right, you're writing yourself toward cancellation.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Until he gives me reason to believe otherwise. He hasn't prooved me wrong with this show. At least Ron Moore has shown us he can create a compelling show in the new Galactica.

 

[Patrick Sun]

10/14/05

Someone on the Threshold "writing" staff has been watching "The Matrix" one too many times.

With about 3 minutes left, they pull out EMP to handle the noise virus and totally nuke (electronically) Miami... and pass it off as a solar flare. Yikes!

 

[Citizen87645]

I had my DVR to record this, but thankfully I don't have to watch it now that I have your summary

 

[BrianW]

Well, that was dumb.

Sound can alter DNA.

Audio from a cassette tape, when converted to an MP3 file, can spread like a computer virus to any electronic device, regardless of processor or operating system.

And credit cards can now hear.

That's just dumb.

Even so, toward the end of this episode, I found myself liking this show more and more. In fact, it has now become my favorite show. After watching it a few times, I feel... different, somehow -- better in ways I can't describe. Given how dumb this episode was, I thought it was just a lot of brain cells dying. But I've actually become more lucid. I've been dreaming about plot contrivances, deus ex machinas, and episodic reset buttons. Everything is clear to me now. I'm going to make copies of this show to give to everyone so they can be better too. PM me if you want to become one of us.

Join me. Let Braga rewire your brain, embrace the sub-mediocre, and you'll never be disapointed ever again.

Edit: After a good night's sleep, I've got my wits about me again. The Braga Strategy is now clear: Devise a simple plot wherein the protagonists must stay one step ahead of a looming disaster, and milk it for five to seven years by telling the same damn story every week. Add variety by changing the technobabble from week to week.

The main trouble is that Braga is now using nonsensical technobabble with known technology. We're not talking about warp drives, transporters, and photon torpedoes anymore. We're talking about cell phones, smart credit cards, and ATMs. Honestly, how stupid does he think we are?

And what's the deal with a DSP chip requiring 500 amps of power to calculate all the subtle harmonics of the alien sound, and then the next week, being able to effectively store that sound in an MP3 file, which loses all the subtle harmonics that were so important a week ago?

This is just dumb.

 

[MarcS]

Brian, if you have to suppress your feelings and opinions so much about this show, there's no need to post...



I want to like this show, and as much as I want to watch Gugino, I have to admit that the plots are thin, as is character development. They all seem to be sleepwalking their performances. She was so much better in Karen Sisco--but then, the material was too... Maybe if she kicked more ass it would be better...

 

[Chris Will]

This is these reason I'm about to cancel this series on my DVR. The only reason I have stuck with it this long is because I like watching Brent S. I hate this "We have a plan" crap. Braga did this with Star Trek and, come to find out, the only plan he had was to run it into the ground (looks to be the same with Threshold). I had high hopes for this show but I have lost those. Surprisingly Surface and Invasion have held my interest more and Commander In Chief is good so, there is plenty of other things to watch.

I'm just getting tired of the "freak of the week" type format. Smallville has fallen back into this habit after a great season openner and now this show is doing the same (instead of freaks it's the "sound carrier of the week"). I wish it was January already and Galatica was back on.