by jw07 11 Replies latest social entertainment
This new series' pilot episode is the perfect allegory for the blind faith of the average person in the JW movement, those who deny that anything 'immoral' or sinister happens within the ranks, the double lives, doubters, and towards the end of the episode, an example of how the governing body controls persons' lives. Check it out and tell me if you saw all the parallels. I think it's my new favourite show.
http://tv-series.me/2014/12/15/ascension-s1e1-season-1-episode-1/
I am glad you like it, I on the other hand found it plodding, predictable and kind of boring. Might get better, don't know. Its so hard to find shows that are quality and that are worth watching. If you like this one, enjoy! I know I like shows others don't like. Its great to have choices, thanks for giving your endorsement.
JW07:
Funny you should mention the parallel to JW's. I was watching the 2nd installment of the show with my girlfriend last night and when Harris asked "if you had it as good as they have it, would you want to know the truth?" I almost crapped myself because my first thought was "no, I wouldn't want to know". Then I actually thought about it for a second and realized, hell yes I would want to know.
They've got all their hopes in a "promised new world" where everything would be new and great but when it comes down to it they relly have nothing good coming. Just let down on top of disappointment while they waste their lives away on a false hope. Good show.
I was watching it, but I could not get into it.
@androb31: Haha, that's funny. I was a bit disappointed when I found out it wasn't your typical space opera (trying not to give spoilers). The parallels are just so funny. Any ex-jws that watch it should be having many 'crap themselves' moments
So far I think the 'inside guy' is like a CO who makes sure that the Watchtower's will is enforced when others try to have a say.
The guy in control over the program is like the GB.
Can't wait for the next episode. It's not bad past the big reveal at the end of episode 1.
I'm really enjoying the show. When I found out the ship was supposed to have been launched in the sixities I was scratching my head. Wherey did they get flourecent lights, colored tv., artificial gravity, etc. I was serriously saying to myself, none of this is making sense.
And then . . . mind blown.
It's plot structure and charachter development take a lot of cues from BSG which is one of my all time favorite shows. Only problem is I really doen't trust the Syfy network. After the cancelation of SGU and Caprica in their very first seasons (also some of the best shows I've seen) I have boycotted the station. This is my first time back so I really hope they don't screw the fans over. This show has the potential to be epic.
I always wait till theres at least a whole season or 2 before I start watching a series. 2 reasons, firstly so they cant cancel it half way through on me and secondly because Im too bloody impatient to wait a whole week before watching it again, especially after a major cliff hanger.
My son kept urging me to watch ASCENSION.
He is quite the formidable critic when it comes to good movies, so I gave it a watch.
I can certainly see--plotwise--what the attraction is. The plot is a dandy.
But, I cannot get past the bad actors and slack direction.
There are so many great actors available I just can't see why a series like this would settle for crappy ones!
The script has no spark of intelligence, but it gets the job done.
If you want to see fine actors and superb writing, watch Sherlock or Fleming: the Man who would be Bond.
If you want to see masterful handling of an aesthetic presentation, watch MARCO POLO.
But, ASCENSION simply made me angry with the flabby characterization by 7/10ths of the cast.
Now, having said all that--I went to Wikipedia and read the plot rundown for each episode. Good stuff!
All this is my opinion only and does not reflect on anybody elses tastes.
I watch a lot of BBC productions and they have truly wonderful and BELIEVABLE characters in their series.
Haven't seen the series since I'm not on cable these days, but it sounds an awful lot like the Project Orion of the 1960s vs. the one of today ( an improved Apollo space capsule). A number of Manhattan Project veterans in that period gave their shot at solving the problem of traveling to the planets and stars. My understanding is that the show presumes that the General Atomics crowd was given a go-ahead and here are the fruits of heading down this alternate path. Of that original investigation into the possibility of space travel ( minus any large scale tests, in effect banned by international treaty) I have read much, starting with the 1970s account "The Starship and the Canoe" and then Freeman Dyson's writing in book form or articles for the New Yorker. Then, remarkably, I had the opportunity to meet and converse with the gentleman at a conference or two in New Jersey during the 1990s - though Orion never came up. I should say that wherever the Ascension series is going thanks to Dyson, he has gone elsewhere as well. While trained as a physicist and mathematician he had interests in all manner of things, but loved to stretch his trained imagination. Plus he was present at remarkable events with the ability to write of them with color and perception. I recommend his essays. Though not having had an opportunity to study conditions aboard Ascension underway, there have been other TV series that I have noticed the examination of behavior within cults. The Star Gate production from Canada had a many year run which had its moments good and bad. You can be your own judge on which predominated; but in a way this TV s/f was cleverer than most. And the characters in the script did have characters after a fashion, even if they reached into their military manuals for resolutions most of the time. None of the characters though were likeable because they were always right. It was more for their cheek in confronting terrestrial and extra-terrestrial symbols of power and authority. After the series lost its pre-occupation with Egyptian gods and goddesses as representations of hostile aliens, it did move on to another extra-terrestrial threat which appeared to be an uncompromising cult. By means of a strage asceticism, it seemed to have the force to do whatever earthly counterparts had only imagined - or should I say anticipated happening. When the cult folded, it had its own survivors. Anyone remember those episodes? They still show up on Sunday nights in syndication.
Haven't seen the series since I'm not on cable these days, but it sounds an awful lot like the Project Orion of the 1960s vs. the one of today ( an improved Apollo space capsule). A number of Manhattan Project veterans in that period gave their shot at solving the problem of traveling to the planets and stars. My understanding is that the show presumes that the General Atomics crowd was given a go-ahead and here are the fruits of heading down this alternate path. Of that original investigation into the possibility of space travel ( minus any large scale tests, in effect banned by international treaty) I have read much, starting with the 1970s account "The Starship and the Canoe" and then Freeman Dyson's writing in book form or articles for the New Yorker. Then, remarkably, I had the opportunity to meet and converse with the gentleman at a conference or two in New Jersey during the 1990s - though Orion never came up. I should say that wherever the Ascension series is going thanks to Dyson, he has gone elsewhere as well. While trained as a physicist and mathematician he had interests in all manner of things, but loved to stretch his trained imagination. Plus he was present at remarkable events with the ability to write of them with color and perception. I recommend his essays. Though not having had an opportunity to study conditions aboard Ascension underway, there have been other TV series that I have noticed the examination of behavior within cults. The Star Gate production from Canada had a many year run which had its moments good and bad. You can be your own judge on which predominated; but in a way this TV s/f was cleverer than most. And the characters in the script did have characters after a fashion, even if they reached into their military manuals for resolutions most of the time. None of the characters though were likeable because they were always right. It was more for their cheek in confronting terrestrial and extra-terrestrial symbols of power and authority. After the series lost its pre-occupation with Egyptian gods and goddesses as representations of hostile aliens, it did move on to another extra-terrestrial threat which appeared to be an uncompromising cult. By means of a strage asceticism, it seemed to have the force to do whatever earthly counterparts had only imagined - or should I say anticipated happening. When the cult folded, it had its own survivors. Anyone remember those episodes? They still show up on Sunday nights in syndication.
