Review: Sanctuary, “Uprising” + More Transmog and Hallow’s End

Review: Sanctuary, Uprising:

Warning: While I normally try to avoid giving specific spoilers, this review does have some.“Uprising” is the second part of the premiere for Sanctuary’s fourth season and continues the other crisis left by last season’s finale, the thousands of Abnormal refugees pouring up from devastated Hollow Earth and being herded into concentration camps.

This one doesn’t have quite the emotional impact of “Tempus.” It feels like a very by the numbers “crazy general is out to kill Abnormals” plot straight out of the X-Men movies.

That said, it’s still an enjoyable story with plenty of action and a few good twists. This is about as good as Sanctuary will ever get when the Five aren’t involved.

Also, the writers actually remembered that Henry is a werewolf for once. Hallelujah!

The ending feels a bit too quick and neat, as is so often the case with Sanctuary. The refugees just sort of shuffle back down to Hollow Earth, which leads one to wonder why they were fleeing in the first place. There are hints that some may stay behind to wreak havoc on the surface, which could make for a very interesting arc, but this show has disappointed me enough times that I’m not going to hold my breath.

However, one wonderful thing did come out of this episode. The Kate Freelander character appears to have been written out of the show, having been sent to Hollow Earth as a kind of ambassador. Kate is a horribly written character played by an utterly unconvincing actress,* and the show can only benefit from her departure.

*To be fair to the actress, I have seen her on other shows in which she did decently. She just doesn’t seem good at portraying tough, dangerous characters.

Overall rating: For the quality of the episode, I’d say 8.5/10, but for getting rid of Kate, I’ll give it a 10/10.

Want to get caught up on Sanctuary? The entire series is available to buy on BluRay and DVD on my Amazon Affiliate.

More Transmog:

I’ve completed my rogue’s ranger-inspired transmogrification set.My rogue's ranger-inspired transmogrification setNow the question becomes whether or not I actually want to use it, or just stick with tier nine. I like the concept of this set and the uniqueness of it, but it does feel a little basic. I know people complain about how over-the-top the armor in this game is, but I like the giant shoulderpads, flaming greatswords, and WWE belts.

I also haven’t been able to find a decent headpiece or gloves for this set. There’s a druid tier lookalike helm from Ulduar I’d like to use, but where am I going to find a group for that?

Even if I don’t use it, though, I won’t consider it a waste of time, as I had fun putting it together.

What do you think? Is it a nice set? Or should I stick with VanCleef’s Battlegear?

The Bell has Tolled!

Shelter your weak, your young, and your old!

Hallow’s End has begun in WoW, and while I normally couldn’t care less about most of the holidays in this game, I’ve been rather enjoying this one. I missed it last year, and I was low level during my first Hallow’s End, so between those factors and the new updates, it all feels very fresh to me.Even the Druids of the Flame are getting in on the Halloween funI’m actually quite impressed at how well they’ve managed to shoehorn what is a blatant reference to a real life holiday into Warcraft lore and make it fit. I especially like the new tie-ins to Gilnean lore for the Alliance side.

Also, if you’ve ever read the “Legends” manga series, you’ll know that the Headless Horseman actually has a better and more lore-appropriate backstory than most “serious” non-holiday bosses.

Speaking of the Horseman, I’ve been grinding him heavily on all three of my 85s in the hopes of getting that lovely mount of his. He’s a much more entertaining fight than most other holiday bosses. “Get over here, you idiot!”

By the way, if any of you have gotten the new creepy crate pet, make sure to bring it to one of the cows in Elwynn. The results are… interesting.

What of you, dear reader? Are you enjoying Hallow’s End this year? How do you like the new updates?

Review: Sanctuary, “Tempus” (Season Premiere)

Review: Sanctuary, Tempus:

Warning: the following review contains vague spoilers.Watching Sanctuary is a bit like being friends with Doctor Jekyll (no pun intended considering most recent episodes have focused on that character). You never know what you’re getting: the good, the bad, or the ugly.

This episode, I’m pleased to report, falls under the “good” category.

The episode picks up immediately from where the last one left off, with Adam Worth (Dr. Jekyll) traveling back to the 19th century to attempt to cure his terminally daughter, and the series’ protagonist, the immortal Helen Magnus, following him to prevent corruption of the timeline.

“Tempus” has Magnus simultaneously struggling to stop Adam, who plans world conquest once his daughter is cured, and to prevent herself from contaminating the timeline while interacting with fellow Five members John Druitt and Detective Watson and the past version of Adam Worth.

Things are complicated by the fact that they have arrived during the height of Jack the Ripper’s killing spree, which, as any Sanctuary fan knows, were committed by Druitt, who was Magnus’s fiance at the time. So while all the craziness with Adam is going on, we’re also treated to many interesting little moments between Druitt and Magnus (both her past and future selves), which give some very interesting revelations into their past relationship. Druitt is easily the most interesting character on the show, so this was a very welcome addition, in my view.

The entire episode takes place in the past, with no mention of the other difficulties taking place in the future (or present, depending on your perspective), which is frankly welcome. This show is always at its best when focusing on Helen and the Five at the expense of its far less interesting modern characters.Adam Worth, AKA Doctor Jekyll, from Sanctuary

Ultimately, the struggle to preserve time is a very common one in sci-fi TV shows, but this episode managed to set itself away from the pack, at least a little bit. It felt a bit more edgy and dangerous (words I would generally never use to describe Sanctuary). Normally, these episodes end with all problems being solved and all time changes turning out to be what was supposed to happen anyway.

“Tempus” didn’t end nearly so neatly. While it’s true that Magnus achieved her goals, it ended up feeling like a Pyrrhic victory in my view, and I found the ending rather heartbreaking.

Furthermore, the events of the past did end up being changed significantly.  We’ll have to wait until future episodes to see if these changes have any lasting impact. Given this show’s spotty history, I find myself doubting the possibility, but there’s always hope. This show could really use an ongoing crisis to keep it interesting, and a world irreparably changed by time travel seems like just the thing.

If I have any complaint about this episode, it’s that I would have liked to see the Adam Worth arc drag out a bit longer. But at the same time, they couldn’t really have given it a better ending than this, and the door is left open for more appearances by the character.

Overall rating: 9.1/10 A good start to the season. Let’s hope they keep this level of quality consistent for once.

If you’d like to get caught up on Sanctuary, you can buy the DVDs on my Amazon Affiliate–now includes the third season.