Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 65093" data-attributes="member: 23">SKATEBOARD WIZ / THE DEADLY DOLPHIN / STOLEN FACES / POT OF GOLD / GAULT'S BRAINIt's funny the snippets of TV shows that linger in the collective memory. Why some of them are significant enough to remain while other scenes quickly fade who knows. From watching Season Three as a nipper there are a few little flashes that have never left me. Some seemed clever (cutting the mirror with her bracelet in Disco Devil); some daring (leaping from a particularly tall building in one of the last episodes). Some unusual (a scene in Amazon Hot Wax where Diana is walking from her car to the building in the rain probably stayed with me because rain was so rarely seen in the show. I suspect it hadn't occurred to my very young self that it ever rained in America). And some seemed shocking (Diana being forced into a torpedo launch chute; or tied to a car in a garage in an attempt to gas her. Then there was a car smashing into Diana's car at the end of one of the two parters. It was probably my first experience of a cliffhanger. Up to that point, every TV show I'd watched had been neatly resolved by the end credits. A week is a very long time to wait for someone who hasn't long started primary school).And then there's The Deadly Dolphin scene in which WW changes into her aqua suit to fight off a shiver of sharks that are threatening a friendly dolphin. Which seemed so exciting to my young self.How different it can be watching a scene that's flashed through your memory for decades. This time round it was pretty underwhelming with some daft, drawn on effects. In my mind's eye the shiver of sharks is made up of fearsome Great Whites. The sharks onscreen were a little lower down the food chain (though still not ideal swimming companions). Though the kid in me still cheers internally when WW changes into one of her alternative ensembles. Back then, that was enough. But the story in this episode is very thin and puerile. It doesn't help at all that part of the episode seems to have been filmed at evil SeaWorld and features captive dolphins and orcas performing on cue. It's quite an uncomfortable watch from that perspective, though perhaps historically interesting. The "bad guys" in this episode steal a dolphin away from captivity (OK - they want to blow it up too, but the people at SeaWorld don't know that and are more bothered that their cash cow "property" is gone).Gault's Brain is pretty terrible. There was a promising opening showing the wake of a dead man in an open coffin with a slow zoom in revealing a slice mark around the the top of his head where the top of his head had been removed. It was all rather dark and sinister. But then the action cut to his excised brain floating in a jar. Which I could buy but for the fact that it looks ridiculous - like one of those multi-coloured little rubber balls that used to bounce like nobodys business. And it has a huge eye poking up from it on a stem. And it's animated - the strings can clearly be seen all the way through.<img src="https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/wonderwoman/images/4/47/Episode312.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120206082622" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Oh - and worst of all: it speaks. I mean - it uses actual words. Lots of them. Usually followed by a "mwaaaaah ha haaaa" laugh. The whole way through the episode.Which is a shame, because apart from the execution, the idea of a dying old man arranging for a twisted doctor to remove the brain of a healthy, living, unwilling young man so that he can insert the dead old man's brain in order for him to be fit enough to carry out his plans and to sexually satisfy his young, female lover is pretty good. I especially love how twisted the relationship with his lover is. It's made very clear that she has picked this handsome young athlete to be the subject because she wants his body. Even the doctor performing the surgery seems to be tacitly attracted to the young man, marvelling at his perfection and unnecessarily brushing his arm:<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nUDnicvKDAY/UdLvf_xmtzI/AAAAAAAABlI/__9_cUrpmqQ/s970/gault_2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Said doctor is played by Dynasty's Andrew Laird. Here he's called - what else - Dr. Crippen!If it weren't for the parts with the rubber brain, this would be a damned good episode. As it is, the most noteworthy thing was a line that in retrospect is perhaps a little amusing. Observing the hunky men floating about the dead man's lover, Diana asked what it was all about and was told they were interviewing bodyguards. Diana later casually asked Steve "Do all bodyguards need to look like Bruce Jenner?"The episode also features a Season Three trope - Diana changing into Wonder Woman in an unusual way. This time she was gassed (for the umpteenth time) and locked in a barrel which was thrown into a body of water. Fortunately, the barrel rolled down in such a way it brought on a Wonder Spin.Diana wore a silver cross for part of the episode. Interesting considering she was born before Christ is said to have been.Skateboard Wiz had a great soundtrack and, I'm happy to say, features on the CD. It's a perfectly watchable, if ultimately inconsequential episode. The biggest news here was the debut (and perhaps the only appearance) of Wonder Woman's skateboard chick combo:<img src="https://bmj2k.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/wonder-woman-w15.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Now I know the series is filmed in California, but what is it with Diana flying to California in pretty much every episode? She's never in Washington anymore. Her apartment is barely - if ever - seen. She is at least appearing at the IADC regularly, but that only raises further questions about how she manages to bounce around between locations - especially as her invisible plane has long gone.Pot Of Gold opened with a shot of London Bridge (a little eerie considering it was the first episode I watched after the events of the weekend) and had some little touches that amusingly show how there was no actual location work done. Such as the dodgy attempt at a RADA accent coming from the tannoy in the internal scenes which were supposedly Heathrow airport. Or Wonder Woman pursuing a plane on the runway of "Heathrow" - with Californian hills clearly showing in the background. To be fair, she did drive a right-hand drive vehicle - a gorgeous MGB roadster. But I did spot that it wasn't displaying a tax disc. Maybe as an ambassador she didn't need one. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />I was expecting the worst for this episode, but it turned out to be quite enjoyable as the annual seasonal episode.It was good to see Dick O'Neill - Chris Cagney's father - doing his thing here.I've already forgotten most of Stolen Faces, but it's more because it was fairly low key. At this point, any episode where I can't remember something particularly silly happening has to be a good one.</blockquote>

Verification: 6 + 4 =

Poison your name this Hallowe'en

There's plenty of time to choose your spooky October username

Click here for more details

Reply to thread