Almost Human

[Spaz]

I wouldn't be surprised if after seeing how well Dorian is doing, they start reintroducing more DRN units.

[dale coba]

Ratings Rat Race: ‘Almost Human’ Slips Again Tuesday December 3, 2013 @ 9:15am PST

The strong football game last night, up from last week, did not make things easy for Fox’s Almost Human (1.7), which was down 11% from last Monday to post its third consecutive decline since the premiere.

Soon to vanish.
Will be forgotten.

- Dale Coba

[Spaz]

Well, I hope the reassemble that headless fembot before they cancel it. I want the screencaps.

[33cl33]

If you're looking for content, skip episode 5... Imdb duplicated the sexbot listings (vanessa and the nameless one) from episode 2 in error.

[DukeNukem 2417]

Soon to vanish.
Will be forgotten.

- Dale Coba

I think not.

Last night's episode, while short on fembot content, was an intriguing story---the baddie of the week gave off a very menacing vibe, the "psychic" was less annoying than I expected, and Dorian uppercutting the van near the end was GOLD (and yes, Vicki will be getting a similar moment in a future V.I.C.I. Diaries story). Just because the sexbots stopped showing up after Episode 2 doesn't mean you should automatically tune out---it may not be esoteric enough for our demographic (kudos to Y2J for using that phrase in his book so I could borrow it here), but it's still a pretty solid sci-fi cop show, and I'd rather watch it than American Idol any day of the week.

And if it gives a few aspiring writers some ideas for their own work, all the better for the aspiring writers.

[tectile]

Soon to vanish.
Will be forgotten.

- Dale Coba

I think not.

Last night's episode, while short on fembot content, was an intriguing story---the baddie of the week gave off a very menacing vibe, the "psychic" was less annoying than I expected, and Dorian uppercutting the van near the end was GOLD (and yes, Vicki will be getting a similar moment in a future V.I.C.I. Diaries story). Just because the sexbots stopped showing up after Episode 2 doesn't mean you should automatically tune out---it may not be esoteric enough for our demographic (kudos to Y2J for using that phrase in his book so I could borrow it here), but it's still a pretty solid sci-fi cop show, and I'd rather watch it than American Idol any day of the week.

And if it gives a few aspiring writers some ideas for their own work, all the better for the aspiring writers.

I agree with the above points. Let's hope the show doesn't go away.

I enjoyed Ep 5 very much even though it was chock full of cliche's. The police captain who just want's to be loved, Kenix being oblivious to Stalls obvious interest in him, the ditzy psychic, the super intelligent creepy bad guy etc.

I think the writers have Dorian too firmly in what some people call the "magical negro" roll. He's a little to wise and empathetic to be an artificial person.
I haven't seen ep 1 so maybe there is background on his character that I'm missing.

[tectile]

I'm not being racist at all here. I would have the same problem with Dorian if he were white. I would like to see him with some flaws. At this point he is this caring, empathetic
superhuman character who will always save the day. His artificial nature really doesn't come up in any meaningful way.

The character of Eve Edison while intellectually and physically superior to humans had a child like quality as she strove to understand the world she was born/built into.
She had flaws and that made the character interesting.

I just used the term "magical negro" because it fits the character. If you think about it you have seen this type of character many times in movies and fiction.

Morgan Freeman in "Shawshank redemption" 'Mother Abigale in The stand", even Sheriff Taylor in "The Andy Grifith show, Mr. Miogie in "The karate kid"and many more. I didn't invent the term I just used it where I think it fits.

I'm not sure what "Marty Stu/Mary Sue" happening means

[KingJeremy]

I believe he's referring to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue

[Karel]

I'm not being racist at all here...

I just used the term "magical negro" because it fits the character. If you think about it you have seen this type of character many times in movies and fiction.

The "Magical Negro," like "Mary Sue," is a character with a specific meaning and origin, though one identified more by academics than by ordinary internet users and readers of fan fiction:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro

Tectile is definitely not wrong in identifying Dorian as such a character; but personally, I think that it's very, very far down the list of the show's many, many flaws. The fact that the character is black and superhuman does raise the "Magical Negro" spectre, but the fact is also that the character really could just as easily be white (and the casting in general appears to have been relatively colorblind). I do just love how they managed to get a "black guys have big dicks" joke into the most recent episode, though; have to add that to the pile with last week's "Jap food is gross and depraved." Classy.

No, the show's real problems remain the same: another horribly cliched episode, bereft of original ideas or even basic logic, that wastes even potentially enlivening moments like Dorian's uppercut. It has gotten no better.

[DukeNukem 2417]

Mary Sue is a derogatory term primarily used in Fan Fic circles to describe a particular type of character. This much everyone can agree on. What that character type is, exactly, differs wildly from circle to circle, and often from person to person.

TV Tropes doesn't get to set what the term means; the best we can do is capture the way it is used. Since there's no consensus on a precise definition, the best way to describe the phenomenon is by example of the kind of character pretty much everyone could agree to be a Mary Sue. These traits usually reference the character's perceived importance in the story, their physical design and an irrelevantly over-skilled or over-idealized nature.

The name "Mary Sue" comes from the 1974 Star Trek fanfic A Trekkie's Tale. Originally written as a parody of the standard Self-Insert Fic of the time (as opposed to any particular traits), the name was quickly adopted by the Star Trek fanfiction community. Its original meaning mostly held that it was an Always Female Author Avatar, regardless of character role or perceived quality. Often, the characters would get in a relationship with either Kirk or Spock, turn out to have a familial bond with a crew member, be a Half-Human Hybrid masquerading as a human, and die in a graceful, beautiful way to reinforce that the character was Too Good for This Sinful Earth. (Or space, as the case may be.)

Even back then, there wasn't a total consensus on what was or wasn't Mary Sue, since it's not always immediately obvious which character is an Author Avatar. As this essay reveals, suspiciously Mary Sue-like characters were noted in subscriber-submitted articles for 19th-century childrens' magazines, making this trope Older Than You Think.

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment. She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws – either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing.
She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal. She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favorite canon character – their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc. Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series. (See Common Mary Sue Traits for more detail on any of these cliches.)
In other words, the term "Mary Sue" is generally slapped on a character who is important in the story, possesses unusual physical traits, and has an irrelevantly over-skilled or over-idealized nature.

Over time, a male variant started to see use. Marty Stu (also known as Gary Stu, for those who prefer rhyme to alliteration) wasn't really that much different from Mary. Also an Author Avatar, it usually had implications of being a male crew member that tended to completely outshine established canon members in their roles and often become the best starship captain, ever. See The Ace. Since the female characters of Star Trek were all in secondary roles at best, the relationship angle was generally disregarded as being any sort of qualifier. Because of the not-entirely-unjustified perception that Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls, Marty Stu didn't really catch on for a long time.

Originally, the term used to apply exclusively to fanfiction, but by the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the term "Canon Sue" started seeing use, applying Author Avatar standards to canon works (most likely inspired by the backlash against Wesley Crusher; even Wil Wheaton has decried the character's obnoxiousness). It was around this time that the term started to lose a concrete meaning, since the label started getting applied even to characters who weren't explicit self-inserts (such as the title character of the episode "The Empath"), but just happened to use similar tropes. It was also (most likely) around this time that the term started to gain its pejorative tone.
Finally, the advent of the Internet allowed the term to migrate out of the Star Trek community to most fandoms, losing pretty much any real meaning in the process. There are dozens upon dozens of essays that offer interpretations of what the term means, generally basing it off of some usages of it, but none of them are truly comprehensive or accepted. Using the term in most contexts isn't too far off from Flame Bait, generally provoking the defendant into rants. Much Internet Backdraft has resulted, especially if the term is applied to a canon character on a popular show.

These last two paragraphs are why it's so hard to really nail down a definition of "Mary Sue": the term has started to be used in a much wider context, and to mean much wider things, than it once did, and there's no way to figure out which of those characteristics are necessary and sufficient to define a Mary Sue.

A more thorough definition of a Mary Sue/Marty Stu, directly from TV Tropes. I don't think Dorian applies, but seeing as how the VICI Diaries RP was derailed by a character with MANY of the symptoms described above, I know a bit too well how bad a Mary Sue/Marty Stu agrees.

[Spaz]

I think this may answer some questions...

http://sciencefiction.com/2013/12/13/al ... cellation/

[General]

I have to second Kishin here. Sometimes it takes a while for a show to really together. Maybe it takes a while for folks to get into their characters, maybe there's stress on the set until everyone is comfortable; I don't know.

As an exercise in how things can go from craptastic to actually pretty good go ahead and fire up Netflix. Find and start TNG's Encounter at Farpoint. Go ahead, I'll wait.





Sucked didn't it? If it weren't for the flashy effects (circa 1987) the whole thing might have been canned right out of the gate. It went from God awful horrible to alright and in my opinion didn't hit it's stride until the third season. Sure it's a long time for a network to hope things get good but it can pay off.

As much as the show may be painful I think anything talking about robots, fembots, AI, etc is generally good for us as a community. Even if the show sucks, it gets people thinking. Maybe somewhere out there, some future writing is watching the show and saying to themselves, "Oh this is painful, but what if they just....."

[jolshefsky]

Ok, I did finally go back and watch episode 2, the "fembot episode". I shouldn't have. I should have just enjoyed the images and the fictional story I had made. Here's my problem (with spoilers):

The central fembots in the episode were covered in human skin. Gross. It's like cuddling a robot covered in sliced ham–a meat product that is also dead. Eww, gross gross gross. More likely and logical would be they couldn't make the robots move organically, so they'd need nerve cells/brain cells of some kind which would be a different kind of gross, but it would at least fit into the story, and if the offending "parts" were removed, the robots would just move more mechanically but otherwise be *ahem* usable.

(Hint: is it easy to incorporate the code listed here for spoilers?]

[D.Olivaw]

Ok, I did finally go back and watch episode 2, the "fembot episode". I shouldn't have. I should have just enjoyed the images and the fictional story I had made. Here's my problem (with spoilers):

The central fembots in the episode were covered in human skin. Gross. It's like cuddling a robot covered in sliced ham–a meat product that is also dead. Eww, gross gross gross. More likely and logical would be they couldn't make the robots move organically, so they'd need nerve cells/brain cells of some kind which would be a different kind of gross, but it would at least fit into the story, and if the offending "parts" were removed, the robots would just move more mechanically but otherwise be *ahem* usable.

(Hint: is it easy to incorporate the code listed here for spoilers?]

My understanding from the looks of things was that:

The skin wasn't being stripped from the human women but cultured (intensively) from them and applied to some sort of substrate (the gooey stuff on the outside of the skinned fembot) that was sustaining cellular activity. No, that doesn't make a lot of sense either but it's better than the idea that they were coating them with lady-jerky.

[tectile]

I think this spoiler thing can be moved into the open now. If you're a member of this board you have probably seen ep 2 already but I'm going to just to see if I can get it to work.
It's been a long time since I've used any html
D.Olivaw has it right.
The human women were not being striped of their skin. Their skin was being harvested and that process would eventually lead to their death. Thus the need to kidnap them. That's the only way it makes sense. Otherwise the bad guys would have just paid some (insert futuristic drug name here) whore to donate with out telling them what it was going to be used for.

[tectile]

Sorry for the double post. Not sure how that happened

[Spaz]

I think the latest episode was pretty good.

I also saw that headless bot from the pilot in the previews for the return in January...except it wasn't headless anymore.

[rs5420]

Yes, it was fairly good. However I found strange that a decomissionned DRN was recycled as a service technician, working where public is exposed...

[Spaz]

I saw a rumor that we may see that head from the pilot reunited with its body in episode 10, coming in over a month.

[Samsung]

Almost Human stars do the robot dance with a female news anchor (midway and end of the video). Now if we can only find one of Minka:

http://fox5sandiego.com/2013/11/15/star ... z2ot6jyj6G

[N6688]

who else thinks that minka's character will turn out to be a fembot?

[dale coba]

Anyone see evidence in the show that the police force would be unable to detect her as a fembot?
I think it's clear, they would - fembots have EMF-transmitting power frequencies and metal inside.
You want her to be "magically" shielded, with a tech unknown to Rudy?
I guess they could pull that out of nowhere, these are very lazy writers.

- Dale Coba

[WilloWisp]

You want her to be "magically" shielded, with a tech unknown to Rudy?

Simple solution: Rudy already knows.

[dale coba]

So the department wants her co-workers to know about the droids and the DRNs, but be in the dark about her? That makes the whole bring-back-a-DRN experiment seem like a cheap waste of time. Why is it this police department, our hero's love interest? Lazy, too convenient writing.

There's been no indication that anyone has security fears of not being able to scan, and tell organic from machine. What is identity, without a basic scan? It really would have to be as fundamental a security concern as metal detectors to find guns in America.

- Dale Coba

[minkwheel]

Yancy Butler goes to local conventions and signs autographs for money and fans when her schedule and travel plans collide. I've met her on two occasions.... Still has the same sultry voice, but since Witchblade and Brooklyn South, she's been laying quite low on the radar.