Defying sense...

Alright, to the one person reading this Blog I just bet you want to know what I think of Defying Gravity. It defies all laws of writing and common sense. Now I like bad TV shows, heck I like Galactica 1980, but Defying Gravity doesn't even have the excuse of just a bit of fun...

Let's tackle this head on. It's dull, irritating and monotonous. No that doesn't quite cover it, pick up a piece of blank paper and stare at it for 45 minutes and you get the general idea. Eventually you'll see some sort of pattern, but that's just your imagination. What you have is basically bland and unimaginative people wandering about a giant space ship that's sent around the solar system on behalf of some strange alien living in pod four. Quite why they'd do that is the mystery of the whole show but lets be honest I don't care. No one does and that's why it's been cancelled.

So why is it so boring and dull? Because, let's face it, space travel is dull. Seriously, it's like being in the back seat of a car or on a ferry. You sit there and nothing happens, you can look out the window or play chess. That makes thrilling television, so rather than let a story happen they have to force it. First with the Mystery arc plot (the alien in pod four) and then with romantic tension between the cast. Both of those are long term arcs. So what about short term... well nothing. It's all foreshadowing and romance.

Back in the day Star Trek the Next Generation would, in an effort to save budget and show off it's actors, write a bottle episode. Where the cast would just wander around the ship solving a problem. This saves them having to build new sets and pay guest actors. They were padding, but they had some good moments in them. I mention this because that's all Defying Gravity feels like, one long drawn out series of bottle episodes.

Now my big problem with this show isn't the shear dull story-line, but it's science. specifically, and ironically how it deals with gravity. In a good sci-fi show were asked to accept gravity, it's not feasible to try and replicate zero gravity for a TV show so they come up with a reason. Be it a technological advancement with Grav-plating, gravity nets or other tricks like magnetism and rotating sections. Defying Gravity opts for the latter, building the ship with huge spinning arms. Unfortunately they missed the fricking point. Spinning sections send the G-forces away from the ship yet in every shot we get it appears that gravity is pulling towards the central core and not away.

I know I'm nit picking here, but if you're going to go out of your way to explain something at least get it right! Another suggestion for their gravity (in the bits that don't spin) is nano technology in their clothes, being pulled down by magnets. Now I can understand people not figuring out gravity, it's a bit complex in the end of the day, but magnets? They've been understood for ages and nanoscopic robots would be in trouble. Why? Because any magnet powerful enough to produce earth like gravity would rearrange all the ions in them. The result would be frying the robots like throwing bacon on a fusion reactor. Even worse unlike gravity, that is constant at what ever height that you find yourself, a magnets pull is more powerful the closer you get to it. With obvious results (if it's earth like at head height then at ground level it must be so much stronger making it almost impossible to move your feet).

So that's Defying Gravity. Pointless, useless and a waste of time that irritates anyone with a basic knowledge of science. Give it a miss, but I'm a masochist so I won't.


Coming soon:- Sarah Jane Adventures season 3 and Stargate Universe