Discuss the Current Episode

Did everyone catch that when Dastun was taken off the case and forced to take paid leave, his aide was reassigned to guard duty and was caught in the next explosion?

If Dastun had been less abrasive to the higher-ups, he wouldn't have been taken off the case, and his aide would still be alive.

Don't think this doesn't trouble Dan, late at night.

Another thing -- from Roger's voiceover, it seems that Dastun was reinstated at Alex Rosewater's request. At a guess, Dastun's visit to Roger was noticed and reported to Alex, who decided that it was bad enough having Roger Smith as a loose cannon -- having Dastun as a loose cannon was even worse. So Dastun was reinstated, because the day-to-day stuff in his job keeps him from having much time to poke his nose into things Alex doesn't want investigated.

Alex may not have been aware of Dastun's and Roger's friendship before -- after all, their friendship had been pretty cool up to this point. But he's fully aware of it after this.

Fwa!

Okay, I'm a little late on this. . .

Beck Comes Back

quote:

Originally posted by M.S._Feather As for the episode itself, up until the end it was pretty lame. Not horrible, I just hated how the bulk of the episode consisted of Roger and Dorothy traveling back and forth between Roger and Wise's homes. The story didn't seem to go anywhere and seemed a little dull. [/SIZE]

Actually that's one of the reasons I love 'Beck Comes Back'. It's fun to see how drastically Dorothy and Roger's relationship has progressed, not even over the course of a few episodes, but just over the events of Missing Cat.

In act 7 Roger's dialogue to Dorothy sounds more like he's talking at her then to her. If he's concerned by anything she says he doesn't acknowledge it and he shrugs off her curiosity at were he's going.

After act 8 Roger’s attitude towards Dorothy has changed drastically. He actually treats her like a person. And Dorothy’s much more open about her emotions. Asking Roger about something a personal as love- even if it is someone else’s- is something Dorothy would never have done before.

When I first started watching Big O I thought it was odd that these two very Dorothy-centric episodes were back to back. I get the feeling that from acts 5-7 the writers had backed off the original plan to push Dorothy and Roger together in the end. This show was made to sell toys and we know there was indecision amoung the writing staff about certain aspects of the plot. In acts 1-4 it's obvious that the writers were planning to pair them off in the end. But it looks that they were having second thoughts around act 5, they tried to put Dorothy and Roger's relationship on a different track in act 6, but I'm not sure if the writers gave this up in act 7 or 8. I suspect it's 7.

Act 7 firmly established Angel as a point on a love triangle between these two. They seal the deal in the end when Big O drops Angel off at the peer and she looks up hazily and calls Roger's name.

Act 8 firmly established that Dorothy not only had feelings but presented them in such a manner that they're indisputable. Why would Dorothy lie emotionally to a kitten?

Act 8, along with establishing Dorothy's humanity (along with that wonderful little sequence where Dora loses her umbrella ^.^) unfortunately made Dorothy seem like she was 12 and made Roger feel more like a big brother, which worked for that episode.

But then act 9 conveniently comes along and pretty much seals the deal on Dorothy and Roger as a couple. With this mini-arch the writers decided that Dorothy and Roger were a done deal. And Angel's love for Roger was only there to provide a little competition (of course we already knew that, but poor Angel).


muchlove
-dork

Well, it's Friday. Saturday's virtual Big O episode is DAEMONSEED, Act 11 -- the episode AS would be showing if they hadn't taken Big O off the air.

Watch it on DVD, tape, or TiVo and post your thoughts here starting Saturday night. See ya soon!

I'll get on this early, I don't remeber the episode that well. But what do you guys think of the bible references in this episode?

Buwhahaha! I can't believe I did my writing on this episode so early! . . . or, at all!
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It’s official: Roger’s in looove. I liked this episode (hey, why not, it’s one of my 23 all time favorite episodes of Big O after all) it gave a chance for us to see how Dorothy and Roger are interacting regularly on a day-to-day basis at this point in the series. And shoved between acts 10 and 12 it’s a crucial act for Roger and Dorothy. Without ‘Daemon Seed’ I doubt much anyone would have picked up on just how interested Roger and Dora were in each other (before season two rolled around that is).

I love how flustered Roger gets in this episode. He’s really cute ^_^ . . . well he isn’t obviously. . . he’s kinda scary actually, but it’s quite a cute thing. Roger’s cute when he’s staring at Dorothy adoringly.

And why I’m on the Roger subject. Official Hottest Roger Moment of the Act 11: Roger peeling potatoes in an apron. ::falls over:: Oh, god, what is it about men in domestic clothing that’s so friggin’ hot? It’s a *huge* turn on. Guys, take note.

The prayer services Laura mentioned were quite interesting. For many people there is almost a need to worship, but what’s odd is that the old people don’t just make up another god. It’s like they can almost remember the god they used to know and the religion they used to belong to. They have a genuine desire to continue worshipping *their* god not any god. It’s not worshipping something for the sheer sake of worshipping something, they’re hoping to continue serving their god.

Complete memories don’t often survive the resets, but the feelings and loyalties people had for each other and other things seem to remain, even if people no longer have the Memories to understand why they feel the way they do about these things.

I don’t at all believe in love at first sight. It seems foolish to me that you could take a glance at someone and without any knowledge of that person or their personality instantly fall in love. But that seems to be what happened with Roger and Dorothy back in act 1. Dorothy’s blindfold came off and their eyes met and it was all over. They didn’t get a chance to even see the other in action. They feel in love when their eyes met. So I’ve been thinking more and more that maybe what happened is that they fell in love other a past reset and even though their Memories were erased, the feelings they had for each other could not be. So in the first few acts you have these people who are absolutely in love with each other and have no clue why, they don’t trust each other, and they don’t know each other. To a certain extint they don't even like each other. Feels almost like an arranged marriage or a forced alliance.

Act 11 also noted the huge rift in living conditions between the rich and poor of Paradigm. I was thinking that maybe they were trying to say something about American economics, but Japan’s just as bad.

Maybe what this episode was really trying to say is that true wealth is whatever gives you joy; weather that be music and the love of a woman who couldn’t compare you to other men if she wanted to or more money then you could possibly know what to do with and really really really cool car. . . oh right, and maybe a cute redhead. . . her too. Why not?

Next time on the Big O: Act 12, ‘Enemy is Another Big!’ Oh, joy.

I can’t believe we’re almost to act 12 already. Has it really been 3 months already? Wow, time flies. Remember how certain we were that we were this close to getting S3? ::sigh::


Muchlove
-dork

Deamonseed rocks because:

A) Its one of the few times roger yells "BIIIIIIIIGGGGG OOOOOOOO!" in an elongated fashion. Its cool.

B) The MERRY XMAS thing is cool and very unexpected.

C) Norman on the 'cycle kicks ass.


I noticed though, that domes really change color for no reason... Kinda weird. And Alex's retort at the end was very cool...

Another great Ep. We see Roger changes his mind about Havens day when Norman tells him that the same day Dorothy was born. Dorothy just wanted to be like everyone else on Havens day giving a present to the one you love the most in which this case Roger. A new neck tie how sweet. I wonder what was Roger thinking when Dorothy took her present and started to spin around?

quote:

Originally posted by Dark-0 Another great Ep. We see Roger changes his mind about Havens day when Norman tells him that the same day Dorothy was born. Dorothy just wanted to be like everyone else on Havens day giving a present to the one you love the most in which this case Roger. A new neck tie how sweet. I wonder what was Roger thinking when Dorothy took her present and started to spin around?

Probably something along the lines of:
"I've gotta get me a piece of that ***"

I remember hearing that this episode inspired the name of a Big O fansite:

"Christmas Tree: 1, Giant Mecha: 0"

There were a couple of things that struck me about DAEMONSEED. One is how much Roger bristled over Heaven's Day. Seeing as how he's a fairly devout man in his own way, I thot it had to be over how it had become so commercialized, like our Christmas is, and it offended him. The second is how much that scientist resembled Schwarzwald. I thot when I saw it again that it was Schwarzy. Is there a chance that it is our beloved lunatic?

Oh, and it has to be fate that my fanfic post turned me into a tomato!

Roger said it himself it was to celebrate Paradigm, and he being who he is would naturally detest all the festivities about it.
And that site you speak of Starluck is on the links page of the main site.

The giant tree reminded me of the way redwoods grow. You can cut them down and they come back,over and over and over.

Relentless? You don't know the half of it!

Madrona

It's Saturday again! Tonight's virtual episode is Act 12: ENEMY IS ANOTHER BIG.

Watch and discuss!

Hey, I watched that episode this morning and didn't even remember it was up in the rotation.

I found a list of edits Toonami made to act 12 on this site

quote:

Big O: Enemy is Another Big 1) Angel's cigarette digitally removed. 2) Scene of Angel bringing a cigarette to her lips cut. 3) Close-up of Angel's smile with a cigarette in her lips cut. 4) Schwarzwald's party edited to remove scenes of alcohol consumption. 5) Scene of burning partygoers throwing themselves from the windows cut. 6) Scene of Dorothy finding Angel's cigarette butt cut. Minimally edited episode but the edits were telling. This was a dark episode centered around a dark character. The scenes of the debauchery taking place at Schwarzwald's masquerade ball did provide some insight into the motivations of the character. While enough of the message did get through, it was blunted by CN's attempt to clean up his little party.

At it's core Big O is a dark show with it's religious themes and film noir elements. If you take out these things the show becomes meaningless, I love Dorothy and I love Roger, but it's the dark themes that make the show worth watching and re-watching.

This episode must have been particularly incoherant on Toonami. According to this list of edits Toonami took out everything in the party that Swartzwald was objecting to. They even removed the scene of the party-goers jumping through the windows (which is a fantastically strong image).

And Toonami was overly obcessed with cigarettes, they took out the scene where Dorothy found Angel's cigarette in the Smith Mansion Parlor. It may not seem like as strong an image as the people jumping through the windows but in it's own way this scene speaks volumes. Angel was in mansion (damn interloper), poor Dorothy. She looked like she'd been betrayed.

All and all I'm really glad Adult Swim has Big O. Before I found that site I didn't think it was too big a deal, but Toonami's edits were rediculous. They turned this these gorgeously disturbing episodes and turned it into a kids show. No wonder I was never able to get into it before it moved to Adult Swim.



muchlove
-dork

I'm watching it right now!

Es ist Showzeit!

The greatest battle for Big-0. With a great sound track (Stoning, Spirit, Sure Promise, Stand A Chance) adding more action to this great battle. It's hard to choose which battle (The Big Fight) finishing move is better. A full extended Piston Smack to Big Duo's head or having Big-Duo Inferno head in big-0 hand by the Big-Thunder. All good this ep kicks A$$.

And here it is. The first episode where another Big is introduced.

-It's sure a shame to not enjoy any German talk from Schwaltzie in the dub.

-The car's license plate that drove by is 'SFI FI' (Yes, I'm a nerd)

-Alex sure is different in season one. He's pretty classy, while in season two he's an immature little brat.

-I LOVED the beatdown Big O gave Big Duo. Schwaltzwalt looked like he was ready to wet his mummy wraps.

-I'm still lost as to what the last scene with Big Duo means.

-Also, did you guys noticed Dorothy is wearing her coat from Daemon Seed?

This episode doesn't hold up well under repeated viewings. The combat, in particular, seems awfully contrived. In the encounter with Mummy-Duo, Big O fires his machine guns but not his missiles, but in the encounter under the dome, Big O is "unarmed." What about his missiles?

Then Big O shows up on top of the skyscraper -- a stupid place to be, which presumably killed a lot of innocent people on his way up. And when he first grapples with Big Duo, Roger seems to forget that he has the ability to punch Big Duo. Then Roger forgets that his chromebuster is plenty powerful enough to vaporize Schwarzwald's missiles, which, because they are headed straight towards him, are an easy target.

Fortunately, when Schwarzwald sees Big O hanging over him, he freezes and does nothing of value until Big Duo is destroyed.

Oh, well.

Dorothy's reaction is interesting. She seems perfectly calm when she calls Roger to the phone. I'm not sure she recognized Angel's voice. But she overheard the rest of the conversation and managed to trace the call somehow, since she found Angel's cigarette at the end. But she didn't spring into action because of jealousy, but because of Big Duo.

Did she play any role at all during the fight? She can talk to Megadeuses, we know.

When Roger's talking on the phone with Angel, he says, "Seebach?" She replies, "No, Schwarzwald." Why is he surprised that she knows the name? Did he leave that little detail out of his report? If so, what else might he have left out?
The Archetype? (Probably not, since someone salvaged it before Act 17.)
Dorothy talking to Megadei? (Probably yes.)

This little line opens up an interesting field of speculation.

Pygmalion

It's Saturday again! Tonight's virtual showing: R-D! Dorothy's naughty little sister.

Watch and discuss!