[NBC] Revelations

[HalWhitewyrm]

Episode #4

So, last night's episode (#4)...

There really is little hope for this series, in my mind, right now. Now it's truly a train wreck I cannot pull my eyes off.

At least there was some action going on last night, though, again, way over the top (Satanists: See how EVIL we are when we kill the geeky doctoral candidate, take the comatose girl and remove her heart in a dark demonic ritual right in the courtyard of the convent!!! Though they didn't kill any of the nuns, so does that make them Satanists who know their boundaries?)

I knew the vampires were behind it all, somehow, though (Goran, the man the holy dynamic duo go to see in Prague, was played by Patrick Bauchau, who also played Archon, the Ventrue primogen, in Kindred: The Embraced). The whole tomb-raiding bit was just a little cool, but the explosion was just way over the top. I mean, I've heard of traps, but this was ridiculous (though it would make a great trap for any game).

The prize for the most obvious and overt image in the show, however, goes to the overhead shot of Hawk... I'm sorry, Sammael laying on the ground in the middle of a pentagram made of rocks. That's in case you had any doubt you were dealing with Satanists here!

We'll see where this goes, but truth is I fully expect it to suck. You would have expected much better from the writer of The Omen.

 

[ShadowDenizen]

Ever since I picked up Blood and Relics, my interest in the coming biblical apocalypse campaign have increased, and now I'm looking for more d20 products of similar theme.

I would highly recommend "The End".
(More info at http://www.tyrannygames.com/)

Sadly, they seem to have given up on actually getting any supplements out beyond the first two, but the Core Book alone is worth picking up and reading, as it is really well-done, IMO.

 

[Ghostwind]

I gave up after last week and decided to watch Collateral followed by Underworld instead. Much more entertaining. Well, at least the first movie was...

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

I would highly recommend "The End".

I was also checking that out, but again, no demo. The free adventure did give me a few glimpses into the game itself, though. I may just have to give in and buy The End and Rapture once and for all.

I gave up after last week and decided to watch Collateral followed by Underworld instead. Much more entertaining. Well, at least the first movie was...

Are you knocking Underworld?! Heathen!!!

I keep telling myself that I am watching Revelations as research for my current project. It helps console me when I realize I've lost an hour of my life (though the last two weeks I've been doing some writing during the show--you really don't miss that much--and they've been pretty productive in terms of material written, so I guess it's not all a loss).

 

[Ranger REG]

At least there was some action going on last night, though, again, way over the top (Satanists: See how EVIL we are when we kill the geeky doctoral candidate, take the comatose girl and remove her heart in a dark demonic ritual right in the courtyard of the convent!!! Though they didn't kill any of the nuns, so does that make them Satanists who know their boundaries?)

I've been wondering why they left the nuns untouched. Are they saving them for a later ritual?

I can just hear the uproar over the controversial decision to euthanize the poor girl.

 

[Ghostwind]

Are you knocking Underworld?! Heathen!!!

Not knocking it exactly. I just felt like I was watching a RPG session of Vampire: The Requiem meets Werewolf: The Forsaken.

 

[orbitalfreak]

Well, there is always the LeSea channel. It aired a series called Left Behind starring Growing Pain's star Kirk Cameron. It's less Catholicism, at least through my Catholic eyes.

Left Behind is actually based on the series of the same name, written by Tim LeHey and ... the other guy's name escapes me at the moment. It is a very non-Catholic portrayal of the end times, presented in a manner that interpretets the book of Revelation literally.

It's not the most well-written series, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. At the time, I was* an atheist/agnostic, and as long as you go in knowing that the book IS about religion and all, it should be decently enjoyable without being offensive.

Re: Revelations the show. In episode 5, when they looked at the book, did anyone catch the inscription on the front? It included MMCMXVIII, presumably the book's publication or writing date. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that 2918? Leaving off an "M" would give 1918, which IIRC falls within the time period of the author; but 2918?
(edit: Nevermind, I paused the show as soon as I saw this; it explains it about ten minutes later)

*I later converted to Christianity, though with little influence from these books.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

I can just hear the uproar over the controversial decision to euthanize the poor girl.

Oh yeah. I'm surprised no has said anything yet, though that could mean that no one who would protest is watching the show, or that rules don't apply when Satanists are involved.

(Re: Underworld) Not knocking it exactly. I just felt like I was watching a RPG session of Vampire: The Requiem meets Werewolf: The Forsaken.

Ah, very much so, actually. It's kinda why I liked it. Quite looking forward to Underworld: Evolution.

Re: Revelations the show. In episode 5, when they looked at the book, did anyone catch the inscription on the front? It included MMCMXVIII, presumably the book's publication or writing date. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that 2918? Leaving off an "M" would give 1918, which IIRC falls within the time period of the author; but 2918?
(edit: Nevermind, I paused the show as soon as I saw this; it explains it about ten minutes later)

You know, I found that odd as well, even with the lame explanation they gave it. I mean, by a quick count, there are 10 books in the Christian Bible that have a verse 29:18, and all are in the Old Testament. How the heck did she know, immediately I might add, that 2918 was a reference to Isaiah? I know there are people who can quite biblical passages from memory, but this was an extreme.

The other really annoying bit about the book was that it was written in French (or so we are led to believe by the title), yet, when the Braille translator is retyping it onto a computer, he is doing it in English (which is perfectly fine), including the little prophetic poem at the end, which, though written originally in French, when translated, had a perfect rhyming scheme!

And did everyone catch the throwaway mention of the Enochian dagger in the puzzle box? And the four daggers in the glass case, inside the crypt? I wonder if these will come back into play.

 

[orbitalfreak]

How the heck did she know, immediately I might add, that 2918 was a reference to Isaiah? I know there are people who can quite biblical passages from memory, but this was an extreme.

As for 2918, I think the writers had the Isaiah verse in mind, and built the 2918 off of it. I mean, Exodous 29:18 says "Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the Lord by fire." Having just escaped a death-trap fueled by fire, this would have been the quote on my mind, if I could recall passages as instantly as her.

The other really annoying bit about the book was that it was written in French, yet, when the Braille translator is retyping it onto a computer, he is doing it in English, including the little prophetic poem at the end, which, though written originally in French, when translated, had a perfect rhyming scheme!

The rhyming is easy to explain. In movie-land, all cultures speak English (even those not from Earth), and all of their songs rhyme in English. It's a well-known fact that the universe is structured like this.

And did everyone catch the throwaway mention of the Enochian dagger in the puzzle box? And the four daggers in the glass case, inside the crypt? I wonder if these will come back into play.

They mentioned that a certain kind of demon can only be slain with these daggers, somewhere prior to discovering them in the tomb. With that amount of foreshadowing, the one surviving dagger will most definitely be used to kill the demon. You can see the plot here unravelling a mile away.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

I guess we'll find out tonight (if my DirecTV decides to cooperate... It would suck to have seen all the episodes only to miss the last one).