Symptom 12: Wandering the Wasteland

Time to take a nostalgic trip to the commonwealth and the wasteland that is America in the Fallout universe. Corey, Nick and Scott take some time to review 2015's blockbuster video game Fallout 4, the beauty and enjoyability of the massive open world sandbox, ease of gameplay, as well as dive into some of the weightier ethical questions posed by the aims of the various factions. The crew also discusses, with some regret, the lack of power of the main story, as well as a brief discussion of where Fallout 4 ranks within the series. 

So settle in and crawl out through the fallout with the Sci-Fi Malady crew in Symptom 12, Wandering the Wasteland.

Symptom 11: Set Phasers to False

Hard science or soft science fiction. Interstellar or Star Wars? The Martian or Minority Report? Star Trek or 2001: A Space Odyssey? In some circles there is a fierce debate over this, among fans who want more science in their sci-fi. This week, Ragemaster and Scott discuss the differences between the two and the pros and cons of each. In the end, it doesn't matter if the tale is grounded in real science or overloaded with transporters and faster than light travel, what matters is if there is a compelling story that explores the human condition and entertains you. If story manages to do those things its good science fiction, regardless of how accurate or inaccurate the science is. 

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Episode 10: Netflix One, Hollywood None

We have discussed that the place to go for quality science fiction that doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator are streaming sites like Netflix or Hulu. Spectral, a Netflix original film, is a prime of example of good, not great, entertaining science fiction. Spectral is an enjoyable, action packed, fast paced sci-fi romp, with a little bit of subtle examination of the human condition included. This week's episode of Sci-Fi Malady discusses Spectral and why we feel it is a cut above the films coming out of major Hollywood studios at this time. We also take a shot at JJ Abrams, because of course we do, he sucks. 

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Episode 9: Life, The Universe and Everything

It is another Isolation Unit episode as due to scheduling we could not the entire crew together.  Grab your towel, it is time to discuss The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  This episode discusses the questions, is the reality we perceive the true reality, what is the meaning of life, the purpose of existence, and once again, is being happy the real goal of existence. 

Mix up a pan galactic gargle blaster and settle in for a discussion of Douglas Adams' classic Sci-Fi satire, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 

Don't Panic - The answer is always 42. 

Episode 8: Ditch Your Meat Body

It is very possible that in the distant future science will figure out how to create a virtual world that looks, sounds, smells and feels like reality, in essence, The Matrix. Some current scientists and theorist believe that human memory is so similar to computer memory, that is a matter of time before your brain can be uploaded in a computer virtual reality construct, allowing one to live eternally in a digital world. 

This week the Sci-Fi Malady crew discusses the Black Mirror Episode San Junipero, a virtual world where the dead have uploaded their consciousness and the terminally ill visit weekly for five hours. We discuss first how in our opinion, this is an amazingly well written piece of science fiction and we wish there was more stories like this, and secondly, the moral and ethical implications of San Junipero. 

Is a virtual world real? What if you could experience love in that artificial world? Can you actually upload yourself into a computer, or would that just become an algorithm running as an independent program in a greater program? Are "you" really just your neural pathways and synapses, or is there that as of yet unidentified soul that gives us spark of life, a thing that can't be transferred into a computer? 

Episode 7: Retcon this Title

Retconning.  Necessary evil or abomination? Much debated by fans, and much maligned, retconning is sometimes necessary, and when done well, an effective story telling device. This week, Scott and the Ragemaster discuss when retconning is, in our opinion, properly used, and examples of when it has been horribly applied to gut the soul of a science fiction franchise. 

Note - please realize I reserve the right to retcon this description to address future criticism of the episode. 

Episode 6: To Struggle is to Grow

It's the first Sci-Fi Malady Isolation Unit episode. What does that mean? It means its just Scott because we were unable to get the crew together to record this week. Me being a trekkie, I decided to discuss a theme from TOS, (The Original Series) that a society that does not have conflict or struggle is a flawed, non growing society, even if it is perfectly happy, crime, poverty and disease free. It is by facing difficulty and striving to overcome it that individuals and humanity as a whole, improve, not by being happy or healthy.  While being happy and healthy are important and everyones end goal, it is only by overcoming obstacles that we improve. 

1/19/17 Edit - The original upload had an editing error which had 30 seconds of dead air. I corrected that with today's upload. 

Episode 5: Take Me Out Into the Black

This week the Sci-Malady crew was a little shorthanded, but The Ragemaster and Scott discussed a science fiction cult classic, Firefly. Spoilers, we love Firefly and had nothing negative to say about it. It is simply one of the greats in the pantheon of science fiction franchises.  In this week's episode we discuss why Firefly was so great, artistically, as well as why the show was ultimately cancelled. We wrap with a what if discussion about whether Firefly should or should not return for a postscript on Netflix. 

 

Episode 4: RageMaster Hates Rogue One

In this week's podcast the Sci-Fi Malady crew discusses Rogue One, what it did well, where it failed and asks the question should the writer/director have attempted to inject some originality into the film instead of following the same old formula. This episode contains numerous spoilers, so if you have not seen the movie yet bookmark this episode and give it a listen after checking out Rogue One. 

Sci-Fi Malady Episode 3: A Golden Age of Nerdom

It's current a golden age to be a nerd. After years of all things geek being uncool, science fiction, fantasy, video games, all things once considered nerdy, are now fringe cool. In someways that is awesome.  A wider market for science fiction and fantasy products means more movies, novels and TV shows.  It has given us Game of Thrones, The Ender's Game Movie adaptation, a new Star Wars Trilogy, a new Star Trek TV show, but is has also given us AVP, AbramsTrek and countless other movies which lack any messages, substance, or in some cases a plot. 

In the Golden Age of Nerdom, movies are now made for the masses, which means more and bigger special effects and explosions, murder-killing, flash panning and fast cutting camera shots, and all types of things out of a Michael Bay wet dream.  In this weeks episode the crew laments that so much new science fiction is watered down garbage while discussing examples of past science fiction we felt was done at a high level. 

Show ending soundbite goes to The RageMaster - he is starting to earn that name. 

***A note on production. I had a latency issue with the computer while recording this.  There are a couple minutes of distortion halfway through, then it clears up, bear with it, it won't last long.  You do however, miss a good discussion of Dune and the Chronicles of Riddick, which were unfortunate casualties of this computer failing, or maybe operator failing***

Time Travel (And Terminator 3 Sucks)

Time Travel. It is one of those areas of science fiction that is either done really well or really poorly.  When done well you get a story that is entertaining, thought provoking and full of mind screwing moments.  In this week's Episode of Sci-Fi Malady the crew, sans Ragemaster, discuss when time travel is done well in science fiction and where it fails, and of course, why Terminator 3, and Salvation, are abominations against mankind.  

Corey wins the best edit of the week which is the last you hear before the show ends.