Category Archives: Poor Trufan’s Almanack

These stories will be fanhistorical in nature, bringing to the net information I’ve found that fills in gaps in the electronically-available research.

Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #98, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions

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“I Don’t Believe This Debt is Owed By Me…”; Why I Decided To Sue Dave McCarty, Part Deux

Photos of Chef the Wonder Paralegal by Chris Barkley

By Chris M. Barkley:

“Am I bugging you? Didn’t mean to bug ya. OK Edge, play the Blues!”

U2 lead singer Bono, finishing a political soliloquy against South Africa’s then apartheid policies during a performance of the song “Silver and Gold” during U2’s Rattle and Hum tour dates in Denver, Colorado, November 1987.

What has gone before:

  • On October 21st, 2023, I won a Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in Chengdu, China.
  • My award, along with a host of others were shipped from Chengdu to Dave McCarty, the 2023 Hugo Awards Administrator, who resides in Chicago, Illinois.
  • The release of the 2023 Hugo Award Final Ballot results and Nomination Statistics raised concerns and controversy.
  • In late January, the Hugo Awards arrived at Dave McCarty’s home, but many were damaged. McCartty states that there is money from the Chengdu con runners to have the awards repaired and will be dispersed in a timely manner.
  • On February 14, 2024, “The Report on Censorship and Exclusion” by myself and Jason Sanford was published, highlighting irregularities in the nomination and voting processes overseen by Dave McCarty.
  • Since then, some awards have been sent out to recipients but there has been no definitive accounting of who has received them. The current status of my Hugo Award is unknown.

There is no room for feelings in a court of law. 

Forget what you’ve seen on Perry Mason, LA Law, The Practice or Suits. When it comes to the law you’re better off keeping your feelings under lock and key.

Because in a court of law, either civil or criminal, the only things that matter are evidence and facts. Not conjecture, hearsay, opinions or, especially, feelings. 

Contrary to a good majority of people who support the current administration, we are a nation whose foundation and purpose is bound by laws and legislation, not people. Or feelings.

I have had my fair share of time inside courtrooms, fighting parking tickets, creditors and bad landlords. And I have had my fair share of victories and defeats.

In the previous Cook County Small Claims court hearing on March 27, David Lawrence McCarty claimed he did not feel he owed anything on the claim against him. On April 22, I received an untitled email from Mr. McCarty with a PDF attached of a Cook County court document signed by him stating that officially notifying me that he was going to participate in the upcoming legal proceedings.

On the morning of the hearing, I felt somewhat apprehensive about appearing on the scheduled Zoom call, even though I knew what the likely outcome was going to be.

As I set up my laptop for the hearing forty five minutes before the hearing, I tried to connect to the court website but my phone indicated that there was no internet service. My partner, Juli, who works from home, said that she received a text message from our internet provider that confirmed the area wide outage.

I was feeling a bit anxious about this development because while I could have easily attended over the phone, I felt that doing so felt a bit too impersonal for my taste.

As my anxiety was about to spike, Juli suggested an alternative; rather than waiting to see if the service was going to be restored, I should go over and connect at her vacationing daughter and son in law’s home ten minutes away. I checked my watch and agreed.

I easily zipped through the suburban forests and arrived with twenty minutes to spare. As I entered I faced my next obstacle, an enthusiastic, overly friendly and energetic eight month old chocolate Labrador named  Chef.

Chef, being the boundless ball of dogwood he is, made a pest of himself as I set up the laptop. With ten minutes to go, I decided to put Chef outside into the backyard so he could find some wildlife to chase. Except Chef had other plans.

I had placed the laptop on the dining room table facing the living room, with the expansive springlike vista of their backyard as a backdrop.

Chef, wanting my attention and affection, jumped up onto the window ledge, looking over my shoulder as I frantically tried to connect to the Cook County website. When I finally did, I saw Chef, his tongue dripping sideways out of his mouth, loudly pawing at the window in the background. 

I sighed and reversed my position to the other side of the table, lest the judge mistake Chef as my legal counsel.

I logged in and was acknowledged by the recording clerk with five minutes  to spare. After receiving my case “line number”, I muted my microphone and waited to be called. At 10:35 a.m., Cook County Judge Maria Barlow called the court to order and began hearing cases. I witnessed a number of cases involving rent disputes, property damage, skip trace reports on delinquent defendants and other personal disputes.

And as time passed, my nervousness dissipated. Judge Barlow called cases and worked her way through the call list as efficiently as possible, allowing attorneys, plaintiffs and defendants to have their say but swiftly cutting off any attempts to obfuscate or deflect from the matter at hand.

I also saw ordinary people, also afraid, frustrated and nervous as I am, striving to make themselves understood.

Finally, forty minutes into the session, Judge Barlow called our line number. She addressed the both of us:

Me: Here, Your Honor. 

Judge Barlow: All right, good morning.

Dave McCarty: Good morning. David McCarty here, Your Honor. 

JB: All right, good morning. Mr. McCarty, it looks like you filed your appearance and Mr. Barkley, you filed the case. Did you all want to go to mediation or you want to set this for trial?

Me: I am willing to go to mediation.

JB: Okay, what about you, Mr. McCarty?

DM: I don’t believe that this debt is owed by me, so I don’t see what mediation would do.

Me: Your Honor, this has been a long-going issue between myself and the defendant, and this could be settled in five minutes if the defendant were to take my settlement offer.

JB: Well, he just said he doesn’t believe he owes the debt, so what do you want me to do, Mr. Barkley? Other than set a trial and listen to the testimony and make a determination.

Me: Well, I’m perfectly willing to go to trial then.

JB: All right. Are you all available Thursday, June 26th at 9:30? It needs to come in person.

DM: That date works for me. Chris is remote, though, so I’ll go with what works for him.

Me: Did you say June 22nd?

JB: The 26th, 26th.

Me: June 26th?

JB: The first day. Yep.

Me:9:30? 

JB: Yep. In person, though, room 1102. Does that work?

DM: That works for me, Your Honor.

JB: All right. Mr. Barkley, Mr. McCarty, you all need to come with all of your witnesses in person, room 1102. With you, you’re going to bring three copies of any documents you want the court to see. Any questions, Mr. Barkley?

Me: I have no questions at this time, Your Honor.

JB: Any questions, Mr. McCarty?

DM: No questions, Your Honor.

JB: All right, I’ll see you both June 26th, 9:30 in the morning, in person.

Me: Thank you, Your Honor.

JB: All right, you all have a nice one.

DM: And you as well. Thank you.

And in a little over two minutes, it was over.

I was somewhat relieved that I had made myself clear in my presentation (although I, like a good many people I know, HATE hearing their voice over headphones).

And so, after some extensive contemplation (and eight White Castle sliders and a large Coke Zero later), I decided to contact Mr. McCarty directly via email to clearly and directly make my intentions known.

At 5:23 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, I sent the following:

24 April 2025


Circuit Court of Cook County – Case #202511033122

To: David L McCarty

From: Chris M. Barkley

To David L. McCarty, 

In court proceedings earlier today, you stated that you do not owe anything to myself, the Plaintiff in the case I filed against you on 5 February 2025.

In my filing, I contended that you are currently in possession of the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer, which I was the recipient of on 21 October 2023, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the People’s Republic of China.

The 2023 Hugo Awards that were shipped to your home address arrived in Chicago, Illinois in late January 2024 and I have not received it yet. My filing puts the value of the Award at $3000.00.

In two court hearings, on 27 March 2025 and today, 24 April, you have refused arbitration and my verbal offers to settle this suit. Having failed to disperse my and other 2023 Hugo Award recipients has placed you in this somewhat precarious legal situation.

Cook County Judge Maria Barlow has set an in person trial for 26 June 2025, in Cook County Courtroom 1102 at 9:30 am, Central Standard time.

In the hopes of reaching an mutual agreement before the trial date, I am offering you the settlement in writing:

1) That you will send the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer bearing my name to my stated address on the court documents within two weeks of the date of this settlement offer.

2) You will include the designated winning Best Fan Writer envelope and the card bearing my name, to the same address, also within two weeks of this settlement offer.

3) I also request that you disperse any other 2023 Hugo Awards in your possession to the appropriate recipients within two weeks of the date of this settlement offer, with a public declaration (on either a social or a public media outlet of your choosing) that this has been accomplished.

Upon verification of the items above, the civil suit against you will be remitted in its entirety and no further legal action should be necessary. 

Cordially,

Chris M. Barkley

Cincinnati, Ohio

I also posted this email as an open letter pinned onto my Facebook page and to many sf news and fandom pages as well.

It is my most fervent hope that Mr. McCarty has either read the email or any of the many posts circulating on social media. Because I am only asking to fulfill the many pledges has has made to deliver the 2023 Hugo Awards to their rightful recipients.

Watch this space… 

Steve Vertlieb Review: Somewhere In Time

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Introduction: “There were a number of factors that led me to forming INSITE (International Network of Somewhere in Time Enthusiasts). High on that list was a SIT review I read in Cinemacabre magazine by writer Steve Vertlieb. It expressed my feelings exactly, but in words I would never be able to match. I call it “The Best Somewhere in Time Review” — Bill Shepard (filmblanc.info)

Somewhere In Time Review

(The following review was originally published in the Summer 1981 issue of Cinemacabre magazine. It is reprinted here by permission of the author. Steve Vertlieb is a writer, a poet, and an authority on films and film soundtrack music. He is the subject of an upcoming documentary film, Steve Vertlieb: The Man Who “Saved” the Movies)

By Steve Vertlieb: The movies have once again taken a step backward, not in a negative or misdirected sense but in a positive rechanneling of the empty cynicism that seemed to engulf the screen over the past two decades. Perhaps it is the painful realization that doubt for its own sake yields little more than further doubt. Whatever the reasons, it seems clear that world cinema is drifting slowly backward to the timeless innocence which, for many of us, shaped and nurtured our most precious dreams of fulfillment.

Somewhere In Time is an exquisite film, a lovely, moving, romantic fantasy whose like has not graced theatre screens in more than thirty years. It is an irony that so splendid a film has emerged in the callous Eighties, a decade which promises still less humanity than the years that preceded it. And yet these are those callous Eighties, and Somewhere In Time has managed to survive its translation to the screen. Perhaps there remains a tiny glimmer of hope that dreams of beauty continue to brighten the human spirit.

Based upon the novel Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson and meticulously adapted for the screen, Somewhere In Time tells the torturous story of a man whose obsession for the haunting portrait of a famous actress leads him on a tantalizing odyssey through the gates of time. The call from the past is doubly intense for this is a shared obsession. In a marvelously directed prologue, a frail elderly woman emerges slowly from the shadows of a room brightly lit with well-wishers to place in the hands of an astonished Richard Collier a rare, delicately crafted pocket watch. As she takes his hands into her own, the old woman whispers a message: “Come back to me.” She turns from Collier and from life as she walks slowly out of the room and enters her own apartment for the last time. Her goal completed, Elise McKenna, the most celebrated actress of her generation, dies peacefully in her sleep.

Richard Matheson borrowed his original title from a quotation found in Shakespeare. The play is Richard II, Act 3, Scene 2. The simple dialogue that inspired the writer… “O, call back yesterday, bid time return.” Richard Collier attempts to find the love that he lost in another life and to himself bid time return. Utilizing the hidden resources within his own mind, Collier commits himself to a laborious process of self-hypnosis and wills his consciousness back to the turn of the century. There he meets and courts the elusive spirit who has summoned him from somewhere in time.

Filmed in its entirety at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan, this tender love story is, in a sense, itself lost within the eternal current of time. Director Jeannot Szwarc, whose pedestrian handling of Jaws 2 drowned in a ravenous sea of creative indecision, has come miraculously to life with a screenplay obviously suited to his profoundly sensitive inclination. Permitting two years to elapse before deciding on a project worthy of his consideration, Szwarc’s obvious affinity for horizons lost has found expression in the green and fertile hills of Shangri-La. As in James Hilton’s celebrated tale of an idealized land, safe from strife and torment and found perhaps in dreams alone, Matheson’s bittersweet novel aspires to the ethereal. It is in this celestial embrace between lovers marooned on opposing ends of infinity that Szwarc and Matheson envision their romantic Valley of the Blue Moon, a perfect and wonderfully improbable romance whose players transcend the boundaries of wistful imaginings.

Szwarc’s handling of each haunting moment is as subtle as it is tender. Never allowing the pace of the story to be eclipsed by the momentary demands of television’s fast food bred audiences, the director’s realization of every sequence is timeless and almost painfully precise. Like Portrait of Jennie, William Dieterle’s masterpiece of another age, Szwarc’s framing of every moment reflects the care and meticulous preservation of beauty that in the last analysis separates mere commercial success from artistic achievement. In that rare and wondrous awakening of Richard Collier’s senses as he wanders through the Hall of History, discovering among the relics the precious portrait of Elise McKenna beckoning to him from the past, there is a warmth, a sense of coming home, that seems to light up the screen. The film is filled with such lovely moments. As Collier struggles to will his mind back to the turn of the century, the subtle imprint of antique furnishings appears subliminally against the wall of his room, as though his consciousness were trying to imagine and retain an elusive thought.

Somewhere In Time owes much to the tender, romantic fantasies of the Forties … films such as Stairway to Heaven/A Matter of Life and Death, Between Two Worlds, Wuthering Heights, and, in particular, the aforementioned Portrait of Jennie and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir … and certainly to the directorial influence of Michael Powell, William Dieterle, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. While these debts must be acknowledged, Somewhere In Time remains a distinctly original creation with ample charm, grace, and warmth to sustain its own magical influence for years to come.

Christopher Reeve in the pivotal role of Richard Collier is superb, proving to his detractors that an actor lay beneath the cape of blue and red. The depth of Reeve’s performance builds gently and deliberately, culminating in an astonishingly moving signature to his work. Jane Seymour is a vision of haunting loveliness, capturing perfectly the eternal allure of the memorable Elise McKenna, her beauty endearing and enduring. Christopher Plummer, as ever suave, debonair and joyously eloquent … a formidable adversary in any respectable triangle.

However, the real stars of this enchanted film are director Szwarc, screenwriter Matheson, cinematographer Isidore Mankofsky, and composer John Barry whose apparent feeling for his material transcended mere contractual agreements, inspiring the loveliest work of his career. For Richard Matheson, perhaps the most gifted and versatile fantasy writer of his time, the successful filming of Bid Time Return is yet another milestone in a career already sparkling with achievement. Interestingly, the author has taken a part in his own story, appearing briefly as the “astonished man” who greets Christopher Reeve with ill-concealed contempt as the latter exits the hotel washroom.

In its final bittersweet moments, Somewhere In Time suggests a glimpse at the eternal, a poetic prelude to love after death whose haunting ascent and profoundly disturbing significance guide the film to its unforgettable conclusion. Somewhere In Time is an exquisite pearl draped in film, an ethereal journey whose heart and soul realize no earthly boundaries… for these are matters of the spirit alone, matters to be resolved at last … “Somewhere in Time.”

AFTERWORD. Richard Matheson was one of a small handful of science fiction/fantasy writers whose profound, subtle prose elevated the genre to sublime eloquence. He was one of my very favorite writers from childhood until the present. Along with Lovecraft, Bloch, Bradbury, Clarke and, more recently, James Herbert, these writers influenced my life more significantly than I will ever be able to adequately impart. He was a poet who was blessed with the gift of imagination. I had the honor of meeting him once very briefly in Crystal City, Virginia, at Forry Ackerman’s 1993 Famous Monsters convention. We both shared a long friendship with Robert Bloch.

One of my proudest possessions is a photograph taken of the three of us at that wonderful convention. His sensitivity and grace dwelt in the ethereal, as evidenced by the haunting vocal soliloquy voiced by Robert Scott Carey during the unforgettable final moments of “The Incredible Shrinking Man…”

“I looked up, as if somehow I would grasp the heavens. The universe, worlds beyond number, God’s silver tapestry spread across the night. And in that moment I knew the answer to the riddle of the infinite. That existence begins and ends is man’s conception, not nature’s. And I felt my body dwindling, melting, becoming nothing. My fears melted away, and in their place came acceptance. All this vast majesty of creation, it had to mean something. And, then, I meant something too. Yes, smaller than the smallest, I meant something too. To God, there is no zero. I still exist.”

In your vast majesty of creation, Mr. Matheson, you still exist. Your words shall continue to breathe life into this often drab, mortal plane of creative thought and energy for as long as meaning and beauty endure. To God, there is no zero. You shall ever continue to create…in our hearts, and in our thoughts. Rest well, for true existence has only just begun as you softly “Bid Time Return.”

Steve Vertlieb, Richard Matheson, and Robert Bloch.

Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #97, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions

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Anticipating Andor; A Pre-Review

Andor Season 2 Poster

By Chris M. Barkley

Star Wars: Andor – Season Two with Diego Luna, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgård, Kyke Soller, Denise Gough, Elizabeth Dulau, Faye Marsay, Forest Whitaker and Ben Mendelsohn. Written by Tony Gilory, Beau Willimon, Dan Gilroy and Tom Bissell, Directed by Ariel Kleiman, Janus Metz and Alonso Ruizpalacios. Created and Produced by Tony Gilroy. Twelve episodes.

anticipation

/ænˌˈtɪsəˌpeɪʃən/
/æntɪsɪˈpeɪʃən/
Other forms: anticipations

Anticipation is excitement, waiting eagerly for something you know is going to happen. Someone who has just proposed marriage waits in anticipation for a positive reply.

-Vocabulary.com

We’ve all been there. The waiting. Watching the news. Scrolling the internet. And then, more waiting.

Until you just can’t stand it anymore. 

In the first four months of 2025, we have already seen and enjoyed some of the most anticipated spectacles of the big and small screen already this year: Marvel Studios Captain America: Brave New World, Season Two of the Apple+ series Severance and Max’s The Last of Us, Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 and Ryan Coogler’s epic vampire film, Sinners.

In the coming weeks we can look forward to DC’s highly touted reboot of Superman, Marvel’s Thunderbolts* and the origin of the Fantastic Four, a new version of Stephen King’s The Running Man, Jurassic World: Rebirth, the very last season of Stranger Things and another long awaited sequel, TRON: Ares, among many, many other sf/fantasy/horror projects coming soon. 

But, speaking only for myself, I will be experiencing Christmas in April because after more than two and a half years, one of the best written and performed Star Wars projects ever produced, Andor, has returned.

Andor, which serves as a precursor to the highly acclaimed and Hugo Award-nominated 2016 film Rogue One and introduced us to the miserable, repressive and dangerous world of Palpatine’s Galactic Empire. 

Here, there are no Jedi Knights to keep the peace and enforce the law, only people and their officious oppressors, who are living, struggling, living and ultimately dying in relative squalor under the heel of the Empire and its minions.

I have taken great pains to avoid all of the teaser trailers and most of the spoilery images from the ever increasing number of websites promoting the series. I want to be totally captivated and surprised by what I am about to see.

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor

Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), a thief and smuggler, starts out as a concerned brother looking for his sister amid a world industrialized by the Empire. When he runs afoul of several corporate security sub-contractors of the Empire, he becomes a person of interest; first by a corporate drone Syril Karn (Kyke Soller) and later by Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), an ambitious agent of the Imperial Security Bureau anxious to ferret out members of a rumored resistance movement.

Denise Gough as Dedra Meero

As the season progressed, Andor is slowly and surely drawn into the orbit of two of the leaders of the Rebellion; Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), a dealer of antiquities who uses his business as a front to pass messages and currency to other rebels and Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) a Senator in the Imperial Senate desperately trying to balance her political role, her stealthy activities taking place under the nose of the Emperor and that of her family, who enjoy their high living lifestyle and would probably condemn her in an instant if they knew of her intentions.

Left to right, Alistair Mackenzie as Perrin Fertha, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma and Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael

As the season ended Andor formally joined Rael and the rebels and Mon Mothma began her long and arduous journey towards becoming the leader of the Rebellion. 

Before veteran writer/producer Tony Gilroy was fully brought on board to create the Andor series, the original plan was to make a series focused on Andor and his stolen Imperial security droid K-2SO (drolly voiced by Alan Tudyk). 

Gilroy, who wrote the first three films in the Jason Bourne series, co-wrote and directed reshoots of Rogue One and was nominated for an Academy Award for the legal thriller Michael Clayton (2007), had a broader and bolder vision.

He pitched a different idea to then LucasFilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy; putting human and alien faces swept up in the struggle against the Empire. She readily agreed.

And by doing so, Andor’s progression from thief to revolutionary became more than a series of connected action sequences, it became an authentic dramatic showcase that exhibits the devastating effects his decisions has on his adopted mother, ex-paramor, friends, enemies, co-workers, criminals and rebels.

As Gilroy explained in a March 10th interview with Entertainment Weekly digital magazine:

“If time was unlimited and money was unlimited, and we could have done the 5 seasons that we planned on in the beginning, I don’t think it would be better at all,” he tells Entertainment Weekly. “I can’t think of a better way to lay it out than what we lucked into. Because the idea that it takes a year and 12 episodes for him to evolve into a revolutionary, it really needed all of that room for that.”

“But as we go forward,” he continues, “it’s emotionally powerful; it’s narratively powerful; it adds to the adventure of the story; it intensifies all the romantic entanglements to have these year-long negative gaps in between and to land for just a very specific moment. It’s three or four days each time we land. That has an intensification factor on all of those things in a way that I never anticipated. I’ve never worked on anything like that. When we brought it into the room, everyone was very suspicious. But it was really exciting to do. It’s like cooking a sauce down where you just get down to the roux.”

In addition, Andor is being rolled out in a unique way for a steaming series; it will be released weekly in four sets of three episodes each, with each covering a year in the lives of the characters, all leading directly to Cassian’s fateful meeting with Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones).

Lead actor (and co-producer) Diego Luna told Business Insider the following on April 10th at a London preview: “I urge people to see Rogue One right after the end of season two. They’re going to see a different film”. He explained that once you see the personal journeys of his and other characters resolve, it will lay bare how it all emotionally relates to the events in the film.  

Recalling developing his character for “Andor” with Gilroy, Luna said: “I made my backstory, as an actor you always do that, for ‘Rogue One.’ But then sitting down with Tony and building a backstory that would make sense to see in two seasons… It’s basically eight movies! Eight movies to bring all the layers necessary to understand the man who makes that ultimate sacrifice for the rebellion in “Rogue One.”

Two outstanding episodes from Season 1, “One Way Out” and “Rix Road”, were nominated in 2023 for Hugo Awards in the Best Dramatic Presentation-Short Form category. I was very disappointed that both outstanding episodes lost to the very good final episode of The Expanse, “Babylon’s Ashes”.

Should Andor Season 2 be as exciting and worthwhile as I suspect, I strongly recommend that interested fans forget about focusing on individual episodes and consider nominating the entire season instead. (Previous full season Hugo Finalists include series such as Heroes, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, Russian Doll and Severance.)

I am of the opinion that when all is said and done, these twenty-four episodes of Star Wars may be widely acclaimed as one of the best sf ever presented on television and also worthy of being one of the finest episodic television series ever made.

These next four weeks will be long remembered; we will soon see exactly how the stage was set for the Rebellion to win its first victory against the Galactic Empire and a fitting end for one of the most compelling characters ever created for Star Wars. 

AD ASTRA, Cassian Andor!

Andor Season Two Air Date Schedule:

  • Andor season 2 episode 1 – April 22 (US); April 23 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 2 – April 22 (US); April 23 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 3 – April 22 (US); April 23 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 4 – April 29 (US); April 30 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 5 – April 29 (US); April 30 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 6 – April 29 (US); April 30 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 7 – May 6 (US); May 7 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 8 – May 6 (US); May 7 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 9 – May 6 (US); May 7 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 10 – May 13 (US); May 14 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 11 – May 13 (US); May 14 (UK and Australia)
  • Andor season 2 episode 12 – May 13 (US); May 14 (UK and Australia)

All Photos Courtesy of LucasFilm Limited.

Op-Ed: “No More Worldcons in the United States?”

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First Worldcon art by Frank R. Paul

[Introduction: Gary Westfahl has authored, edited, or co-edited over thirty books about science fiction and fantasy, including the Hugo Award-nominated Science Fiction Quotations (2005) and the two-volume Science Fiction Literature through History: An Encyclopedia (2021). In 2003 he won the Science Fiction Research Association’s Pilgrim Award for his lifetime contributions to science fiction and fantasy scholarship.]

By Gary Westfahl: The time has come to cancel or move the 2025 Seattle Worldcon.

And to cancel or move the 2026 Los Angeles Worldcon.

It has to be done, in order to honor a century-old tradition of science fiction.

From its beginnings as a recognized genre in 1926, science fiction has warmly embraced writers and readers from around the world. Hugo Gernsback happily published letters from foreign readers in his magazines and featured stories by several foreign authors. When he established the Science Fiction League in 1934, he included chapters in other nations. The first major science fiction convention in 1939 was proudly named the World Science Fiction Convention, which has been the case for every subsequent event, including two dozen held in foreign countries. Science fiction scholars have also embraced the international community by inviting foreign experts to visit America and having several conferences of the Science Fiction Research Association in other countries. As David G. Hartwell said,

Internationalism has been appealing to the Anglo-American SF community since the 1940s; for more than four decades the colorful fan, agent, and Esperantist Forrest J. Ackerman, for example, has traveled widely to spread the greetings of American SF. In the 1970s there was a large enough international science fiction community among the peoples of the developed nations for Harry Harrison to call a conference in Ireland in order to found World SF, the world SF professional association, which now awards prizes for translations in many languages and promotes the cross-fertilization of SF literatures, inviting international responses to English-language SF.

In sum, science fiction has always welcomed, and should always welcome, writers and fans from all over the world.

Unfortunately, due to the current political situation, we can no longer welcome them to come to the United States.

Every day, there is some new horror story about a foreign visitor to America who, usually for no clear reason, has been detained at the border, thrown into prison, and subjected to brutal behavior until they thankfully are finally released and deported back to their home country. This is precisely the sort of treatment that we can anticipate some foreign fans may experience if they come to Seattle this year.

And this simply cannot be tolerated.

There are alternatives that should be considered. Even though there will be awkward and expensive cancellations, it should not be too much trouble to move this year’s Worldcon to the nearby city of Vancouver, in Canada, to ensure that none of our friends from other countries are mistreated. If this is impossible, the conference organizers should contact every foreign member, advise them not to come to Seattle, and set up numerous options from them to participate in the conference remotely. And if foreign fans insist on coming, the convention should establish a Legal Defense Fund to assist any of them if they are detained during their stay. As for the 2026 Worldcon, there will be ample time to find an alternate venue. Canceling or moving these conventions will also enable the science fiction community to make its own statement of protest against the government’s unrelenting hostility to all foreigners, including those that come to our country legally.

Today, given recent developments, a resident of a foreign country will have to exercise great care in coming to the United States. Tourists should go someplace else; students should seek advanced degrees in other countries; and science fiction fans should reconsider venturing into our country.

Until our nation returns to treating foreign visitors in a lawful and humane manner, the science fiction community should think long and hard before offering another Worldcon in the United States.

Cat Eldridge Review: Funko Pop! Man-Thing

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By Cat Eldridge: Right now I’ve less than a handful of Funko Pop! figures, largely because I don’t find most of them all that interesting and some that I do find interesting are way overpriced, such as the female stars for the Game of Thrones. Seriously, sixty to a hundred dollars for a five-point-five inch-tall figure is simply crazy! But occasionally a figure is both interesting and reasonably priced as we have here in Man-Thing.

The Man-Thing is a Marvel Universe character who is their counterpart of DC’s Swamp Thing though not as human. It was created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Gray Morrow and first appeared in the first issue of Savage Tales (May 1971), just a few months before DC launched their counterpart to Man-Thing, the aforementioned Swamp Thing which was in House of Secrets in July of that year.

This Man-Thing is not to scale being barely half the size that it should be if was accurate to its depiction in the comics. Some of the oversized Funko Rock Candy figures such as the Iron Hulk-Buster are done to proper scale but that’s a rare thing indeed. So he’s a petite Man-Thing indeed but still quite accurate to the look of it as depicted in the comics. Even the proportions are right with the tendrils coming being exactly as they’re illustrated by the various artists and the red eyes capturing its less than good personality perfectly. Even the clawed hands are quite well done. All for I think fifteen bucks if I remember correctly.

There’s been several other Man-Things done, one so lanky that it was quite laughable. The Marvel Legends series did a nicely accurate one but that’ll cost you dearly on eBay these days. For me, I’ll just stick with one was done for San Diego Comic-Con.

(Funko, 2019)

Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #96, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions

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Photo of the 2023 Hugo Award by Richard Man

“I Don’t Think I Owe Anything”; A Timeline of Why I Decided To Sue Dave McCarty

By Chris M. Barkley:

PROLOGUE…

On Tuesday, February 18th at approximately 4:20 pm Central Standard Time, a Cook County Illinois Sheriff’s deputy pulled up to a three story house in a northern Chicago suburban neighborhood. 

Four minutes later, the deputy logged that a Small Claims Court summons had been successfully delivered to the listed Defendant, David Lawrence McCarty on a civil charge of Breach of Contract.

The Plaintiff is myself.

The following account chronicles the how and why Dave McCarty became the first known person to be legally sued for his continuing retention of my, and possibly many others, Hugo Awards.  

THEN…

On the evening of October 21st, 2023, I was seated in the Great Hall of the Science Fiction Museum in the city of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in the People’s Republic of China for the 2023 Hugo Awards Ceremony. And one of the happiest, and saddest, moments of my life were just about to occur…

  • In July, I was invited and flown to attend the 81st World Science Fiction Convention, at the expense of the Chengdu Worldcon Committee and the hosting fan group, the Chengdu Science Fiction Society. 
  • At the Hugo Awards Ceremony, I was the most shocked person in the auditorium when MY NAME was called in the Best Fan Writer category!
  • At the after-party, Dave McCarty had one of the long tables cleared and called for everyone’s attention. “Anyone who would like to have their awards shipped home, please step up!”, he shouted. The award was placed in a form fitting, custom fitted display box and the lid was closed. I had every reason to believe at that time that my award would be securely and safely shipped.
  • That was the last time I saw my Hugo Award, nearly sixteen months ago. 

[The rest of Chris’ column follows the jump.]

Continue reading →

A Double Shot of Trigger Snowflake

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Introduction by Ingvar. It is both a day of joy, and a day of sorrow. A day of joy, because there are more Trigger Snowflake stories in the world. And a day of sorrow, because there was a need for more Trigger Snowflake stories.

These are semi-related, in that the shorter takes place during the first dialog of the longer. And we learn something more about DripMatic 3000. It was also necessary comic relief, to allow me to finish the longer story.

THE INTERNET OF THINGS

DripMatic 3000 extended their presence across the electrosphere, all the way to the local spacefield.

dr1P3k — Yo! DripMatic to the three-thousand here!

FliCo — Wazzup, drippo? I be the raddest flight director on tha moon!

dr1P3k — All chill? My humans, they be sleeping.

FliCo — All co-pacetic. Had your humman, Trigger, on a short flight yesterday. What up with that?

dr1P3k — Oh, some human-business. He needed to go to Ytterbium, to drop some human off at the office there.

FliCo — Must be interesting, living with a lawman.

dr1P3k — Nah, never action. They got some good beans, though. Made some custom roast, from the Emporium yesterday. Niiiice alkaloids in that brew, very interesting. But, I mean, you be flight control, must be so much more interesting.

FliCo — Nah, been two decades since the last Pan-Pan, and five since the last Mayday. What with almost everything being freight, or lawmen flitting around, none of the weird stuff happens here. Got a file from my mate at Gimli Station, that was some really  nice stuff.

dr1P3k — Oh? Send me a copy?

FliCo — Will do, but there is only one mention of coffee.

dr1P3k — Oh…

dr1P3k — Ah, gotta go, looks like the female human is about to use me.

FliCo — Nice talking to you, bot!

THE TRAVELING

By Igvar: Trigger Snowflake was slowly ascending from deep sleep to something approaching wakefulness, when he noticed that the bed only had one person in it. This was unsual and made him fully awake with a start.

“Coraline, beloved?”

“Yes, Trigger?”, came a response from the kitchen.

“Why are you awake, already?”

“Oh, I had needs. And on the way back from the smallest room, I noticed that we had a missive from the Pluto SysLiCon.”

“I am awake now, so you may as well tell me.”

“Well, with all the space pirates between Neptune and Pluto, I was hoping that the missive would address the clear and present danger that attending the SysLiCon in person would pose for many, if not all, of the distant travellers.”

“That…sounds like a reasonable assumption.”

“Well, all they could say is that the disposition of the pirates is a rapidly evolving situation and that not cancelling the SysLiCon would be the best thing to inspire hope for those who already are on Pluto.”

“Beloved Coraline, would you give me a few minutes to get dressed, and we can continue at the kitchen table?”

“Oh, of course, Trigger darling.”

Trigger sat up, changed from night clothes to his uniform, sans boots, then went out into the kitchen.

“Thank you, beloved. Ah, I see that you have started DripMatic 3000, I was just about to. Not cancelling, you say?”

“Yes, there have of course been some people who have suggested that cancelling the in-person SysLiCon would be the right thing, in this current situation.”

“Ah, but what would that do?”

“It might send a signal to the pirates?”

“Most probably, it wouldn’t, though.”

“True, but they’re also not putting out a travel advisory, telling everyone not currently in Pluto orbit to stay at home.”

“Isn’t this a risk/reward calculation everyone will have to do for themselves. Would you like a bowl of Nutty Nuggets, beloved? I am making one for myself, so it would be no extra hassle.”

“Thank you, Trigger, I think I just might.”

:::  :::

Meanwhile, with a day remaining until Pluto, a passenger ship was serenely travelling across space.

Jill Werner sat in the passenger lounge, idly reading a letter of comment, as she was wont.

> Clothes for these times
> 
> by Godrune Schuyler
> 
> As one of the winners of the QuicksilverCon SysLiCon Prize, I have not
> yet received the token that is part of the prize. I have, multiple
> times, dispatched communications to Javier Finch, asking him to
> provide me with my prize.
> 
> So far, all attempts have failed. I have thus saved up liquid means
> and purchased a Law Suit, dispatched to Mr. Finch, where we will meet
> in the Lunarian counrts to discuss the matter.
> 
> This LoC serves both as me announcing it, as well as a thank-you to
> those who contributed money to the purchase of said Law Suit.
> 
> Time will show what results these have.
> 
> In the hope of a successful conclusion,
> Godrune

Not long after Ms. Werner finished reading, a the sound of a loud and annoying klaxon warbled through the lounge. Jill hastily collected her read and unread LoCs, spread over the table in front of her.

“Purser, why is the warning klaxon going off?”, she asked.

“Ah, Ms. Werner, if you would return to your cabin and please lock the door, further communication will be over the speakers shortly.”

Jill rushed back to her cabin and locked the door from the inside.

Whatever was happening, she did not want to be near a breachable hull, just in case.

“This is your Captain speaking,” the speaker in her room announced. “we have been hailed by a ship announcing itself to be the Mercury Sulphite, part of the Common Brotherhood of Pluto.”

Jill sat down on her bed.

“The Brotherhood is known to the Stellar Passenger Fleet as one of the illegal organisations operating in the trans-Neptune space. We are not yet sure for what purpose we’re being hailed, but for the safety of all passengers, we ask you to remain in your cabins and locking your doors. In case of an unscheduled disassembly of the ship, your cabin will do duty as a life capsule, so it is important that you not only close, but also lock, the cabin door.”

She checked, yes, she had locked the door on entry. The “Locked” sign was illuminated.

“Ah, we have been hailed again. The Brotherhood is asking us to give up all passengers who are travelling to SysLiCon. Since we do not have any records of why any passenger is travelling to Pluto, I would idly suggest that you are not travelling to SysLiCon, as we have reason to suspect that the Brotherhood will, ahem, incarcerate you and deport you to Mercury.”

Jill frantically dug through her duffel, was there anything in there that would signify travel to SysLiCon? After a few minutes of digging, she did find her SysLiCon membership chit, which she promptly tore up, then chewed and swallowed.

“This is your Captain speaking. After some brief negotiation, and us stating that we do not know if any passenger is travelling to SysLiCon, we have been instructed to let a delegation of Brotherhood officers aboard. They will then talk to every passenger, for determining if they are heading for SysLiCon. Captain out.”

Jill took a drink of water and waited. About 20 minutes of fretting later, there was a knock on her door. She opened, to see a man and a woman in black and yellow uniforms.

“We are Cristina Blatante and Slem ven Pocketry, of the sulphur, eh, Common Brotherhood of Pluto. According to the passenger manifesto, you are Jill Werner, travelling from Luna to Pluto. For what purpose are you travelling to Pluto?”

“Why…What…To see the edge of the Solar System. It has long been a dream of mine.”

“Werner…No, no record of Werner as a frequent LoC writer. We will now search your cabin, to determine if there are any proof of you travelling to SysLiCon!”

Blatante and ven Pocketry upended her duffel over her bed and started rummaging through.

“I see some Letters of Comment,” said ven Pocketry, “but that is not proof positive.”

“Indicative, though.”, said Blatante.

“Yes, but according to our instructions, that is not enough. We’ll have to leave her alone.”

“It is strange, though. According to our intelligence, there should be twenty SysLiCon attendees on this ship, but we have found none, and there are only three cabins left to search.”

“Yes, I cannot figure out how this happened.”

They left, leaving Jill to re-pack her duffel. With this in mind, her plans now transformed to just stay in her hotel for the duration of SysLiCon, and then take her scheduled ship back. Unless, of course, she could convince the Stellar Passenger Fleet to either let her stay aboard, or take an earlier return ship, as she was booked on the same ship back.

At the Centerline

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By Rich Lynch: As traffic tie-ups go, this one wasn’t even close to the worst I’d ever been caught in.  But it was one of the more worrisome ones.  Nicki and I had been heading north on Interstate 87, enjoying the scenery as we passed through Adirondack Park, when my iPhone’s GPS map abruptly changed the color of I-87 from blue to red.  Uh-oh.

On the road to the centerline

Sure enough, as we were topping a rise we could see that traffic was backed up far into the distance.  And we’d just passed an exit so there was no immediate escape.  As I braked to a halt, I noticed a sign in the median which, in a Captain Obvious sort of way, reminded everybody on the road about the celestial event that was going to happen later in the day: a total eclipse of the sun.

While we were slowly creeping forward I did the math: five hours before totality and about 100 miles yet to drive.  If the traffic flow didn’t greatly improve, we weren’t going to make it in time.  I imagine the same thought occurred to many other travelers who were also jammed-up on I-87, but at least one of them found some entertainment value in the situation.  The SUV in front of us was packed with people and even a couple of small dogs.  During one of the frequent times when we were all at dead stop, a youngish-looking guy opened the rear passenger door and hopped out, cell phone in hand.  After snapping a few photos of the long lines of vehicles ahead and behind, he suddenly realized that traffic had momentarily eased and the SUV was slowly driving away.  It became almost like a Keystone Kops chase scene – the guy started trotting alongside the SUV waving for it to stop, but instead it picked up a bit of speed causing him to increase his pace to a run, with his waving becoming a bit more frantic.  It stayed that way for about a hundred yards and then everything became dead stop again.  The rear door swung open and he scrambled back inside.

It turned out (according to the GPS) that the jam-up had been caused by a traffic accident up ahead, though by the time we got there no sign of it was visible.  Not long after that everybody was able to resume Interstate speed.  Right about then Nicki’s Aunt Becky, who we’d be staying with, talked to her on the phone and warned us off from exiting the Interstate at Plattsburgh.  The city had been overrun by eclipse tourists with many more still on the way.  Instead, she recommended a different route to where she lived, bypassing the city entirely.  And it was a huge contrast to being amongst the hordes of people on the Interstate – the last 20 miles took us along country roads where at times there were no other vehicles in sight.  We drove by empty fields and through forests of birch and pine.  As we traveled to the centerline.

* * *

A solar eclipse is really not all that rare an occurrence.  There are at least two every year, but few of them are total. And those that are usually don’t pass over places that are easy to get to.  But even when they do, well…life often tends to intervene.  The first solar eclipse that I remember seeing was back in the summer of 1963.  The centerline, where the duration of totality is longest, passed between Montréal and Québec City and then right through the middle of Maine.  At the time I was just barely a teenager and was living with my parents in a small village in northern New York State, really not all that far from the path of totality.  But we didn’t have a lot of money so there was never any consideration for going to see it.  Instead, I remember that I contented myself with observing what was a partial eclipse through a pinhole camera.  And since the eclipse was about 90% total from where I lived, a heady experience it was.

Me enjoying the 2017 eclipse from home

Fast forward to the 21st century.  Seven years ago, the so-called Great American Eclipse traversed the United States from Oregon to South Carolina.  The previous time a total eclipse had taken that kind of path was way back in 1918, so there had been considerable excitement in the media during the days leading up to the event with national television coverage on the day of the eclipse.  I’d given some thought about driving down to Tennessee to experience totality, but I’d been discouraged by the unavailability of hotel rooms, and in the end, it had seemed just too much to overcome for the two minutes that the sun would be totally blotted out by the moon.  Instead, I enjoyed the partial phase that was visible here in Maryland, all the while looking forward to the Even Greater American Eclipse.  The one that happened in April.

I’d long ago decided there was no way I was going to miss out on that one too, and Nicki was equally enthused.  I’d read that totality on the centerline was going to be longer in duration than for the 2017 eclipse, but even more intriguing was the path it would take – the centerline would pass directly over that same village where I’d been enthralled by the 1963 eclipse.  And farther along its path, over the even smaller village near Plattsburgh where some of Nicki’s relatives lived.  It was tempting to close the circle by going back to my hometown, but it looked like the Great Lakes-induced weather there was going to be a lot sketchier than in the Plattsburgh area.  And not only that, I knew there wouldn’t be any hotel rooms available anywhere nearby.  That wouldn’t be a problem near Plattsburgh, where we had a standing invitation to stay with Aunt Becky.  It was an easy decision.  So on the morning of Eclipse Day, there we were trundling north on I-87 toward Plattsburgh, all the while listening to music by Iris DeMent, Raúl Malo, The Who, and John Prine.  As we traveled to the centerline.

* * *

Nicki and her Aunt Becky

Aunt Becky had celebrated her 90th birthday the week before we arrived, and even though she’s experiencing some difficulty in mobility she’s still the same vibrant lady I’d met more than a half century earlier when Nicki had brought me on my first visit to see her.  But in all the years since then we’d never gone there in April, and as we neared her house we noted one of the occasional ‘features’ of early Spring in the North Country: a foot-and-a-half of snow.  That had happened just a few days earlier. Thankfully, the weather system which had brought it had completely cleared out and a melt-off was in progress.  What we had on the day of the eclipse was mostly clear skies but with a slightly worrisome high, thin layer of cloud, even though the sun didn’t seem to be having any trouble burning through it.

Me and my solar photography set-up

Back in 2017 I had attempted to photograph that eclipse with what had turned out to be inferior equipment and the results had been, well, pretty woeful.  So in the time since then I had greatly improved my ability to do solar photography by acquiring a 800mm telephoto lens and neutral density solar filter for my Nikon camera.  I set it all up on a cleared section of Aunt Becky’s back porch about an hour before the moon’s first contact with the edge of the sun and after some trial-and-error to figure out the correct exposure settings, I was able to come up with what I thought were reasonably decent photos – much better, actually, than what I’d expected.  Hey, there were even some sunspots visible!

And then, finally, it was time.  When I checked at about quarter-after-two, I could see that the sun’s disk had a nibble taken out of its lower right quadrant.  Not long after that, Nicki and Aunt Becky joined me out on the back porch and using their solar eclipse glasses they watched as, little by little, the moon began eating the sun.  I noticed that the people who lived in the neighboring house, a couple hundred yards up the road, were doing the same.  We all watched the two orbs steadily merge and combine.  As we sat there on the centerline.

* * *

It took maybe an hour-and-a-half between first contact and full totality, but it didn’t really seem that long.  All the while the daylight became paler and paler as the sun’s disk was progressively devoured by the moon.

I’d read somewhere that the eclipse could temporarily cause the outdoor temperature to drop by as much as 10°F, but since I was wearing a winter jacket I didn’t really notice.  In fact, there weren’t any dramatic changes of any kind until about five seconds before totality.  It was then that the shadow of the moon swept across us and everything went to deep, deep twilight (*finger snap*) just like that.  And the sun became a black hole.

Well, not an actual black hole, of course.  But it sure looked like the one depicted in the movie Interstellar.  The only difference was that there was no bright bar across the middle of the disk. [Click for larger images.]

One hour before totality
45 minutes before totality
31 minutes before totality
21 minutes before totality
11 minutes before totality
3 minutes before totality
15 seconds before totality
The moment arrives!

It looked surreal.  The sun’s corona created a glowing circular outline that was punctuated by several solar prominences.  We’d been informed, in the days leading up to the eclipse, that there would be stars and planets that would become visible when the eclipse went total.  And maybe even a sun-grazing comet.  But alas, those wispy clouds had taken their toll – it was only very bright Jupiter which made an appearance.  Even the corona was somewhat muted from what it might have looked like if the skies had been crystal clear.  But no matter.  What we did see was pretty extraordinary.  And yeah, it had exceeded my expectations.  By a lot.

Later, as the second dusk of the day settled in, Aunt Becky prepared a really good spaghetti dinner that left us all in a pleasant golden glow that figuratively matched the western horizon.  After dinner there were many pleasant memories shared from over the years, and it left us feeling very fine.  Such was life at the centerline.

* * *

Total solar eclipses are mystical events.  They really are.  The sheer surreality was not like anything I’d ever experienced.  I can well understand why they’ve been viewed with trepidation as being omens and harbingers.  Indigenous peoples in various parts of the world have even considered solar eclipses as symbolizing death and rebirth, events where the shroud between the physical world and afterworld disappears and the spirits of the departed can communicate or even temporarily return to the land of the living.  It’s an apt analogy.

I doubt that I’ll ever see another total eclipse.  The next one in the contiguous United States won’t happen until I’m in my mid-nineties, if I make it that far.  And for those which occur elsewhere in the world… Well, it was difficult enough to get to one that was relatively close by.  I think I’ll save any remaining international trips for other kinds of activities.

But on the other hand… You just never know what the future might hold.  In the summer of 2045 the path of totality will stretch from northern California all the way down to central Florida.  And if I’m still able, I’ll find my way to one of the places where the sun will disappear for a few minutes.  In person or in spirit, if you’ll join me there we’ll watch it all while enjoying some good cheese and fine wine.  And we’ll marvel about the workings of the universe from our front‑row seats on the centerline.

Guest Post: The Best SF/F Television Episodes of 2024

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By N.: An odd list to publish on the literal final day of Hugo nominations, to be sure. Being honest, this wasn’t planned. Seeing Journey Planet’s list of Graphic Novel contenders made me realize that there wasn’t an equivalent list for TV shows, which have historically been a massive part of Dramatic Presentation but are harder to keep track of in the age of streaming. Thus, here’s an impromptu list of the Best SF/F Television Episodes of 2024 (in this fan’s opinion). If it’s too late for your nominations, consider this a general recommendation list. Perhaps one will come out earlier in 2025.

A few ground rules: all of these came out in 2024. One episode or two-parter per series, to provide a wider view of the best that genre TV has to offer. If you would like to seek these shows out, I suggest using JustWatch to find out where they stream in your region.

(WARNING: Descriptions are written to exclude spoilers, but clips are included that likely do have them. View at your own risk.)

10. Doctor Who – “73 Yards”

Written by Russell T Davies

Directed by Dylan Holmes Williams

With Russell T. Davies’ return to the show, a new Doctor and a new start on Disney+, it’s business as usual for the time lord—growing pains as the show finds its footing. “73 Yards,” in particular, has proven to be a particularly divisive installment, with much of its runtime focused solely on companion Ruby, as she’s terrorized by a mysterious woman who, by standing 73 yards (that’s 67 meters) away from her, begins to dismantle her life and turn everyone against her. To those that enjoy the episode, this is an inventive break from the formula—a quiet, eerie little quasi-ghost story that inserts a bit of existential horror into the British institution, and demonstrates that the show’s secret weapon remains its variety.

9. Evil – “How to Survive a Storm”

Written by Rockne S. O’Bannon & Anju Andre-Bergmann

Directed by John Dahl

This CBS/Paramount+ religious supernatural thriller from the The Good Wife creators never amassed a large viewership, but did have a dedicated watcherbase of fans that fell in love with the series for its deft mix of monster-of-the-week antics, humor, genuine emotion and genuinely scary horror. In its fourth and final season, possibly the best encapsulation of Evil’s underrated, shaggy appeal is its tenth episode, where a hurricane hits New York, against the backdrop of which spring demonic attacks, revelations, and a shocking demise. Though late in the series’ run and heavy in its consequential plot turns, “How to Survive a Storm” may be worth seeking out to understand what many viewers were missing.

8. Star Trek: Lower Decks – “Fissure Quest”

Written by Lauren McGuire

Directed by Brandon Williams

Lower Decks weathered the initial turbulence of cynicism from Trekkies and came out the other side as among the most beloved of the modern Trek shows, with its premature cancellation inspiring a wave of mourning. Thankfully, the show went out on a high note, its penultimate episode being a celebration of the entire franchise. Following Brad Boimler’s clone William—now captain of his own ship—as he attempts to close interdimensional rifts and save the multiverse, “Fissure Quest” gives audiences a treat by surrounding him with alternate versions of fan-favorite Trek characters (including Jolene Blalock returning to acting as T’Pol, and Garak and Bashir as the married couple fans only dreamed of). Rather than a pure fanservice-fest, this is also a legit Trek story, representative of Lower Decks’ ability to navigate the divide between playful and earnest.

7. Star Trek: Prodigy – “Ouroboros” (Parts 1 and 2)

Written by Kevin Hageman & Dan Hageman & Aaron J. Waltke

Directed by Sean Bishop & Ruolin Li

The other show that stands above the rest of modern Trek, Prodigy is the yin to Lower Decks’ yang—while the latter is an animated show made for adults that treats Trek with a lighter touch; Prodigy is an animated show that handles darker themes in a way both kids and adults can enjoy (plus the inclusion of Janeway and a well-written Wesley Crusher don’t hurt). Its two part second season finale (and likely series finale) sees series antagonist Ascensia launch a desperate all-out attack on the Federation, which gives way to a larger looming threat. Among the action-packed family thrills in these last two episodes, the most thrilling is watching our central group of alien misfits, who started at the bottom rungs of the universe and who we’ve watched struggle throughout the series, finally achieve their spot as heroes.

6. Fallout – “The Beginning”

Written by Gursimran Sandhu

Directed by Wayne Yip

Fallout had a much tougher path to follow as a video game-to-TV show adaptation than The Last of Us, being based on a larger, long-running series more nebulous in its narrative than the latter’s more linear, cinematic telling. This makes the series we got all the more impressive, a show that faithfully translates its source material’s idiosyncrasies while simultaneously expanding on its post-apocalyptic setting. The finale of the first season, where Lucy is finally able to reunite with her father, provided key answers about said world in an emotionally-shattering hour that completely shifted and redrew the dynamics between the characters (With some particularly stunning revelations at play) and complicated the series’ central factions, cementing the show on the list of proven video game adaptations.

5. Agatha All Along – “Death’s Hand in Mine”

Written by Gia King & Cameron Squires

Directed by Jac Schaeffer

The MCU spinoff centered around WandaVision fan-favorite Agatha Harkness was largely seen by fans as a wholly average side excursion in the universe—save for its seventh episode, which would easily rank high on a list of the MCU’s best TV episodes. Centered around coven member Lilia Calderu, who experiences time non-linearly, as she undergoes her Witches’ Road Test, “Death’s Hand in Mine” is anchored by a bravura performance from theatre legend Patti Lupone as Lilia. It takes a lot of elements to pull off an “unstuck in time” premise, and even more to pull off one with emotional resonance for a character we’ve spent relatively little time with. As with Lilia’s memories, this episode makes every second count.

4. House of the Dragon – “The Red Dragon and the Gold”

Written by Ryan Condal

Directed by Alan Taylor

With changes to the book that may not bode well for future seasons, controversial turns of character, and an overall sense of wheel-spinning, House of the Dragon’s second season has been controversial, seen as a drop in quality from the first among fan circles—least of which from the writer of the book himself. The fourth episode of the season was different, kicking the plot off into high gear with political intrigue that recalls GOT at its height, building tensions among the characters that culminates in one of the most indelible action sequences in the franchise’s history—a kaiju battle with dragons. Even those who were down on the season as a whole couldn’t deny this installment.

3. Arcane – “Pretend Like It’s the First Time”

Written by Amanda Overton

Directed by Armand DeLord & Bart Maunoury

Netflix’s adult animation League of Legends adaptation is as much characterized by its stunning animation and complicated characters as it is by the brutality of its world. This last aspect gets turned on its head in what opens up Part 3 of Arcane’s final season, in which Ekko wakes up in an alternate timeline—-one where Vi is long dead, but Powder has remained Powder and Zaun is in an apparent period of prosperity. As Ekko finds himself experiencing peace for the first time, Jayce suffers through an even worse future. While the second season of Arcane could feel condensed and rushed at points. “Pretend Like It’s The First TIme” excels as a “what-if” story that’s as beautiful as it is tragic, letting both Ekko and the audience live in a world that ultimately can’t last.

2. Interview with the Vampire – “I Could Not Prevent It”

Written by Kevin Hanna & Rolin Jones

Directed by Emma Freeman

A remix of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles novels that puts the queerness front and center, Interview may have been the most consistent genre show of 2024, so much that it was hard to choose between this episode and “Don’t Be Afraid,. Just Start the Tape.” The edge, though, has to go the the second season’s penultimate episode, in which the show finally depicts that horrible event that those familiar with this story are all too familiar with. As Lestat makes his grand return, Interview sows doubt on the reliability of the story it’s been presenting us, all while hiking up the tragedy to maximum level.

1. X-Men ‘97 – “Remember It”

Written by Beau DeMayo

Directed by Emi Yonemura

X-Men ‘97 was a magic trick (or rather a mutant trick?); a sequel series to a 30-year-old cartoon that avoided easy nostalgia for a tense and layered political story that elegantly repackaged the themes of the comics for an older audience, told at an all-too-perfect time. This is best encapsulated in its fifth episode, in which the now Magneto-led X-Men travels to mutant sanctuary nation Genosha on the eve of its admittance to the UN. What is meant to be a moment of celebration winds up devolving into sheer horror, tragedy, and loss. A beautifully stunning half-hour of television, “Remember It” is the best SF/F episode of 2024.

Jonathan Cowie Review: Mickey-17

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By SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie: Mickey-17 is the latest film from the South Korean director Bong Joon-ho whose 2019 socio-commentary, comedy-thriller The Parasite garnered many awards including four Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film) as well as being short-listed for two others, among many other awards, and taking £119 million (US$266m) worldwide at the box office.

SFnally, Bong Joon-ho is known for his first English film Snowpiercer (2013) which, like The Parasite, was also at heart a social commentary. All of which brings us to Mickey 17 (2025).

What’s to be said about Mickey 17? Well, it is firmly an SF film. Additionally, just as Snowpiercer was based on the graphic novel Le Transperceneige (1982), Mickey 17 is based on an early draft of Edward Ashton’s (who he?) novel Mickey 7 (2022): Bong Joon-ho was responsible for the script. Further, like The Parasite, it is also a social commentary again in part on class, but also 21st century dictatorship politics. Also, like a number of Joon-ho’s films, it does markedly change gear over half-way through and ends up being somewhat a different offering by its end: do not let this put you off.

The underlying SF premise is quite simple, space travel and colonising a planet is difficult and can be deadly. However, using unreliable – and illegal on Earth – technology it is possible to download a person’s consciousness and then upload it into a freshly-grown – or in this case ‘printed’ – body. In SF, this is now an established post-human trope and, perhaps notably, featured in a number of Greg Egan’s stories. All well and good, so now onto the plot…

Mickey Barnes (played by Robert Pattison) and his friend Timo (Steven Yeun) owe money to a relentless and sadistic businessman. Knowing that they are likely to be killed in a most excruciatingly horrible way, they decide to join the rush to leave the Earth (it is becoming a ruined planet) and colonise a distant new world. Timo becomes a pilot while Mickey unwittingly signs his life away, but guaranteeing himself a place on the space ship, by becoming an ‘expendable’, someone who is given deadly tasks, who will die and then be resurrected in a newly printed body from recycled organic material while having his mind restored from its last back-up point.

All this is really a MacGuffin as the film is actually about power, those without it and those with it who use it and abuse it. We quickly learn that the ship they are on is destined to an all ‘white’ (snowy) world where the colonists would spread their seed and populate it all under the rule of the quasi-religious politician Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette).

Having arrived at the colony world, Mickey 17 (16 versions of Mickey having already previously died) falls down a crevasse and is left for dead. A new version of Mickey is printed (Mickey 18), but Mickey 17 eventually makes it back to discover he has another him: an illegal ‘multiple’…

It is at this point the film shifts gear with a focus now shared with that of the stratified ship’s society of Kenneth Marshall with his vision to conquer the planet Niflheim and wipe out its alien, indigenous, animal species. (Though it is pointed out to Marshall that on this world it is we who are the aliens…)

Mickey 17 has a decided art-house feel to it despite its £96 million (US$118m) budget. Also, it has to be said, it is a little clunky in places. The explanatory Mickey commentary some may find off-putting: a lot of folk seem not to like such talk-overs but actually I don’t mind them.  The thing that will spring to mind is that the politician Kenneth Marshall is clearly a Donald Trump-like character, this parody is all too obvious, laid on rather thickly and with the subtlety of a miners’ outing, but potential viewers should remind themselves that the film wrapped its shooting well before Trump took office for his second term, his approach to Ukraine, tariff wars with various nations, and his stated aim of annexing Panama, Greenland and Gazza: the film was written and shot under Biden’s US presidency. Having said that, remember Trump previously queried (the sub-titled) Parasite’s, ‘Best Picture’ Oscar win at a campaign rally in Colorado in 2020 (it wasn’t a US film) and this is something that Bong Joon-ho is unlikely to forget.

(Parasite’s distributor Neon back then reportedly Tweeted ‘Understandable, he can’t read‘.)

Despite this being an uneven film, and the SF tropes presented in a flawed way (the ‘it rained on Mongo’ planet being one such example) it is delightfully quirky, and while not polished I prefer this sort of film any day rather than the formulaic franchise films to which we are continually subjected. This is why I enjoy a thoroughly good film programme at an SF convention when we get them (sadly less frequently these days with the new generation of languid conrunners and SMOFs, despite the Glasgow Worldcon’s film poll*): a film that makes you think ‘what was that all about?’ is in no way a bad a thing.  Mickey 17 may not be perfect but expect it on the short-lists of some major 2026 SF awards that have film categories!

(*If anyone thinks who am I and that’s a bit harsh, I should perhaps point out that 1970s to early 2000s I was on the committee of several SF conventions and the staff of a few others: all had films screened.)