Flash Gordon 101 - 108

I'll be honest, I can't really remember what the original Flash Gordon was like or about. All I remember is that Flash wore red and Ming was green with crazy facial hair. So for all I know it was Christmas in space. Having said that, when I watched the new Flash Gordon, it just seemed wrong. I don't know if this is my unconscious mind objecting, or if it's just a bad show. For a start, there is no space or spaceships. They travel between Earth and Mingopolis, or whatever it's called, using rifts. Secondly, the beam from the blaster pistols looks incredibly cheesy. Those were my main objections from the beginning.

Serious faces mean serious business!

To be honest, I'm surprised I'm still actually watching it eight episodes later. I found the first four or five episodes incredibly boring. They can play that upbeat music all they like, it doesn't trick me into thinking something exciting is happening. Also, there is seemingly no danger. They just run home again through their little rift once they're done with the job. Even when they do get captured, somebody just lets him go again. My impression of the original was that it was very much about the grand adventure of travelling through space away from your home, and coming to terms with the alien planet. This is more like running errands and being home in time for dinner. It may have worked for child detectives in novels, but I would have thought this should have some more consequences.

He might be looking a bit peaky, but definitely not green.

The characters mostly annoy me. Obviously times have changed since the original, but it seems to me like Flash is completely emasculated by Baylin most of the time. I'm all for strong female heroes, but the show is called "Flash Gordon" and not "Baylin". I would happily watch a show called "Baylin", as she is in a way the character I find most tolerable (Which is sad because there wasn't even a Baylin character in the original), but that's besides the point. I would just appreciate if the hero of the show could do anything by himself. He can't even escape without begging Ming's daughter for help. As for the other two characters, they just seem like two big annoying stereotypes. Ooh look at me, I'm Lois Lane, and here's the socially inept scientist we don't appreciate but completely rely on. Actually to be fair, Baylin is also a giant stereotype, the emotionless alien hunter with a traumatic past who will eventually open up and start feeling again, but in the meantime stabs water bottles with a knife and drinks from it like a fountain.

Dramatic camera angle, feeeeeeeel the emotion.

I don't even know where the show is going at this stage. It seems like the only storyline they've really set up is that of Ming's downfall. Maybe they were intending to stretch that out for seven seasons, but it doesn't seem like the best longterm plan to me. They are already making moves in that direction and I don't really understand it, because my impression of the original was that they pretty much never defeated Ming.

To give it some credit, however small, I did notice that they suddenly flicked a switched and started adding in humour. Whilst it was sudden and unexplained, the fact that everybody suddenly started making jokes did at least make it easier to watch. I will probably hold out for a little longer to see if it keeps changing, but if it stabilizes as it is, I'm probably gone.