Crawlers wasn’t a purchase. It was a gift from a friend who no doubt figured it would be right up my alley. And, I have to say, when I heard the premise I was very intrigued. After a secret government project goes awry, killing the group of scientists researching weaponized nanotechnology, an unusual decision is made. Rather than being shut down, the project is packed into a satellite and fired off into Earth’s orbit. There, the research continues, far enough away to present no danger to the human population. That is until the satellite comes crashing down to Earth and the experiment, a nanotechnological nightmare possessed of a hive mind, sets its sights on the quaint town of Quiebra, California…
Although it is at heart an SF tale, Crawlers is decidedly dark, dark enough to neatly skirt both the scifi and horror genres. The opening chapter detailing a lone scientist’s attempts to hide from his fearsome experiment run amok is as chilling as it gets. And Shirley’s description of the co-opted life forms, some human, some not, crawling and staggering their way through cemeteries and darkened roadways on their unusually distended limbs is extremely disturbing. A nice blend of scifi and horror that has the makings of a terrific book –
Unfortunately undermined by the characters who people it. Aside from Stanner, the Air Force operative who spearheads the efforts to stop the infestation before it spreads beyond the town, it’s hard to buy into any of the Quierba’s inhabitants. The kids speak in slang that may have been representative of the way teens talked five years ago but just sounds awkwardly outdated now. I’ve honestly never heard the term “hella” as in “hella-cool” outside of an episode of South Park. An argument between siblings that amounts to little more than the two of them calling each other “dumbass” reads like what an adult imagines two arguing teens would sound like. I’m reminded of a guy I knew who wrote a script in which his teenage protagonist cried “Cowabunga!” after injuring herself. Really.
Language aside, one of my biggest issue with Crawlers is the reaction – or lack thereof – on the part of the townspeople when some REALLY WEIRD shit starts to go down. Teens Adair and Cal seem more concerned about the possibility that their folks will be getting a divorce than the fact that mom and dad have taken to acting like robots, spewing indecipherable gobbledygook and staring quietly into space for extended periods. Elderly acquaintances and wheelchair-bound neighbors are suddenly traipsing around town, scrambling up onto rooftops to set up their new-fangled satellite dishes – but no one seems to bat an eyelash. Sure, Adair has a strange feeling that something is up (having your housecat run down by a zombie marine will do that to you). So does her buddy Waylon, a conspiracy nut whose obsession with trying to uncover the alien angle in all this is played for humor but grows quickly tiresome. But no one really reacts until it’s much too late.
Which is too bad because, like I said, Crawlers offers a great premise and some really effective scares. Unfortunately, the characters are so darned annoying that it’s hard to establish any sort of connection with them, much less sympathize with them when they’re about to get pulled apart like Thanksgiving turkeys. Still, Shirley’s abilities as a horror writer are on full display here and, even though they feel lost in this offering, they’ve certainly convinced me to try my luck with him on another title.
Today’s entry is dedicated to birthday gal Jade and Skye’s parent’s celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary.
Today’s video: Laying down the ground fog for Whispers. Either wait until the embedded video eventually works…or you can simply click on the link –
Mailbag:
Trish writes: “Have you considered getting a nav for your car?”
Answer: I did, but Fondy insisted I wouldn’t need one. How very wrong she was.
David writes: “I was wondering if there is any chance that the Ori, or something they did, will ever effect Atlantis?”
Answer: Definitely no plans to introduce the Ori into Atlantis.
Squeakiep writes: “You’ve been careful not to photograph or mention Joe Flanigan during this part of the filmng season. Hoping everything is OK and that he still works on SGA.”
Answer: I think so. I’m pretty sure I see him around.
Eri writes: “Got a question about how you write the script. How do you plan for commercial breaks on it? Do you specifically think of somewhat suspenseful times where it would be good?”
Answer: Every episode is made up of a tease and five acts. The tease and the first four acts all end on suspense beats that, yes, we write toward.
Narelle from Aus writes: “ Any chance we could get a post one day of some excerpts of comments that don’t make it through moderation?”
Answer: To be honest, most of the posts that don’t make it through moderation are spam. The handful I do screen for content won’t be published because I’d sooner not reward obnoxious behavior.
Narelle also writes: “Has the amount of fanfic so easily accessible online made writing for you more difficult?”
Answer: Not at all. Creatively so far as we’re concerned, it doesn’t exist.
GenericWhiteGuy writes: “I know it is just a way to move the plot forward, but have the writers ever discussed exactly what “life signs” are being detected or how this theoretically works?”
Answer: We’ve had lively discussions about this in the writers’ room. The life detector detects, well, life signs (heart beats, heat sigs, etc.) but can’t detect identities or other specifics (ie. “Hey, it’s McKay on level four dancing the jitterbug with koala!”)
Tiger’s Eyes writes: “I know that people with pets all have to make their own decisions regarding how they’re going to approach major health problems, and maybe after getting a lot of advice you and Fondy have decided that Jelly is better off without hip surgery.”
Answer: We want to do what’s best for her and our vet (and a specialist who examined her) suggested we try the treatment before opting for the surgery. It goes without saying – surgery can be risky, especially for older pugs.
Erin writes: “re: the wraith ‘gift of life’. when u realise that the gift is really just recycling life energy from one human to another human thru a wraith…”
Answer: Good point.
Dee writes: “…my friend and I had an interesting discussion on The Ark of Truth, she believes the way it was written implies that Daniel & Vala’s were a couple, I saw no such thing, were there hints there I missed or was she just seeing things because that’s what all D/V shippers were hoping for?”
Answer: They weren’t a couple.
Kdvb1 writes: “Hmmmm….I think hamburger is much different than chocolate. {but I would argue that you CAN sustain life with chocolate!} And, would be very sustainable to life…even if a steak would taste better.”
Answer: Yeah, the hamburger/steak analogy was not a good one, especially since, I believe in Condemned, the wraith pretty much says that they can eat food for pleasure, but it doesn’t sustain them
Lisa Gabi Marie writes: “ I am going to Las Vegas next week, do you have any suggestions of places to eat?”
Answer: The Wynn has some great restaurants. Also, the Cheesecake Factory at the Caesar’s Forum Mall has some killer corn tamales.
Mrs.B108 writes: “Will there be any acts of heartbreaking betrayal this season?”
Answer: Quite possibly, yes.
AV Eddy writes: “Did you hear in the new A&E version of The Andromeda Strain they went into a whole explanation about spatial wormholes and people/aliens traveling through them? I was like, “Well, yeah! Everyone knows that!” If you didn’t see it, I suggest not bothering. I was disappointed. Great actors and cool story that petered out badly, IMHO.”
Answer: Uh, yeah, question about that. f you were sending a plea for help back to the past to help combat a virus, wouldn’t it make more sense to send a straightforward video rundown of the problem rather than a cryptic, encrypted communication accompanied by a lethal strain of the very virus you’ve had no luck in stopping? Yes? No?
Morjana writes: “According to TV Guide, you are quoted as saying, “This is the year we’re going to pursue romance.”
Answer: Yeah, sounds like something I might have said.
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