Gladius_ posted...
Same here. I dropped out of these discussions because I saw the writing on the wall (not necessarily bad writing.) This season's purpose is to set up the story that follows. The danger here though is that the possibility of being canceled is always a threat, and if you create a season specifically to set up something there may never be a pay off. Fans are heavily critical of "Setup seasons." Because most fans don't know where they will even be in a year or three from now. Which is also fair criticism. So ideally you want a strong payoff "now" to ensure fans remain locked in for the future. I WANT to see where this story continues but right now we are in a waiting game and this choice may prevent us from seeing that. We'll see though.
Here's the thing...."setup" is well and good, but it also has to be balanced with some semblance of a good plot that advances the general conceit of the show. I don't think Alien Earth did that effectively. Like what we got was pure "Surf Dracula" to use the meme.
I don't want to watch *eight hours* of setup. I want a good story that makes me want to continue to see what unfolds.