I hereby dedicate this week to San Diego Comic Con 2013 talk!
Jay and I got to San Diego around 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16 and headed to the Hilton Bayfront, where we were meeting up with Clif, Jana, and Nick. None of us had a hotel room for Tuesday night as a part of the SDCC Hotel Hell Day package, so we decided to all stay together on Tuesday. I would be remiss if I did not sing the praises of the AMAZING hotel room we had. Somehow, we were lucky enough to get a corner room that had windows across the front and side. It was awesome. I’m scared silly of heights, but I love looking at views. Go figure. Here’s the view, courtesy of a video that Jay took on Wednesday morning:
Once we dropped our stuff off at the hotel, we headed out to – where else? – Fred’s! This was actually the only night we ended up at our one-time favorite meet-up spot. Fred’s was way too crowded this year, so we had to give up the dream of cheap, strong margaritas. Oh well. It was Taco Tuesday, so everyone ate up. We even did a shot of Petron courtesy of Clif to celebrate the start of another (hopefully) successful Comic-Con. It was a lot of fun.
On Wednesday, we each went to our respective new hotels (Jay and I were at the Omni while Jana, Clif, and Nick were at the Sofia Hotel) before setting out for our annual mall/In-N-Out/Target trip. Our first stop was the Apple Store at the Fashion Valley mall so Jay could pick up a battery pack for us to use to recharge our cell phones. Because there are 120,000 other people at the Convention Center who are also trying to use their cell phones at the same time as you are, service can be spotty and your battery life drains quickly. While we were walking around the Fashion Valley mall, the boys spotted this awesome replica of the San Diego Convention Center all decked out for Comic-Con at the Lego Store:
Next stop: Mission Valley for a little In-N-Out. (TWSS!) I actually remembered to order my fries Animal Style before I got them and realized I forgot to, haha. It was just as delicious as always. Jay and I had a little competition on Instagram to see who could get more likes of the same picture that was taken at different angles. At last check, it was a tie. I consider that a win.
Jay’s Instagram is on the left; mine is on the right.
Once we were nice and full from In-N-Out, we walked over to Target for our other Preview Night tradition: Target! For some reason, we’re always inspired to walk to the Mission Valley mall and hit up Target after we eat. Heyyyy, it’s tradition! Post Target, we headed back downtown to to meet-up with Jack and get our badges. It was time to really start the Con.
Just like the most recent years, we had zero problem getting our badges. We followed the flow of traffic into the Convention Center, up the elevator, and into the Sails Pavilion with no issues. Within five minutes of us entering the Convention Center, we had our badges in hand. I didn’t have any real desire to hit up the Exhibit Hall Floor right away, especially with the annual mad dash for toys collectibles, so I happily settled down in Ballroom 20 to watch some of the pilots that were premiering.
Quick thoughts about the pilots, if you haven’t already heard me talk about them on MetroBuzz (which we recorded a week ago, so it should be out any day now; I’ll update it with a direct link when it’s posted) or The Chatter Box:
- The Tomorrow People. Official synopsis: Tells the story of a generation of humans born with paranormal abilities who represent the next evolutionary shift of mankind. A group of young peope from around the world who possess special powers, including the ability to teleport and communicate with each other telepathically, work together to defeat the mysterious Ultra group, who would rather see The Tomorrow People exterminated. Based on an original UK series.
Sound a little bit like X-Men? That’s because IT IS! This was the first pilot shown on Preview Night and it impressed me the least. I really wanted to like it because I love Mark Pellegrino (Supernatural and Lost), but it felt like it was trying too hard to meet all stereotypical CW quotas (ie – gorgeous high school students that look 30, minority sidekicks, absurd situations, predictable dialogue). I definitely think that it could surprise me and really pick up. It has the potential, but it has to get over itself first. There’s so many intense moments that it feels like a CW show that’s trying to be a CBS show. I say give it a shot, but go into it not expecting too much.
- Almost Human. Official synopsis: In the near future, technology and crime will increase so quickly that law enforcement will not be able to keep up. To maintain order and keep the public safe, all police officers must partner with highly evolved human-like androids known as synthetics. Almost Human is the story of Detective John Kennex and his lifelike android partner Dorian. They must learn to work together in order to survive, and along the way might discover each other’s humanity.
The synopsis for this show does not do it justice. It was really good and that’s because the characters were great. It has quite a pedigree, too, as it’s produced by J.J. Abrams (everything), J.H. Wyman (Fringe), Naren Shankar (CSI) and Bryan Burk (Person of Interest). There’s some humor and a lot of drama. I’m really rooting for this show and hope that the first season can do justice to the pilot. It’s airing on FOX on Mondays this fall.
- The 100. Official synopsis: 97 years ago, Earth was devastated by a nuclear apocalypse, and mankind was nearly destroyed. The only survivors were the inhabitants of 12 international space stations that were in orbit at the time. The stations came together to form The Ark, but with resources dwindling and population growth soaring, the decision is made to send The 100 a group of juvenile delinquents, to the surface to test whether Earth is once again habitable. With the survival of the human race entirely in their hands, these hundred teenagers must find a way to transcend their differences, unite, and forge a new path on a wildly changed Earth.
Okay, so this had the most interesting description to me going into Preview Night. The plot, which also sounds like it could be the premise behind Survivor 100: Earth! is definitely an interesting one. [Side note: I’d totally watch this if it were a reality show.] The more I think about it, the more I really liked it. It’s on The CW and definitely meets the pretty-30-year-old-teenagers quota, but it also has an entire subplot centering around adults who can actually act (Lost‘s Henry Ian Cusick, Person of Interest‘s Paige Turco, & Grey’s Anatomy‘s Isaiah Washington) with a plot that I’m actually somewhat invested in. Even though it has flaws (see above noted CW criteria) and was predictable, I really think it’s going to pick up and become a really good show. I definitely recommend you check it out.
We left after The 100 because the last pilot screened, The Originals, is a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries and none of us watch TVD. We tried to hit up Fred’s after we left Preview Night, but by 9 p.m., it was already packed and there was a wait. Instead, we decided to walk up 4th Ave and see what was available there. We settled on a Mexican restaurant called Las Hadas and had a really fun evening there. The margaritas were just as good as at Fred’s and the food was delicious. By the end of the evening, we had a good sized group and a lot of laughter. All in all, San Diego Comic-Con was off to a great start.
The gang at Las Hadas: Jessica, Jana, Clif Nick, Jack, Jay, Sara, & Chip
