Tag Archives: story

We Only Need the Heads gets Scalzi’s The Human Division back on track

Just a few minutes into We Only Need the Heads, John Scalzi’s third episode of The Human Division, and I not only knew it was entertaining, but I also immediately realized the context of the second episode, Walk the Plank. Walk the Plank wasn’t quite as strong as a stand alone episode, but We Only Need the Heads quickly relates back to both of the first episodes.

As one CDF officer is loaned for a CDF mission to remove an unauthorized colony, a Colonial Union ambassador is tasked with completing the final negotiations with an alien race. Of course, these two separate goals are intertwined in ways that neither know at first.

We Only Need the Heads is very engaging, and Scalzi expertly jumps between action with the CDF and dialogue with the ambassadors. I believe we also see some hints of where the story is going in The Human Division, but it might be too early for me to know.

Walk the Plank continues Scalzi’s The Human Division

Walk the Plank is the second episode in John Scalzi’s The Human Division. It’s very different than The B-Team, the first episode, which I presume Scalzi did on purpose to set expectations. Walk the Plank is written as a transcript rather than in a traditional form. In addition, it’s much shorter, and the story doesn’t seem as satisfying.

While the first episode was a great story by itself, Walk the Plank is self-contained but but only decent. If it didn’t exist as part of a larger series, it would be rather boring. On the other hand, it’s more than enough for a chapter in an average novel.

As part of a larger whole, it seems to help set up things to come. There are some troubling problems that will likely reappear in later episodes. To be clear, I wouldn’t complain at all if it was simply a chapter in a novel, which is what it is in a way. However, if the The Human Division was compared to a TV series with The B-Team being the double-length pilot, Walk the Plank would would be one of the more out-of-place episodes with its weird format and subpar plot.

It was entertaining and served the greater story but just didn’t stand alone as amazingly well as The B-Team. Of course, Scalzi’s set such a high bar far himself that it’s to be expected that some episodes would miss by a little. I’d guess that Scalzi knew this to be one of the weaker episodes that’s more of a side story providing additional information, and that’s why it was placed second. Now we know that some episodes will be very different, and this helps give us an idea of what to expect. I can’t wait until next week for the next episode!

The little giraffe

There once was a giraffe. He was quite little. He was brown. He had a short neck. And he had a big, bushy tail.

The little giraffe lived in a tree and a good life. The only thing that upset him was that he fought with his mom a lot. She tried to force him to be someone he wasn’t.

One afternoon the little giraffe set out to eat some leaves as giraffes do. He stood on his hind legs on a branch to reach the nearest leaves and began to munch them. His mom called out “honey, stop eating those leaves. Come eat some nuts!”

“Leave me alone, mom!” he replied. “I am a giraffe, and I eat leaves!”

“You’re a squirrel! Eat your nuts!”

“No!” He ran away to look for some tasty leaves somewhere farther from home. Coming upon a tasty bush, he decided he’d try to eat some of the leaves. Just as he began to chew his first leaf, he heard some movement behind him. He turned around to face four other squirrels – known bullies.

“Hey giraffe,” one squirrel exclaimed mockingly. “You really should eat some nuts!” The little giraffe felt something hit him in the back of the head. Turning around, he saw that three more squirrels had come up behind him. They all began pelting him with nuts.

“You’re a squirrel! Learn to eat nuts!” another yelled.

Just then he heard someone loudly yell, “leave my son alone! He is a giraffe because he says he’s a giraffe, and he wants to eat leaves, let him!” She jumped at the squirrel bullies, and they all ran away.

“Thanks, mom,” said the little giraffe.

“I love you, my little giraffe,” said the mom squirrel. “I just want you to be safe and happy.” They walked home together, and the little giraffe and his mom shared a dinner of leaves and nuts.

The end.