Well, I hated Aragorn's cliff dive for just that reason (plus that it was too big a departure from Tolkien), but I kind of liked Octavia's as a "tribute"to the LOTR movies — I knew EXACTLY what was going to happen as soon as I saw the cliff!

I loved the pilot! Haven't seen the movie, and I don't think it's relevant, anyway. The show stands up excellently on its own. Really fine writing and acting are what I care about, plus I'm a total sucker for anything to do with time travel or changing time lines, and this is probably the most enjoyable viewing…