Rowe Rowe Fight The Power

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7 Review

2012-01-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, here we are. The final season. It's been a long journey, due to my schedule being unable to allow me to burn through these shows like you guys do.

"Image in the Sand" & "Shadows and Symbols"
What a great way to start a season. No big action-y ratings ploy, just a story, and the right story that needed to be told, with all the pacing and beats in the right place because it's spread out over two parts -- and spread out properly, with the break in the right place. If anything, these two episodes make "Tears of the Prophets" better by being the follow-up. That episode still has problems, but these episodes really expand on the ideas that the season six finale didn't have time to explore. Of everything, I only have two problems with the episodes -- one is that the Pagh-wraith Cult threat set up in Part 1 never goes anywhere in Part 2, and the other is that Sisko veers a little too far into crazy in Part 2, because of the way the Benny vision is intercut. It has always seemed so far that Sisko's visions are more or less instantaneous for him, but here we have the Benny vision happening simultaneously with Sisko's actions (or in-action), which makes it seem like Sisko is not in control of his own actions, which makes his fulfillment of the Prophecy seem less substantial in the end. But other than that, this is a great pair of shows that opens up a universe of possibilities for Season 7. Not the least of which is Ezri Dax, who is absolutely great.

"Afterimage"
Basically our "getting to know Ezri" episode. Its great. She's great. I had a ball of a time. My only nitpick is that the counseling scenes aren't written that great. I know Ezri's going through a lot, but it's a little too inept. I wish the episode had said that it was partly an act on her part to disarm Garak, as opposed to making her triumph largely accidental. Other than that, no complaints -- it hits the right spot, especially in regards to how the characters react to Ezri. Nicole de Boer does an AMAZING job playing a character who is, but isn't, Jadzia. It REALLY sells the whole Trill symbiont thing in a way that talking about it for 6 years never quite did.

"Take Me Out to the Holosuite"
Quite possibly one of the best episodes the show ever did. I could not stop smiling, or laughing for that matter. Pure gold.

"Chrysalis"
I get what they were going for, and its all very sincere, but it was dull. Nothing we see here is something I haven't seen before on DS9. Felt like "Melora, Take 2" in a lot of ways. Although Serina is a much better character, and the actress is a delight.

"Treachery, Faith and the Great River"
Brilliant. I love how the title applies equally to both plots. So good.

"Once More Unto the Breach"
Also brilliant. A perfect send off to Kor. I believe in the legend.

"The Siege of AR-558"
Absolutely, positively, fucking brilliant. One of the best all-time Trek episodes. I don't care what any fucking second generation VOY lovers say, it's one thing to talk about how war is awful, blah blah blah, it's another to SHOW IT. And in a visual media, well, let's just say this episode is powerful. And good. Very, very good.

"Covenant"
Yet another intriguing entry in the Dukat saga. It feels a little odd, how few appearances Dukat has made since he went crazy-go-nuts back in "Waltz", but I liked this entry for how believably it built on elements from past episodes. It was also interesting to see Kira put on the other side of the religion issue for once, hearing OTHER people try to tell her it's all about the power of blind faith. It's a subtle element to the show, but a neat one. Overall, the show is a pretty accurate portrayal of the craziness of cults, and as always, the craziness of Dukat is fun to examine.

"It's Only a Paper Moon"
Along with it's necessary predecessor, "Siege of AR-558", this is one of DS9's finest hours. That episode showed that war is brutal and inhuman, not glorious -- this one shows the real consequences. We finally see a situation where a counselor makes sense (dealing with PTSD) and Ezri gets some good stuff in this episode, but its Nog and Vic who shine the most. Isn't it amazing how much Nog grew as a character? From the scruffy little thief of season 1 to this? Damn DS9 is great. I also liked the subtle exploration of the dangers of retreating from reality into a fantasy world -- a theme that echoes through Trek all the way back to "The Cage", and a theme Trekkers seem sometimes all too eager to ignore. "It's Only a Paper Moon" is one of my all time DS9 favourites.

"Prodigal Daughter"
I was bracing myself, because what I had heard from fandom was that this wasn't a very good episode. But ultimately, I didn't find myself thinking in terms of good or bad when it was over. All I could think was "that was fucked up". This was one of those DS9 episodes that really takes pleasure in just leaving the audience unsettled, with no easy answers, and no real hope in humanity. Miles goes looking for the widow of the man he betrayed, but it turns out she's been killed by Ezri's kid brother, who has been driven psycho by his ambitious mother, who aside from her overzealous passion, only ever meant well. It's some seriously fucked up shit. And when the episode ends, she has to go back to the station with the knowledge that her gifted and artistic brother has been sentenced to 30 years, and gets no sympathy from Miles. Ouch, DS9. Ouch.
Yeah, so I think it's a good episode.

"The Emperor's New Cloak"
One last fun romp through the Mirror Universe. This episode really feels like the writer's are doing it just for the hell of it, one last Mirror episode just cause it's season 7. You know that no one's taking things too seriously when they take the two birds/one stone approach and make it this year's Ferengi comedy episode as well. I kinda wish the Mirror Universe had gotten a better, more insightful send-off than this, but I guess the real finale for that story arc on this show was "Shattered Mirror" back in Season 4. This and "Resurrection" are basically just afterthoughts and epilogues. Ah, well. It's fun at least.

"Field of Fire"
A great episode. Great use of Ezri and the Dax symbiont. I love all the murder mystery details, from the TR-116 rifle and it's ingenious methods to the idea of a Vulcan driven to become a serial killer by the Dominion War. Great ideas, great execution. Good stuff.

"Chimera"
A great exploration of Odo and Kira's relationship, a fantastic set-up for Odo's eventual character arc, an insightful examination of the difference between solids and changelings WITHOUT the baggage of "the Founders are evil", and for once a guest star alien who wants to change the status quo but who DOESN'T have evil ulterior motives. Instead of the plot forcing Odo's hand as to which way he'll choose, the characters are allowed to interact and examine themselves naturally. This is an extremely well written and well performed episode.

"Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges"
This is one of my favourite DS9 episodes. I love Sloan, Section 31, Romulans, Admiral Ross, and Bashir, so naturally an episode throwing them all together is dynamite. I also love plots like this one, involving plans within plans within plans. Sloan is, essentially, Star Trek Batman. He's great. I love the way this episode gets us thinking about what the Alpha Quadrant will be like AFTER the war. I love, well, pretty much everything about this episode.

"Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang"
Sisko's Eleven. Nuff said. If you don't like this episode, I don't think we can be friends. Pretty much perfect, and loads of fun. "Bride of Chaotica!" (VOY) couldv'e learned a lot from this show. Also, Sisko and Fontaine singing "Best is Yet to Come"? Not only awesome, but totally true.

SO excited to be heading into THE FINAL CHAPTER!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3fObaejFOE

"Penumbra/Til Death Do Us Part/Strange Bedfellows/The Changing Face of Evil"
I watched these four all in one go so it's a little hard to seperate my thoughts on them. Basically "Penumbra" was a good lead-in, slowly getting the ball rolling, mainly focused on Sisko/Kassidy and Ezri/Worf. Then we head into "Til Death Do Us Part" which brings us Sisko marrying Kassidy, Worf and Ezri fucking, and the insanely creepy Dukat/Winn team-up. Oh, and the Breen ally with the Dominion. Which brings us to "Strange Bedfellows" where everything gets better -- Worf snapping Weyoun's neck (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YoPXogkXsk) is a moment only bested by http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kJAIKLbhdk. In fact, Weyoun/Damar may be the best duo in a series based around great duos. Then we get "Changing Face of Evil", where Dukat and Winn have truly joined forces to unleash the Pagh-Wraiths, the Breen fucking WRECK Earth, and the Defiant is destroyed when the Dominion retakes Chin'toka.
In and amidst all this, Bashir and O'Brien's holodeck Alamo obsession moves into the real world with a model, Ezri discovers she loves Julian, and the Founders are all dying of a mysterious illness.
And the Prophets don't want Ben getting married.
Btw -- this show is awesome.
Too good.
I have narry a bad thing to say.
Fuck it's gonna suck when it's over and all I have left is VOY.

"When It Rains..."/"Tacking into the Wind"'
Another awesome pair of Final Chapter episodes -- the entire Kira, Damar, and the Cardassian Resistance storyline is just gold. I love seeing Kira in a Starfleet uniform, and the irony of it all is delicious. Also -- Damar. Maybe the best character arc on DS9 ever, next to Nog. I mean, I just love seeing this guy pull himself out of his kanar induced self-pity and become the Hero of Cardassia over the past few episodes. The moment when he shoots Rusot, declaring the old Cardassia dead just cements Damar as one of the greatest heroes of Star Trek -- even after all his mistakes, Damar knows that Cardassia can't survive if they just go back to business as usual.
Also, the Worf/Martok/Gowron stuff? Also golden. It really plays well when you've been watching since TNG, with all Worf has been through with the Klingons and Martok and so on. I love the scene where Ezri just lays it all on the table, that all this Klingon honour and integrity is bullshit posturing -- these guys backstab each other more than the Romulans. And I love that it's Ron Moore writing it, the guy who prolly did more to develop all that Klingon honour crap more than anyone.

"Extreme Measures"
I've heard a lot of people call this the "weak link" of the Final Chapter, but frankly they can all go fuck themselves. I think it must be because it's so centrally focused on Miles, Julian and Sloan that we get nothing of the other arcs, but whatever. That means that we can really do a good job examining this plot thread. And this episode is fantastic -- Miles and Julian go on one last big adventure to stop Section 31 and it's INCEPTION! BRAAHHM! Anyway, everyone's just on top of their games, but the finest scene of all is the one where Miles and Julian think they're going to die and Julian tries to get Miles to admit he likes him "just a little bit more" than Keiko. I love these guys, their friendship, and this show. Glorious episode.

"The Dogs of War"
Some movement on the Cardassian Revolution Front (I love Damar, Folk Hero), some movement in the Sorrow of the Siskos Saga, but mainly this is about wrapping up the Ferengi plotlines. I like the way this happens -- it's unexpected that Nog ends up as Nagus, but it's not totally out of the blue in retrospect with the way things had been going. And I love Quark's righteous indignation, that his bar is the "last outpost" (har har) of the true Ferengi Way. I had to stop the episode after he quoted Picard I was laughing so hard. All in all, while a lot of stuff happens this hour, it's basically the deep breath before the plunge.

"WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND"
Now THIS is how you end a show. Undoubtably the BEST Trek finale bar none. "Endgame" should've been structured more like this, with Voyager getting home with a half-hour to spare in the episode for some fucking denouement. "What You Leave Behind" is nearly perfect. We get our big space battle, we get our action climax, we bring the Emissary's arc to a close with our Series Protagonist grappling our Series Antagonist into the fires of hell, and we get to wrap-up and see where everyone's lives go. The montages were really great, too, despite lack-of-Jadzia. But yeah, everything wraps up fantastic.
That being said, I have three criticisms:
We should've seen the Battle of Cardassia Prime. Yes, two space battles in one episode is expensive (they already use a lot of stock footage in this episode), but we essentially get to Cardassia, see a ton of ships, we get our orders, then Odo goes down and links with the Founder and its over. It feels too easy.
Same with Dukat vs. Sisko. Sisko should've gotten some powers from the Prophets to match Dukat, and there should've really been a Battle of the Emissaries before the dip into the Fire Caves. As it is, Dukat is kicking Sisko's ass, Winn distracts him, then TACKLE and its over. Again, too easy.
Finally -- what about BAJOR? Sisko was SENT to DS9 in the beginning to get Bajor into the Federation. While it would be ridiculous to ask for Bajor to join up like the Day the war ends, it should've been addressed a bit, like Ross saying "well, Colonel, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Bajor's entry into the Federation finalized within a year" or something like that.
But these are minor quibbles. Best Finale Ever. Best Trek Ever.

Gonna miss it.

2012 Is Best Year

2012-01-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

If the world ends this year, I think I'll be cool with it. I'm having a great time.
I got a pipe for Christmas, and it's made my unfortunate smoking habit (damn you Matt!) a thousand times more enjoyable, not to mention classier.
I'm directing an awesome 22-min drama, the biggest project in my 2-year film school program, making it the biggest film I've ever directed and essentially what the past four years of my schooling has been building up to. I'm totally going all pulp noir comic pop Hitchcock on it, too. It's gonna be great. It's a psychological thriller written by Jackie Nicolls (http://www.wix.com/jackienicolls/film <-- jealous of this site a little!). She's great. And if the world ends this year, I can successfully have made an awesome student film but not have to worry about surviving in the real world!
Despite no one reading it, I've been having a blast writing Bat to the Beginning , renewing my journey through Golden Age Batman has been fun, satisfying and inspiring. Batman is awesome, writing about Batman is awesome, but it would be awesomer if I knew people were reading me write about Batman.
So many great movies are coming out this year, it's kind've like Nerdvana. "The Avengers", "The Dark Knight Rises", "Skyfall", etc.
Finally, what I am most thankful for is Sarah Dorchak (http://raw-sugar-adventures.blogspot.com/), who I've now been dating for almost three years. She's the greatest thing on two legs and the light of my life. She's not only smart, funny, geeky, and a writer, she's jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

So sure, the world can end in 2012. I'd have no regrets, because life is grand. But bollocks to those counting on it, too -- because not only is that all bullshit, but frankly I've got a life to build, and I plan on every minute being better than the last. So here's to years of success and achievement!! Because why devote your time to anything less?

Revenge of "Dime a Dozen": The Origin of "Bat to the Beginning"!

2011-11-21T16:07:00.004-07:00

Greetings and salutations, ladies and germs! Big announcement from this oft-neglected and scatterbrained blog. Originally beginning as Dime a Dozen, this blog was meant to compare and contrast Golden Age and Modern Age comicbook storytelling by reviewing appearances of prominant characters in both periods, showcasing the difference between the era of 10-page, four-color, 10 cent storytelling and the current day style of 12-issue, 22-page, computer coloured, $3 epics. The blog started by reviewing Batman comics, and never really moved away from that. Of the two eras, I had more fun writing the Golden Age reviews, and felt they were more successful overall because they were, paradoxically, "newer" (in the sense that reviews of "Year One" and "Dark Moon Rising" from Frank Miller and Matt Wagner are everywhere on the net), but the blog itself never really became what it was supposed to be. Meanwhile, I got busy and stopped updating it as much as I should have. In an attempt to motivate myself to update more, I changed the title to "Rowe Rowe Fight the Power" (an online identity of mine), and generalized the blog more, adding my movie reviews, my TV reviews, and my general ramblings. But while that got the thing more content, I think it hurt the blog because now it was all of the place.
Which brings us, appropriately enough, back to the beginning. Bat to the Beginning will launch as a spin-off blog, and the spiritual successor to the original feel of Dime a Dozen. Playing to my interests and strengths, Bat to the Beginning will review Golden Age Batman comics, from the beginning and moving forward. Old Golden Age Batman posts from here will be reposted there, and then the blog will continue from where I left off (Detective Comics #39). Meanwhile, this blog will continue to be the home for movie reviews, archived Star Trek reviews, and rants and ramblings.
I hope that this move will enable Bat to the Beginning to be stronger, more focused, and more successful overall as a blog.
Here's the link: goldenagebat.blogspot.com

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6 Review

2011-09-27T20:28:00.005-06:00

Man, it would've been great if they had done an alternate title sequence for the six episode arc, with like Cardie and Jem'Hadar ships around DS9? Or Starfleet ships around Starbase 375? Anyways...

"A Time to Stand"
Absolutely amazing. The balls on this episode. Massive. Not only have three months passed, not only is the Federation losing, not only do we NOT get the station back in one episode, not only is the plot totally different, but when the episode ends and we're floating on a Jem'Hadar ship with no warp drive -- there's NO "to be continued..." screen. Massive. Balls.
You really feel that DS9 has reached full maturity. To use a common Trek phrase, it has evolved beyond its beginnings, it has surpassed the Star Trek formula and become something more. Each and every character, regular or not, gets a good moment, each scene is well written, everything that happens has proceeded naturally from what comes before. And it's all just a prelude to some of the greatest hours of television Trek ever produced.

"Rocks and Shoals"
This is a brilliant hour of television. It shows that DS9 could produce a serialized arc, keep it moving forward, but still tell effective one-hour stories within the arc. And the writing here couldn't be better. From the planetside plot with our crew and the Dominion, which is probably the greatest exploration of the Jem'Hadar yet (and a huge improvement on last year's "The Ship") to the absolutely gripping stationside storyline, where Kira realizes she has become a collaborator. The scene where the Vedek hangs herself is incredibly powerful to me. This episode also has great cinematic technique, above and beyond standard Trek episodes -- its use of slow motion is stunningly effective. Final shot of the show is fantastic.

"Sons and Daughters"
A quieter hour of the arc, it reintroduces Alexander and Ziyal into the mix. I'll comment on Ziyal first -- the way the writers use her to inject such tension and awkwardness into the Dukat/Kira relationship is like salt in the wound in a way. It's, for lack of a better word, brilliant. As for Alexander? This episode is to be highly, highly commended for its use of him. Alexander, on TNG, was a horribly annoying character and his arc on that show was botched to say the least. Worf was a terrible parent, and the whole single dad thing just did not work. Then he sent Alexander away to Earth and we were apparently supposed to think that was okay, and since then the whole franchise acted like it forgot he existed, except for an occasional mention, even as major events continued to happen to Worf and his family.
The best thing this episode does is acknowledge all of this, that Worf botched it with Alexander and was a terrible father, and have Alexander turn out as an angry, bitter teenager. It makes sense, it feels right. And then to work to improve his character like this show does? And by the end set him on the way to being a legitimate individual, a worthwhile character? Absolutely impressive. To do that kind of turnaround and have it all feel like it naturally flows from what came before? Amazing.

"Behind the Lines"
And what the writers do here? With Sisko? With Odo?
Before I talk about that, I want to mention that throughout the arc, two recurring characters who are fantastic. One is Weyoun. Weyoun 5 is an amazing character, fantastically well written and performed. The way he turns on a dime from eccentric to grovelling to threatening is just... bravo! The other is Damar, a guy who went from being a random Cardie on Dukat's ship into the multi-faceted guy we see here. And he's only gonna get better.
But, as for Sisko -- promoting him to a desk job was a great move, so that we could see the other side of war. See what it's like for the guys at the base who have to send men into battle and then sit through the hell of just WAITING. It's brilliant because too often in war movies and Trek in particular the guys with the desk jobs are demonized. Speaking of which, one person I haven't mentioned is the character of Admiral Ross -- aka Trek's first really legitimately great Admiral character; he just sells it all the way, he has all the qualities an Admiral should have and yet makes him likeable enough that you accept and LIKE him as Sisko's boss. The problem with Admirals like Necheyev before was they were such hard-asses that you didnt like them and didnt like the Captains taking orders from them. It wasn't good long term. Ross works long term. He's great.
What was I saying?
Ah yes, Odo. Pulled to the dark side in such an insidious, slippery way. And yet it works, perfectly, from everything we know and have seen about his character up to this point. It's totally believable where he ends up at the end of the hour -- not really caring that he's betrayed Kira and doomed Rom.

"Favor the Bold"
This is just an hour of brilliant build up, fantastic character touches, and pure adrenaline producing excitement. Too great!!

"Sacrifice of Angels"
This may just be the space battles talking, but this is possibly the greatest single episode of Star Trek produced up to this point. In fact, it probably is the space battles talking, because "Operation: Return" is the greatest on screen battle up to this point in Trek history, including the Battle of Sector 001 in FIRST CONTACT. Incredible effects work, exciting and dynamic and all around heart poundingly exciting! But what's truely fantastic about this episode is that its not all about the battle. It's balanced perfectly with the culmination of the character threads on the station, leading to Odo's minor redemption, Damar's murder of Ziyal, Dukat's insanity, etc etc.
And then -- the Prophets FINALLY enter the plot. After five years of build-up and some very interesting episodes about Sisko as the Emissary, the Prophets storyline finally coalesces with the "main" storyline. Some may call it a deus ex machina, and literally speaking it is, but it's so well done and well thought out and just plain about time and perfect and the foreshadowing of a penance on Sisko is a great harbinger that says "just because this arc is ending doesn't mean this show is!"
The Dominion retreats (I love Weyoun's line "Time to start packing!") -- we get the station back -- Dukat found, crazy, devastated, and gives Sisko his baseball back. The arc ends.
Wow. Just wow.

Six incredible hours of television. Pulse pounding. I dunno how people could've done it a week at a time. Every character, from Ben Sisko to Jake Sisko, gets something really great to do. In fact, as I recall, Jake never really gets anything else after this, except a very minor role in "It's Only a Paper Moon". Speaking of which, Nog gets a field promotion to Ensign, which again MAKES SENSE in this context. Everything that happens MAKES SENSE, nothing feels conjured. Garak? Looks awesome with that headset on btw. Those were great. And that last moment with him and Ziyal in the Infirmary, her already dead? Perfect.
Every damned scene is great.
Pitch perfect.
Ah! This is a fantastic show!

"You Are Cordially Invited"
I don't care if the plot is basically the same as all other TV wedding shows. This is still one of my favourite DS9 outings. I think it's because it gets the characters so right. It's just a fun, genuine, heartfelt hour. It reminds of the fact that of all the Trek crews, the DS9 bunch are the ones I'd most want to know socially, as friends. Also, while many feel the resolution between Odo and Kira is a cop-out, and in fact it is, I still like it. It's better than histrionics, and it's not all that unbelievable -- having spent many a party up all night talking in closets myself.

"Resurrection"
A decent, if predictable episode. It's undoing is mainly that, after all this time, I don't care about Bareil, mirror or otherwise. And I also don't really care about the mirror universe. "Shattered Mirror" sort've took it as far as it could go and now that DS9 has moved on to bigger and better (Dominion War) things, it just feels too unimportant and removed from the tapestry of the show. This entry and "Emperor's New Cloak" were just sort've unnessecary.

"Statistical Probabilities"
This episode, on the other hand, is great. From the subtle nods at the classic Foundation Trilogy, to really giving Bashir's genetic enhancements some depth, to the able juggling of a standalone plot that still advances the War storyline, it's just a fun, engrossing hour with some interesting characters. I really like it.

"The Magnificent Ferengi"
Gloriously hilarious -- almost everything works, with maybe my favourite gag being Quark and Rom accidentally ending up in Sisko's office. The only element that doesn't quite gel is it's never explained why the Dominion kidnapped Ishka in the first place. One could assume it's due to her connection to the Nagus, but why?

"Waltz"
A powerhouse of an episode, mostly devoted to the performances of Brooks and Alaimo. Probably the best Dukat episode, and maybe the high point of the character from a writing standpoint. While I love every minute of this episode I can see why the writers weren't sure what to do with the character now that he had been pushed, to use Simpsons terminology, from ordinary every day villainy to cartoonish supervillainy.

"Who Mourns for Morn?"
A delightfully clever hour. Both this and "Magnificent Ferengi" are among the good examples of how to do Quark comedy.

"Far Beyond the Stars"
I don't know if I have anything to say about this classic Star Trek episode that hasn't already been said. Anyone who says DS9 didn't understand the meaning of Trek and was inferior to VOY should shut up and watch this. Nothing VOY did ever got close to the power of this episode, or as close to the spirit of Trek as it does, for that matter. My only nit to pick would be that Brooks milks his final speech as Russell maybe a little too long.

"One Little Ship"
Absolutely ridiculous, and absolutely delightful. A very enjoyable episode, practically TOS-like, and even better than TAS' shrinking episode. In between all the shenanigans it even moves the war plot forward with the knowledge of the Dominion breeding Jem'Hadar in the Alpha Quadrant.

"Honor Among Thieves"
A brilliant O'Brien episode, that really plays to Meaney's strengths. It's funny because Meaney is basically playing the Billby character in LAYER CAKE. My only regret is that Ramos, the higher-up in the Syndicate that we meet, is some non-descript alien as opposed to actually being an Orion. It was a nice touch having the Vorta be the same in this episode as in the prior one though.

"Change of Heart"
Fantastic. Probably the best exploration of the Dax/Worf relationship, and a great change to standard Trek cliches that Worf sacrifices the mission for his wife, and is seriously reprimanded. It really shows the depth of his love for her. I found it touching, really.

"Wrongs Darker than Death or Night"
Revealing. It's a bizzarre, sick, nightmare scenario Kira finds herself in. It puts the relationship between her and Dukat in a whole new, insane, light. And I found it interesting that after six years it seemed almost as if Kira didn't really remember how hard things were during the Occupation, that she had gotten used to the luxury of always being able to make the right decision. Good show.

"Inquisition"
Ah, Section 31. There's a percentage of fans who hated the notion, and believed that it never should have been introduced. Not me -- Section 31, the premise, is great, this episode is great, Sloan is great, Bashir is great, DEEP SPACE NINE is great. Great episode.

"In the Pale Moonlight"
What can I say? Greatest episode of DEEP SPACE NINE by far, equalled maybe only by a couple of TNG episodes and a couple of TOS episodes. Glorious -- well played DS9 writing staff. Well played.
Enlarge this image

Also, Sisko and Garak are the greatest ever.

"His Way"
I have never understood the apparent hatred an apparently large portion of the fanbase has against Vic Fontaine. I doubt I ever will. I have never seen it satisfactorily explained, people on the Internet just dislike him. The closest I ever heard to rational argument was that he took up too much screentime in such a late and crucial phase of the series and wasn't important enough to the main story for the time spent on him.
Frak that. Vic is a great character, for the primary reason that he is FUN. Which is part of the point of this episode. Sometimes I feel like Trek fans are a little too much like Odo in this installment, closed off and agitated, allergic to fun and emotion, unwilling to even try to talk to girls (ba-dum-ch!).
Anyways, this episode is fantastic and fun, and immensely satisfying after the four seasons of frustration between Odo and Kira. That scene on the Promenade leading up to the kiss is fantastic.
And the music! Man, what a time.

"The Reckoning"
This is a good episode that apparently a lot of people don't like. What they don't realize is that it's the necessary middle step between "Rapture" and basically the whole of Season 7. Which makes it good, but is also part of the problem. Because while Sisko's relationship with the Prophets had been developing gradually and well throughout the show, the Pagh-wraiths had gotten one Season 5 episode and 1 dialogue reference in Season 1. So we have this episode to bring us all back to speed and where we need to be, and while it's good and effective (especially the sfx work) and has some interesting stuff to say about faith, the parts on Sisko and Winn and the Prophets all feel like recap, the stuff about the Pagh-wraiths and the Reckoning feel underdeveloped, and you get a very major sense that this episode is MAINLY about setting things up and putting them off for later, basically serving as a reminder about all this shit.
That criticism aside, it IS a good episode, I just wish there had been a bit more to the final Ben/Jake Sisko scene in the Infirmary on the subject of Jake sabotaging Kosst Amojan's efforts from within to save his father, which is basically Jake finally accepting his father's place in the Bajoran mythos.

"Valiant"
Aka "Star Trek XI: The Episode". Seriously, this should be mandatory viewing for anyone who liked the new movie -- the new movie being the complete fantasy that this episode serves as a wake-up call to. You can't put a bunch of cadets in charge of an ultra-powerful new starship. Even if they mean well, even if they are heroes, even if they have all those good qualities, the fact that they literally have no clue what they are doing will get them killed. The actor playing Watters here even reminds me of Chris Pine's Kirk -- hell, he actually has more dimensions than Pine's Kirk. Anyways, I'm getting off track -- this is a great episode that really utilizes Nog and Jake and their differences very well and tells a really good War story as well. People frak up, people die.

"Profit and Lace"
180 into terrible. It's not aggressively bad -- I don't hate it like after watching like a Lars Von Trier film -- but it's also not so bad its fun. It's just bad. Fall on its face, makes you wonder what they were thinking, bad. Far worse than any other bad DS9 episode -- it's definitely I think the one DS9 episode most Niners would pay to forget. The whole thing really just crashes the instant they put Quark in drag. Man it's awful. Man.

"Time's Orphan"
This year's "Let's Torture O'Brien" and also the first straight-up sci-fi story that DS9 has done in a while. I don't have a lot of comments, other than that the ending is a little pat, but I agree that keeping Molly 18 would've been one more thread than the series needed going into the final season. The coolest thing is that I swear to Zod the time portal in this episode is the same tech as the Guardian from "City on the Edge".

"The Sound of Her Voice"
A quiet character piece before we rush headlong into the season finale. I honestly enjoyed the Quark/Odo/Jake B-plot more than the sci-fi A-plot, but it must be said that the best scene in the episode is the Irish Wake at the end. O'Brien's line about how someone in this circle of friends may be gone before we know it, well, it hits you hard when you know what's coming.

Both of these episodes feel like filler, but good filler.

"Tears of the Prophets"
I think this episode would have been better served with a 90-minute run-time like "Way of the Warrior". Way too much happens for any of the legitimate drama to ring true, or for the melodramatic epic tone they are wanting to shine through. It all comes across as mechanical and exposition heavy -- We invade Chin'toka, Dukat is possessed by a Pagh-wraith, Dukat kills Jadzia, the Orbs go dark and the wormhole closes, Sisko leaves for Earth -- all huge events, but none get the sturm and drang they deserve.
I'm still not sure exactly what happened with Dukat's plan -- I thought his plan was to use the Wraiths to kill the Prophets, thus ensuring the wormhole stays open, but instead what happens is the Wraith flies from him into the Orb, the Orbs go dark, and the wormhole closes. And I'm not really sure why.
I can't fault anything in this episode exactly, I just wish it could've been expanded a little more. It feels like the writers knew where all the pieces needed to be on the end of the board, but waited until the last 45 minutes of the season to get them there.

Star Trek: Voyager Season 4 Review

2011-09-27T20:27:00.006-06:00

"Scorpion, Part II"
This is a pretty good, big, sweeping, cinematic-feeling episode. It's a pretty worthy follow-up to Part I as well, serving the double duty of wrapping up the Borg/8472 storyline and introducing Seven of Nine. It actually handles this well -- Seven seems like a natural guest star character and if you hadn't been paying attention to all the hype and press about this episode you might actually be surprised when she ends up still on the ship at the end of the episode.
The only thing that really bugs me about this episode is that we don't really see or learn anything more about this cool new species than we did in Part I. They're a one-dimensional means to an end -- we never even see them in the flesh in Part II, apart from their telepathic contact with Kes.
# of Crew: 143 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 4 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 4
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,473.3 lightyears
Seven claims Voyager has 32 torps at the start of the episode, which is hilarious.

"The Gift"
It was pretty smart on the writer's parts to not try to sandwich Seven's integration into the crew and Kes' departure into the previous episode. This episode feels like a natural evolution for Seven's character from "Scorpion, Part II" and the scenes between her and Janeway are very effective -- both characters make some good points about the morality of severing her from the Collective. As for Kes, well natural evolution isn't the phrase I'd use. The methodology used to get her off the series is probably the best we could hope for given the circumstances, and evolving into a higher life form is a classic Trek trope, but it would've felt more natural if they had built up Kes' telepathic abilities over time more naturally. Up to this point, they'd only been used or dealt with once or twice a season. Other than that, her exit is great except for the false jeopardy run to the shuttlebay at the end.
All in all, a good character based episode.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 3
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,942.9 lightyears -- Kes sends the Voyager 9500 ly, past Borg space, as her final gift. Why she doesn't just send them all the way is a question I won't even bother asking.

"Nemesis"
No points for guessing its better than the movie of the same name. But it is a pretty good exploration of the standard Trek themes of war and prejudice, with a nice twist at the end. The style is also pretty innovative for Trek, with the bizarre dialogue of the aliens and the guns shooting bullets and the general feel of a 1980s Vietnam movie. It's also probably one of the last full blown Chakotay episodes (every time Chakotay claims to be a man of peace from a culture that solves its difficulties with negotiation I rolled my eyes though -- four years ago this guy was a terrorist).
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 2
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,867.2 lightyears

"Day of Honor"
Basically B'Elanna has a terrible day, and at the end of it finally establishes her relationship with Tom after a season of will they/wont they. It's a pretty good character study, and of course has a necessary Season 4 subplot about Seven of Nine fitting in. As for the aliens of the week, the moral of the story should have been that the needs of another cannot be a blank check on your resources, but then Seven magically devises a tech solution to the problem that leaves everyone happy.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1 <-- We've lost three shuttles in as many episodes
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,783.1 lightyears

"Revulsion"
This one has a great A-plot about a muderous, psychotic hologram (classic robot run amok scenario) with some great Trekkian observations about humanity. It's paired with a subplot about Harry having the hots for Seven and blowing it because, well, it's Harry. These are both great, but they way they mix is a little off, just because one is SO serious and the other SO comedy.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,774.7 lightyears

"The Raven"
A very good, and necessary, episode for developing Seven -- who has been a major subplot in pretty much every episode since her introduction alongside Tom and B'Elanna's burgeoning romance. The whole "Seven's back to being a dangerous Borg!" is something they obviously had to do sooner or later, I'm just surprised it was this soon. But, it is a good episode, especially the necessary details about her backstory. I'm a little annoyed that the Hansens' ship, the Raven, is somehow 60,000ly away from Earth despite being a civillian craft and this episode implies it just flew there on its own and within a reasonable amount of time despite the return journey for Voyager being stated as this massively long impossible journey. However, in later episodes they explain the Raven followed a Borg Cube into a transwarp conduit, so I'm cool.
That aside, this is a good episode.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,741.1 lightyears
Seven steals a shuttle. Tom goes after her with one. But they only have one!!

I feel now would be a good time to say how I feel about the Seven of Nine character. I like her. I know I've been cynical about her introduction, it's hard not to be given the obvious raitonale behind it (not just her boobs, but a Borg crewmember was an obvious ratings ploy as well) -- and I'm not saying I support getting rid of Kes -- but Seven IS a good character. She's interesting, has a ton of potential and Jeri Ryan IS a good actress as well. She delivers great performances. And, despite my cynicism, I have to admit she is really hot. So hot that it's actually almost distracting during scenes. What I can't decide is if Seven is legitimately a better character than the rest of the cast, or if she's just better written. What I mean is, that a character like Paris or Chakotay might look better on paper, but other than the Doc not a single cast member has been written to potential. Seven has been, and then some, and maybe that's because the writers felt they had three years of character development to catch up on, but still -- some of the cast still haven't gotten much at all (Harry) while others (Chakotay/Paris) have been completely domesticated from their original premise. Seven's development, on the other hand, has proceeded naturally, and quite interestingly.
One incident I will point out as poor development, of a kind that would never occur on DS9 -- in "Day of Honor" Paris offers his friendship to Seven, stating that he knows what it's like to have a past that others can't see past. In the very next episode he's warning Harry to stay away because she's a Borg and not trustworthy.

"Scientific Method"
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWN. Is it over yet? Two acts of Paris/Torres shenanigans, then some boring DNA mutations that aren't interesting and go nowhere, then some hostile aliens, then a final scene of Paris/Torres. It's not an actively BAD episode, just very mediocre.
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,715.9 lightyears

Other than the last one, VOYAGER has actually been pretty good lately. But in direct comparison to DS9? Even the best of episodes (like "The Raven") feel very mediocre and very difficult to maintain an interest in.

"Year of Hell" Parts I & II
Full disclosure: This two parter is one of my favourite episodes of VOYAGER, even despite the reset button plot. It is frustrating seeing the show do in two episodes what it should have been gradually doing all along to this point (that is, Voyager accumulating damage) and this is something BSG did really well (it's always weird seeing early episodes of that show where the ship is nearly pristine). But despite all that, its a really good show. An example of what the VOY writers could do if they really set their minds to a concept. What really makes the show work is Kurtwood Smith's performance as Annorax. He's the first really good VOYAGER villain up to this point, in my eyes. And the time travel issues are pretty cleverly done as well. It's a great episode.
Even though it never happens.
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,707.5 lightyears

"Random Thoughts"
Interesting, semi-intelligent, but full of Trek cliches -- a planet of human looking aliens with one strange custom that they don't mention to outsiders who visit their world but which is a serious crime, usually punishable by death, that one of our crew infringes upon and is held and convicted despite never knowing the law or even being part of the society. This time it's Torres, whose crime is thinking violent thoughts. The episode uses Tuvok and Torres well, but the whole thing is practically overshadowed by two great scenes where Seven questions the entire premise of the series.
"Your philosophy of exploration exposes Voyager to constant risk. If you maintain a direct course to Earth and avoid all extraneous contact with alien species, it will increase your chances of survival."
Seven has just become my favourite character, and it has nothing to do with the T&A.
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,589.8 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 9 (decided to start keeping track)

"Concerning Flight"
Watch this episode. Then watch "Elementary, My Dear Data" (TNG) or "Ship in a Bottle" (TNG).
It's clear the writers wanted to get Janeway and the daVinci hologram into a wacky adventure. But the adventure is so cookie cutter, so mediocre, so full of holes and cliches, that all you can analyse is what the episode does with the characters. And the answer is not enough. There are a couple of good dialogue exchanges and some nice speeches, but nothing coming close to the analysis of reality and human nature the two aforementioned TNG episodes explored with the Moriarty hologram. At the end of the day I'm wondering "so what?"
(Also, a bunch of pirates steal some of my tech, I send down an assault team with phaser rifles in shuttles, not a hologram and the Captain unarmed).
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,570.2 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 9

"Mortal Coil"
Ah, this year's "serious Neelix" episode. I must say I really respected the way this episode utilized the VOY mythos, drawing on continuity from several past shows to create a very effective, emotional story. It also approaches the faith vs. reality issue much more effectively than last season's "Sacred Ground". It's very powerful material, and Ethan Phillips really sells the notion of a Neelix who has lost so much faith in life that he's driven to suicide. It's not as good as Colm Meaney's performance in "Hard Time", but then we can't all be Colm Meaney.
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,528.2 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 9

"Waking Moments"
It's a pretty stock plot, but it's handled somewhat interestingly. A telepathic alien invading the minds of the crew is nothing new, in fact it's similar to a second season VOY episode, and dream within a dream isn't new either, but it's all done in an interesting enough way to stay entertaining. Just call it Voyception -- BRAAAHMM!
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,517 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 9

"Message in a Bottle"
This is one of my all-time favourite episodes, featuring Voyager's first real contact with home. Also, the USS Prometheus ("the Fightin' Over-compensator!" I call it), Andy Dick as the EMH-2, the debut of the Hirogen (aka the "Not-Predators") and some Alpha Quadrant pre-Alliance Romulan fun. I think it would've been cooler to have the Prometheus taken over by Jem'Hadar, but I suppose having it be the Romulans kept things neutral for non-DS9 fans (altough I liked how the DS9 theme was used as a leitmotif for the Alpha Quadrant). Also, the Hirogen relay network reached into the Beta Quadrant, so Romulans were a logical choice. In any case, the back and forth banter between the Doc and the EMH-2 was loads of fun and the whole episode is just a great delight.
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,505.8 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 9

"Hunters"
The second in the "Hirogen arc", this episode introduces us to the 7 foot tall aggressive species, and has Seven of Nine in bondage. But the strongest elements of the hour isn't the jeopardy plot, but the human angle in the letters from home the crew receives. Janway learns that Mark has moved on, Harry is eager to know if his parents know he's alive, Tom dreads hearing from his Admiral father, and in a nice continuity touch, Chakotay and B'Elanna are devastated to hear of the destruction of the Maquis ("Blaze of Glory" [DS9]). All of the actors handle this varied emotional material quite well, and the episode sets up not only the Hirogen, but the later Barclay/Pathfinder arc. So despite the rather derivative nature of the Hirogen as a species, it's a winner of an episode.
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,471.9 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 9

"Prey"
And we continue our Hirogen arc with an episode that must've made the preview guys happy: Hirogen vs. Species 8472, it practically sells itself! But while all of that is exciting, and Tony Todd gives a good performance as the first well-defined Hirogen character, the true meat of this episode is the slow-burning conflict between Seven and Janeway that comes to a head at its end. What the episode does really well is not give us an easy out on this conflict -- both Janeway and Seven are right to a degree, and wrong to a degree, and the episode ends with an uneasy, open ending with Seven essentially put on probation. It's good stuff, but only really comes to the fore in the final act.
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,317.7 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 9

"Retrospect"
Here's another episode that's really mediocre until about halfway through, then gets good for the final moments. Basically it's a twist on the old "friendly alien is not what he seems", when it turns out he was totally friendly all along, we were wrong in accusing him, and he essentially kills himself because of the accusations, and now we're all horribly guilty. The only real issue is that why Seven's false repressed memories manifested against this alien is never really explained, except in a kind've offhand manner. That being said, this episode continues Seven's probation from the previous installment, but man I'm definitely noticing VOYAGER transforming into the Janeway/Doc/Seven show rather quickly.
# of Crew: 141 Total -- 125 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,312.1 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 9

"The Killing Game, Parts I & II"
While I enjoyed this two-parter while I was watching it, once it was over I couldn't help but wonder "So what?"
I mean, what was, really, the point of this episode? I mean, it seems the whole thing was cooked up for the WWII actiona and Hirogen in Nazi uniforms and I just wonder why two whole episodes were spent on it. There were times when the episode tried to make me care about the pointless holodeck drama and I wondered why. Then there was the ending, where Janeway gives the Hirogen holodeck technology in exchange for a cease fire -- is this the same woman who two years prior absolutely would not give the Kazon a frakkin' replicator in exchange for safe passage through their space?? And though it was a minor detail, it bugged me that for some reason in the Klingon holoprogram the computer ADDED Klingon features to the crew, yet did not REMOVE alien features in the WWII program -- nevermind that its already been established that the holodeck doesn't alter the appearances of real people. I dunno, it was like a big action movie -- it was fun to watch, but one wonders what the point was other than the spectacle. Also about half the ship is laid waste to, including all of sickbay BLOWN UP, and I know that next week everything will be fine.
# of Crew: 139 Total -- 123 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,253.2 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 9

"Vis á Vis"
Is Tom Paris just a magnet for bad episodes? I swear this must be the worst VOYAGER has been since "Threshold". It's at a "Spock's Brain" level of terrible, but without the high level of camp fun that makes "Spock's Brain" enjoyable. It takes half an episode of nothing happening before we get to the point (Paris switches bodies with an alien) and then another half an episode before the ending (they switch back) and there's nothing interesting to any of it. The alien doesn't even have a motivation for switching bodies -- he doesn't want to take over the ship or steal any technology, he's just there to take Tom's life, and he sucks at it and is easily found out. This is a terrible GNDN episode.
# of Crew: 137 Total -- 121 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,205.5 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 10
Oh, I forgot to mention -- the alien villain of the week has a "coaxial warp drive" that folds space, allowing a ship to cross vast distances in the blink of an eye. Before we find out he's a villain Tom begins to work on altering one of the shuttles to incorporate the technology. It totally works, then we find out the guy is a villain and the technology isn't mentioned again - ever. So we abandoned it because he was evil? Either the entire crew are idiots, or the writing staff is.

"The Omega Directive"
And then we get this, a glorious episode of classic Star Trek that, if anything, should have been a two-parter instead of "The Killing Game" so it could give its ideas a chance to breath, especially since I'm sure we'll never hear about any of this ever again. The Janeway/Seven conflict was great, but I think the main thing I liked about this episode (other than it's interesting ideas about science and religion and the dangers of both) is that the crew is on a Mission for the first time in ages and it gives everything and everyone such a great focus that the average episode where we wander into a problem doesn't have.
# of Crew: 137 Total -- 121 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,185.9 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 10

"Unforgettable"
This review practically writes itself. This episode isn't just forgettable, it's laughable, terrible, stupid, pointless, and again GNDN. I can't believe it's the same writers as season 1's "Prime Factors" because it's just awful. What a waste of my time. Essentially a woman who Chakotay cant remember comes onboard saying he fell in love with her and then forgot her, then they fall in love again, then she forgets him, doesn't love him, leaves, and he forgets her, all thanks to some pretty shit tier technobabble. It doesn't help that they don't have the least bit of chemistry.
# of Crew: 137 Total -- 121 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 11
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 62,003.9 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 10

"Living Witness"
A good, classic style, Trek episode. Shades of "Planet of the Apes", and with an element of "alternate Voyager" that Brannon Braga loves to do, but still admirably done. The idea of the Doctor's backup module is a bit of a contrivance, but it enables a good story about revisionist history. It's a story well told, centred around interesting ideas. That alone makes it a successful VOY episode.
# of Crew: 134 Total -- 118 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 10
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 61,995.9 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 10

"Demon"
Unlike this episode, which was pointless. Aggressively pointless. Basically a mystery for 40 minutes, then four minutes of explanation, and then a nothing ending. I mean, WHAT? We just COPIED THE WHOLE CREW? Who does that? The whole hour is just an aggressive barrage of stupid, like a second or third season episode. What a waste. It's only redeeming feature is the new "assertive" Kim, a development which I'm sure will be immediately forgotten.
# of Crew: 134 Total -- 118 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 10
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 61,953.4 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 10

"One"
Not bad. The basic premise is a little laughable, in that it violates three points of logic*, but as a vehicle for exploring Seven of Nine its very effective. Granted, it's not like Seven is really lacking for exploration, she's either been the A or B plot in every episode this season practically, but I'm not about to complain about the few instances of good character development on this show.
* 1) Chakotay established in "The 37's" that Voyager can't run with a crew of less than 100.
2) If the ship CAN run with the whole crew in stasis, why not just do that for the whole trip?
3) So, your plan to stop the crew from being affected by the radiation penetrating the ship is to stick them into metal boxes with their own life support units? Isn't that, in effect, what Voyager is? And don't tell me the stasis units are made of a special metal the radiation can't penetrate, because then why not coat the whole ship with that if you had enough to build 133 stasis tubes of it.
# of Crew: 133 Total -- 117 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 10
# of Gel Packs: 30
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 61,812.4 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 10

"Hope and Fear"
A pretty decent one-hour season finale addressing the season's central conflict of Janeway v. Seven. While the conceit of the alien who is not what he seems and the ship from Starfleet being a deception are forgone conclusions, the best element is the alien who wants revenge on Voyager for inadvertantly causing the destruction of his race -- it's a nice element of consequences of Janeway's actions coming back to haunt her, a story style used often on DS9 and should've been employed much more regularly on VOY than it was. Overall, a satisfactory hour, drawing the inaugral year of the Janeway & Seven Show to a close.
# of Crew: 133 Total -- 117 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 1
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 6
# of Gel Packs: 30
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 61,495.9 lightyears
Opportunities to Get Home Missed: 10

Review of Star Trek: Insurrection

2011-08-08T21:09:00.002-06:00

STAR TREK: INSURRECTION (because STAR TREK: MILD ISOLATED CONFLICT just doesn't sell)

"We are betraying the principles on which the franchise was founded. It's an attack upon its very soul."

"And it will destroy the integrity of those characters, just as characters have been destroyed in every rebooted franchise throughout history."

"Jean-Luc, it's set in an alternate timeline. We're only changing a few things."

"And how many changes does it take, Admiral, before it becomes wrong? Ten, twenty, a hundred?"

"How many changes does it take, Admiral?!"

"I'm making Spock french Uhura in a turbolift."

"Post in whatever forum you wish. By the time you do Kirk will have a motorbike."

Y'know, this movie has a much worse reputation than it deserves. After NEMESIS and NuTrek, I can't say I fault it much. It has two major issues -- one is that it tries too hard to be a big Hollywood action movie, and falls into all the cliches thereof. The second is that it doesn't really seem important, plotwise, in the grand scheme of things. It comes across as a two-hour episode of TNG with better effects and more shooting.

I mean, every other Trek movie depicts events significant to the overall story. But INSURRECTION, produced while DS9 was on, was clearly made with the intent of being accessible to an audience who weren't watching that show. But in making it accessible, it comes across as an irrelevant side story. The most significant things to come out of this movie are the renewed Troi/Riker romance (shown on-screen) and the Dominion finding an Alpha Quadrant supply of white (implied by the aftermath).

There are some good scenes here, good drama, but it's undercut by all the violence, explosions and lame attempts at humour. Data in particular is occasionally saddled with some character assassination in favour of some cheap laughs. Picard's rebellion, while appropriate to his character and coming off more than a little like an Ernest Hemingway hero, doesn't really have any consequences since he's so clearly right and Ru'afo and the Admiral so clearly in the wrong. I always thought it funny that Ebert didn't like the movie because he more or less sided with the Admiral's reasoning that better medical technology for the Federation's population of 800 billion or so is worth taking immortality from 600 people (Needs of the Many, right?)

But I see what Piller was going for, a return to the TNG style of ethical dilemmas and grand speeches from Picard. But it just feels so inconsequential. The movie itself is all right, well produced and put together, but never really excels into something special. To this day I still don't get what they were trying to do with the whole slow-down-time-Jedi-powers thing.

INSURRECTION is not a bad Trek movie. But it's probably the most easily skippable one.

5/10

1. STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT
2. STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
3. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
4. STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME
5. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
6. STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK
7. STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER
8. STAR TREK: GENERATIONS
9. STAR TREK: INSURRECTION
10. STAR TREK

Review of Star Trek: First Contact

2011-07-07T15:11:00.004-06:00

Originally Posted on BondandBeyond on May 28 2011

"Jean-Luc, 94% on Rotten Tomatoes!"

"No!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"They destroy Vulcan, and we fall back."

"They annihilate entire timelines, and we fall back."

"Not this time. The line must be drawn HE-YAH! This FAH, no FAHTHA!"

"Nice speech. No way Orci and Kurtzmann could write that."

Ah, now this is how you make a TREK movie. Action packed and exciting, yet with a strong character drama core and a well developed, intelligent plot. Full of great tidbits for longtime fans -- yet entirely open and understandable to franchise newcomers. Fully embraces and dramatizes Roddenberry's vision -- yet takes a more realistic look at it by making the author of that vision a drunken cynic. FIRST CONTACT is simply a great Star Trek movie, and an example that modern TREK films should really look to. Well directed, well performed, well written, great score, the movie fires on all cylinders. Perhaps its only flaw is that the cuts between the A-B-C plot structure sometimes feel rushed, but then that's also one of the film's strengths: it's lean, it doesn't waste its time getting anywhere; yet clarity and plausibility in the plotline are also maintained. You taking notes, Orci/Kurtzmann?

Standout performances from the TNG cast. Stewart of course rocks the movie, but Spiner is great also, and unlike most of the TNG movies all the crew members get their own moments and things to do. Heck, Deanna is actually all right in this one!

Yeah. FC gets a perfect score. Which surprises even me, since that bumps it above TUC -- which is probably still my fav Trek movie due to a TOS crew bias, but admittedly has flaws.

10/10

1. STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT
2. STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
3. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
4. STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME
5. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
6. STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK
7. STAR TREK GENERATIONS
8. STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER
9. STAR TREK

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5 Review

2011-07-07T14:56:00.003-06:00

Originally posted on BondandBeyond from May 05 2011 to Jun 27 2011

"Apocalypse Rising"
A great season opener with two really aggravating problems:
1) Worf goes along on the mission, despite the fact that he's persona non grata in Klingon space, and yet no attempt is made to disguise him at all. You can recognize a House of Mogh member by their ridges, and yet no one recognizes Worf. When Changeling-Martok walks by, everyone is worried about him recognizing O'Brien THROUGH the Klingon make-up, but not Worf whose appearance is in no way altered. Grr.
2) Martok-Changeling has only himself to blame for getting caught, since after Odo screams out his identity, he openly uses shapeshifter powers to attack him, drawing down all that Klingon fire. I'm sure if he'd been smarter he could've kept the charade going.
Oh well, it's a pretty good season opener, but those issues bug me.

"The Ship"
This episode is really trying hard, but it falls flat. For one thing, nearly all the acts are the same -- the crew in the ship, getting on each other's nerves, trying to figure out what the Vorta wants, while Muniz dies VERY slowly in the background. Then we find out it was a Founder on the ship, and I start wondering why the Vorta didn't just tell them that. Then the episode takes another act to try and convince me about how shooken up the whole crew is over losing five crewmen, when I've seen the Defiant lose more in battle and no one bats an eyelash. I mean, yeah, it's interesting to show that those guys are real people, but to have Sisko agonizing over it as he does in this episode's finale feels really out of character -- Sisko's the guy who does what it takes to get the job done; his soliloquy about how being the Captain isn't as easy as they make it out at the Academy sounds like something a real rookie would say, not Sisko, and the whole "OMG one of my men is dead, I must be a terrible Captain" is more of a Kirk reaction. So while the episode had good dramatic intentions, it just falls apart.

"Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places"
A charming Trek comedy piece with some fun revelations for the characters. A nice sequel to third season's "The House of Quark", a nice beginning to the long teased Worf/Jadzia relationship, and a very honest probing look at the difficulties Miles is experiencing living with both Keiko and Kira.

"Nor the Battle to the Strong"
Absolutely fantastic episode. Hey, guess what -- war is terrible, not everyone is a hero, and even the guys trained to do it are gonna crack under the pressure. The best Jake material since "The Visitor". Everything works. The beginning of a fine tradition of DS9 showing what real war is like, at least within the confines of Star Trek.

"The Assignment"
Genuinely creepy, full of suspense, with fantastic acting performances, Season 5's "Let's Torture O'Brien" episode also introduces the Pagh-Wraiths. Great show.

"Trials and Tribble-ations"
What can I say? Positively glorious. The perfect tribute show.

"Let He Who is Without Sin..."
So this has a reputation as being one of the worst episodes of the series. And yeah, it's not a great episode, but its not horrendous. Its not even memorably bad, like a "Threshold" (VOY) or "Profit and Lace" next season. It's just sorta there. I agree with the producers that what kills it is that we go to essentially a sex planet but see nothing even vaguely sexual. There's no erotic flavour in this show at all -- even the skimpy bathing suits are pretty tame compared even to TOS's feminine warddrobe (not that I'm complaining about Terry Farrell's outfit). I think Worf is written a little overly stubborn, even for Worf, and I think the Essentialist's arguments are overblown (Risa is a vacation planet, for cryin' out loud! Are you vacations are immoral?) but there is some value to the discussion. I also think the episode has a few good scenes exploring the early nature of the Dax/Worf relationship, essentially clearing the air between two very different characters to allow them to understand one another and be together. The scene where Worf talks about his childhood on Gault almost makes the rest of the show worthwhile. Almost.

"Things Past"
Basically the long overdue follow-up to "Necessary Evil" from season 2, and a very mature observation on the part of the writers that there's no way Odo could've been in charge of security during the Occupation for as long as he was and not gotten his hands dirty. It's always fun to return to Terok Nor and see the darker side of things, especially when the show has been making Dukat so sympathetic lately and seems to have largely forgotten about Bajor and the Occupation. A very good episode. And Kurtwood Smith is always welcome.

"The Ascent"
A fantastic Odo/Quark episode. Really great writing and even better performances. The subplot between Jake and Nog was also well done, addressing how the two have evolved into very different people in the little over a year since Nog left the station. Having Nog take his practicum was a very good excuse to get him back on the show and not have to come up with excuses for him to be away from the Academy (or have the crew visiting) like TNG had to do with Wesley. (And of course the War that's coming up was a good excuse for him to stay on the station long after his practicum was over).

"Rapture"
Ah, new uniforms. Excellent. The final major visual signal that DS9 has become awesome (in order these are, the Defiant, Bald Sisko with Goatee, Worf, Grey Uniforms). And it's announced with a great episode that has Sisko finally coming to terms with his role as the Emissary and synthesizing it with his role as a Starfleet Officer. Meanwhile, Kai Winn, Bajor's admission to the Federation, Sisko's visions, all these pieces on the board get shuffled around and all hold major portents for the future of the series.

"The Darkness and the Light"
A classic "old-school" style DS9 episode that recalls "Duet" in first season with its discussion of the morality of the occupation. Even if Kira's captor had some good points, I like that she stands her ground and says "fuck you" instead of coming to some kind of sympathetic understanding (like a TNG character would). Very good episode from Ron Moore.

"The Begotten"
Kira gives birth and Odo gets his powers back. The best part of this episode is its analysis of parenting, while dealing with your own parent. The whole theme of "I'm going to do it differently". Very strongly written.

"In Purgatory's Shadow"
Aka "Improbable Cause, Part III". Where the REAL DS9 begins. Aka a flat-out GREAT episode. Amongst everything else the best scene in the whole show is the Garak/Tain scene.
"Elim, do you remember that day in the country?"
"How could I forget? It was the only day."

"By Inferno's Light"
Absolutely AWESOME. In 40 minutes the entire status quo of the series is flipped around. The Cardassians go from a civillian government under siege to a Dominion dictatorship ruled by Gul Dukat, formerly an anti-Klingon freedom fighter. The Klingons go from our enemies to our allies. Turns out Julian's been a Changeling for the past five episodes. And now we have a full Starfleet and Klingon task force on the station, with the real, one-eyed Martok. Gowron sums it up best,
"Think of it. Five years ago no one had ever heard of Bajor or Deep Space 9. Now all our hopes rest here. Where the tides of fortune take us, no man can know."

"Doctor Bashir, I Presume?"
And just after you've digested that for the past five episodes Bashir has been a Changeling, turns out for the past five years he was also Superman. I seem to be one of the few people who like this episode -- I like Robert Picardo, I like the LMH idea, I like the Rom/Leeta subplot, I think the characterization of Bashir's parents and their backstory fits with everything we've been told about Bashir over the years, I like bringing genetic engineering into the Trek fold and mentioning its illegality in light of Khan, and I like that it's made clear that mainly only Bashir's mind was enhanced. I like the conflict that parents with a mentally retarded child would face in a world where genetic enhancement was a possibility, even if just a black market one. I like the episode. But apparently most people, Siddig included, hated it, and felt this development came out of the blue and wasn't good for Bashir's character.

"A Simple Investigation"
A classic sort of noir story with Odo falling in love with the woman he's protecting. Very well done on all fronts.

"Business as Usual"
A great Quark episode featuring his cousin Gaila and the ethics of weapons dealing. Very well done -- I often feel that Quark, as a comedic character, works better in these kinds of dramatic stories (like Season 4's "Body Parts") than the full-on comedies he is often placed in. Superb episode.

"Ties of Blood and Water"
An excellent follow up to Season 3's "Second Skin", while also continuing threads such as the Dominionized Cardassia, Dukat's new position, and the debut of Weyoun 5. A great moving episode that really hits home so far as the death of a loved one is concerned. Just fantastic.

"Ferengi Love Songs"
There's some good stuff here and there, but for the most part this is a pretty weak, predictable, cliched Ferengi outing that's more important for the events portrayed (beginning of Ishka/Zek, Rom and Leeta's engagement, Quark getting his licence back) then the actual telling of them.

"Soldiers of the Empire"
A somewhat cliched, but still very well done Klingon outing, showcasing Jadiza, Worf and Martok very well respectively. It was nice to see some "Klingon outcasts", see some diversity in the look of Klingons, etc. A well done episode.

"Children of Time"
One of the all-time greatest Trek time travel stories -- great bizzaro paradox, fantastic character drama, heart-renching plot twists, superb moral dilemma, and finally Kira knows how Odo feels about him. An amazingly well written show.

"Blaze of Glory"
And so the Maquis, at least in the Alpha Quadrant, meet their end, along with their morally ambiguous Canadian leader Michael Eddington. The Eddington/Sisko feud was fun, and the Maquis were always great for throwing a dark reflection up against Federation values, but I suppose the show had to start ending some of these ongoing plot threads. It's another great hour of DS9.

"Empok Nor"
An exciting, eerie, well shot episode that just goes a little too far off the rails at the end. Garak becomes too much of a villain for me to be comfortable with the show continuing on as if nothing happened.

"In the Cards"
Perhaps the greatest comic episode of DS9. But with a solid human core. It's like the anti-DS9 episode: Lighthearted A-story, Important B-story, and a message of hope amidst darkness. It's also fantastically written and wonderfully performed.

"Call to Arms"
Ranks with "Best of Both Worlds" as one of the greatest season finales in all of Trek's history. Except this episode has a way better pay-off, with the pure balls to not resolve all its plot points in the next hour. This is an exciting, daring hour of DS9 that's less concerned with ratings grabber cliffhangers and more with pushing the boundaries of Trek and setting up the fantastic opening arc of season 6. Amidst all of the big moments and galactic cliffhangers, it also finds time for great human moments with Rom, Leeta, Jadzia, Worf, Jake, Quark, etc. Can't wait for season 6.

Star Trek: Voyager Season 3 Review

2011-07-07T14:54:00.004-06:00

Originally posted on BondandBeyond from May 02 2011 to Jun 23 2011

"Basics, Part II"
A fun, mindless action-packed follow up to the season 2 cliffhanger. It basically kills off every loose end from Season 2, setting us on our way to Season 3 free of any plot related burdens. I do think it was an annoying cop-out to have the child be Culluh's though, because that doesn't really match up with Season 2 episodes and it certainly wasn't the original intent. It's just a cheap way to get rid of the kid and not deal with him or Chakotay's feelings -- despite that being one of the main themes of Part I. Originally the idea was that the kid would die and Seska would suffer from the loss -- but that left Seska and Culluh around and Taylor and Berman wanted to be free of the Kazons. So they killed Seska and had Culluh take the kid that was now suddenly his, just to be free of all of Piller's characters and storylines, since this was the last episode he wrote. I think it would have been more interesting if the kid had died, and the crew captured Seska and flew away from the Kazons, and had to figure out how to bring Seska to justice -- all of which was I believe Piller's original intent.
# of Crew: 144 Total -- 128 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 18
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,267.1 lightyears

"Sacred Ground"
And people claim that DS9 went against Roddenberry's principles? For fuck's sake! This episode was frustrating, trite, and stupid. It's message seems to be either 1) If you encounter something you can't explain, why bother? Aren't mysteries wonderful? or 2) If you believe hard enough, you can avoid death. Who needs technology?
Fuuuuuuuuck.
# of Crew: 144 Total -- 128 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 18
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,236.3 lightyears

"False Profits"
While following up a strand from a third season TNG episode is cool, the fact that the problem was solved in the first act ruined the show. Literally Janeway had the Ferengi in custody and a stable, open wormhole to the Alpha Quadrant to fly through, and she LET herself get talked into ruining everything by said Ferengi, and spent the rest of the episode trying to trick her way back to where she had already gotten by way of a serious of tiresome scenes. The entire final act made me want to tear my hair out -- once again we've got the Ferengi in custody and can fly home, yet somehow they overpower the guards, somehow get into their shuttle, somehow exit the shuttlebay and evade the tractor beam, and for some reason them going through the wormhole F***S it for us. Way to go, Janeway! Fuuuuuck!!
# of Crew: 144 Total -- 128 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 18
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,225.1 lightyears

"Flashback"
VOY's celebration episode of the 30th anniversary of Trek has 3 massive problems:
1) Tuvok's repressed memory turns out to be a virus, which means the experience has no meaning for him, no personal growth, there is no drama, we learn nothing about Tuvok we didn't already know.
2) Our protagonists (Janeway and Tuvok) do not actually solve the problem through any of their mucking about on the Excelsior, the Doctor solves it just fine from the confines of the Holodeck.
3) The Excelsior sequences, partially due to the above 2 points, actually have nothing to do with the story. They are there to fit the 30th anniversary theme, but the story isn't about that. So they seem superfluous. On that note, a lot of lip service is paid to nostalgia for the past and having fun with the maverick early Starfleet officers, but the audience never actually feels any of that because the entire Tuvok/virus story, which has nothing to do with the Excelsior, is hanging over all of it.
Basically, this episode is great because we get to see more of Captain Sulu in action, which is cool. But it totally fails in comparison to "Trials and Tribble-ations" [DS9].
# of Crew: 144 Total -- 128 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 18
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,205.8 lightyears

"The Chute"
Okay, this episode is pretty good, except for all the cutaways to Janeway and the ship, which were terrible. As cool as it was for Janeway to come down the Chute with a phaser rifle blazing, this is ANOTHER case o the protagonists (Kim and Paris) not actually solving the problem. Although it's at least nice to see Kim DOING something for once. Have I mentioned that I officially HATE Janeway now?? Somewhere in season 2 the effects of being stranded in the Delta Quadrant got to her and she's split into her 2 personalities and is now crazy, irresponsible, and a terrible captain. I fucking hate her.
# of Crew: 144 Total -- 128 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 18
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,194 lightyears

"Remember"
Ever notice how the only way VOY can tell interesting stories is when they AREN'T happening to our people? But seriously, this episode has good intentions, with its Holocaust allegory, but confuses the entire issue by making Jews into Amish people, and not giving the Nazis a reason to exterminate them. It would actually be EASIER and less costly to re-settle them (the cover story) than kill all of them. It's an imperfect allegory because it doesn't fully understand why the Holocaust happened. But I suppose it's an okay episode. Although, Torres uses Janeway's exact reasoning from "False Profits" on why they should interfere, but THIS time Janeway will absolutely not do so. FUCK.
# of Crew: 144 Total -- 128 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 18
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,175.7 lightyears

"The Swarm"
The parts where Holo-Zimmerman interacted with Holo-Doc (aka Robert Picard playing opposite himself) were GENIUS. And the idea that the Doc being active for 2 years and fillling his program with making friends and learning opera is degrading his memory is great, logical, and makes sense at this point in the show. Which makes it all the worse that the entire rest of this episode was FUCKING TERRIBLE. It was like the entire crew took RETARDED PILLS this morning. Janeway was insufferable, especially. She gives a speech where she justifies her actions (which endanger the entire crew needlessly) by saying that they are a long way from the Alpha Quadrant and Starfleet rules don't apply in their situation. AKA THE EXACT FUCKING OPPOSITE OF HER POSITION THROUGH THE ENTIRE SECOND SEASON where we had to follow Starfleet principles despite everything, lest we forget who we are or something like that. FOR FUCK'S SAKE! And then the ending, which says the Doc has forgotten everything, but has a hope of remembering things. Why the hell would you write that ending when you have NO intention of following it up? It's like what happened to Uhura in "The Changeling" [TOS] but I forgive that because it was the 60s. Goddamnit!!
# of Crew: 144 Total -- 128 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 18
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,156.4 lightyears

While seasons 1 and 2 of VOY were frustrating, or subpar, they were at least mediocre. Okay. Following the premise, however loosely. But so far season 3 has tossed the baby out with the bathwater and been fucking terrible. I trace it to the departure of Michael Piller. "Basics, Part II" was a farewell to all his storylines, characters, and concepts, and now we're just doing stories week by week, hit and miss, mostly miss. It feels like the writers of DS9 do what they do because they love the show, and the writers of VOY do it because it's a job and they want to get paid. There's no passion. And it shows onscreen.

"Future's End, Parts I & II"
Time travel is confusing. The plot is a little more than an excuse for the fun here. But in times it feels like the fun is padded to make this a two parter. And it doesn't help that all of the "lol, it's the characters from Star Trek in the present day!" gags were for the most done before, and better, by the Original Series in two episodes and a very popular movie. This episode is fun, but it's light and meaningless (and derivative) fun. Ratings grab.
# of Crew: 144 Total -- 128 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,027.1 lightyears

"Warlord"
This episode goes down as the point where I officially became fed up with Neelix. We are done professionally. Meanwhile, the best part of this episode is Jennifer Lien's performance. You can tell she's having a lot of fun, and I love the dominating, sexy, arrogant portrayal she created for Tieran. It's a damn shame her career went nowhere after being fired for Seven of Boob. Meanwhile, she kind've breaks up with Neelix while under Tieran's control, which is hilarious because it's never addressed again. And the final scene is even better, when Tuvok tells Kes how this experience will change her outlook on life and how she behaves as a person and how she'll have to live with the consequences. Does he think he's on DS9 or something?
# of Crew: 143 Total -- 127 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,996.3 lightyears

"The Q and the Grey"
A wasted opportunity. First third of the show spent on the laborious Q-after-Janeway jokes, then we finally get to the meat of the story, the Q Civil War. Nice to see that "Death Wish" had consequences, but fourthings really bugged me:
1) Q's rebel faction wearing Union colours. Yeah, I know that it's so we'll sympathize more with him, but a more accurate metaphor would've been Q's faction as the Confederates.
2) The Voyager crew intervening turns the tide?? Puh-leez. The worst was when they showed Tom sneaking up behind the Q General. How do you sneak up behind an omnipotent being?
3) No Q has ever procreated? I direct you to "True Q" [TNG]
4) All of Janeway's high and mighty Roddenberry-esque speeches about how humanity has evolved beyond using violence to solve its problems so why not the Q? First off, the whole premise of VOYAGER is that 13/143 of the crew are terrorists. Janeway was on a mission to capture terrorists. Secondly, the whole premise of the Q on TNG was that they judged humanity for being a barbarous race who had to proove their worth to be in space. So this all felt really hollow. The idea of a Q Civil War after the events of "Death Wish" is interesting, but this episode doesn't really explore it -- it just uses it for action setpieces and wastes most of its time on dumb jokes.
# of Crew: 143 Total -- 127 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,959.9 lightyears

"Macrocosm"
Someone really wanted to do ALIEN on VOYAGER, I guess, with Janeway as Ripley. It almost works, but the entire drama of the episode is killed by an act-long flashback that has the same atmosphere as just any ol' VOY episode, rather than the dramatic, tension filled episode up to that point. From then on, it's all downhill.
# of Crew: 143 Total -- 127 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,943.8 lightyears

"Alter Ego"
Yaaaaawn. Everything in this episode has been done before on Trek, and better. Falling in love with a holo-character, a holo-character achieving sentience, a determined woman trying to seduce a Vulcan, the ancient alien wracked with lonliness, on and on.
# of Crew: 143 Total -- 127 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,907.4 lightyears

"Fair Trade"
A surprisingly great VOY episode, largely because it falls into the rare "we're acknowledging the premise" category of stories. Neelix is featured in an effective character examination as he realizes that now that Voyager has entered space he is unfamiliar with, he has essentially no use on the ship. It's a great episode with some great thematic material.
# of Crew: 143 Total -- 127 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,896.5 lightyears

"Coda"
Ugh. What the frak was this supposed to be? Was it supposed to be deep? Meaningful? Tell us something about Janeway? It did none of that. It mucked around for the first few acts pretending it was "Cause and Effect" [TNG], before aping "The Next Phase" [TNG], "The Tholian Web" [TOS], and even STAR TREK V. It's all ultimately meaningless and very stupid. If the answer to the mystery is an alien is trying to suck Janeway's lifeforce as she dies, then what's the explanation for endless near-death loop cycle at the start? They act like this creature might be back at the end, but he never returns, leaving a ton of vague unanswered bullshit. Terrible show.
# of Crew: 143 Total -- 127 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 6
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,888.2 lightyears

"Blood Fever"
Ah, here's a good show. It's basically "Amok Time" [TOS] in the Delta Quadrant, and explains why they brought Vorik onto the show about four or five episodes previous. A little silly as to why they didn't just use the Vulcan they already had, but then I could never see Tuvok acting the way Vorik does here. This is a fun show that also ignites the Paris/Torres relationship. And, of course, omg the borg.
# of Crew: 143 Total -- 127 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 6
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,880.7 lightyears

I think the number one problem with the Trek spin-offs is that by this point there are basically three kinds of Trek episode: one that advances the premise/plot of the show as a whole, one that develops a main character, and a standalone. And by now the standalones suck, because after seven years of TNG and three years of TOS, all of the interesting sci-fi tales that can be done in one hour of TV within Trek's premise have been done -- so any standalone adventures on VOY or DS9 are repeitive of what's gone before. The only thing making DS9 and VOY unique are their individual premises and casts, and DS9 utilizes those brilliantly. Most DS9 episodes are either advancing the story or bringing a character to a new place -- which VOY doesn't do enough of, content to merely tell episodic stories that are all derivative and thus boring by now. It really is TNG Lite --- same kind of stories, but solved with gimmicks and phaser fire than intelligence and drama.

"Unity"
In following up on the promise of "Blood Fever" and setting up the excitement of "Scorpion", this episode does a great job. With the way things are done here it almost feels like the VOY writers knew that they were going to have to make the Borg interesting and different to validate doing them. This is a very well written and interesting little episode. I kinda really hate that our crew is somewhat responsible for the Borg Co-Operative gaining control of that planet, for all we know the guys battering down their door to come kill them were screaming "For Liberty!" as they did it. But other than that, I think this episode probes into a very interesting topic -- namely, how something like the Borg came about in the first place. Of course it would've started innocuously, as it does here. The Borg probably started as hippies with Apple technology. But as VOY Borg episodes go, this is a good one. Very smart.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 5
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,849.5 lightyears

"Darkling"
At first it seems like this is gonna be a "Kes is like a teenage girl now" episode, with Doc and Janeway as the parental figures. Then it suddenly turns into Jekyll/Hyde on VOY with good Doc and evil Doc. It's basically just Robert Picardo having fun hamming it up for an episode. It's a fun watch, for sure, but there's nothing else here of import.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 5
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 17
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,768.2 lightyears

"Rise"
I've seen a lot of shows steal the basic plot of "Flight of the Phoenix", including Trek a few times, but never this blatantly. This is a fun show, it's got some good Neelix/Tuvok characterization, but other than that there's nothing to recommend.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 4
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 16
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,751.4 lightyears
"Favorite Son"
Ugh, so TAS did this episode and called it "The Lorolei Signal" -- and the episode itself admits its ripping off The Odyssey. Yaaawn. Not terrible, but pretty darn mediocre. Did I think for a second the aliens were going to be just as friendly as they seemed? They never are. Did I think for a second Harry was going to stay behind with them? I wish. Foregone conclusion, tired premise, weak hour.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 4
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 16
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,729 lightyears

"Before and After"
A fairly good time paradox story that utilizes Kes and her character's unique lifespan very well. It also does a great (and clever) job foreshadowing the Year of Hell storyline, which at this point was apparently planned as the S3 finale cliffhanger and was actually going to happen as opposed to just be a reset button story (notice the damage dealt the ship here isn't as severe as when the writers knew they were just going to undo it all). All in all, a good VOY episode. So, y'know, a rarity.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 4
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 16
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,678.5 lightyears

"Real Life"
An interesting episode for the Doctor (Kenneth Schmullus!), even if his holo-family essentially swings from one extreme stereotype to the other, while the sci-fi subplot of the week is the dullest its ever been. A memorable, if just okay, episode.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 4
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 16
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,619.6 lightyears

"Distant Origin"
This is a very intelligent, well written, well produced episode, worthy of the name Star Trek. Too bad it was essentially all done before and called PLANET OF THE APES. All kidding aside, it's a good show, even if its central concept (that a genus of dinosaur developed spaceflight and left Earth before the extinction event) is a little farfetched. I wish VOY took this more intelligent path more often -- when it does (like in last season's "Death Wish") it pays off.
Also, the crew complement is given as 148 here. Learn math, writers -- it's 142.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 4
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 16
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,586 lightyears

"Displaced"
OMG, aliens have abducted our characters, placing them in an idyllic prison. They are confused when we want to leave, because the prison is paradiscal and after all they are only doing what they need to survive.
This plot should be banned from Trek. Mainly because it was the plot of the GORRAM FIRST EPISODE EVER!
Ugh. Yawn.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 4
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 16
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,566.9 lightyears

"Worst Case Scenario"'
Best season 1 episode of VOY I've ever seen. But all kidding aside, a really well done, fun, compelling show, even after it's clearly just a holoprogram. The only part that doesn't really work as well is the third act jeopardy angle with Seska, but even then it's still a good time. Good stuff, VOY.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 4
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 16
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,547.8 lightyears

"Scorpion"
Wow. The first genuinely exciting, tension-filled episode of VOY. Ever. After three years we finally get a good balance of action, excitement, tension, plot, character and drama. A fantastic finale, even if the actual cliffhanger itself is pretty darned lame. But the idea of the Borg/8472 war is compelling. As is everything else in this show. Certainly leaves one excited for VOY. About time.
Fun fact -- this plotline was in development as far back as "Unity" -- the cube there was meant to be destroyed by 8472 -- but this episode was decided on as the cliffhanger instead of "Year of Hell" AFTER the decision to bring on Seven of Boob had been made. What HADN'T been decided yet, was who was leaving the show -- that's why Kes seems to have a pretty big role in the link to 8472 while Harry is lying on a biobed in sickbay dying -- because Garret Wang was originally supposed to leave instead of Jennifer Lien. If only.
# of Crew: 142 Total -- 126 Starfleet, 13 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 4
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 16
# of Gel Packs: 46
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 72,539.8 lightyears

In three seasons, we've gotten about 3.3% of the way home. Way to go, Captain Janeway.

Review of Star Trek: The Motion Picture

2011-03-14T00:41:00.003-06:00

Originally posted on MI6Forums on May 14 2009

"Well, Captain, your whole crew has been replaced by teen idols."

"Those *******."

"Spock, what do you think of all this?"

"Not for us?"

"No, Jim. Not for us."

"For NuTrek."

"I weep for NuTrek as I would for an aborted fetus"

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (The Director's Edition)
Cause I'm sorry but if you don't have the sickbay scene or the weep for V'Ger scene, you don't have the movie.

Since the last Trek movie I saw was AbramsTrek, this was an extreme spectrum shift to the other side. Sedate where Trek XI is hyperactive, talky where Trek XI is action-packed, dull where Trek XI is colourful, cerebral where Trek XI is retarded.

But despite that, there are a lot of similarities between the two movies. Both were attempts at bringing the classic 60s characters to the big screen after a long hiatus. Both are extremely reliant on visual effects. Both have very high quality visual effects. And both feel like they have the big scope of a movie.

That's one of the big things I like about TMP is that it feels like an adventure worth taking Trek to the movies for. It's big. TSFS/TVH/TFF lack that for me. This movie feels like a movie.

A lot of people dislike the lack of "feel-good" camaraderie in the crew in this movie -- but I like it. There's a real dramatic tension between crewmembers in Star Trek for the first time and it makes you unsure of everyone's motivations -- Decker and Kirk competing for command, and Spock no longer the Vulcan we remember.

I particularly like Spock's arc in the film -- returning from the Kolinahr cold but unfulfilled, we are don't know if he's fully loyal to the ship; and going from that to Spock realizing that where he belongs is with the Enterprise crew.

That's why this scene is so important to me. It's the emotional fulcrum of the piece.

The Spock spacewalk is a fantastic moment. These guys were really out to give 2001 a run for its money and in some places they succeed.

I also really like the opening with the Klingons, the design of V'Ger, the Illia probe and Decker subplots. And the transporter accident that kills Sonak -- that's a chilling moment you don't soon forget. All in all it's a strong picture.

So what are the weaknesses? Well it's a very passive film. Our heroes spend a lot of time looking at viewscreens and discussing things and very little time actually doing anything. Also while the uniforms look good on their own, they don't work well with the production design. I think the only problem I have with the uniforms is the slacks being the same colour as the tops -- I think that's what gives them the "pajama" feel. Except for the Epsilon IX uniforms -- they're terrible. A big problem is the lighting. This movie is terribly lit. Just awful. It's hard to believe it's the same bridge set as TWOK and it's so interesting how much of a difference lighting makes.

That being said, you know, and I know, and the film knows, that the TMP Enterprise model looks great.

However, I like the mystery of the movie a lot. What is V'Ger? What's Spock's motivations? What's Kirk's? Etc etc. I like that the movie encourages its audience to think and that we defeat the "villain" by helping it and solving its problem and communicating with it rather than blowing it up.

Despite all its problems this is Star Trek in fine form. A movie like this could never be made today.

7/10

1. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
2. STAR TREK

Next Up -- KHAAAAAAN!

Review of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

2011-03-14T00:40:00.002-06:00

Originally Posted on MI6Forums May 17 2009

"Sir, if I may?"

"Excuse me, can't you tell I'm in mourning for my franchise here?"

"Saavik was right -- you never have faced obsolescence."

"No -- I've put out albums, and been in Priceline ads, and parodied myself over and over. I know nothing."

"You knew enough to tell Saavik that how we deal with sh*t movies is just as important as how we deal with good ones. It's called dollar voting."

"Good point. Remind me not to buy the Blu-Ray. Is that all you came here to say?"

"That -- and I that I'm glad you're not Chris Pine."

"Damn straight."

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN

Talk about a marked improvement. Character, drama, emotion, action, but also theme, depth, meaning -- it's all here and it's all entertaining.
This, folks, is how it's done.

Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer sweep in and save the franchise. Finally, Starfleet is a believable Navy, and even the old TMP sets are lit in a dramatically vibrant style. The cinematography is truly a sight for sore eyes.

This movie is masterful at doing less with more. Reduced to a paltry budget, the new team relies not on fancy visual effects but on a strong solid story with ties to the backstories of the Original Series.

It's clear the writers had seen TOS -- some of the most classic TWOK lines are actually throwbacks to oft-repeated themes and dialogues in TOS, from Vulcans never lying, to there always being possibilities, to Khan's superior everything.

James Horner's fantastic score makes this truly, truly a space opera of Wagnerian scale. Shatner and Nimoy give performances of their careers, and even De Kelley and Jimmy Doohan get great stuff to do. (Scotty's not even fat yet!)

Kirstie Alley is the one and only Saavik. She made that character worth paying attention to. She is sorely missed in III, IV, and VI.

The film moves at a breakneck pace -- you're swept along an adventure that is truly like a swashbuckling epic and we only get time to rest finally in the Genesis Cave, where we pause and reflect in two of William Shatner's best scenes as Kirk. The themes are all there -- and yet, we have not abandoned the core of Star Trek, best exemplified in the scene in Kirk's quarters with McCoy and Spock arguing over the merits of the Genesis experiment.

TWOK is a full twenty minutes shorter than TMP, and where the previous film was slow and plodding, this movie is a mad dash capped with a great deal to say about the human condition -- life, death, maturity, vengeance, mortality, age. In the end, it's a tragedy, and the death of Spock is so tactfully and beautifully handled that you almost wish they didn't bring him back. Almost . Truly, his death serves the film -- it is not there for shock value or as a cheap pull on the audience.

If I had to nitpick about this movie, it'd be that Kirk and Khan never meet face to face -- but then again, that's just a connection to the nautical feel Meyer was trying to emulate. And with Khan's genetically engineered strength and Kirk's age, it'd be a quick fight. Also, it harkens to classic episodes like "Balance of Terror".

Oh! My other nitpick is that while I LOOVE the Monster Maroon uniforms, and they are a vast improvement over BLAND TMP, they always bug me in the back of my head because they just don't feel design-wise like Starfleet uniforms - they look nothing like anything that came before and after. But they're still the best thought out uniforms in Trek.

This movie is Trek's FRWL -- every new entry wants to be it, and they all fail, most notably Nemesis and NuTrek.

Truly, this is a superior motion picture.

9/10

1. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
2. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
3. STAR TREK

Next Up -- Nimoy Directs Doc Brown as a Klingon B*st*rd!

Review of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

2011-03-14T00:39:00.002-06:00

Originally posted on MI6Forums May 20 2009

"How could you do this, Kirk? Spock trusted you -- with everything that was not of the body."

"Erm -- wat?"

"You let him appear in NuTrek!"

"F*cker owed me twelve dollars."

STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK

Leonard Nimoy's directorial debut is uneven, to be sure. The script has wonderful dialogue and fantastic character moments -- but it's a largely predestrian A to B affair dependant on a lot of leaps of faith on the part of the audience. The model work by ILM produces some of the most beautiful shots I've ever seen in the field of visual effects -- but any set not reused from previous Trek movies looks like a cheaply thrown together mess. Nimoy masterfully directs subtle character interactions, and handles anything involving Vulcans with a well-expected fine touch -- but his action direction is dull and fails to excite. So its a mixed bag, to say the least.

But do these factors detract from enjoying the film? Not really. Star Trek III is a fun film to watch -- and despite the deaths of David and the Enterprise, one still gets a feeling of rebirth from it all... as the end title says, the adventure continues and we feel we've moved to a point where from here we can go on to tell any story we want. One thing's for certain -- it's a great ending.

In large part the movie has good performances -- Merritt Butrick makes me wish we'd gotten another movie out of David before his inevitable demise, and Christopher Lloyd is a good low-level villain as Kruge. He doesn't match Khan, but he knows well enough not to try. Robert Hooks creates a memorable character in Fleet Admiral Morrow and I wish that part could've been reprised. The original TOS cast are great in this flick. Shatner especially really carries this movie forward the whole way, and it's interesting seeing him without Nimoy to play off of. Mark Lenard reprises his role of Sarek with subtlety, authority, and grace. Gosh, did Ben Cross suck.

Unfortunately, these good performances really make the one dud in the cast stand-out: Robin Curtis as Saavik. She's trying her damnedest, but she's no Kirstie Alley. Saavik goes from being an interesting character who we enjoy seeing grow and learn, to a dull wooden wall, fit only to give exposition. Too bad.

This film mainly has two weaknesses for me: 1) it's a very linear, straightforward plot. We need Spock alive again, and this movie accomplishes that, but little else. 2) The Klingon enemy should've been more pronounced: Bennett and Nimoy were trying to make Genesis a nuclear allegory with the Klingons representing the Soviets again -- but instead we get a bunch of ugly, crass, punks. I think Trek III is really the beginning of the punk Klingon thing that really damaged that species for a long time. It's the beginning of the modern Klingon.

Despite that, there are some touches to the Klingons that I do like -- references to the Federation Neutral Zone and calling the Enterprise a Federation Battle Cruiser among them.

Despite revolving around Spock, this film belongs to Kirk. It's really his vehicle and Shatner's got great moments all throughout the film. However, one of the things I really like in this movie is that each member of the core crew gets a moment to shine (with the exception of Chekov, who got a lot of time in the previous picture). The stealing of the Enterprise is like a Mission: Impossible episode, which makes sense since Nimoy was on that show for two years. Hell, Uhura and Sulu get more in this movie than they did in the last two combined!

The best element of the film is Kirk's sacrifices for Spock, how far he goes for his friend. Bong has spoken about this eloquently and at some length and I will not presume to do better here. It's weaknesses are rushed plotting and a strange pace that makes the film feel very segmented and episodic (We recover from TWOK - We steal the Enterprise - We fight some Klingons - We go to Vulcan).

The movie is short on intelligent ideas or themes -- but is so strongly based in character and so necessarily based in plot that I forgive it. Saavik's scene where she scolds David on his arrogance suffices for me.

This movie really captures the spirit of TOS, and just like in TWOK you can really tell Harve Bennett watched TOS and took notes. I love the ending with everyone on Vulcan and the TOS theme playing -- beautiful.

It's a fun adventure that lets us recover from the wounds of Star Trek II and move forward to new journeys. Its faults can be excused as it was a directorial debut, rushed script, and largely plot driven in its necessities.

6/10 -- Why only 6/10 after a very positive review? I can't help but say that's what the movie feels like for me. It's light and disposable fun. Gets Spock back for us. But that's really all.

1. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
2. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
3. STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK
4. STAR TREK

Review of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

2011-03-14T00:38:00.003-06:00

Originally posted on MI6Forums May 28 2009

"Admiral Kirk, Captain Spock. The charges against you are, among others,"

- "Agreeing to appear in Star Trek XI,"

- "And directing Star Trek V."

"How do you plead?"

"Are you sure now is not the time for a colourful metaphor?"

"OoOoOOOoOooooOooOoOoOOOOooOoOOOoOOOOOooooooO!"

STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME

Everyone and their mother likes this movie. So what can I say about it? I can say that it's always bothered me that the Bird-of-Prey bridge is entirely different from what we saw in Star Trek III. But then, the Star Trek III set sucked anyway. I can say that the score from Leonard Rosenman sounds like every generic 80s comedy. But then, this is an 80s comedy. I could say that the whole probe thing is a repeat of Star Trek I's plot. But then, the probe in this case is merely an excuse for a fun adventure, not the focus in and of itself.

So can I really think of a legitimate complaint for this movie?

No.

The team of Harve Bennett, Leonard Nimoy and Nick Meyer really did a great job here creating a movie that's entertaining, light-hearted, intelligent, funny, and has a strong message behind it. It's no wonder why this was the Star Trek with the most crossover appeal. Once again, Nimoy used his Mission Impossible experience to give everyone in the cast something fun to do -- I think this is the last Star Trek movie to give a genuine role to the entire cast until Star Trek XI.

One of my favourite elements of this movie is the resolution of Spock's character arc -- having gone through Kolinahr and V'ger and death and rebirth, Spock finally reconciles and comes to terms with both halves of his heritage. His final scene with Sarek is just fantastic.

But despite Spock getting a good arc, and Nimoy being the director, this film really belongs to Kirk. William Shatner has always had a great sense of humour and he does a fine job of carrying this picture.

What more can I say? From the great ILM effects job for the whales, to the wise decision to keep Eddie Murphy out of the picture, Star Trek IV is just plain enjoyable -- and years ahead of its time with its environmentalist theme. With no shots fired in anger, little to no violence, and the problem solved by communication instead of destruction, TVH also demonstrates some of the best qualities of Star Trek.

It's fun, but it's intelligent fun, and it has a meaning.

We grok.

8/10

1. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
2. STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME
3. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
4. STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK
5. STAR TREK

Up Next -- William Shatner writes AND directs? How can this possibly go wrong?

Review of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

2011-03-14T00:37:00.004-06:00

Originally posted on MI6Forums Jun 3 2009

"Well, gentlemen. I wrote and directed my very own Star Trek movie. What did you think?"

"The film scored 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the worst of the original series."

"Yeah, but it sure as hell beats NuTrek."

"Damn straight."

STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER

Not bad, Shatner. Not bad at all.

In a way it's a shame Shatner had to compromise his vision to all the suits at Paramount, though conversely I don't think a Trek film with the Judeo-Christian Devil as the villain would ever have worked.

At the end of the day the only major flaw of this movie is how cheaply it was done for, which I can't really blame on Shatner -- only Paramount. Other than that there's some weaknesses in the writing, for example without the epic escape from Hell originally planned (complete with army of rockmen) the climax of the movie falls spectacularly flat. And really, the climax of a movie must be strong as its the last impression the audience has. Also, as many have pointed out, the Scotty/Uhura relationship is really weird and comes out of nowhere. (Hrrrmm, that comment feels familiar...)

Also, a minor thing that always weirded me out about this movie is that it's ostensibly set six months after Star Trek II, and yet, through movies II-IV Uhura has black hair, and here she's gone grey. Yet in Star Trek VI, set ten years after Trek II, she has black hair again.

Yes, the movie is cheap, but Shatner's a good director given what little he had. And with the exception of the third act, the writing is strong too. This is the best Trek movie for demonstrating the Trinity. The character moments given to Kirk-Spock-Bones are superbly done.

Sybok is a great character, with a neat arc, and well played by Larry Luckinbill. I think a modern film dealing with a religious zealot leading a terrorist army would probably have a lot more weight than this did in 1988.

All in all I think this movie gets a bum rap. It's misunderstood. Yes, the effects are awful but that was Paramount's decision -- and besides, the effects for TOS weren't always great either. I like the storyline. I like the questions the movie asks, the statements it makes about religious fanatics like Sybok (the bit where he is shown to think of himself as God is excellent).

All in all it's a good movie -- it's just unfortunate in that it comes between the enormously popular Trek IV and the fantastically good Trek VI. That and that all the Trek movies feel like movies, and this feels like a TV movie -- like Return to Gilligan's Island or something. It just doesn't have the epic scope and scale of the other films -- which is sad because Shatner had intended it to be the most epic Trek of all.

The score is nice, too. Other than that damn TMP/TNG theme, I like the music. Some beats sound like Proto-First Contact, but the main "family" theme is nice.

There are little touches I like, for example how the Klingons consistently speak the language, as opposed to speaking English sometimes and Klingon other times.

But I'm glad Nick Meyer repainted that bridge.

6/10

1. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
2. STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME
3. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
4. STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK
5. STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER
6. STAR TREK

Review of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

2011-03-14T00:36:00.002-06:00

Originally posted on MI6Forums Jun 6 2009

- "You volunteered!?"
- "There is an old Vulcan proverb -- only Moore could reboot BSG"

"They wrote Transformers!"

"Bill, the franchise is dying."

STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

Full disclosure: This is my favourite Star Trek movie.

Does it most excellently showcase the most admirable qualities of the Trek franchise? No. I would argue movies I, III-V do that quite a bit. But it doesn't matter. I like Trek VI the best.

Maybe because I feel it's a movie that has everything. An engaging political conspiracy plot, a murder mystery, allegory, thematic content, character investigation, rousing battle scenes, an atmosphere that mixes dread with determination and immediacy with reflection and excitement with melancholy. It hits all these notes while never seeming schizophrenic and maintaining a rousing storyline that follows logically from A to B while never feeling rushed.

One of the things I love in this movie is the music. I know I'm a minority opinion on this, but I love Cliff Eidelman's score. It not only accentuates the dramatic action but also perfectly underscores the more low-key, character moments in the film. Three scenes really stand out for me -- the first scene between Spock and Valeris in his quarters, the scene where Kirk and McCoy beam aboard Kronos One, and the long helicopter shots of Kirk, McCoy and Martia trekking across the surface of Rura Penthe. It also expresses the brooding, mysterious quality of the film, that sense of the unknown and dangerous. The music manages to evoke a Trek feel, without feeling derivative of the other scores. Indeed, it has a rousingly unique feel to it.

The real strength of this movie, in my opinion, is the examinations it makes of the Kirk and Spock characters. After all this time, after all their adventures, these are the men they have become. Others have strongly criticize the portrayal of Kirk in this movie -- I embrace it. It feels real, it feels human. In my eyes its a perfectly natural attitude for Kirk to adopt after all these years, and everything that's happened to him. And, of course, it's beautifully played by William Shatner, who in my mind gives such a strong performance that it sells the idea to anyone who might doubt it. I'm torn as to whether this or Trek II is Shatner's best performance as Kirk, and at the end of the day I''d say that Trek II is more iconic Kirk, but Trek VI is the better, more nuanced performance.
As for Spock -- I feel that both the arc written for Spock and Nimoy's performance of the character really bring him to the strongest point he's been as a character -- a real culmination of the growth and development in that character since 1964. I love the scenes of anger that Nimoy gives Spock (an element I first saw surface in Trek V's line "Damn you, sir! You will try!"). I love his confrontation of Valeris in sickbay and the hurt, betrayed feeling his gives when he (let's face it) mind rapes her on the bridge. My favourite Spock scenes of all time are the two in his quarters in this movie, the first with Valeris ("Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Lieutenant, not the end,") and the second with Kirk. That second scene with Kirk perfectly encapsulates those two characters and their relationship as far as I'm concerned. "Is it possible that we two, you and I, have grown so old and inflexible that we have outlived our usefulness?" And I love Kirk's line, "You're a great one for logic. I'm a great one for rushing in where angels fear to tread. We're both extremists. Reality is somewhere in between."

One of the other highlights of the film is, of course, Chris Plummer as General Chang. Shatner and Plummer had been colleagues at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada, and had received the same training as actors -- and indeed it's a sight to see the two of them spar with one another, two men truly on the same level as each other. I love it, and I love the character of Chang. He gets some of the film's best lines, especially "Don't wait for the translation, answer me now!"

The Klingons are great in this picture. I love the sort've feudal, Elizabethan vibe we get from them. I know that Nimoy felt that in the finished film they weren't explored enough, but I think we got enough lectures on Klingon culture from Worf in TNG to make up for it. Indeed, I'm glad the Rura Penthe section was not as originally written. I like that Kirk realizes his flaws by himself in his own self-reflection, it suggests a strength of character in him -- rather than the audience getting some long, condescending scenes out of an after-school special where Kirk meets some Klingons and realizes that they're people too or some such rubbish.

This time watching the film I was really looking for what Tux was saying about it slowing down in the Rura Penthe section and feeling like a TV movie -- but I didn't get that at all. Indeed, I think Trek VI has a very unique story in the movie canon, a murder mystery/political thriller, and that's not a bad thing. Indeed, it gives the film a life and spirit much stronger than just another Trek II retread (*cough* Treks X and XI).

Some have argued, including Gene Roddenberry, that the movie is out of place in the Trek universe for portraying conspiracy within Starfleet and prejudice in the crew of the Enterprise, but I have two thoughts on this. One is that the Gene Roddenberry who disapproved of this movie is the same Roddenberry who created the boring characters and ludicrous restrictions of TNG. The other is that I feel that in showing these people work against prejudice, showing Kirk and Azetbur come together at the end of the movie, showing the Klingons and Federation signing that peace treaty after all the events we've seen, that in fact Star Trek VI really embodies the essence of the anti-prejudice message of Star Trek. I think it exemplifies Tux's theory of Star Trek that rather than show a bunch of perfect people who live in a utopia, show real people rising above themselves to work towards a utopia.

Some may state that this film lacks the exploratory sense of Star Trek, that idea of going into the unknown of space and learning something new, but again I disagree, in that we are in fact going out and exploring another culture, another world, a new future. Here the unknown we are confronting is that of the unknown world of peace. The idea of co-existing as friends with the Klingons. It's a very powerful idea and I think that Trek VI is a very powerful film.

I like, too, that this film gives us a look at the broader political scope of the Star Trek universe. In most of the Original Series to this point we only ever heard about these sort've events and elements, while the Enterprise was off at the edge of space confronting alien puppets and papier mache computer gods.

So indeed, I love this movie because it brings us everything. A Holmesian mystery, political intrigue, rich allegory and metaphor for a contemporary situation (something that Star Trek was built for), and the culmination of character arcs and journeys started twenty-five years earlier. Superbly written, directed, acted, film, and produced all around.

To The Undiscovered Country!

The future.

9.5/10

1. STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
2. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
3. STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME
4. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
5. STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK
6. STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER
7. STAR TREK

Whaddya know! I followed the even-numbers pattern.

Review of Star Trek (XI)

2011-03-14T00:35:00.002-06:00

Originally Posted on MI6Forums May 8 2009

WARNING --- THE FOLLOWING POST ENDED UP BEING MUCH LONGER THAN I ORIGINALLY ENDED -- READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL

Dear lord. Um. I knew it was gonna be dumbed down -- but really? Really? Sweet Jesus.

Ohkay, I'll start with the positives? Right? Positives...

The score was good. I actually really liked the new theme.
On the other hand, the Beastie Boys was RETARDED and the "OMG THIS IS SERIOUS!" choir and villain music was completely hamfisted.

The movie looks great. I loved the costumes. This was the best Starfleet uniforms have ever looked. I loved the sound effects.
On the other hand, the set design is practically nonsensical. The bridge of the Enterprise, while clearly it's own deck on the outside, is also clearly on the same level as many other rooms in the interior. The engineering areas not only do not look like the same ship, they don't look like any ship. They don't even look functional. Nero's ship falls prey to questions like "why is it full of bottomless holes and why are there no railings on any of this dangerous walkways over the bottomless hole?"

Hrrmm --- this isn't going well...

Okay, the cinematography. Well -- this is the best looking Star Trek movie, ever. Paramount finally decided to put some money into things. But while the costumes and the bridge look great, I really wish I had more of a chance to see them because Abrams keeps pointing flashlights at me and swinging the camera around wildly so I never get a good look at where all the money is going.
Every time there was an action sequence I had to strain to figure out what was happening because the staging, cinematography, and editing was so haphazardly done.
It's a bad sign when the first shot of the movie is so completely disorienting that I have no idea what's going on for a good minute.

Kay, positives, right -- let's try again --

The cast. Okay. I'm gonna go down the IMDB list. Chris Pine was surprisingly good as Kirk. Not strong enough to lead the cast, mind you, but much better than I expected. He has all the swagger Kirk needs, without aping Shatner. Zachary Quinto on the other hand, let me down as Spock. He's got all the inner turmoil, but he comes off as a huge prick the entire movie. Leonard Nimoy's scenes are golden. He's given some of the worst lines in the movie, but he sells it because he's the only real actor in this cast. Anybody could've played Nero -- the role is barely there and hardly interesting. Bruce Greenwood is the strongest member of the new cast as Captain Pike -- he really grounded the film and made things seem at least somewhat plausible when he said them. Karl Urban was great as McCoy, just great, and I wish he could've been used more. Zoe Saldana had a quiet grace and confidence as Uhura that I liked. Simon Pegg was hilarious as Scotty, but severely underused. John Cho was great as Sulu. And Bong was absolutely right -- Anton Yelchin steals the show as Chekov and makes the most out of every line he's got. Good on him.
Probably the weakest members of the cast are Winona Ryder and Ben Cross as Spock's parents. Ryder never really gets me to care enough about Amanda so when the moment comes it has no impact. Ben Cross isn't so much terrible, as he's up against Mark Lenard -- so yeah, he's terrible.

So the movie looks great, the score's good, it's competently acted -- what's the problem? It's retarded. The story just had far too many contrivances for me to buy it. And also it basically takes the "sci" right out of "sci-fi" and replaces it with lens flare. (Previous statement open for pithy quotation)

Okay, okay. Screw this. I can't organize this properly so here's how it's gonna be -- stream of consciousness: from one end of the movie to another, my thoughts and nitpicks as we go. If you want a more coherent review, go read my other one in the other thread. Also -- spoilers ahead. Sorry, can't really do it otherwise. So don't say I didn't warn you.

So a bunch of other reviewers have single out the opening sequence as an emotional sucker-punch that immediately draws you into the film. I respectfully disagree. Two reasons this sequence did not work for me at all. One was that I'm being asked to care about characters who I know nothing about. Basically my only connection to George Kirk is that he's James Tiberius' father. So what? I don't care. I never get to know these characters, so I don't care when they all die.
My second reason is a nitpick:
Why is Winona Kirk on the USS Kelvin? I'm sorry, but the writers must be as ignorant to the workings of biology as they are to physics. Pregnancy isn't some sudden thing that comes on so quick you don't have time to process it. If a female officer onboard a Starfleet vessel got pregnant she would be off on maternity leave within three months. No way would a nine-months pregnant woman be on a border-patrol scout ship. And don't tell me she's a civilian, because Starfleet didn't start carrying families aboard until about 230 years later. That was my first facepalm of the movie, it was stupid.

A belated facepalm was the appearance of Nero on the Kelvin viewscreen. Why does the Captain of the Kelvin recognize Nero as a Romulan? Humans have never seen a Romulan at this point. The Captain should be like "WTF? A Vulcan?" Pay attention to this facepalm, I'll be bringing it up later.

Time for a fan nitpick -- In Gene Roddenberry's novelization of The Motion Picture, he states the following explanation of James T. Kirk's name: "James" for his uncle (brother of his father, George Samuel Kirk, Sr) and "Tiberius" for the Roman Emperor, who had always fascinated his grandfather, Samuel Kirk. Why the fascination? Because "Tiberius" was a successful general who became a ruthless and terrible emperor, and Kirk's grandfather liked the lesson of "stick with what you're good at". Kirk later used his middle name of a reminder of how easy it is to lose compassion in a position of command.
Okay, sounds good, right?
In this movie, it's "James" after his mother's father and "Tiberius" after his father's father. Yawn/facepalm.

At least they got his year of birth right -- 2233.

We hit one of the story's biggest head scratchers. Nero, our big planet destroying villain, then sits around doing nothing for 25 years. He claims later that he was plotting his revenge, but his plot turns out to be destroy every planet in the Federation. Christ, took him 25 years to come up with that? Gonna take him a while, too. He should've spent the 25 years getting a head start.

Anyways, after the main titles we get the "Corvette" scene. Why the **** is this in the movie? We get a *hint* of Kirk's abusive uncle (but not really) and all this scene does is establish Kirk as a troublemaker -- oh, and makes no sense. We've got the STUPID Beastie Boys song, as well as the 1957 Corvette with 23rd century Nokia radio. Kirk's uncle says its an "antique" -- DUDE IT'S 300 YEARS OLD!!! A farmer in Iowa owning a 300 year old car is like a farmer today owning a 1700s era ANYTHING -- improbable as ****. And in working condition? And young Kirk can drive it?? Most 12-year-olds NOW can't drive a stick shift off-the-cuff and cars are something we're familiar with! FACEPALM.

Next up -- some Vulcan stuff with young Spock. To be honest, the early Vulcan stuff with Spock is great. Well written, well done. The only weaknesses are Ryder as Amanda and Cross as Sarek. They both suck. Oh, and the LUDICROUS dutch angle intro to the Vulcan Science Council scene -- I mean, whaaat? It also would've been nice to get a bit of conflict between Spock and Sarek over Spock's infamous choice to join Starfleet -- after all, this is what supposedly severs their relationship as father and son (hint: this is handled way better in Shatner's book, Collision Course ) Still, the Kolinahr and katric arks references were cool.

Cut to Iowa bar scene. The film starts falling apart.

I'm gonna address something right here and now. The character ages make no sense. I made this realization months ago, I'm gonna spell it out now --

The film takes place in 2258 -- it's established that Kirk joins Starfleet three years earlier, in 2255. This would mean he joined five years later than in the standard timeline, where his academy days were 2250-54. It also means he's about 25 in this movie. Okay. Based on that -- Uhura should be 19 (meaning she should be 16 when we first see her in the bar), Sulu should be 21, and Chekov should be 13 (he explicitly says he's 17 in the movie). Sorry, Nero blowing up the Kelvin in 2233 does not change the ages of the characters. But never mind, I made that point months ago and there's still more plot holes to go.

Okay, my question -- why are a bunch of Academy cadets spending their leave time in a bar in the middle of nowhere in Riverside, Iowa?? The Academy is in San Francisco -- are there no more nightspots on the western seaboard? And why is Captain Pike with them?

Oh. Right. So the movie can contrive a reason for Kirk to meet Uhura and subsequently meet Pike.

This is called BAD WRITING.

"The Riverside shipyards" says Pike. Riiiiight. That are building one ship only. Which ship is being built in Riverside in the year 2255?

The one built in San Francisco in 2245 you say? Well, then!

Okay, so Nero's time meddling for some reason delayed the Enterprise's construction by ten years. Seems that in this timeline, "The Cage" (Roddenberry's original Star Trek story) NEVER HAPPENED, since it was set aboard the Enterprise in 2254, a full year before it was built in this film.

Ahem. Anyways. Jesus this post is going to be loooong. I apologize.

I liked the scene where Kirk gets on the shuttle to go to the Academy (though I totally called the scene where he gives his motorcycle to some dude). The Kirk/McCoy interaction was great, and I liked the friendship that the film developed between them. I also liked the acknowledgement that McCoy's older than Kirk, and the recognition of his failed marriage. It's weird that the film followed canon in some respects, and disregarded it completely in others.

Then we flash forward three years. To me this was a big wasted opportunity -- promised a movie about the beginnings of Kirk and Spock, we really get neither.

One of the funny things about this movie is that it's clear intention is to get people who've never seen a Star Trek to get into the franchise. Yet they do a **** job of explaining anything to the uninitiated. If I knew nothing about Star Trek -- okay, you briefly give me Starfleet and the Federation --- but who are the Klingons? The Romulans? The Romulans are the main villains, yet if I was a newbie watching the movie I'd wonder -- wait, why do these guys look exactly the same as Vulcans. It's about an hour and a half into the movie that Spock finally says "Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestor".

A smart writer might've taken advantage of the Academy setting to throw in a "history class" expository scene where we set up that the Romulans were offshoots of the Vulcans who left when the Vulcans imposed their philosophy of logic. This would not only explain our villains, but also help new audience members understand why Vulcans lack, yet still have, emotions.

Anyways, instead we get Kirk cheating on the Kobayashi Maru test. Which was fun, and cool, but IMO a little too obvious. I always got the impression it was a bit more of a devious cheat that this OBVIOUS haxors move. Still a fun scene, only taken down by the mention of the "USS Kobayashi Maru."

It's a freighter, not a Starfleet vessel. Therefore "SS Kobayashi Maru", not "USS".
Am I going to nitpick every last detail of this movie?
Well I'm going to sure as hell try. What else have you been waiting for?

The detail that Spock programmed the test is neat, but I don't think necessarily what the writers of TWOK had in mind when they said he never took the test.

The movie almost starts talking about some themes like fear and emotion and no-win scenarios, but then it remembers that **** like that is totally lamzorz and where's all the explosions?

So we begin the first instance of what is clearly the writers complete and utter lack of understanding what the word "verisimilitude" means -- or even the beginnings of how things like "chain-of-command" work.

Turns out that Vulcan is being threatened and because the ENTIRE STARFLEET is all in the Laurentian System (named after the pencil crayons, no doubt), the Cadets of Starfleet Academy are all being pressed into service into the ships in Earth orbit (which are presumably on "defend the **** out of Earth" duty).

Okay --- so I know this is the new film's version of "you're the only ship in the area", but still -- WHAT THE FLYING ****?? Um, no. The entire **** Starfleet is NOT in one **** system. The film NEVER EVER EVER adequately answers the question of WHY all of Starfleet is off in the Laurentian System, it just sticks them there for the ENTIRE MOVIE.

Soooo -- all our cadets are pressed into service. Vulcan is a major planet, one of the five founders of the Federation. Does it not have some ships of it's own? Is there no ships in the Vulcan area that can help with the evacuation?? *sigh*

So next thing we know (after some hijinks) we get all our friends onboard the Enterprise. Spock is the first officer to Pike (Number One does not exist in this timeline, evidently), while our cadets are all commissioned into their original series ranks except Kirk, who's on academic suspension for cheating and McCoy sneaks on in order to facillitate the Nutty Professor swollen hands gag that's completely pointless.

And hello! There's 13 -- ahem -- I mean 17 year old Chekov as our navigator. This begins the writers complete lack of understanding of shipboard positions. At this point in the movie Chekov issues a shipwide communique about the mission (usually Uhura's job) while later in the film Uhura gives Spock bearing and heading info on Nero's ship (logically Chekov's job). Later Sulu asks Chekov to allocate him certain amounts of power at certain points for precision maneuvers (usually Scotty's job). Facepalm.

Chekov's main role in the film is to have a funny accent. It's charming, it's funny, but man is it overplayed. Walter Koenig never layed it on that thick.

Turns out Sulu's here because the regular helmsman is sick with the flu. No jokes.

Uhura gets promoted to senior communications officer when it turns out the perfectly qualified experienced officer in the post can't tell Romulan from Vulcan.

McCoy becomes the doctor because the original doctor is killed in Nero's attack. (Boyce? Noooooooo!) Still, the Chapel reference was HIGHLY appreciated (again, schizophrenic canon adherence).

So the Enterprise arrives at Vulcan, despite Cadet Kirk warning --

and the entire cadet-manned fleet is instantly destroyed by Nero's mining ship's superior 24th century technology. Well, except the Enterprise of course.

Her transporters get taken out (good! an explanation!) so Kirk, Sulu, and Ensign Expendable get choosen by Pike to skydive to Nero's planet destroying drill to destroy it while Pike goes to reason with Nero. Two important things -- Ensign Expendable not only dies a classic redshirt death, but actually was the Enterprise's chief engineer, Lt. Cmdr. Olsen. That'll be important later, when Simon Pegg decides to show up.

Oh, and as Pike's leaving he declares Spock to be Acting Captain and Kirk to be Acting First Officer. Other than the fact that promoting a suspended cadet to First Officer makes no sense, okay fine. Remember this -- it becomes important.

So Kirk and Sulu get a cool action scene fighting Romulan baddies who pop out of hatches in the floor of the drill (why? so we can have an action scene, of course!!), while Pike gets swiftly captured and Spock uttterly fails to save his planet.

The planet Vulcan and all its inhabitants die a redshirt death. Spock briefly muses on the genocide of his entire race in his log, but the impact of this is largely glossed over. Except for when the film finds it convenient.

Like the first massive WTF moment. Spock goes into a turbolift shaft to brood. Good so far. Uhura follows him. Okay. Uhura comforts him on the loss of his race. Okay. She does this by frenching him. Repeatedly. Which Spock totally goes along with.

Kay, WHAAAT??? Where did this come from? The movie completely springs this on us as if its normal. It's not. Seeing Spock and Uhura make out is as weird as seeing my parents make out.

Don't worry -- it's never explained or developed. It also becomes Uhura's sole role in the movie from here on out.

Spock decides that this is all Kirk's fault. Kirk wants to chase Nero to Earth, while Spock wants to rendezvous with the fleet in the Pencil Crayon System. No one thinks of hailing the fleet and saying "YO DAWG! MOBILIZE EVERYTHING!! GET TO EARTH! MEET YOU THERE!!!"

For doing the job of a First Officer and questioning the Captain, Kirk is summarily exiled by Spock to Delta Vega.

Hmmmm -- they happened to pass by a planet that is less than a day (on impulse) away from the edge of the galaxy (1,000 light years from Earth) while on their way between Vulcan (16 light years from Earth) and Earth itself. Facepalm.

After running from monsters, Kirk runs into NimoySpock, who was exiled there by Nero, and Scotty, who was exiled there by Starfleet.
Delta Vega -- your one-stop out of the way spot for exiles.

Nimoy nearly saves the film. His performance is touching and really gets to you. Too bad he's required to give the exposition necessary to explain the FUBAR of a plot. Supernovas cannot expand and threaten the galaxy. Why is it Ambassador Spock who volunteers to save Romulus with a black hole? How is it that Romulus is suddenly destroyed with no warning? Supernovas are not sudden things that come out of nowhere.
Black holes do not equal time travel. (Nevermind that the black hole is inconsistent -- one moment it equals time travel, the next -- destruction!)

Now, Star Trek has always played fast and loose with science, but at least it's always respected the basics, respected the ideals and the principles, and when breaking it always tried to come up with a halfway decent bullsh*t explanation.

But no, this just shows that the writers really had no desire to do any homework to make their plot.

But again, like every other implausible thing in this script, this is dealt with quickly and not elaborated on -- we're meant to forget it and move on.

I would say this was the point when the film lost my suspension of disbelief.

Spock Prime convinces Kirk that being in command of the Enterprise is important and gives Scotty some advanced future knowledge that helps them beam to the Enterprise. Scotty ends up in a water pipe and "hilarity" ensues.

Kirk then pulls a "This Side of Paradise" and insults Spock until he loses it, and so declares Spock unfit for command, and so declares himself Captain, since Pike declared him First Officer a whole act ago.

I would've loved to have seen a Lieutenant Commander go "excuse me? You're a cadet. No." But oh well. Dramatic tension would've slowed things down -- we have an explosive finale to get to.

It was around this time that I realized the excuse for a plot was basically the plot of Nemesis again. Rogue Romulan with big-ass spaceship has a superweapon and is going to blow up Earth. Only this time with TOS characters and some time travel BS.

Anyways, with Kirk in command, we intercept Nero and have a big fight. Kirk and Spock beam over and pew pew laser guns with Nero's crew and I scratch my head at Nero's nonsensical ship design. I wish we had learned more about Nero and the villains. As it is I just don't care.

Some more Nemesis parallels as Spock pilots a small vessel around within the big ship shooting stuff, and then rams it into the ship, getting beamed out in the nick of time.

They manage to suck Nero and his big ship up into a black hole (the same black hole that earlier sent **** through time) and then escape said black hole by *ahem* ejecting the warp core and blowing it up and then riding the explosion out. Scotty specifically says "warp core" singular, but something like nine cores come flying out of the ship. Why? Same reason why King Kong fought three T-rexes in the remake instead of one -- more is cooler, dawg.

The question of why the explosion of nine warp cores doesn't just destroy the Enterprise (when the explosion of just one destroyed the Ent-D in Generations) doesn't matter because I stopped expecting this story to make sense about an hour and a half ago.

In gratitude for saving Earth, Kirk & Co. are all promoted to their familiar TOS positions officially, while Pike gets a (normal) wheelchair and a promotion to Admiral. No stem cell legs? No robot legs? Jeez, the future sucks.

One of my big facepalms in this movie was I kept getting dropped out of the idea that it was the 23rd Century. From the product placement (pretty sure commercialization didn't exist in Roddenberry's idea of the future) to the car/Beastie Boys to Pike in a normal wheelchair, the world has changed very little.

I have no idea where everyone keeps getting this idea that the utopian optimism is intact. I didn't see it. Yeah the future isn't shown as a dystopian wasteland, but I still didn't see Roddenberry's utopia in evidence.

And yeah, this story isn't about anything. No social commentary, no philosophical ideas, no deep thought. Just a fun action/adventure.

Mainly the point of this film was moving all the chess pieces around the board to get us in the position to do a sequel with all the familiar characters on board, only ten years younger than they were in the classic series.

In a good film, the director's job is to unify the various departments of a film to fit a coherent, consistent vision. Everything works together. That does not happen in this film. The costumes and sound effects tastefully update the old show, while the sets are completely different (and schizophrenic in and of itself). The film looks polished and beautiful, but the cinematography and editing is so haphazard and spastic that it's hard to see any of it. The CGI looks good in ONE SHOT -- the first reveal of the Enterprise (which is the same shot as our first sight, too) and that shot looks like a well-made model. The rest of the film is CGI. And meh CGI at that. I have no idea what Abrams was doing, because this film is a mish-mash of ideas and efforts, some great, some bland, and none of it coherent or consistent.

The movie's fun, it's got some good performances, it's got some good acting, it looks polished, the score is cool.

But damn is the story a massive facepalm.

I know people will say -- you're just being a and nitpicking little details and ignoring that the film is a great fun time -- but gods damnit thjerk e story was NON-EXISTANT! The movie was written by retarded five-year-olds with no idea how to realistically portray a Navy (even a future navy) or Science. At all. Even all the character development was just a rush to get from one CGI setpiece to another.

I have and always will maintain that intelligence and verisimilitude need not be sacrificed to tell a fun and entertaining story. I will maintain that view for as long as I live. I don't care that modern Hollywood seems to hold that "smart" and "fun" are incompatible -- I refuse to go along with that view!

As a Trekkie, I give this movie

4.5/10

And I apologize for the long, rambling, nit-picking, spoiler-filled post, I really do.

For any Trekkies who side with my (apparently extreme minority) opinion, I strongly continue to recommend William Shatner's new book Star Trek Academy: Collision Course

Review of Star Trek Generations

2011-03-14T00:34:00.003-06:00

Originally posted on MI6Forums Dec 22 2010

"Captain, I need you to come to the future with me and save the galaxy."

"You know, I've got hot tail waiting for me upstairs, and I had a good send-off in Star Trek VI. For all I've done for it,"

"The galaxy can go f*ck itself. And so can you, Picard."

"I'll get Chris Pine to do it."

"Pleasure to work with you, where do I sign up?"

Well, my opinion of it hasn't changed very much. I still believe the movie has three problems:
1) While destroying the Enterprise-D and killing the Duras sisters is major, the movie for the most part feels like an extended episode of the show rather than a MOVIE. Unsurprising since it was written by TV writers, produced by a TV producer and directed by a TV director, with production starting only a week after the TV show wrapped.
2) The movie loses all its momentum once Picard wakes up in the Nexus for his family Christmas thing. You just tune out and stop caring.
3) The entire GENERATIONS aspect of the movie. The whole movie is a NEXT GEN movie dealing with NEXT GEN issues and storylines, and Kirk is really just superfluous. Picard doesn't need KIRK, he needs A GUY to distract Soren while he sabotages the missile. So Kirk just feels shoehorned into the beginning and end.

That being said, the movie isn't awful. We do get some good things, like fine acting from Stewart, and the chance to see how good the Ent-D and her sets could've looked if lit in any style other than BLAND. The movie is in no way bad, just mediocre and forgettable. Certainly not the big event that Paramount wanted for the Trekgasm that was 1995 -- this movie was supposed to be the meeting of TOS and TNG coming on the heels of the successful finale of TNG and heralding the big premiere of VOY and UPN in time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Trek. Instead we got Picard and Kirk making eggs and riding horses while Data engages in schtick.

But Malcolm McDowell is good and I liked the involvment of Guinan in the plot and I liked putting a cap on the Duras sisters storyline finally and I love the spectacle of blowing up the Ent-D and crashing it. So there's stuff to like here.

It's just no one involved really knew how to make a MOVIE. Yet...

6/10

1. STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
2. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
3. STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME
4. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
5. STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK
6. STAR TREK GENERATIONS
7. STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER
8. STAR TREK

Star Trek: Voyager Season 2 Review

2011-03-14T00:09:00.004-06:00

First posted on MI6Forums and BondandBeyond from Jan 29 2011 to Apr 18 2011

"Initiations"
So this episode obviously has two intentions: One is to develop Chakotay, who was woefully underdeveloped in Season 1 after the pilot. The other is to develop the Kazon, for whom the same can be said. On the Kazon end, the episode succeeds, despite making a few mistakes. On the other, its a complete failure. The biggest problem with Chakotay in Season 1 was that for an angry Maquis terrorist leader and contrarian, he was too passive. The writers decided to put too much emphasis on the whole wise Native New Age mystic crap. And they make that same mistake here. Chakotay spends the whole episode being tolerant and accepting and New Age-y. Meanwhile Aron Eisenberg and the other Kazon actors in this episode really sell the race in a way Season 1 episodes didn't, but the emphasis on honour in battle (and the make-up) makes the Kazon come across way too much as watered down Klingons -- although the whole sects/gang/youth thing are really cool. All in all, this is a good VOY episode for focussing on developing characters and the Delta Quadrant, and for having fairly dark themes, as opposed to a high concept sci-fi technoadventure. Also -- Neelix gets to do something important! Wow, its amazing how unannoying Ethan Phillips is when he's not written stupidly.
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 9
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 248 days (8 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,538.8 lightyears

"Non Sequitur"
Having given Chakotay and the Kazon some love, Season 2's second episode pays some attention to Harry Kim, who has done NOTHING essentially since the pilot. This is great! The whole episode is a really cool mystery, a fun look back at Earth and the Alpha Quadrant, and a fun "what if" scenario for Kim and Paris. Also -- holy ****, it's the Admiral who dies later in First Contact! So its a fairly fun and interesting VOY episode that succeeds in developing Kim, although I think its the most development he ever gets, ever. Am I mistaken?
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 8
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 250 days (8 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,536.7 lightyears
2 shuttles destroyed in back-to-back episodes -- not good, USS Voyager, not good.

"Parturition"
In the Alpha Quadrant, the Klingons and the Federation have ended 79 years of peace and the Klingons and Cardassians are at war, while the Dominion looks on, ominiously.
Meanwhile, in the DQ, Paris and Neelix settle their differences by caring for an animatronic puppet dinosaur in the cave set. And that's the A-Plot!
Also, Janeway tries a new hairdo (her third) and we're three for three this season on shuttle crashes. Way to conserve, guys!
But really, I don't mind reconciling Neelix and Paris and closing that whole storyline, but it should've been a B plot in a better episode -- like the Kazons attack and Seska's trying to kill Chakotay and Neelix and Paris are trapped in a cargo bay and have to work together to survive sorta thing -- but instead we get a full episode with the two of them in the cave set with the puppet.
In a show frontloaded with conflict (Voy vs the DQ, Starfleet vs Maquis, Paris vs Everyone) its annoying that the only conflict developed regularly has been this petty jealousy between Paris and Neelix.
Anyways, this episode bored me to tears and was awful.
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 271 days (8.7 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,516.2 lightyears
A note about my shuttle count: It's not TECHNICALLY accurate. Voyager is supposed to have 3 type 6 shuttles, 3 type 8 shuttles, 2 shuttlepods and 2 work EVAs, but for my purposes I decided to EXTREMELY generous and say that they had 10 shuttles period, of any type. Strictly speaking, as of this episode, we are already out of type 8 shuttles.
Also -- this week's plot was initiated because we were down to 30% of food stores, so we stopped at the planet of the week because we thought there was food there. There wasn't, actually, but then the "plot" started and by the end of the episode we completely forgot that the crew is starving.

"Persistance of Vision"
Yet another "strange events on the Voyager mess with the crew's heads" high concept trip, but this one gets a pass from me because it is in the interests of CHARACTER. We return to issues of Janeway, Paris, Torres etc as PEOPLE which have not been dealt with in some time. For that it gets a passing grade. I even love the villain, a very ominous and threatening character who SHOULD have appeared again if they hadn't given his species the complete and utter rip off name of BOTHAN. But a fairly good episode.
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 282 days (9.1 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,504.4 lightyears

"Tattoo"
Chakotay gets character development. As much as I like and respect what they were trying to do here, I find major elements of this episode insulting and offensive. Insulting to my intelligence because I'm supposed to believe that there was a Native American sect on Earth that had **** Klingon foreheads and NO ONE NOTICED THIS or considered it something worth FREAKING OUT ABOUT even though its as obvious as ****, and that Chakotay's people are descended from them but don't have the same foreheads. That makes no sense. Offensive because its yet another bit of science fiction that insists that the Mayans must have had help from Aliens, which is just ludicrous White Supremist nonsense. So there's no way that Egyptians or Mayans could have built pyramids all by themselves, but Western civilization of course achieved all its glories on its own? What a crock of ****. If aliens had helped the Mayans, why where they so incredibly LESS advanced than us, the group without alien assistance, when we showed up??
The other stupid thing about this episode is it has yet ANOTHER alien race be responsible for the god myths of a primitive culture when "Who Mourns for Adonais?" [TOS], "The Paradise Syndrome" [TOS] and "Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth" [TAS] had already done so -- and two of those three involved Native American/Mayan cultures!! Yeesh, ancient Earth sure was a popular stop for Aliens!
But yes, it was good character development for Chakotay.
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 293 days (9.5 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,473.6 lightyears

"Cold Fire"
This is an absolutely great VOYAGER episode until the very final moments. Developing Kes, the Ocampa, and the Nacene races introduced in the pilot, furthering along the core VOYAGER story arc, and featuring some great moments from Jennifer Lien and Tim Russ, the whole episode crackles with a dramatic energy the show has lacked for a while. Its biggest failure comes with how it deals with Suspiria. The episode sets up a mysterious, powerful and ruthless enemy, and when she appears there's that great scene of the little girl with the old voice inflicting pain and suffering on Janeway, Tuvok and Torres. Its all immensely effective until Suspiria is convinced, out of nowhere, that in fact Janeway was truthful about not being responsible for the Caretaker's death, and then just goes away, no problem, no questions asked. Yet! Even though Suspiria KNEW Janeway wanted to be spent home, and HAD the ability to do so, and was no longer Janeway's enemy -- she doesn't. For no reason. Then Janeway decides to keep on a course for Earth, hoping maybe they might bump into Suspiria again someday. Maybe? Bump into? You JUST DID BUMP INTO. She was RIGHT THERE! You KNOW she's still gonna hang out in the same area because there's an Array RIGHT THERE and a bunch of Ocampa she actively interacts with! Just hang around the Array until she comes back! Hell, you don't even need her! All the tech you need to go home is ON THAT ARRAY!!
ARRRRGH! Frakkin' Janeway!! I would've SO mutinied by now.
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 305 days (9.8 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,450 lightyears

"Maneuvers"
This was another pretty good VOYAGER episode dealing with the series premise and running series villains the Kazon. To be honest, its kind've ridiculous that after so many months we'd encounter the same sect and Maj as in "State of Flux" last season? Are we not making any progress? Also, what was Seska waiting around for before making her move? Her Cardassianess to come back? Anyways, aside from these questions its a great episode with a lot of good dramatic tension and action.
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 321 days (10.4 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,207.2 lightyears

"Resistance"
This episode really tried to be dramatic, dark and emotionally involving. At times it was like VOY trying really hard to be DS9 (first or second season DS9, but still). But it all falls totally flat. Because I don't care. The episode asks us to become emotionally involved in a resistance movement against a totalitarian dictatorship but the only reason it gives is because the bad guys are bad. We don't know the history -- we don't know why this planet is like it is, why there's a dictatorship, who the resistance is or what they're fighting for. Its just heroes and villains but it still wants us to care. And I still don't because I also know that none of this matters because I will never see this planet or these people ever again -- there are no consequences. Whereas when DS9 looks at terrorism and rebellion and war, whether it be the Bajorans or the Maquis or whoever, I know there is an ongoing significance.
But, one thing this episode does have going for it is showing a kind of situation Voyager should be getting into more often: desperate for vital supplies, Janeway is clandestinely trading with the resistance fighters against the knowledge of the government. This is interesting, this is central to the series premise but... WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? It would mean more if we had any sense before this episode that Voyager was running low on fuel. It would also make more sense if we had gotten any build up in Janeway's character to explain this sudden about face in her personal beliefs: given that this action goes against her hard stance in "Prime Factors" back in first season. Its not that the change itself is bad, but that its sudden, unexplained, and unremarked upon. The Captain suddenly has completely different values just to serve the plot of an episode. Its something I could never conceive of seeing in the handling of Kirk, Picard or Sisko's characterization.
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 332 days (10.7 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,024.8 lightyears
This is why I'm watching VOY and DS9 at the same time. It makes VOY more bearable (even if it actually acentuates how terrible it is at the same time). Its interesting the difference, for example, between how a VOY episode tries to be exciting, while a DS9 episode is genuinely exciting. Let's compare:
In a VOY episode, the ship might get attacked by an alien vessel with far superior armaments, with a chance the crew might all be killed. That seems exciting, but it really isn't, because
a) We know the main characters won't die, cause then there's no series and
b) Even if they did, what does it matter? Anything could happen to Voyager and it has no consequences or repercussions anywhere else.
Whereas on DS9, the Romulan/Cardassian Alliance has sent a fleet into the Gamma Quadrant on a pre-emptive strike against the Dominion and it's genuinely exciting because
a) We have no idea if they will succeed or fail and
b) Either way it will have massive repercussions for the galaxy and for the series.

Anyways,

"Prototype"
Despite a lot of cliches and a plot that will never impact this series again, this was a pretty good episode. I liked the moral conundrum, I liked the twist on the moral conundrum. For once, a "Prime Directive Episode" shows us why the Prime Directive is a GOOD thing. Usually we run up against the Prime Directive, have a discussion, and violate it anyways because its more interesting and then everything turns out better than expected (see: TOS). This episode showed us WHY the Prime Directive is there -- we violate it, and tip the balance in a Robot War. So that was great. I also liked that the robots ended up being coldhearted merciless killing machines -- that's a fun and unexpected twist for Trek, which usually makes everyone nice and understandable at heart. Finally, I loved the robots themselves -- I loved that instead of trying to look like detailed, complex, believeable 90s style robots, they were unabashedly tin men in suits, simple, basic, primal, 50s style robots -- robots with a capital R. So an enjoyable episode overall.
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 343 days (11 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,857.6 lightyears

"Death Wish"
An episode after Janeway WON'T let Torres CREATE life because it MIGHT have unexpected consequences for a REGION of space, Janeway is perfectly willing to END life which WILL have unexpected consequences on the INFINITY of SPACE/TIME. Lol, inconsistent characterization indeed.
But I digress, this is a great episode of Voyager. Probably one of the all time, classic, must-see top ten for sures. Its also the only one of the Voyager "Q" episodes that's any good. (A good rule of thumb for Q episodes is "is the title a pun?" If no, episode is good.) This is a great episode that really examines the issues of life vs. death, individual vs. the state, chaos vs. order, etc etc. Of course, it has a courtroom structure -- Trek courtroom episodes RARELY fail. Thumbs up all around on this one.
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 355 days (11.5 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,856.3 lightyears

"Alliances"
Now this was a good episode of VOYAGER. Not just a good episode of STAR TREK, like "Death Wish" was, but specifically Voyager. It dealt with the major themes of the series -- lost in an unknown part of the galaxy, no support, no allies, beset by enemies on all sides, torn between the values of Starfleet and the pragmatism of the Maquis. The episode explores these themes not only with intelligence, but with drama and excitement -- although to be honest it gets points just for exploring them at all, since VOY ignores its own premise so often. My only real complaints are that the extremely severe damage Voyager sustains in Act One is easily repaired between commercial breaks -- and that Janeway's solution to the problem is anti-climatic. Here was an episode that seemed like its whole point was to finally shake the crew into realizing they were going to have to change and adapt to their new situation, that this would have lasting repurcussions on the series -- but the writers manipulate the situation into giving Janeway a justification to declare that, in fact, they must be truer to their ideals than every -- in other words, that nothing will change, so that the reset button is pushed and its all the same by the next episode.
# of Crew: 149 Total -- 131 Starfleet, 16 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 34
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 370 days (11.9 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,854.9 lightyears

"Threshold"
And WHAT a next episode! What I can I say about "Threshold" that hasn't already been said? Nothing here is worthwhile. The whole thing can be unequivocably shoved out the airlock. Achieving warp 10 is absurd, achieving warp 10 with the limited resources of this ship is more absurd, achieving warp 10 in a shuttle is even more absurd -- and may I point out that this is the first appearance of the type 9 shuttle, a kind of shuttle Voyager wasn't even stocked with when they left (we had type 6s and type 8s and we've destroyed all the type 8s even though we keep seeing them anyway). They NEVER in the episode explain why going warp 10 causes Paris to mutate, or how warp 10 knows what course human evolution is going to take (since evolution is influenced by environmental factors, even if Paris' individual evolution was hyperstimulated, wouldn't he just evolve into a lifeform supersuited to life on a starship, not a salamander puppet?). And if Paris is evolving, how can evolution take him from being mammalian to reptillian? Then there's the mating with Janeway thing. Why JANEWAY? Why not Kes, someone who the show has already established that Paris has repressed romantic feelings for her? Also, the show has tiptoed around giving Janeway ANY romantic entanglements because it was feared doing so would diminish her position as Captain, and the first time they do it is to her conn officer and they have 3 mutant salamander kids and the only reason its done is for the LULZ??
Finally, the reason warp 10 tech is supposedly abandoned is implied to be this crazy mutation stuff. But the doctor MAGICALLY restored the captain and Paris from salamander puppets to COMPLETELY NORMAL almost INSTANTLY, so can't we just warp 10 to Earth and when we all mutate the Doc will just magically restore us all?
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
(Meanwhile, Crewman Jonas is engaging in under the table communications with the Kazon, continuing a subplot from "Alliances". Continuing storylines on Voyager?? OMG!!)
# of Crew: 149 Total -- 131 Starfleet, 16 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 34
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 379 days (12.2 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,899.5 lightyears

"Meld"
Now here, on the other hand, was an episode I like. I like Tuvok, I like criminal investigations, and I like psychopaths, so I think the idea of putting a Vulcan against a random psycho killer with no rational motivation was a great idea on the writers part and produced a fantastic episode. Brad Dourif is great as Suder and honestly I like him wherever he shows up (he's a bright spot in Alien: Resurrection). Russ gives a great performance as well. This is a thumbs up episode.
# of Crew: 148 Total -- 130 Starfleet, 16 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 34
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 393 days (12.7 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,686.7 lightyears
I must note that after tiptoeing around killing crewmembers for a whole season (after the pilot we only lost one in all of season one) we finally started killing some people off. DUN DUN DUN.
On a different note -- it annnoys me that the stock shots of Voyager that the producer's use for establishing shots or over Captain's Logs are almost always shots of the ship at IMPULSE, even if we aren't stopping or engaging within a planetary system or anything. For example, we never went anywhere specific in either "Death Wish" or "Meld", we were just moving the whole time, yet the effects shots create the impression we were cruising at impulse. Why?? Are the crew in NO hurry to get to Earth?? At full impulse it would take 294,746 years to get home!!! Show the ship at warp!!

"Dreadnought"
Now here was a good, exciting episode, with some legitimate dramatic tension. I was especially impressed with Roxann Dawson's performance -- she's effectively having to act all by herself, then come in and ADR the other half of the scene playing against her earlier performance, and make the two sides convincingly similar, yet completely different. It turns out great. Its a little incredulous that the Dreadnought was ALSO pulled into the Delta Quadrant and that two years later Voyager runs into it when Voyager is bee-lining to Earth while Dreadnought is following a random course -- but honestly the episode is good enough to overlook it.
Also -- Voyager has the easiest self destruct mechanism to arm ever, no confirmation needed, just Janeway.
But yeah, good, fun episode, with B'Elanna's terrorist past coming back to haunt her -- sort've a good exploration of who she was versus who she is now.
# of Crew: 148 Total -- 130 Starfleet, 16 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 27
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 406 days (13 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,480.3 lightyears

"Lifesigns"
This is a nice, quiet, enjoyable episode. I think this is the first really important "Doctor" episode for me -- "Heroes and Demons" took him out of sickbay and "Projections" questioned his nature, but this is the first time where we don't just look at the Doctor as more than a hologram -- we look at him as more than a Doctor. The scenes between Denara and "Dr. Shmullus" (as she dubs him) have genuine chemistry and really work. Then there's the continuing storylines (on Voyager! GASP!) of Jonas the Traitor and Unruly Paris. The weirdest part of all is that Denara lives through the episode and we end without the standard "and then their romance was tragically ruined" ending. In fact, they don't even give a reason as to why the Doc wouldn't just keep using Shmullus as a name...
# of Crew: 148 Total -- 130 Starfleet, 16 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 27
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 420 days (13.5 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,412.2 lightyears

"Investigations"
And so this subplot that has run through the series for six episodes comes to a head here -- in a Neelix episode. This episode is trying, but it's just not worth all the build up to this point. Neelix reaches an all time high for annoyance levels so far in this episode, Jonas dies by falling into a hole that opens up from nowhere in Engineering, and the whole thing just isn't as good as it should have been. It's not that the episode is bad, it's pretty entertaining most of the way, it's just not up to potential. Sort've VOYAGER in a microcosm, I guess.
# of Crew: 147 Total -- 130 Starfleet, 15 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 27
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 427 days (13.8 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,409 lightyears

"Deadlock"
I think, taken on its own, it's a fairly strong episode. It even AVOIDs a reset button plot by having the Voyager that survives of the two duplicates be the horrifically damaged one. Two things ruin the episode. One is that we are meant to believe that a force of 347 Vidiians board Voyager, outnumbering the crew and taking over the ship -- which is undermined when we only see about two or three of them walking around mostly empty corridors at any one time. The other is the infamous "damage" issue -- the USS Voyager, a ship without access to starbases, spacedock, or any normal forms of supply or support is left at the end of this episode with a destroyed bridge, destroyed warp coils, a hull breach on decks 14-16, and microfractures throughout the hull. And then at the start of the next episode EVERYTHING IS FINE. I mean, if the Producers didn't want to follow up on the issue of all this damage, then they should've made the duplicate Voyager with no damage be the one that survives. Instead they leave us like this, and then everything is magically repaired between episodes. One would think it would be easier for production to just leave things all scorched and broken for another week, mention that repairs are underway or something, perhaps with the help of the planet of the week aliens, and then be back to normal for the week after that. However, its hard to fault "Deadlock" itself for this, but rather the Producers as a whole and the next episode in particular.
# of Crew: 148 Total -- 130 Starfleet, 15 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 27
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman was pregnant: 444 days (14.3 months) -- also, her half-human half-Ktarian baby looks nothing like a Ktarian.
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,401.3 lightyears

"Innocence"
Unless its DS9, Star Trek and children just does not mix. Also, this episode's entire premise is based on the fact that the aliens conveniently neglect to mention a very obvious fact, and the whole thing is really stupid in retrospect. Like THE SIXTH SENSE.
# of Crew: 147 Total -- 129 Starfleet, 15 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 27
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,401.3 lightyears

"The Thaw"
This was actually a really cool, interesting episode from Joe "Weird as Fuck" Menosky. Reminded me of a TOS episode.
# of Crew: 147 Total -- 129 Starfleet, 15 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 27
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,356.4 lightyears

"Tuvix"
As much as I like Tuvok, I much prefer the option of Tuvix to the option of Tuvok and Neelix. Tuvix seems like a super legit guy from what we see here.
I would like to declare this as officially the point where I lost all sympathy with this crew, except for Dr. Schmullus (the EMH). Seriously, not ONE person stood up for Tuvix? They just stood by while Janeway killed him? Fuck that. Also, I declare this episode the official beginning of sociopath Janeway. Not even kidding this time. She actually demonstrates mental disorder IN THIS SOLE EPISODE. She goes from sympathy and friendship to cold determined murder within a single shot. Look at the last shot of the episode. She walks out of the room with this look on her face like she's privately ashamed/sorry for what she's done, but then her face morphs into a solid state of hatred and evil and she marchs down the hall. Fuck Janeway. Sociopath with a crew of sheep. Except the Doc, who refused to perform the operation, respecting the patient's right over his own body.
# of Crew: 147 Total -- 129 Starfleet, 15 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 27
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,320 lightyears

"Resolutions"
Aka Jeri Taylor teases all the Janeway/Chakotay shippers.
The entire planetside story is a massive yawn, and worthless because all of the great near-romantic bonding the pair do is clearly forgotten and tossed aside at the end of the episode. The shipside storyline with Tuvok in command was good, and all of the continuity tosses back to previous Vidiian storylines were very appreciated, but for the most part this episode is a real time waster. Seriously. Takes place over 97 days. 97 days where no progress is made getting back home.
# of Crew: 147 Total -- 129 Starfleet, 15 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 24
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,304.6 lightyears

"Basics, Part I"
Okay, so I gotta admit that this was a great, dramatic cliffhanger episode from Michael Piller. Certainly no "Best of Both Worlds", but it made a great use of a lot of elements from earlier in the season, from Suder to the Kazons, to help give a feel as if Season 2 was a cohesive whole, building on itself and leading up to this. Which was appreciated. Not exactly DS9 levels of good serial style writing, but at least appreciated. The cliffhanger itself isn't so much "omg will they survive?" but "omg how will they survive?" and I think the episode does a reasonably good job of being dramatic and exciting and leaving the audience excited for the conclusion.
# of Crew: 147 Total -- 129 Starfleet, 15 Maquis, 3 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 7
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 18 (I point out we now have less than half of our original torpedo complement, and haven't even run into the Borg yet)
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 73,267.1 lightyears

Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Review

2011-03-14T00:05:00.003-06:00

Originally published on the MI6 Forums from Nov 29 2010 to Jan 26 2011

Star Trek: Voyager

# of Crew: 141 (Starfleet)
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 40
Distance to Earth: 52 lightyears (from DS9)

"Caretaker"

It's not a bad pilot. I think it does a great job of setting up the series and its premise and conflicts. Although Janeway's speech at the end was ridiculous in how overtly it stated the overall premise of the show. It was surprising to see how much energy all the actors are putting into their roles and how distinctly all the characters are written at this point -- they all become so homogenous later on. Also -- Torres' eyebrows: weird. The biggest problem with this episode is the ending -- Janeway's reasoning for destroying the Array is flawed and ill-defined. Why not set the self-destruct for say, a half an hour, and then use it to get home confident it will blow up later? The ending of the episode feels rushed and Chakotay's sudden capitulation and agreement with Janeway's decision to destroy the Array over B'Elanna's quite reasonable objections provides the first sign that the Maquis/Starfleet "conflict" won't be taken very seriously or last very long. Still, as it stands, the pilot promises a show with a lot of potential, a lot of intriguing differences from the Star Trek norm, a lot of interesting conflicts and problems, and yet a firm grasp on the themes of the Roddenberry vision. So, y'know, we'll see how long that lasts.

Also, Janeway states it would take 75 years to get home at Maximum Warp. While that would be true if Voyager's max speed was Warp 8, Stadi clearly states it can go warp 9.975, in which case at Max Warp it would be home in a little over 13 years, which is really no big deal.

# of Crew: 136 Starfleet, >2 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 38
Distance to Earth: 75,000 lightyears

Parallax

First regular episode and we've already hit a space anomaly?

Other than that, I actually really like this episode. Yet again, I see potential gone to waste. It's so weird seeing Robert Bertran putting effort into playing Chakotay. Everyone has so much energy. I don't feel the desperation of being lost in the Delta Quadrant, but I do feel the strain on resources beginning, even if its just lip service, and I definitely feel the inter-cast conflict. The show should've built on the things we see here. I remember Python saying that "Deadlock" was the point where he felt the show abandoned the last shreds of its premise. I'll see if I concur. So far I think its moving along fine for what it was supposed to be, considering who was making it and when (I don't really expect a mid 90s network show to have the intensity of BSG after all).

# of Crew: 134 Starfleet, >4 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 38
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,919.2 lightyears

"Time and Again"

It's so annoying that this is the fourth episode. It doesn't utilize the Voyager premise at all, except for two comic scenes. It's an episode that could've easily been done on TNG.
As for the story itself, it's another Brannon Braga time bender, coming right on the heels of a Brannon Braga time bender. So, you know, great timing.
Also, it's an episode that's basically an anti-nuclear energy allegory. Because if there's one thing Trek should be it's anti-progress!
There's some okay ethical dilemmas, but it's weighed down by the COMPLETELY HUMAN Delta Quadrant aliens (not even a weird hairdo or odd nose!) and the awful child actor.
The episode's clearly meant as a Janeway/Paris developer, but the two characters who come across best are actually Tuvok and the EMH -- Picardo hasn't had much to do in the show so far, and very little interaction with the rest of the cast, but he's already stolen the series. Every little bit with him is great. Tuvok, Trek's only real major Vulcan character (Spock - Half Human, Saavik - Half Romulan, Valeris - Half Klingon, T'Pol - Half Romulan), is a great voice of reason and logic, used to effectively counterbalance Kes' Jedi powers.
This episode is also **** for developing what kind of captain Janeway is. In the pilot, she screws over everyone in her crew by breaking Starfleet's highest law for the sake of aliens she's basically never met and knows next to nothing about, on the premise that "they are already involved". Here she starts the episode giving strict lectures about the Prime Directive and berates Paris for belittling it, but then spontaneously decides to break it again halfway through the show. It's a long history of the writers having no **** clue who Janeway is. Kirk is the cowboy, Picard is the explorer, Sisko is the builder, Janeway is... ?
Finally, after everything, this episode is a LITERAL reset button plot, with the time travel negating all of its events so that for all intents and purposes the episode NEVER happened.

# of Crew: 134 Starfleet, >4 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 38
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,879.7 lightyears

Nitpick time: Janeway is apparently devoted to getting her crew home. Her ship has a SUSTAINABLE max warp of 9.975. Yet from the end of the first episode to the start of this one (third) they've been consistently travelling warp 7, and at the end of this episode she orders them to resume course at warp 6. Thanks, Janeway. So far they've managed to travel about 120 light years, and if they'd travelled for this long at max warp they could've covered around 1020. So, y'know, a big frakkin' difference. Why are they leisuring around? Which parts of the ship were sacrificed to make the technogadget they used this episode? How's coverting the mess into a kitchen (mentioned in episode 2) going? Is everyone starving off replicator rations? When the ship is cruising at warp 6 and Paris is trying to convince Harry to double date the Delaney sisters, I don't exactly get the impression of "lost in space, stuck with people who hate us"

"Phage"

Now here was an interesting episode that was genuinely exciting and threatening. Was it necessarily a VOYAGER episode? Not really, but it was good. There was a sense of necessity and danger. I was really surprised by Neelix in this episode -- he was believable and multi-faceted. At what point did he become a one-dimensional annoyance? The Vidians are a great villain species in their ambiguity. Although Janeway is again all over the place emotionally here -- sympathising with the Vidians one moment and threatening to kill them the next. Psycho Captain indeed. But a very good episode.

# of Crew: 134 Starfleet, >4 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 38
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,866.8 lightyears

"The Cloud"

An exceptionally dull episode for the most part whose plot is completely superfluous, uninteresting and drab. The vast majority of the show is devoted to filler that purports to develop the characters. Janeway, the secular humanist Federation science geek, getting in touch with her Indian animal spirit guide. Paris and his holodeck bar. Etc, etc. Neelix is right in this episode: what the frak are we doing stopping every two seconds to investigate everything in the damn quadrant?

# of Crew: 134 Starfleet, >4 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,804.8 lightyears

"Eye of the Needle"

A pretty good episode for addressing emotional themes, though I think it comes too early in the series. Also -- Romulans? In the Alpha Quadrant? In 2351? No wonder he didn't want to be found by Starfleet! There's no way a Romulan vessel could be in the Alpha Quadrant without going through Federation space, and in that year the Romulans were supposedly under an isolationist policy and hadn't seen/talked to the Feds since 2311. But anyways, it's otherwise a well put together show and involving for the entire crew. Well played so far.

# of Crew: 134 Starfleet, >4 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,622.4 lightyears

There are three comments I'd like to make on the show so far.
One is that Janeway is incensed about Neelix turning the mess hall into a galley in "The Cloud" and insists she never gave him authorization. Actually, he did indeed ask for permission to do so in "Parallax" and she gave it. So, y'know, Psycho Captain.
Another is that the tension between Maquis and Starfleet has not been examined since "Parallax". Everyone seems to be buddy buddy and Janeway seems to have Chakotay completely domesticated. He's NEVER shown ANYONE his medicine bundle or talked to ANYONE about his spirit animal and now he's discussing it with this Starfleet captain who was sent to arrest him and whose command he's stuck under for the next however many years.
The final one is a good point: Robert Picardo has stolen this show. His scenes are the most interesting ones in the series so far, and what's more amazing is that he's had an amazingly consistent character arc so far. In all three of these episodes there was continuous, incremental, and realistic development in the Doctor's character, his relations with the crew, the captain, his attitudes about himself, his friendship with Kes, etc etc etc. All extremely well executed, as if the Doctor's sections were being written by a completely different staff and inserted into the main episodes at appropriate moments.

"Ex Post Facto"

A rip-off of "A Matter of Perspective" [TNG] which was a rip-off of Rashomon. Although this episode comes across as less Kurosawa and more Columbo. Still, I like Tuvok in the role of investigator. I like seeing his rationality, his unwavering attitude, I like having a Vulcan, a real Vulcan, in the cast.

# of Crew: 134 Starfleet), >4 (Maquis)
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,531.2 lightyears

"Emanations"

A high-concept Brannon Braga piece that actually goes somewhere and says something. I like the exploration of reality vs. religion, what happens when you lose that safety net and have to face the cold hard fact of death. I like the subtle euthanasia angle, and I liked the idea of giving Kim an experience that allows him to grow. There were two problems: one was not enough conflict. I think that would've been solved if the priests on the planet had known that their afterlife was a fraud, so that they would want to kill Kim to keep the truth from spreading. That would give Kim an impetus to escape, fight, etc. The other was I disliked the pat ending where Janeway suggested that the aliens neural energy lives on as radiation, and perhaps they do become a higher state of blah blah blah. That's too much like trying to have your cake and eat it too.

# of Crew: 134 (Starfleet, >4 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,364 lightyears

"Prime Factors"

Probably the first episode since "Parallax" that utilizes the core premises of the show well. It starts slow, but once the mutiny in Engineering starts boiling it really picks up, and involving Tuvok was a brilliant stroke, realizing that as a logical being of course he would try to get Voyager that much closer to home. This one was well written, superbly acted, with fine execution. A stand-out of the first season thus far.

# of Crew: 134 Starfleet, >4 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,351.4 lightyears

"State of Flux"

This is another great episode that deals with the series premise, and builds on elements already present: Seska, the Maquis on the ship, the Kazon, etc. And it ends up setting up many storylines down the road, especially second season. So its a good episode, with great twists and fun turns and good chances for development for Chakotay. If anything, I think its only weakness is coming right after "Prime Factors", which dealt with a lot of the same issues. There should've been some space between the two. But other than that, another great episode. At this point, you could have some hope for how this series will go.

# of Crew: 134 Starfleet, >3 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,340.6 lightyears

This week on Deep Space Nine, the Romulans and Cardassians joined forces to defeat the Founders, and were ambushed and wiped out by the Jem'Hadar. Meanwhile, on Voyager...

"Heroes and Demons"

The Doctor has an adventure on the malfunctioning holodeck.
Actually, this is a pretty fun episode, with a lot of character growth for Dr. Schweitzer (lol, anyone else kinda wish the Doc HAD picked a permanent name eventually?) but its let down by a disappointingly standard Star Trek ending: the misunderstood alien cliche. I mean, communication and peaceful understanding is great, but kind've a weak third act after Vikings and Monsters.
# of Crew: 134 Starfleet, >3 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,337 lightyears

"Cathexis"

This episode was a huge boring turd. I figured out that it was Chakotay's spirit floating around possessing the crew and not an evil alien in the first act and the rest of the episode was sort've silly nonsense. I liked the darker moments of paranoia, but I wish they had arisen from the fact that a tenth of the crew are wanted terrorists and not some silly space alien plot. In the end its kind've ridiculous. As a side note, its in this episode that Tuvok, Paris, and Torres all suddenly get demoted one step in rank, without comment. A fan theory is that Tuvok and Torres were demoted for their actions in "Prime Factors", but there's no reason Paris should be, other than to keep Tuvok as outranking him.
# of Crew: 134 Starfleet, >3 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,332.8 lightyears

"Faces"

This is a pretty standard first season kind've episode for a show to do. It's a good sci-fi way to develop Torres and her tortured personality and reminds me of the sort've thing TOS would've done with Spock. It ends up being pretty effective, but I think it would've been more believeable if the crew had used the Vidian technology to get Torres back together than the Doctor somehow being able to do it. But I liked this one.
# of Crew: 133 Starfleet, >3 Maquis, 2 Civillians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,282.3 lightyears

"Jetrel"
This is a great episode. An absolute Voyager stand-out. Was Neelix ever given this much depth ever again? Its very similar to "Duet" [DS9] but the analogy here is American and Japanese after the Hiroshima bombing, rather than German and Jew after the Holocaust. In any case, it works great, and I wish we would've seen more of this side of Ethan Phillips' acting as the show went on.
# of Crew: 133 Starfleet, >4 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,237.4 lightyears

"Learning Curve"
Here's a great example of Starfleet/Maquis friction to go with "Parallax", "Prime Factors" and "State of Flux". Frankly, an episode like this, with rebellious Maquis crewmen being made to undergo a crash course in Starfleet operations, should've come much earlier in the series. And these characters should've recurred more often afterwards (I remember Chell, but did any of the others reappear? In a ship of 150 people more of these background players should've been recurring). All in all, a good episode, though its examination of Tuvok leaves a bit to be desired -- here he's inflexible about breaking protocol, but a few episodes back in "State of Flux" he was willing to break protocol when it was logical to do so. Also, he taught at the Academy for 16 years and he's only a lieutenant?
# of Crew: 133 Starfleet, >8 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,226.2 lightyears
Another great moment in "Learning Curve" that I forgot to mention was Chakotay decking one of his Maquis crewmen. Its glorious. I mean, guy was a terrorist leader after all -- far cry from the cardboard stand-in Beltran becomes later.

"Projections"
Basically a more complicated version of TNG's "Ship in a Bottle" (we must go deeper). The two greatest things about this episode are the guest appearance from Barclay, and the existential conundrum presented to the Doctor, where he is given a choice between reality and fantasy and the choice is given real weight. A superbly put together show, even if the last five minutes is kind've a final "WTF" for the audience before ending up exactly where we were fine minutes ago.
# of Crew: 133 Starfleet, >8 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,181.3 lightyears

"Elogium"
This episode has good ideas. Jennifer Lien really plays the whole "uncertain pregnant teen" angle well. I like Neelix's soul searching about being a father. But ultimately it falls flat due to the reset button ending: not only does Kes choose not to have a child, but it turns out her Elogium was false, so she can still have one later if she chooses. Meanwhile, the B-plot with the swarm out in space was DUUUUUULL.
On another note, Ensign Wildman finds out she's pregnant. Her husband is a Ktarian who runs a shop on the Deep Space Nine promanade. If we assume they had sex the night before Voyager left, that still means Wildman has been pregnant for SEVEN MONTHS without realizing it. I guess we'll chalk that up to the baby's half alien nature???
# of Crew: 133 Starfleet, >9 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 215 days (7.25 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,150.5 lightyears

"Twisted"
This episode was TERRIBLE. I don't know if I've ever been so BORED watching Star Trek. Characters wander around for an hour, then defeat the problem by doing NOTHING. Then, despite the whole hour telling us we've been fighting a subspace anomaly, at the last minute we decide its a Misunderstood Life Form Just Trying to Communicate -- which VOY already did earlier this season in "The Cloud". There are two good moments in this episode -- one is Chakotay talking to Neelix about his jealousy, hopefully resolving this issue that has been present every time Neelix shares a scene with Paris. Another good moment is Chakotay and Tuvok finally burying the hatchet after being at odds most of the season.
But don't mistake me, this episode was AWFUL.
# of Crew: 133 Starfleet, >9 Maquis, 2 Civilians
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 226 days (7.3 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,119.7 lightyears

"The 37's"

A much better finale to season 1 than a premiere of season 2, that's for sure. This episode is basically "The Neutral Zone" [TNG] minus Romulans plus Amelia Earhart. It amuses me that TNG was so anal about NOT copying TOS in its first year but VOY had no issues at all with copying TNG during its first year. The biggest problem with this episode is that we never SEE the beautiful human civilization that our heroes are being tempted with. We blew the whole effects budget on the ship landing. It'd be like never actually going to Jurassic Park in Jurassic Park -- just seeing Grant come back and saying "well, those WERE some pretty spectacular dinosaurs!"
Anyways, the episode ends with a pretty satisfying theme of the crew devoted themselves, uniformly, to the journey home -- a sense that the crew has bonded over this mission, with the Starfleet/Maquis rift basically healed. One thing that annoys me, however, is how this episode and many others equate home with Earth, even though the Maquis for sure equate home with the DMZ, given that their whole raison d'etre was loving those homes in the DMZ so much they were willing to become terrorists to keep them. But anyways...
# of Crew: 152 Total -- 133 Starfleet, 17 Maquis, 2 Civilians (meaning there was 18 Maquis originally on the Val Jean!)
# of Shuttles: 10
# of Warp Cores: 2
# of Photon Torpedoes: 37
# of Gel Packs: 47
Time Ens. Wildman has been pregnant: 237 days (7.6 months)
Distance to Alpha Quadrant: 74,550.6 lightyears

Season 1 Character Thoughts.

I think the characters who came out of Season 1 the worse were Janeway, Chakotay, and Kim. Janeway is inconsistent and something of an enigma. Besides her devotion to science and reason, I find her ethics hard to figure out. Also, she alternates between too hard and too soft with the crew. Chakotay has had a couple of good moments throughout the series, usually the best when he's interacting with other Maquis. But for the most part, he was pretty instantly domesticated -- the writers are more interested in the calm, passive, wise Indian stereotype than developing the conflicted, angry, terrorist character described in the writer's bible. As for Kim -- I don't think this guy gets any more development in the next 6 years than he's got already. Oh, and actually Paris, other than his pool playing, hasn't really gotten anything since the pilot. Tuvok, the Doctor, Kes, Neelix, and Torres have all gotten pretty good development episodes however.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 Review

2011-03-14T00:04:00.002-06:00

First posted on MI6Forums and BondandBeyond from Feb 2 2011 to Apr 28 2011

"The Way of the Warrior"
Now THAT'S how you open a season! Within 90 minutes, DS9 changes everything -- 79 years of peace between the UFP and the Klingons ended, two decades of peace between the Cardassians and Klingons over, Worf added to the cast -- and tons of great action and excitement! And in the midst of all the battles and pyrotechnics, still time for great character moments, especially the root beer scene between Quark and Garak, but also the disruptor scene between Quark and Odo. Just a fantastic episode!

"The Visitor"
It's a sci-fi time travel subspace reset button plot -- and it's one of the best Star Trek episodes of all time. Really using science fiction to tell a moving and engaging story worth telling. I admit it, I teared up at the end. I love Jake and Ben as characters and episodes that explore their relationships, and this is the ultimate one.

"Hippocratic Oath"
And the fourth season of DS9 is three for three with this brilliant episode that explores Worf's settling in on the station in the B plot, and does a take on Bridge on the River Kwai and manages to explore, develop and drive a wedge between Bashir and O'Brien for the A plot. It's a great show that also makes the Jem'Hadar legitimate again. Classic Deep Space Nine.

"Indiscretion"
Here begins a long journey for Dukat that doesn't really end until the finale. And we FINALLY see the Breen! Well, kinda. Also, the b-plot continues the so-far great development of the Sisko/Kassidy relationship. And the episode is a triumph for not killing Ziyal at the end and hitting reset -- instead, there are major consequences. My only beef is that the b-plot was comic relief enough, we didn't need the ridiculous "thorn in Dukat's bum lololol" scene in the a-plot.

"Rejoined"
The most brilliant thing about this episode is no one ever even mentions the fact that the two lovers are women. It's a show about lesbianism without being a show about lesbianism. It's all allegory, it's all metaphor, and to the characters in the show its not even part of the issue, but to a modern viewer its all they see. It's very clever, it's the perfect way to do an allegory show (ie, not be in your face about it) and it's the sort of thing Star Trek is meant to do: talk about current day social problems in the context of an entertaining sci-fi story.

"Starship Down"
This is kind've like "Civil Defense" fourth season style, but it spends so much time trying to be a character piece for everyone (Quark, Julian, Kira, Worf) that it forgets how to be exciting and dramatic and ends up falling quite flat.

"Little Green Men"
This was just fun! A hilarious Trek tribute to the B-movies of the fifties, and an excellent comedy vehicle for the station's Ferengi family. Could not have enjoyed it more.

"The Sword of Kahless"
Everything about this episode works except one thing: the budget. Running around the same cave set for 70% of the screentime really dilutes all of the excitement and drama. Other than that, a fine first effort for the first real Worf episode of the season.

"Our Man Bashir"
What can I say about this episode that hasn't already been said? Pure gold.

"Homefront" and "Paradise Lost"
Everything about these episodes works great. They are a classic pair of Deep Space Nine shows. But after seeing them so many times, I think the only thing against them is that even by this point in Trek lore, the Admiral goes rogue concept isn't new or surprising. They try to blindside you with the Changeling threat so you don't see it coming, but this whole thing would mean a lot more if every Starfleet officer who wasn't in the main cast of a series wasn't always pulling this sorta thing. I mean, granted, Leyton goes farther than any rogue Admiral before, trying to take over the Federation and having Starfleet ships firing on each other -- but we'd already had an old friend of Sisko's betray him in "The Maquis" and then there were plenty of rogue Admirals on TNG, and of course everyone Kirk went to the Academy with turned insane and evil eventually.
But still, good episodes, and great to see Brock Peters as senior Sisko after three and a half years of hearing about him.

"Crossfire"
This is one of my favourite episodes of Deep Space Nine. It really shows how devoted this show is to its characters that we can have an episode like this. Picking up on the strands left by several season 3 episodes, it weaves Odo, Kira and Shakaar through a series of events that aren't standard or predictable, but are insightfully written and subtly plotted. Its all great -- but the stand out scene is of course the one with Odo and Quark in Odo's quarters: the unspoken friendship between them. There's nothing to dislike here; its a great exploration of one-sided love and its a feeling I think we're all familiar with. Even the little things, like the scene between Kira and Odo that opens the episode, or the scene between Worf and Odo about how you should never be hospitable to visitors (that only encourages further visits), they're all golden. Its just a great show. Ah, DS9.

"Return to Grace"
The actions of "Indiscretion" have their consequences here: For bringing his half-Bajoran daughter home, we see Dukat at his lowest point in the series -- without rank or position, divorced, hauling freight, not even worth shooting at. But the turnaround in this episode is great -- by the end Dukat has his own Bird of Prey and is ready to wage a one man war on the Klingon Empire. This episode is good, but what makes it great is how it connects to earlier episodes and clearly sets up later episodes, with Ziyal moving to DS9, Dukat preparing his comeback, and the introduction of Damar in a role as innocuous as "random Cardie crewmember". My only complaint would be that I think the writers lay the "Dukat has a crush on Kira" thing on too thick.

"Sons of Mogh"
The actions of "Way of the Warrior" have their consequences here: For opposing Gowron, Worf has disgraced his house and his family -- his brother visits the station for ritual suicide. I may point out this is the second suicide related episode Trek did that year, after VOY's "Death Wish". The best thing about this episode is that Worf actually plunges the dagger in -- its Bashir who saves Kurn later. This episode also has a great exploration of Worf's motives -- why he is who he is. Finally, Kurn's memory is wiped in Bashir's House of Horrors -- the Infirmary. This is a stellar, dramatic episode.

"Bar Association"
This is a pretty low pulse episode. Nothing really makes me sit up and pay attention except maybe a couple of the Quark/Rom scenes. But it's a fun episode and it's a good episode for the development it gives Rom. I'm a sucker for stories where the shy, underappreciated, kinda incompetent guy stands up and becomes more than he was. I had hoped TWIN PEAKS would do something like that with Andy, but he only got stupider.
It's funny how even in a minor DS9 episode, there's permanent change and development -- Rom's now a station engineer, and Worf's living on the Defiant.

"Accession"
A great Sisko episode, where he basically accepts being the Emissary. Best Prophets scene in a long time, very clever. A great Kira subplot, a great Miles/Julian subplot, and I found the bit where the priest murders the guy to be really shocking. A solid episode.

"Rules of Engagement"
Apparently the writing staff considers this episode a failure, but I quite liked it. Great performances, direction, style and story -- frankly, I love courtroom drama, and military courtroom drama even more -- and I like it when they remember that Starfleet is the military. My only real complaint is that Sisko never really wins the case and Worf never really proves the prosecutor wrong, in fact he basically proves him right -- Worf is only saved by a deus ex machina, which is weak. What makes up for it is Sisko's great "dressing-down" scene afterwards -- Sisko dresses down officers like no other. In actuality, Sisko feels like a real commanding officer much more to me than any of the others. Picard acted like being in the military was an annoying hobby and most of the time he was here to "see what's out there" and Kirk acted like being a Captain was basically for his own personal amusement. But I'm off track, great episode, great Worf episode especially.

"Hard Time"
Okay, having watched all of STAR TREK up to this point in chronological order, (excluding ENT), I can safely say this is the darkest episode of STAR TREK so far. I mean, despite the hopeful ending, I can really feel the DNA of BSG in this one. I mean, a regular character puts a phaser to his head and seriously considers suicide. And in a realistic, psychologically depressed manner, not bold heroism or exaggerated melodramatics. This episode is dark. I felt, while I was watching it, particularly while I was listening to O'Brien's "Roddenberry's dream is bullshit" speech, I felt a paradigm shift. I'm gonna call this episode as the point where this show stopped being STAR TREK: Deep Space Nine and became Star Trek: DEEP SPACE NINE.

"Shattered Mirror"
DS9 does ROTJ. Great fun, great effects, love the mirror universe.

"The Muse"
Not great, but not terrible either. Seems like two unrelated B-stories from other episodes that they didn't have time for shmushed together. Both are nice and have good character sentiments, but both needed to be paired with a stronger plot backbone to work.

"For the Cause"
A fucking EXCELLENT episode. Zoddamn I love the writing on this show!! This is why I watch DS9! Eddington, Sisko, Kassidy, Garak, Ziyal, drama, crackling good dialogue, great scenes with subtext and foreshadowing, plots that develop over time, and constant status quo shift! This episode is dynamite.

"To the Death"
A great, exciting, action adventure episode of DS9. First we've seen of the Jem'Hadar in a while, and we really get into their heads in this one, far more than in "Hipprocratic Oath" or "The Abandoned". We really get a feel for how dangerous these guys really are -- unlike episodes like "Day of the Dove" (TOS) or "I, Borg" (TNG), we find that when you get to know the Jem'Hadar, they're still scary bastards who want nothing but to kill you. Also, this episode has a great longterm continuity throwback, to second season TNG and the Iconian Gateways, and of course the debut of the wonderful, fantastic character of Weyoun.

"The Quickening"
Aside from being a great Julian episode, and who doesn't like Julian?, the best thing about this episode is the way it completely turns the standard Star Trek formula on its head in a way that hasn't really been done since "A Private Little War" (the darkest episode of TOS by far). The fact that this episode just rejects the whole notion of showing up at a random planet, solving whatever huge problem they've been dealing with for generations in the space of a week, and taking off without it being a big deal -- which is essentially the episodic premise of both TOS and TNG. It's a great, dark, episode of DS9, with a very important lesson: Don't fuck with the Dominion.

"Body Parts"
This is a really slam dunk episode, with a darkly comic Quark A-story that makes the Ferengi the third regular DS9 character to be an outcast from his people (Odo, Worf), and a great B-story for Kira and the O'Briens that intelligently worked Nana Visitor's pregnancy into the show.

"Broken Link"
Honestly, this is a good Odo character story, but a good season finale? Not really. The whole Gowron aspect feels really tacked on, like it would've gone in whatever story the season finale ended up being. This is a great episode, don't get me wrong, but when I also know that the Gowron reveal will be undone in the season 5 opener, it just becomes "another Odo episode" instead of a great season finale. Best parts of the episode were with Garak, btw.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3 Review

2011-03-14T00:00:00.003-06:00

Originally posted on the MI6 Forums from Nov 18 2010 to Jan 27 2011

"The Search, Part I"

Enter the Defiant. 170m of warp 9.982 phaser cannon, torpedo blasting awesome. Also enter Eddington, who will be a great recurring character, and T'Rul, who will never appear again after Part II. Also new combadges, Odo gets a collar, and the show gets Ron Moore. Odo finds his people. Battle scenes with the Jem'Hadar. The show is taking chances and getting messy. I like it.

"The Search, Part II"

Am I the only one who thinks the "it was all a simulation" ending WASN'T a cop-out? I mean, come on, it was the only possible answer. No way things would move that fast in reality. And Necheyev isn't THAT big a *****. I love that they made Odo's people the Founders. That's drama. That's good writing. This show is great.

"The House of Quark"

I like how Quark's Ferengi values mix with the Klingon honour schtick. It ends up being a really great parody of the kind of Klingon episodes Ron Moore used to write on TNG. Great fun. The subplot with the O'Briens is fantastic, I really respect how DS9 wrote those two as a REALISTIC married couple, instead of the way that most writers seem to think the only way to make marriages dramatic or interesting is constant fighting or lying. Another fine episode. Can DS9 do no wrong?

Equilibrium

This is a great Jadzia episode that builds on what we learned in "Invasive Procedures", and works best because of the emphasis on character. IIt not only explores more of Dax and what it means to have all these past lives, but we also explore more of the characters who mean a lot to Jadzia, namely Ben and Julian. And I'm always a fan of stories that reveal some big hidden truth that threatens to destroy a society. A great example of a Sisko/Picard difference is that Sisko has no desire to reveal the truth and thereby destroy Trill society -- it's not even an issue for him. He just wants Jadzia to be safe. Its a much more human reaction to the situation.

"Second Skin"

Now THIS is just a fantastic episode. A kind of insane nightmare for Kira, and a great action/adventure story for Odo/Sisko/Garak. I love that the "reset button" at the end is actually logical and enhances the story rather than undermines it. This episode truly shows the frightening extremes the Obsidian Order will go to. And I love Ghemor's line about Garak -- reminding our cast that even if he's helping you, to never fully trust him. This is just a superb episode.

"The Abandoned"
A great episode not only to learn more about the Jem'Hadar, but also about Odo and many of our other characters. I liked that the writers finally followed up on Jake's dabo girl romance and the dinner scene is a hoot. The actor playing the young Jem'Hadar boy was very engaging -- does this character ever show up again? All in all a superb effort.

"Civil Defense"
I'm not sure if I've ever had this much fun watching Star Trek! It seems like its been a while anyway. It's a great play on the disaster movie, as each thing that solves a problem simply opens another. Bringing Garak and Gul Dukat into play was inspired as well, you can never really go wrong with them. A stand-out episode.

"Meridian"
A steaming pile of crap. The drama on the planet with Jadzia was totally hollow and meaningless and impossible to get involved with, and the b-plot on the station said nothing we didn't already know (Quark's a slimeball.) Meanwhile -- first appearance of Jeffrey Combs on Star Trek as Random Alien Guy Who Faps to Kira Porn. I prefer Weyoun. Or Shran.

"Defiant"

Too cool. I love that they brought Tom Riker back. That was just brilliant. And throwing him with the Maquis? Brillianter. And putting Sisko and Dukat in Fail-Safe? Brilliantest. Every moment of this episode is better than the last. Just too well done. And the Obsidian Order military build-up? Long term storytelling FTW. Could not be more pleased with this episode.

"Fascination"

Again -- I love that DS9 is not afraid of doing all out comedic romps, like TOS did. This is a fun episode that allows everyone to just go nuts. And the b-plot with the O'Briens was another example of great, heartfelt and realistic writing that is all too rare with depictions of marriages in media.

"Past Tense, Parts I & II"

Now THAT'S Star Trek! A great episode, with great action and themes and allegory and a spectacular showcase for Sisko and Bashir. Bashir really grows here, and wow is Sisko capable of some intense stuff when not bound by Starfleet regs. As someone who works in a homeless shelter/detox centre, this episode really speaks to me. Full marks, stand-out episode, true Trekkian brilliance all the way.

"Life Support"

A mismatched A and B plot if ever there was one. Both are great, but don't necessarily belong together -- the peace treaty between Bajor and Cardassia marred by the death of major supporting character Bareil; and Nog and Jake on a double date.
Mismatched plots aside, this was a ballsy move for the DS9 writers. There's a real sense of "wait, what just happened?" when the episode ends and Bareil is dead and not only did the technobabble fail to save him by the end of the hour but in fact was most of the reason he died. It's a strong statement, and while it's clearly supposed to be a Kira/Bareil storyline, the strongest characters coming out of it were Winn and Bashir: Winn, who shows that she's growing into the responsibility of being Kai, and Bashir -- who, contrary to the greenhorn he was in Season 1, has evolved into a man with the balls to tell the Kai of Bajor to get out of his Infirmary or he'll throw her out; and mean it.
A superb episode.

"Heart of Stone"

Another mismatched A and B plot, but somehow a lot better this time. The return of the Female Founder marks another tragic point in Odo's life -- he finally admits his love for Kira at the same time as he realizes the fact that she will never love him. Meanwhile, Nog applies for Starfleet Academy. And in another great move for DS9 writers, this is another thread that is not magically undone by the end of the episode.
Of all the kids in modern Trek: Wesley, Alexander, Jake, Nog, Icheb, I think Nog is the most interesting one to send to the Academy. While some great stories were done with Cadet Crusher, I agree with Ron Moore that Wesley was mainly going to satisfy people's expectations. It was a statement when Jake told his father he wasn't interested, making him a writer was a great move and provided Trek a great opportunity to have a real Federation civillian character on a show as a regular and show what that's like. Icheb was interested in Starfleet because VOY was written by a bunch of hacks who couldn't think of anything more interesting for him to be. But Nog? By sending Nog you're really exploring things about Ferengi, about Starfleet, about people working to improve themselves -- which is really what Star Trek is all about.

"Destiny"

And then we continue the thread of the Bajor/Cardassian treaty through its third episode (OMG! Serial storytelling??) with a great story about faith vs reason, and Sisko's coming to terms with his role as the Emissary. Another superb show, really coming back to the themes of DS9: politics, religion, and people.

"Prophet Motive"

A pretty ho-hum episode. There are some foreshadowings with Rom and Zek here of what is to come, but for the most part the A plot hits the reset button. The B plot goes nowhere and does nothing as well. The best part is re-introducing the Prophets to the show for the first time since the pilot.

"Visionary"

I like the follow-up to the Romulan involvement with the Defiant stuff that was brought up in the season opener, and O'Brien episodes are always fun, but the time travel isn't very consistent in its rules and is occasionally confusing. It's like a TNG episode, but it feels a lot better than a TNG episode because ultimately it's not about the tech mystery, but about using the tech/time travel stuff to solve the real problem, ie the Romulans.

Also -- dart board. Excellent.

"Distant Voices"

Another crazy Joe Menosky story, this one is best for the examination of Bashir's character right at the very end. It builds entirely on information already established, but asks the question "why, with all his talent, does Bashir constantly hold himself back?" We won't get the answer until Season 5!

"Through the Looking Glass"

We return to the mirror universe for some fun and games, and Sisko's character is all the better for it. I always love it when they take Sisko out of his responsibilities to Starfleet -- I love it when he's able to let loose (see "Past Tense"). And here he gets to make it with mirror universe Jadzia (somehow way hotter than ours, I think its the short hair) and mirror universe Kira. Pretty sure its the first time he's gotten any since his wife died, and its with alternate universe versions of his crew. Awesome. These episodes are always fun.

"Improbable Cause"

And then **** got officially real.

"The Die is Cast"

Absolutely glorious.

So... Michael Piller left to concentrate on VOY, Ira Behr took over, and things got instantaneously awesome??

"Explorers"

A fun, light, character based episode to follow up the plot heavy two-parter. I really like the relationship between Jake and his dad -- it feels real. What also feels real? Drunken singing with Miles and Julian. An everlasting friendship is born. Also -- Sisko begins rockin' the beard.

"Family Business"

Not the most substantial of episodes, but I like the added depth it gives to Quark and Rom.

"Shakaar"
This episode's greatest strength is Shakaar, and his realtionship with Kira. For letting us see these people we've heard about for three years, now in action. It's biggest mistake is that it finally crosses the line with Kai Winn. There was always a subtlety before that maybe she wasn't strictly evil and self-serving, but actually, in her own way, believed herself a selfless servant of Bajor. This episode is unable to balance that subtlety and for the first time she comes across as rather one-dimensionally power hungry. The episode's biggest failure is the GNDN subplot about O'Brien's winning streak at Quark's. It's a great set-up and idea for a subplot, but it ends up being a non-starter. I thought they were gonna say that O'Brien faked his injury (its so obviously overacted!) in order to throw the game so Quark would stop bugging him, but then they never brought it up. I suppose you could still read it that way, but then you're reading WAY between the lines. But still, Shakaar himself, good.

"Facets"
This is another successful DS9 character study, this time of the series (up to this point) least developed character - Dax. By this point I think Jadzia has fully become the Jadzia we all know and love, but the series hasn't had enough opportunities to show it. Season 4 will come with plenty. I enjoyed every element, especially Joran/Sisko and Curzon/Odo, and the subplot with Nog studying for the entrance exams to the Academy (prep program) was much appreciated follow-up to his story arc. A fine episode all around.

"The Adversary"

So, compared to "In the Hands of the Prophets" and "The Jem'Hadar", this is kinda weak. Except for the last line, nothing about it screams SEASON FINALE. That being said, on its own terms its a pretty good episode. Its at its best when its doing THE THING, the paranoia on the Defiant with no one knowing who to trust. And Sisko being promoted to Captain is also rad. That being said, there's not much else to say -- the importance of this episode is less in itself and more in how it sets up season 4 and seasons beyond that.

Season 3 Thoughts?
The most improved character of DS9 Season 3 was definitely Sisko. Little by little, episode by episode, Sisko became a far more dynamic, involved, and complex character than he had been in the first two seasons (and he was already pretty great). Also, while it happened quietly in the background, Dax has finally stepped out of her shell as well.
That being said, its possible Season 3 blew its load early with the "Improbable Cause"/"Die is Cast" two-parter.

Why James Bond is Not a Rational Target for Feminism

2011-03-08T20:45:00.004-07:00

On this, International Women's Day, an ad was released by EON Productions, makers of the James Bond films, who have not produced any Bond material since 2008 and will not produce any more until 2012 or 2013.

This is the ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkp4t5NYzVM

Pretty clever, yeah? Using James Bond, long a symbol of misogynistic (not to mention imperialist) power, as a toll to argue for feminist equality. Bringing him down to size by making him wear drag, which humiliates him.

Except it isn't really. The problems with this ad are so many, so legion, that I'm compelled to devote a patented longwinded Rowerowefightthepower rant against them.

First, I would argue that the biggest complaint against the feminist movement is the notion that it is combative, vindictive, and anti-men -- that it seeks to surplant a male dominated society with a female dominated society as revenge. This fear has led many men to dismiss, ignore or even fight the feminist movement. This is clearly not the intent of this ad, which is obviously to promote EQUALITY between the sexes. I agree that this is a good intent. But the content of the ad does not support this intent. One important distinction to note is that this is not an ad featuring Daniel Craig and Judi Dench, it is explicitly an ad featuring James Bond and his superior M (the head of the British Secret Service). So we have a woman in a superior position berating a man (who is her employee) and placing blame on his gender for the misfortunes of her own gender, and forcing him to wear women's clothing in the full knowledge that this places him in a humiliating position. The ad intends to show a humourous juxtaposition -- instead the message comes across as angry, bitter and vindictive, especially in the strong, forceful tone of voice Dench uses in her performance. I have nothing against Dench being strong, but I think that the image of Dench as M alone, as strong woman in a position of power, does more for the movement than the humiliation of one of her operatives (by her). Lead by example and inspiration, not shame and the fostering of ill-will. Imagine if the ad were just Dench, sitting in a chair, as the camera zooms in on her slowly, making the same statements, but bereft of their connnection to Bond. I argue that this is more effective, and confuses the issue less. A woman in a position of power dressing down a man under her does not do much to argue the idea that women are still opressed.

My second issue with the ad is the way it presents its satistics. I will not argue the validity of the numbers themselves, that is outside my field of expertise or ability to prove or disprove. But I do argue about the way they are presented. Bond is the only figure shown to us, the camera zooming in on him as M lists off how many women wordlwide do not have an education, are sexually assaulted, are murdered, and so on and so forth. M mentions that 70 million girls worldwide are deprived of education, as the camera shows us Bond. The implication is that Bond (or what he represents) is to blame for this state of affairs. So what does Bond represent? Bond is an agent of MI6, Britain's external intelligence agency, he represents western, male, authoritarian power. But the millions of girls not getting schooling are not in the UK or the US or any of their allies -- they are in the third world nations (where, surprise surprise, millions of BOYS also do not receive an education) or in the Muslim states were women are oppressed as a matter of accepted social tradition. Speaking of those Muslim nations, they are largely responsible for the massive worldwide statistics of female oppression -- and these states, their regimes, and their policies are the exact targets of the organization Bond works for. So blaming Bond is misrepresentative, unfair and inaccurate.

Finally, I must make a general point about the use of Bond that speaks less to feminism and its message, and more to the James Bond character himself and his legacy. This ad is not a third party construction using Bond as a target in general -- its a specific ad featuring specifically the real actors currently playing James Bond and M and produced with the full knowledge and participation of the company which makes his films. Now, it is well known that Bond is not a feminist character, nor was his creator Ian Fleming much of a women's libber. Bond was a creation of the fifties, so he is a hard drinking, heavy smoking, womanizer -- the fiftie's man's man. These aspects have been toned down over time to fit modern sensibilities but it is clear that as he was created Bond does not represent feminism. While this makes him a good ironic target for a feminist ad, we must realize this was all done by the rights holders of the character -- who must know he represents misogyny because that's the ad's point and therefore know the ad is against the principles of the character and yet knowingly let the character be used against his own principles. This does not bode well, showing as it does that the current owners of Bond do not agree with his values or support them, explaining perhaps why the Bond films have not held their former luster for sometime. Its like al-Qaeda agreeing to do a video supporting religious diversity -- you know that the values of the organization have been compromised and no longer stand for what they once did. And even if they do want to change Bond into something that fights for feminism, then that's exactly what they should do -- show him fighting for feminism, not as a target of it. Have Bond address the audience with the stats, even acknowledging that the character himself hasn't exactly covered himself in glory in the way he's treated some women in the past, before making a hardened case to all of the men out there who mistreat women that there's nothing masculine about doing such a cruel thing. That way, there's no side issue, all we come away thinking about are the words Craig has spoken as James Bond. This is your hero and ours, he is sold to us on the basis that he is a hero -- show him as a hero, not as the villain.

I agree that a woman working the same job as a man should earn as much as a man. I agree that she should not be fired as punitive action against becoming pregnant. I agree she has the right to her own body and her own use of that body. But I believe these ideals can be promoted through positive, strong (and strongly feminine) portrayals of women, to role model for young girls everywhere, NOT by humiliating masculine symbols, fermenting resentment between men and women, and placing blame for the opression of women on those who are not responsible for it.

The Personality of a DVD Collection

2011-02-21T19:41:00.001-07:00

Whenever I visit someone's house, I usually try to sneak an innocuous peak at their DVD collection. Its part of my ritual of learning a bit more about them. I don't know about any of you, but I consider private possessions to often be indicative of elements of the personality of the owner. In times past, I might have looked at someone's artwork or record collection or paperback bookshelf, but today I think the DVD collection speaks the loudest. What does a person's movie collection say about them?

And I don't just mean the difference in tastes. The difference between a cineaste whose shelves contain Criterion Collections and Art House works in foreign tongues, a blockbuster braggadocio who has the biggest and best sets of the boldest and loudest Abrams, Bay or Cameron summer spectaculars, or the penny pinching Wal-Mart five and dime enthusiast with the latest direct-to-video mockbuster basic discs, these are not as important as the difference in personal human philosophy that can be distilled from the truly diverse and representative collection.

Different films have different things to say about the human condition, and it can be assumed that fans of those films agree with or at least appreciate these statements. Oldboy and Star Trek have very disparate notions of the basic decency of the human being, for instance. So what can you say about a person whose collection contains both? Can you determine the make-up of the person from the make-up of their philosophical possessions?

Interesting.

And even if the collection is largely seamless, a lighthearted indie romcom dreamscape ofRoyal Tenenbaums, Junos, and Little Miss Sunshines, there's always the one out of place shocker -- what the heck is Cannibal Holocaust doing here? -- for example, a lot of people see a shelf on my wall otherwise populated by American Psycho and No Country for Old Men and have a hard time stifling a giggle when they see The Last Unicorn amongst them. What kind of a person finds, in each of these films, a piece of themselves reflected back?

Part of the puzzle is really taking the time to think about what each movie has to say about the world, society, humanity, morality, and what that viewpoint says about you or your appreciation of the film. What is it about Iron Man that you really like? Is it just the jokes and the CGI, or is there something in the film's subtle capitalist, libertarian, futurist sentiments that you found yourself agreeing with? Why do you own a copy of Straw Dogs? Do you derive a sadistic pleasure from the rape and torture scenes or is the the film's sense of vengeful violence that you appreciate? Or do you see past that and derive some satirical sentiments on the underlying anger of mid-1970s America?

My point is that once you see the films on your shelf for what they really are, then you can start asking yourself -- what do they say about me? What is it about them that has influenced who I am, or what about me has influence their place in my collection?

What does your DVD collection say about you, your personality, your beliefs and your philosophies? Does it support them or challenge them? Do you have movies in your collection that are expressly against what you truly think and feel? If so, why are they there? Aesthetic value, completism, whimsy?

I'm looking at my own DVD collection -- the secular humanist mythology of Star Trek rests not too far from the objectivist superheroics of Iron Man, inbetween the two sits the nihilist selfishness of There Will Be Blood and the abstract anarchistic musings of Aeon Flux. What's the total picture painted in just that one shelf?

Or do our possessions in fact say nothing about ourselves except perhaps as a reflection of the 21st century's vapid commericialism? (I don't believe that, but I include it as a possible option for consideration).

Bad Writing: Comicbook Movie Supervillain Plans

2011-01-14T18:24:00.002-07:00

What's the most basic description of the plot of a comicbook superhero movie? Villain has evil scheme, hero must stop it. Right? Well it turns out that so many of us assume this going in that we don't really pay attention to what's really going on. I mean, as long as the hero wins and evil is vanquished, right? Turns out screenwriters have a really hard time coming up with good schemes for the hero to foil, but hope that as long as there's a lot of fighting, you won't notice.

SUPERMAN (1978)

Hero: Superman

Villain: Lex Luthor

The Plan: Lex Luthor has bought up all the desert land on the eastern side of the San Andreas Fault, and will sink everything on the western side into the sea by detonating two nuclear missiles, thus turning his worthless land into priceless beachfront property (and killing millions).

What's Wrong?: This is a pretty clever plan -- if you're a real estate mogul. In fact, minus the missiles and the killing millions part, I'm sure most of the desert land in California has been bought up in anticipation of the eventual earthquake that will sink LA and San Fran into the ocean. But this is LEX LUTHOR we're talking about here! Archvillain of Superman, a hero who is invulnerable, can fly, breathe in space, shoot lasers out of his eyes, see through anything, etc etc etc. In the comics, Luthor has had plans like teaming up with intelligent alien robots to conquer the world, assume absolute control of Metropolis by controlling hi-tech military weapons, unleashing an unstoppable alien supersoldier to kill Superman and replace him with a controllable clone, convince Superman to give up the battle purely through conversation, kill Superman by overloading his body with solar energy, and saving the world from the ultimate god of evil in the universe. So, y'know, the real estate scheme kinda pales in comparison.

How does the hero stop it?: Deal with one missile, go back in time, deal with the other one.

SUPERMAN II (1980)

Hero: Superman

Villain: General Zod

What's the Plan?: Take over the world.

What's Wrong?: There's no reason for Zod to want to take over the world. This is a character who was imprisoned and exiled from his homeworld for essentially being Hitler -- a military fascist who wanted to control everything in the interest of security. He ends up on Earth with superpowers, and takes over the world for the power, but he has no investment in Earth, a world of weaklings who have nothing to do with him. It's like making a movie about a guy who wants to own the Ferrari corporation and ends up running a Kia dealership.

How does the hero stop it?: He doesn't. Superman has sex with Lois Lane and Zod takes over the world. Then in the last minute he lures all the villains into a trap at his place and returns control of the world to the President of United States (that's how that works? Right?)

SUPERMAN III (1983)

Hero: Superman

Villain: Ross Webster

What's the Plan?: Make a lot of money, by developing a computer that will enable him to corner key economic markets (coffee, oil).

What's Wrong?: Webster isn't even a villain from the comics for one thing, and for another, he's just a corporate CEO. So again we have the problem of "why is this Superman's problem?" The only reason Superman even gets involved is because a side effect of the R&D process for the supercomputer creates an evil duplicate Superman that fucks up the real Superman's life. Superman fights Evil Superman and then decides to wreck Webster's day and his supercomputer. But Webster is in fact doing nothing wrong, unless capitalism is illegal in America.

How does the hero stop it?: Smashes Webster's supercomputer. Which, y'know, doesn't really prevent him from building another one.

BATMAN (1989)

Hero: Batman

Villain: The Joker

What's the Plan?: Take over the mob. Poison everyone with cosmetics. Then hold a parade. Then murder everyone who comes. Then seduce Kim Basinger.

What's Wrong?: Do any of the above things have anything to do with each other? Essentially no motivation is ever given to the character. He kills the mob boss who screwed him over and takes over the mob, but everything else is just random. I suppose the writers were trying to show that the Joker is a creature of impulse, but in the best Joker stories his schemes always made a twisted kind of sense, at least to him.

How does the hero stop it?: He doesn't. Well, at least until the last 10 minutes of the movie. He sits in the Batcave and lets Joker get away with everything until he realizes he's the same guy who killed his parents. Batman does eventually destroy the factory pumping out the poisoned cosmetics, but only after its been in stores and sold for months and many have already died. Batman does eventually get rid of the poison gas balloons at the parade, but only after the gas has already been released and killed nearly everyone at the parade. The only phase of the plan he actually stops is he saves Kim Basinger, mainly because he already had dibs on that.

BATMAN RETURNS (1992)

Hero: Batman

Villains: The Penguin and Catwoman

What's the Plan?: The Penguin is going to reform his image with Max Shreck's help, so he runs for Mayor. Then he decides to kill the first born child of everyone in Gotham. Then he decides to kill everyone in Gotham. Meanwhile, Catwoman just wants to fuck up Max Shreck's day, maybe kill him.

What's Wrong?: Once again, Tim Burton applies the shotgun approach to villain planning, with a series of events that don't really relate to each other.

How does the hero stop it?: In the Penguin's case, its the opposite of the first movie. Proactive Batman sabotages Penguin's campaign, rescues the kids, and sabotages the killer missile penguins (yes) at the end of the movie. But while he's doing this, he forgets entirely about Catwoman, who blows up Shreck's department store, murders Shreck, and gets away scot free.

BATMAN FOREVER (1995)

Heroes: Batman and Robin

Villains: Two-Face and the Riddler

What's the Plan?: Develop a 3D tv that sucks people's brain waves and transmit it into the Riddler's brain. Get rich and become supersmart. Two-Face is involved under the promise of figuring out Batman's secret identity through mind-reading.

What's Wrong?: There's really nothing illegal in this plan, other than not telling people about the brainwave suckage. It's like making Mark Zuckerberg the villain of a movie for the crime of inventing Facebook. Oh wait.

How does the hero stop it?: He doesn't. Batman doesn't actually get involved until Riddler decides to steal Bruce Wayne's girlfriend cause she's Nicole Kidman back when that meant something. So Batman shows up and wrecks his day. Oh and kills, sorry "fails to save" Two-Face for the crime of murdering Robin's parents.

BATMAN & ROBIN (1997)

Heroes: Batman, Robin, and Batgirl.

Villains: Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy

What's the Plan?: Mr Freeze is going to build a giant freeze ray gun and threaten to freeze the city unless they give him the money he needs to cure his wife's rare fatal disease.

What's Wrong?: He completely forgets the ransom part. Just straight up starts freezing the city without offering any demands.

How do the heroes stop them?: Smashing everything and stealing the cure to the disease so they can save their butler.

BLADE (1998)

Hero: Blade

Villain: Deacon Frost

What's the Plan?: Summon a vampire god who will turn the entire world into vampires.

What's Wrong?: If everyone's a vampire, what do they eat? The movie shows them storing humans in freezers, but just because I got some beef in the fridge doesn't mean I can stop slaughtering cattle.

How does the hero stop it?: Some mystical mumbo-jumbo about how he's The One or something? Then a swordfight.

X-MEN (2000)

Heroes: The X-Men

Villain: Magneto

What's the Plan?: Make a machine that turns all the world leaders into mutants, thus making them stop persecuting mutants. When informed machine will actually kill them, turn it on anyone. After all, dead world leaders can't persecute mutants either, right?

What's Wrong?: Y'know what really got the US to leave the Middle East alone? 9/11.

How do the heroes stop it?: Stabbing a little girl.

SPIDER-MAN (2002)

Hero: Spider-Man

Villain: Green Goblin

What's the Plan?: Erm...fuck up Spider-Man's day, apparently?

What's Wrong?: Initially Norman Osborn becomes the Green Goblin to get revenge on the Board of his company, who have locked him out. He does this by murdering all of them. Then he finds out Peter Parker has stolen his son's girlfriend, and that Peter Parker is Spider-Man and kidnaps the girlfriend and threatens her life. So basically he would've gotten away scot free if he hadn't kidnapped MJ.

How does the hero stop it?: He doesn't, really. He jumps out of the way and lets Norman kill himself. And rescues MJ.

HULK (2003)

Hero: The Hulk

Villain: The US Army

What's the Plan?: Capture the Hulk, thereby preventing an unpredictable monster from inadvertantly causing massive property damage and killing thousands of innocent people.

What's Wrong?: Waitasecond... so why is the army the villain?

How does the hero stop it?: Smashing stuff and running away.

SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004)

Hero: Spider-Man

Villain: Dr. Octopus

What's the Plan?: Prove his fusion reactor works by building another one after the prototype failed

What's Wrong?: Ock would've gotten away scot free if -- yep, he hadn't kidnapped MJ, which he only does because Spider-Man interferes (interferes, mind you, not stops) with him stealing some money he needed to buy some parts for his machine, after which he discovers Spidey's secret identity and kidnaps his girlfriend to... teach him a lesson, I guess?

How does the hero stop it?: He doesn't, really. He jumps out of the way and let's Ock kill himself. And rescues MJ.

BATMAN BEGINS (2005)

Hero: Batman.

Villains: Ra's al Ghul and The Scarecrow

What's the Plan?: Flood Gotham City with fear gas, and watch it destroy itself.

What's Wrong?: Ra's wants to destroy Gotham because he feels this is the only way to end the cesspool of corruption the city has become. Why not steal a nuke and bomb it? Why the elaborate fear scheme? This only suits Scarecrow, whose only plan ever in any story involving him is essentially "spray fear gas, watch results". Even if Ra's had succeeded, the city would just gone nuts, prolly the state would've declared martial law, cleaned things up and eventually the city would still be there, all corrupt like before. Like New Orleans after Katrina.

How does the hero stop it?: Blowing up a train.

FANTASTIC FOUR (2005)

Heroes: The Fantastic Four

Villain: Dr. Doom

What's the Plan?: Absolutely nothing.

What's Wrong: THIS IS MOTHERFUCKING DR. DOOM WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE! Even if you have no clue who he is, it's there in the FUCKING name! DR. DOOM! And all he does in the movie is eventually, very very slowly, gain some super powers, and decide that the best course of action is to dress up in a ridiculous costume and start testing them out by wrecking downtown. This is the greatest villain in the Marvel universe, supposedly one of the smartest people on the planet.

How does the hero stop it?: Standard hero fisticuffs.

SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006)

Hero: Superman

Villain: Lex Luthor

What's the Plan?: Grow a new continent, which Lex will own land rights to, killing billions when the mass of the continent displaces the ones already there.

What's Wrong?: LEX LUTHOR. Smartest man on Earth. Criminal Genius. And the plan is toss a crystal in the ocean and create a continent that is just big ugly rock formations? This is not using our potential, guys.

How does the hero stop it?: Picking the continent up and throwing it into space. Seriously guys, he's Superman. Can we get a challenge, please?

SPIDER-MAN 3 (2007)

Hero: Spider-Man

Villains: New Green Goblin, Sandman, Venom

What's the Plan?: New Green Goblin wants to kill Spider-Man, Sandman wants to rob banks to get money to pay his daughter's hospital bills, Venom wants to kill Spider-Man.

What's Wrong?: Guess which two villains team up to kill Spider-Man? That's right, Sandman and Venom. Wait, what? In fact, Sandman has no reason to go with Venom's plan except that Spider-Man once stopped him from stealing money. He would've never been stopped if Venom's plan hadn't involved... kidnapping MJ.

How does the hero stop it?: He doesn't, really. For one, New Goblin straight up changes his mind and abandons supervillainry before doing anything. Then Spidey apologizes to Sandman who flies away. Then he jumps out of the way and Venom basically kills himself. And he rescues MJ. (Sandman's daughter presumably dies of whatever her disease was, it's never resolved).

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)

Hero: The Hulk

Villain: The US Army (and the Abomination, who works for the US Army)

What's the Plan?: Capture the Hulk, thereby preventing an unpredictable monster from inadvertantly causing massive property damage and killing thousands of innocent people.

What's Wrong?: Waitasecond... so why is the army the villain?

How does the hero stop it?: Smashing stuff and running away.

IRON MAN 2 (2010)

Heroes: Iron Man and War Machine

Villains: Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko.

What's the Plan?: Compete with Tony Stark's company in the weaponized mech industry. Oh, and kill him for being the son of a guy who exploited and then ousted a communist.

What's Wrong?: Well, Hammer's not really doing anything wrong. He's kind've of dick, but basically all he does is hire a guy to build him some robots to sell to the US Army. Oh, and help arm War Machine to take out Iron Man when it becomes clear that Tony is a crazy loose cannon and a danger to national security. As for Vanko, his whole plan only makes sense if you buy that the son must bear the sins of the father. Which is kind've weak.

How do the heroes stop it?: Leaving thousands of people to die at a killer robots expo, while saving their own asses.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 2 Review

2011-01-03T21:30:00.004-07:00

A Collection of Episode Reviews Originally Posted on the MI6 Forums Between September 20 and November 11, 2010

"The Homecoming"/"The Circle"/"The Siege"

BAM! Now THAT'S how you open a season! DS9 season 1 was enjoyable and going along great, with two great final episodes, but THIS arc has been the first time I really sat up and paid attention. I mean for Star Trek, at this point, this is really bold stuff.
And the casting coups?! Richard Beymer? Stephen Macht? Mother frakkin' FRANK LANGELLA? It just brings an excellent gravitas to the whole situation.
I wish we'd seen General Krim again after this. He was a fine character.
Everyone on the show gets great moments. Quark and his latinum, slowly having to become one of the people fighting for the station. Bashir, stepping up into a combat role and becoming comfortable with that. That scene with Dax and Kira in the fighter is definitely the first time I've felt connected with Dax as a character. And Sisko here is just great. All of the characters, regular and recurring, get their moments. Really the only one missing is Garak, otherwise the entire gang established to this point is here.
It's really just powerful, edge of your seat stuff.
I enjoyed it, is what I'm getting at, and it certainly kicked the ass off the first three episodes of TNG Season 7, even if "Descent Part 2" was pretty good.

"Invasive Procedures"
I like Lionel Luthor's performance in this and I think it's really interesting the way the show plays with the idea of where Dax ends and Varad begins, and how that joined personality works. Avery Brooks is terrific especially.
I like how Quark redeems himself, but I still think he got off too light -- I mean Kira's ready to take him down once and for all and then all is forgiven?
Still, and interesting episode all around.

"Cardassians"
But this one was way better. Garak, Gul Dukat, Bashir, The O'Briens, racism, oh man this whole episode was just fantastically done. I mean, every scene just played to the hilt. I mean, wow, DS9 just hitting them out of the park and we're only just starting season two! But yes, this is a fantastic episode about racial prejudice but backed up with great plotting and firm character interaction. Too well.

"Melora"
And then there's this episode. "We should do a show about handicapped people!" said the PC brigade. Actually to be fair it turned out a pretty good episode. Not great, but not terrible either. I do think it's a little annoying to spend an entire episode devoted to a character who we'll never see again though.

"Rules of Acquisition"

The second of the annual Zek visits, this episode is multi-layered and fun, having elements of comedy and drama to it. It's very enjoyable, and sets up many soon-to-be important plot threads, both with the Ferengi... and elsewhere. One thing that bothered me is that right when the Gamma Quadrant part of the storyline was getting interesting, it's dropped. I wanted to see if Zek ever made contact with the Karemma!

"Necesary Evil"

Another DS9 classic. Great film noir flashback structure, great performances, just great all around. Sometimes I wish we'd gotten more of these "back in the Terok Nor days" stories, they're really quite riveting. Really anything to see more Marc Alaimo. Like maybe an episode where we flash back to Kira's past and actually SEE her doing all this resistence fighting we keep hearing about. But nevertheless, this is an excellent episode that reveals much to Quark/Odo/Kira's past, but also provides excellent character development to their present, including hints that Rom might not be as dumb as we thought.

"Second Sight"

And just when I was thinking "y'know, it's been a while since we had a Sisko episode" BLAM! Sisko episode. Pretty good one too. Also, Gideon Seyetik is officially the "Most Interesting Man in the Universe".

"Sanctuary"

As much as I liked the idea they were trying to get at with the Skreeaa (space gypsies), and the episode was interesting, and I liked the downer ending -- it was the ordinary day on the station type scenes that I enjoyed the most. The flustered day Kira is having before the Skreeaa arrive. The conversation between Jake and Nog about Jake scoring a date with a dabo girl is top notch. I like Jake and Nog. I really do. I like the entire cast. They really sell this episode. This would be a monstrously dull episode on TNG, but the cast and characters of DS9 make it work -- Quark's intolerances, Odo's suspicions, all the little touches. It makes a mediocre episode worth sitting through. Also -- more DOMINION references!

"Rivals"

Apparently no one really likes this episode. I don't see why! I love it! It's fun, funny, and just plain works. Quark vs. Martus, and more importantly Bashir vs. O'Brien! It's just great. I love these characters, I love this show, this episode was gangbusters.

"The Alternate"

Odo as the Id Monster from "Forbidden Planet". Essentially. Mora Pol is interesting, but ultimately too much time is spent on the monster and not enough on really delving into what went on all those years ago between them and what the ultimate source of the pain in that relationship is. The best scene is probably the one in Odo's office where Mora confronts Odo and Odo loses it and becomes the monster. It's a good episode with some good material, but it just misses its own potential.

"Armageddon Game"

The first "O'Brien Must Suffer" episode. Everything about it is great. From the character interaction between O'Brien and Bashir, to Sisko's hunt for the truth, heck even Keiko gets great scenes in this episode. A stand out second season installment.

To think where TNG was at this point. This show just rocks!

"Whispers"

A fantastic episode and exploration of the nature of paranoia -- no, the entire world is NOT engaged in a conspiracy against you, YOU'RE the one who's off. And it works all the better because it's O'Brien, the character who is our "rock". Which is why the "Let's Torture O'Brien" episodes work, really.
Everything about it is brilliant, except maybe the very ending, which is a little rushed. Replicant O'Brien should've fought that revelation more, instead of just quietly accepting it and dying. Otherwise good.

"Paradise"

Another great episode and along with "A Taste of Armageddon" and "The Measure of a Man", this is a "THIS is what Star Trek is about" episode. Yes, living the simple life is great -- but so is technology. Technology is not evil, it has not stolen man's ingenuity, it IS man's ingenuity. I love Sisko in this, he is the best. Ever.

"Shadowplay"

A good episode that is essentially an underdeveloped but interesting A-story with two good character B and C stories. They should've explored the old man in the A-story more, and exactly what the Dominion did to him, but oh well. The B-story is good Kira/Bareil/Quark moments and the C-story brings us the great moment of "Not everyone wants to be in Starfleet, guys".

"Playing God"

The Jadzia stuff is the best, obviously. The ethics of the protouniverse could've been gone into in better depth, but honestly we've heard this argument before on Trek. Then there are the voles. I was honestly annoyed we didn't actually get an end to that plot -- they just existed to get the protouniverse loose and then not actually dealt with. However, I do like that it was used to innocuously introduce Gul Evek. The way the Maquis storyline was built up and cross connected between TNG and DS9 was actually quite well done, and better executed that the series it was designed to build up towards.

"Profit and Loss"

Some parts of this episode work, some don't. It ends up averaging out as a pretty good episode. I buy that Quark would have a love for this woman, the part where if fell apart was when the woman finally admitted she loved him back. And some of the romantic dialogue was pretty bad. But Garak? Garak is always welcome/awesome.

"Blood Oath"

The best Klingon episode since "Rightful Heir" [TNG] and probably better than it. It really is the fact that its three TOS Klingons that makes it work. It helps connect the TOS portrayal of Klingons to the more congenial TNG versions in a very satisfying way. I'm not talking the make-up difference, but the actual difference in portrayal between "evil, scheming villains" and "honourable warriors". The fact that they got the original actors was such a bonus, and each of them still felt true to their original TOS character while still incorporating all the new jazz about honour and glory. Finally, this is a great episode for the development of Jadzia, really pushing her far beyond the sort've meek, sedate character she was in Season 1.

"The Maquis, Parts 1 & 2"

When the cliffhanger hit, I was almost surprised there were more episodes in the season set. It felt like the season finale, like the kind of thing TNG does (but that DS9 is so wonderfully above). There are so many cool elements in this episode that work. Sisko and Hudson, Sisko and Dukat, Kira being used to comment on the Maquis -- heck, even the moral questions the Maquis raise about Federation policy are great. The two-parter works the intrigue in part one, and has some great slam bang action sequences in part two, which includes I think the first time Trek ever did anything like a "space fighter dogfight" type scene. It's too bad all this fantastic, great set-up goes utterly to waste on the series it was designed for.

"The Wire"

This episode is to Season 2 as "Duet" was to Season 1 -- two interesting characters, in a room, with great dialogue and development for both. Another episode where everything works -- it helps that Bashir and Garak are pretty much my favourite characters. And this episode opens so many great doors: The Obsidian Order, Enabran Tain, etc. To utilize a metaphor Sisko would appreciate: they hit this one out of the park. I especially appreciate that there's no attempt at a comedic B-plot to dilute the central drama.

A greating showing of four superb hours of DS9. How bizarre that the quality can be so high here, and yet be dropping so fast on its parent show TNG.

"Crossover"

TNG always avoided referencing TOS. They copied one episode in their first season, got slammed for it, and thereafter only ever pulled out cameo appearances in time for sweeps week. But DS9 references TOS twice in one season, just a few episodes apart! As cool as TOS Klingons were, this - the second trip to the mirror universe after the classic "Mirror, Mirror" [TOS] - is among the most fun I've had all season. And it's clear the actors are having a ton of fun as well. Bashir blows up Odo! All around it's a great time -- and for a parallel universe episode, it's got a refreshing lack of technobabble, which always helps.

"The Collaborator"

And we turn our eyes to Bajor for the first time since it seems the opening trilogy of the season. The episode isn't as riveting as some others this season, but it does move forward the Bajoran intrigue in new and interesting directions. Namely, our favourite love-to-hate character Winn becomes the Kai. Which is great because frankly Bareil is boring. It would've at least added some dimension to him if he HAD been the collaborator, but I still enjoy the twist that it was Kai Opaka.

"Tribunal"

DS9 as written by Franz Kafka, I suppose. An entire episode spun from Dukat's single line in "The Maquis" about the Cardassian legal system. If it wasn't so horrifying, it'd be funny. Another entry in the "O'Brien Must Suffer" genre as well. Good stuff.

"The Jem'Hadar"

Oh, sh*t. Hey, guys, how're we gonna defend the entire Alpha Quadrant against an overpowered enemy race who can shoot and transport through our shields, turn invisible, and don't give a damn about their own lives? Especially when all we got is a 20 year old Cardassian space station and 3 runabouts? Fuuuuu--
Great episode. Really raises the bar and suddenly makes Deep Space Nine THE Star Trek show to watch. No longer TNG's little sibling, it had to step on its own. Yes we've been building up VOY's Maquis like they're gonna be the big thing, but Voyager gets lost in the Delta Quadrant so nothing that happens there really matters. Meanwhile, DS9 has stepped up to the plate by suddenly expanding itself beyond mere Bajoran/Cardassian intrigue. So excited for season 3.

Favourite episode of Season 2: "The Wire"
Least favourite episode of Season 2: "Playing God"

Favourite character of Season 2: Garak/Dukat/Sisko
Most improved character of Season 2: Jadzia
Least favourite character of Season 2: Nog

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 Review

2011-01-03T02:21:00.003-07:00

A Collection of Episode Reviews Originally Posted on the MI6 Forums Between September 14 and November 16, 2010

"Descent" Parts I & II

Now that's a cool cliffhanger! I love the sense of impending dread that moves through the whole episode. What has happened to the Borg? Who is leading them? And why is anger the only emotion Data can feel?
And then Lore pops out! And Crusher's stuck in command! And Data's gone evil! And Hugh must lead the resistence!
All in all its a fantastic, exciting, high production quality episode that still manages to be an excellent character growth show for Data.
One of the strengths of the episode is the way it builds on things from the show's past -- going into the final season you need to start recgonizing and embracing your past, tying up loose strands so that things feel culiminated. Hugh, the Borg, Lore, metaphasics, the emotion chip, etc. This episode is the first time I felt Lore really worked as a villain. It felt like he'd finally come into his own. Before he was just this sort've goofy, hackneyed, evil twin character.
All in all, I wish they'd let Data install the emotion chip in this episode. Just so we could expand and explore new facets of Data going into the final season. As is, he puts it in during the first movie, we have a few laughs, and then find out in the other movies that he can turn it on or off and remove it and then they barely deal with it and its implications ever.
I mean, what if Data fell in love? Developed a grudge? Became obsessed? All those cool emotions that could be discovered and examined anew through his eyes.

Season 7 of TNG is sort've insane. It was the first time a Trek show had ever known going in that this was its last season. So while some of the episodes are tying up storylines and loose ends, others are just plain batshit crazy. It's like the policy went from "Rick won't go for it" to "Rick doesn't care". All of the wacky ideas that would've been instantly rejected earlier get play. Space pirates for example were an automatic no in all previous seasons -- here they get a two-part episode. And let's not forget how utterly bizarre they allowed Joe Menosky and Brannon Braga to get this year.

Anyways,

"Liasions"

This is a fun, if pedestrian episode. If anything I had a better time with the B-plot of Worf and Troi escoring ambassadors on the ship than the A-plot of Picard trapped on the planet with psycho girl. Too bad I could predict every beat of the story before it happened.

"Interface"

This episode has a really neat concept -- which is the probe interface system and the logic of using Geordi for it. And the way it's shot is dramatically clever, giving us a chance to see LeVar Burton's eyes! And it's set up very smart too, with the teaser that gradually reveals it to us.
And the episode itself is great, giving us Geordi's parents, and a really sucessful effort at fleshing him out, showing how good Burton is when saying something other than technobabble.
Everything is going along great until the last few minutes when the entire episode resolves itself far too easily. It literally all wraps up in the last two or three minutes, with no consequences and everything turning out swimmingly.
It's a great episode ruined by a **** resolution.

"Phantasms"

A great follow-up to the "Data's dream" subplot last season. The episode is fun and quirky and off-beat for TNG and there's really not much else to say. Its a fun exploration of Data's "subconscious" and I like the jabs at Freud. Although, this isn't the first time we'll be visiting weirdo surreal imagery this season of TNG.

"Dark Page"

Like the very next episode! While it shares the same "surreal imagery from the subconscious" gag, its altogether a far better episode because it finally gives depth and dimension to the relationships of the Troi family. I was glad of the depth given Mrs Troi in last year's "The Forsaken" (DS9) but this episode finally gives her something really significant to play, and therefore gives Deanna a great scenario to play off of also. It almost justifies seven years of tortuous Lwaxana episodes! Majel Roddenberry is just great as Lwaxana here, it must be stressed. The only issue I have is that the resolution happens a little too quickly, and that we never see the traumatic event at the heart of the episode, which weakens it in my opinion.

"Attached"

It took them seven years to do this episode?? This episode is SO good! Stewart and McFadden have great chemistry, the scene around the campfire that finally airs the past between Picard, Beverly and Jack is great! This character growth was needed way before the last season, and then of course it's NEVER followed up on again! Is Star Trek, outside of DS9, just a big continuing case of lost opportunities? Damn.

"Force of Nature"

The "warp speed is causing the ozone hole" episode. Everything about it makes me angry. It's poorly written/plotted, its full of platitudes, its unsubtle, and all in all its just poorly executed. And of course the "warp 5 speed limit" was pretty much ignored after this season.

"Inheritance"

Just when you thought the "Data's family" stories couldn't be mined any further -- hey! Here's his mom! Actually this episode ends up being pretty well done, sometimes even moving, but its sort've a massive "so what?" at the end of it.

This is the final season of TNG? Yeesh. DS9 was doing "It's Only a Paper Moon" by this point in their final season.

"Parallels"
A great, fun episode, but I felt more could've been done with the alternate universes and infinite Enterprises. My favourite alt is the "Borg won BOTBB" one, with hobo-bearded Riker shouting "THE BORG IS EVERYWHERE!"

"The Pegasus"
Ron Moore has written a lot of good TNG episodes before this, but this is like BLAM! There's a lot of early, prototype BSG sort've scene sitting around here. I think this episode was strong enough to be a two-parter, actually, seeing more of the ramifications of this episode. But still! This is great.

"Homeward"
Aka "Insurrection: The Episode" -- only better because we get character development between Worf and his foster brother and Michael Dorn gets to have more expressions than "grumpy" thanks to the lack of forehead make-up. But this is a very well-done "Prime Directive" episode.

"Sub Rosa"
Maybe its just been a while, but I don't TNG has been this bad since Season 1. And Season 1 was even better than this most of the time, I think. This is just the worst episode I can even recall -- it's more than terrible, its practically unbearable. It's sort've "Wolf in the Fold" meets "Catspaw" meets Romance novel. Yes, it gives Gates McFadden more to do than she's had in a while, and I actually like Gates quite a bit when they give her material to play -- but this material here is just uninteresting drivel. AGGGH! (Apparently I hate it because I'm a guy. But seriously -- 19th century ghost stories and romances in Star Trek?)

"Lower Decks"
And then there's this episode, which is the best thing ever. I mean I would love to see more episodes like this. So cool. Too bad that we never see any of these people again, other than Ogawa. If O'Brien hadn't been transferred you know he would've been hardcore in this show. But this is probably the second best episode of the season behind "Pegasus".

"Thine Own Self"

Data as Frankenstein, and Troi's promoted over him. Kay.

"Masks"

WTF. WTF FTW, though. I loved it. I'm a Communications major and this plus "Darmok" are great episodes coming at it from that background. I like Joe Menosky weird high concepts way more than Brannon Braga weird high concepts.

"Eye of the Beholder"

Troi as the psychic detective I guess. Erm, okay I suppose. Best scene is Worf failing at asking Riker's permission to date Troi.

"Genesis"

A fun, creepy episode propelled by high concept near-plausible science and great make-up that is ultimately meaningless in the final analysis. As fun and well produced as it is, episodes like this add nothing to the show, the characters, or anything else -- and this is the final season, so what are we doing here?

"Journey's End"

Well, here we give Wesley Crusher a "fitting send-off". We pretend like we had a planned arc for him all along since first season, but really Ron Moore just wanted to **** everyone off, play against expectations, and get rid of the kid. Not that Nemesis payed any attention to that. Anyways, aside from closing the Wesley Crusher arc, this episode opens the Maquis arc -- a complicated and well-done cross-over storyline evolved through the final episodes of TNG and the developing episodes of DS9 simply so that the entire show of VOY could have a premise to ignore.

"Firstborn"

Speaking of closing character arcs, here we put a modicum of closure on the Worf/Alexander arc. This episode is particularly interesting when we consider where Worf and Alexander end up by the finale of DS9 (again, Nemesis **** it up). This episode is sort've like if "Yesteryear" [TAS] was told from kid Spock and Sarek's POV. I like it.

"Bloodlines"

The best thing to do in the final episodes of any show is dreg up old forgotten characters from the first season who haven't even been mentioned since and have them come back, while also introducing new characters who will disappear at the end of the episode and never return or be mentioned ever again.

"Emergence"

Basically this episode is a mish-mash of ideas from other episodes. The ship gaining sentience, the ship giving birth, the holodeck becoming independant of ship functions, etc etc etc. It's all done in a neato high concept way from the masters of tech weird (Brannon Braga) and symbolic weird (Joe Menosky) but is this really the third last episode of the show that resurrected Star Trek?

"Pre-emptive Strike"

This is a really good episode, and an important chapter in the ongoing Maquis saga that has been very skillfully weaved between TNG and DS9, but I feel that it would have altogether more meaning if
a) if weren't returning Ro to the show after a nearly two year absence just to lose her again and
b) if we were at least re-introducing her so that she could be a regular on VOY.
But with the way things pan out we're supposed to care about the betrayal of a cast member we haven't seen at all since early sixth season and then will never see again.
But the drama was well done and it helps us see things from the Maquis point of view more, countering the more villainous portrayal from DS9. It's important that we sympathize with them because some of the main VOY characters will be Maquis, and this conflict will of course figure heavily into the new show and not be dropped two or three episodes in.

"All Good Things..."

Having heard Ron Moore's original idea for this episode, I'm still convinced this is probably the best series finale TNG could've gotten. Tying Q back in with the pilot was exceptionally brilliant, and the time shifting enables us some great juxtapositions of where these characters were in Season 1 with where they are now, as well as the writers having fun extrapolating them into a future they already know is false. Even though the time travel doesn't make sense, I still enjoy it immensely because the stakes are so high, plus the idea of something done in the future adversely affecting the past is very cool. And I really like Q in this one. This episode makes me feel that it was a major mistake to bring Q back on VOY because it never had anything to do with the themes present here, it was always just for silly gags and inconsequential nothings. I love the omnipotent, omnipresent devilgod seen here, calling Picard an "obtuse piece of flotsam." Finally, I don't think TNG could've had a better final scene than this one, with Picard joining in on the poker game. Definitely ranks as a far better finale than TOS, TAS, VOY or ENT's.

But totally schooled by DS9's finale.

As for TNG, I have to admit that after seven seasons I actually did come to like the characters and their interactions and they became one of the reasons I kept watching the show. But even after seven years they still never connected with me like how the TOS cast or the DS9 cast connected with me after even one season. For the most part I still feel that the TNG characters were defined a lot by their job and their hobbies -- Riker is first officer and plays the trombone kinda stuff. It took a long time for them to become well rounded people, and even that was more of a side effect of just seeing them reacting to events for seven years rather than a conscious effort by the writers. I think of all of them I would say I had the best idea of who Picard and Worf really were as people -- Data was well explored but how far exactly along he was in understanding humanity would always fluctuate wildly depending on who was writing him.

Best Episodes.

The Measure of a Man 2x09
Q Who 2x16
The Defector 3x10
The Best of Both Worlds 3x26, 4x01
The Wounded 4x12
The Drumhead 4x21
Darmok 5x02
Unification 5x07, 5x08
The First Duty 5x19
I, Borg 5x23
Chain of Command 6x10, 6x11
Tapestry 6x15
The Pegasus 7x12
Lower Decks 7x15
All Good Things 7x25

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1 Review

2011-01-03T02:11:00.002-07:00

A Collection of Episode Reviews Originally Posted on the MI6 Forums Between July 21 and September 14, 2010

"Emissary"

A fantastic series premiere. Sets up everything you need to know for the show's premise. Introduces all the characters. And does it in a way that's still dramatic, entertaining, and thought-provoking. One thing I really like about "Emissary" is that all of its plot is important to the story of the series, unlike "Encounter at Farpoint" which if you remove all the introductory bits is still just another episode.

"Emissary" gives us things that we have to live with for the rest of the series; aside from the station and its crew we have the Kai on Bajor, Gul Dukat, the wormhole, the Gamma Quadrant, and the Prophets. Even though they risked slowing down the whole show, I think Sisko's explanation of linear time to the Prophets (specifically the baseball speech) is one of my favourite Star Trek scenes of human/alien interaction. I think anyone who thinks DS9 was some sort of horrific violation of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek vision needs to look at that scene, because to me that speech is Roddenberry's vision through and through.

All around its just a crackling good episode, and a great set-up to a new Star Trek show that promised right off the bat to be very different from still-running TNG or TOS before it. Definitely the best Trek pilot IMO.

Character Rundown:

Commander BENJAMIN SISKO: Here's the things I already like about Sisko -- he doesn't frak around, he takes charge of situations, and he has emotions. He's a real person. You can feel how much he loves his son, how much he grieves for his wife -- you can see when he's angry, hurt, lonley, remorseful, etc. It's refreshing after the subdued performances of the TNG cast for five and a half seasons.
Constable ODO: Odo's a real mystery at this point. He's a shapeshifter with a mysterious past who wants to know more about himself and is forced to live among humanoids -- its interesting, but something about it reminds me a lot of Data and Spock. I really dislike how his character looks in the pilot, but I like that -- like Sisko -- he clearly doesn't frak around and gets sh*t done.
Lieutenant Junior Grade JULIAN BASHIR, MD: Julian's a hoot at this stage. I love his overconfidence, his arrogance, the fact that he opens his mouth at the wrong time. It's, again, a refreshing change from the "perfect Starfleet officer" stereotype.
Lieutenant JADZIA DAX: Of all the characters in the pilot, Dax comes off the least interesting. K, she's a Trill, a joined species, but the implications of that aren't really addressed. She's definitely hot, but she plays her part the most low-key, the most like a standard Trek character reading off a console about quantum flux variables and so on.
JAKE SISKO: After the horrors of Wesley Crusher and Alexander Rozhenko, I just couldn't understand why Trek was putting YET ANOTHER KID on a show -- but I like Jake already because he acts like a real kid, not some braggart know-it-all or constantly whining loser.
Senior Chief Petty Officer MILES O'BRIEN: I already knew O'Brien was awesome from TNG. I'm looking forward to an entire series with the Irish salt-of-the-earth, man-of-the-people Mr. Fixit.
QUARK: Quark's awesome. The first really great, truly prime Ferengi character. Which is a huge feat because I've thoroughly hated the Ferengi in all of their previous appearances. But I already love Quark.
Major KIRA NERYS: Kira is frakking great. Tough as nails, doesn't take sh*t ex-terrorist army officer. F*ck Ensign Ro, I think Kira makes a way better first officer character because her allegiance is to Bajor, not the Federation.

I am SOOO excited to finally be starting my DS9 run!!!

"A Man Alone"

Already I like DS9 much more than TNG. A great example is this episode. A plot summary alone makes it sound like not much -- a murder is commited, Odo the prime suspect. But the way its done is leaps and bounds beyond something like "A Matter of Perspective" from TNG season 3. We have genuine conflict between Odo and Sisko, we have a love triangle between Sisko, Bashir, and Dax, we have Keiko trying to find purpose and open a school, we meet new characters, learn more about established ones, and dig deeper into the world of the show, all within the confines of a rather standard murder mystery episode. Great stuff.

"Past Prologue"

While I like the Kira/Sisko/Tana Los conflict in this episode, I think that it might be the least interesting thing about it. I loved seeing the beginnings of Bashir/Garak and I even enjoyed the Duras sisters cameo and I really like how quickly the writers picked up on Odo/Quark -- within the first four episodes (including the next one) I've really come to love those scenes already. I love Sisko, and how little sh*t he takes from anyone. I love the moral ambiguities here, the questions of allegiance, the way this episode puts Kira through her paces. At this point, "someone from Kira's past shows up and challenges her convictions" isn't a cliche.

"Babel"

On one level, this kind of techie disease mystery is a TNG type thing. But its the way the characters react and deal with the dilemma that puts this a step above and beyond. O'Brien is great here, as is the Jake/Sisko relationship, and above all I LOVE Quark in this episode. "Energizing!" I laughed soo much. Just fantastic stuff -- and Bashir does good work, but in the end doesn't miraculously solve the problem; Kira has to kidnap a scientist to do it. Just fantastic.

Already in four episodes I love this show more than TNG. And already I can tell you why: the characters. The only one I'm not into at this point is Dax. I love Bashir, he's too good. Sisko, Odo, and Kira are awesome and strong-willed. Quark's the best. O'Brien is solid. And we've already got a larger supporting cast than TNG: Kai Opaka, Gul Dukat, Garak, Rom, Nog, Morn, etc.

I already love watching DS9, and it's only gonna get better from here.

"Captive Pursuit"

Another pretty good episode, especially since it focused on O'Brien and O'Brien is the man. I like Tosk quite a bit, its a bit of a shame we never saw any more Tosk when we went through the wormhole to the Gamm Quadrant, although I understand the Hunters are supposed to be members of the Dominion? In addition to O'Brien, I just love all the little character moments we get with Sisko, Odo, and Quark. This cast is really alive in a way far more than the TNG cast were by their sixth episode.
The make-up work was great, but the costuming for the Hunters comes off a little silly looking. Other than that, a good episode with some fun foreshadowing.

"Q-Less"

While there are some good moments in this episode (mainly involving Quark and Bashir as always), things mainly fall flat. Q does not work in the DS9 formula, for precisely the reason that the main thing Q does well is bounce off Picard. Sisko just doesn't put up with the crap Q serves up. Its awesome when the Commander punches him in the face, but it also ends any real connection Q could have with the DS9 crew. Basically this episode wants to get TNG viewers onboard with the presence of Vash and Q, but basically just serves to demonstrate how wildly different the two shows really are.

"Dax"

So far in the show, Dax was the only character I hadn't connected with. Sisko kicks ass and takes names, Kira has a troubled past, Odo runs the Promenade with an iron fist, O'Brien fixes things and is Irish, Bashir just wants to get laid, Quark just wants to get paid. But so far all Dax did was spout technobabble and act annoyingly serene, like a horrible mix of Data and Guinan. So this episode, scripted by TOS master scribe DC Fontana, was a welcome bit of character development. Not a lot though, really, but a nice first step. And trial episodes are almost always good on Trek for some reason.

"The Passenger"

A pretty pedestrian plot with an easy to see twist not helped by the fact that Bashir acts like he's mildly retarded when possessed instead of this big criminal mastermind. "Open... a... channel..." The best part of the episode was the conflict between Odo and Primmin. I know Primmin sticks around for a bit, but it should've been longer. Ideally, he should've been Eddington, and had Eddington around longer before he went Maquis. But I actually like Primmin. I like conflicts like the Odo/Primmin one where I like both people in the conflict. It's more interesting that if one person is obviously a huge douchebag.

"Move Along Home"

I actually like the premise of this episode, and some of the ideas. But the execution is just awful! Especially the acting. I don't know how or why, but the performances here were just dreadful.

"The Nagus"

Bits of this episode are fun, mostly stuff like Quark revelling in his new status, and Rom/Nog/Jake getting some screentime again after an extended period, but Wallace Shawn plays Zek just a little... too OTT for my tastes.

"Vortex"

Interesting episode in light of what we later discover about Odo's people. For now the tease is fine. This is a good episode for exploring Odo, although it seems like at this point in the show the writers are latching onto Odo and Quark as characters to write for, to the detriment of other characters in the show.

"Battle Lines"

Now this is just a classic Star Trek episode. Using a science-fiction concept, the idea that war is pointless and futile is examined and explored. Opaka's death was a major shocker, and the development that held for Kira was well done. I also liked Bashir being put in a dangerous and high stress situation for once, and enjoyed the way Sisko dealt with the warring factions, much different than how Picard would do it. All in all a fine episode.

"The Storyteller"

The best thing this episode does is put Bashir and O'Brien together, resulting in the natural odd couple pairing of the upper class English gentleman and the Irish man of the people. I really enjoy the way they bristle off each other -- it's just a fun pairing.
As for the episode itself, well, to be honest the whole Sirrah thing is a neat idea, but the execution was pretty gay, for lack of a better term. The subplot on the station with Jake and Nog was okay, but not super memorable or anything.

"Progress"

As much as I liked the story being told with Kira and the old man on the moon, and the work it did with the relationship between Kira and Sisko in particular, it's an old hackneyed story -- the old man who doesn't want to leave his house even though the gov't needs him to so they can build a new [noun]. So while its well done and the guy playing the old man was great -- I love that he's totally playing Kira the whole time -- it just doesn't do it for me cause its such a cliche.

Meanwhile, the self-sealing stem bolts plot with Jake and Nog was fun and engaging and I enjoyed it far more, especially with Jake turning out to have better business sense than Nog. It was cute.

"If Wishes Were Horses"

This was a very TOS like episode -- a fun, silly, fantasy romp where the crew interact with fantasy characters becaus some mysterious aliens want to learn about humanity. And in a way its a portent of a quality of DS9 that TNG lacked: the capacity to have fun like TOS. DS9, despite its reputation as "the dark Star Trek" really did embrace the idea of going on romps like TOS used to every once in a while, and it seemed appropriate for the characters, who even enjoyed it. On TNG, they tried it occasionally but the characters were always too stuffy to ever have real fun with it and it never really worked.
The only thing I disliked was there was a ton of useless heavy technobabble in the third act that neither added to anything nor ultimately served any purpose.

"The Forsaken"

Initially I cringed when Lwaxana Troi showed up. I'd made it through an entire season of TNG without her and then she ambushed me on the good show. But I ended up really liking her this time around. The combination of her and Odo ended up working really well, much better than any TNG effort. It's the contrast of the woman who is overly flamboyant to hide how she really feels with the man whose overly bottled up to achieve the same goal. The scene with her wig and him turning liquid was actually quite moving.
Also, I love the development we get for Bashir in the meantime -- I feel like his rescue of the ambassadors is a big step forward for his character.

"Dramatis Personae"

Compare this to TNG's "Power Play" from the previous year. Same basic idea, but this is a far, far superior effort. One thing I liked is that the alien possession conflict actually grows out of the real crew's personalities and conflicts -- it's just that more subtle so that maybe you're not sure what exactly's happening for an additional act. It plays better and ends up revealing more about the characters in response, as opposed to just making them do OOC stuff for the sake of it.

"Duet"

What can I say about this episode that hasn't already been said? Clearly the best of the season, playing to the clear strength of exploring the Bajoran/Cardassian conflict with a heavy emphasis on Holocaust allegory. It's just fantastic on all sides. One thing that I don't believe is noticed that often in the light of the Kira/Marritza scenes is how fantastic Odo is in this episode. He's just the man.

"In the Hands of the Prophets"

Another great episode, not as good as "Duet", but a superb capper to the season -- really giving the feeling of "look what we've accomplished, what we've built in this time." Winn marks the intro of a fantastic villain character, and the conflict with the school was really inevitable. I love what this episode does for Sisko and Kira, and indeed all the characters in how it makes them re-evalutate their place on the station. And I love religion vs. science stories, almost as much as witch hunt stories.

Best Character of Season 1: Sisko
Most Improved Character of Season 1: Bashir
Best Episode of Season 1: Duet

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 Review

2011-01-03T01:55:00.003-07:00

A Collection of Episode Reviews Originally Posted on the MI6 Forums Between July 20 and September 14, 2010

"Time's Arrow, Part II"

A pretty lackluster conclusion to a pretty lackluster cliffhanger. While I enjoyed how well the time travel was done re: Data's head, and Mark Twain's inclusion afforded a nice scene with him and Troi addressing the militarism of Trek vs. Roddenberry's pacifist views, the episode falls flat because the alien threat is so vague and ill-defined. So you're telling me there are these aliens from another planet who need to eat our life force to survive (and only ours, substitutions are impossible) and decided that the easiest way to get it was invent time travel and 500 years into the past to get it? How does that make any kind of evolutionary sense??? And then we completely, totally and for all time stop their threat by photon torpedoeing one spot on one planet? Was that all the aliens? Did Riker commmit genocide and wipe out the whole species?? The problem is that the aliens were an excuse to do time-travelling fun, and thus ended up poorly written, leading to a very weak conclusion to the story.

"Realm of Fear"

Barclay episodes are always fun and this one is no exception. Dwight Schultz' performance is usually really great to contrast with the main cast. The only thing that doesn't work for me here are the "transporter monsters". For one thing, they are clearly cheesy muppets and aren't really that scary at all. For another -- why did the science crew look like creepy monsters while trapped? It doesn't make much sense.

"Man of the People"

This is probably the worst episode of TNG I have ever seen. Maybe it's just because Seasons 1 and 2 were so long ago and I don't remember them that well, but I can't really remember watching an episode of the show this bad. I was counting down the minutes until it ended. Just terrible. From the cliche set-ups of "Troi falls in love with visiting ambassador" and "warring factions must negotiate a peace talk" to the fact that its just terrible on all levels. The worst piece of boring, uninvolved tripe I've ever seen. When Beverly said she was going to kill Troi I hoped the death would be permanent. I'm truly sick of her character. Ugh.

"Relics"
The first really stand-out episode of season 6, and almost entirely thanks to the draw of James Doohan. In the early days of TNG, they refused to bring anything back from the old show for fear of seeming like they were leaning on it rather than standing on their own. Once they were through fourth season they felt they had proved they were doing just that, and were comfortable bringing Spock on. But the Spock episode was still a TNG episode, just with the Spock character featuring in a (pardon the expression) logical manner. This episode, this episode plays entirely off of TOS nostalgia, TOS references, this IS standing on the shoulders of TOS for ratings.
And it still works. Because for some reason the Man Out of Time story is a powerful story, because Moore does some good stuff with the concept of how old is too old to be useful.
But, as trevanian pointed out -- the Dyson Sphere concept is WOEFULLY underused.

"Schisms"
The best scene in this episode is the scene where they recreate their experience on the holodeck. That scene sticks with me. For the rest of it, the kind of eerie tension and sense of "off-kilter" weirdness the script wanted is undone by the general shooting style of TNG, which was left intact. The scenes where we are finally in the alien lair and far too well-lit and fall flat because they don't feel threatening. Finally, the ending, the way we resolve the problem, is too tech. Which brings me to the perfect point to finally discuss this:
I started noticing the technobabble in TNG getting out of control around midway through season 5. Before that it was fairly reasonable and I could always understand what they were trying to do. Now, each episode reaches a point in the final act where instead of talking to the aliens or reasoning through the problem, or giving a speech about morality or otherwise doing anything clever, we just have Geordi "reverse the polarity of the graviton field emitter, creating a reverse tetryon wave that will counteract the phase inverters, causing a resonance frequency that should knock out the subspace beam reactors," etc etc etc. and boom problem solved. We never learn anything about these aliens -- who they were, what they were after. We never confront them, either hostilely or with conversation. We just tech the tech and warp away. And a lot of the episodes end that way now and it feels meaningless and hollow. I can't even follow it anymore, have no idea what it means any more, even from the context! It's just a bunch of babble, and when Geordi starts speaking it I tune out -- I know in five minutes the problem will be solved and the episode over so I just stop paying attention. Its a bad habit the show's gotten into. A very, very, bad habit. It's frankly ruining the show for me.

"True Q"
Basically "Hide and Q" only much better done. The ending still cops out a bit though. The best things about this episode are twofold:
1) Getting Q away from jokes. Bringing him back to being threatening, powerful -- ABOVE Picard and the rest quite literally. Not playing games in Nottingham (fun as they were). I love the quiet malevolence behind the line "the jury is still out on that one", re: humanity's trial.
2) Q commenting on the show so far. Crusher being shrill, Picard's speeches being the only reason to watch, etc.
Amanda Rogers was a great character too, wish she had shown up again or been remembered at all during the Q arc on Voyager (that whole arc btw is based on a premise that this episode renders inaccurate)

"Rascals"
Somehow, an episode with two ridiculous premises (crewmembers turn into children and take back the Enterprise from the Ferengi) ends up being exceptionally well done, well explored, and good fun. Ron Moore actually does a great job exploring what this transformation means for each of the characters affected (Picard, Ro, Guinan, and Keiko) -- it really sells it. I was surprised that I enjoyed this one so much.

"A Fistful of Datas"
Worf, Troi, and Alexander team up for a Western homage episode with a holodeck malfunction plot. Oh joy. Yaaaaaaawn.

"The Quality of Life"
I was looking at my watch throughout this episode. It feels like we've gone through all of these motions before; the misguided scientist, proving a life-form's sentience, etc etc. It just fell flat. The only scene I really really liked was the opening poker scene.

And why? Because it showed our cast as real characters, not just mouthpieces for exposition. See, I like all of these people (except maybe Troi) when they are allowed to be people! Beverly betting all the men to shave their beards off is a great moment and makes me like Beverly -- but she's a bore when she's talking about running tissue sample scans.

Wish the producers would've allowed LeVar to rock the beard, after it appears in two episodes here thanks to his wedding at the time, as I recall. But I guess with the VISOR and the beard that kind've takes up most of his face, don't it?

I like the TNG characters (with the exception of Troi, and Alexander). But the show's plots feel like they are running out of gas.

"Chain of Command Parts I & II"

Maybe its just been a long time since I've seen a good TNG episode, but I think this may be the best TNG episode I've ever seen. Certainly the best since "Ensign Ro". Its the level of threat, the level of tension, the fact that the stakes are high and a bunch of technobabble from Geordi isn't going to fix it. Its just two hours of great television.

I like Jellico. I get the feeling I'm not supposed to, but I love they way he put the crew through their paces, shook up their comfortable routine, and starting running the Enterprise like a naval vessel. I like that's not just some ******* -- that he's a captain concerned with doing his job (gaining prestige is not his goal) and he puts up his son's pictures in the ready room and stuff like that. And I cheered when he ordered Troi into a standard uniform.

But of course the standout point of the episode is Gul Madred vs. Jean-Luc Picard, or more accurately David Warner vs. Patrick Stewart. The interrogation/torture scenes are just some of the best TV I've ever seen -- I love the intelligent writing and the great performances and the fact that the show didn't back down from showing, if not real torture, the real psychological affects of torture. I prefer that to most shows nowadays which don't skimp on the blood and gore, but show an unrealistic reaction where the hero just boldly resists all the way through and the nterrogator never uses guile or changes methods.

"Chain of Command" made me sit up and enjoy TNG again, enjoy these characters again. Of course I watched the DS9 pilot right afterwards.

"Ship in a Bottle"

We finally return to the character of sentient hologram Moriarty after everyone learned that the Conan Doyle estate had just been **** off at Paramount for the terrible Young Sherlock Holmes movie and had no problem with Star Trek at all.
And we do him far greater justice than we had in season 2. This episode actually explores the interesting quesitons the previous one took for granted and used only as plot devices. The holodeck within a holodeck had me making INCEPTION jokes, though.
I like the use of Barclay here -- makes me feel like his adventures with Trek's biggest sentient hologram, the Doctor, on VOY weren't totally random.

"Aquiel"

So this is supposed to be the worst episode of sixth season, eh? It's actually pretty good for the first act or so -- the murder mystery Laura homage, the not-that-great Starfleet officer Aquiel, I was enjoying it. Where things fell apart was in having Geordi continue to be head over heels with this girl and consummate the relationship after he finds out she's a liar and a poor officer and a murder suspect and etc. etc. That felt unnatural. And the ending was a total cop-out: rather than deal with the ramifications presented by any of the three suspects being murderers, instead its the magical space alien so that everyone can go home and be fine. Meh.

"Face of the Enemy"

BEST. TROI EPISODE. EVER. A fantastic fish-out-of-water story for her, plus Romulan intrigue! Such a good episode (I'm a sucker for Romulan intrigue). The best thing about the show was getting a peek at "the other side" -- day to day life aboard a Romulan Warbird. I actually was annoyed whenever we cut back to the Enterprise -- especially since the Federation defector character had a hideous case of manboob in the one-sy they had him in. Finally, my only real complaint about this episode would be the production design of the Romulan interior -- really? Light pastel colours and bright lighting? Ugh, it looked terrible. But Carolyn Seymour was sooo good as Commander Toreth. Pity we never got a real recurring Romulan villain (after attempts with Tomalak and Sela). However, mad props to this episode for continuing the Spock storyline, even if we don't actually see him.

Birthright, Part I

Ah, the big DS9/TNG cross-over episode. Maybe we'll see Picard and Sisko flare up again? Geordi fall for Jadzia? A battle of the two bartenders?
Ah, no. Bashir inadvertantly helps Data to dream. Huh.
Actually this episode is pretty good. I really like the dream sequences, indeed that entire B plot, because it moves Data closer to humanity. I've always felt that we should've seen actual real progress in that regard with Data, that by the end of the show he would be far more human than at the start. But I guess they got comfortable with the character of Data, the way fans reacted to him. Anyways, I like moving him forward, though I honestly cringe when they still have Data babbling on about the tech of it all when there are more significant metaphysical elements to consider.
The best scene in the entire episode is the Ten Forward scene between Data and Worf that ties the whole thing together. Its wonderfully done.

Birthright, Part II

Part II is a good episode, and clearly the story they set out to tell in Part I, but it lacks Part I's resonance, possibly because its just Worf, and the Data plot isn't continued. But Worf's plot is still good. Its odd, because I agree with Worf and like Worf and his motives here, even though what he's essentially doing is taking a peaceful, integrated society and tainting it with his racism and hatred. It's like Anti-Star Trek. But I still agree, largely because the younger generation was lied to and denied a choice -- and truth and choice are the important things.

"Starship Mine"

Fun "Die Hard on the Enterprise" episode that nevertheless is devoid of substance. Although it's neat to see where "First Contact Picard" comes from, lol.

"Lessons"

Picard falls in love, again. Although this time they did give him an interesting and more believeable love interest, albeit a bit less fun than Vash. It would've been nice if Nella Daren had stayed on as a character for a bit, but the end of the relationship has a certain inevitability about it. She does make an interesting contrast with Beverly, both are science division redheads for one, although by this point in the show the sexual tension between Picard and Beverly is so cooled that you can believe that they're just friends who share afternoon tea or whatever. It is nice to get a call-back to "The Inner Light" and the flute however, and maybe see a hint of how that impacted Picard.

"The Chase"

Now THAT was an episode of Star Trek! Seriously, Roddenberry dies and THEN TNG does an episode like this? This episode IS Roddenberry practically. It feels like an episode TOS would do, only without all the silly campiness of TOS. It felt like TOS done TNG-style. It was good. So good. Just odd that the massive ramifications of this episode are never really followed up on. At all.

"Frame of Mind"

This was another really cool episode -- the best way to describe it would maybe be "Chris Nolan does an episode of TNG". In retrospect, I'd say INCEPTION ripped them off . But seriously, it's a great show for twists -- is Riker crazy? What is real? What's going on? It's a great big fun risky episode that's not like the standard TNG show and I like that. It's as if with DS9 on the other channel they starting realizing they needed to do new things and shake TNG up if they wanted to keep viewers there. It pays off.

"Suspicions"

However, this one fell kinda flat for me. It's another attempt to do something different -- Beverly solves a murder mystery in an episode told in flashback with detective voice-over. But it just doesn't work. I'm not sure why, but I just never felt any drama or suspense in what was going on -- maybe because of the flashback format, maybe because TNG has never really done a convincing murder mystery story, I'm not sure.

"Rightful Heir"

They could show this episode in religious studies classes. I like the message it ultimately imparts: it doesn't matter whether Jesus actually walked on water, or when or whether he's coming back -- what matters is the teachings he gave us and the principles he invoked. All in all I like the episode for its examination of Worf's faith, strengthening of Gowron's character, and the fact that it actually changes things with the addition of the figurehead Kahless emperor, rather than hitting the reset button.

"Second Chances"

This is a super fun episode and honestly one of my favs. I wish more had been done with the Thomas Riker character other than just two episodes. Apparently so did Frakes: He wanted Will to die in this episode, and Thomas to be his new role, coming aboard as conn officer with Data getting the promotion to first! But yeah, there's some great stuff here about seeing things in yourself you're not comfortable with, and having to confront your past mistakes.

"Timescape"

Is this where it begins? Braga's last script was the excellent "Birthright" two-parter. Is this where his obsession with pointless high-concept temporal quantum flux anomaly shows begins? I mean, it does not bode well when the most interesting part of the episode is the eventless teaser that is just fillled with fun character moments for the crew (Riker trying to feed Spot, etc) and the main episode is just dull and lifeless and I just plain don't care.

"Descent" Parts I & II

Now that's a cool cliffhanger! I love the sense of impending dread that moves through the whole episode. What has happened to the Borg? Who is leading them? And why is anger the only emotion Data can feel?
And then Lore pops out! And Crusher's stuck in command! And Data's gone evil! And Hugh must lead the resistence!
All in all its a fantastic, exciting, high production quality episode that still manages to be an excellent character growth show for Data.
One of the strengths of the episode is the way it builds on things from the show's past -- going into the final season you need to start recgonizing and embracing your past, tying up loose strands so that things feel culiminated. Hugh, the Borg, Lore, metaphasics, the emotion chip, etc. This episode is the first time I felt Lore really worked as a villain. It felt like he'd finally come into his own. Before he was just this sort've goofy, hackneyed, evil twin character.
All in all, I wish they'd let Data install the emotion chip in this episode. Just so we could expand and explore new facets of Data going into the final season. As is, he puts it in during the first movie, we have a few laughs, and then find out in the other movies that he can turn it on or off and remove it and then they barely deal with it and its implications ever.
I mean, what if Data fell in love? Developed a grudge? Became obsessed? All those cool emotions that could be discovered and examined anew through his eyes.

The sixth season was uneven, but definitely came back from the drop in quality that plagued the majority of season 5. I think a lot of the season was adventurous and creative, sometimes paying off and sometimes not.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Review

2011-01-03T01:42:00.002-07:00

A Collection of Episode Reviews Originally Posted on the MI6 Forums Between June 24 and July 07, 2010

"Redemption II"

A great second-parter to the previous season's cliffhanger, although its packed a little tight -- maybe there should have been a part three. However, I gotta love seeing a good political galactic intrigue episode, with the Enterprise engaging in actual military actions instead of the usual "bringing a vaccine to a planet run by an omnipotent cloud-like being" type stuff. Also, Sela is too cool. Good episode.

"Darmok"

From a Klingon Civil War to an episode that would make Roddenberry proud. I really like this episode and its unique way of showing communication breakdown in the Star Trek universe. Also Picard gets a snazzy new jacket.

"Ensign Ro"

And then Admiral Cain shows up and the show is awesome. Swinging to a totally opposite character in finding their replacement for Wesley, TNG suddenly delivers an episode with moral grey zone. A fantastic episode that of course lays much of the groundwork for DS9. I wish Ro had gone from a recurring character in Season 5 to a full regular in Season 6 and 7. Unfortunately a series of ridiculous events conspired to make that not a thing. But we have the episodes we have.

"Silicon Avatar"

This felt like a third season episode. I suppose it was neat to follow up on the Crystalline Entity and the notion that Data carries the memories of the dead colonists from Omicron Theta, but the Moby Dick angle is not only something everyone's riffed on; its something Trek has done several times! At least once in every series practically! Ultimately the show felt weak and subpar.

"Disaster"

Now THIS was an episode! TNG meets Poseidon Adventure! Worf and Keiko in Ten-Forward is hilarious, Riker and Data is a team-up we haven't really seen since the early seasons, Picard finally gets over his dislike of children (a rather odd "character flaw" that belonged to the stuffy and odd season 1 characterization of Picard), and of course the Troi/O'Brien/Ro stuff was the highlight. Now, I frakkin hate Troi, she's such a useless character, but I loved how this plot brought to light that a) oh right, she's an officer! and b) just how useless she was. Meanwhile, the conflict between O'Brien and Ro was great, demonstrating the different ideologies. My only complaint is how fast Ro apologizes to Troi, its literally a sudden 180.

"The Game"

The best thing in this episode was the Lefler/Wesley chemistry -- Judd and Weaton really worked well together and I wish we'd seen Lefler in more episodes after this one and her previous appearance. Weaton is actually good in the scenes where he's not spouting technobabble -- Wesley's likeable here as a young man in love (much better handled than in season 2's "The Dauphin"). However, the main plot about the Ktarian brainwashing game was a bore and missed an opportunity to address the idea of games addiction -- but I guess that really wasn't a topical issue in 1991. (I think the closest Trek's ever gotten to an episode on that is either "Hollow Pursuits" [TNG] or "It's Only a Paper Moon" [DS9])

"Unification I"

Possibly the best opening hour of a two-parter so far. Honestly even if it's all just set-up for Part II, its spectacular set-up. The scene between Picard and Sarek is gangbusters; one of TNG's best. Everything in this episode crackles. One thing I've noticed is that Season 5 got a big budget increase because the SFX sequences are impressively energetic with new shots filmed and used instead of the same old stock stuff. The battle scene in this show is a good example. Finally, another great TNG cliffhanger to end the show.

"Unification II"

As I've come to expect from this show, Part II did not live up to Part I. However, still a great episode with great guest performances from Nimoy and Crosby. One thing's clear though -- as an actor, Leonard Nimoy is a clear level above every single other person in the episode, Patrick Stewart included. I'm really disppointed in the Star Trek franchise in a whole that Spock and Sela on Romulus was never picked up on again -- where was Sela in the Dominion War? Where were either of them in Nemesis? We never saw Spock again until Abrams needed him to get fan sympathy for his terrible movie.

"A Matter of Time"

A funny episode, well done, if exceptionally light. But I like Matt Frewer in basically everything.

"New Ground"

Ugh, give me my life back. That was terrible. Aside from the terrible child actor playing Alexander, aside from extended scenes with Troi, and aside from an utterly pointless/go-nowhere A plot -- the only good thing in this episode was character development for Worf. TNG is starting to settle into a formula that I'm starting to hate: a B plot involving development for a regular, an A plot that involves some random task that's solved by technobabble, and nary a connection between them. If the main plot is about a new propulsion method, it should be a Geordi episode. There is really no connection between the two in this show, or the previous one -- any mission/situation could've put Alexander in the necessary jeopardy. Ugh, and I have six more Alexander appearances on TNG to sit through, and only six more episodes with Ro Laren!

"Hero Worship"

Basically "The Bonding" only the kid likes Data instead of Worf. Some fun moments, but mostly a yawn.

"Violations"

Clearly the staff had bought some new lenses and wanted to try them out for the wacky dream sequences. Of all the crew whose past to dig into, they went with Troi/Riker/Beverly? The only one that was really interesting was Beverly's -- finally seeing the moment when Picard brought Jack's body to her. But apparently they had scenes planned for the whole cast -- I for one would've used the Ro/Garon II flashback instead of the rather lame Riker scene.

"The Masterpiece Society"

This episode had some interesting things in it to say about genetic engineering -- but largely it was another yawn. It felt like an episode from third season. I think the show is getting tired.

I'm very disappointed that we've only seen Ro once since her introduction; especially since that introduction was so strong. She was purposefully introduced to add new life and a new angle to the cast and the show, and yet was woefully underused -- we could've used her in episodes like these to break up the monotony and spark discussions in the briefing room. Even the episodes aren't Ro-centric she should still be there acting as contrarian in staff meetings and entering in course headings the rest of the time -- these nameless Ensigns are starting to annoy. But without her, the show just feels like its getting old.

Also, maybe its just me, but season 5 seems remarkably Troi heavy so far -- and Troi remains probably my least favourite character on the show. So these episodes are a pain to sit through.

"Conundrum"

This episode is of a type that would become common on VOY, but here it feels fun, intriguing, and well done. The concept of brainwashing soldiers into war by altering their memories is itriguing, and the crew having to figure out for themselves who they are was enjoyable, such as Worf assuming he was the Captain and the Riker/Ro/Troi triangle. All in all a fun episode.

"Power Play"

There was a lot of action and excitement, and it was fun seeing Sirtis, Spiner and Meaney get to stretch a bit acting wise, but ultimately this story was a GNDN -- goes nowhere, does nothing. Totally forgettable.

"Ethics"

I actually didn't mind this one -- I do think it handled its topic well, but I think there really wasn't enough time given to a fair discussion of BOTH experimental medicine AND assisted suicide. Still, I think it was an all right episode. Just a little annoying because I know the next episode won't address Worf recovering at all, and I doubt the fact that Worf has an artificial spine will ever be brought up again.

"The Outcast"

So halfway through Season 5 apparently the writers realized things weren't going well and left for a retreat at Micheal Piller's Mexican getaway house. This is the first episode after they returned. It is (in)famous as the episode where Trek finally addresses, or fails to address, homosexuality and gender identiy, albeit in an alegorical way. While I agree with Jonathan Frakes that the episode would've worked better if the character he fell in love with was played by a male actor, I don't think the episode is a complete failure. I think it is intelligently written and heartfelt, and I think the point of the issue it addresses most effectively is the idea that these people can be "cured" with therapy, and whether or not they are deviants or sick. I think that whole point is in fact very eloquently addressed. I do, however, find it distressing that at the end of the day nothing was shown to be done about the situation. While we all knew Riker's relationship would end in tragedy, usually Trek would end the show by at least showing that the first seeds towards ending prejudice have been sown, whereas here no progress happened at all. Still, I certainly don't think the episode was half-hearted; maybe just less successful than it could have been.

"Cause and Effect"

I think that, without a doubt, this is Trek's best "temporal anomaly" episode -- before such things became annoyingly cliche on VOY. The whole thing is well written and well directed and just fun to watch. And of course it has the best teaser of all time with the Enterprise exploding, and a great ending with the Kelsey Grammer cameo.

"The First Duty"

This is one of the best episodes of TNG of all time, in my opinion. From finally seeing Starfleet Academy (and Boothby) to the ethical dilemna presented, to the great speech Picard gives about telling the truth, its just an all around fantastic episode. And hey look, Tom Paris!

"Cost of Living"

From one of the best of the best to an episode that pairs Lwaxana and Alexander. This episode may be one of the most terrible, forgettable pieces of crap ever.

"The Perfect Mate"

Episodes with Picard in love are always interesting because he's not a ridiculous womanizer like Riker and Kirk, so its cool when they can find a woman you can believe he'd be with. And of course Famke Janssen is always great.

"Imaginary Friend"

So, there are these children and families on the Enterprise, and that's an interesting idea. But every time the writers try to do something with it, it ends up terrible. This episode is better than most if only because Clara acts like a real child instead of some ludicrous caricature of one. As for Alexander, I want it made clear here:

Alexander Rozhenko is far, far, far worse than Wesley Crusher. At least Wesley worked to better himself and got an episode like "The First Duty". Alexander is just a whiny, whiny, whiny little brat.

"I, Borg"

A perfect Trek episode and probably the only follow-up you could possibly do to "Best of Both Worlds". Just everything works in the show, but I especially like the scenes with Patrick Stewart and Whoopi Goldberg. I seem to recall there was a BSG episode with a similar premise (send a Cylon back to a regen hub with a virus and kill all of them) but I forget if Adam went through with it.

"The Next Phase"

A fun adventure episode with Geordi and Ro and plenty of action and excitement and even some character development for Ro, who comes to face her own mortality.

"The Inner Light"

It won a Hugo as I recall, and I think some Emmys too? Deserved. Great episode. Patrick Stewart is just fantastic.

"Time's Arrow"

The tease of Data's head buried on Earth since the 19th century is great. Data once he's time travelled back is great. Finally getting some answers about Guinan is great. But the cliffhanger is the weakest cliffhanger in TNG history. "Ah! a portal! Let's walk through it." TO BE CONTINUED! Meh.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Review

2011-01-03T01:30:00.003-07:00

A Collection of Episode Reviews Originally Posted on the MI6Forums Between May 05 and June 17, 2010

"The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2"

Usually when I watch this episode I feel it loses momentum in the third act. This time I enjoyed it much more. It really is just as well written as part one, with some prime classic stuff. I think the main problem is that while it's brilliant to order the Borg to "sleep", the fact that the ship for no reason auto-destructs afterwards is too easy. The Enterprise should've destroyed them. Picard should've been on the bridge, Borg implants still hanging from his face, and ordered "fire!" But I guess Rick wouldn't go for it. I always lol at Shelby's line about Riker having his pick of assignment, and hoping she'd serve under him again -- by 2374 she's Captain of the Sutherland and he's still in the same post.

"Family"

Surprisingly Rick did go for this, after much cajoling apparently. I like all of it, although it does feel somewhat light. I guess its just odd seeing these elements of emotion and relationship after three years of them being virtually ignored. The Picard plot is the strongest, Worf's is amusing at best, and Wesley's is just... there. It's really too bad we never saw Roberre again.

"Brothers"

I guess cause they couldn't fit Data into the previous episode. I like how for a show that resisted doing serial storytelling, all this episode has is the middle part in a serial. Lore returns, Data meets his father, Lore steals the emotion chip and escapes. There's no resolution, it's just a way of saying "Lore's still out there, with an emotion chip meant for Data". But it was still a good episode. First written by Rick Berman, eh? Hey, trevanian, you seem to have all the backstage gossip -- who did the rewrite? I can't believe Berman's this good on his own.

"Suddenly Human"

The whole episode I couldn't help but think that Picard's harumphing about what the Talarians did to Jeremiah is so wrong, and THERE'S WORF RIGHT THERE. Still, a well written and performed episode.

"Remember Me"

The best parts of this episode is the showcase for Gates McFadden, the humour, and the character interactions. The worst is the "use the Force" Wesley subplot with the Traveler. I just didn't buy that. And it was a little heavy on the technobabble.

"Legacy"

I think its hilarious that Tasha gets more character development in this episode, three years after her death, than she ever did when she was on the show. I did really like Ishara Yar. They should've brought her on as a fulltime crewmember. Especially if they'd kept her in that jumpsuit.

"Reunion"

The next part in TNG's Klingon saga has a lot going on. First appearances of Alexander and ghawran (and the vor'cha attack cruiser), and the deaths of K'Ehleyr and DuraS. Big moments for Worf and Picard. I really like how we never find out who actually poisoned qImpeq -- we assume it was DuraS because we don't like him, but it just as easily could've been ghawran. But we're stuck with ghawran because Worf murders DuraS. All in all a great episode with lots of consequences; building on previous storylines and offering possibilities for more. In some ways I wish K'Ehleyr hadn't been killed -- Suzie Plakson was undeniably sexy and charismatic in the role -- but it served an integral and needed story purpose.

"Future Imperfect"

This is a fun episode at times, but of course its all such a cop-out. I actually thought the fake-out revelation if it being a Romulan plot was a better idea than the eventual revelation of the kid. It's a good turn for Frakes as Riker, but its all meaningless; and a similar story was done much better in sixth season (I think) in "Frame of Mind".

"Final Mission"

Hurray! Wesley's gone! This episode has some great production values and great scenes but ultimately I didn't like that the way Wesley solves the problem was meaningless tech nonsense and that we never learned the secrets of the intelligence they were combating. However Wheaton and Stewart do some marvelous work here and it ends up being one of the best Wesley episodes so far -- right when he's finally gone.

"The Loss"

I actually quite liked this episode. It finally gave some much needed three-dimensionality to Troi. I liked seeing her actually counsel people, I liked the scene between her and Guinan -- essentially addressing the overlap in characters, I liked the stuff with her and Riker keeping that relationship alive, all in all it was a great way to show her personality. I heard they toyed with taking her empathy away permanently, but I'm glad they didn't. I think the writers were finally beginning to figure out how to use it at this point, and without it she's kind've a bitch. I also really liked the pseudo-science in this episode, with the cosmic string and the flatlanders.

Two things hit home for me in this episode. One was "wow, Wesley's gone." I didn't so much miss him as just find it... odd that he wasn't there. I wasn't as overjoyed to get rid of him as I thought I'd be at this point. He'd become a welcome character. I did like that the same replacement officer was seen in "Final Mission" and "The Loss" -- Ensign Allenby. She seemed cute and smart and I was annoyed to learn she does not appear any further. I wish they'd had a regular recurring extra in that seat, like an O'Brien: not a regular, but at least not some random new person each week. The other item that hit home was that I have grown to really like the TNG characters. I feel I know and understand them. I don't find them boring or bland. They're not as good as the TOS characters, but I feel by this point attached to them like I have always been to the TOS characters.

"Data's Day"

This was just a great episode. Great premise, to show things from Data's point of view, great character development all around with good scenes with Beverly and Geordi, and of course O'Brien's marriage to Keiko. Also the Romulan subplot was cool and well done. Just overall a well written, memorable, great episode.

So far I just love how season four has gone.

"The Wounded"

Such a prime episode! Cardassians, Miles O'Brien, Nebula-class ships, Ben Maxwell, basically a mild Heart of Darkness Trek-style. Just great. My only quibble is how easily O'Brien gets over his racism against the Cardies. Then again, it probably took the writers a lot of fighting to even allow him to be racist as long as he was -- and it had to be O'Brien, they might've initially wanted it to be a regular and that was flat out of the question. Still, I really like his "it's not you I hate, but what you made me become" speech. Just all around a great episode.

"Devil's Due"

Speaking of "feels like classic Trek", here's an episode based on an unproduced 70s script. Honestly, it just feels out of place and backwards in TNG as its progressed to this point. There are huge plot holes and facepalm moments that might've glossed over fine in TOS, but seem asinine here. And the entire "seduce Picard" subplot just doesn't work -- cause he's NOT Kirk! It was fun, but fluff, and ultimately says nothing.

"Clues"

This is a strongly written, well presented, well produced episode that suffers only because for all intents and purposes it might as well have never happened. But I think this is the only time TNG pulls that, unlike VOY which hit reset on over a dozen episodes.

"First Contact"

A straight up no holds barred awesome episode. First contact with an alien species from the alien POV. Just prime. Tons of great moments, too, from the alien prime minister and Picard to Riker having to bone the alien nurse to escape. Just a great episode.

"Galaxy's Child"

A good follow-up to "Booby Trap", certainly a natural idea to want to meet the real Leah Brahms. Would've been maybe neat to see her a third time to round it out, maybe in seventh season have her come back having divorced her husband and wanting Geordi, but Geordi's moved on and doesn't want her as a switch. But instead we got a mention in an anti-time future in the finale. Meanwhile, the CGI in this episode is acceptable until it moves, then its hilarious.

"Night Terrors"

A terrible, paceless, train wreck of an episode. The idea of going crazy without REM sleep was cool, but the whole thing was pulled off way too poorly. The whole thing felt like something from TNG Season 1 or 2, not Season 4. The first real clunker of the season, for sure. Also, I don't like how we see Miles and Keiko get into a fight, but we don't see them reconcile later. For some reason that bothers me.

"Identity Crisis"

Another pretty terrible episode. I found myself asking "what's the point?", "what's it about?" So Geordi turns into an alien and then turns back. What's the theme? What are we addressing? Did our characters learn anything? Nope, just a bad sci-fi plot. Very much a kind of episode I associate with VOY.

"The Nth Degree"

Now THIS was a great episode! I love TNG Barclay! Really fun and cool, reminded me both of 2001 with the runaway computer and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (TOS) with the human evolving past humanity. A great story and great acting performances.

"Qpid"

Best episode ever? No. But certainly one of the greats. Sometimes its good to just let loose and have fun, and this show definitely shows why. I love that when the episode starts you have no idea its going to end up where it eventually does. Some of the best Q/Picard humour of the series, and definitely some classic Worf moments of course. This episode cracks me up every time I see it.

"The Drumhead"

Barring any episode of TNG I haven't seen (I have a feeling "Chain of Command" will do it, for example), this is my favourite episode. I've seen it many times before now and its always great. For some reason I'm always a big fan of McCarthyism/witch hunts/freedom vs. security style stories. Of course, this episode has a whole ton of similarities to the first season BSG episode "Litmus". Just one is obviously done the BSG way, and one the TNG way. While I found Adama's solution to the witch hunt to be more emotionally satisfying, I think I admire Picard's more -- I'm a sucker for Patrick Stewart delivering well written moralizing speeches about civil rights and such. One minor quabble I had when I watched it this time was that Picard identifies Satie and her methods as a problem too quickly, I think it would've made better impact if he went along with her a bit longer; since now it appears like he's jumping on her too soon, as if he expected this to happen.

"Half a Life"

Wow! A Troi's mom episode that didn't make me want to kill myself (no pun intended). I really liked Majel Roddenberry's performance here, and also really liked the guest appearance from David Ogden Stiers as Timicin. Truly a touching performance. And of course there's Michelle Forbes' minor appearance that is so strong it won her the role of Ensign Ro next season.

"The Host"

So, it introduces the Trill but the way they are depicted is vastly different from the DS9 version -- and not just in appearance. I think the best thing in this episode was getting to know Beverly more as a character, seeing her as a person rather than just a doctor or a mother. I think the best scene of the episode was the one in Ten Forward between Troi and Beverly where they discuss the men in their life. Very good character development in that scene.

"The Mind's Eye"

So this was a fun little Manchurian Candidate knock-off done fairly well for the 50 some minutes they had to do it in. I've always liked sneaky Romulan plots and it all worked quite well here. I've actually been impressed with the way TNG has built up this Klingon/Romulan intrigue plot in the background of Season 4 -- not impressed compared to a show like DS9 or BSG or whatever, but impressed for TNG. Also, I liked the unnerving ending that implies that Geordi will not automatically be all right after this incident (even though he's of course fine by next week).

"In Theory"

A really fun "Data tries Dating" episode that only fails because its A plot and B plot never really meet up -- in fact, the A plot (about the Ent-D investigating a "dark matter nebula" <--- not a thing) suddenly becomes a Picard show at the last minute in a very surprising and uncharacteristic turn. Meanwhile, the Data storyline is much better done than the sci-fi one and was a great time to watch. Also, the Enterprise looks SO cool when only lit with its own lights!!

"Redemption"

A cracking season finale bringing the ongoing Klingon plot to a head. I really like the writing and performances here, great stuff all around. The true ending of the episode feels like the scene where Worf leaves the ship -- but they had to add the Denise Crosby ending so there would be a suitable cliffhanger. Of course, it doesn't live up to last seasons' cliffhanger, but its still very exciting in its own right -- something that couldn't be said of the woefully mediocre season 5 cliffhanger.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 Review

2011-01-03T01:11:00.003-07:00

A Collection of Episode Reviews Originally Posted on the MI6 Forums Between March 3 and May 4, 2010

"Evolution"

Yeah, third season. Suddenly the show has this special effects budget. And isn't so murky that it's hard to pick up the colours. Also the uniforms. Anyways -- this is a really good Wesley episode with some good music and turns from Goldberg and McFadden. That's right Tux, I actually quite liked Beverly in this episode because she managed to be convincing as both a doctor and a mother. That was one of my issues in S1 was that they TOLD you Beverly was Wesley's mother but it never really seemed that way. Here I could believe it. McFadden was much better. Generally I just liked the development for Wesley, finally saying "hey! being a goody-two-shoes geek might NOT be the best thing, after all."

"The Ensigns of Command"

This was a really good episode for Data development. I liked the girl he befriends down on the planet -- although while I somewhat see what Goshovan was getting at, the way they make him express it lacks subtlety and makes him kind've an ass by the end. And you can tell they redubbed him. But I love Picard's interaction with the Sheliak. I wish we'd seen that race again -- I love their no ******** attitude.

The Survivors

Great episode, helped along well by a very good cinematographic sense, as well as good guest star performances. It's always so shocking when Trek does location shooting because it looks so much consistently better than stage planets. Also I liked Marina Sirtis as Troi here too, for once -- but largely the great thing here is how Picard FIGURES OUT the mystery before the third act, unlike in the first season where the entire crew were retards who figured out the plot only in the last five minutes of the episode. So a good showcase for Picard -- he really starts seeming much more "captainly" as of this third season.

Who Watches the Watchers?
Very cool episode, great to see Lelland Palmer. These sorts of stories are what TNG does best -- Picard especially is really well utilized. Troi, however, is not. Seriously, useless. My friend shouted out "so that's where that's from!" when Picard got the Mintaken tapestry.

The Bonding

So despite the changes made, Ron Moore's first script is quite noticeably strong. Like, extremely so. As in, he hits all the characters right out of the park. This episode gets every single character right -- hell, I even like Beverly, Wesley, and Troi in it! Moore said he identified with Wesley and I think that's maybe why he's the first writer to really do the kid justice. Also, I must say in argument to Tux that I really think Beverly gels better with the rest of the cast -- and I think she's best played from the maternal angle. McFadden does well, there. And we actually see Troi do some COUNSELING here! Good episode.

"Booby Trap"

I dunno, this one kinda fell flat for me. The solution to the trap was to obvious (basically Chinese finger trap), and the meat of the story (Geordi falling in love with a holodeck character) really wasn't addressed past all the technobabble. I mean, that's always been my number one question with the holodeck -- how many people would use it just to virtually bone all the time? What are the ethics of that? Handled a bit better in season one's "Minuet", which is saying something. Oh well, "Cockblocked" starring Geordi La Forge.

"The Enemy"

Yeesh, two Geordi episodes in a row! In all seriousness though, this was a fantastic episode that I think utilized Geordi even better than "Booby Trap". A great episode with three great plotlines demonstrating the value of overcoming distrust and racism and learning to... oh wait, right. Which brings us to the awesomeness that is Worf refusing to give blood to a Romulan. Who says TNG characters were perfect and always worked together? I was so convinced he was going to come around by the end, too. Very brave decision, very well done episode. My only complaint would be guest star John Snyder as Centurion Bochra -- he's really overplaying it. Also -- Wesley saves the day! Haven't seen that since Season One!
WESLEY SAVES THE DAY: 5.5

"The Price"

Pretty much the only neat thing about this one is how Voyager followed up with the two Ferengi who got lost in the Delta Quadrant. That was a good use of continuity -- instead of just pulling an Alpha Quad race out of their ass for ratings, Voyager actually used something legitimate established earlier. As for this actual episode -- yaaawn; although I liked the Riker/Ral scenes way more than the Troi ones. Guy's a real douche though.

"The Vengeance Factor"

This one was all right, although I continually felt like there was some big secret backstory with the Acamarians that they never really went into. And the ending is sort've unsettling with just how unresolved it is. I dunno, it was cool while I was watching it, but felt flat after it was over.

"The Defector"

A freaking sweet episode and definitely one of the best episodes of the series so far. Almost makes me wish we went to war with the Romulans. Great effects work, great writing, just plain great. Bonus points for no Wesley!

"The Hunted"

Another pretty good episode. I liked seeing the Enterprise crew being put through their paces by the supersoldier. Also liked that they didn't offer some nice easy answer at the end of the episode, like Crusher miraculously curing the guy's conditioning. Definitely liked the ending too, with Picard leaving the Angosians hanging.

"The High Ground"

For some reason, this is the first time this episode worked for me. I actually kinda like that the positions of terrorism are presented equally -- the terrorists don't come across as evil villains, but the police forces don't come across as totalitarian stormtroopers either. I think all the characters feel very real and believable, including Beverly, who I think comes off well in the show. Also, gotta love Picard just flat out decking the terrorist leader on the bridge.
Wesley Saves the Ship: 6.5

"Deja Q"

How can you not love this episode? It's got exploration of the human condition, imminent danger to countless millions, great comic relief, Guinan stabbing Q with a fork, also -- Q! Really fun, enjoyable episode, with great work from de Lancie and Goldberg.

"A Matter of Perspective"

Trek does Rashomon. Yawn.

"Yesterday's Enterprise"

Another superb episode, of course. I think my favourite thing about it is the three female characters - Garrett, Guinan, and Yar. You can really believe in Garrett as a Captain of the Enterprise, and a damned good one at that. Also, Guinan continues to be a very well used character on the show -- I think because of Goldberg's schedule it forced them to only use her when needed, which really has the effect of making Guinan special and cool. And finally Yar -- I think the greatest victory of this episode is giving the character of Yar her proper and honorable send-off. Really great stuff -- it makes you wonder about how the show would've been if she'd been in the show the entire time to this point.

"The Offspring"

Another great "android's rights" episode, and a fantastic step forward for the character of Data. Of course it recalls the excellent "Measure of a Man" from last episode, but it also does a fine job on its own. Really good episode, both fun, touching, and intelligent, and a nice directorial debut for Jonathan Frakes.

"Sins of the Father"

Pretty good episode, really the first big Klingon episode. However, it takes too long to get going, and once it does it finishes up too quick. And at the end of the day, I just find it hard to get interested in the whole "Klingon macho posturing" thing. When's the next Romulan episode?

"Allegiance"

Another variation on a favourite scheme - captured for an alien experiment to learn about a human condition. Still, its a well handled episode to be sure, and I especially liked the "pseudo-Picard" scenes, which were quite funny.

"Captain's Holiday"

Maltese Falcon meets Indiana Jones. Still, I liked Vash here -- I can see why they brought her back for further episodes.

"Tin Man"

A good episode with good characterizations that just loses its way with a really, really weak ending. We finally get to the big mysterious tin man after all this time and basically it vanishes suddenly and we have no idea what happened. Oh, well, off to Starbase Whatever! *pft*

"Hollow Pursuits"

Good episode. I like the idea of looking in on the OTHER members of the Ent-D crew, you know the 1,006 who AREN'T the regulars. So I like Barclay. I suppose he's also the most relatable crewmember for the average Trekkie (lolol, easy jab). Also, this show helped look at some of the dangers of using the holodeck as a fantasy outlet. Hell, it's always seemed to me like most people would be using the holodeck as a personal virtual sex machine.

*sidenote: Despite being a TNG character, Barclay had more appearances on frakking Voyager than on TNG.

"The Most Toys"

Very good episode that I think nailed the whole "Collector" mentality very well. (Two stabs at Trekkies in the space of three episodes!) Great Brent Spiner vehicle, and of course Data fired! That was the whole point of the episode! And O'Brien said the weapon discharged. O'Brien would not lie!

"Sarek"

Sometimes I wish TNG had referenced TOS more, sometimes I'm glad they decided to stand on their own. Either way, this was a great episode. Mark Lenard FTW.

"Menage a Troi"

Not terrible, not nearly as bad as "Manhunt", but honestly it just feels like no one puts effort into these Lwaxana episodes. Its like they feel contractually obligated to have Roddenberry's wife every year, and are like "WELL, what crazy shenanigans can we come up with THIS time?"

"Transfigurations"

I didn't like this one because the Ent-D crew wasn't really involved. Nothing ever impacted our characters or suggested jeopardy to them, they basically just observed things that happened to someone else. The impact of John on Geordi is very minor, and only really is shown in the first half of the episode, then forgotten about. And his relationship with Beverly never actually becomes anything beyond cute smiles. So the whole thing feels like a waste of time. Still, the performances were quite good, even if the glowing body sock effect at the end of the episode was super poor. The best parts of this episode where the truncated Geordi subplot with Worf.

The Best of Both Worlds

What can I say about this episode that hasn't already been said? Frakes gives us some of his best work as Riker. I love the way the episode head on addresses the issue of Riker constantly turning down command. Picard and Guinan have another great scene, as always. Pretty much everything about the show is top-notch, leading to that unforgettable, famous, fantastic cliff-hanger. Definitely one of TNG's best shows, if not exactly exemplary of the show as a whole.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Review

2011-01-03T00:50:00.003-07:00

A Collection of Episode Reviews Originally Posted on the MI6 Forums Between October 7, 2009 and February 22, 2010

"The Child"

And so season 2 begins. What's essentially happening here is a reuse of an old 1970s Trek script because of the 88 Writer's Strike, with new elements added to introduce us to the new elements of Season 2. And frankly, these new elements are the best part of the episode. I've always held a liking for Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan character -- up to and including her appearance in Generations. I also think her scenes with Wesley in this episode are by far the best acting Wil Wheaton's done in the show up to this point.

As for the Troi stuff - meh.

I will say that its almost weird seeing Worf and Geordi in their familiar gold uniforms after a year in the burgundy. But Riker finally looks like Riker with his trademark Frakes beard.

"Where Silence Has Lease"

I like the spooky atmosphere on the ghost-Yamato, and Picard's speech to Data about death is a highlight, but once Nagilum got revealed I got bored quickly. "Advanced alien tests humans to learn about them" is such a stock plot in Trek that I am totally bored by it. I never like that the implications of all these omnipotent, non-coporeal beings is never explored. You're telling me all they do is wait in space for passing starships to play with?

"Elementary, Dear Data"

Pretty damn classy episode and you know that Data's having fun over-acting, but it's really the playing Moriarty who sells the whole thing. Good cerebral stuff.

"The Outrageous Okona"

Han Solo visits the Enterprise and it is awesome. Data tries stand-up and it's not nearly as interesting. The two are then cross-edited annoyingly.
Wesley Saves the Ship: 4.5

"The Schizoid Man"

This episode was really good. Fairly good script excellently enhanced by the acting of Brent Spiner and W. Morgan Sheppard (Graves), as well as some fancy direction from Les Landau of all people. A stand-out show. Also, Susie Plakson is hot as Vulcan Dr. Selar.

"Loud as a Whisper"

I knew the basic plot of this episode before going in, but had never seen it before, and honestly I was expecting a "deaf people are people too" after school special type story, but it turned out to be a really good episode, thanks in part to the actor playing Riva. Troi also felt very well used in this episode -- she's a much better character already than she was in Season 1. Too bad the "dignitary they must transport has the hots for Troi" angle will be reused for every Troi episode from here on if my memory holds true. This episode also had some great Geordi moments, like the scene where Pulaski offers to get him ocular implants.

Character reviews!

PICARD - Patrick Stewart is pretty cool guy, but there really still hasn't been enough of Picard to make me notice him. He's sort've running things, and giving speeches, but he's not yet the really awesome Captain I know he eventually becomes.
RIKER - It feels like Riker's been relegated to the background -- he's not as fun as he was in Season 1.
GEORDI - Moving Geordi to Chief Engineer felt weird at first, but honestly LeVar Burton is still charming enough for it to work, and it really gives Geordi his own unique place in the cast.
WORF - Worf fits great as security chief, but still seems like a snarling Klingon stereotype.
TROI - So much better than last season! She still has a tendency to state the obvious, but Marina Sirtis appears much more comfortable in the role.
DATA - The best character on the show so far, thanks in no small part to Brent Spiner's wonderful acting.
WESLEY - I like that he has a job now. He seems less arbitrary this way. So far he's not gotten on my nerves too much.
PULASKI - She's okay. She's a competent doctor. I haven't gotten much else from her.
GUINAN - Very cool character.

"Unnatural Selection"

So I suppose someone in the writer's room realized they had introduced a new doctor character and that they'd probably have to do something to develop her, rather than just go with "female McCoy" gags all the time. Ironically, the biggest Pulaski episode so far was apparently the one that made Diana Muldaur decide to quit the series after only one season -- she hated the make-up time needed for her (admittedly really super few) accelerated aging scenes.

The episode, of course, is a rip-off of "The Deadly Years" (TOS) with some illegal and dangerous genetic engineering thrown in. It also features my least favourite Trek deus ex machina -- that of restoring someone using the old pattern from the transporter buffer, first seen in "The Lorolei Signal" (TAS).

In other news, this episode is big because Colm Meaney's nameless transporter chief is dubbed O'Brien, and we establish his personality as an awesome NCO who can fix anything.

So I've decided this about TNG: O'Brien makes everything better.

"A Matter of Honor"

Probably the best Klingon episode produced up to this point in Trek's history. Certainly the bes Riker episode so far, except perhaps the Minuet one. Really enjoyable to watch, full of great dialogue and characterization -- even the Wesley-related subplot was funny and fresh, despite Wesley continuing to be a massive dork. Also, even tiny doses of O'Brien appear to be awesome.

A great episode, perhaps the best of the second season thus far.

"Measure of a Man"

Probably without a doubt the absolute finest episode of TNG so far. Definitely this is something I would point a fan of NuTrek too and say "NO! THIS is what Star Trek is supposed to be!" I absolutely LOVE the scene between Picard and Guinan as they discuss the implications of slavery. I think this show finally got what TNG could be here -- it could actually do the "social allegory" thing even better than TOS ever did by making it more cerebral -- more like Roddenberry wanted -- than action adventure. They figured out that TNG wasn't an action adventure show, but that the actors were so good, especially in this episode Stewart, Frakes, and Spiner, that they could sit them in a room and let them talk and it would be good. I think this is the first time they figured out that the real true key to the Picard character was to make him the moralizing figure, make him the one Captain in Starfleet who really BELIEVES all the stuff about the Prime Directive and the founding principles of the Federation and all that -- and then to give him fantastic speeches to deliver.

Great episode. Far above the VOY rip-off of it.

"The Dauphin"

Well, I suppose a stretch of good episodes in TNG Season 2 was too good to be true. This is a big time Wesley episode, and it's also just pretty poor in general. I find it hard to believe the crew would put up with Anya this much. If I was a security chief and some bitch was bragging to me about how she was so powerful she could destroy anyone on board -- I'd be showing her out the airlock. Also, what was Shelly from Twin Peaks doing in this episode? She's here for a single scene and that's it! Jamie Hubbard is cute as Wesley's first crush, but really this one falls flat on its face. The only really good scenes are Worf explaining Klingon mating rituals, and the Riker/Guinan flirting scene in Ten Forward.

"Contagion"

Very good episode. Kind've a second season version of "Disaster" where we really put the crew through their paces. Lots of cool interesting concepts at every turn, and actually a very good depiction of a shipboard computer virus, obviously by someone who actually knows how one works -- impressive for an episode from 1988!

"The Royale"
A boring piddle of an episode with no central conflict and loses steam halfway through. Colourful costumes and amusing scenarios don't make up for the fact that the crew solves the dilemma by doing nothing.

"Time Squared"
What starts as a valiant attempt at a temporal paradox episode gives up in the third act and has the crew basically win because they did nothing.

Both these episodes were pretty dull and suffered by not actually personifying the danger and having the main conflict solved too early leaving nothing for our characters to do in the third act.

"The Icarus Factor"

A pretty damn good Riker episode with a pretty damn good Worf subplot. This could almost be a DS9 episode, with the way it works the character dynamics. However, on DS9, a character like Riker's father would've become a recurring one, rather than just disappearing after this one episode. I would be tempted to call the whole thing brilliant, if it wasn't for the finale -- the "anbojitsu" martial art that Pulaski was so worried about turns out to be two combatants in a heavily padded arena dressed in Power Ranger body armour clumsily swinging batons at each other.

"Pen Pals"

Data violates the Prime Directive like eight or nine times over. Good effects in this episode, and strong performances from the cast though. I've decided I like what they're doing with Wesley in this season, although I think Wil Wheaton self-destructs his own character with his performance.

"Q Who?"
This episode, sh*t got real. The best, without a doubt, episode of TNG so far. Makes you sit up and pay attention. Great Q. Great Guinan. And here are the Borg as they should be -- implacable, undefeatable, relentless. Superb episode. TNG finds itself here. "They'll be coming," Oh, yes, Picard....

CHARACTER ROUND-UP

My impressions of the characters so far.

PICARD -- Stewart has definitely improved this role dramatically. Especially in the last two episodes I really see the Picard character as I recognize him. Easily one of the best parts of the series.
RIKER -- Riker, if more developed, seems more subdued this year instead of being practically the series protagonist in season one. Is it the beard?
GEORDI -- Geordi is practically an entirely different character in this season, but I think I prefer this version. I like that he seems very competent, despite being fairly young.
WORF -- Worf continues to improve and is for sure one of my favourites on the show. He's maybe two-dimensional now, instead of one-dimensional in first season. Always good for a one-liner, too.
TROI -- Troi isn't annoying anymore. I like her now. She's still useless, though.
DATA -- Brent Spiner makes Data work, but all in all he kinda bores me at this point.
WESLEY -- I like Acting Ensign Crusher. I like this learning on the go, Midshipman Hornblower style stuff. I just don't like Wil Wheaton.
PULASKI -- She's an okay character, but I don't like how soft she's become. She started out irascible, but now she's basically a big push-over and kind've super-boring.
GUINAN -- Guinan is cool. I like her mystery and her confidence and basically all the scenes she is in are good scenes. Great Whoopi Goldberg role, or the greatest Whoopi Goldberg role?
O'BRIEN -- Everything is better with O'Brien.

"Samaritan Snare"
This was actually a really good episode. The Pakleds are probably one of the better examples of the tried and true "not what they seem" Trek trope of alien races, and the humor with them and Geordi is quite well done. Also, Riker in command is great and is it just me or did anyone else actually think it'd be cool if Picard died in the operation and Riker actually became Captain? Speaking of Picard his subplot is great and basically overshadows the main plot, and not only is it written well, it's shot well too. Lots of great effects shots in this one. And I even like the continuation of the "Wesley getting into the Academy" subplot because it heralds the fact that one day he'll be gone.

"Up the Long Ladder"

A fairly forgettable episode involving cloning and Irish people and Pulaski hitting on Worf and a really hot guest turn from Rosalyn Landor. Apparently the Irish thought it was racist against them -- meh, less than the Lucky Charms cereal commericials.

"Manhunt"

Yeah. I dread the yearly visits from Roddenberry's wife. This episode is just unconfortable for everyone, though there are a few funny bits, such as in the Dixon Hill program.

Is it just me, or is Majel Barrett wearing some sort of contact lens? Either than she's high out of her brain this whole episode.

"The Emissary"

The first in a long line of "Let's f*ck Worf's life up until it gets totally ridiculous" episodes. Suzie Plakson is just great, though. Also, holy sh*t Worf takes everything too seriously. It's like a Jew being Super Kosher just because he lives in Kansas and feels the need to distinguish from all the Methodists.

"Peak Performance"

Very good episode. Two gripes -- 1) Why does the Ferengi ship come out of nowhere to attack the Enterprise? Makes no sense, even for early TNG's Villain Ferengis. 2) Why does Worf's gambit work on them? The whole reason it worked on the Ent-D was that Worf had the security codes to fool the sensors.

"Shades of Grey"

Well that was a waste of an hour.