Comment Stream

Re: TNG S6: Birthright, Part II

I love this episode.
It has aged very strangely.
Worf's "blood & soil" space-racism is very strong.

He destroys a weird hippy-Romulan's hidden cult using the power of race-essentialism.

Poor Tokath is a sort of progressive who has somehow evaded the facistic Romulan overlords.

But Worf mercliessly rails against miscegenation and is disgusted by a racially impure woman... Who he then lusts for and sort of kidnaps.

Later, he covers up the truth - that Klingons and Romulans can get along quite well.

Hilarious!

Re: SNW S2: Hegemony

I agree with Bok R'Mor Thu, Aug 17, 2023, 12:39pm (UTC -5)

Totally bored of the references/rip-offs of the Aliens franchise.

A fascinating idea is embedded in this episode - that galactic (or at least solar) activity influences Gorn on what may be an instinctual level (though could be some sort of ritual responses for all we know).

Developing this idea would be very interesting.

The Gorn babies look very silly.

The Gorn adult looked fantastic - great design.

The no-gravity slow fight with the adult was surely a sly nod to the very slow fight TOS Kirk had with an adult Gorn.

If you ignore plot-holes and the usual silliness, this was fun enough.

I liked Scotty as well, though it would have been better to give Pelia a chance to show us her brilliance (since she seems to have tough every Star-Fleet engineer).

(And I do find the regularly appearance of Kirk rather tiresome.)

****

"ORDERS CAPTAIN !?"

"Uh... chicken wings and some whipped potato..?"

Re: SNW S2: Subspace Rhapsody

Wonderful episode - characters are developed via great entertainment based on an unusual sci-fi premise but with a surprising twist that flips the story across genres… another dimension, as it were!

For me, this is one of my top 10 in all of Trek.

Re: SNW S2: Under the Cloak of War

Excellent episode.

Moral complexity & ambiguity is the soul of true drama.

Re: SNW S2: Lost in Translation

Also: props to Mike (Fri, Jul 21, 2023, 11:08pm) for reviewing the reviewer.

Re: SNW S2: Lost in Translation

Sloppy writing.

At the end, Spock just shows up at the table for no reason - other than to get an meeting scene devoid of meaningfulness. Wow.

There’s no evidence of the aliens except Urhura’s word. No-one ruled out a Romulan attack or any other number of possible explanations.

But they just blow up the important “gas station” on that basis. What!?

Why is Kirk aboard again? He’s just inserted because… it’s something that the writers think that we want?

La’an is a virtual stranger to Kirk, yet he immediately gets personal and teary-eyed with her after she says “hello”.

This kind of half-arsed writing doesn’t draw me into the story at all.

Re: SNW S2: Charades

Also, also:

New Uhura character & actress = excellent

Spock now a horndog = not good at all

Re: SNW S2: Charades

Also, Spock’s mom was.. his age !?

Re: SNW S2: Charades

I agree with B-Boy (above): “The writing shows real disdain for Vulcan culture and philosophy”

I also found Peck’s performance a bit overwrought & it became less funny as the episode wore on.

Re: SNW S2: Among the Lotus Eaters

If Zac hadn’t taken over, Pike et al would probs be dead.

JUSTICE FOR ZAC

Re: SNW S2: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Why does Laan trust THIS timeline?
Maybe in 200 years it’ll be a true hell.

Anyway. This has all been explored in Loki.

Time travel is tiresome as a plot device.

Good acting at the end but… Yeah.

Re: SNW S2: Ad Astra Per Aspera

Though there are good scenes (e.g. Urhra vs. Khan), I agree with what F and Andrew have already written.

Re: SNW S2: The Broken Circle

LOL

Having a read through some comments here, it appears that Star Trek is more fun for the casual viewer than for anyone concerned with “canon” and continuity.

Also - there’s been a few chubby SF cadets & officers on the show, so it’s nice to see that the writers aren’t “fatphobic” LOLZ

Re: SNW S2: The Broken Circle

A perfect episode. Great start to S2.

I love Pelia - so funny.

M'Benga and Chapel as KWar Vets with emergency frenzon? Hell yeah.

(Sadly - more Gorn on the horizon. Could have been good. But is just a badly designed CGI toy. Shudda ripped off some HR Giger)

Re: SNW S1: The Elysian Kingdom

I totally agree with this review.

Couldn’t help but think that the Dr. was being a bit hasty… How can he trust this weirdo nebulae?

But this is TV and we need things resolved. Including the kid actually “coming home” all grown up and happy. (That was excessive!)

I still got a lump in my throat though!

Hopefully MBenga will keep working on a cure for the sake of the other victims? We’ll see!

Re: SNW S1: All Those Who Wander

I was amused that the characters who were freshly promoted or had shore-leave ahead of them were clearly dogmeat for this episode!

Unfortunately the rest of it was less amusing. At first I though the writers were doing an homage to “Aliens” - the dirty rescued girl clearly evokes “Newt” - just not as good.

But that wasn’t enough.. The writers continued to borrow heavily from “Aliens” but without making that more fun or interesting.

Because the episode was dreary in that regard, Hemmer’s death fell flat for me & the crews collective shirt-rending was a bit drab.

Also - the Gorn looked as bad as TOS, just in a different way. Again: more “rubbery” CGI.

They should have borrowed more from “Aliens” and used some solid props/animatronics and pools of darkness instead of that wonky CGI animation.

Re: SNW S1: Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach

Really enjoying the characters, plots, and the bright spread of colour in SNW. Feels very TOS+ !

I guessed the plot early when “sacrifice” was mentioned and guessed the particulars at “throne ascension” (re: the Emperor in Warhammer 40,000).

But this wasn’t an issue - I’m always more interested to see how the characters resolve the challenge.

M’Benga is faced with a painful conundrum - too bad he wasn’t given more time to consider actually leaving Starfleet with his daughter to live disease free on Majalis. (That may have been better than the actual choice made later in the season!)

And then it’s great to have a little for the philosophical argument at the episodes end.

Children were sacrificed for similar reasons (life!) across the ancient world. But on Majalis that child sacrifice goes from the superstitious and symbolic to the truly functional and technocratic.

The captain & the high priestess are both reasonable from their opposing views… She is clearly not a cartoon villain. Indeed, she is someone Pike had held in high regard.

We - the viewer - must consider these incompatible values pitted against each other - being broadly allegorical: freedom and suffering vs. peace and tyranny. Alternatively we are invited to perform some sort of utilitarian calculus.

This ones of my favourite types of Trek episode. Alongside the funny “Spok Amok” we’ve a great variety of moods (dark or humourous), odd alien behaviour and compelling thought experiments.

Re: SNW S1: Children of the Comet

Fun episode. Central concept was alien & spooky.

Too bad the Shepherds CGI looked like inflatable rubber.

Re: SNW S1: Ghosts of Illyria

Wow.. Was that 3 or 4 dark secrets revealed by crew members this episode?

Re: SNW S1: The Serene Squall

Just started watching this show - really enjoying it -

up until this particular episode, which is a befouled heap of stinking rubbish.

Re: TNG S3: A Matter of Perspective

Riker got “me too’ed”

Boring episode (for me).
We know Riker is innocent.

Though he has been a bit unprofessional occasionally…

Re: TNG S1: Hide and Q

A banger episode, really fun.

Q is played as the trickster/imp he is.

-There’s lots of Picard & Shakespeare.
-Wes is horribly impaled by “soldier-things”
-Picard awkwardly comforts Yar.
-Geordi awkwardly compliments Yar.
-Worf’s sexy time is interrupted by Yar’s presence.

I could go on.

Re: PIC S2: Monsters

We didn’t need a Picard backstory.

This sucks.

No redemptive value to this wank.

God!

Re: TNG S1: Encounter at Farpoint

Troi’s beautiful face and lovely chest - a delight!

Re: PIC S3: Vox

This is rubbish.

Zombie/borg youths of the Federation will now be hated, conflicted, pariahs like Jean-Luc was.

Except they aren’t.
It’s fine!

This is just dumb.