Comment Stream

Re: SNW S2: Lost in Translation

Man I feel like I’m taking crazy pills with everyone liking this episode.

First of all, Jim Kirk has none of James T Kirk’s actual personality traits. He’s acting more like the kid from That 70s Show. He should just be his own character. Chris Pine was way more like a real Kirk than this guy. And why is he the main character in two episodes already? He’s not even part of the crew and he’s had more screen time than Pike.

What’s going on here?

Pike…the captain, is like a background character. Weird.

I’m sure I wasnt the only one who figured out there were aliens trying to communicate living in the nebula. Also…how did Sam automatically jump to the correct conclusion about extra dimensional beings?

They didn’t explain that at all. There was no interesting reveal or discussion or discovery about how they figured it out. They just figured it out in like 5 seconds.

I feel like people just enjoy these episodes becomes is semi-competent Trek. It has all the “beats” of a TNG episode on paper but without any originality or intrigue. But the writing really isn’t that good.

We’ve just lowered our standards.

Re: DS9 S4: Hard Time

Perhaps I wouldn't have been so angry with this episode if the last episode, Rules of Engagement, hadn't made me angry for exactly the same reason (and there are plenty of others that are just as bad).

Apparently the Federation is completely toothless or unwilling to stand up against any other power (except when it suits the plot and they want to make it the focal point of the episode). Anyone can waltz around abducting and torturing whoever they like. Anyone can demand that someone stand trial for something ludicrious and the Federation will go along with whatever barbaric system they use. Anyone can beam onto the station and do what they like in the name of some treasured blood sport.

Are there ever repercussions? No. Does the Federation use its military to protect its own people? No. Does any of this seem remotely realistic? No.

This episode and the last one are both 0/10 for me. I can't enjoy them at all, so I can't give them any credit. A cake with a nugget of turd in it is a 0/10 cake, regardless of how nice the icing is.

Re: SNW S1: Spock Amok

In Amok Time, Chapel had no idea about T’Pring, yet here we are.

Re: SNW S1: Memento Mori

Some kind of Kelvin flavour. Hollywood Trek isn’t my Star Trek.

Re: TOS S3: Is There In Truth No Beauty?

I think TOS's issues with sexism reflect the issue of the show's quality overall. It can't live up to the high bar it set for itself in S1. Pointing back at Number One to defend individual episodes is difficult, both because "The Cage" is getting further and further away but also because it only highlights that the show is capable of better.

Re: TOS S3: The Paradise Syndrome

The final goodbye scene is undercut by how little Kirk, Spock, and especially McCoy cared about Miramanee in the previous scene by the obelisk. They didn't spare her a second - nay, a *first* glance - for a good 5 minutes while they dealt with Kirk. Have to get her out of the way so Kirk can remain unfettered.

Re: TOS S2: By Any Other Name

I feel like echoing the very first comment here. The uncaring way this episode treats women is a new low for the series imo. 'Space Seed', as uncomfortable as it was, remains infinitely better than 'By Any Other Name'. Even though I'm unsure how involved he was, this one smelled of Roddenberry in all the wrong ways.

Re: VOY S7: Body and Soul

Have to agree with Skeptical, on rewatching this was an unexpected episode that made me quite uncomfortable. I think having spent most of my time with Voyager in syndication, it dials back the Doctor's abrasiveness to more tolerable levels. But binged over a month, he really doesn't hold up as well as I remembered.

Re: VOY S6: Memorial

Something I'm surprised I didn't see in the discussion for this episode is how directly it pulls from previous material. And not even older ToS stuff, as with Blink of an Eye, but episodes airing in the previous 10 years.

The scene in the conference room where the away team put together their memories felt very similar to TNG's "Schisms", where abducted crew members piece together an operating table on the holodeck.

Obvious parallels to TNG's "Inner Light" have already been noted.

And even in Voyager's own run, "Nemesis" has an extremely similar plot but is in my opinion far more effective in message.

Re: DSC S3: Unification III

Hell, when it comes to Tilly, I'm still not sure how there are even fatasses in Starfleet at all, at least among people younger than Admiral age.

Re: DS9 S1: In the Hands of the Prophets

*claps* Yes, Boomer! Can we finally get over the crazy idea that DS9 somehow represents actual religious or spiritual ideas? At best, the Bajorans are a superpowered-being worship cult. Comparing it and using it to discredit monotheism would be like bringing in Ptolmaic geocentrism to discredit astronomical science.

Re: DS9 S1: In the Hands of the Prophets

"Divine" versus "divine being" - very different things, to my mind.

Re: DS9 S1: In the Hands of the Prophets

"So no, a modern materialist will never find "proof" of the divine because his own worldview excludes the possibility of such a priori."

I'm not sure about that. Let's say a materialist was standing before Jesus. And let's say, notwithstanding historical accuracy, that this materialist witnessed numerous miracles performed, systematically breaking each of the laws she thought governed her reality. Matter created from nothing, bodies resurrected, illnesses cured instantaneously. Wouldn't that be enough to say, okay, maybe my worldview wasn't correct after all? Because if not, if there is really no miracle or law of the universe that could be broken to convince the materialist, what are they left with?

Re: DS9 S1: In the Hands of the Prophets

@Tomalak
"Joe, wouldn't God or some other divine entity appearing be sufficient proof? Obviously they may not do so, but I think it should be possible to come up with a test for a divine being. "

What makes an entity divine? Let's say it can move back and forward in time, create different material forms, and all sorts of supernatural powers. Are those the criteria on our test? Fine. Yet it still must be limited by virtue of the fact that it is limited to a specific form. Divinity, by my own understanding, does not have that limitation. And perception, being limited to form as its object, is incapable of perceiving the limitless. So if there is any room for proof of a divine being in any kind of test devised for humans to undertake, then I do not see it.

Re: DS9 S4: Rejoined

Whatever it was, I don't think Ira Stephen Behr saw it as a non-event. There was a segment in the DS9 documentary where he brought out a whiteboard and checked off the areas where his series broke new ground. This was on it, and he also lamented not doing more with the show regarding LGBT rights.

Re: LD S1: Terminal Provocations

@Paralax

"I respect your point. I mean people like different things. Some like animations that are funny and provocative, some like them more sentimental, societal, most western audiences just like Disney fare etc. Saying that there is no audience for something you dislike is a different thing though. And I do feel there is a big audience for the series as it is even if I am not aligned 100% with that, my favorite animated shows being in the vain of "Future boy Conan" (which is an absolute masterpiece)."

Just to be clear, I wasn't saying there was no audience for it. It was a genuine question, in response to someone earlier in the thread telling anyone who dislikes the show that they are not the show's audience.

"Also emotional resonance is something difficult to achieve in such a short timespan and format, especially since we have not seen the entire thing so far. I do feel the series will get to that point progressively but it is an achievement to be won over time rather than an instant gratification. "

Netflix's "Hilda" managed to do it in less than a handful of episodes. I was well and truly won over by the main characters by the 6th episode, and most likely a lot earlier. "Infinity Train" is another example.

Re: LD S1: Terminal Provocations

Well according to these comments about who the show is for, I should like it. I like animated shows, I like hanging out in the TNG universe, and I'm not too bothered about canon or violence.

What I have noticed is that when people talk about animated shows that Lower Decks is "in the style of" they are never the ones I could appreciate. Largely quip or reference-based, mean people making fun of others, lots of fast-paced physical humor. The animations I like tend to have more emotional cues, subtle observations about society and people, and slow-burn themes or dilemmas that last the episode. I would have thought a Star Trek animated series is better suited to the latter style, but I'm not an executive so what do I know.

Re: LD S1: Terminal Provocations

I keep hearing this statement "it's not made for you", but I really would like to know who it IS made for? It's too violent for kids and way too immature for adults.

Re: LD S1: Terminal Provocations

Forget Threshold and STV. This week's episode was the worst Trek I've seen by far. Just unwatchable.

Re: DS9 S1: In the Hands of the Prophets

The divine is always unprovable, sorry to say. You can't prove a higher dimension from the point of view of one below it. If we lived in a 2D world we couldn't prove there was a third.

Re: TNG S6: Ship in a Bottle

A moron wrote this episode. Right handed people do not always catch with their right hand. They catch with whichever hand is on the side of the body the object is nearest. In fact, anyone who has spent any time on a baseball diamond will often catch with their non dominant hand when an object is near enough to be easily caught with either.

Re: PIC S1: Nepenthe

@Gerontius
"Anyway, Riker looked pretty good, and it was great seeing him back again. He always struck me as a more likeable version of Kirk, and he retained that. What's a few pounds between friends? "

Riker is much less likeable than Kirk. I doubt I could bear to spend more than a few minutes hanging out with Riker. As a character he comes across as a strongly opinionated alpha male, who must always be "right" and demonstrate his superiority, and gets offended easily.

Re: DSC S2: The Sound of Thunder

@Mac

I was thinking that too. I’ve essentially disagreed with every Jammer has been saying on DSC vs The Orville. Very odd. His reviews of TNG are pretty spot on but I’m a little confused on the high praise of DSC vs the heavy criticism of The Orville.

Re: TNG S3: The Enemy

@Chrome......TY for your reply.....I tend to see it more clearly now....but still, he mentions Pearl Harbor as a bloody preamble to war...its stated to be ambiguous..did he mean Japan or the US? Regardless, I think it was a bad example to be used.....but I really appreciate your take on it! TY

Re: TNG S5: Time's Arrow, Part I

I remembered this episode fondly, but after recently rewatchung it on NetFlix I was surprised to find myself displeased with the portrayal of Twain, since in my memory that was something I liked about the episode.

When researching it years later, the portrayal of Mark Twain struck me as shallow and cartoonish.