Comment Stream

Re: ENT S2: The Crossing

1. Waste of an interesting idea. Would have been MUCH more interesting to explore first contact.

2. As someone else pointed out, all that was missing was a "Dammit John, I'm a doctor, not an environmental tech"

3. I got no problem with Archer blowing up the ship. He tried negotiating. They repeatedly lied to him. They were set on murdering his crew (I loved the above comment: "maybe if they were making slaves of the humans" -- like murder isn't a sufficient cause). Then, their remaining crew was going to repeat that with the next ship of corporeals. Archer not only saved his crew (his primary responsibility), but also the next ship that came along. (And some claim Archer committed "genocide". How do you know? Was that the only members of their species? Someone suggested the similarity to the Lights of Zetar)
When Picard has the most powerful starship in the quadrant, and the Federation is the biggest kid on the block, you can afford to negotiate. When you're a no-name species and your ship is constantly out-gunned, you fight like hell when you have to.

4. Interesting that, as another reviewer pointed out, if ENT rehashes old plot lines, it's boring. But, when they put the ship in a most un-Trekkian situation ("we're *way* outclassed and outgunned, we've tricked the aliens, but we've got about 20 seconds before we're right back where we started") and the crew takes the only logical action, it's "despicable" and un-Trek-like.
Reminds me of "The Corbomite Maneuver", except there the alien was essentially friendly. And Kirk had a way out after tricking Balok -- Archer doesn't.

Still.... 2 stars for blowing a promising premise....

Re: ENT S2: Future Tense

Thumbs down:
Archer, Trip, Malcolm bringing an unknown and unscannable ship onboard. Trip and Malcolm exploring without any backup or fallback plan.

Archer leaving the bridge during a battle to help Malcolm. Surely there's someone else equally qualified to help and less critical to the ship.

Thumbs up:
The surprise of seeing the Vulcan ship disabled. The plot did a good job of building them as the savior -- to see them out of action was a shock.

Leaving the meaning of the ship a mystery. Don't cover over the TCW with technobabble.

3/4

Re: ENT S2: Cease Fire

Interesting, all the complaints about the "by-the-numbers" action.
Yep. It is. Do you want an over-the-top hyper-stylized action of a Tarantino film instead? As one who's been watching action scenes in Trek since watching TOS as a kid.... it's hard to do anything *new* in action scenes.

In that regard, Trek is showing it's age.

But, do you care about the characters? In many ENT, Archer is such a doofus that I don't care - in several, I wanted him to get shot just to teach him a lesson. In this one, he acts like he's actually worthy of command -- and I do care about what happens to him.

Yeah, I still don't like the way they've libeled the Vulcans. But I like the growing rapport between Andoria and Earth -- that's apparently a key element in the founding of the Federation.

And I think ST has done negotiation. DS9's "Life Support", TNG "Devil's Due", any number of courtroom episodes, etc.. Given a choice between a by-the-numbers action and a by-the-numbers negotiation..... at least the action is more interesting to watch.

3.5/4

Re: ENT S2: Singularity

OK. It's derivative. So what?

The acting sold it. Phlox was brilliant and terrifying ("Remove the top 12 mm of the cerebral cortex...."!!!!). Reed's obsession was perfectly in character. Trip's obsession was in direct response to Archer's orders.

Poor Travis.... not much from him. I would have rather seen Hoshi obsess over some untranslatable transmission, but OK, I can buy she has a thing for cooking. The only one who looks bad is Archer -- his obsession is so un-captain-like. Shouldn't he be obsessing over the ship, the crew, or the mission (it could still be some trivial detail -- perhaps a list of future upgrades at Jupiter station?)

T'Pol really sells her response. You know that she knows something is wrong, but she's observing and collecting data: "How abnormal is this for humans?"

Archer being able to pilot seemed a stretch, but OK, you expect the captain to be able to pull it together when no one else could.

Solid 3/4 stars.

@Marlboro
"Oh, and let's not forget a terrifyingly thorough Dr. Phlox. I would have hated to have a prostate exam scheduled that week." -- LOL!

Re: ENT S2: The Communicator

I actually liked this. But to carp about flaws:
1) Where's the transporter?
2) Claiming to be from the Alliance was worse than the truth
3) The gunfight scene was just silly. A gunfight at point blank range with automatic weapons and no one gets hit? Another homage to "The A-Team"....
4) The hanging appeared to be *indoors*. How did the Suliban ship get inside?

Re: ENT S2: Carbon Creek

JB dressing behind a sheet with a backlight: Gratuitous cringe!

T'Mir being *indistinguishable* from T'Pol: cringe!

Crashed Vulcan ship being abandoned (for later discovery) in PA: cringe!
(At least "Little Green Men" had them land in Roswell NM)

Aside from that.... I have to admit I liked the episode....

Re: ENT S1: Fallen Hero

@ Lupe
Just for the record, Kirk's Enterprise hit Warp 14+ in "That Which Survives". It did take an alien to modify the engines to improve efficiency, but the basic mechanism was there..... And I forget what the Kelvans got it up to as well.... (but they could fly to Andromeda in 300 years).

I understand they redid the Warp scale for TNG....

Between non-jerk Vulcans and "let's go Warp 5".... 3.5 stars

Re: ENT S1: Vox Sola

I agree with @Thomas about Travis: I pictured him thinking "WTF? They want an apology because we *ate* in front of them?. Ok, whatever....." I thought he played that role well.

So... the alien: Unauthorized entry to a starship. Initiated unprovoked and unwanted physical contact with the crew (I'm bending over backwards to avoid the word "attack"). Given the inter-crew telepathy, it likely sensed that the contact was a) unwanted and b) harmful.
Hostile? Yeah, it's presumed hostile.

Sure, you can say it was ignorant... but that's *dangerously* stupid....

Re: ENT S1: Detained

OK up to the point that Archer decides to get stubborn and not share intel on a common enemy. If I were Grat, I'd probably toss him in solitary as well. And getting caught with a communicator is not likely to end well.
And we don't know *anything* about the background -- maybe there was open terrorist acts from most of the Suilban. Why does Archer assume *any* of the Suliban are innocent? The Tandarans *might* reasonably be trying to make the best of a bad situation. Grat seemed pretty reasonable until Archer turned against him.
And, is a jailbreak really the best solution? It seems that ENT is either the strongest ship in the galaxy, or the weakest, depending on the requirements of the plot. And (as so many have pointed out), what happens next?

situation.

Re: ENT S1: Rogue Planet

The natives: As I think someone pointed out, they don't have to be shape shifters, being telepathic is enough. If I can make you see a rock, I don't need to be a rock. We know they're read-telepaths. Occam's razor says they're read-write telepaths, not read-telepaths and shapeshifters. Odo's backstory is safe...

I'm not sure how you could reasonably test a telepath for sentience. Running a Turing test on an AI would be child's play compared to a "cunning but not sentient" telepath.

The planet could have life. Primitive, low-energy life. And certainly not an oxygen atmosphere -- it's way too reactive to be released from volcanic vents.

Re: ENT S1: Shuttlepod One

I like the notion. But they're both right at each other's throats from the start. What kind of psych evals do you have to pass to be on NX-01? Was there some repressed anger between Trip & Reed at the outset? Trip yelling orders? And Malcolm making log entries all night long? They both come across as passive-agressive petulant children.
Character destruction, not character building.
1.5 stars...

Re: ENT S1: Fortunate Son

To throw fuel on the "just revenge" argument. Revenge can be a rational response in a lawless environment. Nothing quite says "Don't F---- with me!" like a messy and 'irrational' desire for revenge. It's a common feature of "honor" cultures, which are very common in frontier environments.

Until Starfleet (or the Federation) can end piracy (or the freighters can out gun the pirates), revenge might be their best collective defense. Make the potential cost of piracy outweigh the benefits.

As for torture.... yeah, the obvious problem is that it doesn't always give you the information you want.... and apparently the Nausicaan lied....

Re: ENT S1: Strange New World

Doing a re-watch after the original airing and really wanting to like the series.

But Archer (or Starfleet) is such an incompetent idiot, I suspect the Vulcans are right about humans. And he's too arrogant to learn from others or even his own mistakes.

Yes, it's all new. But the first spaceflight, the first EVA, the first docking, the first moon landing were all new in their day. Those astronauts (and cosmonauts) trained for every phase of the mission and there were protocols for every eventuality.
Archer doesn't have the common sense to check the weather report before an overnight campout. Or to leave a vehicle at the campsite in case they need to leave in a hurry.

After nearly getting people killed on Rigel in Broken Bow, and nearly getting the ship destroyed in Fight or Flight, you'd think he'd learn some caution. "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots."

Re: ENT S1: Unexpected

It's a sex act. It's an exchange of genetic information between a male and a female that results in a pregnancy. If that doesn't fit the definition of sex act, then I don't know what does.
And it's a non-consentual sex act. Which in human terms is rape.

Re: TNG S6: Chain of Command, Part II

After watching the past 2 weeks of protests in the US and the wide variation in news reports and trying to honestly figure out whether there are 4 lights or 5.... I've been reminded of Solzhenitsyn's statement about the importance of *always* telling the truth and I thought of this episode and needed to re-watch it for Picard's devotion to the truth.

I'm not going to start an off-topic flame war by stating (here) what *I* think the truth is, but do want to tip my hat to Picard for recognizing the importance of always speaking "truth to power" (to coin a phrase) .

A very timely episode....

@Picard Maneuver "Dick, your fired!" ROTFLMFAO.
That is *BRILLIANT*

Re: BSG S4: Faith

@Michael, @Eddie
(yeah, I don't check this board that often)
I don't see a problem with free will and a being outside of time that sees your action. The argument "but they know what you're going to do, therefore you didn't have a choice" also invalidates quantum mechanics, which argues for the inherent randomness of physics.
I give you the 2 slit experiment (or any number of quantum experiments), where the outcome is truly believed to be RANDOM. A person who can see the future *knows* which slit the electron will go through. Does that make the result any less random? It better not, or QM is out the window. Or perhaps I just proved that future knowledge is impossible....

I don't think knowing the future result changes the process in the present that produces the result. If physics says "this outcome cannot be predicted, it's a result of a truly random process (i.e. QM indeterminacy)", then a being who can see the future (and knows the result) doesn't change the physics. Similarly with free will. Seeing the choice in the future does not invalidate the concept of "choice".

I'll check back in a few years to see if you have a reply....

Re: TOS S3: The Savage Curtain

The one saving grace is the interaction between Lincoln and Uhura, when he says "What a charming Negress", then immediately apologizes for calling her that. And she responds (I'm paraphrasing) "why should I take offense at a word? [regardless of how it was used in the past] I'm happy with who/what I am." That's a classic Roddenberry vision of the future.

Yeah, the "let's examine good and evil by making them kill each other" is absurd. It's possible a truly alien race wouldn't know any better, but surely KIrk or Spock could have quickly pointed out the flaw in their experimental design.
Kirk: "Both sides can fight -- to find meaningful differences, you need to examine *why* they fight..." or something to that effect would have been a good start.

@JPaul - I like your notion of having the evil group implode with infighting. Maybe that's what was shown at the end. The good guys don't "win because Kirk is a good fighter" (and how lame is Spock here? you'd think he could easily kick butt of any of his foes, but can't seem to get the upper hand....); the good guys win because, despite a nominal 4 -to- 2 advantage, the "bad guys" weren't willing to commit their own skin to battle. Col Green comes across as a classic "lead from the rear" commander.
Though I'm not sure history indicates that the "good guys" exhibit bettery unit cohesion than the "bad guys".....

Re: TOS S2: The Trouble With Tribbles

@Alex
In case someone hasn't said it first:
Mark Lenard was the Romulan commander in Balance of Terror, then
Sarek (Spock's father) in Journey to Babel.

Re: TOS S1: A Taste of Armageddon

Yep, love the episode.

Kirk: "I didn't start this war, but I'm liable to finish it."

And no, he didn't violate the Prime Directive - for all the reasons elaborated on above. I also find it amusing that TNG is accepted as *the* canon for all things Trek -- as in "Picard said this, Kirk must be wrong." Maybe Picard got it wrong? Or maybe things just changed in the "generation" between TOS and TNG.

Great satire on making war too sterile and antiseptic -- probably more timely today than it was then.

Finally, something I like to point out (usually commenting on a DS9 episode) is General Order 24: "Blow up the whole planet." That's some *serious* badassery.

Re: BSG S4: No Exit

First: I liked the show, despite all the exposition.

@Jammer
I don't think this episode explained any of the mythology of BSG: That there's way too many outlandish coincidences, there *MUST* be a higher power actively pulling strings. That's what many of us have problems with-- that the show drifts from SF to fantasy. It's as if -- in TNG -- the Q meddled in every third episode, but we were never introduced to Q.

This episode explained the actions of the Cylons -- it did not explain the actions of the universe they live in....
I'd say Cavil/Anders explained the backstory, not the mythology.

The really confusing thing about the backstory is this: If the Final 5 created all of them (and Ellen clearly interacted with 7), how comes only Cavil remembered the Final 5? We know how Cavil wiped the Final 5, but how about all the other models?

RE: 4 months. Maybe between Hub and Revelations? It was never defined how long it took the rebels to rejoin the fleet after blowing the hub. I can't imagine Adama sitting in a Raptor for 4 months....

Great scene between Adama and Tyrol at the outset: Tyrol: "I'm a Cylon" Adama: "It's OK. So's my XO"

Re: BSG S4: Blood on the Scales

@ES
There was a point in the trial where he had mentally started working with the defense team, but was acting (to Roslin etal) as if he was a neutral facilitator -- a baliff, if you will.
He finds out that Roslin was taking kemala again -- which he later used against her in the trial.

If the rules of the game are that he's an biased advocate for Baltar, fine, but he needed to be open about it. As it is, he was manipulated by Lampkin into betraying her friendship and trust.

Maybe he wasn't on the wrong side (well, I think he was because I don't like Baltar, but that's a harder case), but IMHO, he crossed a line he shouldn't have crossed.

Re: BSG S4: Blood on the Scales

Zarek: I don't see Zarek's ending arc as particularly out of character. He was always an opportunist. I think the term I'm looking for is demagogue, a self-serving person who talked populists positions because they sold well. He's certainly never shied away from assassination in the past. Once the Quorum turned their back on him, their usefulness to him was ended.

@Michael
You're right, Zarek needed Adama and the quorum dead. Even more than the Cylons on New Caprica, Zarek needed to eliminate opposition.

@Bryan
Regarding the military value of a better FTL. When the whole series is about retreat and pursuit, how could superior mobility not translate to a military advantage? The thing that made Blitzkrieg so effective was that German armor could get in the defenders rear positions faster than the defender could. "Evasion has never been an issue". Seriously? How many episodes have had Cylons show up halfway through some crucial refueling, or planet survey or.....

Military decisions: Again, unless someone has read the Articles of Colonization, we can't have a legal opinion on the subject. Maybe Section 31 states that "....the senior military leader has absolute authority to determine what is and is not a military decision." Something that affects fleet mobility and Adama's ability to defend the fleet, sure, that could be a military decision.

Regarding the quickness of Gaeta's mutiny -- and Adama's counter.
In a mutiny (or any chaotic situation), I think there's some "perception is reality" at work. By controlling communications, Gaeta was able to take the ship with what may have been a very small force. And, announcements like "Admiral Adama has been placed under arrest" will certainly discourage all but the most hard-core Adama supporters. On the other hand, the voice of Laura Roslin probably put a lot of nominally Gaeta supporter back in the wait-and-see camp, and encouraged Adama/Roslin supporters to fight back.

But, yeah, I think it should have been a 3-parter. Too quick to wrap up, way too many loose ends.

Over-the-top Laura. "I'M COMING FOR YOU!" (now, if the villian had just been named Khan....) Best scene of the episode, maybe of the season. Great to watch, but I wonder what the Cylons think of her? If I were, say, a Leoben, I'd be terrified of what she might be capable of. Do they still want citizenship? Do they want anything to do with those crazy, vengeful humans, or are they going to quietly leave and hope the humans don't pursue ;-)

@Niall
Spot-on on Roslin / Admiral Adama's "benevolent dictatorship" vs Gaeta / Lee Adama's naive idealism. Lee, in particular, often seems to get his buttons pushed and get sidetracked, even to the wrong side (ie. his betrayal of Roslin's trust in Baltar's trial).

Baltar: Maybe this is Baltar's redemption. He passes up Six/Sex to try and do something... though we never see what....

I still sympathize with Gaeta. He was an honorable person.

@Michael
Granted that Adama and Roslin have their flaws. Who do you nominate for Admiral and President?

Re: BSG S4: The Oath

@Micheal
As I pointed out in my comments on ADFMS, we don't really know the relationship between the military and civilian govt. Adama may be perfectly within his rights to challenge a civilian who questions a military order. Civilians may appoint admirals, but have little authority over the military (kinda like the Supreme Court). And the fleet is hardly at peace. Adama has authority over military matters -- and may get to decide what is a "military matter".

And you really dislike Roslin. But she (somehow) is the legal President after Zarek stepped down after New Caprica. So, do you think there's a more popular candidate? I can't imagine Baltar would get much popular vote. Though he has his fringe devotees (I'll refrain from drawing any comparisons to current Presidential politics). Zarek -- maybe, but I think Roslin would still beat him in a head-to-head race.

But we could talk "who should be President" (since democracies are notorious for not getting the officials they need). Yep, Laura's dirty. But cleaner than Zarek and definitely cleaner than Baltar. I'd vote for Helo as the "cleanest" character on the show. I disagreed with him on the genocide virus (I probably would have used it), but still had to respect his motives.

So... who gets your vote?

Re: BSG S4: A Disquiet Follows My Soul

The key question we don't know the answer to is the relationship between the civilians and the military. When Adama says "It's a military decision" and Gaeta asks "Do you get to make that call?", Adama replies "Yes, I do.". And maybe he does. I've never read the Articles of Colonization. So, we simply don't know who's legally correct -- Adama or Zarek.
Tactically, Adama's made a huge blunder. He can't enforce his will on the whole fleet. Period.

Adama and Roslin may have earned the right to relax, but they've got a tiger by the tail and don't get that option.

And I *like* Gaeta. And it sure looks like Adama sold the human race out to the Cylons.

Jammer - I think you exaggerate Cap-6's importance. As far as the fleet is concerned, she's just another 6. Only Baltar knows for sure, and he's not talking.

I always thought it was pretty clear since Kobol that Zarek was dirty (Maybe not as dirty as Gov. Rod....)

The big bit about Ellen is that (as someone else pointed out), she must have resurrected on New Caprica and be alive somewhere in the Cylon fleet. That should be big news... at least to Tigh. And lead to some obvious spoiler questions.....

Re: BSG S4: The Hub

I liked the music for the battle scene. It's a very somber moment. Yes, it's a tremendous victory, but there's a price to be paid in a bit of everyone's soul. If you take a race of immortals and make them mortal, aren't you're an accessory to murder for every Cylon death in the future? From a human survival perspective, it's the right thing to do, but it's not something you do lightly.

I didn't like Roslin ordering Helo to bring D'Anna to her. Roslin says "It's what the Cylons would do", to which Helo's answer should be "So, we're no better than they are? Who takes the first step?". I can see Roslin wanting to control the interrogation, but I think a Cylon should have been present as well.

@Tloser
It's one thing to show religious feelings and actions. It's another to continually have divine intervention driving the plot forward. That crosses the boundary between SF and fantasy.

I really don't care if Baltar is sorry..... he may be sorry for yesterday's sins, but anyone want odds of him "going forth and sinning no more"? Isn't "God loves me because I'm perfect" a perpetual "Get Out of Jail Free" card? He needs to be reined in before he screws humanity over again. And I haven't forgotten giving the nuke to the 6...

And finally Adama and Roslin. At first, I didn't like his "About time" line... but on reflection I think it was perfect; the subtext was "I've loved you for a long time already..." And it's *nothing* like Leia and Solo, Hans was just being a smart-ass, Adama is revealing real vulnerability.
One of the best on-screen romances. Period.