Comment Stream

Re: DSC S5: Mirrors

The faults of this episode are typical Discovery faults - indulgent, unnecssary camera work (I mean, two episodes in a row that require an epilepsy alert, and for no script reason?); sophomoric attention to feelings over everything else; sloppy character development; and a throw-it-all-in-there attitude to the plot. I was confused in a few places: why was the MU brought up at all? Are Moll and L'ak from the MU, and if so why does it matter? What happened in the ISS Enterprise's sick bay that trapped Burnham and L'ak? Is the "evolved" face of the Breen a cyborg? I also thought Rayner's implied lack of confidence in himself was not appropriate given his established character so far.

However, there were many things here I enjoyed. I thought it was about time we learned the story of Moll and L'ak, and that the flashbacks were handled well. Sure it was too drawn out and the motivations were trite (I'm a prince but a misfit; I just want one last haul so I can retire to my private paradise), but I believed it. Rayner's handling of the crew and Rennie's acting were well done, especially his offering a reward for the rescue plan rather than grouching at them. This seemed like the kind of step toward - gad, dare I say it - character growth that Rayner would actually take in developing trust with this new crew.

A few other moments that I liked: Book says he "loved" (past tense) Burnham, clarifying that plot point for me. We see a Gorn doll on the abandoned ship, at least I think so; weird as that is, it's kind of interesting; and is Linus playing the piano at the end? But the best part, which actually made me laugh with pleasure, was when Moll and L'ak used the chaotic transporter-beam rescue to escape once again! I really didn't expect that.

Finally, why all the detail on Dr. Cho? Is he or she going to turn out to not be so successfully integrated in the real universe after all? I'd like that.

Maybe I'm just a contrarian, but I enjoyed this much more than last episode. Of course, I hate time travel episodes, so there's that.

Re: DSC S5: Face the Strange

Bryan and Kyle, you two rock, you said what I was thinking better than I could.

Re: DSC S5: Face the Strange

Boy was that slow. I kept waiting for something to happen. But at the end we're just back in present time with no advancement in the plot at all. I don't require a show to be all plot at the expense of everything else - I like character moments and well-done arcs - but to have a whole episode with nothing at all except flinging about in time felt like padding to me.

Some of the scenes were interesting. I wonder if the Burnham & Booker scene was hinting that they'll get back together. Even though the Airiam sequence was obviously a response to audience squawking in season 1, I still appreciated it. I also liked the scene with Future Zora and her sad music.

The best part was the acting by Rennie. He bent a little but was not squashed down into a syrupy pool like the others. Though he was noticeably standing around in the background a lot, which seemed unlike him. I also liked the noticeable difference between the two Burnhams. Was Old Burnham a different actor some of the time? However, the fight was predictable and boring.

It seemed to me that the purpose of this episode was NOT to advance the plot, but to prove that "connection" was valuable and even Rayner could be made to see it. At least, by the end Burnham was showing respect to him. Now she just needs to smack down Tilly.

Re: DSC S5: Jinaal

Booming - I admit, I didn't go back and watch the Jellico episode. I never liked Riker at all, so anything he did there that showed him as a jerk would not have stood out to me.

I used to think Tilly was cute and interesting, but that was when she was a powerless cadet. In the last two seasons I've liked her less and less, as she's gone up in rank but not in maturity. That was actually where I was coming from about the comparison: Riker may have been an a*****, but he didn't come across as a teenager, he did appear competent. I don't see any competence in Tilly.

I have no quarrel at all with your view about the military.

Kurn for first officer would have been AWESOME, lol.

Re: DSC S5: Jinaal

Possibly I'm one of the targets of voxymandias too. But I'm no big fan of Jellico. I do think he was always going to rescue Picard and his mistake was to not reassure the crew of that. A single sentence would have done it.

But Jelllico was assigned to the Enterprise by Starfleet, and was accepted unquestioningly by her crew despite their discomfort with him. They were a mature, professional group. Rayner was hand-selected by Burnham almost like rescuing a stray dog. She barely introduced him to the crew before leaving and expected him to do all the work of integrating himself with a very unprofessional crew. Tilly, the least professional of all of them, was the absolute worst person to deal with him.

Can you imagine what would have happened if Geordi, for instance, had starting making faces about Capt. Jellico? Riker would have swatted him down like a fly, regardless of his own feelings about the man. Rayner had no one to stand up for him. He certainly did act like a jerk, but Tilly could have handled it a LOT better. Of course, she's not even really part of the crew any more, is she?

My point wasn't so much whether Rayner is a good guy or a bad guy, but the way he's presented by the writing is very biased, as someone who doesn't adhere to the principles of the show (emotion over all). The actor (who is excellent) is showing a much more balanced view of him, and I expect he'll bend in coming episodes, but I'd like to see the crew bend toward him, too.

Remember how Tilly was complaining that her students weren't understanding how to be part of a team? I'd like to see her learn from Rayner that putting one's emotions aside to get a common task done is a powerful way to build a team.

Also, about that "you have to earn respect" line. Sure, that's true for what we might call personal respect, but there's also social respect: I don't let my dog poop on your lawn just because I don't know you. Not to mention the built-in expectation of respect demanded by a quasi-military organization like Starfleet.

The Enterprise crew started from a position of respect for Jellico, and even when they violently disagreed with him and felt left out, there was no eye-rolling and patronizing tone of voice. That's what's missing from the Discovery crew.

Re: DSC S5: Jinaal

The way Rayner is being treated is shameful. It reminds me of the way a bunch of 11-year-olds would treat a new kid in school. He’s not one of them, so he must be stupid and useless. Here’s what has happened so far.

He’s introduced to Burnham by Vance, supposedly an old friend, with a sarcastic “Why don’t you try working together?” This sets the stage for Burnham to be suspicious of him, and on their mission his need for mission-completion does seem a little too strong. However, when convinced, he cooperates commendably.
He’s called on the carpet by Starfleet Command about the avalanche, which everyone agrees he didn’t cause, because he “inspired Moll and L’Ak.” This is downright disgusting, and he’s absolutely right that it’s political and the outcome was foreordained. Burnham rolls her eyes at him and Vance shows no patience or support for his sensible arguments. Both President Rillak and Adm. Vance (whom I’m liking less this year) inform him that “the world has changed,” whatever that means.
Burnham tells him that “the world is bigger than our own corner of it.” She, a former traitor and warmonger who has been a captain for one year, is sure that Rayner, a highly decorated captain for 30 years, “has things to learn.”
When Burnham and Saru get in trouble and Tilly and Adira can’t figure out how to help them, Rayner’s offer of help is rebuffed by Tilly’s patronizing voice with her hand pushed toward him: “This is a science problem.” Luckily for everybody, Raynor’s desire to help with the mission overpowers her childishness and he literally saves Burnham’s and Saru’s lives. When Tilly acknowledges this, Burnham is obviously stunned.
Burnham offers Raynor the First Officer chair as giving him a “second chance” like she had - although Raynor never betrayed his captain or Starfleet.
Burnham insists that he meet the crew one-on-one, and Tilly appoints herself his babysitter (and treats him like a baby too). She constantly makes faces about him to the crew as they come and go, and then yells at him at the end. When he explains his (admittedly strict) attitude toward crew relations, she goes back to treating him like a schoolchild, then walks off in a huff, still making faces.

At one point Raynor says, “I always tell my crew: Get out of your head” [and just get the job done]. THIS is what he’s being punished for in Discoveryland. They have no interest in adjusting to him; HE must do it all.

Re: SNW S2: Hegemony

Mosley, your wishes for SNW season 3 are right up my alley, especially about Pike. He's worrying me. But everything else you mentioned, too, should we start to parade outside the studios in Toronto or wherever? More Pike! Better Pike! Less trauma! More meaningful Gorns! Actual NEW worlds, not revisits to old ones!

I'm very happy with the direction all of the canon characters are taking , except for Pike. Paul Wesley has specifically said that his Kirk is not yet Shatner's Kirk, but he'll get there. And I *loved* the introduction of Scotty, who is perfectly cast.

Re: DS9 S6: Far Beyond the Stars

From a commenter 10 years ago:
"he other main theme was the prophets trying to show Sisko, that even if he thought he was beaten by the dominion he was never beaten as severely as Bennie was his whole life, and still Bennie struggled to push on. This is telegraphed by the police officers who were savagely beating Sisko and alternately looking like 1950's and DS9 dominion characters while they're beating him up. It's just brilliant. Bennie rises from his beating and plods on, Sisko was considering quitting after the dominion's pummeling.

It's like the prophets are amused that Sisko is considering giving up when he has ancestors who have struggled far more to survive relentless oppression and dared to continue dreaming and striving to a better future, which he embodies as the black commander of DS9. "

THIS, I think, is what the episode is really trying to say. I didn't get it the first time I watched it, just thinking of it as a good nonserialized episode. But I really think these comments are on the mark. Otherwise, Sisko's despondency at the top of the episode just fizzles away. Would have to say, though, that perhaps the Prophets angle should have been brought out a little more.

Re: DS9 S6: Resurrection

I found it believable that Mirror Bareil seriously considered staying in "our" universe for maybe 5 minutes. But he was too wrapped up in his thief identity. He couldn't have been a thief on the station - too easily caught and too little incentive in a moneyless economy- or on Bajor - with everyone staring at him - and where else would he go?

There could have been a storyline where he just sent the Intendant back, stayed on the station, and pursued the Bajoran religion further and actually committed to it, becoming a new Vedek Bareil (possibly using a new name). That would have been quite interesting IMO, but it would have required a much better actor. Anglim was better as a thief, but he still wasn't great.

Re: DS9 S6: You Are Cordially Invited

I'm not a fan of this episode, but there were a few highlights, mostly with Martok as others have mentioned. But I want to point out one suble scene that impressed me: When we finally get to Jadzia coming up the aisle in the wedding, she's grinning widely at everybody as she enters, but the the time she reaches Worf and Sirella her expression is completely serious. I thought that was some very good directing there.

Still think the Odo-Kira nonconversation was a major flaw, though.

Re: LD S4: Old Friends, New Planets

P Car - "Jammer much respect to you for your incredible hard work on writing these reviews and turning them round so quickly and accurately. Thank you."

I second this emotion. Thank you Jammer!

Re: LD S4: Old Friends, New Planets

For those who care, my reviews of the Very Short Treks.

Worst Contact: Riker, Troi, and an unnamed redshirt welcome a new species to the Federation, then change their minds when they discover that these people value snot above all else. Comment: They're only finding this out now? Grade: Disgusting and terrible.

Skin a Cat: Kirk is unable to defend against a Klingon attack because every figure of speech he uses offends a different member of the crew, including several who have never appeared before and are extremely unlikely. Comment: The point of this would be . . . ? Grade: Stupid and terrible.

Holiday Party: The Spock of Strange New Worlds tries to entertain the crew with a blooper reel that is either disgusting or boring, but definitely not funny. Comment: Is this supposed to be a jab at SNW? Grade: Ridiculously stupid.

Holograms All the Way Down: Starting with Riker and Troi watching the holoprogram of Trip’s death, recursive scenes occur. Next is Quark explaining how the Romulans got into the Dominion war, to Tendi commenting on that, to Prodigy characters saying how bad it is, to Sulu saying it’s nonsense, to Saru ending freezing the program, to Shran appearing briefly, to Neelix pausing his holonovel, to a five-person Tuvix mix voiced by Trip, to the computer freezing its own program. Comment: This actually has a plot and isn't offensive, but I fail to see the point. Grade: Don't waste your time.

Walk, Don’t Run: This isn’t even a real story. Tendi breaks the fourth wall “celebrating” the 50th anniversary of the animated series. They do let those characters speak, but it’s just a bunch of nothing. Grade: Useless.

Re: LD S4: Old Friends, New Planets

BZ - I really hope you're right about Nick surviving. It felt wrong to me to have him killed. First, he was, as someone else said, a fairly sympathetic villain. Second, in the whole rest of the episode we were repeatedly reminded that people are NOT to be killed. I know the circumstances were different, but they seemed to make a special point of it this episode. Third, I felt like there was a writerly hint when the admiral said that the new planet was to be used for refugees. Fourth, Nick would be a very good troublemaker to have around, especially if Marriner continues to grow up emotionally.

This show has improved tremendously from its first season, which I pretty much loathed. It still isn't exactly my cup of tea, but I no longer watch it with dread, lol.

Re: LD S4: The Inner Fight

The only thing that really bothered me about this episode was the treatment of Rutherford. I didn't understand why he went with the Freeman group rather than with his friends, and then he didn't do anything at all on that mission. What's up with that?

Otherwise, this episode is the best of the season for me. I was happy to see T'Lynn again and loved the development of Ma'ah. Nobody has mentioned this I don't think, but after Marriner was beamed away the kidnappees got restless again, and Ma'ah took them in hand effortlessly. More Ma'ah!

Re: DS9 S2: The Collaborator

It's interesting that no one has pointed out that one big reason we find it hard to care about Bajorans and their troubles is that we're almost always TOLD about them, not SHOWN. This episode here left me pretty cold, even though it was well thought out and not predictable. But the whole thing happens through dialogue and exposition. There's no scene of the 43 people being killed, or even of Kai Opaka wrestling with her decision. What are the parts of the episode that people find memorable? Things we have SEEN: Odo's face when Kira confesses her love for Bareil. Sisko's face and tone of voice when he's dealing with Winn. The constant smarminess of Winn, and the moment when her iron fist escapes the velvet glove. The orb scenes are obviously supposed to bring the drama, but they fail because of the way they're shot. Anglim's acting doesn't help, but we could at least have seen him talking to the other guy I-forget-his-name about covering up for Opaka. And almost all Bajoran episodes are handled like this. Heck, I can't even tell Bajor from Cardassia when something does take place on one of the planets.

In this particular episode, wouldn't it have been more dramatic to have Bareil stay in the Kai race and show the voting? With Winn calling him out, the chaos that would ensue, and THEN his withdrawal, followed by his convession to Kira at the end. They show us all kinds of aliens on the promenade all the time, but they can't show us one or two speaking actors in a large group on Bajor.

Re: DS9 S2: Whispers

Michael -

Cirroc Lofton is 6'3". He really shot up during the early years of the show, and his youthful thinness made it more dramatic. Colm Meaney is 5'11".

I'm surprised at all the people who couldn't figure out that it was O'Brien who was "off." It seemed like the obvious explanation, Beverly Crusher notwithstanding.

How did they know when they found the real O'Brien? Maybe he was tied up. The rushed ending should have spent a little more time on that, IMO.

Jeff Smith - I didn't get the feeling that Quark knew about the O'Brien problem. It would have been crazy to tell him. I do think Odo should have been informed, although maybe they wanted him to have the dramatic change of heart in order to underscore the "It's YOU" message.

Re: DS9 S2: The Alternate

William B -

It's a looong time later so you may never read this, but I want to go on record as to how impressed I am at your psychological analysis of this episode. I think you were right in every respect, and you clarified my thinking on a few points. I sometimes don't read all of your lengthy posts, and occasionally I disagree with some of them, but this one was extremely well done IMHO. Thank you!

Re: DS9 S2: The Siege

Also, Admiral Chakotay? Spelled Chekote? Give me a break. That took me right out of my suspension of disbelief.

Re: DS9 S2: The Siege

The "who will volunteer" scene ticked me off the most. Luke, you're right, this happens regularly in Star Trek, and it's such BS. Certainly by the 24th century any well-trained Starfleet officer should know that asking that question in public is the worst kind of cheating. Nobody will ever speak up! You'd be seen as a coward. So the commander can quite possible get people acquiescing who really don't want to be there, but are afraid to admit it. Are those people going to be reliable?

There's a much better way to do it. You tell the people why you need them, then you say, "I know this is a serious decision. Go to your quarters (or wherever) and think about it. If you're sure you want to be in it, meet me back here in an hour, ready to go." Of course this isn't as dramatic, but surely the return of the people could be done well, and it would be a lot smarter.

Re: LD S4: Parth Ferengi's Heart Place

I liked the story line about Freeman keeping up with the Nagus in trickiness, not to mention Rom trading on his reputation for stupidity, but the rest of the episode left me flat. In fact when it ended I actually said, "What? That's it?"

Some day, maybe there will be an episode where I actually like Mariner. This wasn't it, though. Also, I missed T'Lynn.

Re: VOY S7: Renaissance Man

I didn't read most of the comments, but I did see one that echoed my own biggest gripe. The Doc tells Janeway that he disobeyed her order because “Voyager can survive without a warp core, but not without a captain.” This is entirely wrong. Of course the ship can survive without a captain. Chakotay can become captain, that’s what he’s for. Come to that, the Doctor has that ECH programming. But without a warp core, they might as well give up. But anyway, this is NOT the argument the EMH would make. He would stress that his CMO programming makes him literally unable to harm the captain. He's made that argument in other situations, so why not this time?

Re: VOY S7: Workforce

In my mind there was never a chance that Jaffen could go with them on Voyager. Janeway wouldn't have continued their relationship, and he had too much pride to be anything but an equal to her. On Quarra he was really in the role of her protector, not as obviously as Paris was to Torres, but he was the one who knew the ropes and looked out for her. He was a natural leader and wouldn't have been happy as just another engineer, and he certainly wouldn't have wanted to be a non-crew member boy toy for the captain. Don't forget, he was immediately promoted to superintendent after the Voyager crew was removed, and he wasn't showing any false modesty about it; he knew he deserved it.

Plus, although it wasn't mentioned - because he came to Quarra genuinely in search of a better life, it's likely he originated from a planet in the vicinity and might well have had family there. Going to Earth with Voyager really wouldn't have suited his future very well at all.

As for what Janeway said, to me it's just another example of Janeway saying whatever the writers think is convenient for that particular episode. I don't see her as having any core personality at all. (Hint: I don't much like her.)

Re: VOY S7: Inside Man

The main thing that spoiled this episode for me was how many of the Voyager crew were acting out of character. After starting out sensibly suspicious, Janeway falls for Reg's technobabble and is all in. The Ferengi are back to the TNG cartoon version, after being treated with respect for 7 years on DS9. The EMH, who a couple of episodes ago was raising the roof about inadequate medical care, passively accepts Reg's non-explanation about the inoculations being ineffective. And at the end, when Paris plays his mean trick on Kim, I didn't believe Torres would so easily go along with it and simply objectify Kim the way she does ("You were right about him.") Paris has been an adolescent jerk for a long time, but I've never seen Torres take any pleasure in it.

A number of other characterizations are too stereotyped. Barclay's boss is still dismissing pretty much everything B. suggests, making him seem stupid. Troi's awful, "How did you FEEL about that?" recalls the worst of her writing on TNG (though she had a better scene later). Paris, as mentioned, continues to show the maturity level of a preadolescent boy, and Kim continues to be a gullible idiot. This is especially unbelievable because a few episodes ago, a closeup of his face clearly showed his true age (over 30).

The best part was Barclay, especially the zinc oxide on his nose and the ridiculous sunglasses, and the fact that "Reg" the hologram felt creepily wrong from the beginning. Then, his tour de force pretending to be his own hologram - and succeeding despite his anxiety - was cheer-worthy. Dwight Schultz is a very capable actor.

The plot's biggest fault was that it was never clear why Barclay sent a hologram of himself in the first place. What was it supposed to do? Other than that, I thought it held together well until the end. The fact that Kim beamed Reg and Seven off the pod wasn't handled well, IMHO - I completely missed it. The ending seemed abrupt anyway, more interested in Paris's mean joke than in pointing out that Janeway et al. still didn't realize what had really been going on. Also, if Troi doesn't want her patients to stalk her, she should stop inviting them to dinner.

A good plot in general, well acted by the main character, and I enjoyed the impersonation scene, but inconsistent in its quality.

Re: VOY S6: Life Line

Skeptical and MikeyZ - I'm glad you brought up the Janeway Switcheroo. It's really been getting to me lately (I'm watching VOY all the way through for the first time). It's fine for a captain to be talked out of her orders now and then, but she doesn't EVER seem to stick with them. It's one of the reasons I dislike her so much: you never know what to expect from her, except apparently if you're a high-ranking officer you can manipulate her. I doubt very much she'd bend like that if it was a lowly nobody.

I also loved the fact that not only is the EMH slightly taller than his creator, he's also slightly better looking, and even better than that, this is never mentioned in the script but is made obvious with camera work. Great directing there.

Other great directing: Seven has great rolleye moments toward the Doc more than once, and Troi does a nice side-eye toward the iguana. I like a script /direction that shows us things rather than laboriously telling us every detail.

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned Roy the holographic spy fly. A fly on the wall to do surveillance. That's the kind of thing that kept me giggling throughout the whole episode.

Re: VOY S5: The Disease

Leif : "Can someone tell me was the PLOT of this episode anORIGINAL IDEA? And were the aliens unique and ORIGINAL??"

A: Hahahahaha.
B: ROFL

I did like the way the generation ship was designed. But plot? Was there a plot? And aliens? Again, ROFL.

Also: Acting ability? Oh lordie. Writing? OMFG.