Jammer's Reviews

Re: VOY S4: Demon

Every couple of years I like to check back in and read this one again. Never fails to make me smile!

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

Lol Booming, I came here to post the same link. I was giggling the whole time, even if I haven't agreed with all their criticisms of the show to date.

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

I'm loving how one minute of teaser, consisting of just pretty-looking shots of a vineyard and an expositional monologue, is already drawing loud declarations of how much this series is going to suck. Never change, Internet. < 3

Re: Star Trek: Nemesis

How about: when Janeway altered the timeline in "Endgame", Voyager's early return caused a butterfly on Earth to flap its wings, which lead to Starfleet's Chief Of Fashion making a different call on 2390's uniform design, and also his choice of sandwich for lunch.

Fun fact: I'm in my tenth year of military life and my fourth uniform (fifth if you count the new dress uniforms!) Starfleet's got nothin' on the ADF.

Re: Star Trek: Nemesis

^^ Chalk it up to alternate timelines, I guess.

There's a teaser trailer now, too:

https://youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=f3om4V_-Y0Q

Like DSC, the production values at least are gorgeous.

Re: Star Trek: Nemesis

What do we all think about the five seconds of leaked ST:P footage?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhnXRrRv5oM

Seems like Picard is no longer a household name twenty years post-Nemesis.

There’s also a leaked set photo here:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6shNmRXoAQropK?format=jpg&name=large

At the very least, it’s fun to see 24th century uniforms again!

(I left this comment on Jammer's Blog, but I don't think it shows up in the comment stream on the reviews site, so it felt appropriate to leave it here instead as the last appearance of Picard.)

Re: DS9 S4: Crossfire

Watched this one last night cause I was in a bad mood and wanted to see somebody in a worse one. Wasn't disappointed! Remains one of my favourite episodes of the show. Unrequited love, to put it delicately, fucking sucks, and Auberjonois' performance with Echevarria's writing give us a devastatingly on-point depiction of it.

Re: ORV S2: The Road Not Taken

Not too bad. I liked it! I especially liked that it wasn't really Ed, but Claire who was the real saviour of the universe.

When I look back on the entire season, though, my feelings aren't as positive. It was better than the first season, but only slightly; many of original gripes with the show are still present. The mashup of humour and drama is frequently awkward, the ship itself still looks like a cheap fan-made knockoff of the Enterprise D, the acting is all over the map, and it still feels far too familiar far too often.

Should the show be renewed for season 3, I hope they can follow the example set by "Sanctuary" (a triumph of episodic sci-fi, I thought), and focus more on building out their own unique universe, with their own unique sense of humour, instead of the bargain-basement "TNG, but with lame sitcom gags!" that we were too frequently served up in the past.

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

You were more charitable than I thought you'd be, Jammer! Great review.

As for my fellow Commenters. RE: star ratings, I have it on good authority that there's a review of Star Trek Nemesis on THIS VERY SITE that has a higher rating than zero minus fifty. If we're going to revolt and burn the place down over the arbitrary number system, I feel like that's rightfully the first stop, right before the Undiscovered Country review, BECAUSE WHY DIDN'T YOU GIVE IT FOUR STARS JAMMER THAT MOVIE IS PERFECT AND YOU ARE A BAD PERSON FOR NOT LIKING IT AS MUCH AS ME

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

You're missing my point, and deliberately so, I suspect. The fact that you *can* fanwank away a plot hole or nitpick doesn't always excuse having to do it in the first place, and DSC leaves quite a few of these logic gaps in its wake. Now that we've got 29 episodes in the can, it's starting to look like a habit.

I'm not particularly interested in having a last-word Internet fight with someone as eagerly combative and quick to make things personal as yourself; when it comes to entertainment value, everything is ultimately subjective so there's not much point. So I'll leave it at that.

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

Alan, when the viewer has to do as many mental contortions as you've been valiantly performing over the course of this season in order to backfill gaps in storytelling logic, I wouldn't call it successful storytelling. This doesn't mean the show can't be *entertaining*, or even thought-provoking; just that when the writers have left it up to us to fanwank away some relatively glaring contradictions, they're not doing their job properly.

I like the show. I applaud that it has had the creative courage to forge its own distinct identity as Epic Action Trek, as opposed to following the VOY/early ENT/Orville route of just duplicating the TNG model. But far too often, when a reasonable audience member might ask "Huh?", the show just reaches over and cranks the volume to 11 and pretends it can't hear you. I would hold up the conclusion to "The Sound Of Thunder" as a prime example of this phenomenon, where the spectacle was very impressive but just left me in the audience going "wait wait wait wait!"

This overlong and overindulgent two-part finale has been the ultimate expression of the problem, and people are dinging it accordingly. I wouldn't go as far as some in calling it awful; I feel that there's been a lot to like, primarily in the acting department, and the spectacle is on a ridiculously sumptuous visual scale.

But at a certain point, you can't just keep giving a pass to all these logical nitpicks. They stack up. Especially in a serialised narrative like this one, the damage to one's suspension of disbelief is cumulative, and leaving reasonable questions unanswered (like, "Why do nanobots have to be delivered into the eye?" or "How are these shuttles getting around so quick?" or "How exactly do those red signals that kicked off the entire season's storyline work?") doesn't make me think the writers are encouraging us to come up with the answers ourselves. It makes me think they never bothered to ask the question. It's either an insult to our intelligence, or an indictment of theirs.

This show has all the tools at its disposal to make something great. It has excellent actors, amazing production values, and a generous budget. The only missing ingredient is tighter writing. I hope that in season three, they can deliver it.

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

TBH Brandon Adams, I was on the fence myself for awhile, but I figured it would just be *too* shamelessly fan service, even for this show.

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

Booming: "I guess people were crying all the time out of happiness during season 2."

I think the biggest moment of pure optimism and happiness in season two of Disco for me was when Michael Burnham was strapped to a chair screaming in pain as her skin burned off and she choked to death on poison fumes, while everyone else stood around watching without anyone even asking if maybe they could turn the volume down. ☺☻

Okay, in all seriousness, there was the occasional flash of traditional Trek spirit this year. The science mission in "Brother", deciding to trust the sphere in "Obol". I don't need that all the time, but I would hope that season three can move us away from galaxy-destroying threats to something a bit smaller scale.

I bet you five hundred quatloos that it won't though!

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

I cringed at a couple of those quotes in the interview too. Kurtzman's heart genuinely seems to be in the right place, and I don't doubt his credentials as a Trek fan, but the lack of self-awareness is sometimes utterly baffling. Hopefully with a new (co) showrunner next year, some of those less desirable creative impulses will be reined in.

The one that really got me was:

"We will definitely be exploring who inherits that chair. Obviously, there's a very loaded look between Saru and Burnham. They're both qualified in very different ways, and that's something we'll explore."

No exploration needed. That's Saru's damn chair! He's earned it.

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

Just in case anybody missed it (some of the commenters seem to have): yes, the show was renewed for season three, and yes, it's taking place in the future with the Discovery crew.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/star-trek-discovery-season-2-finale-time-jump-explained-1203166

Re: ORV S2: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Not a terrible episode, but nothing to write home about it either, which is disappointing after last week's terrific entry. I'm more intrigued about what the consequences of that ending will be when we get to next week's season finale.

I did enjoy Kelly and Dr. Finn's conversation about what it means to get older. I turned 35 this year, and I'm the most comfortable I've ever been with regards to myself and my ambitions and how they're working out. That was definitely not the case ten years ago, and when I reflect on how I would deal with my younger self were we ever to cross paths, I feel like my feelings would be exactly like Our Kelly: I'd more than likely just be driven up the wall by my younger self's completely different view of the world and I don't think there's any way young me would listen to a word I had to say.

So even though the episode wasn't great, there was some interesting food for thought.

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

2.5 stars. It's the opposite of the first season finale`, which was insanely rushed; this was too padded and felt a bit flaccid. When we started getting "2001: A Clip Show Odyssey" in the middle of our Ultimate Space Battle To The Death, I was actively irritated. I've been watching all year, show; I don't need to go on a greatest hits tour. (That said, the trippy visuals were awesome.)

Additionally, the entire subplot with the torpedo and Admiral Cornwell felt completely unnecessary and could have been deleted entirely with no loss to the episode. And I don't buy the denouement, where it's revealed the reason we never hear of the spore drive again is because Starfleet are keeping it hush hush: it makes no sense at all for them to abandon such incredible technology, especially when it had nothing to do with the threat from Control in the first place!

I was also confused by the logistics of the space battle, which is a consequence of filling the screen with a billion fighters, I think. This episode could have been greatly improved with some more restraint, but I think we've learned that's not a word this show is familiar with, for better AND worse.

There was plenty of good on display here though. The opening minutes with the frantic rush to assemble the suit under a ticking clock were excellent, and appropriately heart-pounding. All the performances were on point, as usual, and the battle certainly looked fantastic, if not particularly logically depicted.

Season 2 as a whole? 2.5 stars also. It's probably not going to be the majority opinion, but I think that season 1 was a more ambitious and memorable story, for all its flaws, and it also had the virtue of novelty, being the first new TV Trek in over a decade. Season 1's central mysteries were built around characters, whereas Season 2 gave us a more traditional sci-fi conundrum, and felt more ho-hum as a result. I was far more invested in learning more about Captain Lorca than I ever was in how they were going to technobabble their way out of a fight against Star Trek's version of the Terminator, a story whose facets we've seen in many prior episodes, from all those TOS "AI gone wrong" plots, to the Borg, to ENT's Temporal Cold War.

On an individual level, season 2's episodes were of a higher quality, I think: "Brother", "An Obol for Charon", "If Memory Serves", "The Sound of Thunder" and "Project Daedalus" were all standouts, and the mid-tier stuff like "New Eden", "Light and Shadows" and "Saints of Imperfection" were also quite enjoyable in spite of their flaws. But taken as a whole, it's a bit more of a damp squib.

All of that said, I'm very keen to see what they're cooking up for season 3. I'll see you all here at the end of the year for the Picard show, nerds!

P.S. There's a commenter here named Brandon Adams who owes $10 to the World Wildlife Fund. I won our bet! No Borgs to be found here. ;)

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 1

I don't know about the rest of you, but anytime an argument devolves into back-and-forths over terms like "Mary Sue", I switch off. As with other pejorative labels like "SJW", it's lazy criticism and the frequent abuse of it by online shitheads* has tainted it by association.

That said, I will confess that I find it mystifying how anyone could apply it to Burnham, the character who has first billing in the credits. Of course she's involved in everything; she's the main character of a heavily serialised narrative.

The question of whether or not this blows out your suspension of disbelief in a narrative sense is another matter. (As Jammer mentions in this review, the show has pushed it to the limit with Burnham-worship in the first half of this finale.) Personally, I like SMG's performance, and I find the idea of her character - a human raised by Vulcans - to be an intriguing one, but after this season I'm ready for the show to broaden its scope beyond Burnham, purely for variety's sake and because this show has a talented cast and other interesting characters that aren't being tapped to their full potential.

*Not specifically aiming THAT pejorative at anyone here ;)

Re: ORV S2: Sanctuary

A few episodes ago, I said that I thought The Orville had hit its ceiling rank. I was wrong. This was a perfect episode that didn't feel like it hit any wrong notes. This feels like what the show has wanted to be all along. I'm really impressed and hope they can maintain this level of quality through to the end of the season.

Re: DSC S2: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 1

I'm totally reserving judgement on this until we see how things play out next week.

If the show follows through on disconnecting the Disco and Burnham from its current setting, then that's a bold storytelling choice that would justify all of the teary goodbyes, which is largely what this episode largely consisted of. (And they were well done, too!)

But if the show pulls the rug out from under all this build-up, and resolves everything with a Reset Button... well. That would be make this entire episode a colossal waste of time and be a very crass exercise in audience manipulation.

Let's not take door #2, please.

P.S. The Enterprise bridge looked great, albeit too glossy. Much better than the Kelvin-verse variant. The rest of it looked a bit too much like redresses of the Disco sets for my tastes, although that's likely a budgetary decision. And the great teleporting shuttles return! Maybe Vulcan and Xahea are just close neighbours... *eye roll*

Re: DSC S2: Through the Valley of Shadows

@Dom: Agreed.

Picard's speech to Tomalak in "The Defector" commands respect. Perfectly normal tone of voice, "Are you prepared to die today, Tomalak?" "Shall we die together?"

The action shlock in the movies, or the few episodes that "went there," yawn. Some of it is entertaining, in the way a popcorn flick is entertaining, but it's out of character for Jean-Luc Picard.

Re: DSC S2: Through the Valley of Shadows

@Booming: "I always thought that Patrick Stewart is somebody who understands life and is at peace with himself."

I would concur 110% with both of those statements. Sadly I'm not convinced that he actually understands that made the character of Jean-Luc Picard great. The TNG movies from First Contact onward essentially made him into an action hero. Gone was the intellectualism, commitment to duty, and concern for his crew.

You can blame most of that on the writers but he -- the one actor on the cast with enough gravitas to push back -- went along with them. The commentary track for Nemesis reveals that the dune buggy chase -- the worst part of the worst movie in the entire franchise -- was his idea, inserted because he loves to drive and wanted a car chase in a Star Trek movie.

Keeping my fingers crossed, I never expected to like The Orville as much as I do, and Sir Patrick Stewart can't be casually dismissed....

Re: DSC S2: Through the Valley of Shadows

@ Booming "That Discovery is so dark is also my biggest complaint."

Mine too. It's disappointing to see this remarked upon again for Season 2. I have yet to watch Season 2, the little bit of free time I have for TV has gone to The Orville and my Game of Thrones rewatch, and reading comments along these lines further discourages me from devoting my scant free time to STD.

I don't mind dark television -- hard to beat GoT in the "dark" department -- but it's antithetical to Star Trek. The whole point of Star Trek is to imagine a better future for humanity. I really hope the production with Picard takes this lesson to heart, I'm going to give that a chance because Patrick Stewart, but I'm skeptical. Hope for the best but steel yourself for the worst.....

Re: DSC S2: Through the Valley of Shadows

Agreed on almost everything, Jammer, except Tig Notaro; Jett Reno reminds me of some of the funniest people I've ever worked with. Maybe I'm just a sucker for snide assholes. (I also liked Stamets in season 1.)

Paul M, I don't think season 1's issue was necessarily the serialisation so much as the pacing and the ideas. Those last two episodes of S1 had a lot of heavy lifting to do, and some of the ideas that we were asked to accept were just dumb (Starfleet are OK with blowing up planets, the Klingons are on Earth's doorstep but turn around at the drop of a hat, L'Rell is able to take over the Empire with an iPad, etc). It also rendered the Disco crew's heroics in "Into The Forest I Go" meaningless to the big picture.

I still have hope that season 2 manages to stick the landing. I think they've done alright so far, and unlike season 1, they're not abruptly changing gears from another universe and another time with only two episodes to go.

As Jammer says, though, this feels like it's dragged on long enough. I still think a better idea for the third season might be smaller arcs, like Enterprise S4 or Agents of Shield's season 4.

Re: TOS S2: Bread and Circuses

hifijohn, you should check out the TOS novel "First Frontier". It has all the alternate-timeline Kirk vs. Dinosaurs action you could ever want. :)