I think this episode suffered from trying to include too many subplots. In the end none of the stories got any real closure.
Perhaps it was intentional that all of the plot lines were so superficial, but I don't have to like it.
What does it say about this episode that its only real effect was to make me like Hoshi even more? (For that matter, what does it say about me?) None of these little vignettes had any real character insight to offer. We already knew that Trip and Reed are perhaps a bit incautious when it comes to booze and women. (I'll leave aside the contradictions I see with their previously established backstories.) We already knew that Archer is inclined to distrust anyone who talks too much about the Suliban. We also already knew that Hoshi is amazing at learning languages—it's literally the reason Archer wanted her on his ship in the first place. (Doesn't make it any less interesting to "see" the character "learn" new languages.) I guess we didn't know that Phlox gets silly when he's woken up mid-hibernation, but that felt more like a shoehorned-in comic relief plot than anything.
To sum up: Hoshi is adorable. Phlox gets a chance to be supremely silly, though it doesn't really work with the tone of the show for me. Trip and Malcolm don't really have any presence, just a one-off gag (of sorts) scene that just gets left. Archer meets a mysterious woman who can only be a hint at things to come. (For that reason, his is the most fulfilling subplot—though it is fulfilling only in that it promises more intrigue next season and beyond.)
This series could have ended with season 2
at best. At worst if this is their projection they should have never made the series. It feels very cynical of human kind without much nuisance beyond humans=bad. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the writing and analogies of the series from the get go but it's run beyond its date. I very much doubt I'll return to watch this considering I only watched this season thinking the horse finally was put out of its misery but alas season 5 :rolling_eyes: nty
If the neutronic storm front is "traveling at high warp", how can Archer see it out his window? It should have already engulfed the ship by the time its reflected light reaches their position. (I accept that we, the viewers, can see it, for dramatic reasons…reluctantly.)
With the main power grid shut down, how can they polarize the hull plating? Sure, they have backup power systems that can keep stuff like life support running, but wouldn't polarizing the entire hull take an awful lot of power?
The galley has an awful lot of stuff sitting around that would have fallen to the deck by then, most likely, from all the turbulence. And if the radiation is lethal to a human after three minutes of exposure, are the foodstuffs they left behind even going to be edible after spending over a week bathed in it? I guess it depends on whether the radiation is absorbed and held by organic matter. (At any rate, the real reason food was left in the galley was probably so they could explode lettuce with weapons fire in a later scene. And things hadn't fallen to the deck yet because they needed stuff to fall due to turbulence during the firefight. Dramatic necessity, blah blah.)
My technical nitpicking aside, this was a fairly solid episode from a story standpoint. It was certainly much better than "Precious Cargo". About the only thing I really have to call out is Archer's slightly hokey handling of aliens appearing out of the blue, demanding to come aboard for shelter from a storm Enterprise hadn't even detected yet. (I suppose I should also call out Enterprise's failure to detect the storm on its own sooner. For a ship with supposedly decent long-range scanning capability, that was a fair flub.)
They weren't even wearing helmets in that cave. Humans figured that out over a hundred years earlier. :person_facepalming:
The commencement speech Archer is reading on the monitor when Hoshi notifies him of the Tarkalean ship's distress call is a great touch. If you pause the blu-ray, you can actually read it (gotta love HD Star Trek). As I suspected, Archer confirms that they're Zefram Cochrane's words in a later scene. As much as Enterprise loves to mess with the existing continuity of the Trek universe, this episode is a great example of what it can do when it builds upon, instead of contradicts, the established events. The "message to the 24th century" is the only really trite part of this episode; everything else is extremely well done and fits so perfectly with the Borg stories we got to watch in the latter half of Voyager, it's hard to truly find fault with this episode.
What does bug me a bit is the seemingly automatic use of the established terms for things like "nanoprobes", "tubules", etc. Phlox is the one who introduces all of these Borg-related terms, which seems suspicious because he does so before becoming "infected" himself. It's been rather a long time since I saw First Contact, so perhaps those terms came up in Cochrane's retracted statements about the events surrounding his first warp flight and the influence of these cybernetic beings from the future?
It's much harder to excuse the fact that the security team's phase pistols cease working on the Borg drones who are trying to take over Enterprise well before the rifles Reed and Archer took over to the assimilated transport stop being effective. The same modifications were made to both weapon types, and the drones are part of the same local hive consciousness, so they should adapt to the weapons fire at the same time. (Yes, I was an avid reader of The Nitpicker's Guide when I last went through TNG.)
1/10
Weak Sauce
straight up sucked
with "The Message".
Woke propaganda
Piss-Poor Bull-shit.
THE "MESSAGE"
IS STRONG.
(Go Woke Go Broke).
(They Couldn't even
give The Legend
Wilfred a proper
send off and the
Ultimate respect
he deserves because
they were to busy
Ticking boxes
and being
"Stunning and Brave"
I put up with Chinballs
era using this show as
his own personal
Chew toy to spread
The Agenda
("The Message") as
I knew my man
Russell was coming
back to take over.
David and Catherine
were never my favourites,
(Rose "Billie Piper"
(the greatest of all time)
is
and always will be my
all time favourite
companion and
Peter Capaldi will always
be the best Doctor
of all time and my Favourite
Doctor).
I had hope they may
come back at some point
for the 60th but after this
Abomination of 59 minutes
preaching
"The Message"
and the fact that they
are not even trying
to hide the Woke propaganda
anymore
I don't want "my" Rose
(BadWolf) or Peter anywhere
near this DumpsterFire
shit-show.
And now Russell who
is Woke AF making
Davros a normal dude
who looks as though
his boss is Hitler,
Now Russel is saying
that one of the most iconic
characters of all time
can no longer be in
a wheelchair because
apparently according to him
it paints people in
actual wheelchairs as
been associated with
being "Evil",
(you can't have
disabilities associated with
Davos because he's evil
so that automatically makes
a real person with disabilities
evil), i shit you not.
This is where Russells Agenda
driven head is at,
it's actually disgusting
what he is implying
about people with a
disability and he's actually
pissed all those people
off and I'm not surprised,
(I've lost all respect for him).
so now you have (wish)
Davros straight up and
walking
(absolute nonsense).
"I'll see myself out".
Don't get me started
on The Doctor
a 4.5 billion year old
Time Lord who knows 5 billion
languages getting a dressing down
on using pronouns...wtaf,
it's arrogant-shitty and lazy writing
to even think the alien
The Doctor was talking too
would use human terms
for it's own gender,
get the fcuk outta here.
That ending is the most
Woke and cringe worthy
nonsense I have ever witnessed.
(you know nothing and we know
everything, because you
are a male presenting
Time Lord, if you were
still a woman you'd understand,
(WTAF).
I'll stop there it's killing
me just writing this and
remembering what an
Abysmal Abomination
piss take this was,
I was so angry how they
scrubbed quality writing
and story telling to
preach at me for 59 minutes,
this is not what I signed up for,
I've lost all respect for
David Tennant as he's all
for this Woke Bull-Crap
and bashing people over
the head with propaganda,
(David has a 10 year old
"Rose", so he's all for
Doctor Who being
high jacked).
Even The BBC review bomb
it's own show thst's
being shown
on it's own platform,
saying "Doctor Who has
always been progressive but
all it is now is a vessel to
spread "The Message",
that's all I need to hear to
know this once great show
"must see tv" is dead a buried
and it ain't never coming back.
And it's only going to get worse,
just listen to Russell in any
interview about his thoughts
and plans for the new Doctor
after David.
And I thought Russell
was going to be the
Saviour, instead he's
the Destroyer and he's
just picked up right
where Chinballs left this show,
In the mud.
One of the more bizarre offerings of the show. The stuff with Picard and Ana down on the planet falls into some terrible TV tropes, but it turns out that it's all on purpose - and somehow, that doesn't make it any better. Far more entertaining is Worf's situation, but we don't really get to see much of it.
I honestly have no memory of seeing this episode before, it has almost zero substance. I wonder if upon reflection Picard feels okay about the ambassador kissing him so much!
“We were meant to be together, but we were never meant to be.”
Yowch.
I was worried when this started as it looked like was going to be an episode all about Neelix and his jealousy. It turns out that it is, but it's nowhere near as bad as I had feared. Tom and Neelix really needed to work their differences out, and in true cliched TV tradition they get stranded together. It becomes a prime example of how simplistic the writing on this show was, as the two of them bond over a baby and magically resolve all of their differences. You could argue that Trek in general operates like this, but Voyager somehow makes it much harder to stomach. Still, I'm really glad that the Neelix/Paris jealousy story is over.
It's also a shame that the alien baby puppet looks like a reject from that '90s TV show Dinosaurs.
I really appreciated the calmer moments of this one, such as Harry playing clarinet and the Doctor's discussion with Kes. Voyager was not one for really digging into characters, so when the moments occur I tend to enjoy them. I think this also wins the prize for the most insane camera shaking ever during the shuttle's crash landing. That was absolutely nuts.
Janeway's new hairdo is awesome.
For once, Chakotay's fake Native American stuff isn't all that bad. That's possibly because it involved other characters too, and I found myself feeling quite sympathetic toward his father. Outside of those flashbacks, things aren't quite as interesting and the aliens-influencing-ancient-Earth-culture feels a bit overdone now. Present-day Chakotay has an unbearable air of smugness about him which needs addressing, while young Chakotay seems to be a complete brat - but it's easier to understand where that's coming from when it's clear he's completely not happy where he is. Which makes it all the more weird that he's so in tune with his heritage as an adult.
The story with the Doctor giving himself the flu was much more enjoyable. The show did seem to forget that he has experienced pain before, though ('Projections').
Almost a disaster of an episode due to the central premise, which ends up only being creepy. It's the ethical situation which arises around it which makes the episode work much better than it has any right to. Merging Tuvok and Neelix, two of the most uninteresting characters on the show, results in Tuvix who honestly freaks me out more than anything. I'm not sure he was cast quite right, even though Tom Wright does a pretty fantastic job in the role.
It doesn't really get interesting until the final act (honestly - that opening sequence is torture, as Neelix STILL doesn't seem to comprehend the basic fact that Vulcans don't feel emotions). Once Janeway makes her decision it's quite uncomfortable viewing, and the ending leaves a bad taste. That's the second episode in a row to finish on a sour note, and it certainly makes things memorable.
One of the few things I kind of liked about that was the Starfleet uniform mixed with Neelix's garish suit patterns. This probably would have had some real ramifications if Tuvix had stayed around for a few episodes.
Plays into a few too many tropes and is a bit cheesy - Voyager travels back to 1996 because that was the cheapest option then - but there's some nice nostalgia in watching it now in that the 90s feel so long ago.
Sarah Silverman's character is kind of derailing the whole thing at this point, they've written her in the most obvious and cliched ways possible. There always has to be a geeky inhabitant of the time period who just happens to be into sci-fi things.
"No time!", says the man in a time ship.
I did laugh at Neelix and Kes enraptured by a soap opera.
Frack,.. Frack,... Frakitty, Fracking, FRACK!!!! That having been said, Don't read any further if you are one of those folks who whine and moan about episode details in the comments, cuz thar' be spoilers below...Sweetie!!!
Quin: "Who AM I? If I'm Nightfall, how can I exist, because Nightfall is DEAD!" Timey-whimey-wibbly-wobbly-loop de loopy-ness to the n-teenth power! Or, to quote the great philosopher Sara Conner, there is no fate except the one we make."
This was indeed an intense, aptly titled episode. IDK if Invictus directly infected Bolo with doubt, or, as Bolo himself opined, that his very freedom from imprisonment simply allowed him to see the vagaries and chaos of the universe, thus, just as one cancer cell can metastasize into full blown disease, his doubt blossomed and fractured his mind and spirit. The end game of course being to turn Ash against the rest of the crew and switch her allegiance to Invictus.
Pretty diabolical, especially when she SAW what occurred, and HAS to know that Gary didn't suddenly gain arm transforming powers to facilitate the murder of her "Brother". She must have the internal fortitude to disregard the mirage of lies that she has been presented, and suss out the actual truth of the situation, that, it wasn't Gary that killed her brother (as Bolo said, he was ALREADY dead), but Invictus. If she can muster the courage to see this reality, rather than the manipulation, then Invictus will have truly overplayed his hand, as he will have actually created the instrument of his own demise.
....So say we all!!
And it was all going so well.
This barely kept my attention and I ended up browsing Reddit while it was on. Really low effort Star Trek that fell back on the most obvious tropes it could. My main comment would be that Claire Rankin (Alice) is very good at doing crazy eyes.
TL;DR Awkwardly executed, but with a truly Trekkian and compelling ethical dilemma. The Seven and Neelix scene near the end is worth the price of admission for subtly showing a socially and philosophically matured Seven.
Voyager's weak point has always been not knowing what to do with most of its main crew. Tom and Harry are boring and handled unnaturally, and the beginning of this episode is no exception. Then, suddenly... DRAMA, YELLING. Unsurprisingly, I was not invested in the stakes or the actions. BUT.
But, there is a compelling ethical question at the heart of the episode, and it's as Star Trek as you can get. There's also a great Seven scene when she's talking to Neelix. It's still not handled as well as later TNG episodes or DS9 episodes, but it was a great character moment that was a long time cooking, and came out naturally, and was profound, and fittingly uttered with a tempered explanatory tone by Seven in an Evo-Devo perspective, which suited her perfectly.
The problem with the story's delivery was that it was clear where it was going, and factually apparent what did not happen, and clearly suggestive what was going on, and I was the one yelling at the TV by the last 8 minutes when they finally had Janeway realize what was going on.
However, the final scene where she decides what they should do about it was handled about as well as can be expected with Voyager, and I actually agreed with this version of Janeway, which is a lot closer to what kind of ethical steerswoman she should have been throughout the show to this point.
The whole episode seems to be written to convince Dwayne Johnson to make a (very) brief appearance. And it worked as, according to imdb, this episode had the highest ratings of the season.
Which I find rather sad because people were probably tuning in to see The Rock and not Star Trek. And since neither his role nor the story itself is memorable you can ignore this one. It's also quite easy to recognize when they used the stunt-double for Jeri and when it's her.
The Tuvok imposter was very funny. Nice episode.
One of my very favorite Trek episodes from any series. The best Chakotay episode of the series.
I'm mostly annoyed that this still wasn't even the actual conclusion. What the hell do we need another season for? I also don't see why humanity in the real world is apparently guaranteed to go instinct after all of this (according to Christina aka "Dolores" during her final dialogue).
Hell, while we're talking about that, how can she speak of having seen the best and worst of humanity and not acknowledge that the hosts did the exact same thing to humanity when the humans were basically hosts themselves with narratives written for them?
Considering that the hosts knew humans were intelligent, sentient, beings, where in the original park pretty much none of the humans knew that the hosts weren't simply robots without actual feelings one could argue that what the hosts did was actually far worse (at least, the hosts in the real world).
Lastly, why does she need one "final" test? As a test for what? The good that can be found in humanity? Weren't we just talking about seeing the beauty in this world? The ancient order in the chaos? What does she need another test/game for?
How do you spend an entire season showing hosts are just as flawed as humans (hell, this was one of the main reasons Hale wanted the hosts to transcend and not waste their time around humans in the city) and then not acknowledge it at the end and instead focus on the humans being the ones that need to face a final test? At least during her dialogue with Ted. It just makes no sense to me.
Maybe I completely misunderstood as she does mention "maybe this time we'll set ourselves free" and it's not so much a test for humanity but for all sentient beings (and would any human she created from memory in her virtual park actually still be a human to begin with?).
My absolute favorite part of this episode? (spoiler) That that terrible theme song was gone(/spoiler)
Now that's the theme music they shud have had from the start instead of the pixie dust one we've had to suffer
i'm not up to date on Game of thrones (yea I said it lol) and there was a few spoilers that ruined the fun for me.
Claire finally broke the 4th wall .Probably the best season so far.
we don't submit to the terror. we make the terror.
I am watching the series in preferred order:
I have to be honest. I found the first two episodes to be rather boring with low production values (which I expected given ultra low budget) and weak performances from several cast members.
But my friends urged me to continue on, so here I am, watching the 3rd episode. Well, Bushwhacked wasn't boring, with Alien-like undertone. And some of the characters like Mal, Wash, and Jayne are starting to grow on me. I am still not entirely sure the series will live up to ultra high hype, but I am now looking forward to watching the next episode.
Correct order: Episode 14 (last episode)
It was great, but many loose ends :( Not the show's fault, it is the damn stupid channel who messed the episodes' order and canceled the show!!!
Update: Check Serenity 2005, it is a movie that continue the actions after this episode, this movie almost wrap up all loose ends like a season 2 that never happened.
