Damn, it must really suck to have been snapped while being on a plane.
Pros:
Cons:
6/10
In Captain Marvel, I didn’t like the main character, but I thought the movie around her was quite solid.
Black Widow is the exact opposite: I quite liked the two leads, but the movie surrounding them doesn’t really work.
Pros:
- Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh are easily the most entertaining part of the film.
- I liked the first act. It feels like Cate Shortland is trying to do an impression of a Jason Bourne movie. It’s fairly humourless, the cinematography is bleak, and the score is intense. It has a tone that no other MCU film has.
- The action (minus the final battle) is fairly well done. As per usual, less editing would’ve made it better, but at least it feels weighty.
Cons:
- The story itself isn’t that interesting. The themes and main mcguffin are oddly similar to Captain Marvel, though it’s not executed as well. The villains also fail to make an impression.
- This movie really loses its identity as it goes along, to the point where it turns more into a generic Marvel movie as it goes on, and eventually a generic action blockbuster by the third act. Everything gets way too big and bloated for its own good.
- Not a fan of the Russian accents, they sound very tacky. Just let everyone speak with a normal American accent, I can look past the fact they’re Russians. Besides, they even had a story based reason to ditch the Russian accents entirely.
- I found David Harbour quite cringeworthy in this.
- The main characters are protected by strong plot armour. Most characters should’ve been killed 3-4 times based on the things that happen during the action scenes. This isn’t even a ‘suspend your disbelief, it’s an action movie’ situation, it gets really ridiculous, to the point where it’s almost Fast and Furious level.
- The pacing is a bit inconsistent, you really feel it slowing down during the second act.
Finally, I want to address that I already find the use of Nirvana songs in movies like these quite distasteful, but the cover that's used during the credits literally sucked all the life out of the song.
4.5/10
[7.7/10] Another really entertaining episode. This is more explicitly doing Bewitched and 1960s sitcoms, and there’s a lot of sheer entertainment to be had from a riff on tropes of odd couples trying to fit into their idyllic neighborhoods.
I also appreciate the recognition of classic sitcom tropes and how they’d evolved in the subsequent decades. That goes beyond just the different decor in Wanda and Vision’s home. We see them walk outside and go seemingly on location, beyond the confines of a single set. We also see many more people of color populating their white picket fence town. It’s small details, but they add up to show change.
The notion of Wanda trying to impress Dottie, the queen bee of the neighborhood (Emma Caufield, aka Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Vision to get in good with the neighborhood watch, so as to further their joint initiative to fit in works as a great premise for the episode. There’s a lot of humor to be wrung from off-beat Wanda trying to fit in with the Stepford-esque ladies under Dottie’s purview, and awkward square Vision accidentally fitting in with the guys of the watch.
What’s more, the set piece of the two of them trying to pull off a magic act at the local talent show, where Vision is functionally drunk due to some literal gum in the works, and Wanda has to work to make people think it isn’t magic, is fantastic. There’s a great, frantic energy to the whole routine, and both Olsen and Bettany play it to the hilt.
This was also a great episode for stray lines. The running gag of people chanting “For The Children” in unison brought a lot of yuks. The poor mustached man from the prior episode going “That was my grandmother’s piano” when Wanda turns it into a wooden standee was a solid laugh. And one of the housewives in the audience asking “Is that how mirror’s work?” when Wanda uses them to try to explain Vision’s phasing hat trick had me rolling in the aisles.
But it’s not all laughs. There’s more horror at the edge of the frame that’s done quite well. The presence of an airplane that’s visibly Iron Man’s colors seems to shock Wanda as revealing that something’s wrong here. When Wanda assures Dottie that she doesn’t mean any harm, Dottie says “I don’t believe you,” in genuinely frightened tones, while a strange voice cuts through the radio, causing her to break a glass and bleed fluid that likewise breaks through the black and white color scheme. It’s another superbly done unnerving moment.
There’s also some interesting lines that have double meanings that are quickly glossed over, like their new friend saying “I don’t know why I’m here,” seemingly referring to the garden party, but also suggesting she’s been wrapped into this fantasy world somehow and doesn’t know why. There’s a lot of little bits of dialogue that work like that in this one, and it’s fascinating.
We also see and hear some loud thumping, played for laughs in the “move the beds together” scene (another wink toward classic TV changes), but also witness it used for legitimate scares. There’s some frightening imagery when the man emerges from the sewers in a beekeeper outfit and more “Who’s doing this to you, Wanda?” calls are heard, especially when Wanda uses the power to rewind the tape. The advent of a pregnancy is an interesting development, and the arrival of color with their kiss is some great effects worth.
I’m nursing a theory that this is all part of Wanda coping with the loss of Vision, feeling sick or afflicted and unwittingly creating this fantasy world out of some kind of grief, wrapping more and more people into it. Whatever the answer, color me appropriately intrigued by the mystery, charmed by the pastiche, and appropriately disturbed at the hints of something deeply wrong with all of this.
Another strong offering from Jonathon Frakes, however this one is not entirely without its flaws. It shines in the character interactions but seems to stumble over some of the plot points.
Ahhhhhh i’m so happy they are not shying away from the tough conversations on what it means to be Captain America in this decade. I love symbolism in storytelling and there’s no stronger symbol than that shield, and the way they have used it as a vehicle and representative of the different American identities (good and (really) bad) has been incredible.
Steve Rogers, John Walker, Sam Wilson and Isaiah Bradley all represent sides of the US that co-exist, and John Walker being the effective Captain America for most of this show isn’t accidental - he’s the side of America that’s most present and salient right now (in the world off the screen), but ending the show with Sam Wilson carrying that shield - and going through all the issues that that might bring up - is as powerful a message as any - one of hope and of what the US should aspire to be. Steve Rogers is no longer enough, Steve Rogers is the American Dream - Isaiah Bradley the American Reality - and Sam Wilson is both. This show, and all of Captain America’s storyline, is about so much more than just men in spandex and they’ve done a fantastic job taking it even further here. Glad Marvel is still delivering after so many years, makes me proud to be a fan!
EDIT: I changed my mind. Looking back, I liked this show more than I say I did. The cast are fun and likeable, even if I never fell in love with their characters.
Hey, everyone, I made it! I got through my least favourite Star Trek show for the first time after numerous attempts. And I have to say, I didn't completely hate the journey.
But, this is how it ends? That's it? What a thoroughly disappointing way to finish things. The finale introduces some random new plot elements that really don't work and just come out of nowhere (Tuvok's disease and the Chakotay/Seven relationship - which did have some hints but they were completely from Seven's imagination, so this feels jarring), and worst of all we get no proper resolution to so many things.
Voyager arrives back home and there's zero emotional payoff; we don't get to see their welcome back or any reunions with family and friends. Tom's father is on the screen when they make it back and doesn't acknowledge his son sitting right there. What's going to happen to the Maquis crew members now? B'Elanna gives birth but we don't get introduced to the baby or even find out what they name her. Seven asks to have the Doctor perform the procedure on her which will "unlock" her ability to feel the full range of emotions, but we don't even know if he actually does that. In just the previous episode, the Doctor declared his love for Seven but that's not addressed at all.
Instead, the final episode decides to spend its time on another dull Borg story that feels like it lacks any impact. Voyager has defeated these guys so many times now that it feels pointless for them to keep encountering them (and this time they have convenient future tech). Yes, it's nice to have Alice Krige reprise her role as the Borg Queen, but the episode doesn't actually do anything interesting with her. The entire bullheaded mission of future Admiral Janeway is dubious at best and depicts her as extremely selfish.
The entire show was a missed opportunity to do something interesting, and it chose to stay as safe as possible all the way through. Any time the series did do something good, it was forgotten about and not mentioned again (remember when Seven's nanites were discovered to be a cure for death? Sure would have been useful to do that again. Remember the previous episode when the Delta Flyer's communications were destroyed so Janeway transmitted a message through the deflector? Why hasn't that been used in the uncountable times communications were down?).
The show had some really good characters, though. The Doctor was the standout by a long way and the introduction of Seven was a good move. Captain Janeway is inconsistent in her actions and motives, but Kate Mulgrew was never less than fantastic in the role. I just wish everyone had some evolution across the show. Harry, Tom, Tuvok, Neelix, Chakotay: they really never changed their personalities (and this even applies to the Doctor and Seven). There's an argument that everyone became a better person, but I say that nothing about them actually evolved. The fact remains that I just don't care about characters like Tuvok or Chakotay, because they never felt like real people.
Still, it is an easy and entertaining watch and in the end it is Star Trek and delivers a lot of the storytelling and universe that makes me feel cosy. I just probably won't watch it again (hmm... maybe if it's given an HD upgrade and released on blu-ray). I know the show has a lot of fans and if you like it then that's great, but I don't think I'll ever quite understand why.
Oh no, we lost 11% of our energy reserves! Janeway's gotta give up coffee to save power, but using the holodeck is totally fine? (And apparently even more fine when that figure doubles.)
Convenient that Chakotay happens to have his medicine bundle even though his ship was destroyed in Caretaker, isn't it? I don't remember the Maquis crew members exactly getting a chance to salvage their belongings before that Kazon ship took their shuttle in the flank…
Based on the deck layout in Star Trek: Voyager: Elite Force, Neelix turns left out of the mess hall right into a dead-end when he's heading off to argue with Janeway. Turning left got him out of the shot faster, I guess.
Someone in effects should have checked the script. Those nucleonic beams were very much not parallel to the ship's central axis.
OK, nitpicks aside, I'm of two minds on this episode.
On the one hand, it does a lot of great work establishing elements of the series that I really do love (if only for nostalgic reasons, in some cases). We get a hint of the Doctor becoming more independent ("A hologram that programs himself…"). We get jokes about Neelix's cooking. Tom is already establishing himself as a holodeck wizard of sorts (even if he does write his female characters like a chauvinist).
But we also get some of the bullshit. The whole premise is just a bit hokey, and the Neelix/Kes relationship is all the more awkward when you start the series already knowing that she's two years old and will be dead by age ten. (That kiss? So uncomfortable.)
Still, Voyager was my first Trek show. I can't help but like it despite myself.
Ah, Voyager.
I set myself a task of watching through the Star Trek franchise in chronological order, using the Star Trek Chronology Project as a guide. Since there is so much of it, I figured I would reach a point where I would struggle. So far, so good, but now I have to begin Star Trek: Voyager and from the off I'm feeling despondent.
I just don't like this show. It had a great concept - a Starfleet vessel lost on the other side of the galaxy, trying to get home - but was consistently a let down in every way. The potential was squandered at every opportunity, the writing always weak (especially compared to the incredible stuff happening on DS9 at the same time) and the characters incredibly bland. There was no sense of continuity or struggle. Do I even need to mention the heavy use of the reset button at the end of each episode?
I've never been able to get all the way through it before. When it was originally airing I stayed with it up until season 4 or maybe 5, then lost interest. I tuned in for the finale and don't remember much about it other than being underwhelmed. But I'm going to give it another chance here and see if I can make it all the way through.
'Caretaker' is a pretty weak beginning to the series. It sets up the initial concept and immediately makes everything feel very safe and ordered. Fortunately, it does have a pretty good cast but many of these good actors are given terrible characters to play. Captain Janeway is good, embodying many of the noble traits we'd expect of someone in charge and having a likeable command style. The holographic doctor is fun from the first moment we meet him. That's pretty much where the good stuff ends.
The characters we meet here are, more or less, exactly the same people they are going to be at the end of the show. Harry Kim will forever feel like an inexperienced kid on his first mission, Paris will attempt to be a cocky bad boy and never pull it off, Tuvok is a Vulcan and that's it, and Chakotay is pretty much the blandest man you'll ever meet. Torres has a bit of spark in her and will hopefully make her mark, but then there's Neelix who will remain the most annoying character ever to grace Star Trek. I guess Kes is there, too.
From the moment the crew are transported to the awful "farm" sequence on board the array, the episode just begins to fall flat and sit comfortably among the most basic of Star Trek tropes. All of the danger is manufactured and the aliens have uninspired designs. The Ocampa especially suck. There's a requisite scene where a rickety staircase begins to collapse. It's wrong to just blame everyone working on the show for these problems, by this point the franchise had done so much and it was following immediately on the heels of TNG, and they wanted to draw in fans of that series and let them feel some sense of familiarity. By the end of the episode we get a completely unbelievable situation as the renegade Maquis terrorists join the Starfleet crew, put on the uniforms and live happily together. Janeway makes Chakotay the bloody first officer... it's insane.
I read a fantastic idea online somewhere: the first season of this should have been about the original Voyager crew hunting down Chakotay and his Maquis crew. We would have gotten to know him as a villain and formed an attachment to everyone. Then, towards the end of the season, the Voyager crew who died here are killed and THEN Chakotay et al are forced through circumstances to join together. How much better, and so much more powerful, would that have been?
I will say one thing, though: the show has a gorgeous title sequence and theme tune.
Finally something actually happened after they dragged the season for absolutely nothing.
After four mediocre episodes in a row with three of them being filler, this episode is decent enough. Those previous episodes serve no actual purpose other than waiting for the plot to trigger itself by that call.
The dialogues in this episode could be better and so could the way the scenes are cut, especially for the first half. People seem too eager to join The Mando in his quest for the sake of moving the story. However the last 5-10 the minutes is quite watchable with enough tense. The brute killing in the last scene seems to suggest they're going with the "evil Empire" cliche, but I wish they could do better than that next episode.
It seems like the story just started to be set in motion and we will be left with more questions as Season 1 ends, which unfortunately seems to be Disney+ business model: just make cute Baby Yoda stuff for moms and Star Wars reference for dads, figure things out later in Season 2.
On positive notes, it's nice that they attempt to do more world-building like shocktroopers having signature tattoo, each Imperial province having their own insignia, and the Imperial warlord trying to convince people that the world is better with colonialism.
[7.5/10] Ahsoka feels right. The vistas of Lothal feel of a piece with their animated rendition. The characters seem like themselves despite shifts in the performer and the medium. Their relationships feel genuine even though much has changed in the five years since we’ve seen them together.
Maybe that shouldn’t be a big surprise with Dave Filoni, impresario of the animated corner of Star Wars, both writing and directing “Master and Apprentice”, the series premiere. He is the title character’s co-creator and caretaker. He is the creator of Star Wars: Rebels, the show that Ahsoka is most clearly indebted to. And he is, for many, the keeper of the flame when it comes to the Galaxy Far Far Away.
But it was my biggest fear for this show. More than the plot, more than the lore, more than the latest chapter in the life of my favorite character in all of Star Wars, my concern was that translating all these characters, and their little corner of the universe, to live action and a different cast and a different era of the franchise would make everything feel wrong. Instead, we’re right at home. The rest is gravy.
And the gravy is good. Because these are not the colorful, if intense, adventures of the Ghost crew fans saw before. This is, or should be, a period of triumph for the onetime Rebels. They won! The Empire is torn asunder! Lothal is led with grace and a touch of wry sarcasm by Governor Azadi, with none other than Clancy Brown reprising the role! Huyang the lightsaber-crafting droid is still around and has most of his original parts!
Nonetheless, our heroes are hung up on old battles and older wounds. Ahsoka Tano is on a quest to track down Grand Admiral Thrawn, who hunted the Spectres in Rebels. Sabine Wren can’t bask in the afterglow of victory as a hero when she’s still mourning Ezra Bridger. And the two warriors have some lingering bad blood with one another after an attempt to become master and apprentice, true to the title, went wrong somewhere along the way.
With that, the first installment of Ahsoka is a surprisingly moody and meditative affair, one that works well for Star Wars. Sure, there's still a couple of crackerjack lightsaber fights to keep the casual fans engaged. But much of this one is focused on familiar characters reflecting on what’s been lost, what’s been broken, and what’s hard to fix. The end of Rebels was triumphant, but came with costs. To linger on those costs, and the new damage that's accumulated in their wake, is a bold choice from Filoni and company.
So is the decision to focus on Sabine here. Don’t get me wrong, Ahsoka has the chance to shine in the first installment of the show that bears her name. Her steady reclamation of a map to Thrawn, badass hack-and-slash on some interfering bounty droids, and freighted reunions with Hera and her former protege all vindicate why fans have latched onto the character. For her part, Rosario Dawson has settled into the role, bringing a certain solemnity that befits a more wizened and confident master, but also that subtle twinkle that Ashley Eckstei brings to the role.
And yet, the first outing for Ahsoka spends more time with Sabine’s perspective. It establishes her as a badass who’d rather rock her speeder with anti-authoritarian style than be honored for her heroics. It shows her grieving a lost comrade whose sacrifice still haunts her. It teases out an emotional distance and rebelliousness between her and her former mentor. And it closes with her using her artist’s eye to solve the puzzle du jour, and defend herself against a fearsome new enemy.
This is her hour, and while Sabine is older, more introverted, all the more wounded than the Mandalorian tagger fans met almost a decade ago, this opening salvo for the series is better for it.
My only qualms are with the threat du jour. Yet another Jedi not only survived the initial Jedi Purge, but has made it to the post-Return of the Jedi era without arousing the suspicions of Palpatine, Vader, Yoda, or Obi-Wan. Ray Stevenson brings a steady and quietly menacing air to Baylan Skoll, the former Jedi turned apparent mercenary, but there's enough rogue force-wielders running around already, thank you very much.
His apprentice holds her own against New Republic forces and Ahsoka’s own former apprentice, but is shrouded in mystery. She goes unidentified, which, in Star Wars land, means she’s secretly someone important (a version of Mara Jade from the “Legends” continuity?) or related to someone important (the child of, oh, let’s say Ventress). And I’m tired of such mystery boxes.
Throw in the fact that Morgan Elsbet, Ahsoka’s source and prisoner, turns out to be a Nightsister, and you have worrying signs that the series’ antagonists will be rehashing old material rather than moving the ball forward. The obvious “We just killed a major character! No for real you guys!” fakeout cliffhanger ending doesn’t inspire much confidence on that front either.
Nonetheless, what kept me invested in Rebels, and frankly all of Star Wars, despite plenty of questionable narrative choices, is the characters. The prospect of Ahsoka trying to train a non force-sensitive Mandalorian in the ways of the Jedi, or at least her brand of them, is a bold and fascinating choice.
But even more fascinating is two people who once believed in one another, having fallen apart, drifting back together over the chance to save someone they both care about. “Master and Apprentice” embraces, rather than shying away from, the sort of lived-in relationships that made the prior series so impactful in the past, and the broken bonds that make these reunions feel fragile, painful, and more than a little bitter in the present.
I am here for Hera the general trying to patch things up between old friends. I am here for Sabine holding onto her rebellious streak but carrying scars from what went wrong, in the Battle of Lothal and in her attempts to learn the ways of the Jedi. And I am here for Ahsoka, once the apprentice without a master, now the master without an apprentice, here to snuff out the embers of the last war and reclaim what was lost within it.
They all feel right. The rest can figure itself out.
Another good episode, but I must admit that I was kinda disappointed by it as a season finale. It ended well, but the episode felt a bit off. It felt as though every single character just had a sudden change of heart, as though we had missed an entire episode of development. Obviously we knew certain characters were headed a certain way, but they just seemed to suddenly jump from say 60% of the way that they progressed through the last 7 episodes, to 100% just in this one. It felt kinda weird how Homelander just suddenly showed up and got Ryan too - it came out of nowhere. It was still a good episode, but I thought it felt a bit rushed.
Also kinda disappointed that we're kinda just back where we started at the beginning of the season, with no real way to take down Homelander. I was expecting Soldier Boy to take Homelander's powers and then we'd get to see a new side to Homelander next season since he'd be weak and dealing with having no powers. Instead, it seems we're going to get a lot of focus on Ryan and Homelander together - which I do like. I had also thought that maybe all of The Boys would end up with powers by the end of the season, but that didn't happen either (not that that's a bad thing).
Anyway, I thought this was a good episode, but an ever so slightly disappointing end to a fantastic season of TV. Can't wait for season 4.
Vic Fontaine ain't got shit on her...
I somehow like this episode, because everyone is so well dressed and has a good time at that party. Plus I like the title - this Borg designation makes a lot of sense. This tells you a lot about this episode's shortcomings though if that's why I like this episode. Why doesn't this show happen in space? Or in the distant future? I get why Rios is excited about matches but I'm not half as excited as he is 'cause I've seen matches and "real" cigars before. Why does that feel like I'm watching 007 partying in Montenegro? Still don't understand the story. Q wants Soong to stop both Picards (as if he wasn't the omnipotent being here) and that's the only reason why the crew tried to help Renée to begin quarantine . Except maybe Q nobody knows why they are doing what they are doing and I don't get it either. I mean, they jumped to 2024 cause someone told them that there's a watcher who will tell them how to fix the broken arrow of time. But even that watcher doesn't really know what they are supposed to do and whether this timeline is actually manipulated as we speak - perhaps Renée was always having doubts no matter whether Q was her shrink or not. Maybe she is supposed to fly into space in ten days - maybe she isn't. Most of that still makes no sense to me. I mean this episode is maybe strangely entertaining (for the reasons I began my review with), but it also feels totally unnecessary. I mean, what really happened? Picard is in a coma (which maybe is more relevant than we might know yet) and Jurati turned into some kind of possessed Dark Knight in a sexy costume - but we knew that before this episode. That's basically it. And again they don't know what to do with Raffi, Rios and Annika. They are only there for doing some small talk it seems.
[6.0/10] Oh man, what a crock this is. It is so full of cheats and shortcuts and self contradictions that it's hard to take any of it seriously. Suddenly, we've pivoted to the prospect of mortality and self-sacrifice as the most important theme of the season, despite the fact that those have been, at best, tangential to the ideas the show was exploring up until...last week.
And it's totally contradicted by what the episode actually does! Picard trying to "give his life" to prove to Soji that organics is good would have more weight if we hadn't seen him jump into death-defying situations throughout the season. What makes this one any different? And when he "dies", it's not because the Romulans blast him or really anything to do with his grand stand. His brain abnormality just acts up when it's dramatically convenient, with no apparent connection to his attempt at self sacrifice.
Then the episode just wipes away that sacrifice anyway! I can't tell you what a cheat it feels like to have Picard die, learn a very important lesson about the beauty of life coming from the fact that it's finite, only for him to then immediately cheat death! Then the whole bending over backwards to try to explain that even though he has an android body now, he'll age normally feels contrived and bullshit as hell. It's a dumb plot choice that immediately contradicts the episodes laudable themes about accepting mortality as something inherently human.
It's not all bad. As deus ex machina as Riker's arrival, it's still a cool moment. As weird as Data looks in the "quantum simulation" (oh brother), his death and appreciation for Picard's love is moving. And even if Jurati feels like she's from a different show, her quips and jibes got a chuckle out of me.
Everything in this finale is just so rushed and glancing and ultimately unsatisfying. There's some good ideas here, but they're all shortchanged for a meditation on death that feels out of step with the show's ideas to this point, and a bunch of easy plot fixes and character relationships that haven't actually been developed.
On the whole, this season was a real missed opportunity. Assembling this kind of talent and deploying it only for this wobbly mess of a season is a big shame. I'm a sucker, so I'll be back for season 2, and I hope they'll work out the kinks But after this, I'm not terribly optimistic.
A joy of an episode to watch despite not really being all that special. Maybe it's just because season 7 is so uninspired that this one really manages to stand out. Interesting to note, though, that plot-wise very little actually happens here - there's no reason behind Worf's dimension-jumping other than an accident, so we don't get any alien conspiracy or vendetta against him. The solution to the problem is also incredibly straight forward and devoid of problems, and in that respect it could be seen as quite disappointing in terms of jeopardy because there really is none.
No, the fun here just comes from following Worf through the different dimensions and spotting all the differences. It's hard not to enjoy seeing Wesley back on the bridge, or more subtle things like the colour of Data's eyes. If anything, I end up wishing that they did more with it and showed us some really insane alternatives (how about one where Data is a female android? Or Dr. Crusher has cybernetic implants? Or where Worf, Alexander and K'Ehyleyr live as a happy family? What if Worf had ended up in a dimension that he DIDN'T want to leave?).
The episode also references events from several previous episodes in a nice (and rare) use of continuity. The big set up here is the pairing of Worf and Deanna, though. It's a strange one, but I have to admit to always thinking that they made a pretty good couple, and the show will run with it for a little while.
Special mention for the nightmare Enterprise that comes from the Borg dimension, Jonathon Frakes does a great job as the manic, crazy bearded Riker!
Patrick Stewart spins around the wrong way after Brent Spiner "hits" him in Engineering… No wonder that particular fight call seemed extra cheesy.
Both times Graves transfers his consciousness, the implied mechanics leave major plot holes. Who turned Data back on? How did Data get on the floor? Who unplugged him?!
While I wouldn't necessarily call this a great story—it has a lot of elements that were common in science fiction up to that time, and the plot holes are awfully big—it is a great watch. Brent Spiner doing just about anything makes for a great watch.
I'm a bit disappointed to read that a scene where Data was to riff on Picard's bald head, after his attempt at a Riker-like beard failed, was cut from the script. That would have been hilarious. But maybe it would have included another instance of Deanna making some excuse to avoid laughing in front of Data, who is an android and would not feel insulted by it, so… maybe it was better left out. (That bit was very out of character, I thought. Troi shouldn't feel the need to hide her reaction from Data. He'd find it useful feedback, if anything.)
Besides Spiner's usual obvious fun-having, there are some nice little writing touches to think about.
IMDB pointed out (because I haven't read Dickens in forever) that the disease Graves had is probably a reference to a character of the same name in A Tale of Two Cities, which is pretty great.
Graves' name itself, while not really a literary reference per se, is still funny. A man trying to cheat death is named after the thing in which he does not want to end up (a grave). Har har?
(I also realized early on this this episode why Dr. Pulaski must be so dour… She's played by Diana Muldaur, who practically has "dour" in her name… but that's a cheap shot, I guess.)
Riker calls for emergency attention from security, so who shows up? Worf, with Geordi. Neither has a phaser. La Forge isn't even part of the security division—at this point in the series, he's the helmsman. But Dr. Crusher happens to bring along a phaser when called to a medical emergency onboard the ship… because that makes sense. (We'll try to ignore how Worf and Geordi play along with Admiral Quinn's lies about what happened to Riker. That's also bad.)
That chair Remmick is sitting in looks an awful lot like the one used for Admiral Jameson in "Too Short a Season". That's because it was the same prop, redressed.
Not a nitpick, but doesn't fit into the review proper, either: I had no idea Captain Rixx was a Bolian. This is the first appearance of the species in Star Trek, and I guess I'm used to the later makeup design—which uses a much more saturated blue. Bonus trivia: The Bolians were named after Cliff Bole, who went on to direct a total of 42 Star Trek episodes across TNG, DS9, & VOY. He also directed on numerous other well-known shows like MacGyver, The X-Files, Baywatch, and Charlie's Angels.
Some background information on what was happening in the television world at the time explains why this episode wasn't as good as you might think it should be. After all, it's clearly meant to be a taut thriller about the possibility of Starfleet being seized by aliens. It's obviously meant to be part of a larger story arc—that started several episodes back, when Quinn gave Picard that warning.
The writers' strike of 1988 was ultimately responsible for this letdown. This "Conspiracy" plotline was meant to be intertwined with the Borg, who were to be introduced at the start of season two. But the writers' strike delayed the rest of the Borg storyline several months, and this piece of it was dropped. That's why nothing ever comes of the "homing beacon" Data reports.
It's too bad. Aside from it being entirely too easy for Picard and Riker to win against the "mother creature" (in Remmick's body), I enjoyed this one. It's not perfect, but "Conspiracy" as part of something bigger would have been better than what ultimately happened: treating this like any other incident-of-the-week—essentially, pressing the "big reset button" and pretending like these events never occurred.
I watched the first three episodes, and quite frankly this show is a complete mess.
It can't decide whether it wants to be a period drama, a detective show, urban fantasy, a war story... The dichotomies between these genres are too big, and the writer makes a crap job of marrying them together. They're not mixed well enough for the flow of the story to be smooth. It's like watching a show with multiple personalities disorder.
The dialogue isn't all that great, the timeframe of events is unclear, and there's no spark between the lead couple in the slightest. They have some type of chemistry, but it is definitely not of the romantic kind. Also the pacing is all wrong. There are way too many scenes so unnecessarily long. It made for a very boring watching experience.
As for the cast, they're not the best of actors, but they're not the worst either. However, I need Cara to just pick a freking accent and stick to it. I've seen her in interviews and I know that's not what she sounds like, so why have an Irish accent for some scenes and not for others? The accent wasn't necessary in the slightest. So why even add it if you're not gonna be great at it? So pointless.
If you wanna watch an Amazon Prime show about a wartime love story with fantasy elements, just go watch The Man in the High Castle. The first season is infinitely better, I promise.
Easily the best Star Wars tv show, even after only 3 episodes. A Star Wars show that actually has nuance??!?
Having continued to watch weekly, here's just a bit of why it's so good: Dialogue that treats its audience as intelligent, writing and themes that actually address what Empire and Rebellion really mean, side characters who immediately make an impression even with limited screen time, incredible set design that feels real rather than CGI, spy thriller intensity bubbling underneath every scene, imbuing TIE fighters and stormtroopers with actual menace, new nuggets of interesting worldbuilding, emotional scenes between interesting characters, and some of the best set-pieces of Star Wars TV (episodes 3 & 6 in particular). It's Star Wars for adults, not in the sense of gore, violence, or sex, but in the sense of nuance, complexity, and weighty themes. It's astounding that Star Wars can be this good, especially since all their recent shows and films have been lackluster copies of past highs.
Art is subjective of course, you can like what you like, but these are just some of the reasons that this show is getting as much praise as it has been. I think Star Wars is a setting, a feeling, and it can sustain different types of genres and themes. It can be light-hearted action-adventure, and that's fine if that's what you want it to be, but this show proves that it can do other things. Star Wars can keep expanding into numerous different genres if it's done with the care and thought that this show has been given.
This was a really interesting albeit slow episode with many intriguing threads. I really liked that Andor went back to Ferrix. I had almost expected that with these three-episode-arcs he wouldn't and we wouldn't see those characters and the established city anymore.
At times what is presented just doesn't feel like star wars very much. It just seems too earthly or too much like other fictional worlds which are a lot more Sci-Fi and a lot less fantastic. It was a step up that they finally included a few more aliens but still too few to make the world seem really alien.
I liked the depiction of everything happening inside the ISB although the leader is a bit too friendly and understanding for my taste (and understanding of how to acquire a high position within the empire).
I have one big question though: Was that female informant or spy supposed to be Leia? She looked a lot like Carrie Fisher back in the day to me but would be way too old since Leia should be around 15 at that time. And while we are at the topic of (possible) cameos: Yularen's character was a bit off when compared to his appearances in Clone Wars and Rebels.
I am however really excited were all this leads especially whats going to happen to Andor himself.
More pieces of the puzzle but still no full picture developing.
It actually wasn't too bad. We see more of Q, which is a good thing given deLancies great performance. Concerning Q: Why would he rip himself of his own power in a scenario he himself created ? Doesn't make sense and suggest that someone else is involved ?
So, Laris isn't Laris but a supervisor like Gary Seven. That's an interesting angle that I hope get's further developed than just this short mentioning. I'm also getting some Edith Keeler vibes with Renee Picard in the sense that she was essential for the timeline. Interestingly Keeler's survival would have let probably to the same future as Renee not making the flight. Coincidence ?
The ICE storyline is hopefully done with and it was obviously just there to make a point. Let's leave it at that.
I don't like the Jurati plot because I don't like Jurati. And I'm dissapointed in how they used the Borg Queen so far. But that's just me personally.
Bringing in Brent Spiner as another Soong ancestor is a nice angle that, in a way, gives more depth. Althought I fear he's just a tool here. And Isa Briones finally got to make her appearance in this timeline, too.
One thing that pains me to say a bit is that it feels that Patrick Stewart seems exhausted in almost every scene he's in. It could be intentional in how he plays Picard as a fragile old man. I hope it is because otherwise it would mean it's too much for him. Which could be normal given his age but makes me wonder about his involvement in season 3.
From the start of its announcement this show brought out the most controversial discussions. So I followed the hype to take a look at what it’s all about.
I haven’t read any of the books nor did I play a single game so let me tell you: if you don’t know any of the stories and characters it’s kinda difficult to get into it. From the beginning it felt to me this show is directly aimed at the fans especially of the books. To me it seems like The Witcher is such a big story it must’ve been hard for the creators of this show to fit it into this show.
I get why fans of The Witcher might like this show so much and they have every right to. Storytelling is good although lengthy at times and as mentioned before it’s aimed at that audience.
For me as an „outsider“ this show is about average. Acting in many cases feels uninspired and a lot of the shows special effects and camera work feel like they’re pre 2010. And to be honest, I expected a little more from a show with this amount of advance blessings. At times you don’t really get where the show is headed especially as a virgin to this universe. Also character building and structure can be confusing at times.
Finally a word to the people who tried to tell everyone this will be a GoT-Killer: it’s not, far from it to be honest. Although I did NOT compare this show with GoT at any time during my watch through Season 1 there were a lot of Witcher Fans out there in the previous months who tried to paint that picture. Do yourself a favor and don’t compare those two shows. They have very different premises and both shows deserve to be looked at independently.
For Witcher-Fans: enjoy the show, it should be (almost) everything you were looking for.
For everyone else: give it a try but it just might not be your cup of tea.
I'm as surprised as anyone that I've found an episode with Neelix in such a prominent role that I quite enjoyed. But it's not because of him, it's because it's the culmination of a plot thread that has been building over the past bunch of episodes - even though that culmination may not be the most satisfying end. At any rate, Neelix's scenes saying goodbye to Tom did work very well.
It turns out Tom Paris has been faking his misbehaviour (duh) because Janeway and Tuvok suspect there's a spy on board. They decided to keep Chakotay out of the loop to make it seem more real, but I think it's really because they didn't trust Chakotay not to mess things up. I think what's impressed me most about it all is that the show kept this thread running over the course of several episodes, and it just feels like such a breath of fresh air to have some serialisation that I'm happy to sit back and enjoy it, despite it not being all that compelling.
Tom's fight to escape from Seska and the Kazon is unimpressive, seeminly limited to one corridor set that he has to run back and forth through. Seska herself is revelling in being evil, and I have to admit I get a weird thrill out of the cheesiness of it all. I almost didn't expect Jonas to die, and at least he goes out in style.
Neelix's TV show could become grating if we see lots more of it, but the funny subplot with the Doctor did entertain me. One moment that took me right out of the episode was when Janeway contacts engineering and explains everything that's going on to Jonas ("we need the transporter, because we've detected a Kazon shuttle and there is one human life sign on board and we think it might be Tom Paris") despite no captain ever taking the time to do this in Trek history. Also, Jonas being the only person in engineering is really bizarre.
[8.5/10] Expectations can be a difficult thing to manage. When you hear that an actor is going to reprise one of your favourite roles of all time, it's easy to get excited. When you see trailers and it looks good, you get more excited. When you start hearing positive early reviews, your excitement level can go through the roof. If anything, I was worried that my expectations for Picard were just too high, and I was only going to be disappointed.
But almost from the opening moments of this premiere, I was swept up. Picard avoids excessive nostalgia (but provides just a nice amount) and begins by telling a tale full of emotion and character. It's markedly different from Star Trek: Discovery, both in terms of visuals and writing. The pace is measured and characters are given room to breathe, the action is sparse but hard-hitting. Patrick Stewart himself is a frailer man than the one we remember, but there's no mistaking that this is our Jean-Luc Picard back on screen.
It's still early days and there are a lot of directions this story could take. But here I was surprised at just how impactful some of the emotional moments and revelations were. Isa Briones is strong in the role of Dahj, seemingly an unknown "daughter" of Data's,, but it was Picard's reaction to it all that made it have so much more weight. No mention of Data's other daughter, Lal, but that may come up later.
There was some awkward exposition early on with an interview sequence that didn't quite hit the mark due a mix of writing that was a bit too on-the-nose and the actor for the interviewer feeling weirdly out of place. For a mostly calm opening there was a surprising amout of information and story to be digested here and a lot of questions that I can't wait to be answered.
“Do it!”
I’m surprised they added that in there despite all the memes.
Anyway…
A long time ago...four years to be distinct; the space opera ‘Star Wars’ returned to cinemas with ‘The Force Awakens', that brought back the bittersweet experience that fans have been craving for over 30 years. Well lets just say Christmas was magical that year. While I wasn’t quite as wowed as everyone else, but I still enjoyed it otherwise and I was interested where the story will go after J.J. Abrams left his “mystery box” of questions for another director to answer. How exciting and epic the next years will be.
And then the sequel and two spin-offs happened. Well lets just say my interest for these new movies has completely evaporated. Sad times indeed. And no I don’t feel like I’m being overly negative in the heat this movie is receiving, because right now, at this very moment, my thoughts and overall feeling on this movie are genuine, and re-watching it isn’t going to safe it. I’m not disappointed or angry, because at this point I stopped caring.
‘Rise of Skywalker’ is a factory made movie with no heart, no soul, and no magic. Words and phrases like: bold, epic, and satisfying - are not the type of words that I would describe this final chapter in the Skywalker saga. I can’t call something bold if it played things incredibly safe. Each movie exists just to shred up and apologize for what came before it.
J.J. Abrams can be hit or miss sometimes, but I must admit he had a difficult task to follow up on ‘Last Jedi’ and Rian Johnson undoing his mystery box questions. If that wasn’t bad enough, the death of Carrie Fisher also had a massive effect on the story, and including her into the movie, while respecting her legacy and giving her as much screen time with the limited deleted footage they have. Abrams sadly treads on familiar ground and doesn't really handle the originals (or even the prequels) with respect. This is literally a remake of ‘Return of The Jedi’.
The story in this movie is almost nonexistent. It’s so rushed that you can’t catch a breather amidst the chaos. Nothing flows naturally. Characters running around and jumping from location to location. I think the quick pace easily hides the poor writing and plot holes. I also thought the title crawl is a bit off and felt it was written by a Reddit user. From the moment the movie starts until it ends nothing makes a lick of sense.
I think the biggest waste of opportunity is the character of Finn, because the potential of greatness was set up in ‘The Force Awakens’, and they didn’t do a single thing with it. I mean, a Stormtrooper who revolt against the corrupt and sinister empire, which is something we haven’t seen before. Heck, a long time ago he held a lightsaber. Unfortunately in this movie he’s a comedic buffoon that sweats and shouts a lot. What a waste of John Boyega’s talent. They did him dirty.
I like Daisy Ridley, not so much on Rey. I don’t want to jump on any bandwagon here, but I don’t understand how someone can be so over powered and skillful at the force with barely any training. Whenever there is training it’s over before you know it. There was a point where I said to myself, “Who taught her to do that?”, or “how the hell did she do that?”. I really struggled to emotionally connect with Rey, because there’s nothing more dull than a character with no flaws or growth.
The strongest element throughout these three movies was Kylo Ren by the magnificent Adam Driver. This guy literally carried this series on his back. At least his character as an arc, and not just wasted potential. I actually connected with his inner conflict between the dark side and the light side.
The cinematography looks beautiful and absolutely striking. The visuals and music will always be great with these movies regardless on the actual movie.
Emperor Palpatine is back...for some reason. The vague explanation of why he’s back made it clear to me that Disney had no plan from the start for these new movies. Still, Ian McDiarmid is fantastic as always. He oozes with evil and soaks up every wicked moment of it.
The awkward and ill-placed comedy from ‘Last Jedi’ is still present and it got worse and worse as it went along. With this being the finale, new characters still get introduce and get some development. Like, why are you introducing new characters now? Billy Dee Williams returns as the slick and classy Lando, but sadly doesn't really do much for the story. Richard E. Grant is great as the ruthless new commander of the First Oder with the small screen time he has. Dominic Monaghan, on the other hand, feels like an extra. Rose Tico has a smaller role this time around and her entire love triangle with Finn from ‘Last Jedi’ gets brush under the carpet. Kelly Marie Tran sure can’t catch a break.
The action sequences with the lightsaber fights and space battles were mostly forgettable. Even the scenes that stick to mind wasn’t that special. The camera fails to capture focal points with the grand scale lacking.
I like how there’s a lesbian couple towards the end that’s on screen for about two seconds. So when the studio want to market the movie for China, they could easily edit out it to make it more “marketable”. How progressive Disney.
Overall rating: An unsatisfying conclusion. At least ‘The Mandalorian’ is good.
An away team mingling with different cultures? Oh my, for a moment there I almost thought I was watching a Star Trek episode!
I'm guessing this first season of Discovery suffered from premature ejaculation, since it peaked a few episodes back and instead of ending with the bang it made us believe it was going to, it went out with a silent fart. Now I kinda wanted the over-the-top season finale I thought this was gonna be. It was the exact opposite of "over-the-top", if the war with the Klingons hadn't been (way too quickly) resolved in this episode I would even say this was a filler episode. It sure felt like one. That's no way to end a season.
Kudos for the mandatory season finale cliffhanger, though. I'm sure that kept around some folks for season two who had already decided to quit the show after the tepid finale. I'm a sucker for nostalgia, so of course I squealed like a little fangirl after witnessing such ending. Also thanks for the cute end credits song, now you've pissed the trekkies even more, something I didn't think it was possible for this show.
Discovery is kinda "meh" as a Star Trek series but (ignoring the lame finale), it's still too much fun to not stick around for the second season. I'll most certainly be back for another dose of this delightful space-opera!
[8.6/10] Detroit is a harrowing movie. It’s supposed to be. There is nothing sugarcoated or tempered about the horrific abuses it puts on display. Instead, it explores the causes, comission, and perpetuation of those abuses in turn, with only the slightest hints of hope to peak in around the edges.
That’s not to say that Detroit is anything less than artistic in its depiction of these abuses. There’s few showy flourishes, as the film matches the faux-documentary, in the thick of the action atmosphere and visual perspective that were on display in director Kathryn Bigelow’s prior efforts like Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker. But that is an artistry all its own. The most impressive technical achievement of Detroit is that, for better or worse, it makes you feel like you’re there, in the thick of such horrid acts, both victim and perpetrator and complicit observer all at once.
That is, understandably, too much for some to bear. The film has an interesting tripartite structure, not wholly dissimilar from that of Zero Dark Thirty. But rather than three distinct phases, each with its own goal and tenor, Detroit is more like a dizzying inhale, an eternity of holding one’s breath, followed by a painful exhale.
The film starts by dotting around the titular American city, as tensions build, riots erupt, and the tumult of the culmination of years of abuse and segregation touches the lives of figures from across Detroit. The opening act traces the roots of this conflict, the way its tendrils spread out and began to impact so many people and so many facets of their lives, from a hopeful singer to a racist cop to a security guard working two jobs and just trying to get by, until their paths cross in horrific tones.
It’s then that Detroit becomes hard to endure. The central event of the film is the real life terrorizing by policeman and other law enforcement authorities of a dozen individuals, all young black men (save for two young white women damned by the cops for daring to consort with them), that involved countless incidents of brutal beatings, psychological abuse, and out-and-out murder.
The film spares nothing in depicting these events. It gives the viewer no respite from the horror, no discretion shots to couch what’s happening more gently or palatably, no cuts away to save the audience from having to stand witness to these horrors. That is by design, intended to shock the conscience and see the pain and unforgivable cruelty inflicted with no ability to turn away or pretend these events were somehow gentler or less horrible than they were.
But that frankness in depiction is at times, too much. Detroit is not a pleasant film, nor one for the faint of heart. It’s easy to watch the film’s extended middle section, which hardly leaves one location or skips and jumps in time, and think it the social justice equivalent of Hostel, or recall the South Park kids’ commentary on The Passion of the Christ -- “That wasn’t a movie, that was a snuff film.”
And yet, it’s hard to call Detroit indulgent. It may be hard to watch, but it never feels like its reveling in this horror, exploiting it the way a gore movie might or fetishizing it for other purposes. Instead, the cinema verite style of the picture is both non-judgmental, making the camera a detached observer, and yet utterly condemning of what it displays, making the statement that “this is how things really are, and you cannot run from them, ignore them, or pretend they aren’t there.”
On the other hand, the film is not merely content to say “this exists.” While straightforward in its dialogue and script, it explores complexities beyond simply the fact that there were abuses by policeman against black communities. It explores the people who could have helped, but who abdicated their responsibilities lest they be caught in the same mess. It explores the intersection of gender, of military service, of respectability politics and so many other pieces of the “bloody heirloom” (as Ta-Nehisi Coates puts it) that are encapsulated by this one grisly event.
The film is also not content to make this a generalized evil, with unspecified victims. It dramatizes the impact of the brutality and murder at the Algiers Hotel through three characters, and how they’re affected by it.
The first is Dismukes, the security guard who sidles up to law enforcement in an attempt to slow the bleeding. Dismukes is played by John Boyega, who gives a reserved but powerhouse performance in the picture. Speaking few words, he is a man who believes in appeasement, in avoiding the avoidable and lessening the pain of the unavoidable, and yet clearly feels the weight of his silence and steadfastness beneath his stoic surface.
The second is Kraus (Will Poulter who, like the film, doesn’t shy away from the monstrousness of his character), the racist policeman who leads the “interrogation.” At times, Kraus feels too evil to be real, and yet he is the sort of down-to-earth, lived in sort of abuser, the one who justifies his actions to himself, who feels confident he can wriggle out of any noose, that he eventually becomes all too real.
And then there’s Larry, the lead singer of The Dramatics, a Motown-aspiring group of singers. Larry is the lamb led to the slaughter, a young man who has no part in even the thin justifications for the assault. He is an innocent, not just of these supposed crimes, but of the social order and system that allows them. And he has the clearest arc in the film.
That arc emerges in the film’s third act, which explores the aftermath of the murder and brutality, in the community and for those involved. Kraus is called to answer for his actions, but Dismukes is accused alongside him. And the film treats their exoneration as the mixed blessing it is, on the one side, the sparing of a good man, and on the other, the escape of an evil one. When Kraus smirks and thanks Dismukes like a compatriot after he’s set free, Dismukes runs outside and vomits. While more understated that Larry’s,, Dismukes’s emotional journey is clear as well, one that makes him realize just what he’s been appeasing, and what he’s been a part of, in the same of trying to do the best he could for himself, his loved ones, and those who share his burdens.
Larry was not a part of that, or at least not cognizant of it, until made to face these horrors. The film suggests that the things done to him, the things he was forced to witness, changed Larry. No longer could he sing with the passion and abandon that fueled his dream. Instead, the only thing left within him were the prayers he sang out with a mortal threat standing behind him. When he walked into that hotel, he was a young man hoping to sign his heart out for the world, and when he walked out, he became a changed man, who could only sing for the blessings and hopes and prayers for the divine.
How you feel about Detroit will no doubt be influenced by whether it has the power to change you. If you are, like some in the film, naive or unknowing of the horrid depths of these sorts of abuses, you may walk out changed as well, made witness to them and unable to deny them. If you are, like me, someone who acknowledges these unforgivable trespasses but will likely never have to experience them, the film is a stark reminder of the horrors that you cannot elide in the theater, but never face outside it, and a call to action. And if you are someone who instead has to face those threats, those anxieties, and the sharpest edges of our society on a daily basis, then the film can only serve as a reminder of what already cannot be forgotten.
But the film has power. It gains that power from the way it personalizes these events, and from the broader societal scope it takes along the way, but also from its unflinching view of its central horror. How we take that horror, how we respond to it, says as much about who we are and the vantage point from which we see it, as anything in the film itself, and that is powerful too.
This is the Unforgiven of superhero movies, a brutal yet tender portrayal of former heroes growing old. Logan is tired and world weary, waiting for death to take away his pain. Charles is 90, riddled with drugs to mute his mind, his "super weapon." Despite their friendship their relationship is fractured. Into their lives comes a new mutant and a road trip begins.
I don't want to say much more, having given away a little of the premise already explored in the films trailers. This is a tough, violent and sad film with few moments of humour. There is action but not of the blockbuster kind, one key car chase is like something from a 70's thriller.
This is the swan song of Logan and Charles, both actors giving it their all in their final performances as these characters. To bring them back after this film would undermine their work and the story here.
The film is brilliant and I can't recommend it enough - don't expect a traditional X-Men movie and you will be blown away. If the film itself were a mutant I would say its genes had been spliced with Mad Max and Shane, with a little bit of Children of the Corn (and I mean that in a good way). Excelsior!
The black sheep of the James Bond catalog, for just about every reason under the sun. I suppose we can start with Bond himself, played for the first (and only) time by George Lazenby. An extremely green, unseasoned actor, Lazenby just hasn't the chops to do anything with the character. He's certainly got the right look for the part, and he shines especially bright in the punch-outs, which seem far more vivid and realistic than the fisticuffs of the late Connery era, but in terms of intangibles he's all wrong. He lacks the unspoken confidence and worldliness I expect from 007, the charm and charisma that makes this character who (or what) he is. Like Telly Savalas, who struggles to fit in as the villainous Ernst Blofeld, Lazenby may have fit well enough into a similar film, but here he's totally out-of-place.
The plot deserves points for poking in new directions, granting Bond a tangible sense of vulnerability and (of all things) an actual conscience. Alas, I'm afraid that only compounds its problems. The frosty scenery is nice, as are the rampant chase scenes aboard an odd cluster of mixed vehicles, but I don't have kind things to say about much else. That the series darted straight back to the old, familiar mess of silly names, bad puns and dense rivers of cheese in the follow-up, Diamonds Are Forever, is really no surprise. Still, I can't help but wonder what might have been if Eon had stuck to their guns and pressed on through this particular set of growing pains.
Others might say that this is not as intense as previous episode, which might be true in terms of action and moving the plot forward. But I find this episode is still intense in a different way: more emotional investment.
"Family" and its unfortunately related cousin "abuse" seem to be the the theme that knits together different story arcs of the episode: the obvious Butcher flashback, Kimiko and Frenchie, MM with his family, Soldier Boy, and Homelander.
The episode kind of speeds up the pace in showing Soldier Boy's villainy through a recreation/imagination of Black Noir's flashback; although I'm not too comfortable that they present Noir's flashback at face value (instead of being an unreliable narrator), I think it still kinda works.
It is shown that Soldier Boy is an abusive, selfish bully with anger issues you would typically see among band leads or celebrity groups. While some have defended Soldier Boy's action by comparing him to Homelander ("at least Soldier Boy is not psychotic, emotionally unstable narcissist! He is a normal person not grown in lab!"), I think they missed the point of the show: the biggest issue here is exactly what would happen if people with power (influence) have additional power (literal superpower) while being protected by multi-billion dollar company. They possess all the impunity to wreak havoc. Like MM said, "no one should have the right to wield such power."
This theme of abuse is explicated with Butcher's flashback. No one is inherently "good" or "evil" - you are shaped by your upbringing. As the scenes between his memories, his reflection, and his projection in current time are cut seamlessly back and forth, Butcher slowly realizes that he mirrors the man he hated the most. Yet he fully accepts his succumbing to that darkness while bringing Hughie with him through his personal vendetta against the supes - not caring about the risk towards others who he claimed he loved. Even with parents, one may grow to be a contemptuous person if they live in an abusive family, and it's a cycle that is very difficult to break. Butcher's flashback is certainly the spotlight of the episode for me.
Even with Kimiko's story in the background (her saying that V only explicates what kind of person you are), considering that we've been shown how the character's social lives shaped them into what they are now - Kimiko with her abducted kid background, Hughie's insecurity with his zero to hero job, etc - the message stays strong, countering the superhero cliche of inherently morally good and evil person.
I'm hoping this dynamic could be further explored in the next episode (or season) with the Soldier Boy and Homelander encounter when it's revealed that Soldier Boy is Homelander's father, at least he feels so. An abusive father meets a narcissist kid-who'd-wanna-be-a-father. The ending of this episode becomes revealing when tied up to the earlier convesation between Homelander and Maeve: with Homelander echoing Soldier Boy's words that he "used to dream of having kids" with Maeve, it becomes apparent in this episode that the relationship between Homelander and Maeve (and Soldier Boy and Crimson Countess) it is not something exactly out of pure love.
"Having kids" is not a romantic statement: it's a purely masculine, self-centered ego of having someone of your blood - of your similarity - that you can be proud of. Who the partner is doesn't matter; they are only means to that end. And in that Soldier Boy shares something in common with Homelander as shown through his delight of accepting Homelander readily as his son, albeit lab-grown. He only wants to see a better version of him.
Last but not least, I love the jab at corporate this episode still throws. Ashley spinning breaking news about Starlight in a similar way Disney would spin stories about their abuse and mismanagement; and that A-Train being zombified, again, with the heart of Blue Hawk embedded in his body, serving only as Vought's puppet. I'm not sure if that's the most satisfying end to A-Train's arc, but seeing his disappointed, grim look, his lack of agency, I guess the character suffers a lot. I just hope this will be the last of his arc and the show doesn't squeeze him further.
That said, with the reveal at the ending, I am not sure I am 100% satisfied as I was expecting Soldier Boy bringing down Homelander, or rendering him powerless by the end of the season. Looks like Homelander will continue to be the main villain. I just hope they don't prolong the "mentally unstable" trope too much and find ways to keep the show interesting. Looking forward to the finale.
[5.0/10] Far be it from me to cast aspersions on what is, by acclimation, one of the best episode of Star Trek ever produced. Far be it from me to turn my nose up at something penned by the great (if prickly) Harlan Ellison. Far be it from me to offer no quarter to the crown jewel of this show’s first season. But call me a Philistine, because “City on the Edge of Forever” did nothing for me.
It’s not a bad episode exactly. There’s no blatantly wrong turns (so to speak) or outrageous missteps. It’s just not especially compelling, and doesn’t achieve what it sets out to do.
First and foremost, the central conflict of “Forever” falls flat because the central relationship it hinges on falls flat. There is a compelling, ethically complex issue in the decision of whether to allow an innocent person to die in order to defeat the Nazis and, by extension, allow all of humanity’s accomplishments from the 1930s to the 23rd century to occur. There’s even a tragic irony in the individual who must perish being the one who envisions a day when mankind ends war and hunger and want. Keeler imagines a world she will never get to see.
But rather than anchoring “Forever” on the difficulty of that choice, the conflict between utilitarian morality versus proscriptions on allowing harm to come to innocent people, Star Trek anchors it in the romance between Kirk and Keeler, and there’s just nothing there. I can appreciate that the episode is trying to ground the abstract and headily moral question at play in the personal, but the romance isn’t as successful or developed enough for that to work.
Maybe the relationship between Kirk and Keeler would have more oomph if it didn’t take place in little more than a week. Maybe it would have been better if William Shatner and guest star Joan Collins could manage to have more chemistry in forty minutes than Collins and DeForest Kelley do in five. Maybe it’d be easier to invest in if Kirk didn’t fall in love with someone every third episode.
Or maybe it’s just changing mores about how love is depicted in the 1960s versus how it’s depicted in the 2010s. Kirk’s gazes at Keeler seem more like creepy leers than admiration. Keeler’s preternatural ability to sense that Kirk is a great man feels, at best, convenient, and at worst, pernicious in the “some men just have greatness in them” themes the show has trafficked in previously.
Whatever the reason, the cornerstone of this episode, the thing that’s supposed to make us feel the pain and pathos of its ending, is Kirk’s emotional arc through his attachment to Keeler, and when that fails, everything built on it fails too. In this sort of depiction, I don’t feel the connection; I don’t feel the romance; and I don’t feel the loss of anything when it’s ended, even in tragic terms. That essentially sinks everything else “Forever” is trying to accomplish.
That’s unfortunate, because there is, as I often find with Star Trek, a great deal I like about the episode in conception, if not in its execution. Again, the moral dilemma of whether to sacrifice one blameless life for a better future is an inherently compelling one (and one picked up by Futurama, a series that I always knew was indebted to Trek, but where I did not realize the extent of the influence). Kirk and Spock, as usual, make for an amusing odd couple. And as weird as the premise is, it fits the sci-fi flair of the series.
Also, for better and worse, “Forever” doesn’t really feel like other episodes of Star Trek. This isn’t the first time our heroes have gone back in time, or confronted difficult moral choices, or had to make due without their usual tools and technology. But there’s a different tone here, one that seems more grounded and even melancholy despite the genre trappings. It could just be the depression-era setting, but there’s a certain mood throughout the episode that distinguishes “Forever” from its predecessors.
And as silly as it is, I kind of love the Guardian of Forever. There’s just something so essentially sci-fi about a giant stony circle that speaks in a booming, stilted voice and emits, smoke, light, and black-and-white historical footage. (To that end, it’s also clear to anyone who’s read/played Ellison’s I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream that he enjoys this type of thing.) This giant alien thing that can send our heroes across time is appropriately and enjoyably out there.
The impetus for the whole episode, on the other hand, is less so. Dr. McCoy accidentally injecting himself with some future substance that makes him paranoid and crazy is a weird story-motivator. Kelley is up to the challenge, with his frantic declarations of “killers” and “assassins” seeming appropriately unhinged, but it’s a thin and (given the turbulence-related cause of it) convenient excuse for Kirk and Spock to have to chase him through time.
Still, there’s a certain amount of charm to the pair landing in 1930s New York City and trying to fit in and save Bones (and the future) at the same time. Kirk using reverse psychology on Spock to build a computer is amusing, particularly in Nimoy’s restrained but clearly affronted reactions. The Sesame Street-like environs have a well-worn allure. And again, the premise of the episode is, at worst, solid.
But the whole thing just comes down to Kirk and Keeler, and that’s not enough to sustain “Forever.” It’s hard, to say the least, to be invested in Kirk mourning this woman he barely knew for a week, where we’ve seen far more googly eyes being made than any real depth to their relationship. Binding a fantastical story with the personal loss of a star-crossed romance can add a human dimension to an otherwise outsized tale, but if you make that romance the centerpiece of your story, and it falters rather than flourishes, it can take the entire story down with it. “Forever” has its merits, but by centering the episode around Kirk and Keeler, it’s as doomed as she is.
