Oh my God, they killed Kanan! A great convergence of visuals, music and storytelling to create a very powerful episode. I wish Rebels had been more like this during the first couple of seasons, as looking back it now feels like such a waste.
The subtle humour was also just on point, enough to not detract from the drama. Truthful Hera was great.
A strong, emotional ending doesn't quite save the episode. The A-story and B-story are so disconnected from each other that they just work to cancel each other out (also, are we meant to feel that Paris is in the slightest bit of danger?). There is literally a red alert crisis going on and the Doctor is playing with his pretend family.
Also, what's with the weird expression the Klingon youth constantly has on his face?
But damn, that ending. Powerful stuff and yet more proof that Robert Picardo is the heart of this show.
This didn't work for me at all. If you're going to try and do something a bit different for an episode, at least make it about our characters and not some guest stars (who quickly become irritating). To top it off, it ends with Chakotay giving a speech that fails to save him or his crewmates. Way to go, Commander Bland.
I couldn't reconcile the idea of the Voth either. A reptilian species who live in a galaxy populated with all sorts of alien mammals, and yet it's humans that are the sole ones of interest to them because they share some genetic markers? Nope, that doesn't work. Especially since TNG established that all humanoid species evolved from a common alien ancestor.
The pretty important message about challenging societal beliefs gets lost in the mess.
Pretty cool concept, with middling execution. The environment that the aliens create for the crew look suspiciously similar to the Hawaiian holodeck program... also, are they all just meant to live in that square together? No individual homes, or bedrooms?
Disappointed that yet again we get an alien race who just look like humans. It's also taking a stupid amount of time for Tom an B'Elanna to progress their friendship into something more, it feels like this has been going on for ages now.
I also noticed that the crew's reactions to an alien's sudden appearance on the ship last week was very different to what it was here. Maybe it depends what mood they're all in.
For all that, I enjoyed the episode quite a bit.
This is pretty good fun. I like the conceit that Kes is travelling backwards through time instead of forward, and I like that some of the glimpses of the future are hints of what we will see coming in some form or another later down the line. So often when Trek does future stories it all turns out to be an illusion, and this never strays into that territory.
This episode feels like it's all about hairstyles, with both the Doctor and Kes sporting new looks. I guess Ocampan hair grows pretty fast.
There is some absolutely terrible dialogue, especially during the Andrew/Harry/Tom scenes.
An episode that falls apart a little bit when you think about it (time paradoxes are tricky), but is quite emotionally affecting. I like that it moves the Kira/Odo relationship along and that it does it in a quite uncomfortable way. I like the guilt that characters feel throughout this, with Terry Farrell doing it especially well as Dax. I also kind of think it would have been nice if Odo was finally able to look fully human after 200 years.
What bugs me is that the episode only deals with the bridge crew of the Defiant, and ignores the other 40-something of them. Sisko makes the decision to leave, then O'Brien has a change of heart and says he doesn't think they should go, and apparently that's enough.
I quite enjoyed the would be Klingons, unfortunately the little boy involved with them wasn't up to the acting challenge. Interesting to note that there isn't a single scene of this episode set on Deep Space Nine. Sisko playing with the baby is delightful.
First of all, the gorgeous smoke-filled Klingon atmosphere of this episode only goes to show how desperately DS9 needs a hi-def remaster, because it's a murky mess to watch this one.
I enjoy Klingon episodes, and this is a pretty big one. Now that Martok is a recurring character we are going to get to spend more time with him, and that's great because he is awesome. We also meet a motley crew of Klingon dregs and that makes them all the more interesting too, because they have no enthusiasm in the usual way. Particularly, David Graf (famous for playing Tackleberry in the Police Academy films) makes an absolutely fantastic sarcastic and drunk Klingon. I always enjoy seeing Rick Worthy, too.
Dax fits right in on the Klingon ship - as we would expect from her - but Worf struggles more. It's been established back in TNG that he has a lot to learn when it comes to taking command, and he takes a while to figure out what to do here. His final solution is pretty badass, though.
My only complaint is that the whole plot is kind of formulaic and ends up pretty much exactly where you would expect it to.
It's a shame we don't get to see this crew again on screen (although their adventures continue in books).
Having another Ferengi episode so close in the heels of the previous one feels like a bit of overkill, but this is very different in tone to that more serious one. Here we get the classic comedy, and it works pretty well. Grand Nagus Zek and Ishka make a disgustingly perfect couple, and the repeated jokes about people appearing in Quark's bedroom closet are good. It's easy to forget what great comic timing so many of the Star Trek actors have.
The background story with Leeta and Rom matches the tone, but all feels a little dumb.
Yeah, I kind of like this. It's just a fun, silly adventure and the characters are growing on me. The humour was better here.
We're definitely in the realm of the TV shows with the dial-home-device being present.
A shame that the budget is so low.
I thought this was a bit better. Maybe because it was more about things happening rather than stilted explanations. I admit, I got a little tingle at seeing the stargate KAWOOSH! again. Ellie Gall shows that she's a better actress than the first episode suggested.
An attempt at humour indicates to me that this is leaning more towards the direction of the TV shows rather than the film. It just wasn't particularly good humour :/
So, I guess we're ending every episode with the weird camera spin?
Okay. Not entirely sure what to make of this right now.
I'm excited to have Stargate back in some official form, I'm less enthused that a subscription-based web series is the route that was taken. This new show clearly has a VERY low budget, but I think they've done well with the resources they have. It looks decent enough, but so far the writing is cheap and cliche-ridden. Exposition is front and centre, but that can be somewhat forgiven as it needs to move fast given we only have 10 minutes to work with.
More problematic is that this doesn't seem to be adhering to established canon - so, rather than being a prequel to the TV shows maybe this is more related to the original film, and a new continuity is being established? Or maybe I'll just wait and see how ti develops.
The acting is mixed. The German stereotypes are quite terrible. It feels like Connor Trinneer is the only one who knows what he's doing. I'm happy to keep watching and see how things go, but part of me is surprised that this has fallen back on such a dated style of storytelling. It's like a Saturday morning cartoon so far (and that's not necessarily a bad thing, I enjoy some Saturday morning cartoons).
I admit, the only reason I'm supporting this show is in the hope that MGM greenlight a new proper Stargate show... okay, and maybe also I'm super nostalgic for SG-1 and Atlantis - and even Universe.
What was with that weird camera spin at the end?
I'd love to praise everything about this episode because I enjoy it a lot, but in so many ways it doesn't quite do enough with its concept. On the plus side, it has a barnstorming performance from Nana Visitor and we get the return of Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun, and he is a delight.
This is a sequel to the third season episode 'Second Skin' and brings back the character of Ghemor, who is a remarkably likable Cardassian. It lets us see the fantastic character growth that Kira has had over the past 5 seasons as she now able to see a Cardassian not only as a good person, but as something of a father figure. The same goes for Bashir, Quark and Odo who all show their understanding of Kira's needs and handle it deftly.
I really love the scene with Kira, Ghemor and baby Kirayoshia because we see this pretend family of Kira's that she's both connected to and yet distant from. Plus there is some glorious dialogue exchanged between Sisko and Dukat, with Weyoun having fun in the background.
Kira's final dialogue is mesmerising and beautiful. But the episode is also very static and somewhat predictable.
Trying to add an exciting backstory to one of the most uninteresting and undeveloped characters on the show certainly seems like a good idea, but as happens so many times on Voyager we get it all reset by the end. This could have been pretty good if it turned out that Harry actually was an alien. Before the ship reaches the planet, it's actually all quite intriguing.
But anyway, the male wish-fulfilment planet of women falling over themselves to pleasure men was not a good move. This ain't the 1960s anymore, Star Trek.
This episode made me realise how much I now notice Patricia Tallman in so many stunt performer roles throughout this franchise.
This one has some astoundingly good (and intimidating) guest stars, but it falls a little short for me. The whole thing is a bit too sedate for the story its trying to tell. Although, I appreciate that even though this was a Ferengi episode, the comedy was dialled back and this is more dramatic and serious. Steven Berkoff maybe overdoes it a bit, but that does serve to make the character of Hagath feel larger than life.
We finally meet Quark's cousin Gaila and he's pretty great to watch in his evil ways. I'm surprised Quark had nothing to say about the events of 'Little Green Men' when Gaila apparently tried to kill him, but I suppose the thought of all that profit pushed that from his mind.
The b-story with Miles and Kirayoshi is sweet but ultimately forgettable. I did like the moment when Worf almost refuses to hand the baby back to the Chief.
Quark again manages to get away with some pretty heinous crimes! Excellent scene when both Sisko and Kira warn him that he's walking a fine line now.
Never liked this episode, and doubt I ever will. It's dull and treats Odo's character in a peculiar way. Honestly, I kind of switched off and had it on in the background. I was also heavily distracted by the fact that Odo has nipples... why would he bother? Arissa is an incredibly arrogant character, too ("the only thing I've ever been admired for is my looks").
All of the scenes that don't involve Odo/Arissa are pretty great. I love Kira and Jadzia gossiping, Julian's holosuite adventure and I can't help but think that O'Brien's line about always playing the bad guy is a reference to Colm Meaney's movie career at this time (he played a lot of evil henchmen).
Neelix: Darn it, I'm going on this away team and I just can't get Tuvok to respect me.
Tuvok: I do not respect you, Neelix.
Neelix: But look, I can save our lives in an emergency.
Tuvok: I now respect you, Neelix.
Could this episode be any more formulaic? Also, that's one of the worst space battles I've ever seen, Voyager just sits there and gets shot.
Although, the orbital tether platform is cool.
Mostly a really enjoyable episode, thanks to both the presence of Robert Picardo and the meaty revelation about Bashir's dark secret. The fact that this comes so out of the blue is slightly problematic when looking back at Julian's growth over the previous seasons, but in some ways also fits in well. It certainly goes some way towards explaining his arrogance in the early days, but it also feels like it fundamentally changes the character from this point forward.
The Rom/Leeta romance doesn't quite work for me. Although I think the two of them make an adorable couple, Rom's behaviour here just isn't all that amusing, it's more frustrating and dumb. And the episode is really brought down by the quite terrible acting of Bashir's parents.
I think Julian would have made a great LMH, though!
Star Trek has been desperately in need of a fresh new angle for a long time. The JJ Abrams films attempted that and while they mostly got by on the charms of the actors, they mostly missed what Star Trek is at its core.
I was excited about Discovery from the start. We've been given a serialised show with a more adult centre which was exactly what I was after (and the reason that DS9 remains the best the franchise has ever done). Now that the season is finished, I can look back and see that while it took some odd turns, lacked any coherent message and had some strange choices along the way, the show has kept me gripped and excited from start to finish.
On the good side, the show is a visual treat and has to rank among the best looking television shows ever. It's clear that, unlike so much Trek of the past, money was available. The action sequences, of which there are many (and there always have been in this franchise, with the Original Series really laying the foundation for that) are creative and exciting.
I also have grown to really like the characters, especially Stamets, Tilly and Saru. Indeed, they managed to consistently outshine the lead character of Michael Burnham who at this point I actually think is the weakest link. That's not at all the fault of Sonequa Martin who does a fantastic job in the role, but more the agonisingly poor dialgoue and storyline her character is lumped with. Especially in regards to her romance with Ash Tyler, a pairing which lacked chemistry from the start and is derailed no end by Tyler himself being so thoroughly uninteresting.
I was pleasantly surprised by the twists along the way (a shame that so many people on line guessed them beforehand, I would have loved to have not seen them coming), and the excursion to the Mirror Universe was the highlight of the season. This managed to also show us how important Jason Isaacs was to the cast, and his absence is now sorely felt.
If anything, I think the season has suffered from too much focus on Burnham at the expense of the rest of the crew. Discovery never feels like a cohesive unit of characters, more like the Michael Burnham show. Nobody has a personal journey outside of her. I think it's completely possible to tell a fully serialised story but still allow for other characters to get narrative arcs dedicated entirely to them. I feel like I barely know anything about them - who is that robot lady on the bridge and why aren't we dedicating lots of time to her?! Another low point has been the poor depiction of the Klingons; not only because the new design looks terrible but mostly because their scenes slowed down the narrative so much.
Star Trek is about exploration and ideas and Discovery does manage to fit this in but also forgets about it in place of trying to find "cool" moments. Trek is also about people (something many fans seem to forget) and how we treat others, and Discovery maybe gets a bit too specific and melodramatic with this. But I've watched the entire season with a smile on my face and feel very eager to see more. I love the serialised storytelling, but I'd like to see things lean more towards the whole crew rather than just Burnham, allow for side stories and not be so serious all the time. The season wrapped up in an extremely convenient and honestly stupid way, so going ahead the show needs to forge a path that says what this show is actually ABOUT. It could also do with slowing down a bit and letting us take in the characters.
While I have to admit to having some fun with this - mostly due to Robert Picardo hamming it up gloriously - this is extremely silly. The mechanics of how holograms work continues to change to suit whatever story the show needs, and even at this point I still struggle to believe that the show wants us to see the Doctor as a sentient being (it's a fascinating idea, but it's never been properly addressed or explored so far - the DS9 episode 'Doctor Bashir, I Presume?' which aired around the same time as this made clear that the EMH is programmed with experience and personality to present the illusion of a real person, but it's not real).
Also, the Kes romance/evil alien innkeeper subplot really sucked.
Chakotay stories are the worst. This one manages to mostly scrape by due to being Voyager's first real encounter with the Borg, and at this point the Borg were still pretty intimidating. It's all a bit silly, though. Chakotay's romance with Riley felt completely false, and Janeway's ethics are all over the place from episode to episode.
At the end, Harry was on the Borg cube and called for an emergency beam out for him and the rest of the away team. Cut to bridge, Paris reports that the away team are all safely back on board - and suddenly Harry is also on the bridge, manning his station. Pretty sure he wasn't beamed there (Janeway even addresses "MacKenzie").
What a conclusion. Up to this point, Star Trek has mostly been fumbling with the second halves of the two-part episodes, but this one manages to be satisfying in every way. The shock of Cardassia joining the Dominion is a brilliant moment, prophecised nicely back in 'Rapture' with Sisko's vision of the locusts. It's almost sad to see how Gul Dukat can't understand how he and his planet are being used.
The prison break stuff might be my favourite parts of the episode, though. Worf gets to be extremely Klingon and manages to gain the respect of a Jem'Hadar, which is no small feat. I love that he keeps getting back up even though he's clearly not in any fit state, and that he really can't shrug off the injuries he's sustaining. Meanwhile, Garak gets to shine too when we find out that he's claustrophobic - in his case, he manages to gain the respect of the Klingons, who again are a pretty tough crowd to please.
If the episode feels weak in any areas, it might be the conclusion of the Bashir-Changeling situation. He's going to blow up Bajor's sun by just flying there and sacrificing himself, in the process wiping out significant Federation, Klingon and Romulan fleets. It's a sneaky and very clever tactic by the Dominion that would have worked, but it's execution on screen is a little hard to take seriously. Maybe if Bashir-Changeling had some more dialogue or realisation about how his plan had failed it would have worked better. I'm a bit curious as to why going to warp inside a solar system is a no-no, too.
Nice to see the Klingons finally back on our side. They just feel better as allies.
Great stuff. The slow pace of the episode indicates that it's the first part of a two-part story, but don't let that bother you because it means we get to spend time exploring more of these wonderful characters. Most of the best guest characters are all assembled here, from Garak to Dukat and now the real General Martok finally makes his first glorious appearance. I'm super impressed that J.G. Hertzler managed to make this version of the character feel different from the previous one(s) we've seen, he's definitely more thoughtful and less aggressive.
Plus, Ziyal has another new actress in the role.
However mean it is of me to say, one reason I like this episode because it finally does away with Enabran Tain. Again, I don't know exactly why I didn't like the character but I'm glad we don't need to see him again.
It's also a turning point for Gul Dukat: he's become almost sympathetic by this point in the show, and you'd be forgiven if you found yourself actually liking him. This episode begins the process of reverting him back to his old self; a man who's egotistical, power hungry and has his own interests at heart. I have to say, he almost won me over.
The biggest shock is reserved for the revelation that Dr. Bashir is in the prison, and the version of him back on the station is a Changeling infiltrator! That's a fantastic twist. I love that he's wearing the old Starfleet uniform. It does present some questions, as to how the Changeling managed to perform the various medical procedures we've seen Bashir do over the past few episodes, but it doesn't matter because it's a great moment.
That's a really good cliffhanger to end on, too. Finally it looks like a war with the Dominion, teased for so long, is about to officially begin.
Very silly, but somehow fun. I think there's always some intrigue in seeing a Vulcan lose control of their emotional stability and even though Vorik only made his first appearance a few episodes ago, his character works. The whole concept of the pon farr is a kind of dumb holdover from 1960s television writing that does allow for some interesting storytelling, but the execution always makes it a bit hard not to laugh at.
Meanwhile, B'Elanna honestly isn't acting all that different from usual... I'm surprised people noticed :p
Good self control from Tom, but I'm a bit surprised that he didn't agree to do the deed earlier - not because Paris is a womaniser "bad boy", but because it was literally needed to save his friend's life.
I was really hoping the old Star Trek "fight music" would play once the ritual combat begun. Nice hint that Voyager has now entered Borg space at the end.
From a visual perspective it's incredible. From a narrative view, it's weak so far. The world is obviously rich but the episode decides to throw us into it with little explanation - whether this is better than an exposition dump is debatable, but there is definitely a middle ground which would have worked much better.
As it stands, I found myself intrigued but also disconnected. I don't care about the characters, and I don't really understand what this is all about. On the other hand, I loved the creative action and the entire hotel sequence was very easy to enjoy with the amusing receptionist (what was he supposed to be?).
But an opening episode is supposed to draw you in and get you invested. By the end of this, I wasn't all that bothered. I don't care who murdered Bancroft and I don't care that Kovacs decided to take the case after emotionally struggling with... something? I was also distracted by the fact that he's been asleep for 250 years, but seems to easily acclimate to the world he's woken up in - surely he'd be overwhelmed and completely lost by the changes that have happened in that time (imagine a person from the 1700s waking up in today's world).
Well, it's kind of all over the place but it sort of works. At first we think we're in a timeloop, then maybe Janeway has the Phage, then she's a ghost, etc. It would have been great if it had managed to keep me guessing, but alas, as soon as Janeways "father" shows up, it's obvious that it's just some kind of alien mind-control hallucination thing. That's just what Star Trek does.
One thing I did like was seeing all the backstory referenced from the novel 'Mosaic', which I read not that long ago.
I also couldn't help but notice that Chakotay's teeth appear to glow in the dark.
This doesn't work for me all that well. Eddington is portrayed as Sisko's nemesis, but we never really saw him enough to care about him. I don't buy the Captain's obsession and anger towards him, because it feels like its come out of nowhere all of a sudden. The Les Mis references feel heavily forced, and Avery Brooks unfortunately overdoes it on the acting front, too.
I think that by this point, the Maquis storyline has reached a dead end and feels spent. There is no exploration of the issues or attempts to resolve them, and the arguments go round in circles. We see a bunch of refugees living rough, but it has zero impact.
I've also got to say that I can't see the new holo-communication system as anything other than a way for the show to save money. It doesn't have the epic feel the viewscreen communication does and it's really overused here, so much so that the gimmick loses appeal very fast.
However, the episode does end on a stinger that I do quite like. We get to see the lengths that Sisko is willing to go to put an end to things. It sets him apart from other captains and is a stepping stone to what will come later (his hands are going to get very dirty), and it manages to successfully feel both uncomfortable and triumphant. There don't appear to be any consequences, though.
One of my favourite episodes of the entire series. Even the kind of cheesy b-story doesn't take away from how involved I always get in this gorgeous piece of storytelling. It's a wonderful examination of Odo's past and the reason he has the personality he does. He gets to work out the issues he's always had with the man who raised him and experiences a new kind of love and affection for a helpless being.
The arguments between him and Dr. Mora are really wonderfully written. And Quark gets nothing but fantastic moments, too. In regards to the return of Odo's shape shifting abilities, I think it was probably a done a bit too early but that doesn't detract from what a wonderful sequence it is. I don't feel like Odo really had the time to learn much from being a solid.
Kira finally gives birth, and it's played for laughs. I'm okay with that, I love that this show focuses on characters. The Kira/Miles/Keiko triangle has been a lot of fun to watch, and it comes to a bittersweet end. It's just a bit of a missed opportunity that Worf wasn't involved in the birth somehow.
Bringing things back to the "normal" universe feels a little boring after all the fun we've had. But this is still a strong episode that settles down and let's characters do their thing. Plus, Empress Georgiou is still here and she's just magnificent - creepy, intriguing and manipulative. Burnham's decision to bring her over with her was moronic to say the least, but it's going to make for some fun storytelling. Especially now that she's posing as the original Captain.
The episode was dragged down for me by the Michael/Ash stuff. From the moment he appeared, Ash has been an incredibly uninteresting character for me and doesn't seem to have a sensible place within the story (outside of the fact that he turned out to be Voq - but that's over now). The two characters have no chemistry together, and Michael's dialogue when with him becomes unbearably bad.
But I'm intrigued as to the story with the Klingons here and the plan to attack Qo'noS. I was expecting a time travel reset and it looks like things are going in a new direction. It does beg the question of why they don't do that, though, given that they've conveniently and easily replenished their spore supply.
Nice mention of Captain Archer and the Enterprise, too, even though it was super exposition-y. I can't help it, I like winks at the camera like that.
If you're watching this episode and start thinking that it all seems a bit familiar, don't worry, the episode itself will remind you exactly where it's been taken from. As Chakotay points out, a holodeck character became sentient and attempted to take control of the ship back in 'Ship in a Bottle' over on TNG.
Fortunately, this does at least manage to have a Voyager twist to things. We get to see Tuvok becoming far more in tune with his emotions than I'm sure even he thought he ever would and that becomes interesting to watch. It certainly goes a way towards adding further depth to what could be a very one-note character. We also see Harry Kim acting like a child and apparently not being able to handle being in love. They make an interesting pairing for an episode.
Marayna is nowhere near an interesting enough character to form the basis of the episode around, though. Once her true identity is revealed it's a bit more compelling but I can't help but think that the episode's ending left a lot to be desired. There were so many things the Voyager crew could have done to help her.
I'm really tired of the Hawaiian holodeck program already.
'Fair Trade' managed to do something incredible, and that was to make me care about Neelix. I've often spoken about how he's my least favourite character on the show - maybe the whole Trek franchse - and that I generally think he brings things down. I've never thought that was the fault of the actor, Ethan Philips, but rather the horrendous writing of the terrible character he was given.
And yet here, Philips manages to show what he's capable of doing when paired up with good writing. This episode is a gripping tale that kept me engaged from start to finish. Seeing Neelix get dragged into more and more precarious situations was exciting not because of the peril he was in, but because of how we imagine it might affect his relationship with Voyager and its crew. I didn't want to see his worst fears realised, and that surprised me more than anybody. No surprises that his Talaxian friend Wix turned out to be a ciminal, though. Well, duh.
I like that it shows a different side to Neelix, he's so much more interesting when he has a serious story rather than being over the top comic relief. Janeway gets a good scene in which she's able to give him a bit of a talking to, too.
Interesting to see the introduction of the Vulcan Ensign Vorik, who bears a remarkable resemblence to the Vulcan character the same actor played previously on TNG (Taurik). Novels will establish that they are twin brothers, and I like that notion. I also like Neelix's conversation with Tom that kept things vague enough about his crime that we can still imagine he's actually the same character as Locarno from the TNG episode 'The First Duty'.
A surprisingly strong episode.
