The episodes continue to be very small scale and very low stakes, but I found quite a bit to like here. The character focus was welcome and there was a sense that the episode wasn't in any hurry. In particular the scene with the bridge crew recording a message for school children back home was excellent. It gave several of the characters a moment to show who they are and did it playfully. Enterprise was at its best when it embraced its concept of showing us how a human crew first adapted to exploring outer space, and simple things like this are a wonderful reminder of it. It's also something that would have been out of place in another Trek show, so felt uniquely suited to this.
Other parts of the episode largely worked too. The awkward relationship humans have with the Vulcans is quite fun and being developed nicely. The T'Pol stuff here was fairly intriguing, and certainly sets up the beginnings of a friendship with Trip. Less interesting was all the stuff on the ice comet, mostly because it all felt so plodding and basic. Those bland rocky "alien planet" sets were looking so dated by this point (and yet, they are SO Star Trek). At least the captain reminding them they are being observed was funny. Archer's prideful arrogance really is feeling excessively immature even this early on in the show, though.
For all that this episode does well, it still does end up feeling like a bunch of unconnected stories being mashed together. The fact that it comes out of that fairly well is a testament to half decent writing, I'd say.
I do love a good pecan pie.
My plan was to review episodes of Enterprise as I rewatched them, but I'm finding I have almost nothing to say so far. The episodes end and I give a shrug and within an hour or two I've kind of forgotten them. 'Unexpected' at least has some more meaty material to think about.
At this point in the show we are still very much in a "getting to know you" mode with the characters, and the characters are currently very much defined by single traits that are being pushed to the fore. Archer is headstrong and wants to try things his way no matter the good advice he gets. Hoshi is unsure of herself but is becoming confident in her language skills. T'Pol has more common sense than the entire crew put together and will regularly remind them of that. Phlox is optimistically open-minded. Trip is Southern.
This episode manages to both allow the crew to use their traits but also throws them in unknown waters. There's a delightful sense of them just having to muddle through to deal with this situation. And it's a very silly situation, falling back on tired tropes of not being able to deal with hormones and making light of that. By and large I didn't think it was handled as poorly as it could have been, as nobody outright makes fun of Trip, but it's hardly shining a light on Trek's virtues.
The best humour comes from T'Pol, showing off the sarcastic side of Vulcan culture rather expertly, admonishing rather than mocking. And the Klingon captain's wonderful line, "I can see my house from here!".
The episode really takes a while to get going though, with the first part not quite clicking for me. All the slow semi-drugged stuff on the alien ship was unpleasant to sit through. But seeing a holodeck in action was great, along with Trip's amazed reaction to it. Once the Klingons enter the story it's more interesting and I quite like these early meetings between them and humans. Archer has no idea how to talk to them, whereas T'Pol is able to appeal to their nature.
So, I'm giving Enterprise another go! Does it deserve the bad reputation its seemed to gotten over the years? I tuned in for the initial broadcast of this pilot episode and had more or less checked out by the time the appalling theme song began, figuring that maybe I was done with Star Trek. It was several years after the show had finished that I decided to give it a proper chance and watched the whole thing through. That was quite a long while ago now and my memories of it are that I slogged through the first two seasons before finding a lot to enjoy with the final two.
The show starts out just okay. Enterprise retains a lot of the '90s sensibilities that its predecessors had and fits very much in the same style. The exception to this is that the producers finally moved into the 21st century and shot it in HD widescreen. Much appreciated. Other than that it looks like '90s Trek, sounds like '90s Trek and is performed just like '90s Trek. It's not surprising that a sense of fatigue kicked in amongst fans.
Scott Bakula is rather welcome though, even though Captain Archer comes across fairly one-note. He's easily annoyed and quite aggressive in how he gets things done. He unfortunately leans more towards arrogant than confident and shouts a lot of his lines. Voyager had a huge problem (for me) with one-note characters, and I'm not sure that Enterprise ever makes this work either. But it helps that we have some fun actors in the main roles. Trip is sarcastic and fun, similarly quick to anger, while T'Pol shows signs of being a far more adaptable Vulcan that some others. This seems to be an attempt to recreate the original series trifecta of Kirk/Spock/McCoy. But the rest of the crew have very little to distinguish them at this point, and as I recall at least one of them will have virtually nothing to do for the entire show's run.
In fact, the Vulcan aspect of this show is the most interesting thing at this point. Humanity seems to have a difficult relationship with them, making their severe disapproval of Earth's actions quite entertaining and rich.
The episode itself isn't very memorable, but does its job. There's the introduction of Klingons and Suliban (the Suliban suck), some hints about a temporal cold war, a ridiculous "decontamination" scene and lots of shooting/punching in between. It feels safe even with the more rough-&-ready explorers approach. At this point its honestly hard to care about anyone, but let's let things grow.
I'm disappointed that all of Paul Wesley's singing moments weren't done as spoken word, as a tribute.
So, this was a mixed bag for me - It's very difficult to overcome my negative feelings towards musicals. I found parts of this quite entertaining, and there was also parts where I was cringing in embarrassment. I'm not sure it's going to have any rewatch value for me. I appreciated that they at least incorporated the songs into the storyline as a mystery that needed to be solved, but am never a fan of when they lean into the music as a way to dwell on a character's emotional state. Just move the damn story forward instead of sitting in a single moment for three minutes!
Some musical parts were definitely better than others, but this was always going to be a difficult one for me. There were just too many songs here, and they were too much in the musical theatre style. I didn't like the "finale" at all (the Klingon moment should have been hilarious but literally made me cry out "oh GOD NO").
At the same time, I really appreciate that Strange New Worlds is taking risks and experimenting. This is a thousand times more interesting than the super safe Berman-Trek, even when the results don't completely work for me. The problem is that we are only getting 10 episodes per season, so episodes like this can feel like a monumental waste of storytelling time.
The best stuff here was everything that dealt with character relationships - Chapel/Spock, Pike/Batel and La'an/Kirk.
An entertaining if slightly odd beginning to season 2. It was nice to see a shift in focus to other crew members, even if that choice felt kind of jarring as a reintroduction to the show. Side-lining Captain Pike was quite bold and honestly I missed his presence, but giving a chance for Spock, Chapel and M'Benga to have centre stage was also rewarding.
Still, I found this whole episode to feel like it was throwing us into something that was already progressing and it was a little difficult to stay fully engaged with it. There was a whole backstory to the situation and characters on Cajitar IV that was reduced to fleeting dialogue, instead trusting us to just go with it and not worry about the details. I felt that could have been handled better. Obviously this episode drew from the Klingon War that happened on Discovery, and featuring its repercussions so heavily here required a shift. The deep trauma that M'Benga and Chapel seem to have experienced came out of nowhere and fundamentally altered their characters. It was great material for the actors to work with, but flew in the face of what they've established previously.
It also led to the scene which was the weakest part of the episode for me; an extended action sequence in which Chapel and M'Benga expertly fight their way through hordes of Klingons with the assistance of a drug. Exciting, yes, but tonally bizarre and again not fitting the characters. This was WAY over the top, leading to M'Benga torturing a Klingon.. Again, wrong tone.
Thankfully there was a lot of great stuff outside this. La'an has really come into her own and felt like a well balanced character here. And Spock got all the of the episode's best moments. It's great to see him playing the lute and being in charge. We're going down an interesting narrative path here with his losing his grip on his emotional stability, and honestly I'm quite up for it thanks to Ethan Peck's wonderful take on Spock. Yes, we're edging on breaking canon in several areas here, but I'm really not that worried if I'm enjoying what I'm seeing.
Overall, this episode felt kind of unsettled and over-enthusiastic in it's return, but I'm in.
Another strong episode that balanced fun with some great emotional material. I think Worf might be stealing the show already at this point, and the Picard/Beverly discussion was simply fantastic with both actors really giving their all.
I really wasn't expecting the Changeling reveal, and I have to say that it was an extremely pleasant surprise. It's got me wondering if Riker might not be himself.
It's not all perfect - spending an entire two episodes now on a single encounter is feeling slightly tiresome, and the back and forth nature of the Picard/Riker argument was really pushing things by the end of the episode (which also gives me further fuel for the above spoiler). Part of me wanted to scream to get on with things and move the story forward, but the other part of me was delighting in just hanging out with the characters. Jeri Ryan is doing great work here even with the limited screen time in this one.
The fact that I'm very eager for more at the end of each episode is a sign that it's doing things right, but it's also very hard to judge what the overall season arc is going for right now. I feel like I know nothing about what's going on.
The de-aging effects for Picard and Riker weren't great.
Well, that's a bit more like it. While I didn't hate seasons 1 and 2 as much as a vocal minority seem to enjoy screaming, I must admit that I was always hoping for something a bit more akin to TNG 2.0. This might be it, although at this point its too early to say with any certainty.
The characters feel more alive, more energetic. There is a powerful chemistry between Patrick Stewart and Jonathon Frakes and their happiness at working together again comes flowing out of the screen. It helps also that the words they are saying feel much more like the characters we used to know. The script reflects the friendship and bond that grew between the original cast over the course of 7 years of storytelling (plus four films), allowing for a playful tone. It's got me excited to see what's going to happen when all of the original cast are reassembled.
Speaking of which, we got some wonderful stuff from Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, who seemingly hasn't missed a beat. Her voice was there, and it was Beverly. Jeri Ryan was on fire and felt like she was channelling aspects of the Seven of old while continuing the evolution of her character. It was also remarkable at how much the Titan's new captain set me on edge, not least by essentially deadnaming Seven; he seems to have a chip of his shoulder over the Borg and I wonder if there's going to be some interesting revelations there.
But the real magic may have been the gorgeous musical score recalling older themes and styles - I can't understate what that added to the overall vibe. It was like a warm blanket of reassurance, and the way the soundtrack flowed between styles and motifs was absolutely beautiful.
The only complaint I have is the dark, dreary lighting for the Starfleet ships. But I can live with it if the story and characters deliver. I hope this is the start of a truly exceptional season. At this point I'm optimistic, but we shall see. Also, did anybody else think, "ah, so the bad guys have played Portal"?
Wow, it just keeps getting better. Trek has done its fair share of horror stories, some poor and some good, but this is probably most effective scare episode the franchise has done. I loved the way it riffed off moments from the core Alien trilogy and managed to do some properly unsettling things in the process. Besides from having a fantastic design, the moment the blue alien dude started having trouble breathing was a wonderfully staged sequence full of dread.
The Gorn looked great and felt vicious even as infants. I love how this series is setting them up. I also appreciate how we've come to understand La'an's character up to now and her own reactions to this situation.
The most interesting part here may have been Spock. While I'm not sure the actual execution of his emotional barriers dropping was, the effect of it on the character is certainly fascinating. Ethan Peck has been KILLING IT so far and is handling this stuff so well. It's an angle that works. I quite like that the franchise is acknowledging the more emotional Spock we saw in 'The Cage' and working to bridge things to the more stoic version we are familiar with.
And damn, the episode blindsided me with the death of Hemmer. I clocked those two new away team characters as dead from the moment we were introduced to them, but Hemmer was a real shock. Especially given that he seems to have become a fan favourite. What a way to go out too - compare it to the lacklustre death of Airiam over on Discovery, which had zero impact despite the character having been there since the start. This one hit hard, with the reactions of the rest of the crew really doing it justice too.
Much like the previous comedy episode 'Spock Amok', I struggled to click with this one. It wasn't particularly bad with some massive TOS vibes, and I always loved holodeck-gone-wrong style episodes, but the problem was that once again it just felt lifeless. The jokes raised a small chuckle at most, with the majority missing the mark entirely.
This time around something I noticed was the lack of musical accompaniment to help lift the comedy. Without it there to help, things feel remarkably dead. Music was there certainly, but so completely subdued.
For the positives, I thought that Dr. M'Benga lead the episode extremely well. I was also pleased to see Hemmer back. Uhura hammed it up brilliantly. Pike/Anson Mount was kind of delightful as the coward, pitching his performance just right. Wizard Spock looked fantastic. And Ortegas seemed in her element, jousting verbally with Pike. It's just a shame that so few of these elements ended up working well together.
The episode was saved for me by the ending, where it managed to hit me hard. The performances here were top notch. At first I was a little surprised at how easily M'Benga willingly gave up his daughter, but then I realised that she is literally at death's door and has no time left (the show hasn't made this quite as clear as it could have). He knew that holding on to her only means her death.
A weaker episode, but not a terrible one. It feels a little too early in the run to do something like this when the characters haven't been fully established.
What a fun mini-crossover episode. I had completely forgotten it and had no idea where it was all going. On top of the strong mystery (which keeps escalating in a fantastic manner) we also have the welcome return of some previous faces with Cadman, Novak, Agent Barrett and Dr. Kavanagh. This episode really has a little bit of everything and I love the way things just keep getting more difficult. The only part of the story which didn't work for me was Teyla and her old lady friend which brought the narrative to a screeching halt each time. Teyla just isn't a very interesting character.
But then there's the song. The music itself is nice enough and Rachel Luttrell has a great singing voice, but it's presence in the episode is SO out of place to the point where it ventures into full cringe territory. If the Athosians had just done a simple, realistic sounding musical piece to accompany the funeral ritual then fine, but this overblown fully produced modern-sounding song with huge instrumentation and reverb effects on the vocals was such a bizarre choice. Not to mention the ridiculous nature of having it take place during the middle of a massive crisis situation.
Otherwise, one of the best Atlantis episodes.
A strong and effective send off for Daniel that does hit the right emotional spots. It's handled with care. Of course, even back in 2002 it was widely reported that Michael Shanks was going to be leaving the show, so there wasn't a surprise factor here. But that didn't diminish how sad it was to watch.
While the episode does remove his character, it has the foresight to not "kill" him off as such, leaving the possibility open for appearances in the future. But even so, this manages to feel final. The farewell between him and Jack is played very nicely, and it was the right choice that Daniel selects him to say goodbye to. Their friendship has been rough along the way (even as recently as a couple of episodes ago with the ending of 'Meridian'), but it's really grown into one of the most solid relationships here. The tears in Michael Shanks eyes feel genuine which is a testament to his acting abilities.
Whether you agree with Daniel's reasons for leaving is another matter. He seems to almost be giving up, despite his protestations that he's not. He claims to feel useless and that he's done all he can; I'm not sure I quite feel the same. The episode attempts to justify his state of mind, but the fact that it's not been built up kind of makes it not ring entirely true for me. He and SG-1 have accomplished a LOT over the past few years.
Other than that, this introduces us to the naquadria element and also Jonas Quinn. I like Jonas and I think this episode helps to establish his morals quite well.
I remember a lot of online discussion back in the day about Carter's goodbye scene with Daniel where she's talking about "why do we always wait to tell people how we really feel?". This was misinterpreted by a lot of people, myself included, as her declaring some romantic feelings towards him. I think it's an easy mistake to make given the words she chooses, but it's definitely not meant that way.
Absolutely superb, and a fantastic follow up the equally great 'Touchstone' from season 2. This episode takes you on a ride and manages to make you question whether your really knew O'Neill at all. I loved it when Stargate went full intrigue because the characters were set up well enough to take it to all sorts of unexpected places.
And again, this uses the shows history to build a new story from existing parts, which is so cool. We go right back to Tollana from a few episodes back and use their "no technology" stance to take us down a completely different path. Maybourne and his secrets that were laid in 'Touchstone' begin to be revealed and Jack is even able to use the events of '100 Days' as a reason to help him with his plans.
It manages to keep O'Neill's intentions pretty well hidden, even going as far as to potentially hurt his friendship with Daniel in quite a harsh scene. One thing that always stuck out to me was that in his conversation with Carter about "now I'm acting like myself", his performance really brought me back to the original Kurt Russell version from the movie. Nice.
This episode was huge and felt like a turning point for me. And it really managed to give me feels!
So much to enjoy here. It feels like the show has found its groove, and if the rest of the season is going to be like this then we are really in for a treat.
Great fun. Possibly the first episode to go full comedy and really use that side of the franchise to its fullest. It works extremely well as it's been clear all along that tone of the show is suited for exactly this kind of stuff, and that the cast themselves were seemingly well up for it. Even with the comedic tone, this never changes the character's behaviour for laughs, and instead just has them deal with a crazy situation as they would.
Teal'c really does well here, helped by Chris Judge's continually stoic demeanour but also the addition of his wig and clothing. Daniel utters the fantastic line, "I speak 23 languages, pick one" which inspired me years ago to try and dive into learning (with limited results!), plus his fake German scene is great. Meanwhile Carter's scientific side keeps things grounded.
The guest stars are also also strong here, with one notable exception. The young version of Hammond does well (a shame that the actor has notably different coloured eyes to Don S. Davis!), and the two hippies are a joy to hang out with. There's a sense of really wanting to know what happened to them at the end. The low point is the unfortunately poor performance from the actress playing the elderly version of Cassandra, who seems to be behaving as if she's a children's TV presenter.
"Nyet."
I enjoyed this, with some adjustment needed to get used to the huge change in direction. There was certainly a time when if you had told me that Burnham was going to have an entire episode with her and no other main cast members, I would have been wary. But she really carried this one well. I especially enjoyed her playful mood when she was on the truth serum! And I loved seeing her natural curiosity and excitement at some of the new technology.
Book is an interesting enough character at this point, too. Still - I REALLY wanted to see Discovery and its crew appear here.
A few annoyances: mostly in regard to the lack of clear answers to questions characters asked. There is some important dialogue that's treated as throwaway and easy to miss. I also thought there was too much dull action where instead a good sit down discussion between people would have made for some far more satisfying scenes.
The lone Federation guy sitting in an office starting at a "searching" screen for 40 years was a bit of a stretch, too.
All in all, a fascinating new beginning for the show that was a visual treat.
Stargate did clipshow episodes, a money-saving measure that was an unfortunate necessity for many American television shows at that time. They are never fun to watch. This franchise did at least try to make the episodes as interesting as it could, though. In fact, the Stargate clipshows could sometimes be some of the more important ones for pushing the overall story forward. 'Politics' definitely falls under that description, making it a necessary watch.
Outside of the clips, the episode is actually fantastic. The introduction of Senator Kinsey gives us a really loathsome villain who is a lot of fun to watch, especially with all the verbal sparring that accompanies him. The SGC become ever more desperate as they attempt to defend the Stargate program to a person who has already made up his mind. It's a one-room episode that works really well, and the introduction of more political elements to the show opens things up for some good future conflicts.
But, I just can't excuse the use of all the clips from previous episodes. They are also taken from a number of the more awkward episodes, making them even less appealing. Well, at least we can be thankful that they didn't use anything from 'Hathor', I guess.
Probably the best episode of season 1. This has a lot of fun with the concept of an alternate universe and feels like it's on a bigger scale than anything that's come before. It's all genuinely exciting. I particularly like that it's all from Daniel's perspective as I don't think it would have worked quite as well with any of the other core characters. Plus, he gets to express a level of frustration and disbelief that helps the episode along.
This episode marks a somewhat important point in Stargate lore, but I honestly don't think it's a great episode. It has a welcome guest star in Armin Shimmerman, and the Nox themselves are fun to meet. However, it's all very sedate and the threat from Apophis and his Jaffa feels pretty weak. It's not bad by any means, I just feel like it's importance has been overstated. That mostly comes down to how often its referenced going forward.
A classic stranded-and-hoping-for-rescue episode, with a nice mystery twist. I love the way this plays out, especially the stuff back at the SGC. The Jack/Sam stuff is fine - and I'm sure it triggered a huge amount of shipping among fans - but can begin to drag in parts. The dialogue is so quiet and slow which gets in the way of some good character stuff. It's the search that's that really interesting part, especially Daniel's efforts.
I remember watching this episode in the '90s and being stunned that they actually referenced minor events from previous episodes. At this point I was just used to the Star Trek style of storytelling which was generally very self-contained. But Stargate embraced continuity, and this episode brings back completely unimportant characters from not one but two previous adventures! Just for single, throwaway scenes! Crazy! The fact that the show rewarded you for watching like this was one of the things which made me fall in love with it.
I like it when episodes start off by setting something up, but then go off in a direction you don't expect. This one presents the mystery of a virus that appears to have wiped out a local population, but it leaves that behind quickly to become much more about the bond between Carter and Cassandra and then the realisation off the trap that SG-1 have unknowingly sprung. It manages to get emotional and that feels earned by the end. The episode is fairly tame overall, but it works.
This show is going to become a highlight of my week. Even better than the first episode. It's so clear that the writers here understand and love Star Trek, and everything on screen is true to the core of what Trek is about. And what really elevated this one was how genuinely funny it was. The humour plays with Trek cliches and that makes it extremely rewarding for any of us who get the references, but it also works as general comedy. And most importantly it's never laughing AT Star Trek.
This one also slowed down the pacing a bit to feel more natural. I can't tell you how happy I am that this actually feels like it belongs with classic '90s Trek. The characters all hold to the the ideals of Starfleet, and again it's Mariner who surprises and delights me the most. She's the outcast, rebellious rule breaker but she also knows and understands the rules better than anyone else and she's probably the characters who cares the most.
This episode is nothing special, but it has a couple of important things. One is the introduction of Bra'tac who will become one of the best characters in the series - it's interesting to note how well developed his character feels straight away. Tony Amendola managed to make the character both stern but also incredibly playful.
The other important addition is of course Teal'c family, although that's more down to the bearing they have on his character rather than any future appearances they will have going forward. I also really think that Carter shines in this one, throwing grenades and stealing Goa'ulds. I always liked it when she and Daniel teamed up for mini-missions.
Random thoughts:
[Rewatch] Honestly, it's pretty amazing to finally see Thrawn on screen after all these years.
Season 3 kicks off with a slightly low-key episode, at least compared to how season 2 ended. It's hard to tell how much time has passed, but there's a slightly more serious mood to everything and Ezra appears older. Actually, he looks like a bit of a psycho. The weird short hair doesn't suit him and his arrogant, angry attitude is extremely off putting and he's murdering people with abandon. Clearly, the dark side is getting to him here. I'm not sure how much of a good choice that was, because it doesn't ring true - at least not at this point.
Also becoming utterly ridiculous at how the Imperials aren't able to hit anything they shoot at.
What I do like about this one is the deepening of the mythology surrounding the Force. The introduction of the mysterious Bendu creature, a being who sits balanced in between the light and dark, is kind of fascinating. Plus it looks amazing.
Having just read the novel Thrawn, which ends just before this episode begins, it's quite jarring to see Grand Admiral Thrawn and Governor Pryce. In the book they come across as intelligent, thoughtful people whereas in this episode it's all been a bit dumbed down to them just being "evil". I can't remember their arcs going forward too well, so I'm interesting to see if they improve.
Red Dwarf is similar to The Simpsons in that it has a period which is considered the "golden age" of the show where everything released was just excellent. This is generally seen to be seasons 1-6 (although I really enjoy 7 and 8 myself, too).
The show's return after an extended break definitely felt different and also like The Simpsons I find myself using a different rating scale for the stuff released in this more modern era. So, in that regards this feature length TV movie is one of the better Red Dwarf entries even while it doesn't come near what the show was at its peak.
The show has changed and evolved a lot over time. It started out as a basic sitcom in space, with two bunk-mates who hated each other trapped together and more or less bickering all the time (this may be my favourite period of the show). Eventually some really convoluted and clever sci-fi adventures crept in and became the main focus (this may also be my favourite period of the show). There were a couple of seasons with the main cast stranded on a small shuttlecraft trying to find their mothership, and the show has continued to provide new situations. It's kept things fun and different.
Through all this, the characters stayed the same. With most other shows, this would be a major issue, but here it actually works quite well. No matter what they go through, it seems they never really learn from their experience and fall back to their old ways. It's part of the show's charm and comedy. True, the actors don't fit as well now compared to when they were all in their 20s/30s, but there's something comforting about returning to this world and seeing these people.
'The Promised Land' picks up a story thread that was begun back in the very first episode, that being the creation of the Cat race. It's not the most interesting given that the Cats are mostly assholes, but it allows Lister to acknowledge his role in their creation. This also provides a surprisingly powerful story for Rimmer (and let's face it, his character naturally allows for the most emotional stuff). The "moonlight" discussion is quite lovely.
It all looks extremely cheap. Again, this has always been a part of the show and works to be kind of charming and even is used to contribute to the comedy. In these most recent series it's stuck out a bit more, though. It's clear that the costumes don't fit very well and the sets are constantly reused to save money. There's some nicer CG effects compared to what we used to get, but it's hardly up to premium standards still. That is part of Red Dwarf's identity. It's a shame that the guest stars all give quite terrible performances, though.
The big question though, is this funny? Yes, for the most part. It's not consistently so, but there are some really good gags here. I especially liked Rimmer needing to plug in and the return of Holly as we used to know him.
Red Dwarf must surely be nearing the end of its life now, which is a shame, but this doesn't feel like a finale yet. I'd be happy to have some more adventures. For me, the biggest thing is that the comedy writing needs some improvements and I wish they'd go a bit more back to basics. Overall, a good watch though.
This is setting up a strong ending for the show. What I particularly got from this one was how Star Trekky it all felt. The giant flowers in space were such an Original Series concept. From the moment our crew arrived down on the planet it immediately felt like The Next Generation, from the rocky setting to the beautiful (and chintzy) android compound. Even the tone of the dialogue between everyone. I'm was very impressed with how good Isa Briones was here in multiple roles, and actually found her super creepy.
"That's unexpected," followed by the emergence of the Cube was a genuine WOW moment.
I found the emotional scene between Picard and Raffi particularly touching, and a great demonstration of the evolution of Picard's character from the heyday of TNG. He's still awkward but so much more open to expressing and feeling emotions. And again, I have to say that I have absolutely fallen in love with the crew of the La Sirena and I want much more of them.
The surprise appearance of Brent Spiner as another Soong relative (which was spoiled for me thanks to a website publishing articles before the episode has been broadcast worldwide) felt a little too contrived and yet was very welcome.
Well, that was a ride. The episode draws from a huge amount of Trek backstory and crafts something bursting with emotion. I think that the the view of Picard's face lining up with the classic image of Locutus is one of the most arresting shots ever done in Star Trek.
Patrick Stewart is completely on form throughout, and it's hard to pick one singular moment that stood above the rest. From his anger about the Borg while speaking with Agnes, to his PTSD when first arriving on the Cube, to his genuine happiness at seeing Hugh again and all the work he's doing, this consistently feels like the Jean-Luc Picard we all knew. He's shown first hand that disconnected Borg are not the monsters he had assumed. Small bursts of moments from First Contact were used effectively, including an unexpected glimpse dof the Queen. The terror of what he experienced may never fully go away despite the strides we saw him make over the years, and it rings true.
Other random thoughts:
My favourite episode so far. The world building going on here is being relayed so well with a great "show don't tell" method that's being given to us in bite-size pieces. We're forming a picture of what a disaster the Romulan evacuation/Mars attack really was for both the Federation and for Picard personally. It's all been surprisingly emotional. I really enjoyed Picard's interactions with the Romulan colony and I'm beginning to love the the mix of characters that have now been put together, with the new addition of Elnor being particularly good.
The stuff over on the Borg cube is the weak part, though. It really slows things down and the scenes with Narek and his sister feel overly repetitious too. The writing just isn't working here and I'm feeling very little interest in the characters (interesting to note that I found Isa Briones' portrayal of Dahj very intriguing, but her Soji is quite dull). But I did like the scene with them sliding down the corridor. It had a nice bit of throwaway joy to it.
I love Rios' various holograms who all look like him with different accents. The hungover tactical hologram in particular made me laugh. And that ending moment - I shouted "noooo!" when it finished! A shame that the opening credits spoiled the surprise appearance. This felt like a short episode.
So far, this show is giving us a new side of Star Trek in the best way. I love Discovery but this is better in almost every department.
[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.
