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.
An enjoyable start. I like the characters quite a bit, especially Bean who comes off as the most interesting of the bunch. Elfo has potential but I feel like I need to warm to him a bit more. Luci is pretty great, but I have to say that I don't think the voice quite fits his appearance, it's just not quite what I was expecting. Right now that's throwing me off a bit. I was also surprised that Bean didn't ask him any basic questions, like why are you here/where did you come from?
I liked the story set up and the jokes were pretty good, with a couple of laugh out loud moments for me (notably with the names of the elves, and the racist antelope warning). Great voice cast, and Matt Berry appeared which I really wasn't expecting! A lot of recognisable voice talent from Futurama here.
In terms of tone, this is definitely steering more towards Futurama than The Simpsons for me and I think that's a good thing. Visually it's in the same realm as well, and quite nice to look at. Groening's style has a lot of personality. It's setting up a world and it needs to take some time to do it. I'm happy to give it that time and keep watching right now.
And here we have it, the real blemish on an otherwise great show and a contender for the worst episode in the whole Trek franchise. This is quite a disgusting episode for very clear reasons: it makes light of sexism, sexual assault and attempts to turn trans-genderism/gender identity into a joke. I honestly have no idea how anyone thought this was a good idea, other maybe than "it'll be funny!". It's a shame, because the episode starts with the very interesting issue of women getting equal rights on Ferenginar before becoming derailed. It also has the superb Wallace Shawn and Jeffrey Combs doing their usual excellent work.
We open with Quark, a character we've come to love through his faults, openly encouraging a female employee to perform sexual acts on him under the threat of being fired. But it's okay, right? It's meant to be funny.
Quark is forced to have gender reassignment and becomes woman. It's okay, it's meant to be funny.
We all laugh at Quark trying to act like a woman, and the way his hormones now make him feel. It's okay, it's meant to be funny.
A Ferengi male traps female-Quark in his quarters and chases her around in an attempt to have sex with her against her will. It's all very slapstick. It's meant to be funny!
At the end, it turns out that Quark's female employee actually wants to perform the work-enforced sex acts on him! Women always say yes if you're persistent enough, right? SO FUNNY!
Quark doesn't actually learn anything from his experience as a woman! Ha! Sexism wasn't ever a real thing! Oh MY!
An amazingly well constructed episode that deals with alternate timelines but manages to be a wonderful character piece. The return of Denise Crosby as Tasha is central to this, and I wish I could experience the original shock of seeing her that must have occurred back in 1990.
The episode manages to bring meaning to her senseless season 1 death, and her scenes with both Guinan and Picard are very layered and powerful. Additionally, the episode has a vividly different look from standard TNG; dramatic lighting and longer focal depth really stand out, giving the episode its own identity. I get a small thrill with the return of the original-era movie uniforms and even set design.
It's also nice the way that the main cast change their performances in only subtle ways. Mainly we see that Picard and Riker have a harder edge, they seem more battle weary and forceful in their decisions. But the old captain is still in there as we see in his discussions with Guinan. This is yet another demonstration of what an important addition Whoopi Goldberg was to the cast.
As for minor criticism, I find the last 5 minutes of the episode a little dull. The battle with the Klingons just isn't particularly exciting. It's also convenient that the Enterprise-C crew were so willing to go back to their time without much argument.
I often see this derided as one of the worst DS9 episodes, and while it's definitely not going to win any awards I found myself seeing the good in it. It's certainly got a lot of issues and major story problems, but the episode has a heart and emotional punch which affected me. It also manages to be a very generic and unambitious Trek story.
Yeah, big parts of this don't make sense. Once Molly comes back as an 18 year old, the possibility is discussed of trying again to grab her through the time portal and bring her back as an 8 year old instead. This entire idea is dismissed by both the O'Briens and Dr. Bashir immediately. Why? Because they don't want to deny her the years she's had on the planet. Completely alone, separated from her parents, forced to learn to survive, scared out of her mind. OF COURSE YOU SHOULD TRY TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING. So, that's moronic.
Once back on the station, no real attempt is made to rehabilitate Molly. There are no child psychiatrists or doctors (bar Julian, who doesn't do all that much) assigned to help her. Miles and Keiko attempt to do everything alone, and it's insane how little patience they have. Miles is getting annoyed when Molly won't pass the ball back to him - based on the amount of balls she collects, they've been trying for all of 5 minutes. They put her in situations among crowds and seem surprised that she lashes out; why didn't they just beam to and from the holosuite to avoid problems?
Their final solution is to just send Molly back. Alone, to remain alone for the rest of her life until she dies alone. There is no feasible way that this is a good idea. For some reason the O'Briens completely reject the notion of Molly getting professional help and being rehabilitated properly.
As for the good stuff, I thought that Keiko especially brought a lot of emotion to the episode. Seeing a child separated from distraught parents is quite upsetting to watch. It's a shame that Molly isn't really a fully formed character, despite appearing on both this show and TNG for so many years (impressively, played by the same actress all this time too!). O'Brien's family in general seem to be a background thing that he doesn't need to deal with unless the story calls for it. Something of a missed opportunity there.
The actress for 18 year old Molly was fantastic, and easily the highlight of the episode.
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.
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.
Here's a prime example of how good Voyager can be when it tells a story that's all about its characters rather than the plot-driven pieces that we're usually given. I'm also a big fan of strong continuity in my storytelling, so this ticks a lot of the right boxes.
I love that the emotion of receiving letters from home was allowed to be the main focus of this episode, and the Hirogen part was just a background plot that doesn't really take effect until the end. We see the characters reacting in all sorts of different ways and then having to deal with the contents of what their letters say. Both Chakotay and B'Elanna find out about the end of the Maquis (from the DS9 episode 'Blaze of Glory') and it gives their characters - especially Chakotay - something to actually motivate their choices and personalities for once.
It also lead to a quite excellent scene between B'Elanna and Tom as their differing views on receiving letters from home let them learn more about each other.
The Hirogen themselves are kind of cheesy but a far more intimidating and interesting villain than the show has given us so far. I look forward to seeing more of them. Seven handled them extremely well and got some great dialogue.
I'm reading the relaunch tie-in novels chronologically alongside watching these shows, and there's a short story from the Voyager book 'Distant Shores' which leads into this episode very nicely (as well as following up elements of the semi-canon novel 'Mosaic'). Having just read about Janeway's fiancé Mark and how he dealt with her disappearance, then finding out she's still alive and having to write her a letter, made this episode all the more powerful. I really hope there's going to be more Starfleet contact in the future.
The show says goodbye to Kes and brings Seven of Nine into the family. I have mixed feelings about both, but I like that they handled both events in one episode.
Kes was a character who never really contributed anything to Voyager, despite the intrigue surrounding her developing mental abilities. It's a shame that nothing came of her, because Jennifer Lien was one of the best actors on the show and always brought more to the stories than others would have. Her relationship with Neelix never worked, but her interactions with Tuvok and the Doctor promised that more could have been coming up. Anyway, her method of leaving the ship is very abrupt and denies her a a proper goodbye with anyone other than Janeway. It's a somewhat emotional finish that leaves open ended questions.
And then we have Seven of Nine. A problematic character, because as has been freely admitted she was brought onto the show for no other reason than to have an attractive woman to boost ratings. They stick her in a catsuit, get rid of all the ugly Borg implants and the whole thing is quite ridiculous. What nobody could have forseen is that Jeri Ryan is a fantastic actress who brought a huge amount of weight to all of her scenes and elevated the character far above whatever ambitions the producers had for her.
This episode is all about moving things around, so very little really happens in it. Janeway's ridiculously elastic morals/superiority show up again as she tells Seven that she will have no free will aboard Voyager - at least the script acknowledges how horrible this is by having Seven accuse her of being no different from the Borg.
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:
'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.
I didn't really love the previous episode with the genetically enhanced super group from last season ('Statistical Probabilities'), but this one is a bit better. I think I have to admit that the main reason for that is that it gives Jack, Patrick and Lauren much less screen time. I just found them a bit too much to watch.
Sarina, however, was always the interesting one and I'm glad that she gets an episode here. What is most impressive is the complete transformation of the actress playing her, and I don't just mean in looks. Her entire face suddenly comes alive and it's both fascinating and lovely to see. This being Star Trek, it's a little obvious that the episode is not going to end well, though. Fortunately they don't go the expected route of reverting Sarina to her original state (or even worse, killing her) and do manage to give her a happy ending even if she's not going to be sticking around on the station.
Julian's role here is iffy. The story does at least acknowledge most of that, with Miles reminding his friend that Sarina is his patient and the realisations he accepts at the end. It's fairly easy to see Julian as taking advantage of Sarina here, and his early DS9 arrogrant/womaniser persona is in danger of reappearing in earnest. I'm glad that the doctor does at least see how poorly he handled things while at the same time I feel sympathy for him. He did things all sorts of wrong here, though.
The "do-re-mi" singing scene manages to be both gorgeous and cheesy as hell.
An episode based around the theme of coming together, in some cases to work towards a goal or in some to just forge a friendship. This is the beginning of the fantastic O'Brien/Bashir pairing, and it's off to a rocky start. I love that O'Brien just doesn't like Julian, but I also love that Julian isn't oblivious to this. It seems the writers might have realised just how arrogant they were making the character and began the process of making the doctor more likeable.
The Jake/Nog friendship has also grown to the point where the two of them are becoming inseparable, and to where they now comfortably argue a lot. They behave as believable teenagers, far better than Wesley ever did over on TNG. I have to admit, when I watched this episode as kid I also had a massive crush on Varis Sul, and it's interesting that I had forgotten about her completely but the episode brought it all the memories back!
It's a notoriously cheesy moment within the first season of the show, though. The whole storyteller plot line in the village is really hard to take, mostly because of how stupid the villagers come across. Our first real visit down to Bajor presents a people who seem moronic among the galaxy's occupants, shouting at a cloud in the sky. We've been told repeatedly what an advanced and cultured civilisation they are. I always laugh at O'Brien's attempt to tell the story, though ("once upon a time...").
An episode I always kind of liked, because it's a silly concept that is taken fairly seriously. Mainly, though, it's a an episode that strongly defines many attributes for our main characters. Bashir shows again that he's an extremely capable scientist and doctor who puts a lot of effort in. Kira demonstrates her initiative and fierce personality in going after the solution with full force (and no small measure of creativity). Quark and Odo get to show of their dynamic, with Quark getting to have all sorts of fun throughout and Odo always being frustrated by it. And Sisko gets to have some wonderful father/son interaction with Jake.
It also shows us again how different this show is to TNG with the personality of the station itself. It's still a mess and is seemingly on the verge of falling apart with all the systems constantly breaking down. All the responsibility seems to be on Chief O'Brien who is just run off his feet, poor guy, and his sarcastic snapping at his commanding officer would never have gone down well on the Enterprise! (and I love it.)
The weaker parts of the episode are mostly with the captain who tries to escape at the end, it's a terribly written part that's performed by quite a weak actor (he doesn't seem to want move his face or head as he speaks). Odo's opinion about Rom being an idiot is amusing in retrospect since Rom turns out to be an engineering genius in later seasons.
I really enjoy the symptoms of the aphasia virus itself here, the gobbledegook is wonderful to listen to, and makes a nice change from technobabble! Further seeds being planted about the inventive Bajoran terrorism attempts too, given that the virus turns out not to be Cardassian in origin. It's all wrapped up with too much ease at the end, but a far more memorable "virus of the week" episode than in most of Trek.
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 quite delightful episode is finely crafted and serves as a moment of calm before the heavy stuff that is about to happen. Jake and Nog get centre stage for once and handle things very well, bringing some very nice comedy that doesn't spill over into being silly - although the whole episode teeters on the edge of doing just that. The episode is essentially about trying to cheer people up, and it does have that effect on the viewer too.
And yet, there is something a bit unsubstantial about it that prevents me from totally loving it. The concept is quite a ridiculous one, and it's a testament to the characters and the writing that it gets the mileage it does from the plot. The character of Dr. Giger is maybe a little too out-there, and I can't help but feel that the whole episode revolved around trying to make the "lions, Gigers, bears, oh my" joke work.
I do enjoy seeing Jake and Nog together, though, the actors have a good chemistry that allows things to feel very natural by now. In particular, the scene with the Klingon opera is pretty great. My favourite moment of the episode may have been the great interaction between Kai Winn and Weyoun, though ("no, we are nothing alike").
And it is always quite lovely to see the bond between Jake and his father.
Our first proper look at Ferengi culture is a fun, if reserved episode. We get our first mention of the Rules of Acquisition and our introduction to the Grand Nagus. Wallace Shawn is absolute perfection in the role, I find it hard not to start cracking up any time he's on screen.
Ferengi episodes will prove to be divisive on this show, they can be seen as silly, almost slapstick comedy diversions. Myself, I find them a mixed bag but always thought that there is more to like than to not. They always highlight the acting skills of Armin Shimmerman and Max Grodenchik, and the chemistry between those two as Quark and Rom really shines. This is the first episode where we get a hint of Rom as the character we will come to know, even if he has a meaner streak than he later would.
The end of the episode feels like a bit of a mess. Odo just witnessed Rom's in the process of attempted murder, but doesn't say or do anything about it. In fact, he seems to disappear from the scene entirely. I think the friendship between Nog and Jake actually turns out to be the best part of this one, with the lovely revelation about how Jake is helping him and Commander Sisko's realisation of that.
I do have to wonder if seeing the credit "written by Ronald D. Moore" appear at the start of the episode is colouring my opinion, but I really quite enjoyed this. It felt epic and emotional, and the strong focus on characters was markedly different from what I'm getting used to seeing on Voyager.
It was helped no end by some good casting in the roles of the three ex-Borg, and along with Jeri Ryan they all had chemistry as a group. I found myself getting quite wrapped up in the tale unfolding. It all lead to a difficult decision with a somewhat bittersweet outcome, the mark of classic Star Trek. I found the dialogue to be a step up from usual with some much more natural and heartfelt discussions between characters - and again, I wonder if my mind is just attributing that to the fact that I know that Ron Moore wrote this, or if it actually is genuinely of a higher quality.
At the same time, it's another Borg episode and by this point it's a real struggle to make them at all interesting. Seven herself is so good purely for the fact that she isn't a Borg and is rediscovering her individuality, so when we go back to a previous time it feels like it falls into a certain predictable pattern. Fortunately, this remains separate from the entire Collective.
It's interesting to read the comments Ron Moore himself has made about his short time working on Voyager, and how upset he was with the whole experience which caused him to quit fairly soon after this. At any rate, I would be delighted for the show to go more in the direction suggested here with the focus on character development over action.
I get emotional every time. Deep Space Nine ends with a beautiful farewell that manages to cover a lot of bases. It wraps up the Dominion War and gives - mostly - satisfying farewells for these characters. This show had by far the characters with the most depth and development in the franchise. There is no room for arguing that fact at all. They felt real. They had faults and they had arcs and evolved throughout the show.
So, it's a real shame that this is the final on-screen appearance for all of them bar Worf. If there was any Trek show that deserved a continuation in film format it was this one. The stories developed here were so rich, and even though this episode wraps things up it still leaves enough open questions and paths for exploration (with one MASSIVE cliffhanger in particular).
This episode itself is strong though certainly not without problems. The pacing is mostly good, but every time we cut to Kai Winn and Dukat on their pah-wraith search it really spoils the momentum. I've now learned (thanks to online forums that didn't exist for me back in the day) that a lot of people were not fans of any of this storyline. I can kind of understand why, even though it never bothered me too much. I really like the mythos that was slowly built up around the Bajoran religion, and certainly when I was younger I couldn't see the way elements became shoehorned in. The pah-wraiths amount to little more than hand-waving magic when you really look at them and they had the effect of turning both Winn and Dukat into pantomime villains.
I don't really accept the way that Winn changed her entire religious beliefs so readily, even though she tries to justify it. I also don't quite understand most of Dukat's motivations after he loses his daughter in season 6. If we are supposed to believe that he's just gone a bit insane then it could have been portrayed better. The whole showdown is over and done with far too quickly and it all gets a bit Star Wars (which I adore, but Star Wars is fantasy-based whereas Star Trek is science fiction/technology based). It doesn't fit. And we get a fast wrap up where Sisko and Dukat just fall into the fire which is... silly, to be polite.
The rest of the episode makes up for this, though. The final battle of the Dominion War is a visual feast and a gripping rollercoaster. The space battle is a tremendous accomplishment for 1990s television standards, but the best part is the Kira/Garak/Damar resistance storyline. Those three characters have such rich histories of conflict to mine that putting them together leads to nothing but joy on screen. The death of Damar does feel like a gut punch even though we've spent so much time hating him for his actions over the course of the past few seasons. It's a shame that his murder of Ziyal is never directly addressed by Kira or Garak. The love-to-hate-him character Weyoun gets a satisfying send off, and the war is ended with a moment of compassion and understanding when Odo offers to give himself up to save everyone.
The individual character bookends are also greatly satisfying, and often bittersweet. Odo leaves, O'Brien leaves, Worf leaves. Odo's decision feel natural even though he leaves hurt people in his wake, but Miles' is much more unexpected and actually the more emotional for me. The O'Brien/Bashir bromance was among my favourite parts of this show, so the video collage of their past moments is heartbreaking for me. Worf's departure is a bit stranger, since we will see him again in Star Trek: Nemesis and it doesn't acknowledge his decisions here at all. Additionally, I will be forever disappointed that there are no flashback to Jadzia due to licensing reasons.
In happier endings, Julian and Ezri are finally together and I like it. It was all a bit forced but I'm just happy at the thought of them together. Nog gets promoted to Lieutenant (take that, Harry Kim), Kira is in charge of the station and Quark gets to keep running the bar while Rom has become Grand Nagus!
That leaves the saddest ending of all: the Siskos. In particular, I think Jake gets the short straw. His dad is gone but just within reach. Benjamin has not only left his son behind, but his pregnant wife. It's a bold ending that leaves you wanting to know more, and extremely bittersweet. Ben and Jake were the heart and soul of this show from the very beginning and I think it's appropriate that it finishes on a shot of Jake thinking about his dad while being comforted.
I said in my review of 'Emissary' that DS9 was my favourite TV show of all time. This rewatch has solidified that statement for me. The characters here are mismatched, broken people who grow and evolve into true friends and take us on that journey with them. It has also really struck me how much DS9 continues to stand up to today's modern TV landscape, while the other Trek shows feel very much liked dated products of their time. Here we have a tale of terrorism, religion, war and through all that a thread of hope and idealism.
I absolutely can't leave it here, and I'm going to be delving into the "relaunch" novels that pick up where the show ended and continue the journey. It's not official canon and could easily be overwritten at any time (especially given the announcement of all the new Trek heading our way on TV), but that doesn't take away from these new stories at all, and given the "black sheep" nature of DS9 in the franchise I have a feeling that these stories are probably the best I can hope for. There's also the upcoming documentary What We Left Behind to look forward to, and maybe one day we'll get a nice HD upgrade for the show.
See you again down the road, DS9.
The second episode does bring the action with an extremely impressive space battle, though fortunately not entirely at the expense of character. I was particularly intrigued by the flashbacks to Burnham's Vulcan upbringing and her initial arrival on board the Shenzhou (finally answered my question about the weird "lateral" transporters, too!). I loved the sneaky tactic of beaming a warhead onto a dead body, and the resulting explosion was great.
I wasn't quite expecting the deaths of what seemed to be main characters (although honestly, I wasn't completely expecting Michelle Yeoh to hang around all that long), so seeing T'Kumva meet his end this early was surprising. It didn't really feel like Burnham did much to try and capture him, as was the initial plan - couldn't she have stunned him and then beamed back with him as her prisoner?
Her interactions with the computer in the brig felt like something we've never seen before on Trek, as typically when a character tries to engage the computer in some kind of speculation or discussion it ends up getting confused. But I liked it. I'm a little bit sad, though, that the computer voice isn't provided by Majel Barret, as there were so many rumours going around that she recorded a vocal library before passing away which could be used to synthesise her voice.
The Klingons feel like the weak point to me. The redesign bugs me a little bit, but not enough to ruin things. More problematic is if they insist on speaking Klingon all the time then it really slows scenes down due to how stilted the actor's dialogue becomes. However, I quite like that they've given them much more of a culture and meaning, as opposed to the drunken "honourable" warrior caricatures that '90s Trek reduced them to.
I'm impressed that the show has done enough this early to make Captain Georgiou's death have an impact. I must admit, thought, that I'm quite surprised that we still haven't seen the USS Discovery.
In possibly my favourite entry so far, we get a far more traditional "episodic" story. A situation develops at the start, complications occur and things are happily resolved by the end (although, Harry Mudd may disagree with that assessment). Although, that final shot was a doozy!
Everything felt like it was working better here than it has previously. The Klingons have been the most difficult thing so far as they slow down the episodes so much, but here we get them speaking English and behaving a lot more like the classic Klingons that Star Trek presented us with for so many years. These guys want to fight and hurt other people, and no religious nonsense is going to get in the way.
This gave us a much more detailed look at a couple of characters. Captain Lorca reveals more and more what kind of person he is. He wants to help people, but he also recognises the sacrifices that may need to be made to do that. It's easy to disagree with his perspective when we hear about the results, and the news that he destroyed his own ship and crew is a lot to take. He's also extremely intelligent and perceptive, and he has no qualms about people paying the price for what they've done. Rainn Wilson's portrayal of Harry Mudd isn't too far removed from the Original Series character, but he also managed to put his own spin on it. Maybe it was just due to the quite horrible situation he was trapped in, but this Mudd was more serious while being no less selfish. Still, I don't know if I agree with Lorca leaving him there.
More compelling to me was the different side we see of Saru. It felt like his desire to be an effective captain (going as far as researching the traits of Starfleet legends) began to override his more natural decision making. The debate over the use of the Tardigrade was exactly the Star Trek storytelling we've been waiting for, but at the same time the context here made it kind of one-sided. Placing Saru on the side of using the creature made him seem unsympathetic and cold, and it's only when we realise that he has to make these choices because he believes that saving his captain is the highest goal that we can begin to see why he's doing that.
There was also scientific joy as Stamets uses himself with the jump drive. This is one part of the show that I wasn't quite clicking with, but the more detailed explanations here have made things clearer. As it stands, it seems to me that this method of travel isn't sustainable given the high cost on the user (is Stamets going to be willing to do that again?) and I'm really interested in where it's going to go. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear the first use of the word "fuck" in all of Star Trek. Tilly continues to be a delight.
Very disappointed to see the online homophobes and bigots crawling out of their holes all over the place.
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:
Among the purest representations of what Star Trek is all about, 'Darmok' is near enough a masterpiece. It's a beautiful look at the language barrier between two people when you don't understand how the other person communicates. It's exciting, at times bewildering and ultimately sad.
Of course, it's got issues. The concept of the language based around metaphors seems inherently flawed (how do you have a normal conversation with someone? How do you order a meal off a menu? How do you potty train your child? How do you teach your children the stories in the first place?) but it also works because the point is we find it incomprehensible. It's alien. There are ways to answer my questions (maybe the aliens have some telepathic abilities, or pass down genetic memories) that really don't matter in the grand scheme.
Patrick Stewart is on top form as always, but he's given a run for his money with guest star Paul Winfield as the alien captain. There's also a brief glimpse of a very young Ashley Judd in what looks to be her first ever on-screen acting job, and she will return in the future.
It's a compelling mystery episode with tension and excitement. The crew of the Enterprise all have great scenes trying to solve the problem while Picard struggles to understand his companion and how to stay alive. Also, I really love the uniform jacket that Picard wears here for the first time.
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.
My favourite episode so far, and the first truly strong episode of Voyager. This is thanks to a powerful plot that allows characters to act very genuinely, and allows viewers to become truly invested. And best of all, NO NEELIX!
Janeway and Kim are the heart of this episode, both of them being very eager for things to work out. It allows us to see the deep longing they have to just get back home, with Harry especially prepared to throw caution to the wind. The captain is more level headed but we can see how much it hurts her that things don't work out. The b-plot with the Doctor is equally as strong, finally acknowledging that he's a member of the crew. It was probably a good (and very deliberate) decision for the show to treat the Doctor as a real person, because if we really stop and think about it, it's ridiculous that the Doctor has any emotions or feelings. He isn't there, he's just a light projection and isn't a person at all, but it's very important that we all believe he's real.
And "things not working out" is what we have to expect: this is a 1990s television show, so it's obvious that any hope that the crew have of getting back home before the series finale is never going to work out. The episode allows us to suspend our disbelief by letting us get caught up in the emotions of the moment, the hope that everyone begins to feel.
And what a great twist: that the Romulan scientist they've been communicating with is actually from 20 years in the past! It adds yet another layer to this wonderfully flowing tale.
Of all TNG episodes, 'The Wounded' feels like the one which firmly leads to the creation of Deep Space Nine. Chief O'Brien, having been given more and more screen time over the past couple of seasons, is finally given something of a leading role and a huge amount of character development. I would think that it's this episode that brought his character over to DS9. I really love the dinner scenes with Keiko, and of course the fantastic talk in Ten-Forward.
Additionally, we get to meet the Cardassians for the first time. These guys are just incredible, and I think one of the most developed alien races in popular science fiction. A big part of their success is down to the casting here, with Marc Alaimo playing Gul Macet. It's no coincidence he was later cast as Gul Dukat throughout DS9 (and for me, by far and away the best Trek villain ever). He brings a great deal of menace and intellect to the role, but we also get depth when you look at all 3 of the Cardassian actors together as they each display very different personalities. If they hadn't all worked so well I'm not sure that the Cardassians would have become some an important part of the franchise. There are wonderful scenes on the bridge as Picard has to deal with events while Macet watches on, tense stuff.
The weaker parts of the episode for me come in the form of Captain Maddox. Maybe it's because we've gotten so used to Picard as an example of a leader, but this guy just crumbles in comparison to him. It's also odd that we never see any of Maddox's crew and have to assume that they are just blindly following his bizarre orders.
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.
Lots of fun to be had as we reconnect with old characters, but this is very much a setup episode just putting things in place and letting us know what the new status quo is. There's some intriguing new pieces of information and certainly questions, such as what the new scientists are doing with the gateway and what Will is seeing when he gets glimpses of the Upside Down - that's a huuuuge monster! The major question is of course that ending with Hopper and his guest, and what's he up to? I'd guess it's related to the unknown deal he made at the end of season 1.
The opening car chase was both exciting and distracting in how displaced it felt from the story we're here for. Seems like there's others out there with powers similar to Eleven and they are not using them for good. As an introduction, they don't particularly seem like a bunch of people I'm very eager to know.
I used to play Dragon's Lair! The boys being obsessed with new classmate Max was really funny - she's going to be difficult to get along with by the looks of things. Happy to see that Joyce has found a boyfriend in Samwise Gamgee! What's the betting that there will be more to him than meets the eye?
The scene with Barb's parents was heartbreaking, and there's no way that Nancy can reveal what she knows about her fate.
If I can put aside my dislike for Neelix and all Neelix-centric stories, I can sift through this and see that it's a pretty decent episode. But it's due to the other characters that it shines. Janeway in particular is very strong and decisive here, and the scene in which she confronts the Vidiians really lets her inner conflict show.
The Doctor also gets a lot to do and reveals a lot about his irascible personality - which is seemingly hiding a very vulnerable and fragile person. Quite odd for a hologram, really, but it adds a lot to the character. A good scene in which he slaps Paris to demonstrate a point, and he gets to deliver the immortal line, "his lungs have been removed!".
The Vidiians themselves are a fantastic alien design. They manage to be hideous, creepy and quite sympathetic. The stuff inside the asteroid with all the reflections is pretty cool and creative, too. Aside from Neelix's quite unbearable freak-out moment (to be fair, what he has done to him is horrific), I quite enjoyed this one.
(I couldn't quite resist my inner cynic coming out, though: when Neelix asks, "how long will I have to stay like this?" I couldn't help but think, "just until the end of this episode.")
This brings back memories. Back in the '90s I used to fill up videotapes with episodes of TNG recorded off Sky 1 (a 4-hour tape using the long play setting allowed 9 or 10 episodes!). This episode was one that I remember watching a lot, and it was absolutely one of my favourites. Rewatching it now, it still is. 'Remember Me' is classic Star Trek and it's so much fun. The concept is completely daft and yet they make it work.
Beverly rarely got to have episodes focused on her, and it's a shame because Gates McFadden is completely able to carry the show. She has a number of scenes all by herself and she keeps things interesting. Her dynamic with the Captain also serves to keep things more interesting than it would be with another character, as they are always less formal around each other. Gotta love the two of them on the bridge: "you're telling me the two of us cruise around the galaxy with no crew?!" - "we've never needed one before."
In a nice bit of continuity, we also get the Traveller returning. I find him a bit creepy, to be honest. This also continues Wesley's journey to his later destiny. There's some really nice cinematography on show, notably with the silhouettes against the vortex and the transition as we discover what's happening on the "other side".
I also noticed that by this point in the show, they've really nailed the aesthetic it will come to be known for. The ship feels super cosy.
