The stunning photo-realistic visuals don't hide how horribly this objectifies women. What possible reason was there for her to naked throughout the whole thing? Anyway, the ending was a cool little moment.
There's some potential here, but it has some work to do. First impressions are everything and this didn't make a great one. Mostly, for a comedy it wasn't funny at all, but the cast and situation are interesting enough to keep me watching for now.
The best moment was easily the reveal about the captain. I hope the characters aren't going to be jerks all the time (everyone seems to hate what they're doing) because it's a lot to take.
As I'd feared, no sooner has Voyager introduced a menacing new enemy than they completely neuter them and render them a pretty weak threat. The Hirogen here just want to play games and argue amongst themselves. Remember when we first met them and they were about to eviscerate Tuvok alive? The double-episode could have easily been a single, and I can only imagine that the production needed to justify the use of all the WW2 sets.
I expect this was addressed in the episode and I just missed it, but... the crew are on the holodeck, right? Couldn't they just say "computer, give me an extra 100 soldiers fighting on our side", or "computer, give us more advanced weapons"? Were the whole crew locked out of the system?
It all felt a bit pointless and silly to me.
The first encounter with the Borg was probably quite creepy back in the late 1980s, but watching it today it feels a bit underwhelming. Far more interesting is the performance of Guinan, and Picard's need to become humble before Q. Lots of things here which were never followed up on, notably the concept of baby Borgs which was completely abandoned. The 18 dead crew members do lead a bad taste in your mouth, and severely alters any playful side we may have seen in Q.
They also set up a big mystery with Guinan's background, which was never mentioned or explored again. Lt. Gomez could have become an enjoyable recurring character, too.
That was surely one of the Star Trekkiest episodes that ever Star Trekked. I could easily picture this being a TNG story. Hard hitting, tough, highly watchable. Pike's hair continues to impress.
That was DS9.
THEY WENT TO DS9.
This is all I've wanted for the past 21 years.
I have to be honest, I really don't understand the factions and politics present here. Am I not paying enough attention, or is the show doing a poor job of explaining?
My only impressions so far:
- OPA: some kind of terrorist group. Bad.
- Belters: Gangs, criminals, violent, corrupt. Bad.
- Earth: elite, ignorant of others plight. Bad.
- Mars: isolationist, seen as a threat by everyone. Bad.
Surely this can't be right?
However, this episode was better for characters. People really seem to dislike each other but at least there was some reasoning behind it this time.
I'm cautiously optimistic based on this first episode. It seems faithful to the book and I really like the cast.
I felt like maybe there was too much awkward exposition up front and yet I still feel like I would be pretty lost if I didn't already know the story.
Were there helicopters in the book? I don't remember that and it seemed out of place with the 1920s technology feel of the rest of the world. Also, it felt like only the main characters had daemons with none in the background.
But, there were also moments here where I was completely entranced by the story being told. I'm looking forward to the next episode.
I'm still not sure about the story, but I adore the aesthetic. It's a real throwback to the early '80s. Even the end credits have a telecine wobble, what a nice attention to little details.
An excellent story true to the spirit of the tales it's trying to pay homage to, I really enjoyed this one. The jokes were quite on point, too, without overpowering the narrative. This has confirmed for me that The Orville might become a show I truly love.
Quite unimpressed with this one. I make fun of Voyager for using the reset button, but this episode ACTUALLY RESETS EVERYTHING AT THE END. It makes it all rather pointless, as none of it ever happens. Which is a shame, because the Janeway/Paris pairing was working quite well, and they had a lot things to teach each other. I feel more on Tom's side in that the Prime Directive should never apply when an entire planet is going to be wiped out (this was touched on not long ago in the TNG episode 'Homeward').
A thinly veiled criticism of nuclear power is all fine and well, though no real points are made other than "it's too dangerous". The alien civilisation they encounter (did they even both to not make them look human this time?) all wear the terrible same clothes, and the forced friendship story between Tom and the little boy was quite horrible to watch.
Kes's weird telepathic abilities are quite cool, but since everything resets I guess she doesn't remember anything about what it all means.
There's nothing particularly bad about this episode, it's just so very forgettable. It's a great showcase for Dax and Terry Farrell finally gets to show us the slightly more fun side of her which will become a trademark of her personality. I like Trill culture so it's nice to get some info about how it all works, but the whole relationship between Jadzia and Arjin is quite dull and just feels half hearted.
Odo has a great mini disagreement with Kira and makes his points beautifully, the voles on the station are a humourous background story and the Klingon chef is always welcome back.
But the whole thing with the tiny universe is just uninteresting and feels without any real stakes. They just end up putting it back where they found it, but isn't it still going to pose a risk there once it continues to expand?
One of the weakest TNG episodes outside of the first couple of seasons. Too much focus on an uninteresting guest star from an uninteresting planet, with a terribly cheap design. I'm also distracted by how much Ishara looks like Sarah Connor.
A wonderful moment to pause and an important episode for the show. No sci-fi, no drama, no high stakes, just a pure character focus. It's an episode that almost didn't get made, but it's beautiful and feels completely necessary after what Picard has just been through. Patrick Stewart gives a great performance and once again it feels like, as Picard, he lets the mask drop and becomes more himself. Of course, the lingering effects of the emotional damage caused by the Borg are still going to come back and haunt him down the line.
His breakdown while covered in mud is certainly a major turning point for him, and it helped no end that he had great chemistry with the actor playing his stern older brother.
While the focus is on the captain, I found Worf and Wesley's family matters just as interesting. Worf is clearly delighted to see his parents despite the protests he makes to Riker and O'Brien. And oh my God, I LOVE the Rozhenkos!
This episode does drive home what a horrible writing choice will happen later in the film Generations in regards to Captain Picard's family.
Parts of this took me right back to playing TIE Fighter.
Which reminds me, I need to replay TIE Fighter.
So, Kirk and crew encounter a primitive culture and decide they're doing things wrong. They kill their God and force their own values on these people's society. They then consider this a good day's work. I am deeply uncomfortable with that. Spock at least has the wherewithal to point out that they may not have done the right thing at the end, but his comrades literally laugh at him. Wow.
That aside, it's an entertaining enough episode, the earlier sections with the hazardous planet and crew deaths being the most exciting part. It also appears that Spock is virtually indestructible just due to the fact that he's Vulcan.
A great fun episode, and Omega continues to be endearing with her endless optimism. Also delighted to see Rafa and Trace back and maybe now people will finally start to see how great they are!
Interesting ending moment, my first thought was Ahsoka but I guess that wouldn't make that much sense... would it?
There was enough here to hook me in to continue watching. It suffers from the tired YA tropes and some truly awful exposition in the dialogue, but I like the characters and most of the actors seem decent. Not easy to understand much of what was going on but it settled down. There's a lot of room for improvement, but it already feels head and shoulders above the other Netflix teenage fantasy shows.
I found that I couldn't take the name Pekka seriously.
A fantastic show of acting from Michael Shanks who manages to convey the different personalities very well. I was especially affected by his portrayal of the young boy and found it quite emotional. I think that Doctor Frasier gets some great stuff to do here too. I wish she had been given a more prominent role a lot of the time.
I will say that the episode is a little inconsistent, or at the least confusing with some of the more technical information given. The final solution is kind of glossed over. We are told that separating the personalities isn't possible (and the excellent water jug demonstration really helps us understand the issues), but in the end it turns out yes, the ship can fix it after all.
This one fails to be quite engaging enough to make me care about Shan'auc and her crusade despite a strong guest appearance from Musetta Vander. It's all very lifeless and flat. They really wanted to separate Teal'c from all memories of his wife, didn't they? But it does end well and sets up some intriguing future stories.
The way this episode brings together a bunch of characters from different previous episodes feels so rewarding. That's the thing that used to always make Stargate stand out so much for me compared to much of the Star Trek shows, the sense of continuity and consequences. It's great to see Ska'ara again (I wish the show had used him more) and the return of the Nox with Lya. Plus, we get to see the cool new Tollan homeworld which looks suspiciously like a university campus! It works, though.
Badgey is the greatest character in the history of Star Trek and you cannot change my mind.
I also instantly recognised JG Hertzler's voice! Nice.
The music in this one increased the anxiety and emotion to a huge degree. It was like a Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Star Wars score at times! Honestly, it was making my heart thump.
I knew Order 66 from the perspective of this show was going to pack a punch, and it was as powerful as expected. Did Rex shed a tear as he tried to resist? Ahsoka's escape was maybe all a bit contrived but was also true to her creative nature. Mace Windu pointedly addressing her as a "citizen" was really cold.
I did love the way she subverted expectations upon rescuing Maul, and then telling him no they were not going to work together - you're just my diversion.
Honestly, I'm finding it all a bit dull. There's intrigue but I don't care about any of the characters.
The guy in the hotel is adult Mikkel, right?
I'm disappointed they've decided to leave everything we've been waiting for until the very last episode. Hopefully it's a satisfying conclusion, but it definitely didn't need to take this long to get there.
I am impressed that I really don't know how it's all going to go down, nor who I'm rooting for most.
I can't take much more of Chakotay's akoo-chee-moya bullshit.
This feels like it's all been done before, and from the moment Chakotay first "wakes up", you're expecting him to still be in the dream. His entire plan relied on being able to see Earth's moon - that's pretty dumb since he's lost in the Delta Quadrant.
Extremely weak aliens, too.
Tuvok sure shows a lot of emotion (mostly embarrassment) for a Vulcan, and I'm disappointed that Janeway again shows her lack of leadership ability by plunging headfirst into a lethal situation (the warp core breach) with no regard for the consequences.
In what world is being kissed by Seven of Nine considered a nightmare? Harry is weird.
Enjoyably in depth look at Klingon culture. While the show has gone into it before, this episode really sets the template and kicks off a story arc for Worf that will continue across this series and DS9.
Tony Todd is amazing, as always. I also feel like we get to see a little of the real Picard slip through when he smirks at the old woman's line "he was too fat". Normally he has to stay very reserved but doesn't need to here.
Worf gets to shout the captain down, too. Don't see that often. The only slightly confusing thing is the discommendation ending: it's not explained, and I don't see how it differs from the verdict Worf would have received anyway.
Another Geordie-centric episode following straight on the heels of the previous one, but this is much more dynamic. Geordie is also far more interesting when the focus isn't his love life, plus we get to see him without the visor on. LeVar Burton has a very expressive face, so letting us see his eyes is always a good thing.
The very tense situation on the ship is the better side of the episode, though. Romulan intrigue is always entertaining, while Worf gets to make a bold character statement. The scenes he has with both Riker and Picard are wonderful, with the Captain showing him the respect he deserves by not ordering him to help the Romulan, despite the situation.
The fantastic Andreas Katsulas makes his first appearance as Commander Tomalok, and he always leaves an impression. We get to see the better production values of season 3 down on the planet's surface, it looks far more realistic than the cheap cardboard sets we've been stuck with from previous seasons.
What a great way to end the season. From the moment we saw that maroon movie-era uniform I had a feeling that we were in for something special. This weaved itself in with an alternate take on a classic TOS episode with great skill, as well as throwing in some fun stuff.
I particularly loved the way that they altered the lighting here to match the TOS style, with actor's eyes/faces smoothly lit up in highlights.
Was it a little too on the nose in it's tribute at points? Maybe. But I'm okay with it, and it had enough of a twist on things to make it work. Introducing Kirk this way was a deft, sneaky move and I liked it. And a cliff hanger ending! SNW, you have my attention and my heart.
An absolutely wonderful beginning. All the spirit of classic Trek, characters that are vibrant, a sense of fun and adventure, and it brings up relevant modern issues like Trek always has. I can't wait to see where we go from here. Anson Mount and Ethan Peck are just brilliant in their roles as we already knew, but the new cast seem to fit immediately too. Celia Rose Gooding in particular captured the vibe of Uhura very well, even though we saw so little of her. And that was a nice little surprise with the Lieutenant at the end.
