Like with Family, Star Trek: The Next Generation is really good at those Picard-centric second episodes after a big blockbuster series opener. The performance here again by Patrick Stewart was excellent as the episode really got what Starfleet was all about and showed it perfectly down to a T. One of the best episodes of the series so far for me, carefully contained.
A fascinating proto-DS9 episode that really puts down the groundwork for the Cardassian/Bajorans conflict. Michelle Forbes is great as Ensign Ro who goes against what we've seen from Starfleet officers so far, and this allows for plenty of tension with herself and the crew in a great way. Forbes works really well with both Goldberg & Stewart, her scenes with Guinan - particularly at the start, were a highlight, as were Picard's at the end.
Loved just how fun this episode was with some good role reversal for the characters. Picard working with children after they got trapped in a lift together was hilarious no matter how poor the child actors were, and Worf delivering a baby is a classic Star Trek moment. Troi getting the chance to command the bridge too was excellent, and a real welcome change of gears for the show.
Star Trek: Black Mirror with the return of Wesley Crusher. I liked the send-off for Wesley the last time and it's cool to see him back, Wil Wheaton improved a lot the older he gets as an actor and the straightforward Wesley saving the day allowed for an almost horror-fied Trek. The game itself was a disappointment though, even by Trek standards. And was not expecting Ashley Judd to show up here.
Surprisingly low-key for such a major crossover as this with Spock involved; he's barely in the first part at all. Seeing Picard & Spock pose as Vulkans was a fun diversion in Romulus but the best scenes of the episode were easily the moments between Sarek and Picard, they're amazing every time and both Patrick Stewart & Mark Lenard have great chemistry. Lenard is terrific - I'll miss seeing him on the show.
I'm really starting to like Sela as an antagonist.
Leonard Nimoy is fantastic as Spock as always; and his scenes with Picard particularly knowing what had happened between Picard and Sarek really hit well. Patrick Stewart carries them brilliantly. Furthermore; the scenes between Data and Spock were powerful the more we learnt about Spock wanting to leave humanity behind whilst Data was trying to embrace it.
Between this and Discovery, Spock really does have a habit of going AWOL, doesn't he?
A really fun episode with a nice twist on the time traveller being from the past rather than the future. Matt Frewer hams it up a bit too much but the final reveal was, as ever, classic Trek.
Star Wars at its most bland, boring and predictable since The Rise of Skywalker. This whole season has felt like a backdoor pilot: the TV series, falling into the same trap as the hot mess that was Titans Season 2, setting up too many characters' shows and losing interest in its own to the point where it ends with a tease for another series rather than the third season of its own show. It feels like it's ticking off checklists and resorting to lazy fanservice (in hindsight it's about what we should have expected with a script written by the director of Iron Man 2) instead of trying something new or different like with The Clone Wars' animated series, Rebels' later seasons, or The Last Jedi. The Mandalorian feels like a supporting character in his own show, and the big Deus Ex Machina with Luke Skywalker confirms that the franchise is far too reliant on one character to truly move forward: what was supposed to be the series' big moment just left me cold and soulless, completely empty. I knew this was coming the moment they teased another Jedi apart from Ahsoka and brought back Boba Fett, but did it have to be this uninteresting?
The bit where we got to see Mando's face in front of everyone was a cool culmination of his arc and all, and easily a high point of the episode for me with the right emotional beats working that features a terrific bit of acting from Pedro Pascal that feels like he's been waiting the whole show to to get to grips with. It's easily a series highlight. And the stuff where Moff Gideon was able to almost manipulate Bo Katan and Mando into a fight and coming to blows was a good thing that played to all three characters strengths. But what followed was a colossal let down that flat out killed my interest in Season 3 if this is the direction of where this show is headed, it just feels like Star Wars is playing it far too safe right now, focusing on the same one character in a way that is determined to tie everything together. I also love the subtle nuance where we get to see the brief personalities of the minor Empire pilots and their troopers that adds a bit of depth to the world and explores how the characters react to the changing events around them. That stuff is good!
Good to see everyone is enjoying this more than I am. It's not for me! And that's fine.
Love the dynamic between The Doctor, Martha and Shakespeare in this episode. Shakespeare being treated as one of the rockstars of his age feels appropriate, and The Doctor quoting Shakespeare back at Shakespeare will never not grow old. A few sketchy moments with the writing aside that have not aged well, The Shakespeare Code is still a fun romp in a mostly consistent season.
A mostly really solid episode that follows the present day-past-future formula of the first three episodes of any given season that RTD stuck to quite frequently during his era. The dystopia set-up of an endless motorway of caravans is established with ease, the return of the Macra is handled really well, and I love the establishment of the "You Are Not Alone" mystery with the return of the Face of Boe. Maintains its suspense throughout and Tennant is able to sell even the cheesiest of scenes with the emotional beats handled really well. Novice Hame is handled much better here than in New Earth, and it acts as a great sequel.
"I've Invented a Sport!"
Really fun mood setter featuring an early performance from Andrew Garfield doing an American accent. Infinitely better than Evolution of the Daleks that holds up so much better on a rewatch, the Murray Gold score is firing on all cylinders. It's one of those stories that captures its time setting perfectly.
I'm not too keen on this one.
It's better than The Lazarus Experiment, Stephen Greenhorn's last Who episode, but not by much - and suffers from just not being as good as the rest of Series 4, which - because it's so good, makes the weaker episodes stand out all the more - put this in Series 3 and it's a solid middle of the road episode. It'd probably be one of the better ones of 2 or 7. Jenny needed a bit more development as the show never gives her any room to breath and it struggles to quite get the Doctor/Donna/Martha/Jenny/both factions balance right in this episode, even if I like the dynamic between Donna & Martha (which is refreshingly not combative in the way that Rose/Sarah Jane was) and the reveal about the war only lasting 7 days, 7 days being "generations" to the clones was a pretty effective moment - the emotional beats in this episode did a good job at landing, thanks in no small part due to Tennant's brilliance which makes up for the revelation about The Doctor's daughter being a clone being something of a copout - I remember the days of the speculation back in the runup to this episode as it aired! Not sure all of it stuck the landing.
On the plus side, this is the last (and only) not-as-good episode of Series 4! There's nothing but great episodes from here on out.
Same school of thought as the previous celebrity historical episodes, but with a surprise Felicity Jones appearance! of course she's the thief, tons of fun with its Cluedo-esque mystery "what are you doing with that lead piping?" and obviously, the CGI with the wasp hasn't aged brilliantly, but it's really fun overall and Agatha Christie and The Doctor teaming up to solve crimes never fails. Also the bit about The Doctor/companions bouncing off ideas about books that the famous authors haven't written to them yet from The Shakespeare Code never gets tiring.
Rivals Blink in terms of scare factor, this two parter's terrifying. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" The River Song mystery being introduced so early comes as a surprise, but Alex Kingston has an instant chemistry with David Tennant from the word go - it's completely believable. Hits all the right beats, makes you care about even the side characters who you've met for seconds - I always seem to underrate these two when making lists, but they're just so good! Possibly one of Tennant's better performances as The Doctor in this pair of episodes, too.
That's another stellar episode of Doctor Who - maybe Russell T. Davies' best script for the show? It's a perfect bottle episode (dare I say the best bottle episode of television apart from Breaking Bad's Fly?) A great slice of Twilight Zone-esque brilliance at its finest. Lesley Sharp is terrific. This run from The Unicorn and the Wasp to Journey's End is pretty much perfection.
Turn Left is a trial run for the brilliant Years and Years - Who at its darkest and most dystopian? Terrifying. This is another 10/10 in a row here, Russell T. Davies firing on all creative cylinders, Catherine Tate (her best performance) & Bernard Cribbins are phenomenal here. "The Stars are going out" is more chilling than it has any right to be. A depressing reminder that it can always get worse.
The Stolen Earth is the Doctor Who event: the first part of a culmination of everything Russell T. Davies has brought to the show. Big, loud, bombastic & ends with multiple cliffhangers on a sprawling, galaxy-wide scale where the heroes lose. Infinity War, only better.
Quite a comedown after the brilliant Stolen Earth and the weakest of the post Unicorn and the Wasp era episodes, but there are some great ideas in this and it aims big and succeeds in resolving the massive cliffhanger the only way RTD knows how: deus ex machina. The departure for Donna never fails to be emotional even when Rose's send-off is a bit too melodramatic, but as a way to close off one of the best eras of the show, Journeys End does so in style. The Russos blatantly nabbed the whole Infinity War "50% of the population" thing from this.
Murray Gold is at his peak here - Song of Freedom is top-tier. Love the Sarah Jane/Davros reunion too, it's well overdue.
A promising storyline let down by a weak second half, saved by a strong final classic series outing for Elisabeth Sladen who makes those final moments instantly memorable.
Season 14 started off on a pretty weak note with this enjoyable but imperfect caper set in San Martino. It really needed a better alien.
One of the best Doctor Who episodes of an otherwise lacklustre Series 7 - everything Cowboys & Aliens should have been, a complex moral thriller set against a classic Rio Bravo/High Noon-type set-up filled with plenty of planned anachronisms and Who fun that questions the morality of The Doctor and allows the show to explore deeper themes than it normally does in monster of the weeks. Darker edged and hard hitting - Ben Browder is a surprisingly good guest star in his all-too brief appearance. Smith is great in this one.
A bit rushed especially in its climax but there's a lot of novelty to be had about Kate Stewart, UNIT's return and The Doctor adjusting to life outside the TARDIS despite the fact that he handled it quite well in The Lodger and Closing Time.
Proper good Doctor Who - one of the best of the current era, suitably chaotic and all over the place but I love the dog monster and both Vinder and Dan Lewis are more charismatic than both Ryan and Graham, who I admittedly quite like. The Doctor being a Liverpool fan I'm less of a fan of though.
Chibnall's best at serialisation and this is him playing to his strengths, the ending shots of all the major players involved felt very Broadchurch episode 1 ending-y. There's a lot going on - almost too much, but it's fairly simple to follow - The Doctor fighting the end of the universe, and I loved it. The bit about the alien Dogs being man's best friend was hilarious too (as was The Doctor being Trent Alexander Arnold's ball boy, and the nod to the Scottish accents) - very Moffat-y in tone and sheer amount of stuff going on. This feels like what Series 6 would have been like had it been allowed to be full serialised and I'm absolutely here for this Shada/Trial of the Time Lords approach. The smaller TARDIS crew works wonders for now, and Yaz has gone full Clara here - meaning her days are surely numbered (possible death of both The Doctor and Yaz at the same time but with The Doctor regenerating looking on the cards here?) - but I like that she's getting to call out The Doctor.
Also like - as one of the 5 people that didn't mind Timeless Children - that they're going full in with The Division plot. Hopefully this leads to more surprise cameos and it'd be rude to not see Ruth!Doctor one more time - Jo Martin was excellent in Fugitive of the Judoon. The Weeping Angels haven't been overused (they last appeared in Obama's first term) so I'm excited to see more of them especially under a different showrunner than Moffat. More to come with most of these - it's all set-up and so much is now riding on the payoff, but what a way to keep me hooked for next week.
Might actually rewatch this before next week's as I'm also in the middle of a Series 12 rewatch (just ran out of time to do it before Series 13, sadly) - and it's been a while since I watched a Who episode twice in the same week. Big fan. Will miss 13 when she goes...
Excellent. Fantastic portrayal of the Sontarans - arguably the best of the current era - and the Crimean War is a perfect backdrop for them - great visuals with the work of director Jamie Magnus Stone, and the humour that the Sontarans have always had comes through. Chibnall's fantastic at writing classic monsters + historicals so classic monsters + historicals is a match made in heaven, and although his storyline was rather short this week almost echoing The Lie of the Land with the suburban fighting of the Sontarans straight out of The Stolen Earth (and the parents/companion dynamic too!), Dan is already becoming a favourite. The set-up with Swarm and Azure is brilliant - just hope it sticks the landing with both of them. Jodie Whittaker is at her best in the confrontational scenes with the Sontaran/British General - and playing to the Sontarans weaknesses is classic Doctor Who.
Would be great if all the people who went out of their way to comment how much they hated the show for like the past four seasons every single week just... stopped watching it.
Love the show, wish it had a better score as the music has hurt it all season.
A masterclass of a finale to such a terrific season - more than rewarding of the slow start. AppleTV+'s best original series.
Best show on television right now, a real rollercoaster in every sense. My MVP changes from week to week - and for all the Lost comparisons there's tons of Leftovers DNA here.
The running kidnapping gag is probably the best comedy-related thing of the year so far
Shocking first five minutes - Yellowjackets doesn't really hold back at all. Insane episode, as usual.
