Fantastic characters, fantastic acting, beautiful cinematography and writing. This show is good. More than good.
At first I was hesitant about a vikings spinoff. The original was a great show and I couldn't see anyone doing it justice, but although this show is set in the same time period (100 years post) it's vastly different in terms of what is going on in the world. With increased travel and trade comes the challenge of religion and Christianity spreading through the north, existing tension with England require a delicate balance of political wit and acuity in battle, all of which make this an entirely different show from the original vikings.
This is of course not 100% factually accurate and they've taken some creative liberties with some of the content of the show but it's pure action-packed, thrilling entertainment. And I'm especially taken by Freydis being played by a Swedish actress. Hearing the accent in her voice lends an authenticity to her character that I didn't realize I missed in some of the other characters, especially when they're speaking Old Norse. Love to see someone who speaks a Scandinavian/North Germanic language in that role.
And anytime I get to see badass women kicking ass on screen you know I'm going to like it.
2022 Ranked --> https://trakt.tv/users/justinnumerick/lists/2022-tv-shows-ranked?sort=rank,asc
As a big fan of Vikings, I was hesitant to check this out because I just didn't think it could ever live up to how great the original show was. However, I'm happy to say that while I still prefer Vikings, the first season of Vikings: Valhalla did not disappoint. As soon as I realized that Michael Hirst was back for this show, I was on board. And he brings a lot of what made Vikings great and applies it to Valhalla. Great action and cinematography, very strong writing and dialogue, and a very interesting story/dynamic fueled by the time period and the great characters. I love how we are going to familiar places but we now get to explore a very different time in viking history. Focusing on internal conflict between pagan and Christian vikings was such a smart idea, and it allows for really interesting dynamics. And the three main characters of Leif Erikson, Freydis, and Harald are all very compelling in their own unique ways. I also really enjoyed a lot of the side characters. The biggest thing holding this first season back for me was the pace. It was so incredibly fast and there were so many things going on. We get at least two entire seasons worth of plot crammed into one season here, so we don't ever get a ton of time to dive deep into what is going on before something else happens and the show has moved on. I think they could have slowed things down a bit, but overall this was really entertaining and engaging, and a really strong first season.
8.0 // Great
As someone, who didn't really like Vikings (it was average for me, most of the time it was boring), but loved Ivar and the overall concept of the original show, I didn't really had any expectations about this one. And I think this is the only thing that saved Valhalla from being rated 1 star.
Sadly this show was the definition of boredom. It lacked tension, it lacked really anything. The characters were too weak, they didn't stood out, however they wanted to - except Jarl Haakon, but only because she was portrayed as a black woman. If she would have been portrayed as any other viking, she could have been an other one of those average characters as her companions. Not even the main characters were interesting enough. Leif was too silent for most of the time, Prince Harald was just too much, and the actor played his role too badly, and he had the cringest scene of all time. Freydis... well, with her, her character arc could have been better, too bad this show lacks the same as its origin: good time management. Freydis was a hunter, and overnight she became a fearsome shield maiden. Prince Harald and Leif became insta-brothers just because our Prince lay with Leif's sister. One moment Freydis doesn't like Prince Harald, the next she is in love with him...
Not much is going on on the english side too, unless you count Edmond. I think he could have been a great character, but thanks to Godwin... well, let's not say just anything. And of course Godwin, I don't think he has any logic behind his acts. I mean I couldn't figure out his motives. I thknk they wanted to create somebody like the Kingmaker in Henry VIII's time, but though they chose a good actor for him, Godwin (and the whole series) has the main issue: we don't get to see their inner motives, the behind the scenes. With that, the show could be better.
So lack of good story telling, bad dramaturgy, and boring characters with average actors - Valhalla could have been a great show, the main story behind it is interesting (chatolic vs. pagan vikings), sadly it lacked even those tiny good things that the original show could stand out with (great characters, interesting myths and worldbuilding).
Not sure, if I'm going to continue with this one.
When you have a political system and society built on the absolute control of information, and the projection of being all powerful and always infallible, then, when something disastrous happens, the first inclination is denial, then a cover-up, and finally finger pointing, deflection and blame storming with the various people having any sort of authority or power trying to save their own asses. The fact that the party bosses and ministers were "Apparatchik's", the Soviet equivalent of bureaucratic hacks, who had been gifted their appointments with minimal or even no knowledge of the actual workings of the bureaucracies they oversaw, poured gasoline and threw a match on an already untenable situation. It's easy to strut around in a cheap suit and impress the peasantry, especially when you can have anyone who calls you out on your BS sent to the Gulag's or even worse. It gets a bit trickier when peoples hands and faces start melting off, and they're detecting abnormally high radiation 1000 miles away.
I feel worse for the civvies, whose naive faith and trust caused them to believe the lies and half truth's they were being fed, and kept them from not only questioning the official story, but, willingly living and working in such close proximity to a disaster waiting to happen, and, thinking it was a privilege to do so. They had no idea of the dangers lurking near them, and, like Lyudmilla, who even when warned not to get too close or stay too long, hugs, caresses, and even places her irradiated husbands hand on her growing womb, thinking he just has some severe burns, because no one has the courage to speak the truth, even at the cost of thousands of lives.
Granted, it really didn't matter after the fact, because the battle now was to keep from decimating the ENTIRE Soviet Union and most of eastern Europe, so, what's 10 or 20 thousand dead if it means saving the country? So, if the neighborhood cheap suit pulls your name from a hat at the point of an AK-47, you tend to cooperate and not ask too many questions. Unless you're a coal miner extra enough to work butt nekkid in a radioactive hole with no hope of survival, and no thanks or glory. I tip my hat to them. Hero's all, even if Moscow never acknowledged them.
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"?
The TNG crew shouldn't be allowed to steal everything that was so we'll devised in DS9. That story isn't theirs to tell. Use this story for a DS9 reboot or keep your hands off. I bet it's because the Picard witters envy DS9. They know DS9 was the better show. Because they had a clear idea of an overarching story arc that spanned multiple seasons. Btw: the "hands off part" includes any reference to Tribbles. DS9's TOS hommage was great. Don't touch it! They can use their own lore. Moriarty is theirs. And - if that's what it takes to have a proper reunion - they can reuse parts from Encounter at Farpoint. I'm fine with that. But what's that part aboard the Daystrom facility anyway? A raven? Moriarty?Data's tune? Does that serve any purpose or is that just something the writers wanted because it sounded like fun? Can't Starfleet maintain regular inventory lists? Can't they hack into a regular database to find out what was taken? That part of the story seems to be over engineered. Did they really need Data in this show? Why? I said it before, I say it again: this sometimes feels more like a family reunion than an actual show. Will they really bring every single person from TNG back? Tasha? Miles? Reginald? Will we meet them too?
Rant over... Now, back to the actual story. Last episode I hoped that we had our final objective: stop the shapeshifters' conspiracy against the Federation. And certainly I hope that Jack (and Beverly who certainly knows more than she's telling) will tell us what's going on with him and why he's being hunted. With all mysteries out of the way I hoped that the second part of this season is a plain and simple story. But the writers - like in season 2 - continue to love their mysteries. They hunt Picard junior. They steal JL's body. But why? I don't like this style of storytelling. I don't want to watch the next episode primarily because I hope that next episode will clarify all the mysteries so that the actual story can commence. Only to be disappointed time and time again. I fear that they will reveal this mystery in the last couple of minutes. And will it be a WTF revelation? Just like in season two? This is not complex story telling. That's a sequence of artificial cliffhangers. When you think about it, you wonder what really did happen in this episode: they found out what was stolen and two people were kidnapped. That's probably it. The rest isn't interesting either. I don't really care about the "daddy issues" in this episode. I don't know Jack very well (I don't even like him). Why should I care about him? I don't know the LaForge girl - she's at least likeable. But why should I care about her? The only moment that captivated my attention was when Seven talked about the Voyager. I would be interested in her post Voyager story but like always they use Seven as a mere prop (because she's a fan favorite) without doing her multi-dimensional character any justice. They have even lost any interest to explore her love and sex life (if that was ever explored in a honest or romantic way in this show - they just used Raffi and her to check the "diversity checkbox"). Instead of a real story, I'm forced to watch Frau Greta Farbissina acting crazy.
This all may sound a bit too harsh. This season is certainly better than the first two seasons (and it's 500% better than Discovery). And because of the nostalgia, it's still kind of enjoyable. But the story - at least until this point - is mediocre.
It's quite a decent episode. I'm glad they found a convincing reason for connecting both storylines. I'm also glad that we don't witness another "hunter and prey" episode.
They do this wrong in every season. There's a central mystery. They have already shown us that there's more to it. We know more than the protagonists. They use this to complicate the story. They use this to build suspension. It's one big cliffhanger. We watch the next episode because we want to understand the mystery. We don't necessarily watch because they concocted an intriguing multi-dimensional story. It's a form of story telling that I don't really like. There's no reason why Jack should not have "confessed" earlier (I mean nobody pressed him either although it was obvious that he is the key). Even now, we have to wait for next week's episode to find out whether he tells Beverly that there's maybe an explanation why he's wanted by the shape shifters. I wouldn't be surprised if they milk this mystery a few more episodes though. At least we now have, thanks to Ro, a clearer idea of the objective and about what's at stake. (That's much more than we got in season 2 in which the main protagonists had no clear idea what the objective. Really was).
Apropos the return of the Ensign: I hate this pattern too. Nostalgia is fine but they can't bring back all the persons from all the earlier shows just because fans may enjoy seeing them again. That's just too much. You will never have the time to really get accustomed to them again or learn anything of substance of what they did the last 20 years. Who's next? Dominion experts like Dr. Bashir or Kira? Or another Picard lover like the archeology girl of his (that would be Picard current or ex-lover #4 in the show). It's fan service. It has to stop. I have to admit though that the Bajoran's story now had a more satisfying end than it had in TNG.
PS: funny, I watched TNG's Conspiracy just yesterday. At least there's hope that this show tells infiltration better. In Conspiracy it was too easy to stop the aliens from taking over Starfleet. These changelings seem to be much more determined. And they seem to have a plan. It's always a great idea to copy parts of DS9's story. DS9 has still the most ambitious Star Trek story and Picard will probably not change this fact.
In the Biblical parable of the prodigal son, a man has two sons, and the younger one demands his inheritance, which the father obligingly gives him, after which he leaves and promptly squanders it on wine, women, and debauchery. But once the money was all gone, and hard times fell upon the country, he had to hire himself out to a local farmer to feed the pigs, and eat their slop as his only food. Pondering his situation, he realized how foolish he had been and journeyed back to his homeland and begged his father for forgiveness, which his Father not only granted, but, welcomed him with open arms, bestowing upon him his finest robes, a gold ring, new sandals, and he then told his farmhands to slaughter a fatted calf for a feast. When the son who had stayed loyal returned from the fields and saw the festivities, he inquired as to what was going on, and was informed of his brothers return. He became incensed, demanding why father had NEVER given HIM a feast, when he had been loyal the whole time. The Father explained Son, you have always been with me, and all I have is yours, but now let us celebrate, because your brother was dead to us, but now is alive, he was lost, but now is found.
This episode gave me the same vibes as that story, with the "twist" that the "prodigal" in this case was someone who had indeed betrayed Picard, but had now returned to judge HIM, for his part in the preceding crisis they just escaped from. Drama and hijinks ensue when it is revealed that there be dragons, er, changelings afoot, and, no one is to be trusted. Like the dramatics between Picard and Beverly, it's never fun to see your parents argue, but more so when you realize they actually DO care for each other, but miscommunication and doubt kept them from seeing it. This was played out quite deftly, although the concluding reveal was telegraphed pretty blatantly.
As for Jack, either he got some bad "space nookie" and the voice and visions in his head are calling him to get a shot of penicillin, or he's a changeling that went off the reservation and doesn't realize it, thus the mother goo is calling him home. In any case, I'm down to follow his journey in the hopes that, whatever his "deal" is, he will stick the landing.
It's a drama. It's supposed to be emotional (it really isn't 'cause the "Big Goodbye" [see what I did there?] was never credible). It's an action movie. It's a buddy movie. It's loud. It's bombastic. It's full of FX. It doesn't look shabby (only these incredible dark quarters and corridors aboard starships are strange: These dark-room vibes would drive me crazy if that was my workplace). Still the best scene: the GUI details of the OS in the credits.
It isn't sci-fi though. It isn't about science or the physical phenomena out there. It isn't about bold space exploration. It isn't about studying new civilizations. It isn't about philosophy or intellectual problems. It isn't about the daily "workplace" and "team conflict" issues that made earlier installments of the franchise relatable.
Story-wise not much happens. Other than that they break free and escape. Not even sure if they got away for good or if this hunt will go into overtime or - even worse - will have more iterations of the same "hunt and hide pattern". This season also continues the annoying pattern from season two: there's a central mystery behind it all and Jack seems to know much more. We already know more than the other protagonists because the writers show us some breadcrumbs. But instead of having a big reveal at some point in order to be able to state a clear objective, I bet this artificial mystery will be misused to build suspension instead. Who is Jack? What did Beverly do? Who are these guys with the big ship? What do they really want? At which point became the Founders involved? This mystery doesn't work for me though. It's just annoying. Why doesn't Picard pressure Beverly and his son to explain it all? I mean their life is at stake. Why do they hold information back?
Plus, the try really hard to organize some sort of TNG reunion fan event. They try to introduce every person from TNG. Who's next? Spot, Reginald? This feels forced. You only can have as many person's in ten episodes. If they are not there in person, they are incorporated via Zoom (like Deanna). Just so that she appears at some point. Or we hear them talking about the ones that are missing (like LaForge talking about her dad). Nostalgia is a thing but it can't replace the story, can it?
If last episode was a filler, this is another filler episode. I fear they will botch it again. We'll see. I hope I'm wrong. It's too early to tell.
PS: The score is incredibly boring (That was never a strong point of Star Trek but can't they come up with something more futuristic or original? It's a standard orchestral score. Why?).
While I don't feel the episode was as treacly sweet and soul changing as @Paul Vincent opines, like @VW Fringe and Micky D's after a night of overindulgence, it also worked for me, as, I too was feelin' it ..., and LOVIN' it. Unlike some of the ever present naysayers and nattering nabobs of negativism, who would bitch and moan if they were given a brand new Lamborghini, but the paint and Alcantara leather weren't in their preferred colors, I realize that Sir Patrick Stewart is pushing almost 83 years old, and, may not be up to "boldly going" as hard as he did in his prime. Thus the scripts, storylines, pacing and subsequent action have been adjusted to reflect a more seasoned, contemplative, and thoughtful crew, while still giving us the action beats and edge of your seat thrills that we expect from a Star Trek franchise.
YES, they are paying fan service by "getting the band back together" and tossing in the odd remembrance or twenty, with hat tips and nods to adventures past, but at the same time, with a given bit of dialog, or sometimes just a glance or exchanged look, we do indeed get peeks into the means and motivations of the cast, both old and new. There are those who lacking patience, will jump straight to the end of a murder mystery book rather than slog through all the chapters, and, by doing so, they avoid all the "boring" details because they now know "who done it", and can smugly skim the rest without expending the mental horsepower to try and "figure it out" along with the protagonists.
Here, they are indeed giving us "breadcrumbs" which will eventually lead us to one, more, or many "ah ha" moments, much like Bruce Willis' Malcolm in "The Sixth Sense" when he finally realizes that, when Cole confided that he "sees dead people", he was also talking about HIM. Seeing as we're not quite halfway through a ten episode season arc, I have the upmost confidence that the writers will make sure the trail leads to a satisfying conclusion.
And finally, watching a sci-fi program and complaining about the music, is like going to Jack in the Box and bitching that they don't have "genuine" tacos.. Just saying....
I'm going to go out on a limb and call this a "filler" episode, in that it was pretty much "a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying NOTHING!" Bff's Picard and Riker turning on each other under pressure, Baby Momma Crusher and baby Daddy Picard both reminiscing and arguing over who zoomed who cuz she forgot her pill and the rubber must have had a hole in it.
Meanwhile Captain starchy pants gets a bump on the noggin and skins his knee, so, he turns over command in the midst of battle so he can go lick his wounds (and not get blamed for what misfortunes will soon befall them all) while Snidely "honey bunny" Vadic chair vouges, still smoking a blunt, which prolly explains her now offing a whole starship when before she just wanted Lil Crusher. Elsewhere, Worf, wearing his best Wednesday beheading outfit, fresh from offing a whole slew of baddies, including separating one obnoxious Ferengi from his noggin, cleans up his Bat'leth, then, does a bit of Pilates, and shows their prisoner his kinder gentler side, while Raffi plays dope-man until its revealed that all's not fair in love and goop.
Geez, the only person who stuck anywhere close to character was Seven, and she had to unconfine herself from quarters which means she's probably in MORE trouble once Captain Starchy Pants gets a band-aid on his boo boo, provided they indeed survive the present calamity.
OK, who else thought it was somehow Lore for half a second?
Rant over...., stay tuned.
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.
This is not a great episode. But I guess it's needed to drive the story forward. Call it a filler or bridge episode if you like.
We get some bombastic battle scenes so that we don't forget that there's still a looming threat (but also to cover that this episode is only a bridge episode). Like in all these new shows they clearly had too much money and too much computing power for CGI at their hand. It's all too bombastic to my liking. Once, this franchise was also about calmly travelling through space, exploring and experiencing the wonders of natural phenomena. Not any more! And that's sad. Plus, isn't there a video game that already did this portal thing? And the drama between Picard and Riker is not credible. They maybe argue but they would never argue like that in front of the crew. That's not the Picard I know.
We learn more about the Beverly and Picard story. That was emotional. It makes sense what Beverly says. I don't understand why Picard is so aggravated though. He's almost hostile to her and his son. I understand that he is shocked but he could be more supportive. I mean, he once loved Beverly. She is the mother of his son. She made this decision twenty years ago. Obviously that wasn't an easy decision to make and she surely wanted the best for their son. This is not the composed Captain i know from TNG! I also still don't understand why Beverly and her son do what they do though (What exactly do they do? Are they benevolent smugglers?) and why the other ship is really chasing them. Couldn't they just tell? I mean they know the real reason, don't they? Why is nobody pressing them to tell the true reasons? It's probably not because they didn't pay their bills or stole some random items from gangsters. Obviously, there must be a much more important reason. Like in season 2, writers again choose to use such mysteries to build tension. That complicates things, drags out the story and is annoying.
And we get more of the Raffi story. So far, this story is mediocre. Don't really understand where this is going. At this point it seems that they wanted to add another plotline to the story just because that's what you do in contemporary TV right? Plus, they wanted to introduce another fan favorite: Worf (another check mark checked. Who's next? Quark?) But at this point it's totally disconnected from the other plot. I bet the plot lines will converge at some point but until then I don't see the relevance and that's why I think that this story part could have been skipped.
It may be a filler episode but they add yet another element to this season: Odo's friends. Not sure how I feel about that. This show, especially last season, tends to juggle with too many story lines and ideas already. Not sure how they will ever be able to connect this show with the complex (and brilliant) story told in DS9. They probably won't even try. I guess it's just another checkmark on their fans' favorites list. Fans like Changelings? We'll give them Changelings!
PS: I like Worf's "full title". He's become a composed and wise Klingon warrior legend. Good. That's what I always wished for him.
[7.8/10] Let's address the elephant in the room first. I don't love the fact that Jack turns out to be Picard's son. The long lost offspring is a big cliché, and Wrath of Khan influences or not, I could probably do without it.
That said, I like how Star Trek: Picard uses it here. The bad guys want Picard and the Titan to turn Jack over. It prompts one of those classic, Next Generation-style moral dilemmas that were always so fascinating. Do you hand him over to the bad guys because, true to that Wrath of Khan homage, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and there's 500 crew members at risk? Or do you stand your ground because, scoundrel or not, this young man deserves a fair trial and a chance at rehabilitation rather than swift judgment and likely a summary execution.
This is Star Trek, so we pretty much know how it's going to go down. But seeing Picard explore the issue, get to know this kid, see if there's a way out of this situation through guile or diplomacy, is some classic TNG-esque stuff. Sure, it's all magnified with the grittiness and bombast of modern television, but I appreciate that this is, at base, the kind of boardroom debate where the philosophical meets the practical that was the lifeblood of the old show.
So was the personal getting in the way of all this. I appreciate how Picard elides the questions of this young man's parentage because he already knows the answer in his heart and doesn't want to confront it. But I love how all it takes is one look from Beverly, a soft exchange of expressions that shows they still have the intuitive shorthand of twenty years ago, and he can deny the truth no longer. This is his son, a son as reckless but valiant as they once were, and by god, they're going to protect him.
For all the added pomp and circumstance, that's the core of this one, and for that reason alone, borrowing the rhythms that made The Next Generation famous, this is one of my favorite outings from Star Trek: Picard yet, despite the questionable cliché at the heart of the story.
Seriously: even him? I mean, it's not him - but it's him. I appreciate the nostalgia but enough is enough. Somewhere the line must be drawn. This is not a story; this is a Trek reunion. Plus, it's not a show in its own right when they "just" steal parts from earlier installments. Checking whether someone's a conspirator the old-fashioned way? Watch no further than TNG Season 1 "Conspiracy". Changelings infiltrating Star Fleet command? Look no further than DS9's Dominion wars. TNG shows you how not to drag out a story like this; DS9 shows you how to tell such a story over the course of several seasons. Picard gets the pacing wrong. The (presumably simple) main story is oddly drawn out. Think about this episode. What did really happen? They prepared a trap (in order to do what exactly? They think they have Riker? But did they expect bring Riker with them as part of the boarding party? They tried to get away from this ship for 6 episodes and now they think it's a good idea to lure them aboard? I don't get it.) They failed. The ship was taken over and we're not closer to anything. What are they trying to achieve? Rescue Wil, uncover the weapon or what ever this is the shape shifters want to use on Frontier Day? Shouldn't they try to disclose and end the conspiracy first? There amust be a way to inform trusted officers within Star Fleet. There must be a way to convince them that they are no fugitives. There must be a way to purge Star Fleet from the changelings. All while the show has no time to decently tell its too many B-plots or portray its too many characters. Stealing doesn't stop there. Remember Odo's origin story? His trauma? Stolen! Remember Lore pretending to be Data? Stolen! The list goes on and on.
Still not revealing the Jack mystery? Another cliffhanger? Frau Greta Farbissina [James Bond logic: who must be mad because she's a villain because she has a scar] obviously is about to lift the veil but I'm sure that next episode won't start with her simply telling us what's wrong with the Crusher boy (this one - not the older one). Still nobody bothers to find out? JLP thinks it's because they need a blood sample of Jack to emulate him? Plus, they need JLP`s corpse to do so? Whaaaat? Why that? It makes no sense on so many levels. Why is nobody pressing the boy hard on the mystery BS of his? "I'm different. I can feel things." Gosh. Why is nobody asking him to elaborate on that so that can be examined thoroughly? "I don't want other people to be in danger because of me". Gosh! What exactly does he think he did to his mother all the time? That's perhaps the most annoying aspect of this show. Let's get over with this. Nobody cares about Jack anyway. He's a prick. And the show didn't invest any time to portray him in a way that makes me bond with him.
PS: the whole boarding operation is stupid. Those laser shoot-outs remind me of Star Troopers. The force fields are conveniently lowered by Data when they needed to be lowered to turn tables. Seizing the bridge is too easy. No wonder: when that's convenient, Seven must act stupid. That's not our Seven from back in the day. She's just fan service in this episode. How could she not know that Changelings could mimic the floor if they wanted to? Didn't she watch DS9 on TV? I've seen more exciting boarding operations in TNG and Voyager. What happened to switching off the power to the turbo lifts? What happened to climbing ladders? What happened to hiding in Jefferies tubes? What happened to arming yourself with the big guns when you're about to be boarded? What happened to well devised traps? Well, perhaps I'm wrong and let them take the bridge was the actual trap all along. Maybe. Let's see. In any case our heroes will regain the upper hand. It's a tiring cycle ....
Bryan Cranston stars as a judge who confronts his deepest beliefs when his son is involved in an attack that confuses an organized crime family. Faced with a series of impossible choices, he discovers how far a father will go to save his son's life.
I was a little late starting this series, but when I saw Cranston in the lead, I knew it had to be good! This does not disappoint! This show actually has shades of Breakin Bad in that Brian is once again in a position to make up stories on the spot, make up the lies, and get himself and the ones he loves into deeper and deeper nightmare scenes. The tension is palpable and heartbreaking and intense, right from the start ... This show hooks in and won't let go. Powerful renditions here of someone's worst nightmare ... Ordinary people try to cope with an unfathomable situation as best they can, but create an ever-worsening cascade of domino-like events, one of which triggers the other, and so on. The son does a fantastic job and the mafia boss's choice is perfection to play out Cranston's portrayal of a loving and honorable father who is suddenly pushed to the limit and as he tries to protect his son, he becomes the polar opposite of everything. he was dear before. Stellar and absolutely compelling storytelling ...
What an absolute perfect ending, and I say this while admitting this ending didn't go the way I expected it to. Like honestly, how many of us actually thought Picard was going to survive this episode? I didn't, but I'm damn sure glad he did, even if we never see any of these TNG characters ever again, which I honestly doubt we won't given the ending. This was an emotional final send off however for this crew that honored and respected each of them throughout the season, every single one of them got their grand moment to shine, Riker with his asteroid, Geordi with his ship, Worf with his rescue, Crusher with her contraction discovery, Data defeated Lore, Troi rescued them in the end with her love for Riker, and Picard saved his son. And how about that borg queen, holy absolute hell was she horrifying looking or what? Anyway, what a beautiful ending that they all deserved, and one last poker game for the sake of it all. Am I excited about the future with Q showing up to tease the next series with the Enterprise G? Sure, but not as happy as I am that the old timers I grew up with got their swan song and somehow, someway, all survived. And if you didn't burst into tears when Riker and Worf decided to stay back to find Picard, basically sealing their death, then damn it I don't know what will satisfy you in life. Was this show perfect? Fuck no. Was the 3rd season without flaws? Bahaha, no! But if you can't appreciate what this really was meant to be here, I don't judge you, I just feel sad you couldn't feel the raw enjoyment the rest of us felt, because this was fucking awesome.
HOW IS THIS SO GOOD?
Awesome bit with Worf!
Good Raffi characterization!
WOW.
I don't like the whole Beverly cutting contact for 20 years, and keeping a son away from Picard for 20 years. And the whole Deanna and Kesler needing a break from Riker or something, but at least it's not another broken family trope, and gets Riker to having an adventure with Picard. And while i'm here, i will mention that i don't like they only gave Riker one child. He has a daughter but he also had a son that died. Why make up giving him a son and then kill him? It was also strange that the son died because there was no "positronic" technology around to save him.
PICARD HAS A SON!I LOVE IT!
And it was amazing when he found out without any spoken dialogue, and you saw the life return with him. The fiery passion of old. THAT WAS PICARD!
I'M GETTING EXCITED AND EMOTIONAL!
I like some of the moral complexity. Raffi and the phone call, Jack and what he's doing to help people with medical supplies but also giving weapons. The decision of whether to send him to the enemy ship in order to save the lives of the current crew. The earlier decision of whether to go and even find Riker and Picard, even though it would put their ship and crew at risk. But this captain still did it. He's less of an asshole than i thought, and he's alright sometimes.
I kinda like the villain. She's a bit cartoonish, but she's alright. I'm interested to know more about her.
I really like the setting of this show. The visuals are beautiful to look at and they really put you in the Montana countryside. I also enjoy the main conflict this season of three corrupt people from three different factions all vying for control of precious land. They all have their own reasons for doing so, all of which are understandable at times. However I thought that the pacing of this season was inconsistent and it made it a little confusing as to what the show was trying to be. Is it trying to be a melodramatic soap opera or a serious Western crime drama? It was hard to tell at times and I think the season suffered from not knowing exactly what it wants to be. It would fair better if it committed to one of these genres and went with it. This season also got wrapped up in subplots at times that didn't contribute to the main story or that ended up abandoned, and I felt myself craving more of the main story/conflict. I'm also not in love with some of the character decisions they've made with some characters, but other characters were handled very well. Overall this season was good and entertaining but could have been better. This show has a lot of potential and I'm excited to keep watching.
Overall I think this season is a step up from season 1. One of my major issues from season 1 was that the show didn't seem to know whether it wanted to be a melodramatic soap opera or a more serious Western crime drama. In season 2, however, the show embodied and committed to the melodramatic tone. I think this season is better off because of this and that it feels much more cohesive than season 1. This season also made it clear that this is very much a show that is much more centered around its characters than the overall story. The focus of this season was the character arcs and dynamics, and relationships between characters. The overall story/conflict took a bit of a backseat to make more room for more in depth character exploration, and I think that suits the melodramatic soap opera-ish feel of the show. You don't have to care as much about a realistic and well-developed overarching story because the season uses its melodramatic tone to provide enough entertainment value and instead you can focus on the characters. With all of this being said, I still don't think it's the most impressive season of TV ever, and there are some issues I had. Despite a lot of interesting character dynamics, I don't think this season balanced its characters very well and some characters were left without much time to develop in interesting ways. The main antagonists of the Beck brothers in particular were very underdeveloped which made for a pretty underwhelming finale when they were killed. I just wasn't invested in them enough as antagonists to really care. Another big issue for me this season was Beth and Jamie's relationship. Beth is incredibly emotionally and verbally abusive towards Jamie and for what? The show has not provided us with a reason as to why Beth would have some much hatred for Jamie. I am sure that later on in the series will be an explanation for why she treats him the way she does, and it feels like the show is trying to make the audience curious and intrigued about what this could be. But until we get that explanation, Beth just feels annoying and immature. I think they went too overboard too early with her character without giving us the explanation as to why she hates Jamie so much, so that by the time they finally do tell us I'm not sure I'll really care since I'll have had all of this time to build up my dislike for Beth and my sympathy for Jamie. Despite these issues I had with the season, the commitment to the melodramatic tone makes it so I don't really care as much about this season's flaws and instead can embrace them more easily because I know I don't have to take the show too seriously and can just be entertained by it. Overall, it's not a perfect season of TV but it's very entertaining and significantly better than the first season.
By the end of the final episode this season just felt like a lot of build up for next season, which is a little frustrating. Season 3 has some of the same issues that season 1 had, such as an inconsistent tone. The first half of this season was very tame, slow moving, and more of a deeper study of the characters with some melodramatic moments sprinkled here and there. The second half the season, or rather the final few episodes, turned up the drama and pacing and became much more energetic and melodramatic, like what we saw from season 2. This shift in tone felt like the show didn't really know what to do with this season. I thought season 2 was better than season 1 because it committed to the melodramatic soap opera feel throughout, so that's what I was expecting going into season 3. I was surprised when they slowed things down a bit at the start of this season, but I saw the potential in a season that was more of a slow burn and focused on rich dialogue and character depth. However, I don't think the story was compelling enough to keep me entertained throughout, and by the end they had gone back to a quicker pace anyways but still without much happening with the main story. Overall I didn't think it was as troubled as season 1 but also wasn't as cohesive as season 2 so I would place this season somewhere in the middle. One highlight this season was Jamie's arc of becoming an antagonist. I think he is easily the character with the most depth which should make for a great antagonist in season 4, which will be good for the show since generally speaking the antagonists have been pretty weak characters. I did have some issues with two of the main reveals this season. First of all, learning what Jamie did to Beth was effective at building some sympathy for Beth, however the whole thing doesn't make much sense in that there's no way the clinic would perform a hysterectomy without telling the patient that they were doing it first. And secondly, learning that Jamie was adopted explains a lot and builds more sympathy for his character as well, but there's just no way he went his entire life up to this point without looking at his own birth certificate and figuring this out sooner. Some of these unrealistic plot points could be overlooked if the season committed to its sop opera feel (like season 2), but since they tried to slow things down and make this season more serious the unrealistic plot points really stood out. Overall this season was fine and good, it just felt a little like an entire season of filler in order to help explain some of the characters more and events from the first two seasons, and the tone felt inconsistent at times. I still get a lot of enjoyment out of these characters and this show and I'm curious to see the type of show they make next season.
This was a frustrating season for me. The first episode was my favorite episode of the entire series and provided the fast paced melodrama that I had come to enjoy from the show, adding in a lot of action-packed moments and giving good payoff to the cliffhanger of season 3. However, after the opening episode the season came to a screeching halt and I have a hard time even remembering what significant things happened this season aside from the last episode. The show got caught up in trying to take itself very seriously again, and in order to make this work you need a well written and engaging main story. I just didn't find the main story that engaging and the show seemed to focus on a lot of smaller side plots that carried little significance to the overall story. This show has shown us in previous seasons that it is more character driven than plot driven, which is completely fine, but at some point you need to focus on some level of plot development and in this season it was barely there. I think there were more scenes of horses just running around than there were scenes of actual plot development. I wouldn't mind focusing more on side plots and characters if the entertainment value was high and the character dynamics were interesting, but I thought the side plots were mostly boring and the character dynamics were repetitive and old. For example, they focused a lot on Beth vs Jamie this season and this relationship hasn't changed at all in 4 seasons and is getting repetitive. I wish they would evolve this relationship or focus on it less and give us more meaningful time with other characters. For example, Rainwater has so much potential to be a great character but we barely see him anymore. I had a bunch of little frustrations with character arcs and plot points that wouldn't bother me as much if the show played into the melodramatic soap opera tone (like season 2). But because they tried to take themselves more seriously this season the little things stood out more. Overall the whole season just felt somewhat uninspired and repetitive. I still really enjoy the overall themes/characters and the show continues to transport you into its setting with its amazing scenery and setting, so I am still a fan of this show and will continue to watch it with excitement. But overall I am left a little disappointed in this season after I thought it had so much potential to be great.
Yellowstone Seasons Ranked --> https://trakt.tv/users/justinnumerick/lists/yellowstone-seasons-ranked?sort=rank,asc
I've quite enjoyed these first few episodes, and I think the show has been pretty exciting and fun so far. I really enjoy Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren in these roles, they fit seamlessly into these characters. Jack and Elizabeth are also lovable. Spencer is clearly meant to be the fan favorite, and they did a good job of drawing me to his character right away. He's definitely getting the Kayce Dutton treatment. The narration from Isabel May is a little weird but otherwise fine. The girls school plot line is tragic and hard to watch at times but in a good way, I just hope it actually ties in somewhere to the main story and characters. This third episode brought a shocking event that I definitely did not expect, also in a good way. However, I am pretty bummed that they decided to virtually not include anybody from 1883 in this show. I'm a little confused why they felt the need to distance themselves from that show so much, and I really wish more characters carried over at leas for part of the show. However, overall this has been really enjoyable. Including 1883, I'm finding the Yellowstone spinoffs to be more exciting that Yellowstone itself right now, which is both great and disappointing in some ways.
Based on previous experiences with the Dutton clan, I didn't think Taylor Sheridan would offer such a well-rounded wholesome journey. Let's first put it out there, he runs very much on the gruff man trope, the quintessential American cowboy, stoic beyond pain--as cowboy'n isn't a passion but a life. And he always reminds us, the plight of the indigenous natives, that Manifest Destiny brought to the lands, regardless of the period. From the eastern shores of Roanoke and its arduous journey west, civilization has conquered freedom, where ever it's been and still going. The land of the Yellowstone ranch, an allegory of man's attempt to shield a pocket of that freedom from the so-called sprawl of progress.
But I didn't expect it would take us to the Serengeti, where the English did the same with colonies far distant from their shores. There, Spencer, a Dutton to the t's, still lives the struggle of existential freedom, counterpart to life on the ridge with the herd, had the Great War not demand the presence of ...men too smart to be brave but born still to do it. How western society romanticized all of it, the cowboys, the Indians, soldiers on the front, even the unnatural colonization of the harshest of climates that produced real apex predators (Africa and Australia, I don't get why man wants a land where the plant life and the smallest of creatures to carnivores honed to hunt or survive from the hunt, for millennia). Sheridan wants to show you the hard truths of the building of that romance; real blood, real pain, real death. And he does it well, better than any other who delved into such matters, that's why "he's so hot right now."
All the story grinds on a different empathy, our need to see ourselves, overcome. I live on it, vicariously, too. But my favorite is when, he draws a sudden halt, and reminds us, despite man's odd engagement with these struggles, that is still the romance of it. Boom. Do you want another?
This was my first episode of this show that I happened to catch. Some good dialog and acting, some not so much, and some of both that was unnecessarily difficult to understand due to a combination of speed-slurring accents, mumble acting, and very wide dynamic range audio mastering. It really wants to be a film, despite not quite knowing what to do with its own cameras or aspect ratio. I like the style it's going for, but it's not quite there. Really, quite uneven in ways that it doesn't have an excuse to be. Still, it's definitely better than anything "Trek" branded that we've had in over a decade.
This plot was executed better in Stargate SG-1. There, it didn't seem like an arbitrary hand wave to set up the moral conflict. Here, they explain nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's all a straight copy of the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, which, incidentally, was read by DS9's Nana Visitor in one short story audiobook release. In SG-1, they gave a reason why it was necessary, whereas here it's just "we don't know, ~the ancestors~ made it". They also don't show (the writers didn't bother to come up with the inside of the mystery box) how or why "the machine" needed a child's brain, or—more importantly—what it even fucking does, and how that enables their quantum gobbledygook tech, which I am now convinced was nothing but headline-gleaning buzzword injection. That's almost JJ Abrams tier writing. Either they knew what they were ripping off, and didn't want to come up with the exact same explanation, or they read the short story and didn't bother coming up with one because they're incompetent writers.
The surrounding drama was nice, though, and it was cute seeing Lindy Booth, unexpectedly, in Star Trek.
Also, no, I can't let it go. She stupidly gets too close to the insurgent traitor, then gets grabbed and nearly gets her throat slit, but then the middle-aged dignitary chick maneuvers her way and out-Judos her palace guard. Looks like, not only is she a bad judge of loyalty, but also didn't bother training any of them how to fight (remember, he did just win a fight with every other guard along the way). This is heavy handed and perfunctory writing, and it makes it difficult to take it seriously, or to feel any real sense of tension when the writers just do whatever they want, anyway, and you can see their will in every action. It's the same shit every time, now. Everyone is an action hero, because other skills don't matter and make the character worthless and weak if they can't wrestle a trained guard or win a contest of strength against the bad guy. Thank, MCU.
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.
If you want to be clever, please actually be:
"Germany has been the anvil for too long" (rough translation) has been Said by Bernhard von Bülow, the German Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1899 (December 11th 1899 to be precise).
And he was probably refering to something by Goethe:
"You must either conquer and rule or serve and lose, suffer or triumph, be the anvil or the hammer."
I'm not saying that behaving like a hammer and forcing people to do what you want is right. But isn't that exactly where Americans WANT to see their country? Being free themselves while forcing everyone else to do things the way they want them to?
I guess my point is:
Just because Hitler said something, it wasn't necessarily coined by him. Usually he put it into the context and THAT makes it kind of weird to hear someone say it.
But especially this phrase had been used before with EXACTLY the same meaning.
Wouldn't be too bad if Wendy knew and associated it with Hitler, but Taylor is usually a knowitall and probably should know that the origins go back further.
P.S.: I had to research it myself - but I think that is something you can expect a writer to do if they want to use our dark history for dramaturgic effect.
Soooo, so good! As a non-hardcore Trekkie (but a long time follower of the series), this has been some of the best Star Trek I've seen in a while. Besides the (somewhat) peaceful exploration of space (which SNW has already delivered to us pretty nicely in previous episodes) I've also really missed the deceiving tactics and cheeky bluff of racial confrontations in space, often a forgotten quintessential aspect of the series. Such a nostalgia rush, wrapped up in a lovely modern packaging.
I definitely like Paul Wesley as a younger Kirk, he's got the spirited, "head first", spunky atitude that's typical of the character. I've read elsewhere that Paul Wesley is on board for the second season, so I'm glad we'll get to see his Kirk fleshed out a bit more.
The only thing keeping me from rating this a full 10 is that, all in all, it was just a "what if" kind of episode, a mere warning of one possible future, with no actual consequences for current characters and context, and that always takes away some of excitement.
Great first season, which ended with a solid, exciting finale, undoubtedly making Strange New Worlds the best Star Trek series currently around. I can't wait to see what Pike's hair will be up to next season!
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.
Color me confused by this episode. I understand it's about war and the ramifications it has on the people fighting in it, losing your humanity, lust for revenge, blood lust... all this enhanced by some drug (that we've already seen in episode 1 of this season).
But what did actually happen on J'Gal? Did M'Benga kill the Klingons, or did he inject the Klingon commander who then killed all his officers? (Have to watch that again...) - Anyway, M'Benga turned out the real monster of J'Gal, and he reinforced that image by killing the Klingon commander/now ambassador of the Federation pretty much in cold blood... and everyone knows things are fishy, but there are no consequences. I realize that this episode is supposed to be uncomfortable, and it's not about what happened on J'Gal that bothers me (because "inter arma enim silent leges" and that goes doubly for morals), but the murder/incident on Enterprise? Just that M'Benga was even interacting with the Klingon should have raised multiple red flags, not even speaking that he was fighting with him... Considering his PTSD he should have removed himself from the situation after the dinner and be done with it. Don't know what Pike was thinking, honestly.
So, I'm not sure where this episode was going. It certainly didn't make me more sympathetic to M'Benga.
