[7.7/10] Starfleet officers spend a lot of time wringing their hands about the prime directive (or General Order 1, if you’re a classic). And I think there’s a good reason for it -- humility. The rule protects against thinking that just because you’re technologically superior, you know what’s best for another culture or community. Sometimes it gets taken to extremes, but there’s a sound principle behind the guardrail.
But “All the World’s a Stage” suggests maybe they, and we, take it too far. The technology that could change a civilization overnight, the way it did for the Diviner’s people, shouldn’t be distributed out lightly. But the ideals that Starfleet is founded on -- exploration, courage, helping the helpless -- are ones any society is ready to hear. The notion that a stranded Starfleet ensign could be an inspiration, not a contamination, is a heartening one and fits with latter-day Trek’s willingness to celebrate the ethos of the franchise as much as deconstruct it.
Yet, there’s some deconstruction here too. I like how it’s dramatized through Dal seeing a group of pretenders, play-acting as members of “Starflight” with low key embarrassing results, and viewing it as a mirror of his own efforts to live up to the standard. He worries his crew’s attempts may be just as misaimed and misguided. Especially when his only encounter with an actual member of Starfleet led to disaster, it’s reasonable for Dal to wonder if he and his chums are doing any better than the imitative locals are.
By god, those locals are fun though! The idea of a planet full of aliens who had an encounter with Starfleet and chose to imitate them was an idea the DS9 writers had for an anniversary episode (paying tribute to “A Piece of the Action” from TOS) but ultimately discarded. It’s such a blast to see it realized here.
“All the World’s a Stage” is itself a loving (if ribbing) tribute to the 1960s Star Trek series. Hearing the cast do their best exaggerated Shatner impression, watching the locals put on stage plays that reimagine the adventures of Kirk’s Enterprise, and listening to the amusingly off translations of crew member names and even famous hand signals is a pure delight. In truth, the “Enderpridians” are a little cheesy, especially when they’re busting out Captain Kirk’s famous style of fisticuffs and practically worshiping the ground his crew walked on. But they’re a fun kind of cheesy, one that shows affection for those old stories, even as the show pokes fun at the locals (and by extension, the fans) who get obsessive or misinterpret those venerable stories.
What I appreciate most is that the show ultimately redeems them, and shows both their potential and Dal’s when displaying what they’re capable of. For all the silliness that the Enderpridians represent, they also represent the best of Starfleet’s guiding principles in any setting. It spurred their Dr. McCoy equivalent to discover new treatments for ailments, to cause a young Uhura admirer to explore and be brave, and for all of them to have hope even in the darkness.
In truth, it doesn’t make much sense that Dal and Holo-Janeway are just able to nigh-magically retrofit the bridge of the Protostar to the point that the locals can pilot it like it’s the 2300s Enterprise. But it’s still rousing to see them do so. Their success in helping Dal rescue his friends is an affirmation that even if these aliens miss some of the finer details, getting the core of Starfleet’s (or Starflight’s) mission is what matters, and the inspiration they’re taking to heart makes them, and Dal, more ready for what the Federation has in store than the prime directive might have anticipated.
It’s also a nice moment for Jankom Pog. He is frustrated with not being able to fix the Living Construct, and so feels like a failure who doesn’t want to go on the away mission. But when push comes to shove, he shows the bravery to try to fix the broken shuttlecraft that’s causing the problems for the local community, even when it puts his life on the line. His is a simple arc, but an effective one.
Plus hey, holy continuity nod, Batman! Not only is the shuttle that’s causing problems for the locals the Galileo, which is the most prominent recurring craft for Kirk’s Enterprise. But the redshirt who got stuck on the planet is none other than Ensign Garrovick, the young officer who helped Captain Kirk square off against a deadly smoke monster in “Obsession” and whose father had served with the captain years earlier. So much of this episode is a sop to fans of the 1960s series, and the specific references and easter eggs here reinforce that.
Still, at the end of the day, what I like most isn’t just the homage paid to those classic stories, but the idea that what’s important from them is their central ideas, separate and apart from anything that plays as silly or campy today. They’re enough to inspire these aliens, and the crew of the Protostar to do greater things and seek to become better people. That spirit lives on, and suggests that they, and we, may be ready for more than the prime directive might have us believe.
Seeing Dal take that lesson to heart, seeing the good in the Enderpridians and his own crew at the same time, lands this one in a great place. The realization that they can uphold the values of Starfleet, even if they’re not officially part of Starfleet, with or without the Protostar, is a strong lesson and worthwhile moral for Prodigy. The tribute, and the takeaway dovetail together wonderfully in the early high water mark for this batch of episodes.
Legend has it, that the script took forever to finish. Every time they finished a line, it disappeared
At first, thinking of how this show once consisted of (and was catapulted by) fairly unknown actors, I was a little perturbed by the abundance of celebrity appearances. Then the twist happened… and that was actually all really clever.
Come on son! Amy Pond, Sarah Connor, Spy Kids Mom, Tina Turner, and Emperor Georgiou, take on the menfolk ala "Shoot Em' Up, and "Smoking Aces" having a baybay. Not meant to be cerebral and over analyzed, but a manifest celebration of feminine badassery. Yes the bad guys were inept, as the only casualty on the female side was clearly the result of a lucky shot, (and a surprising lack of body armor in an otherwise awesomely stocked armory), But, then, even Bruce Lee's opponents surrounded him in a circle and came at him one at a time. Honorable, yes, but madly inefficient.
In any case, this was a fun, entertaining watch, and, Chloe Coleman is a delight as "8 and 3/4" year old Emily, the flashpoint of all this chaos and conflict. Nothing that hasn't been done before, but, still, a nice take on the genre. They could possibly get a sequel out of it if they really wanted to, and, I'd be down for that one also.
@Callum - To paraphrase Dr. Raymond Stantz, "...You never studied"..., Those who are comparing "Gunpowder Milkshake" to the "John Wick" trilogy aren't saying it's a shot for shot comparison, or even a stylistic doppelganger, but, they ARE similar in world building, in that BOTH movies feature an underworld organization, with a hierarchy, rules, and regulations, which if violated, will earn one a visit from one (or in this case several dozen) highly trained, variously skilled, assassins, who will "balance the ledger" with your blood, bowels, and/or a bullet to the dome. What GM did that JW didn't, is to juxtapose the Peckinpah-esque (that's slo-mo, for those in Rio Linda) carnage and bloodletting, with a wry bit of levity, and to break up the somber situations with comedic beats on occasion.
Thus you have bits like the "Rag Doll" sequence, which was IMO hilariously done, yet JUST plausible enough that it could work. (no, stainless steel medical trays won't stop bullets any better than a car door, but that hasn't stopped countless hero's from hiding behind them in EVERY gun driven movie, EVER) But it was FUN, as was the Bowling Alley sequence, or the laundry room escape. In fact, if you look at most of the positive comments, they include the word "FUN".
You see, with what at times feels like the majority of the world being "woke", seemingly pissed off at anyone and everyone not affiliated with their particular "tribe", or insisting that YOU should be equally pissed off, socially stagnated, and intolerant, not to mention the unchecked romper stompering by feral humanoids that has infected cities nationwide like the T-Virus on steroids, sometimes, the remedy (at least for me) is a couple of hours of diversion in the form of some cinematic FUN. There of course is always a place for the cerebral and analytical, but that's not what this movie was going for. With age comes wisdom, and I have wisely learned that just because something does not fit my particular tastes or expectations, doesn't necessarily make it "bad", just not for me.
Watching a movie for the soundtrack is like going to see "Cats" because you're a veterinarian... Just sayin....
The first 1/3 part of the movie is really great and i was thinking, wow that's a great one. The next 1/3 of it was only meh and i started to be stupid. The last 1/3 of it was only awful and stupid. Specially the ending. It's really sad they messed it up.
The real question is why the hell did the guy charge money for snacks at the white house?
So no one is going to talk about how the order of episodes for this show is messed up? And it's not Trakt. Even on Peacock the order is like this. They threw in the Olympics episode after the season 1 finale?
Glenn still has his job. Chey is still pregnant Disorienting for binging purposes.
[7.7/10] Another really entertaining episode. This is more explicitly doing Bewitched and 1960s sitcoms, and there’s a lot of sheer entertainment to be had from a riff on tropes of odd couples trying to fit into their idyllic neighborhoods.
I also appreciate the recognition of classic sitcom tropes and how they’d evolved in the subsequent decades. That goes beyond just the different decor in Wanda and Vision’s home. We see them walk outside and go seemingly on location, beyond the confines of a single set. We also see many more people of color populating their white picket fence town. It’s small details, but they add up to show change.
The notion of Wanda trying to impress Dottie, the queen bee of the neighborhood (Emma Caufield, aka Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Vision to get in good with the neighborhood watch, so as to further their joint initiative to fit in works as a great premise for the episode. There’s a lot of humor to be wrung from off-beat Wanda trying to fit in with the Stepford-esque ladies under Dottie’s purview, and awkward square Vision accidentally fitting in with the guys of the watch.
What’s more, the set piece of the two of them trying to pull off a magic act at the local talent show, where Vision is functionally drunk due to some literal gum in the works, and Wanda has to work to make people think it isn’t magic, is fantastic. There’s a great, frantic energy to the whole routine, and both Olsen and Bettany play it to the hilt.
This was also a great episode for stray lines. The running gag of people chanting “For The Children” in unison brought a lot of yuks. The poor mustached man from the prior episode going “That was my grandmother’s piano” when Wanda turns it into a wooden standee was a solid laugh. And one of the housewives in the audience asking “Is that how mirror’s work?” when Wanda uses them to try to explain Vision’s phasing hat trick had me rolling in the aisles.
But it’s not all laughs. There’s more horror at the edge of the frame that’s done quite well. The presence of an airplane that’s visibly Iron Man’s colors seems to shock Wanda as revealing that something’s wrong here. When Wanda assures Dottie that she doesn’t mean any harm, Dottie says “I don’t believe you,” in genuinely frightened tones, while a strange voice cuts through the radio, causing her to break a glass and bleed fluid that likewise breaks through the black and white color scheme. It’s another superbly done unnerving moment.
There’s also some interesting lines that have double meanings that are quickly glossed over, like their new friend saying “I don’t know why I’m here,” seemingly referring to the garden party, but also suggesting she’s been wrapped into this fantasy world somehow and doesn’t know why. There’s a lot of little bits of dialogue that work like that in this one, and it’s fascinating.
We also see and hear some loud thumping, played for laughs in the “move the beds together” scene (another wink toward classic TV changes), but also witness it used for legitimate scares. There’s some frightening imagery when the man emerges from the sewers in a beekeeper outfit and more “Who’s doing this to you, Wanda?” calls are heard, especially when Wanda uses the power to rewind the tape. The advent of a pregnancy is an interesting development, and the arrival of color with their kiss is some great effects worth.
I’m nursing a theory that this is all part of Wanda coping with the loss of Vision, feeling sick or afflicted and unwittingly creating this fantasy world out of some kind of grief, wrapping more and more people into it. Whatever the answer, color me appropriately intrigued by the mystery, charmed by the pastiche, and appropriately disturbed at the hints of something deeply wrong with all of this.
[8.2/10] What a blast this is. I’m impressed both at how well WandaVision is able to replicate the 1950s sitcom vibe, especially for supernatural-themed comedies like Bewitched mixed with The Dick van Dyke show, while also including a subtle but palpable sense of existential terror beneath the three camera confines of the show.
I really enjoy how this first episode plays on the classic sitcom tropes: a couple not remembering an important date on the calendar, a wacky neighbor, a boss coming over for dinner who needs to be impressed. The show does a nice spin on them, while also feeling true to the sitcoms it’s paying homage to. I’m particularly stunned by the cast, who are able to replicate that acting style, and the editors and other behind the scenes craftsmen, who are able to replicate the rhythm, to such perfection.
What’s neat is that the episode works pretty perfectly separate and apart from its larger MCU connections as a solid old school sitcom pastiche. There’s a lot of nice setup and payoffs of gags, like Wanda repurposing a magazine's “Ways to please your man” article to distract her husband’s boss and his wife, or Vision singing “Yakety Yak” after decrying it earlier. Even the lobster door knocker routine was a fun and comical grace note to an earlier bit. As cornball as it is, there’s something charming about this sort of thing, right down to the “What do we actually do here?” gag about the computer company. And despite the light spoofing at play, this works as a solid meat and potatoes sitcom episode.
But the show goes a step further and has real fun with the fact that its leads are a self-described witch and a magical mechanical man respectively. There’s tons of amusing gags, starting with the intro, about the pair using their powers in trifling 1950s household sorts of ways. At the same time, it does well with the jokes about hiding their true identities. Vision writing off Wanda’s behavior as “European”, Wanda reassuring her neighbor that her husband is human, and Vision taking offense when a coworker tells him he’s a “walking computer” are all entertaining bits that make the most of the weird premise.
And yet, what really elevates this episode is the unnerving hints that there’s something terribly wrong going on here. It’s not hard to guess that after the events of Endgame, there’s still concerns about what happened to vision. The show plays with the melodic rhythms of the sitcom form to suggest something off at the edges here, in a really sharp way.
For instance, there’s an interstitial commercial featuring a Stark toaster, and not only does it feature the only bit of color in the black and white presentation with the beeping light, but the toasting takes just a beat too long for comfort. Likewise, the fact that Wanda and Vision can’t remember their story or how they got married is initially played for laughs, but then it becomes creepy when Mrs. Hart demands answers.
The peak of this comes when Mr. Hart chokes on his broccoli and the artifice freezes for a moment, leaving everyone paralyzed by the departure from how things work in this sort of situation. It’s a great piece of work, of a piece with the likes of Twin Peaks and Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared in its quiet horror.
I’ll refrain from speculating about who’s watching the broadcast we see or who’s in the monitoring room we seem to have an eye on, but the hints at what's really going on, and how that influences the images the audience witnesses, creates a great organic mystery and another layer to the proceedings.
Overall, this is a boffo debut for the series, and I’m excited to watch more!
Best Snyder movie so far. Sadly it is deeply misunderstood. Movie is way more deeper and complex than it looks like on first glance.
People don't realize Sweet Pea is the protagonist, Babydoll is a figment of Sweet Pea’s imagination. Babydoll does not exist. Babydoll's story is Sweet Pea’s story. Sweet Pea was sexually abused, killed her sister and is in psychiatric hospital in therapy. Babydoll is Sweet Pea's avatar. Way of dealing with grief, with guilt, and way to manage her current situation and overcome it. Babydoll is also Sweet Pea's guardian angel.
Sweet Pea is the only fully rounded character, other girls represent aspects of her psyche. Babydoll represents strength and courage, Amber loyalty, Blondie fear, and Rocket represents guilt. In the third level reality her psyche fights for the things to get her free from her current state. Second guardian angel (the Wise Man) guides her through. To fully recover she needs to get over her guilt (Rocket dies as a symbol), also other girls represent things which she needs to leave behind to fully recover .
Babydoll is one of those things. She is the fifth thing (“The fifth is a mystery. It is the reason. It is the goal. It will be a deep sacrifice and a perfect victory.”). Lobotomy of Babydoll represents Sweet Pea’s mind of taking control. Sweet Pea needs to sacrifice Babydoll to be “cured”. Escape at the end is a symbol of that process of being cured. That’s why the driver is the Wise Man, he guides her further.
Sucker Punch is Sweet Pea’s journey from “madness” to “sanity”. Movie is philosophical / psychological investigation wrapped in a special effects action-fantasy. As the movie changes realities (mostly in the third reality), Snyder uses more fetishized image of the girls. He uses clichés and cluttered iconography (nazi zombies, sexy schoolgirls). It is a way to detached and disconnected characters from second reality. Second reality, the brothel, is the “main” reality. In which everything happens.
Damn! Dark, the trilogy as a whole is a very well written show with a captivating story. This only becomes more apparent when you realize how consistent the series has been throughout the three seasons and how everything was so well thought out beforehand. Granted, calling it immensely complicated would be an understatement as it may require careful attention or multiple viewings to grasp and remember everything but once you clear this hurdle and understand this show, its brilliance will readily become apparent.
This show may very well go down in history as one of the greatest Sci-Fi content both in terms of films/tv ever made. We will be darn lucky if anything ever comes close to the greatness of this show in future. Or maybe considering how it is a sleeper hit, it inspires studios to order more thought provoking contents, but who knows.
I think , once they prevent the deaths and time-travel from being invented, Jonas'(Split Reality 1) and Martha's(Split Reality 2) universes(realities) are annihilated, the Scientist's "Original reality" splits/branches again, to form another "3rd" Split Reality which is the one shown in the end.
Since "Endings are beginnings and beginnings are endings or everything is predetermined and past/future can't be changed", this would make the most sense without breaking the show's rule because if the Scientist didn't try to invent time Travel, there wouldn't be 2 split realities and with that no Jonas or Martha coming to change the past, and if they didn't come, he would invent time Travel, a Paradox.
So the original reality still exists alongside the new 3rd reality. However Jonas and Martha are erased from existence since their universes no longer exist.
Hannah deciding to name the unborn child 'Jonas' was also a nice way to spare us a completely sad ending.
But hey who knows! The series is open for multiple interpretations.
Here's something you might find helpful:
How To Understand Dark
1. Determinism:
I. Watch Predestination (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535 ) to acquaint yourself with the general idea of a closed time loop. Also maybe give Triangle (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1187064 ) a shot.
II. Arrival is also great.
III. Watch Devs (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8134186 ) [Ignore the last episode, unfortunately Alex Garland still can't stick a landing] to really get the essence of a deterministic universe on the quantum level.
2. Split/Parallel Realities:
I. Rick&Morty has several episodes dealing with the concept. However, S02E01 A Rickle In Time(https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4462494 ) and the recent S04E08 The Vat Of Acid ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10655692 ) both do the best job of explaining IMO.
II. Steins Gate is a masterpiece if you are into anime (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1910272 )
As Zach Dempsey said, let’s pile on the closure dirt
Started with Hannah and ended with Hannah. I absolutely loved the ending.
This episode was so much crying for me
List of proper order:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sliders_episodes
WARNING: trakt displays the order of the episodes in the way they were aired by FOX. But FOX aired them out of order, from how they were created and intended to be watched. I don't have enough space here, to tell you the right order, so check out Wikipedia to see the correct order.
I gave this series a 10/10 for the first 3 seasons, but could only watch 20 minutes of episode 1, season 4 before being completely disinterested and bored. Even the "previously" on.." didn't bring me up to speed on what was going on from season 3. It's only been a couple of months since I watched season 3. Something to be said for binge-watching a series after its ended.
Shouldn’t the TARDIS have caused the Cyrillic sign in the underground tunnel to appear as English?
Just because you got Matthew Broderick and you rip off Ferris Bueller sometimes shot for shot, does not make you Ferris Bueller. Not even post apocalypse Bueller.
I see many people here complaining that the message of this episode was blatantly obvious and simple, but I don't really think that is the point of the episode.
In my interpretation, this episode was mainly here to tell a story of a tragic character that does immoral things out of desperation whilst also showing glimpses of humanity in his actions, which in no way justify his actions. Similarly, they try to humanise each and every side of this story. Even the big CEO of the company that arguably does a lot of social evil has his big humanising moment, where he admits that it all spun out of control, and I think we can all relate to that.
There is no evil character. It is all a complex web that creates evil, and the point, as I see it, was not to bash into the heads of people to not text and drive, or to stop using social media, but simply to tell a story. A story that utilises the all-consuming technology in our society, and I think it does that job fantastically. It is suspenseful, layered, and incredibly moving.
Two major components to this review: structure and impact. I will use inline spoiler tags, but note that I do not consider facts about the true events to be spoilers. It's a biopic—we know what happened. But if you don't, be warned that I will "spoil the ending", as it were, and stop reading now.
Now, then.
This is an important story. We all know what happened to the plane, and we all know what usually happens to aircraft whose pilots attempt to do what Sully pulled off. The story of the cra— I mean, forced water landing, itself is amazing. The whole process is so incredible, and this movie captures everything from the initial bird strike through the last boats carrying passengers to shore. I thought the story of the landing itself was done very, very well. This movie is worth watching on the strength of that portrayal alone.
I did have some major objections to the structure, though. They're probably not unlike @LuckyNumber78's complaints…though I'm not coming at this from the perspective of a screenwriter, just as a viewer.
Specifically, the most insulting sequence in the entire film to me was the beginning, which seems like it's throwing us right into the narrative, but turns out to be a just a dream (if it wasn't given away already by the aircraft trying to fly through Manhattan, grazing skyscrapers on its way to a fiery crash). That put me in a pretty skeptical mood for the rest of the film, and for good reason—lots of sequences turn out to be Sully's daydreams/hallucinations/imagination. They were not managed well, in my opinion. That's not to say I object to their use; just that they weren't done well in this film.
The whole temporal flow of the film is pretty unhinged, actually. Though it technically follows a single event from start to finish (the NTSB investigation), even that continuity is disrupted in places. The film retreads certain events, and includes a few others, for no discernible dramatic purpose. And even when it does buckle down and get on with settling the NTSB investigation once and for all, the climax reeks of half-assed attempts to make it "Hollywood suspenseful" that just fall flat. (I mean most of the final NTSB hearing, if you're wondering, where evidence like the report on the left engine shows up at the last minute.)
To be quite honest, I waffled between a 5 and a 6 on this one, not because I didn't find the film compelling, but because it doesn't work structurally. I get that there's an element of metaphor in how the film is laid out, and I appreciate it, but for a film like this it's really not in the story's best interest to keep the audience guessing at what's real. I finally decided on a 6, but only because the true story deserves more than a 5.
A wonderful goodbye to a decaying show. After quite a few underwhelming seasons, against all odds, they gave us a genuinely funny and very heartwarming episode. Ain't gonna lie, I shed a tear or two (and not only during Sheldon's Nobel speech). They've truly put some heart into this series finale, there isn't a single thing I can complain about it. The show ended on the highest possible note.
I was prepared to be disappointed by the lack of guest stars in the final episode, but then Buffy the Vampire Slayer :heart:
Twelve seasons is a big chunk of life, and I'm glad to have The Big Bang Theory being a part of mine for this long. I will miss these guys.
I'll miss you, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Titus and Lillian and and all of you.♥️
P.S.: Except Mimi
First of all I’m a really GREAT fan of The Orville :) But start of this episode looked strangely familiar, then i remember it. Black mirror, season 3 episode 1 - Nosedive :)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5497778/?ref_=ttep_ep1
Anyone seen that?
If the point of this movie was to confuse the watchers and setup a second movie than they succeeded. What was the point of this movie? Was this supposed to be a Jigsaw (SAW) clone, if so than they should spend some time researching the SAW formula. The bigest question I have after this movie is "Why".
Damn. That last scene literally sent goosebumps through my entire body. Holy shit! It definitely stays with you. What a beautiful, hauntingly heart wrenching episode. All of them were really, really good so far, but this was exceptional.
Great dual moment at the end with them both realising they have met. And so the game of cat and mouse begins!
I like how flawed they both are, it's such a rarity to have layered female characters written well. Really liking this show.
FIFTY HUNDRED OUT OF TEN STARS.
This was my first contact with a SciFi show and my favorite as a kid. I had an Eagle model and build myself a Comlock and a Stun Gun out of Lego. I must have been 8 or 9 years old.
The production value, thanks to the Andersons, was really good. It looked absolutly believable. Yeah, the science isn´t waterproof but this was the 70s. You got away with a lot. The second season was not as good as the first (I remember some really ridiculous space monsters). They tried to americanise it by implementing tons of changes that just didn´t work out with the established facts of the first season. And those changes were also not explained during the shows second year. It became a different show.
All things considered this show is called a classic for a reason. As a fan of sci-fi you should have watched this at least once.
Finally, a good sequel. Good god the animation, it's so beautiful. And the action was so smooth. Also, Pixar better gives us a short movie about Edna babysitting Jack-Jack.
