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Star Trek: Voyager: Prototype (1996)
Example of why Voyager doesn't work
This is just one of many mediocre and quite boring episodes with either predictable or dull twists strewn throughout and no satisfying narrative. Following from DS9, which took Star Trek in a bold and exciting new direction, this series has been content with the most passable and bare minimum ideas. This episode if full of these predictable moments, where a friendly robot is repaired and ultimately kidnaps her when he doesn't get its way, character develops a friendship with their kidnapper, and it is revealed he has even more sinister motives. The worst part part of this episode is the ending, when B'Elanna is left with a choice. She finds out they will wage war forever and she gave just gave them their greatest weapon. Throughout the climax we hear the new prototype repeating its name, as if signalling to the audience that he is the key to solving the dilemma. But instead of a smart interesting solution to the problem, like Star Trek is known for, B'Elanna just resorts to violence and kills the prototype. That's it. That's all this episode has been leading up to, all the talk about extinction and prime directive, and she just kills the robot. It reminds me of the episode where they capture a Borg drone, and while they're so desperate to kill it, they realise he is not too different from them after all. They even discuss using it as a virus bomb to destroy the other Borg's. But in the end they leave him unharmed and hope his new perspective might infect and positively affect the Borg collective, to change them. I thought that B'Elanna would do the same, use this newborn prototype with no orders to kill anyone to maybe lead to a ceasefire, to cause a mass change in the other robots, maybe his programming could be replicated in the others where they don't have to follow Pralor Cervic orders to kill each other anymore. But no, while TNG writer think up a clever diplomatic solution, Voyager writers revert to the laziest option.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Doctor Bashir, I Presume (1997)
Rom turns back into Season 1 Rom and loses all self-confidence
Considering we've seen Rom develop so much over the course of this series, it's pretty ridiculous to see him absolutely paralyzed over this girl where he can't utter a single word. He's Rom alright but considering we've seen his hard work and his promotion and standing up against his brother and moving out, its very stupid to have the writer's revert him to some helpless snivelling Ferengi who can't do anything. I know its romance but seriously Leeta is the last person anyone would be afraid of talking to.
The A Plot with Bashir is very good, but I just wanted to point out this inconsistency with Rom's character that really undermines a lot of his development.
The Doctor from Voyager is absolutely unbearable, i don't know how they managed to make him charming in the Voyager considering how arrogant he is here, but I guess thats part of his character.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Darkness and the Light (1997)
Great mystery thriller turns into comical b-movie
All I have to say is that this episode was ramping up to be a 8 or possibly even a 9. But then the ending reveal turns it into some shlock cheesy action movie where the terrorist or villain of the film is some person bent on revenge because of some obscure past wrong-doing. The climax is over-acted, poorly written and childish. The villain reveal is comical in his lame motive. Some guy gets injured in an attack and has facial deformity, how original. Then he goes on to have a bunch of Shakespearean monologues with elaborate fanciful words. It is just silly. For all of Star Trek's clever episodes and unique concepts you have a stinker like this that makes it look like any run-of-the-mill B-movie with no effort. Kira's 'arc' is equally comical with the dialogue about the guilty and Cardassian occupation. Couldn't they think of anything clever or interesting? The climax is an absolute bore to watch and cringeworthy that really dampens all the great build-up in the rest of the episode. Skip this episode, it'll save you from feeling disappointed and irritated. Its a shame with the fantastic episodes in season 4 and how often they got detective/mystery thriller's right. Maybe its the fact that Odo barely plays a role in this episode, which he should do as the security officer. What's he doing all this time except staring at a list of 25 random Cardassians. Not to mention the fact that Kira runs into the terrorist first-thing after removing 5 namss from list. At least her Shakaar colleagues are sympathetic and her stories about the past are too, even if they are just exposition. Also they're all people we've never heard of before which makes it hard to sell the emotion. Kira should probably be court-martialed for this.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Indiscretion (1995)
B plot highlights the character problem of Kasidy Yates
Most of the reviews are focused on the A plot, so I just want to discuss the B plot because it is relevant to our lead character in the show, Sisko. Introducing a new love interest is a great idea in a series like this but then you also have to develop their relationship and their chemistry, which is absolutely absent here. In just a few episodes they went from talking, to dating, to her possibly settling into the station permanently living near him. All of this happens in the background, by reference or exposition. Worse than that, Kasidy Yates never had any time to develop a personality in the series so far. All we know of her is her first meeting, where she's pretty much just the protagonist's mirror image and she likes baseball. Very lazy and her being 'opinionated' as Sisko calls it is no more a mirror of him as well or just any bland character archetype. After their first meeting they're already in love. We don't have anything to invest in their relationship besides their common interest in an extinct sport. The chemistry between the actors is lacking, Sisko's actor is doing his best as usual but the actress just comes off as bland. Especially disappointing because previous love interests, his wife Jennifer, and even a short-term love Fenna from Season 2 Episode 9. Fenna was a telekinetic projection yet still had more chemistry with Sisko. Even in the short scenes with Jennifer and Sisko their love is obvious. What makes it worse that in this episode Kasidy comes off as whiny and quite childish. I guess it's not atypical for a soap series to have the girlfriend or wife overreact and get angry over nothing, it is a pretty common trope. But that Kasidy Yates can't even imagine that Sisko might be scared about commitment seems pretty selfish and arrogant. If you want the audience to engage with the relationships in the show, you have to try to at least make them sympathetic towards the love interest or establish that they are right for Sisko. Neither seems true at this point. It just makes the scenes with them dull and sometimes irritating. The 7 is for the rest of the episode, this was just to highlight the B plot which the other reviews skim over.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Shakaar (1995)
Historical parallels add weight to Bajor as a real society
I have absolutely no idea why people hate on this episode so much, I mean an average rating of 7?? That's the same as the child Jem'Hadar episode and no offence this was quite a bit better, mostly thanks to sympathetic characters, good plot and interesting allegory.
I think anyone with an interest in history or someone studying history will find this episode quite engaging. I can't recall any exact parallel but bits and pieces of the Bajor Civil War plot is taken from different historical parallels to it. The Bajoran people as mountain-men fighting against a superior enemy is an obvious parallel in itself like the American frontier, the Chechnyans/Circassians and many Caucasian people, Partisans against the Nazis, Afghanistan, as well as the Libyan resistance to Italian colonialism. Ethiopia is a more politically relevant example, the TPLF often waged guerrilla war on government forces, then again Ethiopian's also were great at using terrain to defeat the Italians, such as the Battle of Adwa. All these allegories here can be seen in differing ways in this episode, at least for me.
Although the environment here is the Thirty Mile Zone of Californian Mountains, not super exciting, it still helps sell the kind of guerrilla warfare the Bajorans waged. Shakaar and Kira's relationship is not complex or deep, or emotional for that matter, but the connection is established early on that helps justify her action. The fact that a Civil War was almost waged by Kai Winn shouldn't be surprising to any viewers and it isn't comically villainous as governments have often deprived local and indigenous farmers of their equipment for some state-run project. Here again historical parallels are numerous such as the Derg with villagisation or Mugabe's farmer policy or one of Mao's or Stalin's numerous disastrous agricultural policies. Her actions are minimal in comparison, but it goes to show how even the smallest freedom taken away can lead to much resistance against her government. The end is quite optimistic, especially considering they were all ready to shoot, and perhaps its a bit naive because of that. But the message is sound and the two generals, who once fought together, managing to strike a deal is a good ending to the plot, even if it is all a bit rushed. O'Brien's dart competition was fine too. I like that Kai Winn was made minister a few episodes back and not this episode, it helps form continuity, even though its all very sudden that she's been fired already. It's a fine episode for the plot and historical parallels alone, because it helps create a sense of realism in the series. It makes the politics seem real instead of a bunch of random cultural and social traits assigned to them in a generator. It can be annoying when Star Trek just spouts random aliens just to make a joke or for dialogue and never expand on them. Same with them inventing new characteristics of a species way after the fact. But like the Cardassians and Vulcans, the things we found out about Bajorans have stuck and make most of the plots that include them quite engaging. I would think this episode to have at least 7.4 or 7.8 considering the episodes rated 7 are usually just consigned for average or okay episodes.
Streets of Fire (1984)
Listen to the soundtrack instead of watching this movie
The best part of this film is some of the rock & roll songs, which were the reason I even found out about the film. A few of these are really great. The rest of the film isn't. It's boring and often lackluster. Most of the main cast looks bored and doesn't try and their characters are underwritten. The entire screenplay is just cliche and written childishly, as if a 5 year old kid was imagining what his action figures said to each other. All the main cast is acting badass with witty comebacks to every single thing, never being serious and never talking like a normal or even realistic person. The movie plays like it was made for direct-to-video and sadly despite the fun concept the execution of this rock & roll world is way in the background. Especially the blonde soldier character was annoying, and like the main hero was just an asshole who were somehow meant to sympathise with. The main protagonist is meant to be this hulking badass but doesn't look the part, he's written like some James Bond, Indiana Jones guy who women swoon for. Willem Dafoe is shamelessly underused in the film. The film gets so bored with itself it starts playing footage from the music videos. The music itself is great when you hear it but is not even utilised in any appropriate way. The movie just stalls while it plays a 4 minute song while some footage of extras in a studio set plays. Watching this film, despite its length, it felt overlong and just very slow. It feels like nothing happens because there is no clear flow or structure, the film is aimless, it doesn't know what it wants to say or where it wants to go. The characters just move from one place to another until suddenly we're at the end with an underwhelming climax. Just listen to the soundtrack on Spotify, it's solid, and save yourself the bore.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Meridian (1994)
Insultingly stupid romance episode, only Quark can save the day
An episode harkening back to the real stinkers of TNG. The sci-fi element here is boring and dull, not used in any interesting way. The romance is the worst part of it by far, reminding me of the TNG episodes where Troi and Beverly would blindly fall in love with some stranger with little to no personality. Did they really have to do this to Jadzia as well? The Trill with 8 lifetimes of experience and who has been shown strongly standing for herself, rejecting advances from not only Bashir but a multitude of people. She's very independent and does what's in her best interest. But here, she just falls head over heels for this rando after climbing a tree with him, it's inexplicable and so out of character. Within a day she's madly/wildly in love with him as if they've been dating for months. I thought we had left these kind of episodes with TNG, which often regress into old-fashioned and antiquated writing for their female characters. But I guess with Star Trek it's just something to be expected.
Quark's storyline is far better, not surprisingly. The scene when Kira catches Quark trying to get a holo-image makes for great comedic interactions. We've also seen Kira fall in love with Vedek Bareil, which despite being a bit forced, was at least foreshadowed and they had some chemistry at least and showed genuine care. We also didn't see it develop in one day, it is implied they have already spent quite some time together, which is a smart trick by the writer's. But this episode forces the writer's to create chemistry, romance and some kind of emotion arc all at once and it's obvious they can't pull it off. Romances in Star Trek work when it's between main members of the cast, people we know and whose relationships we see develop. Even then, Troi and Worf was no doubt a dumb experiment for a couple that has no things in common nor chemistry nor any reason to be together except fate. Jadzia's decision, WITHIN A WEEK, to spend 60 years with this guy in limbo is absolutely insane. It is an absolute insult to the past two seasons of strong female characters, or of the strong characters in general. DS9 usually does not focus too much on romance except for comedic or minor story use. The acting here is just as atrocious, I think Terry Farrell playing Jadzia probably also found it hilariously stupid and corny. They have no chemistry and her dedication to him is like some helpless Victorian-era wife, who just cares for him and does nothing except to please him. A normal episode would have Jadzia scoff at his suggestion at building a house for the two of them. One of the worst episodes I have seen so far, not only unoriginal and insulting but unbearably dull to sit through. So much of this episode is dedicated to her romance and there's nothing, absolutely nothing, to be interested by in their relationship or their dialogue and especially not their acting. The only salvageable part of this episode is Quark, luckily he is a constant positive aspect to any of the DS9 series, which does also have a good standard of quality regardless. It gets a 3 because its not as bad as the Star Trek episode where Beverly crusher gets Stockholm syndrome with a Scottish ghost. Star Trek writers need to steer away from romance, I mean it doesn't even work for your target demographic. I don't think many Trekkies get excited with another episode of Troi, Beverly, Jadzia, Kira etc becoming an object and falling blindly in love with any guy with a face.
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Phantom Train of Doom (1999)
Indiana Jones TV-Movie done right
This movie could probably be considered Indiana Jones 3.5. It is a far better film than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, although thats not much of a compliment. It is a bit uneven and suffers from a TV-movie budget and filmography, and the fact the quality of film is not up to par with a big budget film. We follow Indy and Remi from the rest of the series get lost in the midst of German territory, meeting up with a renegade group of elderly British commandos. I won't describe the plot but it is exciting to say the least, not so much concerned with historical figures or drama as the other episodes, but with action and excitement. The first half is the better and more well-paced one of the two, centred on the train in question and also setting up some good intrigue. It is straight out of an Indiana Jones film and the whole plot surrounding the train is something the Nazis would've thought up in any of the films. The latter half also delivers some action, but the filmography suffers a bit and its a bit static and fake-looking at times. Still, there is some interesting conflict between Indy and a captive he has a hold of, calling into question how far Indy will go and what kind of person he is. Indy is made out to be much more of an idiot than seems fit for his character, he's also not as confident and Remy seems to really just be screaming at him most of the time. Which is fine as a comedic aspect but sometimes they have Remy be a more capable than Indy.
At 1hr and 30 minutes (at least the version I watched) it can be a bit of a slog near the halfway mark when it suddenly shifts from one story to another, this might've been better as a two parter. But if you want an beautiful setting, with fun characters (the actor who played Belloq from Raiders plays a British commando) and with good action and intirgue, you should definitely check this out.
Journey's End: The Saga of Star Trek - The Next Generation (1994)
Shows you a lot about whats on the minds of the producers
Look, all the stuff about the series itself is fine and dandy but when Rick Berman starts talking about the actors its just idiotic. One of the growths that Riker has undergone is 'he grew a beard' and then Rick has to pause for a moment to think of anything. The way he talks about Troi and Beverly is also just degrading. He introduced Beverly by saying much of the time she was 'rearing' her child and that she only later became a character because they apparently didn't think of having her on for that long. Then they begin by saying 'Troi has had ups and downs with romance' and that they thought she looked like a galactic cheerleader and changed her outfit and hairstyle a lot to fit 'what a pretty lady Marina is'. Thats all Rick has to say about the female characters, either they serve their role as a woman or as a pretty lady. Idk if its just Rick Berman (but Gene Roddenberry is also guilty of this, sorry) but if this is all they had in mind for the female characters thats just disappointing. Not surprising how abysmal the writing could be for Troi and how some episodes had Beverly and Troi often just blindly fall in love with whatever male came along and trust them blindly. While on the other hand the male characters were always written with restraint and rationality. And then you have them acting like housewives gossiping to each other about who they love while the men are again show more restraint. Besides this the documentary is just kind of a clipshow. I just thought it necessary to highlight the hypocrisy here. I love Star Trek but the way they preach utopian ideals but then stick to some really antiquated lazy ideas can be disappointing. I know its the 80s but they sometimes treat these characters like its the 60s.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Sanctuary (1993)
Such wasted potential. Episode portrays refugee alien race as arrogant
This episode has a good concept and good intentions but suffer from a truly unlikeable and abhorrent alien race. So often in Star Trek do we have aliens in need or in emergencies being arrogant and refusing all help or solutions. And then they have the audacity to spit in the face of the people helping them and act high and mighty. This is fine if that is your intention, but clearly the writer's want the audience to support and sympathise with the alien 'Skreeans' here. All of the major character relationships between the Skreeans and DS9 crew are supposed to make us sympathise with the Skreeans but in the end they just come off as the bad guys. Kira's determined help and support to Neela is ignored by the latter, as she apparently blames Kira for everything and hates her. This plot also uses the very bland cliche of the aliens looking for some holy land or prophecy. Instead of taking the amazing offer of a planet ripe for harvest, they burden a space station and demand that they be placed on a world with a fragile political system and government. They act as if the Bajor's are at fault and stupid for rejecting their offer but that again comes off as arrogant, especially when Bajor has hundreds of reasons to reject these volatile and selfish aliens.
I wish this episode worked better and i wish I didn't dislike the Skreeans as much as I do here. Because clearly the political allegories are positively intended here, especially when 7 million Skreeans crowd the promenade. With all the political significance of the Refugee Crisis in Europe that became rampant in 2015, and especially with the recent evacuation in Afghanistan, a good story about refugees in sci-fi is really important to have. It's been a shame to see people on Facebook from my country acting like children, whining that there's 'not enough room' and 'stay out' (even though we have plenty room). These ideas play a role in the episode but the writer's messed up somewhere or other because the Skreeans only end up in a negative light.
And I wish I felt empathetic for them while they wander the station but the episode only gives me reasons to dislike them. Even their cultural differences, like the matriarchy don't provide much new or interesting, instead it gives us more reason to dislike them when they make fun of other species or when the male Skreeans act like high school bullies. I don't know what else to say about this episode, the plot is rather bland and the performances by Kira is good, as well as Quark, but the Skreean performances are not much to write home about. You hate the kid from the beginning and the episode never gives a reason why we should feel sympathetic for him, even when Nog pesters him, he overreacts wildly by assaulting Nog. I don't know what else to say but it's an okay episode with its few positive qualities being the foreshadowing of the Dominion and Kira's wholehearted intentions.
The best scene is in the beginning is her getting frustrated with Bajor and her discussion with a Bajor musician. It gives us some more information about the happenings on Bajor, how everything is still underfunded and the Bajor musician is trying to get funding for this opera hall. Especially funny is when Quark gets annoyed because the musician captivates his customers so much that they don't gamble as much when they're listening to the music.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Preemptive Strike (1994)
The Grande Return and Goodbye of Ro Laren
This episode is a great sendoff to a character whose made a name for themselves in just a handful of episodes. Ro Laren is not unanimously liked because she shakes up the idyllic bridge crew dynamic. Gene Roddenberry insisted that there be no conflict among the crew except for external forces that control their actions. This stayed throughout the series, where all of the crew has seemingly perfect relationships with them, all best friends and few disagreements that lasted more than one episode. Ro Laren was a nice mix-up, being a somewhat stubborn and arrogant person but justifiably so. She introduced us to the Bajorans and set up the ideas and characteristics of all future Bajorans we would see play a more significant role in Star Trek lore.
Although far too brief for the character arc it tries to achieve, this episode plays with some of the characteristics we know of Ro Laren. It asks where her loyalties lie, her relationship with Jean-Luc Picard and with the federation as a whole. The best part of this episode is some of the tender and quiet moments. Her relationship with the old man helps establish her reasons later on for her change of heart. Her discussions with Picard are very personal and you can see how his approval is important to her. However, those dialogues are bluntly straightforward about the emotional steps we're supposed to see in her. You have Ro Laren literally saying 'the most important thing for me is your approval', something I doubt Ro would ever say out loud. This episode is a standout amongst the rather tame Season 7 and reminds us the great character writing TNG could have. Even in 50 minutes, her arc is very believably and fitting of the character we've watched for several episodes. I appreciate that they had Riker with her at the end, which only slightly manages to finish their arc together by him wishing her luck. We never got to find out what Riker was to say about Ro Laren at her funeral. I am not going to delve too much into the plot, it isn't very complex, it is all about characters this episode and I suggest you watch it yourself.
It's a shame Ro never got more episodes, perhaps to build up this arc over a longer period. Besides Ro Laren's important role in future Star Trek lore, she's also just a fascinating character. She's not the perfect officer like much of the TNG crew who are so often just accommodating to everyone else's opinions. Although they are very sympathetic they are sometimes just too perfect as people. Ro Laren was always at odds with people, always blunt and sometimes crass about her opinions and determined to enact them. People didn't like her and for a clear reason. Yet she still ended up being the most relatable and sympathetic character for me. Even in lesser episodes she always stood out with her very well-defined personality. When you take an episode like The Next Phase, the writer's know well-enough to focus on Ro's reaction than La Forge's (the writer's have tried many times to write episodes about La Forge, like his romance life and about his mom, didn't often work). Even the episode, Rascals, where they turn into kids, some of the characters like Keiko or Picard are written blandly for the kid actors. But Guinan and Ro sound exactly like their adult counterparts. The writer's made Ro Laren into one of the highlights of this series even with so few appearances. It is nice therefore to see her get such a well-thought out farewell.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Duet (1993)
The ending elevated this episode, with great Cardassian acting but poor showing for Kira
Kira can be a bit of a double-edged sword of a character in this show, especially in the first season. Sometimes the writer's want to make her a complex character torn between sides and conflicting loyalties. And sometimes they just want to make her a staunch, stubborn, Bajor fanatic. This is an example of the latter, although it it is her Cardassian counterpart that really makes this episode so great. It seems the writers wanted to make Kira just a representative of all Bajor trauma to accentuate the drama here, even if at the cost of her own character. A lot what she says here is very cliché, 'we did it to survive', 'you deserve to die' all that stuff, she says all the typical responses to someone who is suspected to be enemy number one. You could argue his laid-back, mocking manner, is perhaps also cliched in terms of villainy but I think the performance and writing here really helps you love to hate this person and the villain he is playing as. It also works a lot better knowing he was pretty much over-acting to compensate for his own personal cowardice, that he was playing up the big evil guy as much as he could, even comically so.
I shed a tear by the end of the episode, which some of the best Star Trek episodes are prone to do. I just never expected such a great episode to be so early in the DS9 series, it took TNG two or so more seasons to really deliver some of their best and most touching episodes. This character comes off surprisingly sympathetic by the end, even if the twist comes so late in the episode. In hindsight the episode does drag out as the mystery is a bit muddled. The tension when we hear the first twist about his identity is exciting but after that the episode stalls and gives us just more scenes of him mocking Bajor. Like in TNG with the Romulans, it is very nice to see sympathetic characters made out of the villainous Cardassians. Especially because Bajor is so stereotypically symbolic for resistance fighters fighting for good, it is nice they emphasise those qualities of their hate for Cardassians that's not so good. Kira's character came off very blandly stubborn and angry in this, compared to the episode with the old guy and the farm, but still a great episode.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Vortex (1993)
Odo-centric episode, intrigue and good character moments
Odo, by this point in the season, has already established his character for the most part but his species were still somewhat of a mystery beside the one line about it in the pilot. This episode does a great job of introducing intrigue of his origins while also maintaining the mystery, along with exploring the conflict at hand in a minimum fashion.
The actual plot about the criminal and the other aliens who are twins are okay, although a bit cliched/bland. Pretty obvious twist that the lying criminal is actually speaking the truth and his only crime was protecting his family. Most interesting part is Odo's way of dealing with the possibility of finding his own species. At times, he literally catches himself losing his cool and seeming desperate for more information. In the end though his duty trumps this curiosity or even want to find his own kind, but as they touch down on what is supposed to be the colony, he just angrily shouts at the criminal until he reveals it was all a lie. This episode was definitely a great mystery-thriller, where the first act has you wondering what its about. After its revealed the colony doesn't exist, the remaining plot threads are far less interesting but still.
Personally, Odo has a kind of McCoy-esque quality to him, a very stubborn person at times and firm about his position and his opinion and especially his job. If he doesn't like the way things are done, he says it direct, no funny business. He's not Vulcan in that manner though and neither is he Klingon, whether it is his species or just him he makes for a fine character who's fun to watch, especially with Quark, I love his witty dialogue and dry humour. Additionally, his role as Security Officer can easily be distinguished from those of Worf or Tasha Yar. Whereas those two had their own stubbornness, they were also brash and unruly in their own ways. Worf could sometimes become a joke by how often he wanted to 'shoot first, ask questions later' and Tasha Yar was always the one to let emotions take control and get angry. When Odo watched a riot form around his office he stayed cool under pressure, same in this episode. Someone like Worf would far more easily give up his duty for some personal venture (although of course some episodes show his dedication to Starfleet).
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Dark Page (1993)
Daring idea but not good enough execution
Sad thing is that this is a very bold idea to try and explore, although Star Trek is not foreign to exploring darker aspects of life and mourning. However, the execution was really sub-par and I don't think this kind of story deserved that. Lwaxana Troi is seen by many as a very annoying character, so to have her lead this story about trauma wasn't exactly the best idea. I wish I could say better things about this episode but it really didn't work for me or many people. Still, a highlight is Deanna getting emotional at the end, probably one of her better performances in the series. Would've also worked if Deanna was a better written character overall. It also seems that many episode about this kind of family stuff: e.g. Beverly's grandmother and La Forge's mom, even Data's brother or Worf's son, doesn't really work usually. The exception would be Picard's brother and his family, probably one of the best episodes regarding family in Star Trek TNG (worf's parents were also good). Anyways, most of the episode doesn't even tie into the reveal at the end, like what does this have to do with the Cairn at all?
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Conundrum (1992)
Shaking up the Bridge Dynamics
We've had a memory episode before that similarly emphasise the personalities and feelings of certain characters. Picard therefore is exactly who he should be, diplomatic (as MacDuff calls him) and questioning to the very last. Although Geordi, Data and Crusher do not play too much of a role in this episode, the former two have an interesting little conversation about Data's possible origins. It again explores the ideas about an android being so useful to Starfleet and the idea of Data representing a whole race. Although it is only briefly, it explores some of the concepts more emphasises in episodes about Data's daughter ('The Offspring') and the rights of Data ('The Measure of a Man').
Comedy plays throughout the episode in regard to the shaking up of the dynamics between characters. You can't help but chuckle seeing Picard as a helmsman while Worf is bossing him around. Funnily enough I didn't even realise MacDuff was the odd one out until he began bossing people around, it is not the first time they introduce characters into the crew only to evict them the next episode. That's why this episode works so well within Star Trek, although avid fans might suspect why this random person is suddenly a senior officer, some casual fans might not. Similarly, even when you realise he is the odd one out, the mystery remains and the reveal is a very satisfying and interesting idea of how war is waged by pretty much inserting a parasite on a superior ship to destroy your enemy.
Of course the funniest part of this episode is Ro Laren, Riker and Troi. It has been previously established (and emphasised in the beginning of the episode) the rivalry between Ro and Riker. Both of the actors do a great job actually creating a sort of newfound chemistry between the two, where Troi strangely enough seems less of a fit to Riker than Ro Laren does. Although perhaps that's because Troi is often sidelined or reduced to some minimal personality. Let's not forget the episode she lost her powers and the writers turned her into a rambling mess. I've heard many reviews speak highly in an episode that includes Ro Laren and I can't help but agree. The ending left me in tatters, very funny way to end that love triangle. While Riker is clearly a 'casanova' going around hitting on a bunch of women, you can't help feel a little sorry for him when all the blame is put on him. Troi claims that in times like this people do things they always wanted to and gets mad at Riker, while technically Ro was the one who snuck into his room and seducing him. It just makes it even funnier with his sigh of exhaustion at the end alone at the table.
Good plot, good character moments and a nice mix of intrigue, tension and comedy.
Doctor Sleep (2019)
A very competent sequel to book and movie until the third act
Sticking mostly to the Stephen King book of the same name, focusing on the True Knot cult and Rose the Hat was a decision that payed off well for director Mike Flanigan, providing the movie's best scenes and a coherent well-paced plot. This holds up and delights its viewers, with eccentric performances from Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson, Dan Torrance and Rose the Hat respectively, until the third act rolls around. This deviates from the book heavily, which decided for a more lengthy battle that ultimately defeats the True Knot gang/cult. In the movie it results in a shootout sequence poorly placed in a movie that has up to that point only shown horiffic gore or battles of the mind. This shooutout seems better fit in modern action blockbusters like Fast and Furious or an Ang Lee film. This kills 90% of the cult, leaving only Crow Daddy and Rose The Hat, with the crow being killed in a car crash a few minutes later.
This leaves a lot of questions for the ending of the movie, how are you going to have a satisfactory ending the like of Shining (1980) or at least one that doesn't end with a single gunshot or axe swing. The movie doesn't seem to know that either, dragging out the third act for far too long than is necessary. As expected, we are brought back to the Overlook Hotel and it plays up tropes far too cringeworthy when compared to the way the movie has played out beforehand. It is almost entirely predictable and much of the inherently scary aspects of the hotel or the original film are played up to such an extent that it becomes hilariously ridiculous. This is done in a mostly accurate recreation of the original set, now aged and decrepid but not any more scary.
They also attempt at recreating scenes from the original movie but avoiding using original footage, instead actors that look or sound only slightly like the iconic actors who portrayed them. Only Wendy and Dick Hallorann are done well for the most part, with Wendy's accent recreated perfectly and Dick Hallorann's look done justice. The actor portraying Jack is goofy, but not in the fun way, even when trying to be serious. Their failure at recreating scenes was clear when the audience laughed out loud in a recreation of the scene of Wendy defending herself in the bathroom and when Jack pretends to be Lloyd, which until this fact was revealed I really thought he WAS Lloyd. This is even more frustrating when Ready Player One, a year before, blended original footage and cgi to give us a chilling and fun sequence. And when the credits roll, you find yourself let down, because the last few minutes were all too predictable and boring and contrasting to the tension built up for the majority of the movie.
Mike Flanagan wanted to honour fans of both The Shining book and movie, but ended up dissapointing both of them.
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Great addition to Story but many problems as a consequence
Just as a prologue to this, I'd like to say that -- even if I may be in the few -- I found Prometheus quite okay, not bad, not awesome, but quite good to okay. This is not an excuse to say I'm biased but just as most people hated that film they hate this even more.
I believe that the premise of the film is quite strong, although the colonist thing seemed a bit cliché I do like that this time it isn't just 10 people in pods or something as the full colonists but a skeleton crew to begin the colony and then 2000 more plus embryo's which I find a cool idea never seen before. The characters however lack motive, or character at all. The only real motive we get from Daniels is her boyfriend wanted a cabin which nicely plays in later but seems kind of weird. As well as that when people watched the prologue and thought they were going to see James Franco again; you don't. Which I find extremely weird and stupid, hiring such an actor (as in famous not good, because that he definitely is not) and then killing him immediately is a waste of a celebrity and strange. Danny Mcbride I found okay, I wasn't aware of his previous bad acting career so it didn't bother me much. Daniels is not a strong character, she is a Ripley lite of sorts and the rest of the crew is obsolete mostly except for the captain who is abundantly made clear he is an stupid idiot and will die by or give way to a Xenomorph. Now to my second point, I think the aliens in this film were actually really great; bringing something entirely new to the table. The ideas of spores created by the release of the black goo pathogen is also interesting as people thought he could use that instead of making FaceHuggers but it integrated into nature. David's workshop is all-in-all one of my favorite sets and art pieces, those amazing HR Giger drawings, models of all his failed specimens and an original (or close to) Ovomorph containing an actual Facehugger. David is my favorite character and only good character in this film in my opinion because Noomi Rapace doesn't get much screen time. Michael Fassbender plays both roles beautifully and the chemistry between himself is better even than between actual different actors and actresses. You didn't even know who was who's wife, as well as the fact I completely forgot there was a gay couple in this movie (which seems so idiotic for a damn colony ship, I mean does diversity of sexual preference really matter at the last straw of humanity?). Protomorph and Neomorph was great, but the Proto was way too cgi and not enough mix with models. Neomorph however was fast and agile so the cgi was more darting in between the colonists making it look real and brutal. As well as this the scenes with David and his creations are amazing, where he mentions; "eventually the ape stood upright" follows with where the Neomorph slowly comes from a small creature to bigger and standing upright to David, great analogy there. How David interacts with his creatures is great and something you don't see often. Thus I do find some of the other problems; stupidity of the colonists and anti-climatic reveal from Prometheus. The colonists were very stupid -- even though this does not include the 'they're not wearing helmets' argument since I doubt any colony would have 10 helmets for a mission prepared for a millionth scanned planet which they're prepared for. As well as this how they go to a completely different planet instead of planned has reasoning but still stupid and the guy who smokes in a heavily oxygenated jungle in an unknown planet (great job man). This also includes the letdown of engineer home world, they never found it so we will have to wait till Awakening and maybe Neil Blomkamp's alien 5 to find out. One last point I have to make; this movie does not screw up Alien lore with David creating the Xenomorph, they never mentioned the aliens being 'perfect creatures' or having a home world or something because most of that is non-canon and speculation and this is the actual origin because its made by Ridley Scott who made the first one. Overall it was a cool movie with lots of flaws, however I think it's good because of David, Alien origin, the planet and an amazing plot and ending which adds a completely new thing to the franchise instead of making another Colonial Marines suicide mission film. He is definitely not 'George Lucasing' the franchise as people think, he is making it more intricate and better in my opinion.