Boldly going into a Trek I haven't seen before. Well, I have seen this episode before and while I don't remember it well I clearly liked it better this time. That or I am justifying it to myself since I am going to watch the rest of the show either way. This is very much the sex and shooting Star Trek and I don't mean that in a good way. I am not saying Trek should be always be about the nature of humanity and or crazy science fiction stuff, but it is often at its best when it has both that and some kinda of drama or action. Having Archer be racist against Vulcans as a thing he was raised with and then having him seemingly get over it in a single episode seemed pretty damn unrealistic. And finally before I get to my summary, an alien doctor? Really? It was hilarious on Futurama which came out two years BEFORE this show. Honestly though he seems like one of the more likable characters at this point though, so we shall see.
We open with a child Archer working on a model space ship being told by his father than Vulcans are only holding them back. Cut to thirty years later and a Klingon is fleeing some strange looking aliens through a corn field. He blows them up in a silo before being shot by a farmer for not dropping his weapon. Next we see Archer and Trip inspecting the Enterprise before being called down to Starfleet medical. Admiral Forrest and Ambassador Soval are discussing what to do with Klaang, the injured Klingon. Soval and his aide, Sub-commander T'Pol, don't seem to want the humans to get involved but Forrest decides to send Archer and the Enterprise to get Klaang home. Onboard Archer tells Trip that T'Pol will be joining them as science officer and they are both openly hostile to her when she joins them in the ready room. Cut to one of the odd looking aliens from the opening talking to a mysterious figure about some sort of evidence Klaang apparently has with him.
There is a long of messing around and Archer picks up a translator but they eventually get under way. On the way Klaang awakens but the translator can't do much to help. Suddenly invisible aliens show and while Archer manages to kill one they abduct Klaang. It seems the aliens are Suliban who have been modified. They manage to track back to the last place he was and land at a trade complex. After visiting some strippers they locate Klingons but are attacked by more Suliban and are taken prisoner. Other than Archer who is taken to a human woman who kisses him and then reveals she is Suliban actually. And that she is good and I guess also the one who kidnapped him? And she says she is not part of the Cabal, but honestly it doesn't matter since she dies about a minute later. But she does tell Archer that there is a temporal cold war going on and Klaang has evidence to stop a Klingon civil war or something. Also Archer gets shot and sedated by the doctor and T'Pol helps instead of giving up on his plan when she is left in charge. Also, seriously, Trip lets her take over?
They track Klaang to a gas giant and find a huge space station made of small ships inside. They get driven out of the area by armed pods but manage to capture one. Trip and Archer take the pod and manage to rescue Klaang but for no apparent reason Archer stays behind making his ship have to risk everything to come back for him. It serves him right when they use the still somewhat experimental transporter to get him on board. They take Klaang to his people and aren't killed for it so I guess it goes fine. Archer asks T'Pol to stay on as science officer as they are given and open ended mission of exploration and she says yes.
Review: Lots of action and some really dumb decisions by main characters. Not terrible to watch, but not much fun to go back and think about. Better than I remembered, but still a really weak start.
4 out of 10
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
VOY: Endgame
For the past 15 years I have heard that the end of Voyager is, "hella disappointing," (regional dialect, you understand), and I have to respectfully disagree. Ok, I will concede that the Seven/Chakotay thing came on a little fast, but hey, it is a time travel episode. And speaking of, I think it is entirely appropriate for VOY to end with crazy time travel, Janeway crossing lines that weren't meant to be crossed, and BORG BORG BORG. More than any other series VOY has been about the Borg and getting to deal a blow to them and get home is the kind of thing you end a story with. Yes, it would have been nice to maybe have a bit more of them actually getting home, but honestly that would have probably been disappointing. Do we really need a Star Wars style medal ceremony or something? VOY ended like it ran and I think that makes this a solid final episode.
We open 10 years after Voyager complete her 23 year voyage home with Admiral Janeway watching news coverage of the event. Cut to a reunion of the crew in her apartment the next day. Kim made captain and the Doctor is married, but there is a not of sadness for those they lost along the way including presumably Seven and Chakotay as they are missing. Janeway gets Torres alone and hears that Korath has the thing she has been looking for. Later she is preparing to give a lecture to Barclay's academy class when she is called away, the thing is finally ready. Janeway stops by the Doctor and picks up a huge dose of an experimental drug before saying good bye to Tuvok. Next she visits Chakotay's grave before disappearing on a shuttle she arranged for.
Back in the present B'Elanna wakes up sure her baby is one the way, but it is a false alarm. Chakotay stops by the cargo bay and finds Seven has a picnic dinner ready to go and we learn this is their third date. In the mess hall Tuvok loses a game of kal-toh to Icheb before heading to sickbay for treatment. It seems he has a condition he is keeping secret from the captain. In astrometrics Seven is playing a game with Neelix but is interrupted by sensors telling her there is a a wormhole ahead in a nebula. In the future Tuvok isn't taking Janeway's departure well which alarms the Doctor. He talks to Barclay who can't help spill the beans on the plan. Janeway meanwhile arrives on a rocky planet for the thing, but Korath reneges on the deal and she is forced out. In the past Voyager enters the nebula but encounters a Borg cube and hides which seems to work. But onboard we hear them making plans to assimilate Voyager which are interrupted by the Queen.
After a meeting Janeway decides it is too risky to go after a wormhole and only Kim disagrees. Chakotay asks Seven on another date but she stops by sickbay first to have the Doctor disable her implants that impede her emotions. In the future Janeway returns to Korath's cave, but this time she isn't messing around. She agrees to all his demands but then steals the thing and turns on her hull armor. She escapes but is caught by Captain Kim and the USS Rhode Island. Kim tries to order her around, but it takes about 2 minutes before he is doing as told and helps her complete her plan. In the past Seven and Chakotay are beginning their next date when they are called to the bridge, a temporal anomaly has opened in front of the ship. In the future Janeway has also opened the rift but is under fire by Korath's Klingon ships. The Rhode Island arrives just in time to realize what she is planning and watch her ship disappear into the past.
In the past Admiral Janeway orders Captain Janeway to close the rift and after some resistance she complies. They spend a long time confirming she is who she says she is, and during the scans the Doctor detects a neural transceiver that turns out to be his design. Janeway is visibly startled when Seven walks in, but she resists telling her about the future. That night when she regenerates Seven is contacted by the Borg Queen who threatens to assimilate Voyager if they enter the nebula again and is then hit by a shock that knocks her unconscious. She wakes up in sickbay and the two Janeways are arguing about what it means. Future Janeway prevails for now though and convinces the captain to modify Voyager with the tech she gained through her years of fighting the Borg and they agree to go back into the nebula.
When they arrive they are met by strong resistance but Voyager's new armor is enough to stop Borg weapons and the new torpedoes destroy cubes in no time. In the center of the nebula they find a huge structure with Cubes flying around it. The admiral orders them into it, but the captain tells Paris no. She is pissed the admiral didn't tell her one of the six transwarp hubs in the whole galaxy was here and for some reason orders them out of the nebula. They have a meeting and over the objections of the admiral, Captain Janeway orders the crew to come up with a plan to destroy the hub since this will stop the Borg from spreading nearly as quickly. Future Janeway is hella pissed and goes around telling people her reasons starting with telling herself about Tuvok and how there is a cure in the Alpha Quadrant. She also tells Seven about what happens with her and Chakotay and how he can't handle the loss of her which leads to him dying.
But none of it works, instead though the admiral comes up with a plan to both destroy the hub AND get them home. Some time later the captain gives the admiral an injection before the admiral leaves on her shuttle. Seven and Chakotay have to work out Seven's fear of what the loss of her will do to Chakotay (this is exactly what I am talking about, this would have worked better if this relationship was longer than this episode). In sickbay Torres goes into labor but sends Paris to the bridge as they enter the nebula. The Borg Queen is startled to see Janeway in front of her, but finds that it is a hologram when she tries to assimilate her. Janeway taunts her that she won't be able to track her but the queen does and beams the real Janeway to her. But when she assimilates her something goes horribly wrong and the unicomplex starts falling apart along with the queen. Voyager enters the hub and shoots torpedoes back destroying the entrance and starting a shockwave that spreads through the conduits. Janeway taunts the queen until the entire unicomplex explodes.
The queen managed to send one sphere in after them though and it closes on Voyager. Since she did assimilate Janeway it has weapons that can damage the armor. Things look grim and Janeway gives some sort of mysterious order. In the Alpha Quadrant Starfleet has detected the transwarp conduit opening and Admiral Paris leads a fleet to stop the invasion. The sphere bursts through and they weapons are totally ineffective. But suddenly the sphere explodes and Voyager appears in the wreckage. Janeway is welcomed back by Paris and Barclay. Torres babies cries come on over the coms and Tom flies Voyager back to Earth.
Review: Probably the best adventure episode on all of VOY so that is certainly a good thing. The Chakotay/Seven thing wasn't great, but it didn't ruin the episode. A very VOY conclusion in just about every way. On to ENT...
8 out of 10
We open 10 years after Voyager complete her 23 year voyage home with Admiral Janeway watching news coverage of the event. Cut to a reunion of the crew in her apartment the next day. Kim made captain and the Doctor is married, but there is a not of sadness for those they lost along the way including presumably Seven and Chakotay as they are missing. Janeway gets Torres alone and hears that Korath has the thing she has been looking for. Later she is preparing to give a lecture to Barclay's academy class when she is called away, the thing is finally ready. Janeway stops by the Doctor and picks up a huge dose of an experimental drug before saying good bye to Tuvok. Next she visits Chakotay's grave before disappearing on a shuttle she arranged for.
Back in the present B'Elanna wakes up sure her baby is one the way, but it is a false alarm. Chakotay stops by the cargo bay and finds Seven has a picnic dinner ready to go and we learn this is their third date. In the mess hall Tuvok loses a game of kal-toh to Icheb before heading to sickbay for treatment. It seems he has a condition he is keeping secret from the captain. In astrometrics Seven is playing a game with Neelix but is interrupted by sensors telling her there is a a wormhole ahead in a nebula. In the future Tuvok isn't taking Janeway's departure well which alarms the Doctor. He talks to Barclay who can't help spill the beans on the plan. Janeway meanwhile arrives on a rocky planet for the thing, but Korath reneges on the deal and she is forced out. In the past Voyager enters the nebula but encounters a Borg cube and hides which seems to work. But onboard we hear them making plans to assimilate Voyager which are interrupted by the Queen.
After a meeting Janeway decides it is too risky to go after a wormhole and only Kim disagrees. Chakotay asks Seven on another date but she stops by sickbay first to have the Doctor disable her implants that impede her emotions. In the future Janeway returns to Korath's cave, but this time she isn't messing around. She agrees to all his demands but then steals the thing and turns on her hull armor. She escapes but is caught by Captain Kim and the USS Rhode Island. Kim tries to order her around, but it takes about 2 minutes before he is doing as told and helps her complete her plan. In the past Seven and Chakotay are beginning their next date when they are called to the bridge, a temporal anomaly has opened in front of the ship. In the future Janeway has also opened the rift but is under fire by Korath's Klingon ships. The Rhode Island arrives just in time to realize what she is planning and watch her ship disappear into the past.
In the past Admiral Janeway orders Captain Janeway to close the rift and after some resistance she complies. They spend a long time confirming she is who she says she is, and during the scans the Doctor detects a neural transceiver that turns out to be his design. Janeway is visibly startled when Seven walks in, but she resists telling her about the future. That night when she regenerates Seven is contacted by the Borg Queen who threatens to assimilate Voyager if they enter the nebula again and is then hit by a shock that knocks her unconscious. She wakes up in sickbay and the two Janeways are arguing about what it means. Future Janeway prevails for now though and convinces the captain to modify Voyager with the tech she gained through her years of fighting the Borg and they agree to go back into the nebula.
When they arrive they are met by strong resistance but Voyager's new armor is enough to stop Borg weapons and the new torpedoes destroy cubes in no time. In the center of the nebula they find a huge structure with Cubes flying around it. The admiral orders them into it, but the captain tells Paris no. She is pissed the admiral didn't tell her one of the six transwarp hubs in the whole galaxy was here and for some reason orders them out of the nebula. They have a meeting and over the objections of the admiral, Captain Janeway orders the crew to come up with a plan to destroy the hub since this will stop the Borg from spreading nearly as quickly. Future Janeway is hella pissed and goes around telling people her reasons starting with telling herself about Tuvok and how there is a cure in the Alpha Quadrant. She also tells Seven about what happens with her and Chakotay and how he can't handle the loss of her which leads to him dying.
But none of it works, instead though the admiral comes up with a plan to both destroy the hub AND get them home. Some time later the captain gives the admiral an injection before the admiral leaves on her shuttle. Seven and Chakotay have to work out Seven's fear of what the loss of her will do to Chakotay (this is exactly what I am talking about, this would have worked better if this relationship was longer than this episode). In sickbay Torres goes into labor but sends Paris to the bridge as they enter the nebula. The Borg Queen is startled to see Janeway in front of her, but finds that it is a hologram when she tries to assimilate her. Janeway taunts her that she won't be able to track her but the queen does and beams the real Janeway to her. But when she assimilates her something goes horribly wrong and the unicomplex starts falling apart along with the queen. Voyager enters the hub and shoots torpedoes back destroying the entrance and starting a shockwave that spreads through the conduits. Janeway taunts the queen until the entire unicomplex explodes.
The queen managed to send one sphere in after them though and it closes on Voyager. Since she did assimilate Janeway it has weapons that can damage the armor. Things look grim and Janeway gives some sort of mysterious order. In the Alpha Quadrant Starfleet has detected the transwarp conduit opening and Admiral Paris leads a fleet to stop the invasion. The sphere bursts through and they weapons are totally ineffective. But suddenly the sphere explodes and Voyager appears in the wreckage. Janeway is welcomed back by Paris and Barclay. Torres babies cries come on over the coms and Tom flies Voyager back to Earth.
Review: Probably the best adventure episode on all of VOY so that is certainly a good thing. The Chakotay/Seven thing wasn't great, but it didn't ruin the episode. A very VOY conclusion in just about every way. On to ENT...
8 out of 10
Monday, December 5, 2016
VOY: Renaissance Man
I have always been a fan of the Doctor. He is probably the most distinctive character from all of VOY, but it feels like in the last season or so the writers have been desperate to make us like him less. Message in a Bottle was the high water mark and ever since it has felt like they are trying to make him unlikable. In this episode in particular he is super devious in how he works to carry out the evil alien plan, and totally flat footed when it came to coming up with a plan to stop them. He fell right into their trap too and it was only Janeway who was able to save the day. And again she forgives him for directly contravening her orders and almost stranding them forever in the Delta Quadrant. Probably the best part of this episode was seeing the other actors having to do their version of the Doctor pretending to be them.
We open with the Doctor piloting the Flyer while loudly singing opera. Janeway emerges from the back clearly pissed at his loud singing. He goes on to lecture her on how superior holograms are to people in his classically patronizing way. Cut to Voyager and there is a problem with the Flyer. They came under attack and as soon as Janeway is aboard she pulls Chakotay aside and tells him they are in hostile territory and the only option is to dump the warp core and maroon themselves on a planet. There is allegedly some sort of armada on the way. Chakotay doesn't like what he hears and starts investigating. The captain is always clearly acting odd talking to people no one else can hear. We quickly learn that the "captain" is actually the Doctor pretending to be her. After some digging Chakotay confronts her in her quarters but she pulls out a hypo and knocks him out. She gets B'Elanna working on a plan to tow the warp core with the Flyer. Along the way he calls the aliens directing him and they show him Janeway who directly orders him to not do what he is doing but he does it anyway.
People start figuring him out eventually and Tuvok struggles with him in sickbay. The Doctor escapes into the cooridors and eventually makes his way to the Flyer after ejecting the warp core. He takes it to the aliens who promptly lock him up along with the Captain breaking their word. Janeway is pissed but she starts working on the subordinate alien and eventually when the Flyer and a shuttle show up to rescue them the subordinate knocks his boss out with an engine part. The Doctors program destabilizes though and he rushes back to the ship. He is sure he is going to die and starts confessing things including his love to Seven. But of course B'Elanna saves the day and he is left embarrassed. Janeway decides he has punished himself enough after he stays in sickbay for a week and orders him to have coffee with her on the holodeck.
Review: I don't really like what they have done with the Doctors character, but at the same time it is fun to see him gradually replacing more crew while trying to hide the bodies along the way. Overall a fun episode with some questions raised about who the Doctor really is.
6 out of 10
We open with the Doctor piloting the Flyer while loudly singing opera. Janeway emerges from the back clearly pissed at his loud singing. He goes on to lecture her on how superior holograms are to people in his classically patronizing way. Cut to Voyager and there is a problem with the Flyer. They came under attack and as soon as Janeway is aboard she pulls Chakotay aside and tells him they are in hostile territory and the only option is to dump the warp core and maroon themselves on a planet. There is allegedly some sort of armada on the way. Chakotay doesn't like what he hears and starts investigating. The captain is always clearly acting odd talking to people no one else can hear. We quickly learn that the "captain" is actually the Doctor pretending to be her. After some digging Chakotay confronts her in her quarters but she pulls out a hypo and knocks him out. She gets B'Elanna working on a plan to tow the warp core with the Flyer. Along the way he calls the aliens directing him and they show him Janeway who directly orders him to not do what he is doing but he does it anyway.
People start figuring him out eventually and Tuvok struggles with him in sickbay. The Doctor escapes into the cooridors and eventually makes his way to the Flyer after ejecting the warp core. He takes it to the aliens who promptly lock him up along with the Captain breaking their word. Janeway is pissed but she starts working on the subordinate alien and eventually when the Flyer and a shuttle show up to rescue them the subordinate knocks his boss out with an engine part. The Doctors program destabilizes though and he rushes back to the ship. He is sure he is going to die and starts confessing things including his love to Seven. But of course B'Elanna saves the day and he is left embarrassed. Janeway decides he has punished himself enough after he stays in sickbay for a week and orders him to have coffee with her on the holodeck.
Review: I don't really like what they have done with the Doctors character, but at the same time it is fun to see him gradually replacing more crew while trying to hide the bodies along the way. Overall a fun episode with some questions raised about who the Doctor really is.
6 out of 10
Sunday, December 4, 2016
VOY: Homestead
This is one of those episodes that was at least partly spoiled by the netflix description which I always try to avoid, but sometimes my eyes just fall on the wrong part of the screen. Also it would have been really nice if they started doing their wrap up episodes a little earlier so they didn't seem so forced or obviously wrap up eps. Plus, other than missing his family, Neelix never seemed to miss being around other Talaxians, they kinda seemed like a bunch of jerks. And honestly the ones we meet in this episode are pretty obnoxious, but I guess they are Neelix's people.
We open with Neelix putting on a celebration of Earth's first contact with the Vulcans which seems appropriate since the movie about it was such an influence on the show. As Janeway prepares to order Tuvok to dance with Neelix she is interrupted with news that they have discovered a colony of Talaxians. And no, they never bother to explain how they made it so far only saying they traveled for five years. But without the Borg transwarp conduit and some help from Kes Voyager would have never made it this far so fast. But whatever. Neelix and company head over on the Flyer since the colony is inside an asteroid in an asteroid field and once they get close the ship is damaged by an explosion. Neelix wakes up being cared for by a Talaxian woman named Dexa who maybe is forbidden to talk to him? She won't let him see his friends and leaves him locked in a cell. But her son does come to visit. She shows up later with the so called leader of the Talaxians and he tells Neelix he is free to go but not to talk with people so Neelix goes on a tour of the colony with Dexa.
As he leaves miners show up and demand that the Talaxians leave the asteroid they are squatting in since it is theirs to mine. Janeway tries to negotiate a deal but the miners aren't willing to budge. So Neelix comes up with a plan to build a shield grid and defend the colony staying behind as their leader. They come under fire from the miners but Janeway ignores the prime directive and shows up with the Flyer to save Neelix. The shield grid works and Neelix stays behind as ambassador to the Delta Quadrant which is kinda silly if he is going to spend his life inside a hidden asteroid colony being attacked by some sort of presumably effective government, but whatever.
Review: I kinda skipped over the plot about Neelix falling in love with Dexa since it didn't really make much sense to me on screen. I think it would have been easier to understand if Neelix hadn't gone so long without seeming to miss his people at all.
4 out of 10
We open with Neelix putting on a celebration of Earth's first contact with the Vulcans which seems appropriate since the movie about it was such an influence on the show. As Janeway prepares to order Tuvok to dance with Neelix she is interrupted with news that they have discovered a colony of Talaxians. And no, they never bother to explain how they made it so far only saying they traveled for five years. But without the Borg transwarp conduit and some help from Kes Voyager would have never made it this far so fast. But whatever. Neelix and company head over on the Flyer since the colony is inside an asteroid in an asteroid field and once they get close the ship is damaged by an explosion. Neelix wakes up being cared for by a Talaxian woman named Dexa who maybe is forbidden to talk to him? She won't let him see his friends and leaves him locked in a cell. But her son does come to visit. She shows up later with the so called leader of the Talaxians and he tells Neelix he is free to go but not to talk with people so Neelix goes on a tour of the colony with Dexa.
As he leaves miners show up and demand that the Talaxians leave the asteroid they are squatting in since it is theirs to mine. Janeway tries to negotiate a deal but the miners aren't willing to budge. So Neelix comes up with a plan to build a shield grid and defend the colony staying behind as their leader. They come under fire from the miners but Janeway ignores the prime directive and shows up with the Flyer to save Neelix. The shield grid works and Neelix stays behind as ambassador to the Delta Quadrant which is kinda silly if he is going to spend his life inside a hidden asteroid colony being attacked by some sort of presumably effective government, but whatever.
Review: I kinda skipped over the plot about Neelix falling in love with Dexa since it didn't really make much sense to me on screen. I think it would have been easier to understand if Neelix hadn't gone so long without seeming to miss his people at all.
4 out of 10
Saturday, December 3, 2016
VOY: Natural Law
I guess I should be happy they made it this far into VOY without a blatant Chakotay "noble savage" episode. But they really did it this time by not having it be Chakotay who is worried about spoiling the pure and true savages, but Seven. At the same time I think this was supposed to be about the uncontacted native tribes still living in the amazon today and I have to say I have mixed feelings about whether we should contact them or not. We have access to medical care and many other valuable things that would let them live longer lives, the question is would they actually be better off, and I have to say I think they would. Native peoples are just as smart and innovative as we are and if you believe as I do that society has been making progress over the millennia than doesn't it make sense to bring the good that we have to people like this? But I do have the say the locals who wanted to move in on the primitive people in this case did seem more like strip miners than cultural ambassadors. Also I want to point out that there are only three episodes left and Seven still isn't even dating Chakotay despite being trapped on a jungle paradise world with him.
We open with Seven and Chakotay heading to a conference when they encounter an energy barrier that knocks out their engines. Seven figures a way through it but the shuttle is wrecked and they barely transport out with their lives. Paris meanwhile is stopped by local authorities for piloting the Flyer recklessly and sentenced to three days of pilot school. Seven and Chakotay decide to try and build a beacon from the parts of the wrecked shuttle but Chakotay has a broken leg and can't go far. They encounter some locals and after insisting they not contact them he sends Seven off to look for parts and waits so close that there is no chance they won't find him. And they do, when Seven returns he is having his wound tended by the stone age locals. Of course Chakotay can figure out how to talk to them since he is a native american and they manage to figure out where the front part of the shuttle landed. Seven heads off to find it since she can use it to open the energy barrier. On Voyager they have figured out where the shuttle crashed, but aren't as far along on a plan to figure out how to get it open.
Despite her reservations Seven goes with one of the local women to find the deflector and along the way is taken to a waterfall to appreciate it or something, and she actually does seem to appreciate it. There is some sort of delay and she finds the thing, but Chakotay comes out to find her as well for no clear reason other than he has no combadge and they will need to beam him up soon (not that he knows this). Seven gets the barrier down but stays behind at first to care for an injured local. When she returns to the village she is horrified to find that the more advanced nearby people who have Tom in driving school have showed up and are taking stock of the village. She heads back to Voyager pissed and Janeway agrees after some hesitation. But more of the bureaucrat locals show up and muscle them out so Janeway has to call Tom to bust out of his driving class and come to the rescue. He beams out the survey team and then the deflector putting the barrier back in place. We close with Chakotay bring Seven a blanket he got on the planet because she might get cold in the cargo bay or something since they have to be dating and or married in a few episodes.
Review: The main story was a little weak, but the hilarious DMV hi jinks of Tom Paris were pretty classic. Especially since Dragon Ball Z has an episode with a similar premise...
4 out of 10
We open with Seven and Chakotay heading to a conference when they encounter an energy barrier that knocks out their engines. Seven figures a way through it but the shuttle is wrecked and they barely transport out with their lives. Paris meanwhile is stopped by local authorities for piloting the Flyer recklessly and sentenced to three days of pilot school. Seven and Chakotay decide to try and build a beacon from the parts of the wrecked shuttle but Chakotay has a broken leg and can't go far. They encounter some locals and after insisting they not contact them he sends Seven off to look for parts and waits so close that there is no chance they won't find him. And they do, when Seven returns he is having his wound tended by the stone age locals. Of course Chakotay can figure out how to talk to them since he is a native american and they manage to figure out where the front part of the shuttle landed. Seven heads off to find it since she can use it to open the energy barrier. On Voyager they have figured out where the shuttle crashed, but aren't as far along on a plan to figure out how to get it open.
Despite her reservations Seven goes with one of the local women to find the deflector and along the way is taken to a waterfall to appreciate it or something, and she actually does seem to appreciate it. There is some sort of delay and she finds the thing, but Chakotay comes out to find her as well for no clear reason other than he has no combadge and they will need to beam him up soon (not that he knows this). Seven gets the barrier down but stays behind at first to care for an injured local. When she returns to the village she is horrified to find that the more advanced nearby people who have Tom in driving school have showed up and are taking stock of the village. She heads back to Voyager pissed and Janeway agrees after some hesitation. But more of the bureaucrat locals show up and muscle them out so Janeway has to call Tom to bust out of his driving class and come to the rescue. He beams out the survey team and then the deflector putting the barrier back in place. We close with Chakotay bring Seven a blanket he got on the planet because she might get cold in the cargo bay or something since they have to be dating and or married in a few episodes.
Review: The main story was a little weak, but the hilarious DMV hi jinks of Tom Paris were pretty classic. Especially since Dragon Ball Z has an episode with a similar premise...
4 out of 10
Friday, December 2, 2016
VOY: Friendship One
The end of Voyager seems to be a mix of wrapping things up episodes and normal random eps. Today was definitely in the random category other than I guess they decided to kill of a "named" crewman. Unfortunately they picked a guy who other than some alternate timeline stuff hadn't been seen since the first season. Honestly I already assumed he was dead so having him die and the captain get all emotional felt kinda odd. I think this episode was supposed to be about environmentalism among other things, but it didn't really work for me. The idea that these people blame humans for destroying their planet just doesn't make much sense, so when they start making unreasonable demands I am not sure what Janeway was supposed to do. At least the jackass leader got shown he was wrong, but even for a jackass he seemed particularly stubborn.
We open with the titular probe arriving an an alien world and entering the atmosphere. On Voyager Janeway is talking with Admiral Hendricks in the Alpha Quadrant and he gives her a mission to track down Friendship 1. Kim gets to work and after making some corrections they find on a planet badly contaminated with anti-matter radiation (whatever that is supposed to be). Tom, Chakotay, Neelix, Kim and Carey take the Flyer to the surface but soon come under attack. Tom, Neelix and Carey are taken hostage as Chakotay heads back to Voyager under heavy fire. The aliens on the planet are badly hurt by the radiation and demand insist that humanity is at fault and Janeway should be willing to evacuate their entire planet. Janeway starts looking for options but isn't happy to be negotiating with hostage takers. Paris manages to befriend a pregnant alien and manages to save her baby, but without a trip to Voyager it still won't make it.
To prove he is serious the alien leader kills Carey when Janeway doesn't move fast enough for him. In a transporter test one of the aliens ends up on Voyager and has his radiation treated. He is a scientist and starts working on plan to remove the radiation from the atmosphere. Janeway is done with the hostage takers though and sends Tuvok with a rescue team and gets them out of there. But Paris talks them into sending the baby with them and returns it treated. Voyager begins bombarding the planet to get rid of the radiation and the scientist has to talk the leader into not nuking them with their missiles. It works and the leader finally sees he was wrong.
Review: This is a pretty ham-handed episode that takes what is at least in theory a good Trek message of being careful with weapons or something and turning it so many times that I am not sure what it is trying to say. Maybe in 5 years when Mission Log gets here I will figure it out, but it didn't work for me.
3 out of 10
We open with the titular probe arriving an an alien world and entering the atmosphere. On Voyager Janeway is talking with Admiral Hendricks in the Alpha Quadrant and he gives her a mission to track down Friendship 1. Kim gets to work and after making some corrections they find on a planet badly contaminated with anti-matter radiation (whatever that is supposed to be). Tom, Chakotay, Neelix, Kim and Carey take the Flyer to the surface but soon come under attack. Tom, Neelix and Carey are taken hostage as Chakotay heads back to Voyager under heavy fire. The aliens on the planet are badly hurt by the radiation and demand insist that humanity is at fault and Janeway should be willing to evacuate their entire planet. Janeway starts looking for options but isn't happy to be negotiating with hostage takers. Paris manages to befriend a pregnant alien and manages to save her baby, but without a trip to Voyager it still won't make it.
To prove he is serious the alien leader kills Carey when Janeway doesn't move fast enough for him. In a transporter test one of the aliens ends up on Voyager and has his radiation treated. He is a scientist and starts working on plan to remove the radiation from the atmosphere. Janeway is done with the hostage takers though and sends Tuvok with a rescue team and gets them out of there. But Paris talks them into sending the baby with them and returns it treated. Voyager begins bombarding the planet to get rid of the radiation and the scientist has to talk the leader into not nuking them with their missiles. It works and the leader finally sees he was wrong.
Review: This is a pretty ham-handed episode that takes what is at least in theory a good Trek message of being careful with weapons or something and turning it so many times that I am not sure what it is trying to say. Maybe in 5 years when Mission Log gets here I will figure it out, but it didn't work for me.
3 out of 10
Thursday, December 1, 2016
VOY: Author, Author
After spending seven seasons building up the Doctor as a fairly well fleshed out, if often annoying, character, they realized we had almost reached the end without a Measure of a Man episode. So we got this. I actually found the idea of the Doctor writing a story about his experiences interesting and seeing how he dealt with the crews reaction was awesome. But I didn't need the trial over subspace to determine if he was an artist. Also it would honestly be easier to feel empathy for him if he wasn't so annoying and uncaring about his patients experiencing pain at times. Also it seems odd to have a holo character creating holo novels filled with other holo character that he has forced to do his will being upset that he is being forced into a role by his crew, but maybe that is just too meta for VOY.
We open with the Doctor working on a fairly incipid holo novel about himself called Photons Be Free. In astrometrics they are testing a new live link the the Alpha Quadrant created by Barclay of course and we learn the crew will be able to make short, live calls to their family. To decide who gets to go in what order they have a lottery of numbered isolinear chips and the Doctor gets chip number one and uses his time to get his holo novel off to a publisher. He convinces Tom to try it out and he is horrified that it is a clear copy of Voyager and her crew and they are all awful to the Doctor. Tom talks his friends into giving it a go and it depicts them all as awful people who think of him as a worthless piece of technology. Janeway calls a meeting to discuss their concerns with him and he totally blows them off. Paris then takes matters into his own hands creating a similar program that replaces the Doctors program and makes him play through a simulation from Paris' perspective. This makes the Doctor absolutely livid and he loudly argues with Tom about it in the hall. Eventually though Paris explains that he thought he had gained some of the Doctors respect and he is sad that he hasn't which makes the Doctor see at least a little reason.
Finally seeing that he is hurting his friends through his actions he decides to revise his novel and resend it to the publisher. But when he tries to contact him he learns that the novel has already been published without his permission. Janeway gets a call from the Alpha Quadrant with similar news. The publisher is claiming that since the Doctor is a hologram and not a person he has no rights as an artist so we have to have a MoaM style trial. But not nearly as convincing. In the end the Doctor wins his rights to the novel and we close with a group of first generation EMH's toiling in a mine talking about his exciting new novel.
Review: If the Doctor were less annoying to work with at times it would be easier to have empathy for him in this situation. I mean, I do have some, but he is also responsible for a lot on the ship and probably should occasionally try to work as a team player. Still not a bad episode even it it is no Measure.
6 out of 10
We open with the Doctor working on a fairly incipid holo novel about himself called Photons Be Free. In astrometrics they are testing a new live link the the Alpha Quadrant created by Barclay of course and we learn the crew will be able to make short, live calls to their family. To decide who gets to go in what order they have a lottery of numbered isolinear chips and the Doctor gets chip number one and uses his time to get his holo novel off to a publisher. He convinces Tom to try it out and he is horrified that it is a clear copy of Voyager and her crew and they are all awful to the Doctor. Tom talks his friends into giving it a go and it depicts them all as awful people who think of him as a worthless piece of technology. Janeway calls a meeting to discuss their concerns with him and he totally blows them off. Paris then takes matters into his own hands creating a similar program that replaces the Doctors program and makes him play through a simulation from Paris' perspective. This makes the Doctor absolutely livid and he loudly argues with Tom about it in the hall. Eventually though Paris explains that he thought he had gained some of the Doctors respect and he is sad that he hasn't which makes the Doctor see at least a little reason.
Finally seeing that he is hurting his friends through his actions he decides to revise his novel and resend it to the publisher. But when he tries to contact him he learns that the novel has already been published without his permission. Janeway gets a call from the Alpha Quadrant with similar news. The publisher is claiming that since the Doctor is a hologram and not a person he has no rights as an artist so we have to have a MoaM style trial. But not nearly as convincing. In the end the Doctor wins his rights to the novel and we close with a group of first generation EMH's toiling in a mine talking about his exciting new novel.
Review: If the Doctor were less annoying to work with at times it would be easier to have empathy for him in this situation. I mean, I do have some, but he is also responsible for a lot on the ship and probably should occasionally try to work as a team player. Still not a bad episode even it it is no Measure.
6 out of 10
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