[VOY] Lynch's Spoiler Review, Pt. I: Voyager Season 2
Timothy W. Lynch
WARNING: The following article contains lengthy spoilers for the
second season of "Star Trek: Voyager". Anyone wishing to stay clear
of said spoilers had better leave now. [The review will be posted in
two parts for length reasons.]
Well, here we are again ... seems like ages. (Well, weeks, anyway.)
As usual, this review is broken up into two parts: an episode-by-
episode recap, followed by more general comments on the season as a
whole -- including, in this case, an announcement. All set? Too bad;
I'm starting anyway. :-)
I. Season 2, Episode by Episode |
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"The 37's"
Written by: Jeri Taylor & Brannon Braga
Directed by: James L. Conway
Initial rating: 3
Quotables: "I think you'll find that's manure."
Janeway: "Put 'er down, Mr. Paris." Us, as Paris: "Okay; this ship
sucks!"
"Am I leading the crew on a forlorn mission with no real hope of
success?" [Janeway, in an "up" mood.]
"The 37's", originally intended to be a first-season ending, was hardly
an auspicious beginning. Although there was some promise in the
Janeway/Earhart interactions and in the question of whether the crew
would choose to stay on the planet, neither of those issues got more
than a smattering of screen time. Instead, there was a hole-ridden
alien abduction story and lots of bad planning, compounded by a
wholly unbelievable ending. No, thank you.
Final rating: 3.
[Note: I still think the most interesting choice would have been for
Voyager to use the planet as a base of operations; scout out from there
for anomalies and so forth, but let it be "home" much of the time.]
"Initiations"
Written by: Kenneth Biller
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe
Initial rating: 7
Quotables:
"You'd rather die in your sleep, a wrinkled old man?" "Sounds about
right."
"For the Kazon, live ammunition is a very effective teaching tool."
"You think I'm gonna get much sleep around an Ogla warrior who
wants to kill me?"
Most of the good in "Initiations" came from Chakotay: Robert Beltran
gave a solid performance in showing Chakotay's calm yet annoyingly
superior attitude towards Kar, and Chakotay generally kept his wits
about him most of the time. Unfortunately, no one else seemed to:
the Kazon were their usual warmed-over-Klingon selves, there were
strange inconsistencies in the story (such as Chakotay's shuttle being
able to contact the Kazon ship but not Voyager), the entire setup for
Chakotay's premise made no sense, and Chakotay's calm "oh, don't
worry about killing me; my ship will revive me" made my skin crawl.
Thanks primarily to Beltran's work, the show's watchable, but not
necessarily much past that.
Final rating: 5.5.
[Note: for viewers of either "Babylon 5" or the late "Nowhere Man",
look for Patrick Kilpatrick (a bomber on B5 and a paramilitary man
named Knox on NM) as Razik.]
"Projections"
Written by: Brannon Braga
Directed by: Jonathan Frakes
Initial rating: 9.5
Quotables: Oh, a host of them, starting with a trio from Barclay:
"Don't panic." [not a great quote by itself, but coming from
*Barclay*, it's terrific]
"You're starting to think that you're part of the program, and that's ...
that's not good!"
"... well ... I'm just NOT an alien."
Doc and Barclay: "Did I program Mr. Paris to be so annoying?"
"Actually, I programmed him; I modeled him after my cousin
Frank."
... and Tuvok's dry, "In fact, except for the computer problems, it has
been an uneventful day."
Is "Projections" an awful lot like TNG's "Frame of Mind"? Yep. Is
there much of any logic backing up the main point? Not entirely. Is
the twist at the very end of act 5 entirely fair? Probably not. Did I
have a blast anyway? Absolutely. This may not have broken a lot of
new ground, but with a plot like this and letting Robert Picardo and
Dwight Schultz go nuts, it's still damned pleasant.
Final rating: 9.
"Elogium"
Written by: Kenneth Biller and Jeri Taylor (teleplay); Jimmy Diggs &
Steve J. Kay (story)
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe
Initial rating: 1.5
Quotables:
"I'd call it an example of indiscreet shipboard fraternization."
"Really? Sorry I missed it."
"In the future, if I have any questions about mating behavior, I'll
know where to go." [Janeway to Chakotay; vaguely amusing
in light of "Resolutions"]
Bleah. About the only thing this episode had going for it was actually
mentioning the issue of kids on Voyager, and Tim Russ's work as
Tuvok discussing his fatherhood. However, the other 90% of the
show had such gems as Neelix's jealousy, Kes's insectivore
tendencies (thus playing into major stereotyping about pregnancy), a
reproductive cycle that should have led to the Ocampa's extinction
long ago, what appeared to be giant space spermatozoa "flagellating"
from place to place at 2% of the speed of light, a heavy-handed moral
about teen pregnancy, and an ending that cheats and lets us go through
all of it again in 2 or 3 seasons when Kes hits her "real" elogium.
Have I missed anything?
Final rating: 1.5.
"Non Sequitur"
Written by: Brannon Braga
Directed by: David Livingston
Initial rating: 6.5
Quotables: "Harry ... you better be dying."
"It's not a game!" "Oh, it isn't? Oh, that's a shame ... I like games."
[Harry and the alternate Paris]
"Why does everyone say 'relax' when they're about to do something
terrible?" [Harry, voicing a question I've wondered about
myself]
"Look, that was another lifetime; I'm doing the best I can."
As the first truly enjoyable episode filmed for season 2, "Non
Sequitur" was something of a landmark. Although "a spatial anomaly
alters reality" is entirely too common a crutch to be really useful here,
and Jennifer Gatti was *terrible* as Libby, Garrett Wang earned his
week's pay, and the alternate Paris was both well written and
extremely well played. While it's perhaps telling that two of the most
interesting episodes early in season 2 were both dealing with
situations outside actual reality, that doesn't change the fact that this
one was a relatively neat idea very well executed.
Final rating: 7.
"Twisted"
Written by: Kenneth Biller (teleplay); Arnold Rudnic & Rich Hosek
(story)
Directed by: Kim Friedman
Initial rating: 2.5
Quotables:
"Phenomenon ... phenomenon ..." "Do-DOO-da-do-do!" [Tuvok,
and any Muppet fan on the face of the planet]
"You have many wonderful attributes ... your sense of direction is not
*one* of them ..."
When three of the four holdovers from season 1 has a rating of 3 or
below, there's something wrong. Unfortunately, such was the case.
While the basic premise had some meat to it (as any reader of
Heinlein's "And He Built a Crooked House" could attest), that's all
the episode had going for it until the final five minutes. The episode
had still more of Neelix's jealousy, lots of pointless interplay in the
holodeck pool hall, yet another case of the crew behaving like idiots,
Kate Mulgrew being forced to babble incoherently, hosts of
technobabble, and yet another spatial anomaly winding up as yet
another way for some super-powerful race to communicate. There
was some interesting characterization towards the very, very end ...
but anyone watching would be advised to watch that and only that.
Final rating: 1.5.
"Parturition"
Written by: Tom Szollosi
Directed by: Jonathan Frakes
Initial rating: 5
Quotables: "Play something *different*."
"But that's rude." "No, that's *smart*."
"Am I discerning a personal problem here, gentlemen?" "Frankly,
yes, Captain." "Solve it." [Janeway, cutting right to the heart
of the matter]
"No one has stronger survival skills than Neelix." [ranking right up
there with early references to Rom as a mechanical genius, that
one...]
"B-minus? That's not very encouraging." "My father was teaching
the class that year."
"Mr. Kim, that's not an answer I can live with." "I'll try to get you a
better one, Captain."
"And you expect to take care of this thing until what, it graduates from
high school? College?" [possibly an anachronism, but a great
line]
"If you hear muffled screams, consider that a request for a beam-out."
The best way to sum up "Parturition" is "mostly good on character,
very weak on plot". Apart from the necessity of having to search for
food, a good touch the likes of which we should see a lot more of, the
story of Planet Hell was pretty dull and technobabble-ridden (eased
somewhat by Neelix's comment on that fact). Character-wise, both
Paris and Neelix got to grow, and McNeill did a stellar job with the
material he had to work with. However, what character growth there
was took place in just as much of a vacuum as did the Flagellators in
"Elogium", which is a shame.
Final rating: 4.5.
"Persistence of Vision"
Written by: Jeri Taylor
Directed by: James L. Conway
Initial rating: 5.5
Quotables:
"I suggest you don't look at the viewscreen." "It's not even
*tempting*."
"Why did you do this to us?" "Because I can."
"Persistence of Vision"'s strength was its first half; it managed to
establish a good, moody atmosphere and get things feeling
appropriately creepy. (The "cucumber sandwiches" vision of
Janeway's was particularly good at that.) Unfortunately, the second
half of the show degenerated into "deep, dark secrets of the crew"
week, and none of those secrets were really all that interesting.
Perhaps more damning, by the end of the episode the focus had
shifted from psychological horror to a more graphic sort, and even
worse, the entire episode lacked the grounding in logic to have the
Bothans' actions resonate at all with the viewer. It gets high marks
for atmosphere and for some progress with Kes, but that's not enough
to get it past "okay".
Final rating: 6.
"Tattoo"
Written by: Michael Piller (teleplay); Larry Brody (story)
Directed by: Alexander Singer
Initial rating: 6
Quotables: "I don't have a life; I have a program."
"I can give you an official Rubber-Tree-People theory if you like."
"You'd think with warp technology, they wouldn't be living like
this." [the quote itself isn't meaningful so much as the
shockingly casual tone Chakotay uses]
"For the record, I must take exception to these orders." "Noted."
"The ship might make it without inertial dampers -- but we'd all just
be stains on the back wall."
"Yes, Father. I hear him. I *finally* hear him."
The two major negatives in "Tattoo" were the heavy-handed
preachiness of the ending (up there with TNG's "Journey's End") and
the utterly inane "Kes tricks Doc with the flu" subplot, which was a
waste of film. However, what's left was really quite nice in a very
quiet, understated way. Robert Beltran got to do magnificent work,
we got to see Chakotay's attitudes really evolve over the course of the
show, Henry Darrow was terrific in a series of superbly arranged
flashbacks, and although the problems on the ship were pretty dumb,
they mostly stayed out of the way. This one's growing on me a bit.
Final rating: 6.5.
"Cold Fire"
Written by: Brannon Braga (teleplay); Anthony Williams (story)
Directed by: Cliff Bole
Initial rating: 6
Quotables: "Your ship is known as a ship of death."
"There are people [on Voyager], but there's so *little* life."
"Focus on the *goal*, not the task."
Tanis: "There is no liquid, there is no cup..." Us: "-- there is only
Zuul."
"If this experience proves anything, it is that you need further
instruction."
"Without the darkness, how would we recognize the light?"
"Cold Fire", on the other hand, is looking less and less impressive
with each viewing. Here is an episode with tons of potential --
perhaps a little too much. Kes's temptation to "the dark side" of her
mental abilities is an interesting topic, as is locating the Caretaker's
mate. Instead of giving either one the treatment it deserves, however,
we got a mishmash of the two, complete with cheesy let's-levitate-
someone-to-prove-how-badass-we-are antics from Suspiria, lousy
animation of "tea molecules" (snort), a truly one-sided characterization
of Tanis, and a reset-button ending. The episode had some strengths,
primarily in the Kes/Tuvok interactions and the *idea* behind Tanis's
lessons -- but it turned its back on most of what it could have been.
Final rating: 4.
"Maneuvers"
Written by: Kenneth Biller
Directed by: David Livingston
Initial rating: 6.5
Quotables:
"Perhaps Commander Chakotay could use his intimate knowledge of
Seska to manipulate her in much the same way she
manipulated *us*."
"So now I'm getting advice about controlling my emotions from
*you*."
"I find it more than a little self-indulgent of Chakotay to believe that
this is all about *him*."
"We can worry about the discipline later." [Um...]
"I thought all those months answering to Janeway would have made
you soft. But all you needed was a little slap in the face to get
that Maquis heart of yours beating again."
"Just tell me something; what were you *thinking*?"
"Maneuvers" was damned frustrating, but despite a lousy ending
managed to be of reasonable quality. Most of the episode dealt with
dueling strategies -- Seska's, Chakotay's, Culluh's, Janeway's -- and
on that level, just about everything worked. (The second act, where
Chakotay manages to destroy the technology stolen from Voyager,
was particularly strong.) Adding to that the fact that Neelix was
actually of *use* suggests a miracle is in the offing. Unfortunately,
the last five minutes undid a great deal -- between Janeway
inexplicably giving Chakotay no more of a comeuppance than a
meaningless reprimand (and both parties using nonsense arguments)
and a frankly insulting "guess what, I used magic-tech DNA to give
myself your kid" ending from Seska, the episode's power was
immeasurably blunted. It wasn't enough to make the episode bad by
any stretch -- but ignore the last five minutes if you can.
Final rating: 6.5.
"Resistance"
Written by: Lisa Klink (teleplay); Michael Jan Friedman & Kevin J.
Ryan (story)
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe
Initial rating: 9.5
Quotables:
"I'm not afraid." "And that could get both of us killed."
"It's all right now ... they're gone." [sound plebeian? Not if you've
seen the show.]
"Give me some good news, Mr. Kim." "There's a disruption of the
shields around the prison." "That qualifies."
This one's still magnificent, though. Oh, there are a few nagging
annoyances -- Janeway's presence on the planet at all, transporting
through shields (a Trek no-no that's been broken a lot when
convenient these days), Kim's strategy with the storm being less than
feasible, and a few other things. That pales, though, next to a story
with a very solid emotional core that is *not* pulled away with a cheat
by the end, a slow evolution of characters over the course of the
show, good work by Kate Mulgrew, and a standout performance
from the incomparable Joel Grey. This one's simple ... but quite
effective.
Final rating: 9.5.
"Prototype"
Written by: Nicholas Corea
Directed by: Jonathan Frakes
Initial rating: 7.5
Quotables:
[Harry lifts up the robot's arm to let it fall limply] Us, Pythonically:
"Now that's what I call a dead robot."
"Who are we to swoop in, play God, and then continue on our way
without the slightest consideration of the long-term effects of
our actions?" [Janeway, beautifully summing up the Prime
Directive in a sentence]
"It would be inadvisable for your captain to provoke us."
"Any rescue attempt would no doubt necessitate a rapid departure."
[Tuvok, stating the obvious]
"You don't mind if the rest of us give you a little help, do you, Paris?
I'd hate to lose another shuttle."
"Prototype" didn't try to be particularly deep -- which is good,
because it wasn't. The novelty factor of a truly robotic race and of the
altered perspective of the teaser are distinct bonuses, and the story on
the whole was generally entertaining. What keeps it from being any
more than that is the lack of depth, the technobabble -- and especially
the overwhelming Frankenstein-complex aspect of the show. (It was
also here that the "I'm a doctor" bit started getting past old and into
annoying.) It was certainly amusing to watch B'Elanna try to drink
nonexistent coffee, though. :-)
Final rating: 6.
"Alliances"
Written by: Jeri Taylor
Directed by: Les Landau
Initial rating: 7
Quotables:
"Like it or not, it seems we're in a situation where the rules have
changed."
"This ship has taken so much damage, we'll be lucky to get warp
drive online again." [a rare bow to realism; pity it's been
ignored]
"I don't think we can afford to keep doing business as usual."
"I'll destroy this ship before I'll turn any part of it over to the Kazon."
[Janeway, perhaps ill-advisedly saying this to an already
disgruntled crewmember]
"With all due respect ... maybe that's because your imagination is
*limited* by Starfleet protocols."
"Do I hear a 'however' coming?"
"You can't have it both ways, Commander. If you want to get in the
mud with the Kazon, you can't start complaining that you
might get dirty."
"... and believe me, the Tacrit are not known for their *art*."
"How can this one ship hope to survive?" "Not by making deals with
executioners."
Argh. "Alliances" started off with incredible potential; for the first
third or more, it looked to be one of the best shows "Voyager" has
ever had. Finally, there was an actual realization that perhaps the rules
needed to change, and some actual conflict about How Things Should
Be Done. Despite a few nagging problems (damage magically
repaired early on, Neelix's adventure in the Cleavage Cafe, some slow
scenes in the middle), it looked like there was going to be an episode
with actual progress, actual debate, and actual long-term ramifications.
Silly me. Janeway's speech at the end has absolutely never been
referred to since -- far from reading it as Janeway totally overreacting
and being a massive hypocrite, we're apparently supposed to take it as
*legit*. No way. Whatever strengths this episode had, Janeway's
poor judgment and everyone else's blindness to that fact hurts a *lot*.
Final rating: 5.5.
"Threshold"
Written by: Brannon Braga (teleplay); Michael DeLuca (story)
Directed by: Alexander Singer
Initial rating: 2
Quotables: none.
I make it a policy to re-watch every episode before I do a season-
ending review so that I can look at it in a new light.
I got 12 minutes into "Threshold" before I had to choose between fast-
forwarding to the end and sticking my head into a fusion reactor.
Final rating: 0. (Congratulations to TNG's "The Royale", for years
my benchmark for truly bad Trek. It's been displaced.)
"Meld"
Written by: Michael Piller (teleplay); Michael Sussman (story)
Directed by: Cliff Bole
Initial rating: 7
Quotables:
"Do you have a criminal record?" "Now, that would be ... sort of
difficult to check on, wouldn't it?"
"Do you know what a mind-meld is?" "It's that ... Vulcan thing
where you grab someone's head."
"One mind, you and me? I wouldn't recommend that, Lieutenant."
"I thought that was the program *everyone* used when they wanted
to strangle Neelix." [no, it wasn't in the episode -- but
someone mailed it to me and it was too good to pass up]
"In a way, a mind-meld is almost an act of violence, isn't it?"
"Sitting here, attempting to meditate, I have counted the number of
ways I know of killing someone using just a finger, a hand, a
foot ... I had reached 94 when you entered."
"You are not a violent offender, Tuvok." "I *could* be."
"... although I'm not sure how the word 'normal' applies to a species
that suppresses all its emotions..."
Wow. Despite the lame let's-start-the-Paris-subterfuge subplot
(unbelievable whether you know it's a subterfuge or you take it as
legit), and despite the furious backpedaling the ending takes away
from Tuvok's denunciations, "Meld" works pretty damn well. The
plot is actually *sensible* (aside from Tuvok's ease of escape), and
both Tim Russ and Brad Dourif put in absolutely fantastic
performances to really make the story convincing. This one's
improving with age, and is quite possibly the only show this season
that breaks new ground in a way I'd have been sorry to miss.
Final rating: 8.
"Dreadnought"
Written by: Gary Holland
Directed by: LeVar Burton
Initial rating: 7
Quotables:
"When a bomb starts talking about itself in the third person, I get
worried."
"Have you had a pleasant day?" "Oh, yeah, *swell* day."
"To work, it would take more energy then all our photons put
together." "Or more to the point, it would take a warp-core
breach."
"Dreadnought" is fluff, and decent fluff as long as you don't think
about it too much. The plausibility of such a weapon being built by
the Cardassians seems low to me, and the plausibility of it being
picked up by the Caretaker a full year before Voyager was seems
*extremely* low to me. The continuing Paris subplot is actually at its
best here, however, in a Paris/Torres scene -- and Torres is written
fairly well. Some pleasant suspense, although the outcome's never
really in doubt.
Final rating: 6.
[Note: according to Dreadnought's statements, it was apparently built
before the Maquis ever came into being. That seems slightly at odds
with its stated purpose.]
"Death Wish"
Written by: Michael Piller (teleplay); Shawn Piller (story)
Directed by: James L. Conway
Initial rating: 7
Quotables:
"I know, I know ... enigmatic, provocative. They'll understand."
"Is this a ship of the Valkyries, or have you human women finally
done away with your men altogether?"
"Captain, there are no stars outside." "Well, that's partially accurate --
actually, there's no *universe* outside."
"I am curious: have the Q always had an absence of manners, or is it
the result of some natural evolutionary process that comes with
omnipotence?"
"Without Q, there would have been no William T. Riker at all, and I
would have lost at least a dozen really *good* opportunities to
insult him over the years."
"There's nothing left to SAY."
That last quote is the real strength of "Death Wish". When I gave it
"only" a 7 back in February, I made a lot of enemies -- but I'm afraid
that it's only improved marginally with age. The core of the story is
indeed very strong, with the renegade Q's arguments proving very
compelling and Gerrit Graham giving a sterling performance as
someone who wants to die mainly because it's the only thing left for
him to do. But many of the little moments (the
Newton/Ginsberg/Riker silliness, among others) and especially the
incredible 20th-century sexism of the Q/Janeway interactions detract,
and detract a lot. "Death Wish" is strong, and I will confess to
renewed curiosity about what the Qontinuum will do now -- but "Q
Who" or "Tapestry" it's not.
Final rating: 7.5.
"Lifesigns"
Written by: Kenneth Biller
Directed by: Cliff Bole
Initial rating: 5.5
Quotables:
"What you [Torres] went through must have been very traumatic."
"That is an understatement."
"You're a computer simulation?" "An incredibly sophisticated
computer simulation."
"I assume you've had a great deal of experience being rejected by
women."
"Lifesigns" has improved a bit with age. The Paris stuff, as ever, is
annoying more than anything else, and some of the plot turns seem a
bit difficult to swallow (such as Dinara's ability to poison herself
without Kes's knowledge, and the doctor's ability to create a healthy
Viidian body despite never having seen one) -- but despite all of that,
the core story of Dinara's reactions and the doctor's first major
romance works reasonably well. The closing scene in particular is
excellent.
Final rating: 6.5.
[Note: the constant references to McCoy are wearing well past thin.
How about some other ones -- I'd perk up to see even one reference to
Dr. M'Benga, for instance.]
"Investigations"
Written by: Jeri Taylor (teleplay); Jeff Schnaufer & Ed Bond (story)
Directed by: Les Landau
Initial rating: 4
Quotables:
"It's sort of like a steady diet of dessert, which is fine -- but pretty
soon you want some meat and potatoes."
"Frankly, I'd like to get out before I completely destroy my image."
"Investigations" was sixty minutes that would have been better spent
on almost anything else this side of "Elogium" and "Threshold". The
"Paris is a malcontent" plot was proved to be a ruse on the audience
(which would have worked a lot better had it been believable, and had
anyone really grown as a character before this), and the "traitor on
board" plot was washed away with a burst of green flame. Add to
that an episode centering on Neelix as a journalist (something which
should make many members of the fourth estate break out in hives),
and this one's a near-total loss.
Final rating: 2.
"Deadlock"
Written by: Brannon Braga
Directed by: David Livingston
Initial rating: 5
Quotables:
"Just make me a promise, Kathryn: get your crew home."
"Mr. Kim, we're Starfleet officers; weird is part of the job."
That latter quote is a classic example of "we don't need no steenking
plot logic" if I ever heard one, and unfortunately, "Deadlock" is
another good example of an unbelievable story. It might have worked
on TNG, where all they need to do is repair enough damage to limp to
a starbase -- but not here. Lots of moments (such as Janeway seeing
herself on the bridge) simply go unexplained, there's lots of needless
technobabble, a recurrence of the auto-destruct being enabled by one
person (which is simply nonsense planning on the part of the ship's
designers), a poor reaction to the Viidian invasion, and a casual
acceptance of the death of the crew by "oh, we can replace 'em from
the other ship". There's lots of great "disaster" atmospherics, some
good effects, and great suspense -- but it's all in a vacuum, just as
much as Harry Kim was.
Final rating: 5.5.
"Innocence"
Written by: Lisa Klink (teleplay); Anthony Williams (story)
Directed by: James L. Conway
Initial rating: 5.5
Quotables:
Kid, to Tuvok: "Why do your ears look like that?" Us, to kid: "Why
do YOUR ears look like that?"
"My attachment to my children cannot be described as an emotion.
They are part of my identity -- and I am incomplete without
them." "I bet they miss you, too."
As with "Meld", Tim Russ proved in "Innocence" that he was capable
of doing superb work. Unlike "Meld", however, he had to do it
without much help from the episode. Although Tuvok's parenting
skills and attachment to his children came through nicely, the story of
Drayans and their "children" neither made much sense nor resonated
much with me. The anti-technology sentiment was unnecessary to the
rest of the episode, the presentation of the "reverse aging" was
somewhat dishonest (such as Tressa's lack of incredulity to Tuvok's
question about her parents), and Alcia proved a woefully
unsympathetic character right to the end. As was the case many times,
Tim Russ managed to rise above his material -- but that's not enough.
Final rating: 6.
"The Thaw"
Written by: Joe Menosky (teleplay); Richard Gadas (story)
Directed by: Marvin V. Rush
Initial rating: 3
Quotables:
"Why talk, when we can *dance*?"
"A virus, a virus, he thinks I am a virus!"
"With us, he practices his ghastly art." Us: "Oh, *please*..."
"How am I supposed to negotiate if I don't know what you're
thinking?"
"Who is *she* to tell me what I have to do?" "She's the one out
there, with the 'off' switch in her hand."
"Well, you certainly know how to bring a party to a halt."
"The Thaw" is better than I initially gave it credit for -- but that doesn't
make it great. As with "Deadlock" and "Persistence of Vision", this
one gets some high marks for atmosphere -- and Michael McKean did
a generally laudatory job as the Clown. Those elements plus a nice
ending twist helped shore up an episode that was, in the end, torn
down by its own shopworn plot points (virtual reality? who *hasn't*
used that?) and its own highly insipid dialogue. There were some nice
moments and nice sequences, but not enough forethought.
Final rating: 5.
[Note: for the Clown to continue existing, one person would have
had to stay in there permanently. Wouldn't it have been interesting for
someone to suggest Suder?]
"Tuvix"
Written by: Kenneth Biller (teleplay); Andrew Shepard Price & Mark
Gaberna (story)
Directed by: Cliff Bole
Initial rating: 6.5
Quotables:
"[Tuvix] also possesses Tuvok's irritating sense of intellectual
superiority, and Neelix's annoying ebullience. I would be
very grateful to you if would assign him *some* duty. Any
duty ... somewhere else."
"Sex!" "I BEG your pardon?"
"It's the best theory I've heard so far ... it's the *only* theory I've
heard so far."
"All right, everybody out!" "On whose authority?" "Chief of security
or head chef; take your pick."
"Are you suggesting that this is *your* decision to make?"
"Captain, Tuvix has asked me to speak to you on his behalf ... but I
can't."
"Each of you is going to have to live with this -- and I'm sorry for
that, for you are all good, GOOD people."
"Tuvix" is a show that really did rise above its own premise. That
premise was godawful, and no amount of technobabble justification
did a damn bit of good about that. However, the rest of the story had
a lot of potential in it. Tom Wright did a great job as Tuvix, and the
episode's power lay in its lack of easy answers for Janeway or anyone
else. It's harmed by its premise, by a certain lack of diversity in
reactions to Tuvix, and especially by the subsequent lack of reaction to
Janeway's decision -- but despite all of that, the episode's still
enjoyable.
Final rating: 7.
[Note: well, actually a question. Does anyone wonder how many
lungs Tuvix had?]
"Resolutions"
Written by: Jeri Taylor
Directed by: Alexander Singer
Initial rating: 4.5
Quotables:
"Roughing it? Let's see ... we have shelter, furniture, research
equipment, tricorders, a replicator -- it's too rough for me."
"That bit of sophistry is not terribly persuasive, Ensign."
"Ensign: I'm going to say this once and once only. If you ever
question my orders again, you will be relieved of duty
*permanently*."
"Is that really ... an ancient legend?" "No ... but that made it easier to
say."
The heart of the show -- Kim's rebellion against Tuvok and some
Janeway/Chakotay interaction -- was generally fine; Kim's reactions
were plausible and Robert Beltran was tremendous. However, that
heart was sometimes blunted -- by Tuvok's over-rigidity and the lack
of a farewell from Chakotay, among other things -- and at other times
was simply obscured by reams of bad technobabble, by emotional
punches telegraphed way too much, by a tell-don't-show philosophy
during the final battle, and by an ending which violates the Prime
Directive without even a second thought. (And then there's that
monkey ... but I promised myself I wouldn't get into that. :-) )
"Resolutions" isn't bad ... but nor is it all that good.
Final rating: 5.5.
"Basics, Part I"
Written by: Michael Piller
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe
Initial rating: 6
Quotables:
"Do I think Seska is capable of manipulating you and me with this?
Oh, yes."
"*He* knows nothing of deception; he is innocent."
"Please, doctor, your suggestions on any subject are always
welcome." "Really? In that case, you may expect several
more on a variety of subjects in the near future."
"Thank goodness he doesn't look *too* human; you all have such
weak foreheads."
The best elements of "Basics, Part I" were the elements that weren't
focused on: we got some excellent work with Chakotay wondering
whether to go after the child, some good work from Brad Dourif (of
course) as Suder, and at least a little forethought prior to the inevitable
Big Battle [tm]. However, the rest of the episode simply made no
sense: Culluh is his usual sexist and boorish self, the Kazon are far
too adept with the ship, the logic of sending the entire ship after the
child is questionable at best, and the technical problems with the self-
destruct sequence make me think Voyager was built by the lowest
bidder. Some of the action sequences were entertaining, sure; but if
we're supposed to spend all summer wondering about the cliffhanger,
I'm wondering why it got made in the first place.
Final rating: 4.5.
And that ought to do it. Numbers-wise, the first season had an
average in the upper 6's with a gigantic scatter; here, both the average
(mid-5's) and the scatter are lower. This has not been a good year for
"Voyager", to put it mildly. That said, on to the second half...
[continued in part 2]
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
tly...@alumni.caltech.edu <*>
"There's nothing left to SAY."
-- "Death Wish"
--
Copyright 1996, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
This article is explicitly prohibited from being used in any off-net
compilation without due attribution and *express written consent of the
author*. Walnut Creek and other CD-ROM distributors, take note.
Nelson Lu
Now that Tim has made it know that he will not be reviewing Voyager next
season, I decided to look at Tim's ratings for the past season and try to find
the reason for Tim's lack of enthusiasm. (Frankly, I was quite surprised; the
first half of the season was pretty bad, for sure, but I thought that the
second half of the season was as good as you can find for Trek's history.)
While I respect Tim's reviews in the past and present, after reading some of
the descriptions, I am not really should whether if I am misreading Tim,
whether if I am too blinded by "loyalty," or if Tim's standards changed between
TNG and Voyager, because I simply don't see many of the same problems that Tim
was seeing. In particular, some late season episodes that got a lot of
people's attention seemed to be considered boring by Tim, and I have to wonder
if it is a kind of fatigue after the bad first half.
Tim, this is not meant to be a hostile post at all. Rather, I applaud you for
what you have done on this newsgroup over the years, but I really wonder if
you had set an unreasonably high standard for Voyager.
In article <4rfimn$e...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>,
Timothy W. Lynch <tly...@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
>"Dreadnought"
>Written by: Gary Holland
>Directed by: LeVar Burton
>Initial rating: 7
>Quotables:
>"When a bomb starts talking about itself in the third person, I get
> worried."
>"Have you had a pleasant day?" "Oh, yeah, *swell* day."
>"To work, it would take more energy then all our photons put
> together." "Or more to the point, it would take a warp-core
> breach."
>
>"Dreadnought" is fluff, and decent fluff as long as you don't think
>about it too much. The plausibility of such a weapon being built by
>the Cardassians seems low to me, and the plausibility of it being
Well, if plausibility of a powerful weapon is a problem, then I think a lot of
TOS and TNG episodes would have to be considered "fluff" as well. "Balance of
Terror," for example. In addition, I think you gave a much more sympathizing
review for Generations, even though it contained even more implausibilities
than the entire season of Voyager contained. In particular, a comparison here
with the implausibility of Dreadnought would be Soran's trilithium device to
blow up stars, which I'd consider more implausible.
I think DS9 made it pretty clear that the Cardassians were on to some serious
technical development until the Obsidian Order was wiped out in "The Die is
Cast," as could be seen in the Cardassian cloaking device and the device to
force Odo to stay in one shape. If Dreadnought was implausible, why are those
two developments not implausible?
>Final rating: 6.
>[Note: according to Dreadnought's statements, it was apparently built
>before the Maquis ever came into being. That seems slightly at odds
>with its stated purpose.]
That can be a timing problem -- however, Dreadnought could have been a weapon
constructed to be aiming at the Federation, until the Federation and the
Cardassian Union signed the peace treaty (causing the Maquis to break away from
the Federation), and simply redeployed against the Maquis.
>"Lifesigns"
>Written by: Kenneth Biller
>Directed by: Cliff Bole
>Initial rating: 5.5
>Quotables:
>"What you [Torres] went through must have been very traumatic."
> "That is an understatement."
>"You're a computer simulation?" "An incredibly sophisticated
> computer simulation."
>"I assume you've had a great deal of experience being rejected by
> women."
>
>"Lifesigns" has improved a bit with age. The Paris stuff, as ever, is
>annoying more than anything else, and some of the plot turns seem a
>bit difficult to swallow (such as Dinara's ability to poison herself
>without Kes's knowledge, and the doctor's ability to create a healthy
Uh, more serious security lapses than those happened on the Enterprise, and the
Enterprise had a full medical staff *and* a full security staff.
Perhaps I liked "Lifesigns" than most, but I really think it deserved a better
rating than what you gave it.
>"Deadlock"
>Written by: Brannon Braga
>Directed by: David Livingston
>Initial rating: 5
>Quotables:
>"Just make me a promise, Kathryn: get your crew home."
>"Mr. Kim, we're Starfleet officers; weird is part of the job."
>
>That latter quote is a classic example of "we don't need no steenking
>plot logic" if I ever heard one, and unfortunately, "Deadlock" is
>another good example of an unbelievable story. It might have worked
>on TNG, where all they need to do is repair enough damage to limp to
>a starbase -- but not here. Lots of moments (such as Janeway seeing
>herself on the bridge) simply go unexplained, there's lots of needless
>technobabble, a recurrence of the auto-destruct being enabled by one
>person (which is simply nonsense planning on the part of the ship's
>designers), a poor reaction to the Viidian invasion, and a casual
>acceptance of the death of the crew by "oh, we can replace 'em from
>the other ship". There's lots of great "disaster" atmospherics, some
>good effects, and great suspense -- but it's all in a vacuum, just as
>much as Harry Kim was.
>
>Final rating: 5.5.
Major disagreement here. The premise for "Deadlock" was, for sure, very
implausible. However, everything else clicked, IMO, and I'd say that
"Yesterday's Enterprise" and "Cause and Effect," two TNG episodes that are
universally loved, had much more implausible premises.
The strengths of the two above shows, of course, was the acting, but with the
possible exception of a bland Chakotay and a non-factor Neelix, I think
everyone did a great job for "Deadlock."
And your criticism of the autodestruct being enabled by one person is, well,
hard to accept. At the surface, the criticism seemed valid, but as many people
have pointed out, a multiple-authorization here would be even more unrealistic,
given that Janeway and Tuvok are the only surviving senior officers of Voyager,
and presumably Tuvok, being on the Maquis ship for several months before, would
not have been given self-destruct authority. To not to have Janeway being able
to destroy the ship herself would put either Kim (who is just an ensign just
out of academy) or Chakotay (who was a Maquis captain) into the position of
being the 2nd person to authorize the self-destruct, which would be very, very
implausible, I'd think.
Chris Blaise
On 5 Jul 1996 04:02:47 GMT, n...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Nelson Lu) wrote:
>Now that Tim has made it know that he will not be reviewing Voyager next
>season, I decided to look at Tim's ratings for the past season and try to find
>the reason for Tim's lack of enthusiasm. (Frankly, I was quite surprised; the
>first half of the season was pretty bad, for sure, but I thought that the
>second half of the season was as good as you can find for Trek's history.)
Funny. It was the second half that made me stop watching it.
>While I respect Tim's reviews in the past and present, after reading some of
>the descriptions, I am not really should whether if I am misreading Tim,
>whether if I am too blinded by "loyalty," or if Tim's standards changed between
>TNG and Voyager, because I simply don't see many of the same problems that Tim
>was seeing.
I would tend to agree that at times Tim can get a bit
"blinded" by his vision for a series. However, there was only one
time that I felt his review and attitude where totally off, namely the
death of Bariel last year on DS9.
If anything, I consider myself a bit more forgiving than Tim.
However, the stories on Voyager just became progressively worse and I
don't believe I saw the last 5 episodes. I just didn't care any more.
>Tim, this is not meant to be a hostile post at all. Rather, I applaud you for
>what you have done on this newsgroup over the years, but I really wonder if
>you had set an unreasonably high standard for Voyager.
My understanding is that Tim's standards for Voyager as the
same as mine and a good majority of people who watch Star Trek - stick
to the premise. As it was explained to me in the Caretaker, the
mission for Voyager as a television series was to:
o Get home.
o Combine two very different crews.
Implied from both the premire and the background of Trek was
the following:
o Limited resources.
o An existing set of rules, technologies, etc. (e.g.,what's been
shown for 30 years of Trek)..
One, perhaps two episodes per season that ignore the premise
are forgivable if not forgettable. However, Voyager seemed to make a
point of ignoring its premise for the majority of episodes I saw this
season. Tim detailed the seamless integration of the crews and how
the extremely limited resources were ignored and I agree with his
assessments 100%.
I had a few other fundamental problems with Voyager:
1. Neelix. Tim described him kindly as "the most annoying
charater" in Trek. While we have seen a brief smattering of an
interesting persona in his character, by and large he is comic relief.
Hey, comic relief works every couple of episodes and only as an aside
(e.g.,Data trying new humanism). The writers of Voyager seemed to
thrive on making his comic relief part of the plot or a focus of an
entire show. One that comes to mind is his "reporter" episode where
he tried to find out what was wrong with Paris. Another is his
oh-so-homey Mr. Mom-in-the-kitchen persona which shows up evey other
episode. His mere presence as currently written pushes Voyager to the
edges of sitcom and camp.
2. The holodeck. Too many times has the holodeck been shown as a
frivalty on the show. There's Janeway and her holonovel and Paris and
his french bar. I won't deny that the crew needs R&R every once in
awhile, but like the replicators, its use should be rationed or made
to sound like using one is now a Big Deal. While I personally don't
buy the solution posted last season about the replicator and holodeck
technologies using different energies, it seems to be used as carefree
as it was on TNG and given the "limited resources" premise, I see it
as a problem.
I'll give Voyager another month or two go next season, but it
will take a lot to impress me and make me a regular viewer again.
They're actually in a worse position of making me want to watch the
show than if they were to start a whole new series.
TTYL
Chris
Jim Walters
Nelson Lu (n...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU) wrote:
: Timothy W. Lynch <tly...@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
: >"Deadlock"
: >Written by: Brannon Braga
: >Directed by: David Livingston
: >Initial rating: 5
: >Quotables:
: >"Just make me a promise, Kathryn: get your crew home."
: >"Mr. Kim, we're Starfleet officers; weird is part of the job."
: >
: >That latter quote is a classic example of "we don't need no steenking
: >plot logic" if I ever heard one, and unfortunately, "Deadlock" is
: >another good example of an unbelievable story. It might have worked
: >on TNG, where all they need to do is repair enough damage to limp to
: >a starbase -- but not here. Lots of moments (such as Janeway seeing
: >herself on the bridge) simply go unexplained, there's lots of needless
: >technobabble, a recurrence of the auto-destruct being enabled by one
: >person (which is simply nonsense planning on the part of the ship's
: >designers), a poor reaction to the Viidian invasion, and a casual
: >acceptance of the death of the crew by "oh, we can replace 'em from
: >the other ship". There's lots of great "disaster" atmospherics, some
: >good effects, and great suspense -- but it's all in a vacuum, just as
: >much as Harry Kim was.
: >
: >Final rating: 5.5.
:
: Major disagreement here. The premise for "Deadlock" was, for sure, very
: implausible. However, everything else clicked, IMO, and I'd say that
: "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "Cause and Effect," two TNG episodes that are
: universally loved, had much more implausible premises.
The implausibilty problem is not with the Space-Anomaly-of-the-Week. You
are right, that is no worse than any of the 397 other SAotW's that we have
seen in TNG, DS9 and Voyager. The problem is that Voyager takes massive
damage that should leave the ship barely able to limp to the nearest
planet and then keep it in space dock there for months. The problem is
that in the next new episode Voyager, which is 70 years from the nearest
starbase, is in brand new condition after taking massive damage (again).
The problem is that the episode was absolutely the worst example of the
infamous "Trek reset button" in 30 years of Star Trek. The problem is
that Voyager writers absolutely refuse to acknowledge the rules of the
situation that they themselves have created. The problem is that Voyager
writers have absolutely no respect for the intelligence of the audience.
--
Jim Walters
jwal...@clark.net "Putting the DOH! in Aikido"
Nelson Lu
In article <4rkqgd$r...@clarknet.clark.net>,
Jim Walters <jwal...@clark.net> wrote:
>Nelson Lu (n...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU) wrote:
>: Timothy W. Lynch <tly...@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
>: >"Deadlock"
>: >Initial rating: 5
>: >Final rating: 5.5.
>:
>: Major disagreement here. The premise for "Deadlock" was, for sure, very
>: implausible. However, everything else clicked, IMO, and I'd say that
>: "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "Cause and Effect," two TNG episodes that are
>: universally loved, had much more implausible premises.
>
>are right, that is no worse than any of the 397 other SAotW's that we have
>seen in TNG, DS9 and Voyager. The problem is that Voyager takes massive
>damage that should leave the ship barely able to limp to the nearest
>planet and then keep it in space dock there for months. The problem is
If that is the problem, then the problem is not with "Deadlock," but with the
episodes that followed it.
Jason Tamez
NL. I think DS9 made it pretty clear that the Cardassians were on to some serio
NL. technical development until the Obsidian Order was wiped out in "The Die is
NL. Cast," as could be seen in the Cardassian cloaking device and the device to
NL. force Odo to stay in one shape. If Dreadnought was implausible, why are th
NL. two developments not implausible?
Just a little question here- I didn't see the episode where Odo is forced
to keep his shape. Is that little device still out there? I think it would
be great for finding disguised Founders. Activate the device, then take a
blood sample and remove it from the area of effect. If the sample becomes
goo, Bingo! you've got your confined shapechanger right there at your
mercy...
E-mail: jason...@lunatic.com
---
. JABBER v1.2 . Say what you will about the Amish...They'll never see it here!
----
The Lunatic Fringe * Richardson, TX * 214-235-5288 * Home Of FringeNet
CBrownJC
n...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Nelson Lu) wrote:
:In article <4rkqgd$r...@clarknet.clark.net>,
That would be "Innocence." And the problem could have been solved with
just a line or two about them going to contact the Daryns and asking to
get recorses because the ship was still going through trouble with repairs
from the last incounter with the Vidiians. ("Deadlock.")
CB
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
"When your only reallity is a illusion, then illusion *is* a
reallity."
--Fear (The Clown); ST: Voyager
*
*
"All the lonely people/where do they all come from? All the loney
people/where do they all belong?"
--from "Elenore Rigby" by, John Lennon and Paul McCartney
*
*
"Push the button Frank."/"I *am* the button."
--Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank; MST3K
**************************************************************************
******************************************
Gina Goff
> n...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Nelson Lu) wrote:
>
> :In article <4rkqgd$r...@clarknet.clark.net>,
> :Jim Walters <jwal...@clark.net> wrote:
> :> The problem is that Voyager takes massive
> :>damage that should leave the ship barely able to limp to the nearest
> :>planet and then keep it in space dock there for months. The problem is
>
> :If that is the problem, then the problem is not with :"Deadlock,"
> :but with the episodes that followed it.
>
> That would be "Innocence." And the problem could have been solved with
> just a line or two about them going to contact the Daryns and asking to
> get recorses because the ship was still going through trouble with repairs
> from the last incounter with the Vidiians. ("Deadlock.")
No, it can't. The point is that the problems, as presented in "Deadlock",
were nearly catastrophic. If they have problems in one episode that
would require months in space dock, then you can't just throw a line or
two into the next episode saying, "all better now", especially when
Voyager hasn't *got* a space dock to go to. It completely undermines
the basic premise of the show; in effect, the writers are destroying
the "reality" they created in the first place.
If they want to have the ship in tatters one week and all better the
next week, they need to send Voyager back to the Alpha Quadrant, where
they have Starfleet to fall back on. If they want the ship damaged one
week and repaired the next, then they need to make the damage not so insurmountable in the first place. The thing they shouldn't do (but
have done) is present Voyager with a major, major problem one week
which has magically disappeared by the next episode. When they do
that, any major crisis (cue dramatic music) comes across as a cheap
ratings ploy: no matter how bad their problem is this week, why should
anyone care, since we know they won't have the problem next week *and*
we probably won't even see how they get out of it. IMHO, interesting
drama isn't just a quick snapshot of characters in a crisis; to get
the full potential, the characters have to get into and out of that
crisis in a plausible way, and that's one area where "Voyager" has
really fallen down on the job.
Gina
Jason Tamez
Quothe the Raven "Nevermore."; Quothe Chris Blaise:
<snip>
CB> 2. The holodeck. Too many times has the holodeck been shown as a
CB> frivalty on the show. There's Janeway and her holonovel and Paris and
CB> his french bar. I won't deny that the crew needs R&R every once in
CB> awhile, but like the replicators, its use should be rationed or made
CB> to sound like using one is now a Big Deal. While I personally don't
CB> buy the solution posted last season about the replicator and holodeck
CB> technologies using different energies, it seems to be used as carefree
CB> as it was on TNG and given the "limited resources" premise, I see it
CB> as a problem.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. I think that it should be rationed
and that an officer should be assigned to handle holodeck requests. As
shown in TNG's "Booby Trap" (I think), the holodeck is always
automatically shut off when power is at a minimum.
Due to crew morale, I don't think it should be completely turned off,
but neither should it be used extensively. Just my $.02
E-mail: jason...@lunatic.com
---
. JABBER v1.2 . If you hear an onion ring, please answer it!
Robert Castillo
I've modified the column size of the original poster's article in order to
make it more readable. I apologize in advance if I modified the original
text in some way in the process.
Jason Tamez (jason...@lunatic.com) wrote:
:: I think DS9 made it pretty clear that the Cardassians were on to some
:: serious technical development until the Obsidian Order was wiped out
:: in "The Die is Cast," as could be seen in the Cardassian cloaking
:: device and the device to force Odo to stay in one shape. If
:: Dreadnought was implausible, why are these two developments not
:: implausible?
The Cardie cloaking devices were probably Romulan in origin since it was a
joint Romulan/Cardassian mission. Also it's possible that the
anti-changeling device was also jointly developed or even solely of
Romulan origin. When we have seen the Cardies working on their own they
have very unimpressive technology. In "The Defiant" it took 15 Cardie
ships to make Tom Riker give up his attack on them. In "The Wounded," the
E-D defeated a Galor class warship rather easily. And of course the entire
premise of DS9 is based on the fact that the Bajorans were able to defeat
the Cardies without exceptionally high-tech weapons.
: Just a little question here- I didn't see the episode where Odo is forced
: to keep his shape. Is that little device still out there? I think it would
: be great for finding disguised Founders. Activate the device, then take a
: blood sample and remove it from the area of effect. If the sample becomes
: goo, Bingo! you've got your confined shapechanger right there at your
: mercy...
That episode is "The Die is Cast." It was the conclusion of a two-parter
that included "Unreasonable Cause." Both episodes are among DS9's best; UC
for its drama and characterization and TDiC for its special effects and
plot.
In UC Odo investigation of an attempt on Garak's life leads them both onto
a joint Cardassian/Romulan fleet. Its ships are manned by members of the
Obsidian Order and the Tal Shi'ar and are on a mission to destroy the
changeling homeworld. The fleet is commanded by Enabran Tain, Garak's
mentor. Anyway, Tain decides to let Garak return to the Odsidian Order and
his first job is to interrogate Odo. He uses a device which forces Odo to
hold his shape. It turns out to be an extremely painful process for Odo.
As to whether or not that device is still around, my guess is probably
not. You see, the the entire fleet was ambushed and wiped out by the
Jem'Hadar with the only survivors being Odo and Garak (rescued by the
Defiant). The device was probably a prototype belonging to either the
Obsidian Order or the Tal Shi'ar and both organizations appear to have not
survived after the Jem'Hadar wiped out their fleet.
--
"I am First Omet'iklan, and I am dead. As of this moment, we are all
dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do gladly, for
we are Jem'Hadar. Remember, victory is life."
-- Omet'iklan
"I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I'm very much alive, and I intend
to *stay* that way."
-- O'Brien
"I'm worried about Bart. Today, he's drinking people's blood,
tomorrow he might be smoking."
-Marge Simpson
Roberto Castillo
rca...@uic.edu
http://icarus.uic.edu/~rcasti1/rcasti1.html
Timothy W. Lynch
n...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Nelson Lu) writes:
>In article <4rkqgd$r...@clarknet.clark.net>,
>Jim Walters <jwal...@clark.net> wrote:
>>: Timothy W. Lynch <tly...@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
>>: >"Deadlock"
>>: >Initial rating: 5
>>: >Final rating: 5.5.
>>:
>>: Major disagreement here. The premise for "Deadlock" was, for sure, very
>>: implausible. However, everything else clicked, IMO, and I'd say that
>>: "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "Cause and Effect," two TNG episodes that are
>>: universally loved, had much more implausible premises.
>>
>>are right, that is no worse than any of the 397 other SAotW's that we have
>>damage that should leave the ship barely able to limp to the nearest
>>planet and then keep it in space dock there for months. The problem is
>If that is the problem, then the problem is not with "Deadlock," but with the
>episodes that followed it.
... which is why I have said for a long time that I consider the
individual numerical ratings a nonessential part of the review. And
I'm not entirely certain I agree -- if every time I go back and watch
"Deadlock", I'm reminded that it's Much Ado About Nothing, that's a
significant problem.
At any rate, where exactly the blame lies strikes me as quibbling over
minutiae.
Tim Lynch
Stephen Botha
In article <4rte30$g...@midland.co.nz>, tnzs
> There are a lot of negative comments about Voyager in this newsgroup, far more
> than are in the outside world of Star Trek fandom, and it's possible that this
> negative environment was the catalist for Tim's conversion, just as it is for
> outside US countries.
>
> However as a recent TNZSTFC Replicator article says, "the unadapting get left
> behind." which is the case especially with Voyager. The series will continue
> to grow - unfortunately so will the numbers of Treksters to condemn it.
>
That's true, but only if the show adapts into crap; I think a problem
trekkies have is that they love anything about star trek even if its rubbish;
whereas trekkers are more discerning. I don't watch voyager, not because
it's new, but because the characters are boring with little potential
for developing into something more
interesting, and the plots are usually dull and often moronic.
If you look at Tim's articles, he carefully consideres the merits of the show;
he is not just negative due to newness. Otherwise, why is he more positive about
DS9 and TNG which were certainly new?
> Tim, we wish you all the best for the future.
>
> Christine
Stephen
.
Dave Roy
>In article <4rte30$g...@midland.co.nz>, tnzs
>> There are a lot of negative comments about Voyager in this newsgroup, far more
>> than are in the outside world of Star Trek fandom, and it's possible that this
>> negative environment was the catalist for Tim's conversion, just as it is for
>> outside US countries.
Having "known" Tim from his reviews and posts over the years, I think you are
*seriously* underestimating his ability to think for himself.
Dave Roy
Looking forward to Tim's DS9 reviews next season