skiop Reviews

Jason Goes to Hell (1993)

The best Friday

[7/10 · 7 February 2017]

As this movie begins, an attractive young woman heads to Camp Crystal Lake and is chased by Jason. From this setup, we think this is going to be another by-the-numbers Jason flick. But the movie soon takes a turn into something much more unique (though not completely original).

Producer Sean Cunningham, director of the first movie, returns to effectively reboot the series. This is the first after the acquisition of the series from Paramount by New Line and is obviously trying to set up a "Freddy vs. Jason" movie, though that wouldn't happen until a decade later.

This movie follows ne'er-do-well Steven as he tries to reconnect with his baby momma, Jessica, who has her own ties to Jason. Steven has to find his inner courage to protect Jessica and their baby from Jason. It's a unique plot with grown-ups, far divorced from the silly teen flicks that preceded it.

ALF: Hail to the Chief (1987) Season 2, Episode 11

My favorite episode

[30 April 2016]

During and after ALF watches a Presidential debate with the Tanners, he has questions about the process, which leads to Kate having a series of strange dreams.

This has long been my favorite episode, even before I got interested in politics. After becoming interested in politics, I do understand more of the jokes, such as the reference to Joe Biden's plagiarism.

Memorable quotes just fly in this episode. It's unfortunate that in the syndicated version (such as available on DVD and streaming sites), probably the single best quote (Joaquin and beets) is cut out. Really, I'd recommend watching the original, full version if you can get your hands on it.

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour: The Celebrity Next Door (1957) Season 1, Episode 2

The best episode

[30 April 2016]

I'm one of those weirdos never enamored by "I Love Lucy." Sure, the formula of Lucy getting herself into situations that make us embarrassed for her, while not my kind of comedy, is OK. What really ruined the show was Ricky's musical numbers, which were annoying and added nothing to the show. The best episodes were those in which Ricky's profession wasn't featured.

In "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour", the show moves to Connecticut, and there's thankfully a complete lack of singing, except for a brief, non-irritating song in the finale ("Lucy Meets the Mustache"), but the "zany antics" (as people call them) remain. This show's formula shifts to a "guest star of the week" formula and this week's guest Tallulah Bankhead is the best of them.

At first, Lucy is pleased to have such a talented celebrity next door and convinces Miss Bankhead to be in Little Ricky's school play. Though, it's not long until the two become entrenched in a feud, culminating in Lucy's attempts at revenge at Little Ricky's play, with unexpected results.

This episode is full of quotes that are memorable even years later, mostly thanks to the wonderful contribution of Miss Bankhead. This is 50s sitcoms at their best.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Thine Own Self (1994) Season 7, Episode 16

Troi's Kobiyashi Maru

[21 April 2016]

This is an interesting episode. Data has lost his memories after going for some radioactive fragments on a pre-warp planet. He wanders into a town where the people have made some scientific progress, but still hold primitive scientific ideas.

There, the natives, who obviously can't read English (one townsman comments about the "strange language"), take the fragments and make jewelry, which makes them sick.

Meanwhile, Troi decides to try to become a commander. It really shows how the Holodeck makes these tests not destroy physical simulations as shown in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

The thing that really strikes me as odd here is how the town's doctor seems both respectful and dismissive of Data at the same time.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Lessons (1993) Season 6, Episode 19

Picard gets music lessons

[3/10 · 20 April 2016]

"Lessons" should be called "Music Lessons". In this episode, Picard meets the obsessive Commander Daren and the two begin a relationship, mostly consisting of them playing music (Picard the flute he got in "The Inner Light", and Daren a little keyboard pad). This is all dull and when the manufactured dilemma (which shouldn't have been a dilemma at all) comes around, are we supposed to care? This episode came right after the tense "Starship Mine" and the two episodes couldn't be further apart. A tense thriller followed by an uninteresting romance; the former is definitely much more memorable.

The German title of this episode is "Der Feuersturm", which might give you even higher expectations than "Lessons". "Lessons" implies that there's perhaps actually a point to make, which there isn't. "Der Feuersturm" gives an impression of danger, which doesn't exist for an instant.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Face of the Enemy (1993) Season 6, Episode 14

TNG's "The Enterprise Incident"

[20 April 2016]

Troi wakes up having been surgically altered to look like a Romulan in order to fulfill some secret mission. Meanwhile, a human who defected to the Romulans returns to coordinate the Enterprise's side.

This is a nice spy thriller, reminiscent of TOS's "The Enterprise Incident." Though, this episode isn't as good as that one, it is one of season 6's best episodes.

Troi is the focus here. I know many dislike her character, but I find Troi-centric episodes like this, "The Price", and "The Loss" to be very enjoyable.

Carolyn Seymour returns as a Romulan commander, a role she had in season 2's "Where Silence Has Lease." It's a different character, perhaps to avoid paying royalties.

We perhaps learn more about the Romulans in this episode more than in any other.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Quality of Life (1992) Season 6, Episode 9

Evolution evolved

[20 April 2016]

This ninth episode from the sixth season is superficially similar to the third-season opener "Evolution." Both episodes deal with robots evolving to become alive and a scientist who refuses to believe that the robots have become alive.

Thankfully, this episode is missing the offensive Plot B of "Evolution", in which Dr. Crusher wanted Wesley to act like a "normal" teenager.

This episode is also better than "Evolution", as it focuses on Data's kinship with the robots and wanting to prove that they are not only alive but intelligent.

Don't confuse this episode with the previous season's similarly-titled "Cost of Living", which was a fun Lwaxana Troi episode without a message more profound than not letting getting old interfere with enjoying life, but it had many good quotes from Lwaxana Troi. Thankfully, though, "The Quality of Life" doesn't have the annoying Alexander (doubtlessly the worst part of "Cost of Living").

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Time's Arrow (1992) Season 5, Episode 26

Good temporal episode

[19 April 2016]

After the silly, dull "The Inner Light", TNG returns to form with this excellent, important two-parter.

When Data's head is found in a long-abandoned mine or Earth, the crew investigates, which leads to Data being transported to the 19th century.

It's interesting that even though Data has no grasp of contractions, he's able to speak French, which has mandatory contractions.

It's also nice that Guinan is finally given something to do. This episode starts to elaborate on the close relationship between her and Picard, but there are still many unanswered questions.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Inner Light (1992) Season 5, Episode 25

An OK episode, if you turn off your brain

[21 March 2016]

Picard is hit by some energy from a probe, making him pass out and live out the remaining days of a man on a dying planet, while the Enterprise crew tries to revive him.

On first viewing, this is an OK episode. Sure, it really has no point to make and it's kind of silly, but it's watchable enough. On repeat viewings, it just gets duller and duller, as you know exactly what's happening.

The silliest part here is that Picard was able to live the rest of someone's life in 25 minutes. Sure, maybe they used some sort of compression technique, like in Deep Space Nine's (superior) episode "Hard Time", but you get no such explanation here. Also, there's no explanation of why they chose a middle-aged man to live out the remainder of someone's life; surely, it would have been more logical to single out a young ensign.

It's a completely standalone episode in which the only thing coming from it is Picard's ability to play a flute. Unless you're a completist, I say skip this one.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cause and Effect (1992) Season 5, Episode 18

A good cure for insomnia

[21 March 2016]

Crew members play poker, Dr. Crusher checks LaForge for headaches, the Enterprise crashes with another ship and explodes, and then the events repeat themselves, with the crew getting increased feelings of deja vu on each iteration of the loop, until they can communicate to the next iteration how to avoid crashing with the other ship and thus escape the time loop.

Yes, that's the whole episode, in its boring glory. It also doesn't make a lick of sense that while the Enterprise crew remembers events and hears voices from past iterations, the captain of the other ship, which has been in the time loop much longer, hasn't.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The First Duty (1992) Season 5, Episode 19

Another dilemma-less dilemma

[21 March 2016]

The Enterprise goes back to Earth when Wesley Crusher is involved in some accident that resulted in the death of a classmate. We learn that the reason is that Wesley's squadron, headed by the charismatic Locarno, did a banned maneuver and must lie about it to save their skins.

Eventually, Picard figures it out and convinces Wesley to betray the rest of the squadron, which results in Locarno's expulsion and the rest of the squadron having to repeat the year.

The solution here was so easy. As Locarno said, all Wesley had to do was lie and it would just be their word against Picard's. Sure, Wesley would have felt guilt, but it would have subsided and it wouldn't have meant ruining Locarno's career (not to mention the incident being on the permanent records of the rest of the squadron). The rest of the squadron was able to avoid expulsion merely because Locarno pleaded for it, making him loyal, unlike the perfidious Wesley.

If there wasn't a reason to dislike the goody-two-shoes Wesley in the previous episodes, there certainly is now.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ethics (1992) Season 5, Episode 16

The right to die

[4/10 · 25 February 2016]

Worf's spine is crushed, leaving him paralyzed. He wants to perform a ritual suicide to die with honor, but the self-righteous Crusher and Riker want to force him to live with the disability. Meanwhile, a specialist comes on board with an experimental procedure that could make it possible for Worf to walk again, but she meets constant resistance from Crusher.

For a normally left-wing show, this episode has a strong stench of the right-wing moral police. We're lead to believe that Worf shouldn't commit suicide, because of some moral objection two other characters have (when it's not about their lives). Other reviewers have mentioned "Half a Life" and how the message was not to interfere with another culture with a ritual suicide, but here, the exact opposite message is preached. They're right about the contradictory messages between these two episodes.

The episode reminds me of the Terri Schiavo case. She was in a persistent vegetative state and as per her positions from before going into a coma, she didn't want to be on prolonged life support, but the conservatives decided to stick their nose in and there was a huge polemic where there didn't need to be.

On the other hand, if this episode had focused on the ethics of the specialist using patients as objects of experimentation, it might have had a good message, but in the end, it seems to have been written by a preacher who wanted to push his life-is-sacred dogma even when he's not in church.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Conundrum (1992) Season 5, Episode 14

Where's Guinan when you need her?

[25 February 2016]

The Enterprise is struck by some force which causes everyone to forget their identities but not their skills. The information they can retrieve suggests that the Federation is in a long-term war.

With Guinan's intuition (she's been familiar with alternate time lines at least twice thus far in the series), she might have been able to shed some light on what was going on, but I suppose in that case, there wouldn't have been much of an episode. Guinan is completely missing here and Data briefly serves as a bartender.

Still, it's one of the better episodes, a real mystery similar to "Clues" but much better than that episode.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Masterpiece Society (1992) Season 5, Episode 13

The Masterpiece Society

[25 February 2016]

The Enterprise tries to save an Earth colony from an incoming stellar fragment. We learn that this colony is perfectly balanced, with its members genetically modified and in perfect balance with nature. The stellar fragment might not do as much damage to them as the crew's presence and the desire of those fascinated by the Enterprise's technology to leave.

Troi once again falls for a handsome man with whom a long-term relationship is not possible.

This episode seems to have a pro-life message. It's argued that this colony has no right to terminate fetuses with imperfections, because they could develop into people with something to contribute. Perhaps it's meant to only apply to detectable defects (e.g. Down's Syndrome), but it seems to be preaching against terminating pregnancies in general.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Darmok (1991) Season 5, Episode 2

Silly little episode

[25 February 2016]

When the universal translator can only make out the words but not the meanings of an alien language, Captain Picard and the alien captain are transported to a planet where they can figure out how to negotiate peace. Meanwhile, the Enterprise crew tries to get Picard back.

The Enterprise trying to get Picard back is the best part of the episode, but the part with the alien race communicating by using reference to their literary traditions is supremely silly. How do these stories get passed down and read if they don't have a structured language to communicate them? Luckily, it's a standalone episode and you won't miss anything by skipping it.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Loss (1990) Season 4, Episode 10

The stages of loss

[25 February 2016]

After the barely watchable "Final Mission", TNG returns to form with "The Loss", the first episode in which Wesley Crusher is neither featured nor credited.

The episodes starts with Troi counseling a widow who never fully accepted her husband's death. Surely, Troi handing her her late husband's music box is iconic. As their counseling session completes, Troi loses her empathic powers, obviously due to some spacial anomaly (natch).

What follows is both Troi and her patient coming to terms with their respective losses—from denial to acceptance. The various members of the crew try to help Troi in their own way, but Guinan as usual is the most helpful.

The X-Files: My Struggle II (2016) Season 10, Episode 6

Chris Carter doubles down on rewriting the mythology

[23 February 2016]

I know I'm not alone in feeling icky after watching "My Struggle". Chris Carter seems to want us to forget all that happened in the first nine seasons: the black oil, purity control, the alien fetus, the alien rebels, the alien bounty hunter, the missing time, the staging, the supersoldiers, etc. Instead, we're led to believe that there was an alien crash in Roswell, but there haven't been aliens on Earth since then and everything else was just faked by the government with the alien technology taken from the Roswell crash. That would have been OK if done in season 1, but in season 10, it's just rewriting the complete story arc.

I was hoping in "My Struggle II", Carter would reveal to us that everything that we had learned in the first nine seasons hadn't been completely rewritten, but alas, he doubled down on it. There's no group of men conspiring with aliens, but just a group of men conspiring among themselves. I'm not going to reveal what the new conspiracy is, as it's revealed in the reviews with spoilers. Suffice it to say that it just doesn't match up with the first nine seasons.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Reunion (1990) Season 4, Episode 7

Is Worf a father?

[7 February 2016]

K'Ehleyr returns to help mediate a successor as leader of the Klingon Empire and has a son, which is presumably Worf's from their fling in season 2's "The Emissary". Worf never questions how he has a son that's grade-school-age as a result of a fling from just a little over a year ago. If I were him, I'd at least seek a paternity test.

That aside, this is one of the best episodes of the series. It's not only a touching episode, but it really helps establish the Klingon mythos that would play out through the remainder of the series and through Deep Space Nine.

Jonathan Frakes makes his directing debut here. He's a much better director than actor.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hollow Pursuits (1990) Season 3, Episode 21

Introducing a relatable character

[7 February 2016]

This episode introduces Reginald Barklay, surely a relatable character for Star Trek fans. He's mocked by his crew mates and can't seem to do much right, so he retreats to the Holodeck, where he can live his fantasies of being liked, respected, and competent.

It's mentioned how it's unknown how Barklay made it through Starfleet Academy. Indeed. That's one of the most relatable things here. His experience in Starfleet Academy surely mirrors my experience in college, filled with not being able to perform the assigned tasks satisfactorily, being disliked equally by students and professors, and just being pushed along to get me out of their way. I find it unlikely that Barklay is oblivious to this, just as I wasn't. Maybe he tried to keep a stiff upper lip and go through, even as his self-esteem disappears, in hopes of being able for his career dreams are fulfilled after graduation, only never to happen. Though, it's clear that he didn't belong at the Academy and can't be tolerated by his crew mates any more than he could by his classmates. The body language of others alone makes this obvious.

This is of course Star Trek and we can't be led to think that there are some people that are just worthless, so we eventually come to see that Barklay does have some talents. It might have been more realistic to let us realize that yes, some people are just worthless, and those people should be relegated to doing things that even they can't muck up (too much) and there's no way they should be doing anything like working in the engineering section on a starship.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Remember Me (1990) Season 4, Episode 5

Excellent mystery when seen fresh

[7 February 2016]

Shortly after welcoming her mentor on board, Dr. Crusher notices that he's disappeared and no one else remembers him being on the ship. Soon, Dr. Crusher witnesses more people disappearing and no one can remember them, and a strange vortex is trying to suck her to who-knows-where, possibly to where all the other forgotten people have gone.

The first time I saw this, I was enthralled the whole time. Fortunately, that was before individual episodes were listed on IMDb and before I got a Netflix subscription. In both instances, the mystery of the first two-thirds of the episode is ruined by the description. Though, for those of us who got to see it without knowing what's actually happening, it has a very special place.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Price (1989) Season 3, Episode 8

One of my favorite episodes

[7 February 2016]

I'm shocked about the negative comments this one gets. It's one of my favorites.

Here, there are negotiations over the ownership of the first stable wormhole known to exist, and Troi begins a tumultuous relationship with a handsome opposing negotiator. This allows some development of Troi's character and also shows how her relationship with Riker has evolved since the first season.

In ways, this episode foreshadows Deep Space Nine. Not only is there a stable wormhole, but the Ferengi here are more comical than evil (granted, they are still evil, not at all purely comical as in DS9). There are other comical parts here too, like Troi's argument with the ship's computer in the opening scene.

The worst thing: The ridiculous workout outfits that Troi and Dr. Crusher wear.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Tin Man (1990) Season 3, Episode 20

Where one belongs

[7 February 2016]

This episode returns to a more accepting version of the human future (in stark contrast to the season opener "Evolution"). Gifted, reclusive telepath Tam Elbrun joins the Enterprise to communicate with a new life form that's been dubbed Tin Man.

Tam is reclusive and telepathic, being able to hear the thoughts of the 1000+-member crew. Though, he's drawn to Tin Man, so he tolerates being on the Enterprise with all those people in order to make contact with Tin Man.

The message here is that it's OK to be different. You'll always find some place to belong.

Of course, this wonderfully touching episode is slightly marred by the usual space-opera nonsense involving Romulans who want to destroy Tin Man.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Evolution (1989) Season 3, Episode 1

A slap in the face to Star Trek fans

[7 February 2016]

Many of us are drawn to Star Trek because it depicts a universe where the individual is respected for what he or she is and can contribute, very different from our world where differences from the cultural norms and the pressure for those with such differences to "fit in" can make life very difficult.

In this episode, however, Dr. Crusher is worried that Wesley isn't acting like a normal 17-year-old. Of course, like many of us Trekkers, he's a geek without a personal life. According to the usual Star Trek philosophy that should be OK, but here it's seen as a problem. This episode's message to geeky 17-year-olds who would rather do science experiments than get into trouble is exactly the same as William Shatner's on Saturday Night Live.

Granted, this isn't the only time in Star Trek where this offensive theme is found. It is also found in the Voyager episode "Good Shepherd".

Plot A involving evolving nanites (hence the title) and an obnoxious scientist isn't much better.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Measure of a Man (1989) Season 2, Episode 9

Obviously, toast can't be replicated

[7 February 2016]

In this episode, whether Data is a sentient being or merely property of Starfleet is determined, to see whether he has the free will to reject the request of unskilled cyberneticist Bruce Maddox to disassemble him. Initially, JAG captain Phillipa Louvois rules summarily in favor of Maddox, so Picard requests a hearing.

Louvois initially says "Data is a toaster", indicating that toasters are still popular in the 24th century and thus that toast can't be replicated.

One does wonder about the consequences to the Federation's supposedly superior morals if Data is property. We previously learned in "Datalore" that Data had been found on Omicron Theta by Starfleet officers and so if he's only property, Starfleet would be guilty of the theft of Dr. Sung's property.

Still, this is the best episode of season 2. It's what Star Trek is supposed to be about, an exploration of what constitutes a person, even if it does ignore some legal questions. The worst part here is Dr. Pulaski, as cynical and culturally insensitive as always.

The X-Files: Founder's Mutation (2016) Season 10, Episode 2

A big improvement over "My Struggle"

[28 January 2016]

I'll echo the consensus here that this episode was better than Chris Carter's first episode. Sure, it's not any more original. Where "My Struggle" was largely an inferior redo of season 5's "Patient X", "Founder's Mutation" redoes season 2's "Red Museum".

I'm not ready to count this as a purely MOTW episode. Like "Red Museum", it does seem at least partially connected to the mythology, though the events of "Red Museum" never really panned out, so maybe both of these are standalone episodes merely containing elements from the mythology. Either way, it's a fast and fun episode.

This really does a better job of showing the emotional states of Mulder and Scully than "My Struggle" did. William is mentioned prominently, which perhaps could be setting up his return to the mythology. I thought from the beginning that the best direction for the series now would be to feature William forming a resistance against the alien invaders, so perhaps Chris Carter will redeem himself after the ridiculous new direction of "My Struggle".

Hopefully, the third episode will move past these two "best hits" episodes and do something original.