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Reviews
Star Trek: Discovery: Saints of Imperfection (2019)
Wesley Crusher Syndrome
It's almost like the producers of Discovery decided the only thing wrong with Wesley Crusher was he was a dude. So they changed him into a woman and made her the star of Star Trek Discovery. But unlike ST:TNG, the producers here are going to ride their bad premise and casting to the very cancellation of the series, rather than cut bait and make Captain Pike the star of the show.
They had to have gotten goose bumps when Anson Mount brought back the feeling of the TOS so authentically. When he rolled in on the Enterprise in Season Two #1, I thought my prayers had been answered. And while he certainly makes Discovery watchable, Ms. Green still provides more than enough damage to diminish his excellence. One minute she's trying to talk like Spock, the next sh'e firing off Obama platitudes. If I hear one more "we keep our promises" or "that's not we are" I'm going to lose it. Her voice overs in taht frame this episode are just psychobabble, it's pathetic.
I understand Star Trek is trying to be PC with all the forced diversity and all that, and I can stomach it all if well acted -- which it mostly is. But Ms Green is the weak link on this show, and she happens to be the star. One to beam back to acting school, if there's any talent there to be honed.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Star Trek Diversity (Season 1)
On the plus side, this show has great production values, The special effects are tip top, the sets are great, and all of the costumes are of movie quality. The cast is also generally pretty strong except...
The show's main character is an actress with high school level acting skills. She's very camera conscious and always sounds like she's reading dialogue rather than actually speaking. Fortunately, her supporting cast does some damage control: particularly Issacs as Captain Lorca and Michelle Yeoh as the Emperor. I found myself wishing the show was about them, but I knew it was not to be..
But what really grinds the nerves on Discovery is how "woke" it is. You know you're in for a good blast of social justice indoctrination when the female lead has the name Michael, which I found distracting every time it was spoken, The whole sensibility of the show caters to the woke mindset, which may attract younger viewers, but certainly is off-putting to many older viewers and Star Trek fans. The final episode is so preachy, repeating the despicable "that's now who we are" which is just as intolerable here as it is in real life.
Oddly enough, when Michelle Yeoh returns later in the season, I found myself asking why the franchise doesn't make a Star Trek show about a really unscrupulous crew -- it was certainly far more interesting here.
Who Killed Malcolm X? (2019)
Interesting Footage
I found a lot of the historical footage really interesting, but I don't think there was enough substance in this series to fill 6 episodes. This show is basically a tour bus driver's hobby of "researching" the death of Malcolm X put to 6 hours of film. Much of the analysis is conjecture, in spite of how many people are presented as authorities on the subject -- they rarely offer supporting evidence to bolster the narrative.
In spite of itself, the documentary ultimately makes a compelling case that Malcolm X was killed in a gang war masquerading as a religious dispute. Many of the key players in the Nation of Islam were felons converted and reformed in jail, so it's not surprising Malcolm's highly inflammatory rhetoric towards his former mentor had severe consequences -- even he knew it. But in spite of all this, the narrator is determined to lay blame at the steps of the NYC Police Department and the FBI.
The final episode is where the show really lurches radical and we are treated to truly offensive teachings at the high school named after Malcolm X. The show had hinted that nothing in America had changed since the early 60's, but here it's stated as fact. And in case you were left with any doubt, an infamous former NFL player is featured kneeling on the field in the closing credits as part of the historical civil rights photo montage..
Flint Town (2018)
Omissions and Bias
While I enjoyed this show as a crime documentary, I found some of the topic matter too political and not related to the story. The 2016 Presidential election has absolutely no bearing on the day to day lives of these Policeman, yet we are treated to a bunch of anti-Trump protesting by city residents. While it's ironic that Flint's residence have been governed by Democrats for many decades, politicians are never identified as Democrats, not are their policies tied to Flint's problems - which they most certainly are.
And this was the most glaring omission which was totally danced around in the eighth episode where the police make a drive to raise taxes for "more officers." Residents complain that they voted for more millage before, but no one was ever hired. That's because Flint - like Detroit and so many other urban areas - is drowning in pension debt. Extravagant pensions were used to buy votes from city workers, but as industry collapsed and populations decline, remaining residents are saddled with out sized pension obligations from rosier times. Pension payments for retired workers eclipse actual payroll in many urban areas.
Finally, the decision to turn off Detroit water and use Flint's rotten lead lined water system was made by Flint's government in a desperate measure to trim expenses -- pensions are due you know -- yet that dreadful decision is portrayed more as the Republican governors fault then the town's own government which made the call.
Supergirl: Changing (2016)
The Guardian Debuts
This episode debuted the Guardian, a character from the 40's created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in Star Spangled Comics. It was nice to see the nod to the comic on the truck sending intel to the Guardian.
Once again Supergirl ventures mildly into politics adding some global warming into the story line, where of course the anti global warming character is the sinister cretin. Fortunately, it's just a back drop to introduce the Parasite. He was really well handled until they turned him into a CGI monster. The CGI monster thing is overused in these shows. Sometimes it's okay, more often hokey. I prefer it when they stick closer to the comic book incarnations of the characters.
The coming out part of the episode was handled very well, in fact the whole development of the relationship has been well paced and kept my interest this season. I suspected Alex was going to get denied, in fact I could swear this has happened on other shows. But it was still really well done and credible. It's great how obtuse Kara can be, she's super powerful but still a goofy kid so often.
Having grown up on the Christopher Reeves "You'll believe a man can fly very gently" incarnation of the character, the decision to make Supergirl the most action pack busting-up-the-joint of the CW shows was a wise decision. The Super Family is nothing but a bore when played as all powerful.
Supergirl: Welcome to Earth (2016)
Too Much Politics
This was the episode of Supergirl that made me cancel it off my DVR schedule. I don't like getting beat over the head by politics in shows, particularly when handled so dishonestly. I started watching it again on Netflix because I was hoping this episode might be an aberration (it generally was).
Lynda Carter still looks great, but she turned in a performance here so poor, it's difficult to explain. Her lines were read like she was having trouble seeing the cue cards.
On a positive note, the action in Supergirl is really well handled - brisk and violent - and Melissa is fabulous as always. Lena Luthor is a welcome addition to the show and mesmerizes in every scene she's in. Easily reason enough to keep watching. It's almost like they added her when they figured out Lynda Carter couldn't cut it.