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Yellowstone: Keep the Wolves Close (2021)
The Dallas Problem
As with Dallas, this has become a soap opera where the same things are happening to the same people. Over and over again. It's becoming more cartoonish, too.
Why wouldn't the current governor (who likes Jamie) not tell him that she won't support him all of a sudden? No, the show has to call him to a press meeting and then SURPRISE his father steps in front of him while Beth starts talking her crazy crap.
And while I'm at it, please let Beth go into a fight which she loses or has no chance. Maybe she even has to grovel to Jamie for help. Sonething! I can't take any more unhinged smug superior speeches from that character. I'm starting to fast forward those scenes.
So far the season seems very unfocused. There's not a clear main plot and way too much bunkhouse antics.
When they failed to kill a main protagonist at the end of last season I knew the show was in trouble.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
It's okay
This feels like a soft reboot of the first films. It's fun, all the space scenes are great. The director took enough care to present a sci-fi environment, so kudos for that. And a lot of practical effects!
Except the Bishop (Ian Holm) android. I know the actor has passed but it looked so jarring like they meshed practical and computer effects. But man, some of these closeups look bad.
But the cast is kind of bland. They are too young and needed a grumpy old guy for contrast. The lead doesn't leave an impression, though. She acts fine but needed more edge or characterisation.
The first half I thought was pretty good, slow building tension but the last act was predictable schlock. And the creature looked a bit silly for me.
Yes, the black goo is still there, this is the ginny that came out of the bottle during the awful Prometheus movie and is never going away again.
The end mirrors some of the endings of other Alien films with a pensive scene and our Ripley character floating in space to another colony. It's an okay movie, held back by copy and pasting scenes from the original movies and and ending that makes you ask: what was the point?
I could've done with all the callbacks to the OG movies, like the famous "get away from her you b*tch" which made no sense here. Or take the female protagonist in her space Reebok's with her space machine gun. The offspring/mother relationship moment, the put-on-your-space-suite scene and so on. The last half felt unoriginal and like a typical franchise movie. Like we should clap like idiots when references are dropped.
Yellowstone: Half the Money (2021)
That big ol' reset button
I am fortunate that I can watch these episodes back to back and don't have to wait 2 years between seasons. But with that climax at the end of last season with John being hit multiple times by an assault rifle, Jamie's office invaded by heavily armed militia perps and Beth not standing too far from an explosion that knocked the bricks out of a wall - you have to make some drastic changes to the show. But they're all fine apart from a thirst for revenge that needs to be quenched.
It's a bit disappointing that the producers decided not to pay off the serious nature of the attacks. Failing to kill all three targets makes the masterminds behind it seem incompetent and foolish. Why don't send Jamie the bomb and kill Beth with two armed men? Why don't the men who shot John Dutton on an empty road make sure he's dead? Just spray another mag empty.
From now on the path is clear and the superhuman crime family is safe. Oh yeah, and (spoiler) even Jimmy survives despite the producers made it seem like he was dead falling from a horse again.
I can't blame people for saying they've jumped the buffalo.
House of the Dragon: The Red Sowing (2024)
The biggest sin...
The biggest sin from this season is stringing us along with endless repetition and treading water. This episode finally shows us an interesting side of both Daemon and Rhaenyra. Suddenly, there are actually things happening, which woke us from our slumber!
Where was THIS show for the last 6 (sans the fight at Rook's Rest) episodes?
There are scenes which can go either way and you're intrigued! I'd almost forgotten how that feels. I am giving this an 8/10 but I also have to give notice to the writers and producers to not waste my time with characters achieving nothing while wallowing in self pity anymore.
I still don't know why Alicent Hightower is a main protagonist this season (and for the longest time Daemon and Rhaenyra too) - it seems her power and effect on the plot is minimal at best.
Please make more episodes like this - this is why I watch this show. And I won't continue next season if gets boring again.
House of the Dragon: Smallfolk (2024)
Smallfolk
Listen, I'm all for reserving action sequences for big events but in the mean time the story has to progress in a way that's entertaining. Watching endless council meetings of little avail with characters seemingly unable to make smart (or dumb) decisions is not fun.
You have only 8 episodes (season 1 had 10) and yet it seems the season is still too long for the events that are unfolding. Maybe 6 episodes should have been enough?
Focusing on the characters that don't have a lot to do (Daemon, Rhaenyra, Alicent) is a mistake. Daemon was fun to watch previously but he's litterally sleepwalking through Harrenhal here.
Sure, every episode begins with the Game of Thrones theme but then you realise that the characters of this show are not as fun or engaging. There is no Tyrion, no Hound, no Tywin, no Brienne, no Jon, no Jaime, no Cersei, Varys or Melisandre. For hours on end, the main charactes in House of the Dragon season 2 just stare into nothingness, looking worried. Nobody seems to shape their own destiny.
Another problem is the lack of scale. Why don't they show the often mentioned ship blockade or show how far it is from Dragonstone to Harrenhal and where the armies are at the moment? How can the viewer connect to the story if they don't know where Rook's Rest is that got attacked in episode 4?
And, typically, the episode endes with something seemingly happening. It's so frustrating to watch.
At least this episode wasn't the worst because it featured dragons and their lore a little bit - that's the least you can expect from a show that's calles House of the Dragon.
Only 2 episodes to go and I guess the'll ramp it up now but this is a very mediocre season so far.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
"You don't ask the Almighty for his id"
While the production of the film was riddled with problems (writer's strike, inexperienced director, unavailable writer that Shatner wanted, ILM unavailable), it doesn't excuse some of the wild choices that were made.
The story alone seems kind of silly - the Enterprise searches for God?
We have sexual innuendo left and right - Uhrura wants to make out with Scotty (why?) There's the infamous Uhura dance - let's not even think about how your superior officer comes to you and asks you to fan-dance semi-nude to distract the enemy! Call HR immediately! And later, a three-breasted cat lady dancer attacks Kirk for some reason and gets thrown into a water tank that's there.. and then she is dead or immediately unconscious? Just leave her face down drowning!
How does this Sybok mind control work?
Yes, Sybok makes you face your fear or unresolved issues but why would you die for Sybok then?
Spock defies Sybok and McCoy seems to be on board but then reconsiders. But what about the rest of the crew? Why didn't they reconsider? Why are they becoming Sha-Ka-Ree cultists? And why are they're back to normal once Sybok disappears?
It really becomes ridiculous when Sybok proclaims "What you fear is the unknown." - to KIRK! Who is out there seeking the unknown all the time!
Some of the scenes are poorly constructed, especially when Sybok holds Kirk at bay with this flimsy weapon and Spock then can't think of just wounding Sybok instead of killing him to resolve the situation.
They just pass the Great Barrier but without any problems. So why did everybody think it was impossible?
So they standing there, Sybok marveling on how the planet's surface is just how he imagined - nobody points out that THIS is where god is supposed to live: a barren wasteland that humans call "Eden"? Uhura exclaims "Scotty you've got to see this" - like a desert is something marvellous. The music is playing like they're in some kind of magical place but all the audience sees is the Mojave desert. There's also a road clearly visible but then the group has to stumble over rocky areas to get there somehow.
Remember these rebels from the beginning of the movie rampaging through a town, taking people hostage? They just stand around during the victory party, no harm done, right?
There's a nice scene at the end with the trio singing but this movie rightly takes the last place among the classic Star Trek movies. Shatner wasn't the right fit and shouldn't have pitched the story for this. The story is silly, the action unconvincing and the people behave sometimes in an inexplicable manner. The Klingons have nothing to do with this story and should have been cut entirely. Why would the Klingons let Spock shoot their ship weapons anyway? Why was Spock needed at all in this scene - just for the joke?
The most stupid line of dialogue has to be:
"You don't ask the Almighty for his id." What an appalling statement coming from a scientist!
Star Trek: Discovery: Red Directive (2024)
This Fast & Furious Trek has to stop.
As with Strange New Worlds and Picard (and Fast & Furious for that matter), the state is always not to be trusted. Just hack illegally into their library, because why follow procedure anyway?
It just goes on and on.
Need to follow some thugs? Just steal some hover bikes instead of tracking them from orbit or going after them via shuttle!
Why scan a dealer's hideout that looks suspect before entering - just barge in!
All the hallmarks of bad Trek are still there: snappy one-liners, colloquialisms, chase-scenes, bad guys, mystery boxes, meaningless references to legacy shows (See? There's MORN sitting at the bar! This is Star Trek, you know!) bad acting, no respect for the organisation you work in, magic devices, shoot-out's and over-the-top action - you name it. And that flame thrower on the bridge is still embarrassing...
The CGI sometimes is a bit wonky - the scenes on Tattoine look a bit on the cheap side.
I just wanted to see how they start off their last season. Yeah, right, they've listened to the fans and made it more like Star Trek...
I won't continue to watch this season. Farewell Disco.
Shogun: Servants of Two Masters (2024)
Refreshing
I haven't read the book it's based on but I know the 1980 series well. This show improves on it without being overly dramatic or cutting corners script-wise like in so many entertainment products these days.
It gives the japanese characters bigger roles compared to 1980, which is definitely a plus, looking at the marvellous cast. Sanada is really comparable to the great Toshiro Mifune here.
I am a bit torn about the Blackthorne actor but for now he's fine.
The actors are great and there's a feeling the makers of this series want to take you on this ride without talking down to you.
Let's see how this plays out! So far, I'm impressed.
Napoleon (2023)
Napoleon?
This should have been Ridley Scott's Lawrence of Arabia or Gandhi. But it wasn't.
This film plays like a wikipedia stub article, showing stages of Napoleon's life and battles without giving much context.
I have enjoyed many performances of Joaquin Phoenix over the years but this one was so one-note and bland it took the enjoyment out of the film.
Portraying Bonaparte as some slow-minded unlikeable brooding brute with erratic emotions didn't do the historic figure any favours. This was a person who inspired the masses and was a military genius. But the script didn't want to show him in any favourable light at all.
Vanessa Kirby as Josephine did a good job but this relationship between her and Napoleon seldom felt happy or real-instead it was like a toxic thing where both are pushing each others buttons all the time. But never does the script the work of hinting why these people are what they are.
Ridley Scott seems not to care to explain why all these events happen. Napoleon goes to Russia - ok why? Napoleon is in Egypt - why? Why anything? Why not show exactly what the stakes are in these battles or how many soldiers are taking part... I don't understand how the director doesn't care about taking the audience along for the ride. Why should we watch this? Because action? Because of this lifeless one-note portrayal of one of Europe's most influential historical figures? Because toxic relationship drama?
The movie needed secondary characters desperately to accompany Bonaparte and comment on his actions, maybe even be the link from the audience to the man? His best friend just disappears from the movie, as does his brother.
Or make Bonaparte more complex, even. Maybe let him have different facets to his personality?
I can't see myself watching the 4 hour version of this film when it comes out. Some battle scenes looked great but the slower scenes were sometimes quite average.
You've Got Mail (1998)
Emotional and financial exploitation
The fact that a film like this is still relatively highly regarded ("so romantic", "always a great watch", "cute", "warmth and happiness") doesn't exactly speak for the film culture.
Here, a shop owner has her mother's inherited bookshop taken away by a large chain of stores. The employees lose their jobs and their know-how is swallowed as too old-timey and their lives are destroyed by our romantic hero and his mega corporation.
But director and screenwriter, Nora Ephron, doesn't stop there. Our hero also has to stalk, emotionally exploit and lie to the woman whose livelihood he obliterated. Bravo!
People who like to eat this up also wolf down whatever low brow garbage Hollywood churns out.
The moral of the story is that lying, stalking and traumatising your potential partner is a great basis for a lasting relationship.
See "Sleepless in Seattle" by the same writer to find more of the same.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
Strange New Worlds?
After the second season I have to note that this show is getting worse. Most of the actors are good but this whiplash storytelling by jumping from the serious to the plain goofy is a very jarring experience. It takes away the punch from the ambitious attempts.
Pike has devolved into the ship's cook without any authority or leadership qualities. Spock's only thing seems to be his love life wich is getting quite boring to watch. Una seems not to do anything and Uhura has to do something, I don't know and Ortegas "flies the ship".
This show is called "Strange New Worlds" but it's clear now that this is not a show that is interested in exploring new species and worlds but is revolving around emotions all the time.
I was giving season one a pass because it tried to find its footing but season 2 now affirms that the show will go on like this.
It seems like the producers think the Starfleet shown in legacy Star Trek is just too boring - reasonably well-adjusted future people come together to solve a space problem according to their military-like structure and strong moral compass. In this show it seems like those are immature people who feel everything for the first time. And that's a shame. I came to Star Trek because it was smarter that me and the dialogue was well-written and it was a future worth living for. Granted, Starfleet is not as badly written as in Star Trek: Picard but far from the Trek I love.
It seems like this flavour of Star Trek is populated only by contemporary people with super abilities. Nobody has to work to achieve anything. You have the ability or you don't have it.
Someone said that SNW is like a weekend in Vegas and I can't get that quote out of my head.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Hegemony (2023)
Sometimes a monster is just a monster?
I'm just going to lay it out right in front: "Sometimes a monster is just a monster" is not a sentiment that goes down well with an audience that appreciates Star Trek for it's principles. It's even worse if a starship captain says it.
These are not advanced humans, they gladly want to kill the Gorn - all of them. Long gone are the days when there was a debate if killing a sentient being is justified.
Furthermore, how does the Gorn civilisation work? How did they achieve warp technology? How did they make it into space? Were there Gorn lizard scientists with labcoats and safety goggles?
How can cold-blooded reptilians breed their young in warm-blooded human hosts?
The concept of the Gorn doesn't seem to be sufficiently though out.
That Chapel is apparently the only one surviving on a starship is really stretching it.
This was a very uneven end to an uneven season. The comedy/relationship/musical episodes don't fit the tone of the more serious attempts. Overall, Pike was more of a chef than a captain this season.
They lifted this cliffhanger (by own admission) from the much superior "The Best of Both Worlds" but at the end, Riker gives the command to fire on his former captain. He is acting - Pike just stands there unsure what to do. Which is a perfect summary of Pike's leadership qualities.
This episode might be cool for people who never saw Star Trek before or alien invasion movies but overall, this was a disappointment. There were some neat shots but this show is a lot of fluff and soapy as hell.
Erica quote of the week while a debris field is cleary visible on screen: "What's this stuff here?"
And then (of course) ending with Pike complimenting her: "That's brilliant! You were born for this Erica!"
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Lost in Translation (2023)
Lost exploration?
The concept of the episode was very Trek but the execution of it was lacking to say the least.
Chain of command or general respect is missing in this show. Everyone expresses their opinions about orders (like Pelia or Ortegas) and at the end nobody is asking for a scientific explanation of anything.
These people are not in the business of exploration - they only talk about it.
At the end, this Star Trek incarnation is only a relationship drama with heavy overtones of faith and emotions. It has more in common with the Fast & Furious franchise than Star Trek. Chain of command or regulations are sooo boring, am I right? But with this lack of structure they shoot themselves in the foot. This is not how a spaceship in the 23rd century would operate.
The ensign (Uhura) even gives the command to fire on the newly built refinery!
Pike is also a very weak captain this season. Sure, he can cook but he doesn't even ask Spock, you know the SCIENCE officer, about his assessment of the situation. He is absent, weak and a far cry from his introduction in Star Trek: Discovery. Last episode, a gang of his subordinates just stole a shuttlecraft but there weren't any repercussions or even discussion about it. In this episode, just moments after he learns about two deaths among his crew, he jokes around!
Sesaon 1 casulalty Hemmer is celebrated as someone who Uhura 'loved'? Didn't they have like three scenes together in season 1? I am confused.
When the supposed saboteur is loose on the ship, suddenly nobody is around anymore. The communications officer and patient has to run around with a phaser through empty corridors.
It's all very ham-fistedly done. Uhura suddenly talks about her nightmares and they share intimate (not romantic) moments. But it's not believable.
Why did Kirk beam over from the (not shown because of budget?) Farragut? Don't they have enough characters in the main cast? Maybe they should develop those and not like Hemmer whose death didn't really made an impact on me in season 1.
At the end, Sam Kirk wants to write a paper about the deuterium aliens.. i'd really like to see what's in there, as he didn't do any research or even investigation in the matter. Which is par for the course for SNW.
Afterwards there's a lovely low key party on the Enterprise I guess everyone deserved it - the useless security team, the lazy scientists and the medical staff who got owned by a communications officer. Kudos!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Charades (2023)
The real charade
The real charade is that this show is called 'Strange New Worlds' but is solely interested in interpersonal relationship drama and dealing with emotions.
It is a show with women doing the work and giving the commands while men keep apologising and are made fun of.
Spock - recently having been stripped of half of his biological heritage - goes back to normal duty and for some reason has to attend his engagement dinner with the cranky soon-to-be in-laws. Here's a thought: cancel the effing dinner on grounds of a medical condition!
Since he has fallen back on his human heritage, Spock can't control his emotions anymore.
This is strange.
For all we know about vulcans, they have stronger emotions than humans so they've decided to suppress them. Even Spock tells us this. So keeping the less erratic human emotions in check should be easy for him. I didn't get at all what the problem was for Spock.
There are wacky things happening and Spock even has to endure 4 women doing exaggerated impressions of him. Dear god.
This episode didn't engage me much. There's the typical unprofessional behaviour by the crew, subordinates like Ortegas just blurt out their opinions about an order by a superior officer, or the crew just flat out circumvents the captain.
Ignoring procedure, the gang of women (Chapel, Uhura, Ortegas) decide to just take a shuttle and don't ask the captain? Were there no alarms going off? Nobody reported this? Very weird.
We have a first contact situation here but the episode is not really interested in that - as is the whole show. It's just about Chapel being forced to admit romantic feelings for Spock. That's all. First contact is always exciting, although I don't know why a moon in the vulcan system is not fully investigated by now. But this is a show for which 'finding a medical cure' involves a lot of beakers and flasks filled with colourful liquids. I was just waiting for the bunsen burner to show up...
The language is so simple, it's like the simple english wiki. Chapel could have said: 'he was a vulcan-human hybrid and you have made him pure human'. Instead there is a lot of stuttering and using very basic language for minutes!
At the end, Chapel during the research was way ahead of (the increasingly obsolete) doctor M'Benga and showed as much class as someone waiting all evening but can't get into a dance club saying 'I didn't want to get into this dump anyway' to the bouncer.
An episode that has a hard time balancing wacky humor, somber moments and portraying the inner workings of the ship in a believable way.
It's funny that with all the additional screen time that Ortegas got, the episode didn't do anything for this character. She flies the ship. Wow. We already knew that.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ad Astra Per Aspera (2023)
Took a swing...
I can appreciate for trying to create a classic Star Trek episode. But the solution to the problem (Una lying and covering up her genetic modifications) does not work.
Asylum is granted when people are persecuted right now, not 20 years ago. She is a free person in the Federation and can go wherever she pleases - why does she even need asylum? Can you apply for asylum anywhere? Like in a bank or a grocery shop. Hey you must let me work here because I chose this place for my asylum!
And also what does the outcome change about Starfleet rules that no genetically engineered people are permitted to work there. So, yes, maybe she is granted asylum on the Enterprise but is she allowed to be a first officer? The episode doesn't address that at all.
The whole point about prejudice is moot. This is about regulations and not that prejudice is wrong. So the Vulcan was right. Sorry. You can turn up the violin in the background but it doesn't change things.
At least the end speech of the judge was well written.
The other thing which irked me was that the episode talked down to me. Repeating the same shots again of Una's testimony from 5 minutes ago must be how they view their audience: imbeciles who only watch on their second screen.
Star Trek appealed to many young people in the past (many of them are now astronauts, doctors and schientists) without talking down to them. It's a shame that Paramount and Secret Hideout don't get that.
They've said they're taking 'big swings' this season, yes but if a rookie writer and a producer of Supergirl are doing the swinging, then you might not hit anything.
Nice try.
And, sorry, since when does the civilian guest on board say 'energise' before beaming out? Isn't this reserved for members of Starfleet, maybe the highest ranking in the room?
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
I was full of hope when it was announced
Season 1
is a failed show from 18 producers that wants to be a character-driven drama about an old sick man coming out of retirement, but also wants to be a mystery secret agents prophecy cyborg action show where the universe is at stake. It distorts the values of the Federation and it's packed full of issues that don't get explored in detail - you know, like Star Trek does.
(cybernetic life vs. Human life, android rights, Brexit, secret organizations, quasi-religious cults, external threat to end all life in the galaxy, feminism, coming-of-age, spies in love, incestual relationship between brother and sister, substance abuse because of trauma/PTSD, rich vs. Poor, isolation because of setbacks, immigration, refugee crisis, Picard as an old man, what it means to be an ex-Borg, moving on from depression, identity/Jason Bourne, chosen one story, racism, being a parent/losing a child and so on)
It's supposed to make you care about synths but doesn't take the time to set it up properly. The main synth almost kills all organic life in the galaxy by summoning robot tentacles from a hole in space.
A muddled mess with a romulan lady's despair destroying a Borg cube, incompetent people, murderers getting away scot-free, gouging out eyes, drug abuse, classism, f-bombs, bloody swordplay and the season has a lot of consistency and pacing issues. It's just a mess from the beginning (Picard has no friends and is a hermit who gets bullied by Fox News) to end (Picard sacrifices himself for murderous synths but not really because there's a convenient synth body we can get him).
It's a 4/10 at most and the makers of this mess should be ashamed.
Season 2
was - to my surprise - an even bigger mess than the previous one. How you can mess up Star Trek so royally is beyond my comprehension.
It's a low budget season, filmed in LA with tons of side plots that go nowhere and eat up screentime, unnecessary car chases, unsophisticated psychology, lame twists, actors play other roles for no good reason, time travel rules that change from episode to episode, no good Q scenes (maybe 1), heavy-handed social commentary, witchcraft, 2-minute therapy sessions, making characters geniuses who astound with impossible leaps of logic or making them absolute imbeciles whenever needed and a climax that is so unprofessionally filmed it boggles the mind.
21 producers plus the writers made a 10-episode season with material for maybe 4 episodes. Congratulations, people, for producing the worst season of Star Trek and TV that I had the misfortune to watch.
3/10 at the most!
Season 3
is a different beast. The new showrunner Terry Matalas wants us to have a nice nostalgia ride with the old crew. And if that's all you want, then you'll get it.
For me, there was just too much nostalgia put in there. It's like Star Trek is a museum and not a living thing.
The overarching story is kind of weak, though. Three quarters of the season consists of a mystery plot that is completely irrelevant in the last two episodes.
Vadic just gets spaced and apart from two sentences in the Borg Queen info dump, nobody seems to care anymore about Section 31, how long this conspiracy has gone on for or exactly how this alliance between the Borg and the changelings even worked. What was the benefit for the changelings if the Borg "not just (want) to assimilate, but annihilate"? Why did I have to endure Vadic and her shenanigans for 8 episodes?
But these things get drowned out by explosions and a ridiculous scene where Picard can free his son that he knows for a week because he hugs him. It gets really pathetic when they show flashbacks of these few days when they drank at the holodeck or had an argument. Ah! The good times!
And this is the antithesis of TNG. Yes you can reproduce the bridge or render the old Enterprise-D but when love makes Borg nanoprobes go away, we are indeed not in the Star Trek universe anymore.
Or what about that stupid secret Section 31 station/horror warehouse full with doomsday weapons and crazy creatures where the only security measure is a defunct AI with personality disorder that conjures up a Sherlock Holmes villain who shoots at you with bullets from a revolver. And the only way to stop this is to whistle a tune that only one person in the universe might know. This is the level of writing that we got.
That backdoor pilot at the end just didn't work for me, though. Why rename the ship to Enterprise? Why have a former murderous alcoholic vigilante that Starfleet rejected "because Borg" as the captain? Why have Raffi, the worst Starfleet officer I have ever seen as a First Offficer? And then being so uncreative that a former Borg on a ship called Enterprise is being tested by Q (who apparently survived his teary-eyed death in S2). Is that it? No more new ideas?
Listen, I applaud Matalas for trying to do a Star Trek show at least but there are too many stupid things in here.
Worf and Raffi disappear for an episode with only the flimsiest excuse, only to make a "surprise" appearance later and stab at changelings that somehow suddenly also fight with swords and somehow can be hurt by them. It really boggles the mind!
It is the season that started with Beverly Crusher shooting a phaser pump gun that runs out of ammo after 6 shots! This is almost as bad as in season 1 romulan agents putting a bag over the head of a synth that can 'activate'.
I'm not here to give ratings to good intentions but to review the season. And this last one was lacking. Trading novelty for nostalgia is not a good idea for a Star Trek tv series.
5/10
Sadly, this was probably the last time these characters come together. I would like to say it was worth it and they've made some instant classic episodes, but alas!
This show was poorly thought out: Picard died but then lived like it didn't matter, Q died but came back, Data died but came back, Ro Laren and Shelby died but got a reprieve via social media by showrunner Matalas and Jurati became a cuddly Borg Queen but a season later we're back with the old queen, no Jurati in sight. 24th/25th century morals, values and even technology have deteriorated without any reason, like phasers working like shotguns with limited ammo you have to reload every shot or poverty being back in our utopia or a 24th century doctor (Crusher) failing to use a contraceptive.
For the future: plan your seasons not as movies, don't just ride on nostalgia, don't let actors pitch their own family problems, only use characters if you really have to something for them to do!
Star Trek is not just a bunch of tropes and things.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Broken Circle (2023)
Strange New Women?
Spock gets constantly mocked, patronised, laughed at by his merry band of sassy women who act so unprofessionally that it hurts. How is a starship supposed to operate if girl power trumps procedure? This is the most bizarre misfire of feminist writing in recent memory.
Imagine at NASA, a communications officer giving a technician the "na-ah, I've got work to do, bro!" when asking to access her work tools for mandatory updates which the chief engineer and even the captain already approved, I assume.
Is this supposed to let the pendulum swing the other way? To cut directly from female insubordination to a drinking game scene where La'an is removing her hood in a badass way for absolutely no reason to then shut up the klingon manfolk?
If you want to see an overlong mediocre action sequence where a doctor and a 132 pound nurse on superhuman drugs (which are available of course) are beating up lots of bloodthirsty Klingons, then be my guest.
The rest is an okay episode, not great though. You want to see Spock cry because he has the love bug, then go ahead with this one.
I'm just glad, Akiva Goldsman got to tell how Spock got his lute and why. Thanks so much!
I don't understand people who give this 10/10 - it's not even by SNW standards the best episode!
Person of Interest: If-Then-Else (2015)
Great episode with a snag
I don't want to echo a lot of other reviews. A great episode that felt fresh.
Except the action scenes felt too static and somehow all the shooting felt fake because everybody forgot to feign recoil. It looks so odd when the actors are just holding their guns and don't seem to be aware of when they are shooting.
I don't know why in this episode this caught my eye all the time. The director did several good episodes before this one so it's a mystery to me why the action felt so clunky. There is a shot where Reese is just walking very wooden holding a gun to one side an then to the other while shooting is going on. It's line there is a disconnect between the actors and the make-believe that there are enemies behind the camera.
Other than that a great episode.
Star Trek: Picard: The Last Generation (2023)
Last Gen
While I applaud the effort to at least watch some legacy Star Trek, the writers (under Terry "Twitter" Matalas) present a season that consists of two seperate Kirk-era movies with the TNG cast. If that is the same mistake that Berman & Braga made when writing the finale of ENTERPRISE is open for discussion.
The characters at least feel right most of the times and I didn't cringe like in seasons 1 and especially season 2.
The season is full of references to old Star Trek. I mean really full.
Many people call them easter eggs - but those you have to look for. Here they are presented center frame accompanied by a musical sting. Like Worf listening to the same opera while training that Picard did in First Contact. There is no connection between those scenes and Worf would listen to Klingon Opera anyway.
There are, at time so many references that they got on my nerves.
Three quarters of this season consists of a mystery plot that is completely irrelevant in the last two episodes. I felt cheated. Vadic just gets spaced and apart from two sentences in the Borg Queen info dump, nobody seems to care anymore about Section 31, how long this conspiracy has gone on for or exactly how this alliance between the Borg and the changelings even worked. What was the benefit for the changelings if the Borg "not just (want) to assimilate, but annihilate"? Why did I have to endure Vadic and her shenanigans for 8 episodes?
But these things get drowned out by explosions and a ridiculous scene where Picard can free his son that he knows for a week because he hugs him. It gets really pathetic when they show flashbacks of these few days when they drank at the holodeck or had an argument. Ah! The good times!
And this is the antithesis of TNG. Yes you can reproduce the bridge or render the old Enterprise-D but when love makes Borg nanoprobes go away, we are indeed not in the Star Trek universe anymore.
The reasons I loved TNG were not because things exploded or it felt like the Kirk movies - I loved them because of the moral and ethical discussions, the rational view from different sides on certain problems and the determination by the best people who kick ass at their jobs.
Terry Matalas knows Star Trek - which makes him a better showrunner than the last two. But he and his writing staff forgot over all those memberberries to write a consistent plot.
Like that stupid secret Section 31 station/horror warehouse full with doomsday weapons and crazy creatures where the only security measure is a defunct AI with personality disorder that conjures up a Sherlock Holmes villain who shoots at you with bullets from a revolver. And the only way to stop this is to whistle a tune that only one person in the universe might know. This is the level of writing that we got.
This is just insane.
Worf and Raffi disappear for an episode with only the flimsiest excuse, only to make a "surprise" appearance later and stab at changelings that somehow suddenly also fight with swords and somehow can be hurt by them. It really boggles the mind!
It is the season that started with Beverly Crusher shooting a phaser pump gun that runs out of ammo after 6 shots!
There are so many half baked ideas in this season, I can't put them all down, like the vulcan Mafioso or Starfleet turning into Russia holding military parades. An old Klingon cloaking device gets stolen off-screen(!) and seamlessly integrated into ships systems without the chief engineer complaining. The compromised fleet is shooting at a starbase for half an hour but why not fly around it and attack Earth from a different angle? Jack looks exactly like Picard did when he was Locutus. Why? Don't know. Maybe they think we are idiots.
I just can't understand these knee-jerk 10/10 ratings. Does nobody think about stuff anymore? Yes they recreated the Enterprise bridge and let the actors play poker AGAIN but what about the story of the season? Or this episode?
Does anyone thinks about all the young people who turned murderers when they were borgified? OBE YEAR LATER and everything is fine? There is even a monologue by Riker to tell the audience not to think about it! Even the changelings were not that bad-after all they didn't kill all their targets!
Pulling the overused Borg out of the hat at the 11th hour was really a lame idea. It's very uncreative because we have seen enough of the Borg. What? Should we be excited because NOW THEY ARE REALLY DANGEROUS? Come on.
Yes this season was way better than the clunky film student season 1 and leagues better that the abysmal stupid low budget-y season 2, but a 10/10? No way.
I just can't believe that all these ratings are by real people. But if they are real, I hope they got paid enough.
Star Trek: Picard: Võx (2023)
Vox Multae
That's it? The big reveal of what's going on with Jack is that he inherited some biological changes from when Picard was transformed into Locutus and now he is a transmitter or whatever? And the Changelings somehow worked WITH the Borg to overthrow the Federation??? After a couple of episodes stalling for time, now the big info dumps are put on to the viewer. All persons under 25 are infected with this transceiver biotech via the transporter?
Sounds a bit like fan fiction to me. Let's hope we'll get to see HOW these different foes came to work with each other. And why was Vadic's hand an changeling? How did that work?
Why did the Borg work together with a mad changeling that was tortured by Section 31 with medieval methods (needles and saws and gas-powered cigarette lighters) to finally assimilate the Federation?
Why did they steal Picard's body 5 days ago? Seems like infecting everyone via transporter should have taken a lot longer than that!
It's all moving very fast, Callback Admiral Shelby is on screen and next seen with two burning phaser holes in her chest. As if the Changeling plot is not under-explained enough, now the Borg have to be behind everything. The result is making all this secret Ro Laren changeling Shrike conspiracy trust nobody plot unimportant.
Yes, the last minutes when the old crew is on the bridge of the Enterprise-D are very nice. The set design is on point and finally the lighting is not like in a bar somewhere. They have worked on every detail.
Sadly, the same can't be said about the plot though. The Titan has been overrun by borgified 18-25-year-olds but nobody stops the crew from taking a shuttle and going to the Fleet Museum?
The lack of transporter beams this season is lamentable. As is the lack of personnel aboard the brightly-lit Fleet Museum. Nobody seems to care about intruders stealing a whole starship. Logic dictates that the museum is overrun by Borg as well, right?
And what about the old crew. They seem hellbent on leaving with the Enterprise-D as soon as they're on board. But nobody has formulated a plan what to do. Just get a move on, the episode is almost over!
What was the plan by just warping to Earth? They're fugitives! Picard just calls the admiral and hopes that she will stop everything and believes Picard?
I don't know. I don't give brownie points for nostalgia anymore. All this buildup for a quick mishmash of stuff that can never be explained sufficiently in the remaining episode.
My prediction is that the Borg cube is a giant transmitter and when that inevitably explodes, all the assimilated people go back to normal (as seen in Star Wars/Game of Thrones/..)
I just have to say that I find the Borg overused. In season 1 we had the Borg cube, Hugh and Picard getting flashbacks. In season 2 there was the Borg Queen as a supporting character and borgified mercenary soldiers. And now AGAIN. Isn't there anything else to bring to the table?
I'm just tired. Does anyone even care anymore why Vadic wanted to catch Jack all these episodes? Seems like the outcome would have been the same!
What about shuttles? Aren't they also connected to every starship? How can they escape with one? Why didn't Geordi say a couple of episodes that he has a secret off the grid starship lying around? Maybe we could have been spared another trip to the museum?
Giving this a 10/10 just because they've rendered the Enterprise-D and rebuilt the bridge for two episodes? Is that all that Star Trek is? A collection of tropes and things?
Star Trek: Picard: Surrender (2023)
Surrender your critical faculties
The quality of the scripts have been all over the place in the last two weeks.
Shaw is now a coward, not trying to step in front of the proverbial phaser to save his crew. No. He actively stops Seven to intervene in the slaughter of the crew. After all, what can they do? It's really shameful what they have done with this character. And Jean-Luc is not faring any better. He, too, is not behaving like a former captain.
Nobody on board seems to have any phasers while the're being hunted down and in the most infuriating scene, Raffi and Worf fight with swords against changelings. Just think about it for a minute. Everyone used phaser rifles up to this point. But just to have another stupid Elnor scene, inexplicably, they've all switched to swords for no reason.
To add insult to injury, the deconstruction of Picard as a character continues. Now he executes bad guys instead of trapping them with force fields and get information out of them.
I don't know what went wrong in the writers room but dragging this stupid Jack storyline out until episode 9 is really stretching it thin. It makes no sense that this went on for 5 episodes.
I think this was a really bad episode and I almost don't care about the red door anymore. Red doors, strange whispers and visions of tentacles are really the hallmarks of bad trek like the red angel or the romulan visions of doom.
And for what? Riker says it best at the end: "we've got almost no answers"
Yes, maybe you shouldn't have killed the bad guys when you had all the power you idiots.
This episode was written by one of the writers of season 2... enough said.
I am really worried now.
Star Trek: Picard: Dominion (2023)
Dominion?
This episode's "written by" credit goes to Jane Maggs - the writer of three of the worst (and also worst rated) episodes of Picard thus far.
Overall, at least there are things to talk about but the stupid creeps into this season slowly while they drag this season out. Jack's abilities, for instance. Why wouldn't he tell anyone? That makes no sense. His mother with whom he is on good terms with is a doctor!
For these producers and writers, science in the 24th century is people in lab coats sticking needles in things, beakers, gas-powered cigarette lighters, tasers and bone saws. Jesus, this is imagery for people with the IQ of a parsnip! BAD WOMAN DOING BAD THINGS! At least she didn't have a swastika ob the wall.
With little setup, Jack is now romantically interested in the LaForge girl. Why? Because he has to say "nooo" when the bad guys try to kill her, of course. Why don't you set this up better so it doesn't come off as a cheap writing trick?
Beverly and Jean-Luc decide to execute a prisoner. A no-go in TNG. Let's hope this get's explored further or I'll lose all hope for these characters.
Lore's appearances at least made sense compared to the nostalgia machine last episode (dear god) and gave some nice dramatic scenes between Spiner and Burton. Oddly enough, they kept cutting away from that scene for some reason.
There were nice scenes in there and there was no Raffi, so far so good.
Star Trek: Picard: The Bounty (2023)
Bounty?
Listen, sure this season is alright in many regards - but all these 10/10 ratings? Really? Especially this episode left a lot to be desired. Brought to you by Christopher Monfette, who got the "written by" credit for the season 2 finale.
I'll start with the biggest offender: meaningless fan service. Showing the Defiant or some monster tribble really detracts from the episode. These are not easter eggs - because they are not hidden but center frame accompanied by a musical sting. Don't they have enough story for 10 episodes so they have to produce filler? Please stop with that or weave it into the episode in meaningful ways. Or is Star Trek just a collection of things we know now? Should we clap like idiots for every reference or fanfare?
The whole Daystrom story is preposterous, the only security (for the Federations most dangerous tech??) is a defunct AI with personality disorder and the security measure consists of a raven flying around and a holographic Sherlock Holmes villain shooting bullets from an ancient revolver?????
And to deactivate you have to whistle an old tune that nobody knows except Riker and Data?
One has to wonder if Section 31 personnel are walking around whistling alle the time.
It's so dark on that station, the viewer might be confused, because from the outside, at Daystrom station every window is lit. Every. Single. One.
This universe seems very small, also. Everybody knows everybody and everywhere is deserted: Daystrom station, the fleet museum and distances don't matter. Vadic jumps in what I estimate to be a day or so to Nepenthe, kidnaps Deana Troi and back.
Why would a changeling morph into a chain-smoking, leather coat wearing villain with a bad oily hairstyle, symmetrical face scars and bad teeth? If you bring all the nostalgia in, why not the fact that Changelings HATE solids. Why would they smoke and impersonate a cartoon villain 24/7 on their own ship?
Is all Starfleet corrupted? I mean there isn't a resistance somewhere? Are there ships without changelings on board?
But one of the biggest head scratchers is Berverly. The doctor never scanned her son for genetic illnesses???? Given his fathers medical history, one would assume that this is standard procedure in the late 24th century.
Very strange and clunky.
Stealing the Cloaking Device really went too easily. I mean they steal it off-camera without alarms going off and no chief engineer of the Titan (is there such a person even?) that asks what the hell is going on?
It seems like a TOS-era movie with the TNG cast. It meshes just so-so inn my opinion. Is it the same problem as with the ENTERPRISE finale?
And please get on with Jack's visions! Stop dragging this out. It's not believable that he doesn't tell anyone - not even his mother??
Other than that, it's still way better than the train wreck that was season 2.
Star Trek: Picard: Disengage (2023)
Disengage
It's still ok, not great. There are many strange things here, like Shaw saying they're outgunned before the bad girl let them have a close look at her arsenal. Or Riker proposing they are in a stalemate with the enemy because they've managed to stop 3 enemy soldiers on a defunct starship without weapons.
The moment was great when Picard finally gives orders but the writers immediately follow with something stupid. Shaw and his crew just follow this previously mentioned "retired admiral" - why does he wield authority all of a sudden?
And why Picard? He was a man who wasn't swayed by sentimentality. Now he is only able to take the reigns if he has an emotional reason? That seems like quite a departure from the Captain we all know and love.
A cigar-smoking over-the-top villain is not the thing that I want from my Star Trek but I hope there's more to this character.
And why didn't Shaw just beamed them over and jumped to Warp again? Why linger? Why?
Why are the transporters not detecting devices that can disrupt force fields or even weapons for that matter?
Why is Worf doing an Elnor and decapitates the suspect for a potential interrogation?
It seems there are shortcuts being taken to get this story along. At least the characters feel right for the most part.
Star Trek: Picard: The Next Generation (2023)
The Next Generation?
While this feels much closer to a recognisable Star Trek product, the jury is still out on whether all this setup makes any kind of sense. There are - at least - characters in there you give a damn about and they feel closer to the original.
But the hallmarks of Bad Trek are still there. Beverly using a shotgun type of weapon which seems very anachronistic,
Seven rebelling against her captain just because he's a jerk (maybe ask for reassignment?),
the Titan is missing a transporter beam when a shuttle leaves without authorisation,
Starfleet using an ex drug addict with personal problems as an agent.
Some of the puzzle-solving of Raffi's seems contrived and based on coincidences, rather that deductive skills and Beverly is using violence instead of some clever medical way of combating the intruders was a missed opportunity.
It's still dark everywhere in the future like in the previous seasons. I wonder why the bridge of a starship has the same level of lighting as a corner bar - people might trip over stairs...
The Captain of a new ship not being on the bridge during her first flight out of the starbase made little sense and Riker's plan was a little goofy. I mean one text message to Starfleet would habe been enough for Captain Shaw to see through this plan.
All in all it's surely a step up. The bridge crew seems competent and not using some cool lingo while full of themselves. The banter between Picard and Riker seems like the real thing, so there's that.
Let's see if all this mystery is worth it. If this tanks like the last seasons I might be done with Star Trek and all those youtubers who got to see the season in advance to create more buzz.