1/21/21/21/2
Tom and B’Ellana are going to have a baby.
The crew goes wild, but B’Ellana does all she can to ensure those cranial ridges go away. After much digging, we learn she has a fear of separation. But Tom is so sweet!
Corny as all hell, but, heck, I can’t deny I like Tom & B’Ellana.
1/21/2
Fan service: The Episode!
Much like Worf getting tossed between parallel universes, Chakotay is caught in some temporal flux and zips throughout the run of the series. A flat episode propelled by, “Hey! Remember those guys?! And these guys!?”
Eh, who’m I kidding, I liked it!
1/2
The Trek writers backed themselves into a corner with these quasi-independent life form holograms so now they have to deal with it.
The EMH becomes enamored of some bolshevik holograms who are actually spun-up models that Janeway gave to the Hirogen for their murderous pleasure.
In a two-parter that, shockingly, isn’t just a great first half and then a letdown, the EMH, B’Ellanna and Janeway herself tangle with this very thorny, ethical issue.
Well done, Voyager.
It’s funny, because I’d forgotten this was produced by David Lynch’s company, and at one point during the movie I flashed on an undefinable sensation of being on the right side of weird (like this and The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans) and how difficult it must be to hold back and just go simple like in Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE.
This movie is so good, so beautiful, so creepy, so funny. Ernst Reijseger’s music is marvelous and all of the non-Chloe Sevigny performances rock. (Chloe is merely there taking up space.)
Movies like Taxi Driver have done “descent into madness” so well there’s no point to it anymore. MSMSWHYD? joins the ranks of the (similarly ignored) Revolution #9 that just says, “this guy is nuts, so let’s make a movie.”
God is in the oatmeal, to be sure.
Harry Kim gets his first command. There’s a reason we’ve lasted up to Season 7 without a demand to see this. Snore.
Jeri Ryan gets to act!
This time, it’s because she’s inhabited by the EMH. And he/she will do what is necessary to BUST out of prison.
This episode, however, is definitely part of the case to be made that Trek is hopelessly homophobic at times.
1/2
I hate to say this, especially about someone as helpful (and fragile!) as Reg Barclay, but the dude has totally worn out his welcome.
This time, his attempts to data stream-up a hologram of himself is shanghaied by Ferengi (!) and all sorts of danger lays in wait.
Ferengi love profit, but I thought they’d given up on murder. Somebody hasn’t been paying attention.
This episode kinda fails, even though it tries hard. Much like Reg.
The EMH FTW!
Stolen by a shady trader, the Doc finds himself on a burdened hospital and he immediately goes all Socialist on their ass.
If Joe Lieberman watched this he wouldn’t be such a shandah for the goyim.
An embedded message gets through Barclay’s monthly data stream to Tuvok and, alakazam!, the Maquis are Maquis again.
Although the sequences move with force, I am stunned with how this episode just “ends” when Janeway just wills it to. Weak.
A fun li’l episode that involves a chariot race, some non-threatening terrorists in incredibly tight pants and the wedding of Tom and B’Ellana. Awwwww..
Seven of Nine is falling apart and they need a live Borg green glow stick to shove in her forehead. The hunt is on!
And it turns out forthright young Icheb is the only one who can save the day.
In the end, Seven learns to love. (”Doctor – I appear to be leaking. . . .from my eyes!!”)
As is so often the case with these two parters, this doesn’t quite live up to what was offered in the first one. If truth be told, I’m not sure I ever quite understood just how Janeway and B’Ellanna thought they were doing allowing themselves to become Borg drones. Nevertheless, when Janeway picks up the Bat’leth it is glorious!
I will say this. Joke all we want about her ridiculous outfits, but Seven of Nine is a great character and Jeri Ryan is actually a good actor. There. I said it.
This episode is great because it really rewards the hardcore fan. You can’t just come into this episode without knowing a lot about the Borg mythology – or about all kinds of crazy SF tropes to begin with.
All I know is that Seven of Nine is wearing a nice spring outfit while being double-teamed with a mind meld and allowing dormant, mutation genes to take her to a virtual reality space you can’t remember when you are done dreaming. And is about to join a Borg resistance movement. Awesome.
1/2
If you can get over the giant plot hole (eg – why do the children need Neelix to tell them the story, weren’t they on the ship the last few days?!?!?!) then this is an exciting, bottle episode w/ a good pace and a great Kate Mulgrew performance.
In theory I love this episode. The EMH is sent to the Alpha Quadrant to aid Lewis Zimmerman, plus we get a double whammy of fan service with Reg Barclay and Deanna Troi.
And yet, for some reason, the episode seems phony. It’s forced. It makes the Trek universe seem cheap. I can’t explain it, other than to say I wish I could somehow un-watch it.
I expected to find a trove of riches in this second viewing. I did not. In fact, seeing it a second time kinda lessened its impact, and made the whole affair seem kinda. . . slight.
Still – a good movie. But not a great one.
An interesting enough movie, I suppose, but I swear I never need to see a doc about an artist/writer/political figure directed by their kid.
The White Ribbon, for me, is one of those movies that you see and think are brilliant but can’t really pin why.
It really feels like encountering a great, lost novel.
The attention to detail, gorgeous photography and camera placement are stunning, as are the intricate, reserved performances.
I’m a Mr. Big Shot, so when I watch a movie I think, yeah, I could do that – but I watch this and am in some kind of awe.
