To Boldly Go Where Everyone Has Gone Before

VOY: “Fair Haven”

meanwhile in Ireland... (dog and man at the pub with Guiness)

Date: February 9, 2021

Season 6, Episode 11

Music Video of the Day: Happy 9th Day of Black History Month!

“Love, For better or worse I still will choose you first”.

Interstellar News: I really need it to be Monday.

TL;DR: Janeway falls in love with a holographic bartender and Voyager is stuck in a wavefront with some harmful radiation.

Yeah, that’s really all that happened.

Favorite Quote:

EMH: Speaking of revisions, I was hoping I could give my character a more active role. In the period you’ve created, the village priest was the most prominent member of the community, held in the highest regard.
Paris: That’s a great idea, Doc. We could send Father Mulligan on a retreat to a nearby monastery, where he takes a vow of silence and never speaks again.
EMH: Try it, and you’ll be saying Hail Marys till Saint Patrick’s Day.
The EMH trying to build his ego and Paris ribbing him a bit.

Kim, the EMH, and Paris in Fair Haven — “Say ten *Our Fathers* and call me in the morning.”

“Well, you know the story. Girl meets boy, girl modifies boy’s subroutines.“: This was very clearly a “let’s do something in the holodeck so the crew can cosplay” episode, I mean they even used the same set from the WWII scenes in “The Killing Game“! Paris took time to create the Irish village of Fair Haven, which everyone is enjoying. Once the storm hits and they have to batten down the hatches, as it were, Neelix suggests keeping Fair Haven open 24/7 to boost crew morale. Janeway enters one day and hits it off with the bartender and decides to make some adjustments to his character.

Janeway and Michael Sullivan siting on a bench. — “Oh, one more thing. Access his interpersonal subroutines. Familial characters. Delete the wife.”

After spending three days together, Janeway realizes she’s fallen in love with a hologram and leaves the program but Michael has lost his shit and started a bar fight. The EMH counsels Janeway and he says the one thing that I hadn’t really considered… Janeway can’t date anyone on her crew as they are all her subordinates. She needs love too, so it makes sense for her to find an alternative to a dalliance with an alien or two. I just didn’t really find much to this episode, other than Janeway wanted to create the perfect man and then decided she didn’t have time to play games any more. I will say, I did enjoy all of the lines I quoted and the dialogue was spot on for this episode. The story, though, needed all the work. 3 Rosary’s for you, ya sinners!

TA Out!

“The Legend of Korra, Book 3: Change”

Date: February 8, 2021

Music Video of the Day: Happy 8th Day of Black History Month!

“If the party’s where you’re at, let me hear you say…”

Interstellar News: Nothing of note, apparently.

TL;DR: Book 1 was all about Korra learning to airbend in order to fully become the Avatar. Book 2 was all about Korra connecting with the Spirit World. Book 3 now focuses on the repercussions of all of her choices over the first two books. The spirits are roaming the physical world, random people are becoming airbenders, and four criminals escape. We find out they are part of the Red Lotus group who are basically the Libertarians of this universe and want to kill all of the world leaders and end the Avatar cycle. Bolin learns to lavabend, Zaheer learns to fly, Korra continues to be an absolute badass, Mako and Bolin meet their family, the metalbending clan has ties to Lin, and the Earth Queen meets her demise.

the lava bender, the air bender, the water bender, and the one who can explode things with her mind... from left to right. — The Red Lotus

“You must be at the end of your rope; you hate meditating.”: This season throws the whole group into dealing with a ton of heavy stuff. Korra gets thrown out of Republic City but she and Tenzin are feeling the weight of trying to bring back the Air Nation. I completely loved the whole bit of Tenzin trying to recruit folks to the vision of the Air Nation that was around when there were still tons and tons of airbenders. Tenzin and Korra clearly didn’t read the room and didn’t think about bring the Air Nation into, well, whatever century they’re in. Team Avatar also learns new lessons with Bolin learning to lavabend, Korra learning to metalbend, Mako learning to deal with being an ex-boyfriend and current friend, and Asami improving her engineering skills and bonding with another woman. Toph’s daughters, Lin and Su, go through some family shit but come out on the other side stronger than ever.

Zuko makes a brief appearance or two, along with HIS RED DRAGON that he just casually rides around like a boss. The end of the season shows us that Korra has been through so much and needs time to rest and relax and not have the weight of the world on her shoulders, Jinora finally becomes a master and earns her tattoos, and Tenzin vows that the Air Nomads will help bring balance to the Force, ahem, world, while Korra heals. It’s a bigger downer than either of the previous season endings, especially because Zaheer is totally a bigger baddie than the others and yet he gets sent back to prison when the others were killed. The next season is the last, and I’m very interested in how it pans out.

TA Out!

Sports Night: “Shoe Money Tonight”

Date: February 7, 2021

Season 1, Episode 10

Music Video of the Day: Happy 7th Day of Black History Month!

“Where’d you go, I don’t know / I know that I need you in this heart of mine”

Interstellar News: Another day of not feeling great. It’s apparently Superb Owl day and I’m just not in the mood to see people clearly saying “fuck you” to this global pandemic. We can’t get the government to just keep everyone home for two months so we could have been done with this ages ago, but we can sure as hell have the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB do their thing while others have been out of work for months.

Favorite Quote:

Natalie: Fellas, I’ve got some bad news.
Casey: There’s no bad news tonight, Natalie. When the show comes down, Danny and I are hopping in a limo, heading down the Garden State Parkway, and getting off at an exit clearly marked ‘The Zone’.
Natalie: That’s great Casey, but all those things you just said?
Casey: Yeah.
Natalie: Not gonna happen.
Natalie breaking the bad news to the boys.

“I was never even in it!”: As an avid poker player, and someone who grew up not far from Atlantic City, I truly adore this episode. Jeremy and Natalie have their first fight, Dan and Casey plan to gamble but then get stuck doing the West Coast Update, we meet Sally, Isaac is shrinking, and we see just how amazing of a producer Dana is. Sally is such a wonderful opposite to Dana and she’s tall and ambitious to boot. She’s stuck doing the West Coast Update, which runs at 2 a.m. , but she gets to snag Dan and Casey once her usual anchors are stuck at the airport. Dan is “in the zone”, but quickly loses his mojo once they start to play poker with the rest of the crew. Dana gives Isaac an infinite amount of shit regarding his getting shorter, and as a person who is 5’0″, I completely understand his snark right back at her.

Jeremy with a giant stack of chips while he checks his cards. — *“Natalie, listen to me. You’ve lost a lot of money to me tonight. You’re basically going to be living the rest of your life on a charitable grant from the Jeremy Goodwin Foundation.”*

My two favorite bits of this episode, though, revolve around Jeremy/Natalie and Dana/Casey. Dana always looks out for Casey and he doesn’t quite realize that Sally’s just not in Dana’s league until he really looks at the rundown. He finally asks, begs, and pleads with Dana to fix it… which she does. It’s so fun to see how she takes command and knows just what to do to make the show bearable for Dan and Casey. Natalie is mad at Jeremy for spending their day off with some of his friends, one of whom is a woman. Jeremy also beats the hell out of Natalie and, well, everyone at poker. He tries to explain to her that he’s not bluffing, she doesn’t believe him, and then they apologize to each other for their behavior. Jeremy tries to be strong and take a break for the night, but then Natalie taunts him by expressing interest in wearing one of his shirts to bed… and he totally gives in. I love their relationship so much because they’re bonkers and adorable and totally in lust with each other, but in a very pure way too. SHOE MONEY TONIGHT!

TA Out!

Sports Night: “The Quality of Mercy at 29K”

Date: February 6, 2021

Season 1, Episode 9

Music Video of the Day: Happy 6th Day of Black History Month!

“I want you to know I really adore you.”

Interstellar News: Today was a bad news day. The cats, however, have two new cat towers and absolutely love them.

Favorite Quote:

Casey: You’re not going to solve everybody’s problems. In fact, you’re not going to solve anybody’s problems, so you know what you should do?
Dan: What?
Casey: Anything. As much of it and as often as you can.
Casey and Dan discussing disposable income.

“Not fit for man nor beast out there, but here I am.”: I’ve always loved this episode and most of it is for the journey Dan goes on here. He’s young, white, and privileged, and he knows it in some ways but doesn’t in others. In the same vein as “Thespis“, he completely misses the whole point of giving. When you have more than you need, what does it hurt to give to a fellow human who may be down on their luck? So what if a homeless person buys booze instead of a meal, it’s their choice and their life. If that makes you uncomfortable, you can always buy them a meal directly or give to research or some other charity and let them decide how best to use the money.

The peak of Mount Everest — *“Jeremy: How many of what kind of thing would we have to line up end to end? Elliot: 29,000 rulers.”*

The episode also focuses on a group climbing Mount Everest. It really is amazing what we can do, but it’s also interesting what we put emphasis on. Humanity has put so much stock and focus into entertainment that sports have become less about athletics and more about achievement, and there are even whole careers focused on reporting on about those achievements and dissecting them. I realize that I’m writing about a fictional show that is also a form of entertainment and also that we need distraction, especially in today’s world. It’s always bothered me that in America, and other parts of the world, there is such a high value placed on entertainment and much less is placed on education, volunteerism, or even health and welfare. I know I’ve bitched about these in past posts, but this episode really highlights to me that there are more important things in the world… and why aren’t we trying to do the incredible each and every day?

TA Out!

VOY: “Pathfinder”

Date: February 5, 2021

Season 6, Episode 10

Music Video of the Day: Happy 5th Day of Black History Month!

“I’m like a calculus problem you just can’t solve / Study me well if you wanna get involved /
And even after that I’m still unpredictable / Now who am I? I’m unforgettable”

Interstellar News: If you’re not watching WandaVision, you really need to. Episode 5 requires a lot of tissues. Also I washed, dried, and folded four loads of laundry today. Go me!

TL;DR: At least two years after First Contact, Barclay is working at Starfleet Headquarters and has Troi over while she’s on shore leave. He’s become obsessed with Voyager, is as awkward as ever, and is back to his old holodeck tricks. He believes there’s a way to make two-way contact with Voyager, but he winds up getting thrown off the project. Troi offers to take some leave to help Barclay work through this, but he breaks into the lab instead and enacts his plan without authorization. His plan works, Voyager and Starfleet are able to communicate, and Barclay even starts a relationship with a woman named Hope… who also likes cats!

pathfinder (game) — *This is not the Pathfinder you were looking for…*

Favorite Quote:

Barclay: Has it ever occurred to you that a tachyon beam directed at a class B itinerant pulsar could produce enough gravimetric energy to create an artificial singularity?
Troi: I can’t say it has.
Troi looks technobabble in the face and doesn’t let it bother her one bit.

2019 red nissan pathfinder car — *Also, not the Pathfinder you were looking for…*

“You did what you could. Now it’s time to let Starfleet worry about Voyager. We need to take care of you.”: I didn’t realize how much I needed this episode until it was finished. We’re almost halfway through the sixth season and it’s almost six years that Voyager has been lost in the DQ, and it’s only been a year since Starfleet even knew they were (mostly) all still alive. We’ve been following along with Voyager for so long and there have been very few bits in the AQ, it just feels like the perfect time. Barclay is also the perfect person to be on this project because he is so damned awkward, but also super smart, and his method of an interactive diagnostic makes it so that he is invested in the project. Troi, showing her counseling prowess, tries to explain that Barclay is just as important as the crew of Voyager and he needs to follow the chain of command. I love that Barclay names his cat Neelix, that the real Neelix was going to take singing lessons from Seven until she decided there was no helping him, and that in Barclay’s simulation the Maquis outfits are super spiffy. I’ll admit, I teared up at the end when Admiral Paris spoke to the crew and to his son. Two dings on this episode, though. You can’t abandon ship in only 20 seconds and the security nerds of Starfleet have no idea how to keep their rogue engineers out of anything. The secondary embarrassment was also a bit hard to watch at times, but that’s mostly because Barclay is super, duper awkward. Despite those, I generally just adored this episode and give it 8 rounds of poker in the mess hall.

TA Out!