Episode #,and Episode Name: 18 – “The Lights of Zetar” and 19 “Requiem for Methuselah”

Setting the Stage: I started around 7:00 pm, still watching Netflix and using their viewing order. Professor Zoom and Tempura were around, but tonight they were playing musical chairs with the lap of my husband and pretty much left me alone, which was actually very sad. Jazz and Loki got into a fight and then came to hang out on the coffee table for the last 15 minutes of the second episode. Tonight’s writing music is the Man of Steel soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, and yes, that makes it two nights of Zimmer in a row. He’s no John Williams, but it’s still excellent work. John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and Danny Elfman write some good, epic music and are fantastic composers.

Quick Summary with my Impressions: “The Lights of Zetar” starts out with the introduction of Lieutenant Mira Romaine, with whom Scotty has fallen head-over-heels in love with (it’s super adorable, at first) and a mission to head to Memory Alpha. On their way, there’s this weird “storm” of lights, and every crew person has a different reaction (unable to move their hands, their eyes, speak, etc.). Mira has the most adverse reaction and faints, but is revived by McCoy and feels just fine. In sickbay she is snippy with McCoy, though it’s not like he has the best bedside manner either, and Scotty is adoring but also condescending. Sulu, or possibly Chekov, note that the “storm” is heading straight for Memory Alpha. When the landing party beams down, it’s not a pretty sight and everyone is basically dead, yeesh. Mira has a Final Destination moment where she claims the storm is going to come back and kill them all, and right as Spock finishes telling her she is a hysterical woman, Sulu pipes in and confirms she’s correct – so they all beam back the Enterprise (although Mira is a little delayed).

The “storm” seems to be following the Enterprise, but Spock explains that there are actually lifeforms in the lights and somehow Mira is paired with them, as any damage to them effects her. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy convene to have an investigation into why Mira was targeted, with Scotty tagging along like a love-sick puppy. Apparently, the lights are the last surviving pieces of a civilization lost and they have been searching for someone to live in, and Mira fits the bill. Kirk has an idea, which works, and for the first time in Enterprise history – Spock, McCoy, and Scotty all agree on the next course of action.

My absolute biggest problem with this episode is how many times they refer to Lieutenant Mira Romaine as “the girl” or just “Mira”. Seriously, use her rank or at least refer to her by her last name, like you do EVERY OTHER CREW MEMBER! If I had made a drinking game for each time they had done that, I would not be around to write this post because I would be DEAD from alcohol poisoning! Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but I’d certainly be worse for wear. I started off really liking Scotty in love, it was super adorable, but then it became a little too much and he reminded me that we were in the late 1960’s and I’m so glad we’re not there anymore. I thought the plot was interesting, it was another mystery to be solved that kept even Spock on his toes. The ending, however, made absolutely no sense and things just seemed to work out because … reasons! That lands this episode with 3 very bald tires and a flat donut in the trunk.

“Requiem for Methuselah” starts off a bit grim, there’s fever and death spreading throughout the Enterprise. Good news is that there’s a medicine that can help on a nearby planet, score! Bad news is there’s already someone there who doesn’t want Kirk and crew to have it. Eventually the man, Flint, and the landing party come to terms and they adjourn to his home while his robot collects the herbs. Flint has quite the collection of art, music, and other such items. Spock admits to being almost envious AND has some brandy, it’s a red-letter day. As the robot goes off to process the medicine, Flint presents a blonde for Kirk, ahem… cough cough… I mean he presents Rayna to the landing party. McCoy is SUCH a dirty old man, and so fucking misogynistic, I can’t stand it. Kirk is also all “did you teach her that?” to Flint, like she can’t learn things on her own. Kirk is obviously quite taken with her. Spock plays the piano while Rayna and Kirk dance, and dance, and dance. I thought there was a medical emergency guys, come on – why does the dancing go on FOREVER?! This is almost as bad as the running from “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield“.

McCoy has a problem with the medicine as there’s something wrong with it, and Spock points out how many unknown priceless items there are… the plot thickens. Kirk is obviously bugged by who the hell Flint and Rayna are and Spock tries to keep Kirk’s attention on the mission of attending to the sick crew, man does Kirk have it bad. Turns out Flint is immortal, Rayna is an android, and Kirk is so in love that he forgets his good manners and has a legit physical altercation with Flint. Rayna can’t handle it and dies, because apparently love can kill an android? Back on the Enterprise, McCoy comes in to tell Spock and Kirk that Flint is dying and gives a speech about how sorry he feels for Spock to not know the glory of love – sigh. Spock unethically removes the memory of Rayna from Kirk’s sleeping form and we move on.

I don’t understand how, or why, Kirk falls so hopelessly in love with Rayna. Maybe because she’s a blonde in a season of brunettes? It comes out of left field, he looks like he’s been hit with a bag of hammers and practically drools as she is introduced to the landing party. When his ship or his crew is in danger, he is always on top of his game. He was able to kick the mind control of the kids in “And the Children Shall Lead”, dismiss the love tears of Elaan, and there are so many other examples where his duty completely overrides everything being thrown at him. So why now? Why her? Also, I am supposed to believe that Flint was all those famous people over the years and he’s going to just die after encountering the crew, the odds are astounding as I’m sure Spock could calculate for you. After one good episode yesterday, I had high hopes for these two tonight, and was sad because the plots could have been so much more interesting. This episode earns 3 really stale loaves of bread that you absolutely needed and don’t have time to run to the store and buy more.

TA Out!

Episode #,and Episode Name: 16 – “The Mark of Gideon” and 17 “That Which Survives”

Setting the Stage: This morning started out with a 7:00 am dentist appointment, but I can officially state I have gone 33 years and almost 2 months with no cavities! After work a nap was needed, but it allowed me to focus on the two episodes I watched tonight. I started around 6:00 pm, still watching Netflix and using their viewing order. Professor Zoom and Tempura were around, playing musical chairs with my lap for most of the evening. Puppy and kitty nurses are the best. Tonight’s writing music is The Dark Knight soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.

Quick Summary with my Impressions: “The Mark of Gideon” begins with the planet Gideon (I’m shocked I tell you, shocked), who has finally agreed to meet a Federation representative. However, it has to be Kirk and during the beam down process he’s stranded on the Enterprise that now appears to have been abandoned… dun dun dun. You can tell he’s quite concerned and confused and totally out of his element. Oh, voice over Kirk is back, great (rolls eyes). Gideon and the Enterprise are both now aware Kirk did not beam down, but no one knows why. Oh look, a brunette – or maybe a blonde, and Kirk believes someone has done this to them deliberately. There’s a lot of verbal sparring between Spock and the Gideon delegation, but at least the transporter works now… interesting. Spock is doing a lot of demanding this episode, I kind of like it. Why are there people watching Kirk make out with the mystery woman, and why does he not notice? Also, what’s up with his arm? Ah, now he sees the people and hears their heartbeats. Okay, now the Gideon delegation is watching Kirk like a damn TV show, kind of reminding me of The Truman Show. Spock decides to beam down to the original coordinates given, and realizes they had built an identical Enterprise. Apparently the people of Gideon are very pro-life, but also don’t really die or get sick, so they have kidnapped Kirk to infect the people and do some sort of weird population control? However, Spock and Kirk save the day, McCoy saves the girl, and away we go.

I don’t understand how a non-Federation planet was able to make an identical replica of the Enterprise, or why the planet didn’t just ask the Federation for help by taking on some of their inhabitants? I mean, especially if you’re so pro-life you won’t even consider contraception or natural family planning, the least you can do is send your people out into the world. I’m also confused by how people sleep, eat, and ya know – do the “not family planning thing” if there are SO MANY PEOPLE they are all horded together. I find that when I start looking critically at these episodes to write about them, I begin to have way more questions than answers. Maybe, however, that’s the point. I do want to know more about how Gideon came to be like that and if whatever they were doing worked, did they eventually turn to the Federation? Well I’m not that intrigued, but enough that I give this episode three and a half nicely ripe mangoes.

“That Which Survives” begins with intrigue. There’s a young planet that is confusing even to Spock, so Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, and the geologist D’Amato beam down – but a woman interrupts the beam down process and kills the operator. The Enterprise warps away and the landing party is now stuck on the planet. The Enterprise is apparently 990.7 light-years away from where it was. Scotty and Spock have this funny exchange and Sulu’s replacement is a sharp wit, I like her.

SPOCK: “In that case, Mister Scott, I suggest we start at once. Can you give me warp eight?”

SCOTT: “Aye, sir. And maybe a wee bit more. I’ll sit on the warp engines myself and nurse them.”

SPOCK: “That position, Mister Scott, would not only be unavailing but also undignified.”

from http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/69.htm

Now there is a long period on the planet where the landing party divides up and finds nothing, except D’Amato runs into the same woman, who then kills him the same way she killed the red shirt. Scotty thinks the ship feels wrong, despite the instrumentation showing all is well, so he sends one of the engineers to check something out and the woman shows up again, kills him, and then DEMATERIALIZES INTO THE WALL?! Sulu does not give into the wiles of this purple-clad woman, but when she touches Kirk nothing happens. Apparently, the Enterprise is going to blow up and Scotty says there’s nothing that can be done. Spock is slightly infuriating when he feels he needs to be exact and precise, especially because it doesn’t matter, although I understand why.

Scotty goes crawling around to try to fix what is going on, Spock is running a computer simulation, and Kirk, Sulu, and McCoy almost get blown up – what is going on? Usually by now we know what is happening, but I’m still super confused. The woman gives her name and that she is a commander, but feels conflicted about her orders to kill Kirk, and then she flips out and folds in on herself. She feels very computerized but also very human, and McCoy gets zero helpful readings, so the mystery persists. Back on the Enterprise, Scotty is dramatic and Spock has faith(?), or maybe has run the statistics, that Scotty can reverse the polarity, which he does. Oh snap, there are now three of the same woman, one for each of the landing party, when Spock beams down – just in the nick of time – with a red shirt who destroys the computer and doesn’t even get thanked for it. Apparently the planet was an outpost and the commander was waiting for others of her kind to come back – but they never did, and before she died she programmed the computer to secure the planet for anyone that was not of her race. While Spock was praising a woman for once, McCoy and Kirk speak only of her beauty and they all beam back to the ship, and this is why we can’t have nice things.

I liked the plot of this episode, I really liked Lieutenant Radha, and I genuinely enjoyed that Scotty was the one who offered to put his life on the line for the benefit of the crew. I also liked that I wanted to know what the hell was happening and there was a satisfactory, albeit sad, ending to the story. After what has felt like ALL THE BAD episodes this season, this was a good one. That being said, I’m not sure if it’s because everything else has been so bad that this just seems super spectacular, or if it really was just a good science fiction story. There are obviously a few problems with this episode, including the ending few lines and how Spock manages to show up just as needed. There’s also the rampant sexism, even when they are clearly going out of their way to try and be more inclusive, so it kind of washes out in some ways. For me, this episode earns a completely accuracy 7-day weather forecast.

TA Out!

Setting the Stage: Today consisted of: office hours, lunch meeting, more office hours, teaching, dropping off food for a friend, and sitting in on a student meeting for which I am their faculty advisor. This meant I walked in the door at 7:45 pm and was watching Star Trek by 8 pm, still watching via Netflix and using their viewing order. Husband and I ate dinner (repurposed leftovers for the win!) while Zoom had his iced pumpkin-filled Kong, and Tempura looked on with disdain. Jazz joined us for a bit and, to everyone’s surprise, Loki sat next to me for the last 10 minutes of the episode! Thor was curled up somewhere, ignoring all of us. Tonight’s music is brought to you by El Ten Eleven, off of their self-titled album.

Quick Summary with my Impressions: “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” begins with a mission: decontaminate the planet Ariannus. What happens instead is they come across a runaway space shuttle that had been stolen. They pull in the ship which has one inhabitant, a man who has half white skin and half black skin (think in terms of paint colors) who promptly collapses and is turned over to McCoy. When he comes to he claims to have only borrowed the craft and he swears he was going to return it as soon as he was done. His name is Lokai, no relation to this guy:

In the meantime, every sensor on the bridge identifies a ship – but no one can see it. We spend SO MUCH TIME trying to find the ship only to determine it’s probably invisible when it disintegrates and another alien beams aboard the ship. At first glance, he’s identical to Lokai. Upon further inspection I can see that the colors are opposite on Bele. Bele claims that Lokai is a murderer and a fugitive from their shared planet, Cheron. Bele seems a little more reasonable, until he continually argues with Lokai and then takes over control of the ship, with his mind no less. Kirk threatens to blow up the Enterprise and Bele calls his bluff, so we have Kirk give the first sequence, then Spock, and then Scotty (through gritted teeth), and then there’s the countdown. The passwords they all give are THE WORSE PASSWORDS EVER.

In true dramatic fashion, Bele concedes control and Kirk aborts the self-destruct, hoping both men will now learn more about the Federation and ultimately, peace. The Enterprise arrives at Ariannus and Scotty leads the decontamination. Once that is complete, Bele takes over the ship (and destroys a few things along the way), and Kirk is pissed! Once they are within visual range of Cheron, things get bad real quick. Apparently there is no evidence of life on the planet because the two factions warred each other to death and destruction. Lokai and Bele immediately turn on each other and then begin to chase each other through the ship. What seems like 10 days later, Loaki beams himself down to the planet’s surface, with Bele following a short time later. Everyone on the bridge is confused and Kirk is essentially like “screw it, we’re leaving”, so they leave.

This was absolutely a social commentary episode and very apropos, still, for today’s society. Don’t let the differences in someone’s outside appearance cause you to hate someone with every fiber of your being and certainly don’t let it dictate who is in charge, or superior, to someone who looks different. It doesn’t matter if it’s Sneeches with stars on their bellies or someone who butters their toast on a different side, because literally none of that matters. What matters is how we treat each other, kindness matters. Now that I’m off my soapbox (well, I mean I’m never off of it or you’d never be able to actually see me)… the plot was meh, and not really science-fictiony. I mean we get to see personal shields, invisibility cloaks for aircraft, and some mind control, but none of that was explored, it all just happened. Since everyone winds up dead at the end, it’s like we went through that whole episode for nothing, except maybe the meaning at the end of the parable. I was super stoked to see one of my favorite Riddler actors, Frank Gorshin, especially since I cosplay as Lady Riddler at cons! This, along with the ridiculous running scene that further reminded me of the Batman TV show, earns this episode all 4 seasons hitting at once in the same week.

TA out!

Setting the Stage: Happy February everyone! I started at 5:00 pm, still watching Netflix and using their viewing order. Due to the sportsball happening on Sunday, today was spent doing the usual Sunday chores; cleaning the house, doing laundry, grocery shopping, etc. I was all set to watch several Trek episodes, but life intervened. Husband and I finished one of the Babylon 5 movies, so we can wrap up that series, and then I hung out with a friend and watched some reruns of The Big Bang Theory. Fun fact, I cosplay as Amy Farrah Fowler sometimes. Anyway, we have the Tron: Legacy soundtrack keeping me writing tonight and a sleepy puppy to my right.

Quick Summary with my Impressions: “Whom Gods Destroy” begins with a mission of goodwill and health, as Kirk and Spock beam down with medicine that is supposed to get rid of mental illness once and for all. Where do they start? An asylum for the mentally ill, of course, with 15 of the most hopeless cases, including a former star ship captain, Garth, that was once an idol for Kirk. Apparently, though, Garth has learned the ability to transform into anyone and has taken over the facility; tricking Kirk and Spock in the process. Thankfully there are some security protocols and Scotty won’t disobey an order, so Garth has one hell of a temper tantrum before he is able to compose himself. There’s a very awkward dinner, with a lot of outbursts, and another green-skinned woman dancing. I’m having flashbacks to “The Cage” and “The Menagerie”, though this body make up is not done as well.

I had this chat with a friend the other night, but I believe Kirk to be an opportunist, rather than a complete perv and horn-dog. He’s a captain, so he can’t sleep with his subordinates, but he’s also on a five year mission to traverse the galaxy, so if a woman comes on to him it’s just a perk of the job. To each their own, I try not to judge, but I never see him make the first move. Kirk is also quite the diplomat and demonstrates the “I will only do violence if done to me first” quite well. Garth is totally crazy and can’t deal with Spock’s logic, but Kirk does have a hard time when it is not him being tortured and it’s the governor instead. Scotty keeps trying to figure out how to break in, and he’s suddenly worried Kirk and Spock might be dead. Just an episode or two ago, Scotty wasn’t worried at all and bad things were happening. Make up your mind, man! Kirk and Marta make out and then she tries to kill him, when Spock comes in and assists. Methinks it’s a trap, since why is Spock suddenly armed? Kirk knows something is up and tells Spock to give the countersign, but it’s crazy Garth… surprise surprise. More shenanigans, Spock plays dead to get the drop on the two goons, and the crazy man is now wearing a crown after killing his consort. Seriously, things took a turn quickly in this episode. Oh look, it’s twin Kirks and Spock has to try to figure out who is the real one and then it’s Kirk vs. Kirk’s stuntman. Spock figures it out, I’m shocked he does well at logic puzzles (insert sarcasm sign), and the medicine can now be injected. 

I kind of liked this episode, except for the ridiculousness of Garth. I mean he was WAY over the top, which I get because he’s supposed to be insane, but it was still past that. I did, however, believe he was insane which is a mark of good acting. Having seen other shows where they did the “there’s two of the same person and you have to figure out which and then they fight” thing, this was not the best, but I’m sure it was one of the first. In fact, I believed all of the inmates were insane and needed some assistance, so I’m glad most of them got it. I especially liked when Marta says ” No, you mustn’t stop me. He’s my lover and I have to kill him.” Seriously the best line in this episode, possibly all of Season 3. This episode earns itself 6 slices of pizza, straight from New York.

TA out!