Star Trek Tuesday: A Weekly Episode Review.

[vaportrailer]

"The Apple" today, where the crew lands on a sinister Garden of Eden.

 

Yesterday was the alternative universe episode with evil goatee-wearing Spock.

 

Great stuff.

 

"Steppin' out to Eden - yea brother!

Taste the fruit and throw away the rind - yea brother!"

Boy, that Adam guy sure could grin!

 

And Spock jams hard on that bicycle wheel. Lays it down Vulcan-style! :guitar:

 

Going thru them on Netflix, with all the extra-special efx. Just watched "The Doomsday Machine" (the big ice cream cone that eats planets). Highly entertained. :ebert:

[goose]

"The Apple" today, where the crew lands on a sinister Garden of Eden.

 

Yesterday was the alternative universe episode with evil goatee-wearing Spock.

 

Great stuff.

 

"Steppin' out to Eden - yea brother!

Taste the fruit and throw away the rind - yea brother!"

Boy, that Adam guy sure could grin!

 

And Spock jams hard on that bicycle wheel. Lays it down Vulcan-style! :guitar:

 

Going thru them on Netflix, with all the extra-special efx. Just watched "The Doomsday Machine" (the big ice cream cone that eats planets). Highly entertained. :ebert:

:cheers:

[Del_Duio]

I watched two Neelix-centric episodes of VOY on Friday night.

Now although this sounds like a horrible experience they were actually both very good:

 

S4's Mortal Coil

A shuttle accident kills Neelix (yes, for real) and he's brought back to life through Seven's Borg nanotechnology. It would've been a by the numbers episode but they really went in depth about how he didn't experience the afterlife he was always brought up to believe in. Some pretty powerful stuff. Voyager CAN do awesome shows the problem is they just never did enough of them.

 

S7's Homestead

Voyager finds a colony of Talaxians (Neelix's people) about a kabillion miles away from there they're supposed to be, at the center of a huge asteroid. The people are in trouble of course because some local aliens are mining the asteroid belt and are on a deadline, so the Talaxians will have to move. While issues with forced relocation have been done before a few times on Trek (TNG did it at least twice and Insurrection did too) this time around it was with a more personal touch in regards to the Neelix character. You could see the ending coming a mile away, but it didn't detract from a good story. It was nice seeing the Tuvok / Neelix dynamic back again a couple times, something that I felt got put on the back burner as VOY gradually turned into the "Seven and Doctor show".

[KenJennings]

I watched two Neelix-centric episodes of VOY on Friday night.

Now although this sounds like a horrible experience they were actually both very good:

 

S4's Mortal Coil

A shuttle accident kills Neelix (yes, for real) and he's brought back to life through Seven's Borg nanotechnology. It would've been a by the numbers episode but they really went in depth about how he didn't experience the afterlife he was always brought up to believe in. Some pretty powerful stuff. Voyager CAN do awesome shows the problem is they just never did enough of them.

 

S7's Homestead

Voyager finds a colony of Talaxians (Neelix's people) about a kabillion miles away from there they're supposed to be, at the center of a huge asteroid. The people are in trouble of course because some local aliens are mining the asteroid belt and are on a deadline, so the Talaxians will have to move. While issues with forced relocation have been done before a few times on Trek (TNG did it at least twice and Insurrection did too) this time around it was with a more personal touch in regards to the Neelix character. You could see the ending coming a mile away, but it didn't detract from a good story. It was nice seeing the Tuvok / Neelix dynamic back again a couple times, something that I felt got put on the back burner as VOY gradually turned into the "Seven and Doctor show".

 

I actually very much enjoy Neelix. I feel like his character arc was one of Voyager's most complete. His character may have been a little annoying, but he had more depth than others. More than anyone else on the crew, Neelix had been through some awful shit- so it makes sense that he would drastically overcompensate and constantly grasp at strands of optimism and cheerfulness.

 

Mortal Coil and Homestead are both excellent Neelix episodes though. The final moment between Neelix and Tuvok stands up as one of my favorite heartwarming moments in all Star Trek.

 

One other very good Neelix episode I'd reccomend is Season 1's "Jetrel" it delves a little bit more into his backstory.

[goose]

Watched Galileo 7 today. A cool episode where Spock is the main guy.

[goose]

City on the Edge of Forever today. McCoy goes nuts, Jim falls in love with Joan Collins, and a time travel ethical dilemma.

[JohnRogers]

City on the Edge of Forever today. McCoy goes nuts, Jim falls in love with Joan Collins, and a time travel ethical dilemma.

Definitely a top five episode of TOS if not all Trek.

[goose]

City on the Edge of Forever today. McCoy goes nuts, Jim falls in love with Joan Collins, and a time travel ethical dilemma.

Definitely a top five episode of TOS if not all Trek.

McCoy gone amok is classic.

[KenJennings]

Jean-Luc Picard: a great "TV Dad".

 

 

I really enjoyed this video.

[JohnRogers]

Star Trek's 15 Darkest Episodes...

http://screenrant.com/darkest-star-trek-episodes-ever-all-time-ranked/

[Del_Duio]

Star Trek's 15 Darkest Episodes...

http://screenrant.co...ll-time-ranked/

 

I like this list, even if it's missing a few obvious ones (well, to me):

 

Night Tremors (TNG)

Empok Nor (DS9)

 

Otherwise I'm glad something aside from In The Pale Moonlight made the #1 spot (even if it's #2).

[KenJennings]

Otherwise I'm glad something aside from In The Pale Moonlight made the #1 spot (even if it's #2).

 

I've always thought Duet was just as overrated... and overall not as good. In the Pale Moonlight is definitely overrated, but it is a truly fantastic episode.

 

The Siege on AR-558 (and more so, it's direct sequel "It's Only a Paper Moon") are teriffic though. Nog really became a stand-out in the final season of DS9. I also quite like the list's addition of Course: Oblivion, one of Voyager's most depressing stories, when you really think about it.

 

I think there were some missed opportunities with episodes like Pre-Emptive Strike (TNG), The Alternative Factor (TOS) and Tuvix (VOY); all of which feature very torn, very unsettling conclusions. Enterprise also has some surprisingly dark episodes, mostly in its third season: Damage, in particular, deals with one of the most unsettling decisions my a Trek captain ever.

Edited March 9, 2017 by KenJennings

[Del_Duio]

Otherwise I'm glad something aside from In The Pale Moonlight made the #1 spot (even if it's #2).

 

I've always thought Duet was just as overrated... and overall not as good. In the Pale Moonlight is definitely overrated, but it is a truly fantastic episode.

 

The Siege on AR-558 (and more so, it's direct sequel "It's Only a Paper Moon") are teriffic though. Nog really became a stand-out in the final season of DS9. I also quite like the list's addition of Course: Oblivion, one of Voyager's most depressing stories, when you really think about it.

 

I think there were some missed opportunities with episodes like Pre-Emptive Strike (TNG), The Alternative Factor (TOS) and Tuvix (VOY); all of which feature very torn, very unsettling conclusions. Enterprise also has some surprisingly dark episodes, mostly in its third season: Damage, in particular, deals with one of the most unsettling decisions my a Trek captain ever.

 

Only a Paper Moon is REALLY good.

On paper if you were to say that 96% of an episode was only going to feature Nog and Vic I'd be worried but boy did they really nail his PTSD.

 

I mean if you take something like Children of Time in where Odo essentially kills 8000 people because of Kira that's pretty dark too!