Treking through all Star Trek

[Start Wreck]

Gaith wrote:

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Really? I thought it had the dullest core cast by a long shot.

Yeah, I thought this too. But they're the sort of characters that grow on you, and they had some decent development in the final season.
Well, except for Mayweather. Poor Mayweather.

[thew40]

Start Wreck wrote:

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Yeah, I thought this too. But they're the sort of characters that grow on you, and they had some decent development in the final season.
Well, except for Mayweather. Poor Mayweather.

I felt the same way in the beginning, really, except for Trip and Hoshi. Unfortunately, they stopped developing Hoshi past the second or third episode and poor Mayweather had his real time in the sun in the last two episodes.

Like you said, the characters grow on you and develop nicely and by the end, they're fairly well-rounded. Kinda.

[thew40]

I had something else planned here, but I think I'm going to save it for my TOS review. It was about making the transition from ENT to TOS. But screw it. Here's "The Cage" . . .



Series: The Original Series – Season One
Episode: “The Cage”
Trek Installment # 94
Grade: B+
Viewing Date: November 27, 2009

One hundred years later . . .

Wow. Just . . . wow. This is going to take some time to get used to. Leaping from “Terra Prime” to “The Cage” was a bit of a transition. I actually laughed pretty loudly when I saw the warp effect. And Spock’s “THE WOMEN!” Awesome.

But that being said, this was a great episode. It did a great job of talking about sex without even saying sex. There’s a ton of subtly here and I really appreciated it. I love the look and texture of Talos. It comes across as so vast and different, even down to the weird noise-making plants. And Rigel XII looks and feels completely different as well. Kudos on giving us some different planets.

One major criticism is that it feels like it’s an episode from the middle of a season. Spock’s limping, they’re on their way to Vega colony, and there was a battle on Rigel VII. It’s a lot of continuity.

However, I loved the episode and the crew. Pike is a great character and very well acted by Jeffery Hunter. His morose attitude and eventual rise up from that when going against the Talosians was very well executed. I liked Number One and Colt a lot – and Boyce. One of my favorite scenes was Boyce in Pike’s quarters, making him a martini. Excellent scene, capturing both characters so well.

As much as I love Kirk and company, I certainly would have been just fine sticking with these guys for a while.

[apenpaap]

I am doing a chronological watch too (Watched The Undiscovered Country today), and I remember the jump from Terra Prime to The Cage being really weird indeed.

[thew40]

apenpaap wrote:

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I am doing a chronological watch too (Watched The Undiscovered Country today), and I remember the jump from Terra Prime to The Cage being really weird indeed.

It's a little difficult to reconcil the differences. I remember at one point someone hands Pike a paper read-out and I was like "huh?"

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Series: The Original Series – Season One
Episode: “Where No Man Has Gone Before”
Trek Installment # 95
Grade: B+
Viewing Date: November 27, 2009

I confess to having some difficulty grading this episode. It is of course tosses us into Kirk’s Enterprise, which is quite different to Pike’s and, of course, Archers. I guess it might be because I used to watch this episode all the time (it was one of the few original series episodes I had on tape) and so I knew it so well.

But it does a very good job of dropping us into the action. Kirk’s in command, Spock’s his pal, Scotty’s Scottish, Gary’s a nice guy, Doc’s old, Dehner’s a walking freezer unit, and hey, there’s Sulu. Also, Kelso maybe kind of a loser. The mission of going outside the galaxy seems a little strange and was kind of “wha?” moment for me, but it seemed to get derailed pretty quickly as a result of the energy barrier. I wish that energy barrier would have been mentioned or seen later, as it would have been interesting to explore that a little more. Why is it there? Where did it come from? Is it a natural thing or something artificial?

The episode does a decent job of dealing with what mankind could face if given the powers of a super-human or something. Gary really flies off the handle and goes apeshit, but it’s a pretty fun ride.

A nice introduction to the concept of Star Trek, though it doesn’t really serve as an introduction to the characters as well some of the other pilots. But that’s okay, I can live with that. Overall, a strong showing and good opening for Kirk and crew.

[thew40]

Series: The Original Series – Season One
Episode: “The Corbonite Maneuver”
Trek Installment # 96
Grade: A-
Viewing Date: November 29, 2009

So here we are. While the two previous episodes were the true pilots, this one felt like it was the true beginning of the original series. In addition to the now mainstay Spock and the usuals Kirk, Scotty, and Sulu, we finally get the rest of the crew. Uhura, McCoy, and, well, Sulu - but Sulu where he belongs. I really liked seeing them all together at last.

Character-wise, I loved the dynamic between Kirk and Spock and Kirk and McCoy. Kirk/McCoy especially during the scene in the turbolift and Kirk’s quarters. Spock and Bones aren’t quite yet at each others throats, but that’s okay.

I loved Kirk’s speech about the unknown after Balok said he was going blow them up. Awesome. The characters tensing up during and right after the countdown was well done. And, of course, the Corbonite gambit was smart.

Kirk’s slower, rational, and more deliberate way of handling situation is so different from what Archer would have done. It’s nice to have that change in pace after so long.

Bailey is the Redshirt of the episode, even though he doesn’t die. He’s a spaz. Spock bitches to him, makes fun of him, and even gets Sulu to laugh at him. Kirk gets on his case too. But for good reason – Bailey cracked like an egg under the pressure. However, Bailey comes around and in that, Kirk gives him another chance. We’re not really sure why – he just went to his quarters and got better, I guess.

Balok’s a badass . . . until he turns out to be Clint Howard.

A really fantastic episode. This was first one to really hook me and pull me in. Though I do have to ask – what exactly is up with Kirk not liking his female yeoman?

[apenpaap]

I liked the Carbomite Maneuver a lot too, but Balok is really a jerk. Even the name of the state he's from sounds pretentious. First Federation. "You guys may be the Fedearation, but we're the first federation!"

thew40 wrote:

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Though I do have to ask – what exactly is up with Kirk not liking his female yeoman?

Good old 60's sexism.

[I am not Spock]

I loved reading your Enterprise reviews. It was the most troubled Star Trek series, but you did an excellent job of summing up its strengths and weaknesses. I think it tried too hard to be like TOS or TNG in its first two seasons, but it became a different (and much better) show in three and four.

[thew40]

I am not Spock wrote:

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I loved reading your Enterprise reviews. It was the most troubled Star Trek series, but you did an excellent job of summing up its strengths and weaknesses. I think it tried too hard to be like TOS or TNG in its first two seasons, but it became a different (and much better) show in three and four.

I agree, though there are notable excpetions to the first two seasons.

[I am not Spock]

Oh yeah. Cogenitor and Future Tense being some of my faves from season two. There were some moments of greatness there. Also, the Borg episode turned out a lot better than I was fearing.

[Arix]

I just briefly read the past 11 pages, and wanted to say - I think you're doing an excellent job with your reviews!

My family owns all of Trek on DVD, though our collection started with Season 1 of TNG, and now I'm tempted to go back through and watch it all chronologically too!

Someone said a while back that they thought your reviews were too short - but I disagree, they provide a nice level of information and opinion. I've found other reviews in other people's threads to be a bit too long at times! Especially since I usually only visit these forums a couple of days a week, when I get the chance - so catching up on 20 or 30 pages of long reviews can be tedious!

I must admit that in hindsight (after seeing all of Trek) I dislike Enterprise, perhaps more than I should - but reading your review made me want to watch it a second time.

I wanted to finish by saying, I'm greatly looking forward to when you get up to TNG-era, its my favourite era of Trek, and TNG and DS9 are almost tied for my favourite series (DS9 is slightly better, only slightly though) - I'm looking forward to reading your opinions and am curious to see how your grading of the various seasons of TNG, DS9 and Voyager will compare with Enterprise.

[thew40]

Arix wrote:

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I just briefly read the past 11 pages, and wanted to say - I think you're doing an excellent job with your reviews!

My family owns all of Trek on DVD, though our collection started with Season 1 of TNG, and now I'm tempted to go back through and watch it all chronologically too!

Someone said a while back that they thought your reviews were too short - but I disagree, they provide a nice level of information and opinion. I've found other reviews in other people's threads to be a bit too long at times! Especially since I usually only visit these forums a couple of days a week, when I get the chance - so catching up on 20 or 30 pages of long reviews can be tedious!

The review length really depends on the episode. I actually have a hard time writing about good episodes, simply because 1) so many fans have already gushed about how good it is that I'd basically be repeating what they're saying; 2) I think it's just easier for me to pick on the flaws. That's not a solid rule, though. When I reviewed "What Are Little Girls Made Of?," the review is super-short bcause the episode was horrendous.

It also depends on how I'm watching the episodes. If you check out the viewing dates, you'll see that a lot of the time, I'll marathon the episodes, watching 3-4 in a row. That being said, this was easier with Enterprise because I had seen most of that series. TOS is a different beast and I've found that I sometimes need to really gather my thoughts after I watch an episode.

I must admit that in hindsight (after seeing all of Trek) I dislike Enterprise, perhaps more than I should - but reading your review made me want to watch it a second time.

Enterprise gets a bad rep. I would recommend a re-watch. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, there are some serious gems in seasons one and two. Seasons three and four does a little better in finding the series footing, although season three has its fair set of flaws.

I wanted to finish by saying, I'm greatly looking forward to when you get up to TNG-era, its my favourite era of Trek, and TNG and DS9 are almost tied for my favourite series (DS9 is slightly better, only slightly though) - I'm looking forward to reading your opinions and am curious to see how your grading of the various seasons of TNG, DS9 and Voyager will compare with Enterprise.

It's going to be very interesting when I finally do get to TNG and the other spin-offs. My guess is probably mid-Apirl. I'll be finishing up TOS season two this week, which means kicking off season three next week. It'll probably take me a month to six weeks to plow through that, TAS and the movies.

[superdeluxe]

Wow. Epic undertaking. I thought I was being nerdy watching the entire x-files season 1-9 in order of airdate

[thew40]

Series: The Original Series – Season One
Episode: “Mudd’s Women”
Trek Installment # 97
Grade: C-
Viewing Date: November 29, 2009

Oh! Swing and a miss!

Here are the lessons to be learned from this episode:

- Pimpin’ ain’t easy. Just ask Harry Mudd.

- Beauty in the eye of the beholder; beauty is only skin-deep; beggars can’t be choosers, etc.

- Scruffy, middle-aged miners in the future think they can get queens . . . when they’re not even married yet and have to depend on mail-ordered brides

- Spock’s heart is where his liver should be

I really wanted to like this episode. I did. I like Harry Mudd – a sort of con man in the future. The concept that there are still humans out that want to take your money and sell you a lemon is kinda refreshing. Swindling is a human characteristic and we can’t all be perfect. But ultimately, the failure is in the story. There’s nothing but air behind Mudd. Mudd is a great character, but the women are stupid, the miners are dumb, and that creepy guy at tactical is freaking me out.

Back to the Rigel system, huh? Egads, what a busy place.

superdeluxe wrote:

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Wow. Epic undertaking. I thought I was being nerdy watching the entire x-files season 1-9 in order of airdate

That's next.

[apenpaap]

Mudd's Women was IMO the worst episode of season 1, and I would give it an E at most.