Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Gravity was actually probably funnier than Rimmerworld but then it isn't difficult to be funnier than a Red Dwarf Series 7 episode . I watched Gravity today on Virgin1 and thought it was a solid episode. Not as brilliant as the previous one but still a solid piece of TV.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Bride of Chaotica is one of the few episodes between "Timeless" and "Dark Frontier" that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish without any reservations or issues interrupting my enjoyment. It isn't a classic but it is a fun hour and probably the only one or one of two episodes by Fuller and Taylor I liked. I'd give it 3 stars out of 4. Gravity's biggest sin was being boring. It isn't bad but just not the least bit interesting. I've never cared much for Tuvok and episodes like this certainly didn't help. I can never really muster the investment emotionally in a romance that is only going to last an hour especially when there is no chemistry. I think the only one I can is TNG's "Lessons" between Picard and Neela Darren. The jeopardy plot lacked any suspense or urgency. The antagonists were bland. The flashbacks weren't the least bit informative or interesting and to top it off I had learned of the big Dark Frontier telefilm coming up and needed something more enjoyable than Gravity to displace that anticipation. I'd give it 2 stars out of 4. C'mon "Dark Frontier"--the only beacon among a slump of mediocrity in season five.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager I don't know, Lori Petty is certainly one of the more unusual guest actors to show up on Trek, and I thought she was just fine in this role (acknowledging that that doesn't seem to be the majority opinion on this episode).
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager I thought Lori Petty was cute and endearing as Noss, she made the most out of a thin character.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Bride of Chaotica! * (I must be the only Janeway fan in this quadrant, who doesn't like Arachnia at all.) Gravity ***½
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Maybe I'm supposed to watch each season twice... The Vulcan reset switch!
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Urgh, I disliked this episode upon first and second viewing and years later I still dislike it. Upon watching the teaser at the beginning I thought that we were going to get a real insight into Tuvok's past/childhood/whatever but it turns out upon episode's ending that the flashbacks are just pointless and boring wastes of time. The romance was also a non-event. About the only good thing this episode has to offer is the lesser seen away team combination of Tom and Tuvok (with the Doctor) which worked quite well. Oh and the location/scenery was pretty too.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager You're right, I dunno why I typed that. I adore the first 2 series but then the show really lost it's way .
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager I would have thought you were mad for saying that three months ago but recently I attempted to rewatch RD and I stopped at the end of the third season. The first two seasons were better than I remembered, it was like the odd couple in space, but then I found that third season to be a let-down. I know that seasons 3-5 are considered the high-point of the show, but I have much more respect for seasons 1&2 now. Bliss (*½) I was on the coast road and then I turned left but I took the wrong road. I ended up in the town I was trying to get to but I reached it from a different angle, that's how I went left instead of right. Then I found myself on the main roadway that I thought I had already passed and there was no signs indicating which way was which, so I went right in an attempt to get back to the town again but instead I ended up in a different town from a different angle. It turns out I was heading north when I thought I was going south!!! That's a story of a drive I took three weeks ago which went awry, and I bring it up because I found this episode of Voyager to be so boring I ended up trying to trace the journey of three weeks ago on my laptop rather than pay attention to the episode. Does anyone really believe Voyager is getting home? Does anyone really believe Voyager is going to remain trapped in the space monster? Did anyone care about what was happening on screen? Because I didn't.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Red Dwarf hasn't aged too well. You're both right that the first two seasons are probably the freshest, since they are based more on character and situation than sci-fi plots. For the first two years, it was a sitcom that just happened to be set in space. It's like Porridge, even with the same dynamic with the bunks. Series three onwards becomes a sci-fi parody, which just isn't quite as good. I loved it at the time though. Bliss was okay. That's about it really. Speaking of Red Dwarf, it's a rip-off of Psirens.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Couldn't this apply to every episode of TOS though? You know everytime the ship or crew are in danger nobody's really gonna die but the journey is more interesting than the pay-off. I watched thie episode today too and it was pretty average, Seven of Nine isn't a very interesting character so her centrics tend to be uninvolving for me.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager I don't know, there's still a lot of sci-fi going on in those first two seasons. 102 Future Echoes: They see time-displaced visions of themselves. 105 Confidence and Paranoia: A radiation leak causes anthropomorphic personifications of Lister's confidence and paranoia. 106 Me²: A second Rimmer hologram is activated. 202 Better than Life: They spend time in a VR game. 203 Thanks for the Memory: Lister gives Rimmer the memory of one of his girlfriends. 204 Stasis Leak: They go back in time. 206 Parallel Universe: They go to an alternate universe where they're women. There was still a lot of sci-fi but the humour was more centred on the characters than it was in later series. Maybe 4 & 5 are better, I'll probably get back to watching them eventually. Which is why TOS relied upon having interesting characters and played upon the dynamic of the various characters. This episode could have been good if it had focused on the crew and their desire to get home rather than Seven's sceptical approach to things.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Trivia: The actor who played the alien in "Bliss" also played the head of the Vulcan Science Academy who insults Spock's human heritage in Star Trek XI (source). I like his work, so that's one point in favor of "Bliss".
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Bride of Chaotica: 3/4. Good dumb fun and a nice change of pace. Gravity: 3/4 I love the location, in fact I liked it so much that I have it an extra point. Other than that, a solid but forgettable ep. I have to weigh in on Red Dwarf. I'd go even further and say that for me season 1 is by far the best. Season 1 is just all about two characters talking. I feel like after that the series got progressively wacky to it's detriment. But I still enjoyed it quite a bit (up to the last season or two where it really went downhill hard).
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Ya know, I really like "Latent Image." But part of me wonders if it might have had more resonance had it been a follow-up to Tuvix. Same thing, only Janeway had wiped D-Shmull's memory because he'd had a recursive loop whatsis because he didn't stop her from deintegrating Tuvix. Or is that a can of worms best not opened? "Death to the opposition!" I can hear Worf say that (and of course "Find him and kill him!") in my head and it is literally making me laugh out loud even now, and I don't give a flying frog fuck about baseball. (BTW, your name is Steve? I feel so... deceived. ) I see where you're coming from. I like "Chaotica" as a tune-out/tune-in experience. I can also see what you meant regarding Mulgrew chewing the scenery as Arachnia instead of as Janeway as Arachnia. (I got a flash of her in "Throw Momma From the Train" for some reason there.) I think DG said it well: I thought the romance was just silly. I could see Noss falling for Tuvok and him being unwilling/unable to reciprocate, thus leading us to the flashbacks. I actually enjoyed the flashbacks much more than any of the rest of the episode. It again seemed to be a case of too much bun, not enough meat. I will concede that. Tank Girl! Artillery, redirect rotten vegetables at Tachyon. Prepare to fire at my command. Yeah. I like the dude who played the episode's Ahab, but it was really pretty boring, generic "space monster" fare. He was also the Commandant of Rura Penthe in Star Trek VI.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Latent Image *** Don't love it. Don't hate it. But I find parts of it annoying, and other parts enjoyable. Bride of Chaotica! *** I too enjoyed this episode more the 2nd time around. Gravity ** Boring. Will never be watched again. Bliss * Didn't like it the first time. Liked it less the 2nd time.
Re: A Hater Revisits Voyager Is 'Bliss' the one where the space 'monster' makes the crew think they're going home - except for Seven and Naomi because they don't actually want to go to Earth? Yeah, that one was a bit pants. VOY is going through a rough patch at the mo.