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.
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. 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. 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.
Wow. Epic undertaking. I thought I was being nerdy watching the entire x-files season 1-9 in order of airdate
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. That's next.
I liked Harry Mudd, so it was too bad for me. The worse is yet to come, for me. OT, how does one pronounce your screen name? It drives me mad!
Both the a at the beginning and the double a are pronounced ah, like in "AAARG!". How do you pronounce your name?
Well, that certainly makes the difference. I couldn't stand Mudd, I thought the actor was overacting horribly (one of my least favorite performances in TOS) and that they were trying to make him into a 'lovable rogue' and it didn't work, not for me anyway. Rogue sure, but lovable, nope. I didn't mind I, Mudd and found that it had some enjoyable moments, despite Mudd rather than because of him, but Mudd's Women is the worst season 1 episode for me. Many others think it's The Alternative Factor, which is also a stinker, but that one is just pointless, while Mudd's Women is annoying. Nevertheless, season 1 is really strong overall, there are a few stinkers but far less than in season 2 and 3, and you have some great episodes just ahead, and then especially a great stretch of episodes towards the end of the season (in production order that you're using, that is).
Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “The Enemy Within” Trek Installment # 98 Grade: C- Viewing Date: November 29, 2009 So good Kirk is lazy and evil Kirk is a drunkard. I can’t say I liked this one much better than its predecessor. It had some interesting qualities. I have a lot of trouble looking past the idea that a transporter can diverge two separate personalities, magic ore or not. But looking past that, it does bring up some interesting questions about a man needing both his ‘good’ side and his ‘bad’ side to keep the other in check. I really enjoyed the hunt for evil Kirk in Engineering. Actually, the look and feel of Engineering was a nice high point, giving it a larger feel than what we’d see later. It kinda reminded me of Engineering in Star Trek 11, except without the beer smell. I liked Sulu’s up-beat attitude on the planet. But why don’t they just send down a shuttle for the crew? Or use another transporter? And the end, when Spock said that evil Kirk had some “interesting qualities” to Rand, I cried foul. Evil Kirk tried to rape her, but because he was crushing on her, that’s okay? What? Am I the only that got that out of that line? Season one is great, with some strong homeruns . . . but there are definetly some that are just not up to par. Mudd's Women, I dunno, it just kinda fun. Dorky, kinda stupid, but fun at least.
You're certainly not the only one to be annoyed by that line. Here's just the latest thread about it in the TOS section of the forum: http://trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=112975 That's that good ole 60s sexism for you again It's the most annoying and outdated part of TOS. Fortunately it doesn't pop up in every episode, not to that extent, anyway, but when it does, it really is grating. Apart from that line, I quite liked the episode. The basic premise was, of course, silly (and it's hilarious that Bad!Kirk wore eyeliner ) but it had good character moments and I liked what it said about people people having a civilized and an animalistic side, and needing both of them combined to function.
I don't understand this. I've read tons of other threads and I seem to be the only getting trolled like this. What the hell?
Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “The Man Trap” Trek Installment # 99 Grade: B Viewing Date: November 29, 2009 I really enjoyed this episode. At times, Star Trek feels like it’s a pulpy short story and this one nailed it with “my ex-girlfriend is a shape-shifting salt monster from space!” It was a lot of fun and developed McCoy very well. The monster itself was freaking awesome. I wish we had seen more of that thing! The way it shape-shifted was pretty cool for that era, especially early on it when it looked like someone else to everyone. I certainly felt some sympathy for the poor guy – all it needed was a big bag of chips! There were some neat small scenes in here. I liked the botany lab and the scene with Sulu and Rand. The scene on the bridge with Uhura and Spock very much made me think of the Star Trek 11 and their romance there. The episode did a good job of dividing up attention between Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Rand, and Uhura. I really applaud them for that. It very surprising to see, I guess. The show came off as very progressive . . . except when it came to women.
That's something I wish they had done more. You see it in early episodes like The Man Trap, The Naked Time or Charlie X, and then the other characters pretty much fade into the background (though Scotty did get a bit more screentime occasionally) as the show starts to focus on Kirk/Spock/McCoy - don't get me wrong, they were great, but it wouldn't have hurt to give some attention to the other characters as well.
Exactly! Sometimes the characters given something to do, but much past those episodes, those little scens with the secondary characters are lost. ---- Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “The Naked Time” Trek Installment # 100 Grade: A - Viewing Date: November 29, 2009 100 episodes! Yay! Anyways, this was huge one with lots of character revelations and explorations. Spock’s emotional break-down after having to reject Nurse Chapel was just awesome. Nimoy did such a good job at portraying this frank and rather jarring sequence. Additionally, I really enjoyed Kirk’s struggle between command and Rand. Sulu’s palling around with Riley was appreciated as it further revealed more about Sulu – being into botany and fencing. Further, I liked Riley; this entire episode showed off the more community feeling of the crew. Uhura had some strong moments here – notably when Sulu tried to grab her and she broke free as well as when she took navigation. The revelations and exposure of these characters at their wildest helps us get an idea as to how they normally don’t behave. It’s kinda interesting. The decontamination scene in the transporter room reminded me of “how far they’ve come” considering the decon chamber back on the NX-01. The whole time warp thing at the end was a little strange and didn’t make a ton of sense outside of Spock’s crazy calculations. What was the point of that? Establish it so they can do it again? Strange.