There's an episode I'm longing to see. I hope that it, turns out to be...
"Someone to Watch Over Me"
I had a smile on my face the entire time this episode was on--I just loved it. Mercifully little technobabble, no contrived battle scenes, and no good vs. evil strawman moralizing. In the late 1990s, I think this was just about as good as Trek got.
It starts with Seven semi-stalking Paris and Torres, and Torres taking exception. This sparks a lively conversation between my wife and me about how, yes, if you were living with the same 150 people for five years, they probably would know your business. I loved Seven's barb about everyone on deck whatever knowing when they had intimate relations.
Then Scott Thompson shows up as an ambassador who Neelix is supposed to babysit, only he wants to walk on the wild side...which on Voyager means eating a lot, getting drunk, and going to the holodeck.
They dug the Chez Sandrines set out of storage, and certainly got their money's worth--I think about half the show takes place there. Curiously, I don't think there was a single scene on the bridge. Honestly, I don't miss it.
So basically the episode is the Doctor teaching Seven about romance, and along the way he develops an infatuation for his pupil. And that this is such a good episode is really a testament to the acting ability of Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan. They both absolutely nailed this one. And they both have lovely singing voices, which we fortunately get to hear quite a bit of.
(Did anyone else see Scott Bakula on Raw Nerve? I now understand why he thought he'd be getting to sing on Enterprise.)
The Doctor's slide show is awesome, as is the constant reference to discretely number lessons (Lesson 23: Toast of the Town, or something like that was one).
Scott Thompson (I never bothered to learn the character's name--he was just Scott Thompson to me) was pretty good, too, and he gave Neelix someone to play off of. Neelix is actually a pretty good straight man when he's paired with someone who's goofier (or drunker) than he is.
Harry did a pretty good job of masking his disappointment when he learned he wasn't on Seven's list. I wonder if "The Disease" had anything to do with that?
The scene where Seven approaches Lt. Chapman in the Jefferies tube was great comedy, as was their date. Brilliant how it ended with Chapman in Sickbay.
By the way, they did such a good job of setting up the Paris/Doctor bet that it wasn't until Seven learned about it at the party that I realized this was basically the same plot we've seen in a few teen movies.
There's a consistently high level of banter throughout the episode, really making it a joy to watch. Robert Duncan McNeill did a fantastic job directing, too; I see he also directed "Twilight," another one of my favorites that is also fundamentally a love story. Interesting.
There's really no limit to the great things I can say about this episode. Just phenomenal, and my favorite in quite a while.
"Someone to Watch Over Me"
I had a smile on my face the entire time this episode was on--I just loved it. Mercifully little technobabble, no contrived battle scenes, and no good vs. evil strawman moralizing. In the late 1990s, I think this was just about as good as Trek got.
It starts with Seven semi-stalking Paris and Torres, and Torres taking exception. This sparks a lively conversation between my wife and me about how, yes, if you were living with the same 150 people for five years, they probably would know your business. I loved Seven's barb about everyone on deck whatever knowing when they had intimate relations.
Then Scott Thompson shows up as an ambassador who Neelix is supposed to babysit, only he wants to walk on the wild side...which on Voyager means eating a lot, getting drunk, and going to the holodeck.
They dug the Chez Sandrines set out of storage, and certainly got their money's worth--I think about half the show takes place there. Curiously, I don't think there was a single scene on the bridge. Honestly, I don't miss it.
So basically the episode is the Doctor teaching Seven about romance, and along the way he develops an infatuation for his pupil. And that this is such a good episode is really a testament to the acting ability of Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan. They both absolutely nailed this one. And they both have lovely singing voices, which we fortunately get to hear quite a bit of.
(Did anyone else see Scott Bakula on Raw Nerve? I now understand why he thought he'd be getting to sing on Enterprise.)
The Doctor's slide show is awesome, as is the constant reference to discretely number lessons (Lesson 23: Toast of the Town, or something like that was one).
Scott Thompson (I never bothered to learn the character's name--he was just Scott Thompson to me) was pretty good, too, and he gave Neelix someone to play off of. Neelix is actually a pretty good straight man when he's paired with someone who's goofier (or drunker) than he is.
Harry did a pretty good job of masking his disappointment when he learned he wasn't on Seven's list. I wonder if "The Disease" had anything to do with that?
The scene where Seven approaches Lt. Chapman in the Jefferies tube was great comedy, as was their date. Brilliant how it ended with Chapman in Sickbay.
By the way, they did such a good job of setting up the Paris/Doctor bet that it wasn't until Seven learned about it at the party that I realized this was basically the same plot we've seen in a few teen movies.
There's a consistently high level of banter throughout the episode, really making it a joy to watch. Robert Duncan McNeill did a fantastic job directing, too; I see he also directed "Twilight," another one of my favorites that is also fundamentally a love story. Interesting.
There's really no limit to the great things I can say about this episode. Just phenomenal, and my favorite in quite a while.
)
