Finally had a chance to sit down and watch Part II. After the really good set up in Part I, I was really looking forward to this. The first part was really chilling, and the horror conveyed by the blood worms was extremely effective. The opening battle with the Klingon ship was also really very exciting and well shot. I'm going to miss Andy Bray greatly. The relationship between Peter and Freeman was well brought across.
On to part II: I can't help but feel a little disappointed that the same standard was not reached. Like others have commented, it seemed padded in parts. The Klingon subplot never felt necessary. Kargh spends most of his time watching TV, with a few quips spoken to remind us he's still there. It felt rather like scenes were included to bring in John Carrigan once again. Strangely enough, while I loved him in "In Harms Way" as Kirk's first officer in the alternate timeline, I've never been as satisfied with him as a main timeline Klingon. The performances never seemed as lively. Either way, the Klingon subplot could have either been tightened or excluded altogether with no negative impact to the story.
Freeman's suicide was pretty much expected, but happened a little soon for me. The only real surprise was that he was dead as the episode hit the halfway mark. This left the rest of the episode filled by the Klingon plot and the "evil scientist" storyline. Neither of these were as compelling. My only issue with Freeman's death, and Peter's screaming, was more technical than storywise: it was obvious a few lines were looped more than once to pad out Peter's wailing. I didn't think it was all that necessary - being a fan of "less is more." A few lines of Peter's crying could have been cut and made the impact as strong. It was a lead weight (intentionally) to fade out on his sobs, but would it really have been blasted across the bridge? And would Kirk have to give the order to shut it off more than once? Maybe, but it felt dragged.
I enjoyed Bobby Rice's performance for the most part. I look forward to seeing him in future episodes where he's not in emotional agony.
The "evil scientist" plot was a little "meh" probably because of the completely over done performance. Denise Crosby was fine, but her role was underwritten and her sacrifice was less powerful because we didn't get to know her. Her subsequent transformation was very nicely done, however, the shot of her flying about outside seemed to go on a little too long. There really is a huge feel of padding in this part. This would have been fine as a standard length episode with the blood worm / love story - and that's it. Kirk's final scene with Peter could have been shorter, too.
McCoy's excitement in creating the cure and rattling things off to his nurse was great - but the argument with Kirk in the transporter room was over the top. It wouldn't have been had there been a conversation leading up to Bones' adversarial attitude. I know, he's an old friend and can anticipate Kirk's objections, but "real" McCoy wouldn't have just exploded on him. A few lines of dialog of Kirk objecting, culminating in him ordering Bones off the pad would have been a good enough trigger for the shouting. Bones usually doesn't get in Kirk's face without provocation - the guy IS the captain, friend or not.
I'm really getting used to James Cawley in the role. It took a while, if only because Shatner's Kirk is generally pretty bold and larger than life, while Cawley's Kirk is more low key. Acting styles are different and that's fine. But then we get the shout of "Kargh you FOOL!" which seemed very out of character for this Kirk. It was also not properly motivated. Like the McCoy scene, this outburst didn't have an appropriate lead in. Maybe toning it down a little would have worked, but I think more dialog would have helped.
Some of the music placement was redundant, with a few cues edited to be much longer than originally, which was obvious to me (film and TV scores are my main musical interest). Again, part I was superior in that regard.
It's hard to keep your actors when you can't pay them. So changes in key players is to be expected. It's a shame it has to be someone as important as Spock. While I was not Jeff Quinn's biggest fan, I did very much enjoy his work in "World Enough and Time." Still, I was looking forward to Ben Tolpin, who looked more appropriate. Sadly, his Spock is very nasal and whiny. I was disappointed. I am looking forward to Brandon Stacey's performance, hoping the third try is the charm.
I know this is coming off as a huge batch of criticism, please realize that I really enjoyed the first part and loved WEAT. I was really used to that standard of story and direction, and felt that Part II really fell short of the bar you have set and raised. Honestly, IMO, the biggest issue is in the pacing and editing.
However, it was really amazing to finally see Cawley's Kirk haul off a clout a guy. Just dial down the sound effect a little. ;-)
If I can suggest something, or at least tell you what I would like: stronger stories involving your three major characters. There has been a tendency to give the lion's share of the story to your guests, which kind of makes sense if you want to entice them. But I'd love to see a Kirk/Spock/McCoy heavy episode, where they do what they do to solve the episode's problem. Spock has really been shortchanged, with very few good scenes with Kirk and McCoy. And more DeSalle. He rocks. Ron Boyd is my favorite supporting guy.
Other strengths: new Uhura - she's great and gorgeous. Effects: top class, thanks for no longer using the "shooting the Enterprise out of a slingshot" type warp-out.
Oh, I know most people loved the design of the other ship, but I don't get it. It looks like the saucer was beamed in the middle of the drive section, upside down. It was just weird… Having said that…
Thanks for making it. All of it.
