I was one who really did not like the swap back to Alice Krige in "Endgame", just because I'd already let that Queen go, though I do consider her much better/more interesting/better fit for the Borg mythos/etc. The FC Queen is so alien and mysterious and sexy and slimy and weird but also recognizable -- the character is all the things! And it shouldn't work, yet it totally does.
The "Dark Frontier" and "Unimatrix Zero" Queen was just a different animal entirely, a campy soap villainess. Who I could really enjoy on those terms! But then that's what I need for the final smackdown.
Like, when I'm watching "Melrose Place" and I'm invested in the rivalry between Jane and Sydney, those are the two I need to fall into the pool during the crazy catfight. You can't swap another actress in for the big climactic catfight, it will have no resonance.
That's a key thing that makes "Endgame" so airlessly empty for me, it's not actually paying anything off. A future that gets erased, a return home we barely see, a climactic showdown between two actresses who we've never seen share the screen before -- there's nothing there!
This is an interesting idea! I've been thinking about what comes for the round after the "Most Disliked" games... like, am I going to feel like doing negative "why I HATE this" "Least Disliked" eliminations at any point in the next year or 2 or 3? This could be a fun variation for the longer lists, anything short we'd burn through too fast...
Anyway, but coming up next: "The Most Disliked Trek Couple." Hope to see everyone there!
MOST DISLIKED "WINNER"LOSERS, 2020
"HEY, THIS PLANET IS JUST LIKE EARTH!": TOS, Season 1: "Miri"
WRITER GENE RODDENBERRY: TOS, Season 2: "The Omega Glory"
WRITER D.C. FONTANA: TNG, Season 1: "Too Short A Season"
DIRECTOR CLIFF BOLE: TNG, Season 6: "Aquiel"
TREK NOIR: TNG, Season 6: "Aquiel"
SEASON PREMIERE: TNG, Season 7: "Descent, Part II"
PRIME DIRECTIVE: TNG, Season 7: "Homeward"
WRITER RONALD D. MOORE: TNG, Season 7: "Journey's End"
DIRECTOR LES LANDAU: TNG, Season 7: "Bloodlines"
LWAXANA: DS9, Season 1: "The Forsaken"
ROMANCE OF THE WEEK: DS9, Season 3: "Meridian"
FERENGI: DS9, Season 7: "The Emperor's New Cloak"
DIRECTOR WINRICH KOLBE: VOY, Season 2: "Elogium"
CARDASSIANS: VOY, Season 2: "Investigations"
HOLIDAY: VOY, Season 4: "Day Of Honor"
HOLODECK: VOY, Season 6: "Fair Haven"
DIRECTOR DAVID LIVINGSTON: VOY, Season 6: "Spirit Folk"
COMEDIC/LIGHT-HEARTED: VOY, Season 6: "Spirit Folk"
TIME TRAVEL/ANOMALY/LOOP: VOY, Season 6: “Fury”
MAQUIS: VOY, Season 7: "Repression"
BARCLAY: VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
Q: VOY, Season 7: "Q2"
BORG: VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"
LATIN TITLE: ENT, Season 1: "Terra Nova"
2-HOUR/2-PART: ENT, Season 1 & 2: "Shockwave"
VISIT TO EARTH'S "PRESENT": ENT, Season 2: "Shockwave, Part II"
KLINGONS: ENT, Season 2: "Marauders"
DIRECTOR MIKE VEJAR: ENT, Season 2: "Marauders"
HALLUCINATION/ILLUSION: ENT, Season 3: "Extinction"
VISIT TO EARTH'S PAST: ENT, Season 4: "Storm Front, Part I"
THR'S 100 GREATEST TREK EPS: ENT, Season 4: "Home"
CAST CROSSOVER: ENT, Season 4: "These Are The Voyages..."
DIRECTOR ALLAN KROEKER: ENT, Season 4: "These Are The Voyages..."
MIRROR UNIVERSE: DIS, Season 1: "What's Past Is Prologue"
INTRODUCTION OF RECURRING ALIENS: DIS, Season 2: "An Obol For Charon" (the jahSepp)
SECTION 31: DIS, Season 2: "Perpetual Infinity"
RECYCLED TITLE: ST, Season 2: "Children Of Mars"
ROMULANS: PIC, Season 1: "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1"
TOTAL SHOW WINS
TAS & Movies - 0 wins
ST and PIC - 1 win each
TOS - 2 wins
DS9 and DIS - 3 wins each
TNG - 7 wins
ENT - 10 wins
VOY - 11 wins
The "Dark Frontier" and "Unimatrix Zero" Queen was just a different animal entirely, a campy soap villainess. Who I could really enjoy on those terms! But then that's what I need for the final smackdown.
Like, when I'm watching "Melrose Place" and I'm invested in the rivalry between Jane and Sydney, those are the two I need to fall into the pool during the crazy catfight. You can't swap another actress in for the big climactic catfight, it will have no resonance.
That's a key thing that makes "Endgame" so airlessly empty for me, it's not actually paying anything off. A future that gets erased, a return home we barely see, a climactic showdown between two actresses who we've never seen share the screen before -- there's nothing there!
This is an interesting idea! I've been thinking about what comes for the round after the "Most Disliked" games... like, am I going to feel like doing negative "why I HATE this" "Least Disliked" eliminations at any point in the next year or 2 or 3? This could be a fun variation for the longer lists, anything short we'd burn through too fast...
Anyway, but coming up next: "The Most Disliked Trek Couple." Hope to see everyone there!
MOST DISLIKED "WINNER"LOSERS, 2020
"HEY, THIS PLANET IS JUST LIKE EARTH!": TOS, Season 1: "Miri"
WRITER GENE RODDENBERRY: TOS, Season 2: "The Omega Glory"
WRITER D.C. FONTANA: TNG, Season 1: "Too Short A Season"
DIRECTOR CLIFF BOLE: TNG, Season 6: "Aquiel"
TREK NOIR: TNG, Season 6: "Aquiel"
SEASON PREMIERE: TNG, Season 7: "Descent, Part II"
PRIME DIRECTIVE: TNG, Season 7: "Homeward"
WRITER RONALD D. MOORE: TNG, Season 7: "Journey's End"
DIRECTOR LES LANDAU: TNG, Season 7: "Bloodlines"
LWAXANA: DS9, Season 1: "The Forsaken"
ROMANCE OF THE WEEK: DS9, Season 3: "Meridian"
FERENGI: DS9, Season 7: "The Emperor's New Cloak"
DIRECTOR WINRICH KOLBE: VOY, Season 2: "Elogium"
CARDASSIANS: VOY, Season 2: "Investigations"
HOLIDAY: VOY, Season 4: "Day Of Honor"
HOLODECK: VOY, Season 6: "Fair Haven"
DIRECTOR DAVID LIVINGSTON: VOY, Season 6: "Spirit Folk"
COMEDIC/LIGHT-HEARTED: VOY, Season 6: "Spirit Folk"
TIME TRAVEL/ANOMALY/LOOP: VOY, Season 6: “Fury”
MAQUIS: VOY, Season 7: "Repression"
BARCLAY: VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
Q: VOY, Season 7: "Q2"
BORG: VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"
LATIN TITLE: ENT, Season 1: "Terra Nova"
2-HOUR/2-PART: ENT, Season 1 & 2: "Shockwave"
VISIT TO EARTH'S "PRESENT": ENT, Season 2: "Shockwave, Part II"
KLINGONS: ENT, Season 2: "Marauders"
DIRECTOR MIKE VEJAR: ENT, Season 2: "Marauders"
HALLUCINATION/ILLUSION: ENT, Season 3: "Extinction"
VISIT TO EARTH'S PAST: ENT, Season 4: "Storm Front, Part I"
THR'S 100 GREATEST TREK EPS: ENT, Season 4: "Home"
CAST CROSSOVER: ENT, Season 4: "These Are The Voyages..."
DIRECTOR ALLAN KROEKER: ENT, Season 4: "These Are The Voyages..."
MIRROR UNIVERSE: DIS, Season 1: "What's Past Is Prologue"
INTRODUCTION OF RECURRING ALIENS: DIS, Season 2: "An Obol For Charon" (the jahSepp)
SECTION 31: DIS, Season 2: "Perpetual Infinity"
RECYCLED TITLE: ST, Season 2: "Children Of Mars"
ROMULANS: PIC, Season 1: "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1"
TOTAL SHOW WINS
TAS & Movies - 0 wins
ST and PIC - 1 win each
TOS - 2 wins
DS9 and DIS - 3 wins each
TNG - 7 wins
ENT - 10 wins
VOY - 11 wins
