Vic was a great character
This might be a first.
A good summary. I felt his episodes were pointless and served little purpose. It would have been OK if he had been introduced early in the series but he kinda showed up late and left me scratching my head as to what purpose he served.I think he was overplayed, and pretty one-note (no pun intended). I never really enjoyed the Vic episodes, except the one when he helped Nog come to terms with losing his leg.
I think my DVDs are scratched up for the mirror universe that has Vic Fontaine.Mirror Vic was priceless. It was absolutely impossible, but there he was. At the last moment, you see he's an android (a smoking electronic wound) rather than flesh and blood...
I'll admit to fast-forwarding the scenes. They just don't work for me and it's anti-Trek to let computers give advice and tell everyone what to do. Not because AI is bunk and computers don't know everything despite knowing everything they're told, but as far back as season 2's "The Ultimate Computer" where Kirk spells out what TOS' previous episodes apparently could not in terms of "computers are bad and don't give them control", now we have a hologram doing shrink advice on relationships. I'd be more convinced by Arnold J Rimmer giving the same advice. How many episodes pushed the "computers are bad" narrative, anyway, about 5000? Not bad for a show with only 79 episodes...
"The Apple" was one of the worst offenders as it controlled the climate so Kirk destroys the computer and they all get to die (offscreen, had anyone in 1960s audiences try to think it through) as a result... "Return of the Archons" was another that rode the cliche, right down to zombie mind control... "I Mudd" turns the same thing about being controlled into a comedy routine (almost paralleing "Apple" since it's another computer that has well-meaning intentions and, if unplugged, would lead to far more actual problems so why did they go there in the first place (the one part of the cliche that wasn't a cliche, which is probably why it was never used...) "A Taste of Armageddon", however, was comparatively original, dared to do something original despite the fact it's yet another story where computers are controlling their lives (and discusses how the computers were brought in, odd but true!!), and remarkably engaging (it's an "underrated gem" as well as "underutilized gem" TBH, because it does something to make the story more than just a trite cliche, they gave it some depth and meaning).
Sadly, I didn't remember any TNG where they had to find the off switch because computers were bad and wanted to tell people how to live. Apart from the Borg...
Nitpicks aside, Vic is well-acted and everyone nails the 1940s Sinatra style perfectly. But in terms of the content, the meat of it all, it's all wrong and, again, is arguably anti-Trek.
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