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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Those Old Scientists (2023)
Hysterical, Very Trek, I was blown away
This episode is one of the best of the series and really makes effective use of comedy, but you have to have watched.lower decks and he previous episodes of SNW to really appreciated it. Furthermore, it helps move Spock along to where he needs to get to by the time of TOS. I wasn't so happy about emotional Spock in this series, although we do know from The Menagerie that Spock was doing something with regards to emotions. Even down the road sometimes Spock embraces his human half and his emotions so perhaps all the criticism in this not entirely warranted. But regardless, taken on its own, this was a very funny and enjoyable episode. It also reminded me of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris.in the sense of people wanting to live in an earlier golden age. I didn't expect the translation of the cartoon characters to work, so I was surprised at how well it did. Kudos to director Frakes, the writers, and the actors. Definitely worth a rewatch..
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ad Astra Per Aspera (2023)
It was like watching old timey Star Trek
This was an excellent episode. Trek does court room episodes really well and this was right up there with the prior ones. It also had quite a number of twists and turns and the way it reaches its expected conclusion was very well done. There was also humor in the episode. I do think that there was at least one major problem, which didn't really detract from the episode, namely, since Una is not human her culture really can't be held to human standards Her people obviously did not create a Khan Noonien-Soong, so why should they believe that they should not dabble in genetic engineering, especially when it was in some cases necessary for survival.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: All Those Who Wander (2022)
Several Major Star Trek Flaws
The overall plot was ok if it wasn't for several major Star Trek and behavioral flaws. The Gorn looked totally wrong. Also, they moved wrong. They are supposed to be much slower, as shown in Arena. Yes, I know the Gorn in Enterprise moved faster, but still. Also, how can the Gorn become a technological species if they fight each other for dominance out of the womb until there is only one left. The other ship that went down on the planet was too big to land. In the prime universe it is well established that Constitution class starships can't land. In fact, that is why Rodenberry came up with the transporters, to avoid any landing of the ship. Having that ship look just like the Enterprise also made no sense. They could have redressed the interior sets and just said it had a lot of common parts. Lastly, I disliked the death of Hemmer, who I really liked.
The only way out of this for me is to assume that this whole show is set in yet another parallel universe. It is also possible we'll find out that these are not actually the Gorn but some species that are Gorn-adjacent and mistaken for the Gorn.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Elysian Kingdom (2022)
I thought it was fun
I thought it was fun. It had aspects of many different Trek episodes and sort of ended with a reverse of TOS's Metamorphosis and Wesley going off with the Traveler.
I was shocked to see the lower rating and many negative reviews. I don't see why an episode like this should have waited till later on. The Naked Now was in the first season of TNG and had the characters all acting out of character. Only with a few of them did we really learn about their character when not under the influence. Same with Naked Time. But here there was no point in learning about the characters. It was to lead up to the daughter and deal with a father's pain.
While I'd rather a different resolution for the doctor's daughter, in some ways it was better than him miraculously finding a cure (which most doctors on Star Trek find in one hour) or having one handed to him by an alien species they encountered. No father should be forced into the choice he had to make even though it works out in the end.
Let's remember that this is science fiction and so need not conform strictly to reality. I mean, what about the alien in Day of the Dove? How much sense did that episode really make? But it was fun, and it gave us Kang.
The Neighborhood: Welcome to the Mama Drama (2022)
Funny, if you can ignore the woke
This episode is funny for about 75% of the episode. The rest of it is in your face woke. As I have said before, if a comedy wants to deal with political stuff, that is ok, but is should not be shoved in your face. If we want that we can just watch the news.
Supergirl: Blind Spots (2021)
This episode eased my pain on the cancellation of this series
I don't mind episodes that address the problems of the day. But I don't like them being shoved in your face without disguise when you trying to relax and avoid the news. Considering that there is not a white man in the hero group made it even worse. The statement that we haven't solved the racism problem by the 31st century was horribly depressing. Maybe the writers should watch Star Trek. Kelly's whininess and showing the book White Fragility were big turn offs. What a shame.
Last Man Standing: Lost and Found (2021)
This could have been made while still under Disney
Please don't shove the woke agenda down my throat. If you are going to try, it had better be really, really funny. This was not. Most of this episode was not funny. A sad misfire.
The Neighborhood: Welcome to the Movement (2020)
Too much woke, not enough funny
If I am watching a comedy, to relax and escape, I don't want to see the news headlines forced upon me, unless it is really funny. The Conners have so far pulled that off with regard to the pandemic. I was really looking forward to the return of this show, as it is one of my favorites, but it is not off to a good start. Please don't preach to me , especially not in a screechy tone. If you have a message, wrap it up nicely, like Star Trek does. Or maybe deal with it like some of the old CBS classics, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and Maude. Here the dialog was really bad, flat and sucker punched you with messaging. It was almost all message (one I don't generally accept, although I recognize that there are bad eggs) and almost no jokes. I found myself yelling at the screen. I was hoping for a big joke at the end, which would have calmed me from my yelling, but, alas, that completely failed to materialize. One or two more such episodes and I will be done with this show.