dirvingman-62136 Reviews

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Time's Orphan (1998) Season 6, Episode 24

A story that collapses under its own bad logic

[4/10 · 26 December 2023]

There's a seed of a good idea in here. Miles and Keiko's kid, Molly, essentially turns 10 years older and goes feral in the blink of an eye. Will they be able to integrate her back into society?

Unfortunately, the execution of the idea is haphazard. To start with, the obvious solution to the problem is explained away very lazily. They say they can't just beam out a younger Molly, because it will erase the experience that older Molly has had...not taking into account that they've already messed with the timeline by beaming out older Molly.

So, the rest of the episode operates on borrowed faith from the viewer. Then it gets to a point where Miles is assaulting Bajoran security officers just to sneak back to the time portal and drop Molly back in time. Credulity is strained and broken by this point. The only good part of this episode is an amusing slice-of-life B-story involving Worf, Dax, and Worf's childcare abilities.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Suprisingly well-made

[8/10 · 19 December 2023]

I'm hesitant about monster movies, or any blockbuster "spectacle" type movie. They do have a stereotype for being mindless for a reason. But this one avoided the pitfalls of the genre. They wisely went with a metaphorical route for Godzilla, and the story's runtime was anchored not in action, but in human drama that felt authentic.

That being said, it was a little slower than I anticipated. And I was not a fan of the "set up a sequel" ending in the final couple minutes. But all in all, it was well written, well acted, and creatively directed. And there are a few well-placed comedic moments as well. It's another data point in my head, filed under the name "why can't more blockbusters be like this"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Let He Who Is without Sin... (1996) Season 5, Episode 7

Fire this episode into the sun

[2/10 · 25 September 2023]

An all-time terrible Star Trek episode. Worf is a wet blanket for most of the episode, and the antagonist's problem is that people are enjoying themselves on a vacation planet - really?

I'm giving an extra star for some enjoyable character moments here and there. The only takeaway to get from this episode is that Bashir and Leeta have broken up, and Leeta is interested in Rom. Everything else should be promptly forgotten, or skipped. It's appalling that Worf would aid terrorists and engage in such abusive, controlling behaviors towards a romantic partner. This is a frustrating watch that will make you hate Worf. I'm going to pretend this one was a prune juice-induced nightmare that Worf had.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Rules of Engagement (1996) Season 4, Episode 17

Courtroom episode that is a little forced

[5/10 · 29 August 2023]

I love Star Trek courtroom episodes. Even though they play fast and loose with actual court procedures, they usually yield great insight into characters.

This one does have its insights, but it's weighed down by oversteps in suspension of disbelief that are the most egregious out of all the courtroom episodes I've seen. As someone with only a cursory knowledge of the rules of evidence and how to question witnesses on the stand, I could not help but feel that the Klingon lawyer's every line of questioning was beset by lapses in logic and calls for speculation that should never be allowed in a fair trial. I'm sure any actual attorney would be pulling their hair out at how the trial is conducted in this episode.

It results in a situation that does not feel like a fair fight for our heroes, and their ultimate way out of the situation is not particularly satisfying either.

I think the direction is great - the fourth wall breaking is a clever move to make this one stand out. The performances all around are great too, and there are some good character moments for Worf and Sisko. But I cannot give this one a positive score, given the contrivances that come up in the trial. Pretend this isn't a formal hearing, and this episode becomes a decent watch.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Our Man Bashir (1995) Season 4, Episode 9

Might be the best holodeck episode in Star Trek

[10/10 · 16 August 2023]

Holodeck episodes get a bit of a bad rep. The main issue being: there are no stakes unless the holodeck breaks, and why would such a technology break so often and yet still be used? A secondary issue: the events in the holodeck feel disconnected from the world of Star Trek.

Now, I'm pretty forgiving with holodeck episodes. Still, this is a cut above the others - mostly because it avoids the usual issues of the archetype. Here, the stakes are heightened not by the holodeck breaking, per se, but by the storing of transporter patterns. Which gives an interesting dynamic of the protagonists still dealing with danger, but they must be pacifists to save the day.

Even within this fantasy, there's still some great genuine character moments between Bashir and Garak - about what it means to be a hero, and how each makes tough choices.

Outside of those two, the rest of the actors are having a ball, hamming up this loving pastiche of spy films and their tropes. It's a fun episode, entertaining from beginning to end, with a clever story going on underneath the surface. Kira as a Russian bombshell and Sisko as a crazy monologuing Bond villain are both highlights.

Cade: The Tortured Crossing (2023)

Awful but I'm really glad I watched it

[3/10 · 9 August 2023]

Cade: The Tortured Crossing is the latest film from everyone's favorite cult movie director, Neil Breen. It's a sequel to another of his films, but I went in without seeing the first movie and still had a good time.

It's all around an awful movie, but it's also highly entertaining. I went to an actual theater showing of it, and I treasure the experience of cracking up and groaning to this movie with at least 100 other bad movie lovers. The dialog is stilted, the acting is stiff, the shots always linger too long, the script repeats itself so many times, and there's at least 7 fake-out endings that will have you begging and then cheering when the film finally does end. It broke my brain, but in a fun way. A very high laughs-per-minute rate as far as bad movies go. Watch it with a big crowd of fellow cult movie fanatics.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Visitor (1995) Season 4, Episode 2

Star Trek at its best

[10/10 · 7 August 2023]

Star Trek can be many things - the world that Gene Roddenberry and his successors built can explore different moods and themes. What undergirds all the avenues that Star Trek can take is the sense of human potential, of the promise that humanity can improve itself to the point where it is past its follies - compassion has overtaken hatred, intelligence has overcome ignorance, love has conquered fear.

There are certain episodes in the Star Trek canon where this promise is especially bold - leaping out of the screen, a tachyon energy beam that enters through your eyeballs and ears and touches you deep inside. The kind of episode that has you ponder your existence, and challenges you to see just how easy it is to live a better life for yourself.

The Visitor is one of those episodes of Star Trek. An absolutely immaculate episode of television, from its script, to its directing, to the acting performances - telling a story that is both universally appealing and original. Anyone with a beloved family member in their lives will surely feel the immense power of this episode. Essential Star Trek.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Explorers (1995) Season 3, Episode 22

Heartwarming!

[8/10 · 25 July 2023]

On paper, this may sound like a rather dull episode. Sisko and Jake sail on a recreation of an old Bajoran spaceship, while Julian Bashir is nervous to meet his academic rival from Starfleet Academy.

In execution, those slower plot points give room for many great character moments. Julian and Miles singing drinking songs together, Jake's writing hobby gains a notable development, and Jake starts to set up Sisko with someone who would eventually be a long-term partner for him.

I also love the idea of "solar sailing" - practicality be damned, it's a fresh and easily understood way to differentiate "anchient" spaceship tech.

All in all, an episode that is notably warm and optimistic. The type of episode that makes me thankful that these 90s Trek shows had so many episodes to work with. It gives room for something like this - a slower-paced, slice-of-life episode to go between the dramatic and action moments. It does wonders for worldbuilding and feeling like the show is an actual lived-in universe.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Distant Voices (1995) Season 3, Episode 18

Enjoyable episode

[6/10 · 21 July 2023]

An enjoyable episode that's only fault is how inconsequential it is. Bashir gets attacked by a telepathic alien that puts him in a coma - placing him in a mental representation of DS9, with the other cast members appearing as representations of Bashir's personality. Bashir must fight to survive while the alien wrecks havock on his mind and tempts him to give up his struggle for life.

It does give a unique glimpse inside Bashir's character - some backstory is filled in, and his feelings for Dax are laid bare near the climax of the episode. What ultimately makes it a 6 for me is just that the episode is one of those "it was just a dream" stories that doesn't meaningfully change anything. So objectively, not that much actually happens.

But, I will say that the true triumph of the episode is the make-up and Alexander Siddig's acting. Bashir ages rapidly in the episode, and it's arresting just how convincingly old and frail they make him look. And Siddig's acting, in regards to his struggle for survival and his rapid aging, is masterfully done. Siddig's acting and the character of Bashir were both weak points of Season 1, but it's amazing how both got a massive turnaround in Season 2, to the point where he can carry a challenging episode like this one must have been. It's an enjoyable character-building episode for him.

The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

Some great parts but I was left feeling like it was a waste of time

[4/10 · 21 July 2023]

Full disclosure, I checked out after the awful season 6 cliffhanger ending.

Season 1 is great. After that, the focus of the show changes to character exploration rather than the characters trying to solve the zombie problem. Which is not inherently bad, but it is an adjustment you should prepare for. Sure, there will be additional revelations about how zombies work post-Season 1. But the focus becomes survival.

What ultimately ruined it for me is I came away from the show feeling like it was very manipulative, in an unpleasant way. Events are built up that then go nowhere. Some character deaths are railroaded with plot-induced stupidity. There are many episodes where it feels like nothing happened and the runtime was dragged out by long establishing shots and drawn out conversations that aren't particularly engaging. Then there are the terrible "fake outs" that the show pulls on the audience occasionally, which are frankly insulting. At one point, a main character is put into a situation that should obviously result in their death...then in the next episode, they inexplicably survive. One season-long fake out was the build-up of discovering some important zombie-treatment information, only for the reveal to be that a character was lying. And then there was the season 6 cliffhanger, which ultimately had me tuning out the show in disgust.

You will find some fantastic episodes. You will like (or love-to-hate) many of the characters. But you have to wade through a lot of a wheel-spinning and disappointments that will test your patience. For me, it got to the point where it wasn't worth it to watch further - I did not trust the show anymore. I do not recommend investing your time.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The House of Quark (1994) Season 3, Episode 3

One of the funniest episodes in all of Star Trek

[9/10 · 9 June 2023]

This is one of my personal favorite DS9 episodes, and I think it's one of the funniest episodes that Star Trek has made. The O'Brien/Keiko plot is ho-hum (hence the 9/10 instead of 10/10) but the main Quark storyline is engaging and hilarious - a little bit of a fish-out-of-water story with Quark having to adapt to political maneuvering on the Klingon homeworld, also a funny lie-gone-wrong story and a loving spoof of Star Trek tropes too. The scene where Quark is explaining financial spreadsheets to the Klingon High Council - comedic gold-pressed latinum. I also love how the solution to the main problem of the episode was true to Quark's character as a skilled orator and social tactician. The resolution was clever and earned, and there are some good moments of pathos within Quark's story, as well as in the lesser O'Brien/Keiko side-plot.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Paradise (1994) Season 2, Episode 15

Great episode, one of the most hateable one-off Star Trek villains

[8/10 · 15 May 2023]

I am re-watching all of Deep Space Nine and I remembered having a relatively strong negative feeling about this episode from my first watch-through, but I couldn't place why. I thought maybe this would be one of those grin-and-bear-it episodes but no, my emotional memory was actually stemming from the antagonist of this episode, a conniving and manipulative cult leader who tortures and lets die her own people in order to achieve her goals. Given her capture and anti-technology views, it makes sense that she was only a one-off antagonist, but really, change a few variables, and this actress with this character could have challenged Kai Winn as Deep Space Nine's recurring "love to hate them" villainous zealot.

This episode also demonstrates satisfying badassery from Captain Sisko as he stands firm against Alixus and her torture. The only weak points for me are the scene with Dax and Kira roping in the runaway roundabout (it felt contrived), and I would have liked a little more explanation for how Alixus was able to access the runabout and send it away. Other than that, I found the story gripping, with strong emotional beats tied to rebellion against injustice, man's search for community, and the morality of sacrifice to meet an ideal.

The Prestige (2006)

This film is the most self-expressive of Nolan's filmography

[9/10 · 15 April 2023]

The ending lines of this film felt like the voice of Nolan explaining himself, in a very satisfying way. Much like Hugh Jackman's character, Nolan is driven by broadening the horizons of his audiences, to have them see beyond hard, cold reality, and to believe, however temporarily, that magic exists.

Much like the magic tricks in this film, Nolan's movies are typically best appreciated when you don't look for all the answers. I like his work a lot, but I often find that his worldbuilding falls apart after reflecting on the story. His movies are powerful in the way that they can make you suspend disbelief, but once they are turned off, there's usually a nagging question that undoes the logic that the movie guided you through.

In this case, it's the mystery behind Tesla's involvement with the story. The most far-fetched thing, easily, is his invention of the cloning/teleportation device. Connected to that, upon reflection, I'm not sure why Tesla kept up his charade of building the same machine for Christian Bale's character when he obviously was doing it for the first time for Hugh Jackman's character.

Still, overlooking that tiny stumbling block, which again doesn't enter the mind until the film is over, this film is thrilling, full of misdirection, subtle clues, and clever thematic foreshadowing. Much like Christian Bale's character, the film itself seems to be one mystery, when it actually has two interconnected ones. How those two connect is fulfilling to discover.

While I usually am slightly turned off by the lingering questions that Nolan's films usually leave for me, I can overlook the Tesla inconsistencies here, perhaps because the film lays out in convincing detail that there is pleasure in not knowing all the answers. It really feels like that ending is explaining Nolan's entire oeuvre. He thinks of his films as magic tricks, and part of that deal is leaving the audience mystified by certain elements of them. That clever self-expression of his artistic vision bumps this one up as one of my favorites by Nolan, even if it might not have the most air-tight logic to it.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Unravels at the end, making the whole film somewhat pointless

[6/10 · 8 April 2023]

A solid chunk of this film is a riveting double-cat-and-mouse plot. A sheriff is chasing a hitman who is chasing a man. That man is being chased because he stumbled upon a drug deal gone wrong and walks away with 2 million dollars. The sheriff sometimes monologues a bit too much, but the pacing is solid and the scenes of the hitman tracking his target are satisfyingly tense.

The last half hour of the movie, though, completely unravels this momentum. There is no grand confrontation, no revelation, no satisfying release of the tension. The original protagonist (the man who discovered the money) is suddenly killed off-screen. The hitman gets away, the sheriff retires. As far as I can tell, the money never gets recovered. What was the point of this story? Yes, it's exploring themes of determinism, but the story is trapped in its own nihilism. If nothing matters, then why should we care about this story that's telling us that?

Rick and Morty: Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation (2022) Season 6, Episode 10

Lackluster finale for a luckluster season

[6/10 · 13 December 2022]

Rick And Morty has hit a huge problem. It's lost itself. Season 5 was the beginning. Season 6 continues the trend. Nothing in Season 6 was as bad as the lowlights in Season 5, but nothing was as good as the highlights either. And only 2-3 episodes hold a candle to pre-Season 5 R&M.

So what's causing this problem? The writing, first and foremost, has taken a huge nosedive. Not all the time, mind you, but the inconsistency is maddening. Plots are thinner, and hyper-fixate on too little ideas that, on paper, are funny, but not for an entire episode. Here is yet another example from this season. The lightsaber falling perfectly vertical and creating havoc = funny idea. Having it be the focal point of an entire episode, with so many shoehorned rants about the Star Wars franchise = unfunny idea.

It's like the writers think that making the plotline a joke means that they don't have to write many more jokes for the episode. They would also do well to remember that being silly and being dumb are not inseparable things. Stories can be silly but still be smartly written. This ain't it. Season 7 has to turn it around.

Rick and Morty: Juricksic Mort (2022) Season 6, Episode 6

A poor episode

[5/10 · 11 October 2022]

We seem to be in a phase of Rick And Morty that started with season 5, where most of the episodes have an interesting or funny idea at their core, but it's 50/50 on whether the writing can execute it well. This is one of those duds, which puts to score of successes vs duds in season 6 at an even 3-3 so far.

I see the ingredients for a good episode - dinosaurs return to Earth to save humanity, and there's something mysterious about them that Rick uncovers. There are some funny bits along the way but the plot is a mess, with character justifications making little to no sense, and more often than not the jokes fall flat. I've also noticed in the dud episodes this season that they are very padded out and this one is no different. The dinosaur story did not have the legs for a full episode on its own, perhaps there should have been a B-plot more than the meager "Jerry wrote a book" or "Rick hosts the Oscars" gags.

Hereditary (2018)

Decent third act, didn't like much outside of that

[4/10 · 15 September 2022]

I found that this film had A LOT of issues with it. I felt like the film stewed in its tragedy for far too long without any new developments. It was so many sequences of people dreaming things, mis-seeing things, being tormented, but without it leading anywhere. Repetitive. Oh, another night where someone will have a nightmare and then never mention it to anyone.

A lot of the characters felt empty, with many interactions feeling contrived. Example: Peter obviously wanted to attend the party to get up to some teenage shenanigans - why was there NO resistance when he was asked to bring his younger sister to the party?

Another example: How does Annie accept Joan's introduction? Joan flags down Annie's car because she "recognized her from a few months ago" - first off, a few months had passed? Second off, why is it completely normal for a stranger to recognize your car from one meeting several months ago?

Another example: Steve saying "what language even is that?" when he obviously doesn't have a clear view of the seance sheet to begin with.

Another example: Annie is asked about her relationship with her son and her first line is "I used to sleepwalk..." - she eventually brings it back around to talking about Peter but the way she answered that question felt like a writing exercise rather than genuine dialog. Annie barely knows Joan, maybe dive into the story after directly answering the question first?

Another example: the dinner conversation between Peter and Annie. Annie goes something like "I defend you, I do xyz for you..." and I'm thinking "does she? I haven't seen that." Lots of telling without showing with these kinds of character moments.

There are many other interactions that rang false for me. I thought maybe this was a case of the director not seeing the writer's vision, but then I found out in the closing credits that the writer and the director are the same person. I just felt there was this manipulative hand of the creator clumsily putting pieces in place to tell their story - some could say "oh that's the cult influencing the characters to act a certain way", but if that's the case I'd need more of that shown to believe it. Any "outside force influencing characters" trope defaults in my mind to railroaded writing unless proven otherwise. I did not enjoy most of the dialog, the arc of the story feels like it spins in circles for much of the runtime.

On the plus side, it does eventually develop into a decently entertaining third act, starting about where Annie discovers Joan's true identity. Not everything is fully explained but at least stakes have now been established and the characters are now making decisions rather than stewing in their misery. Even then, the writing takes me out of the film. At the end, why would Joan explain who Paimon is - TO Paimon? Obviously he would know who he is. I know this is to clear things up for the audience. Just another example of the film stumbling with its disbelief-suspension to explain itself or to make plot happen.

Actors did a good job overall, with what they were given. Some interesting shots. Third act felt like they spliced in a better film. I just felt the writing and dialog was really hamfisted and inauthentic.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Doctor Bashir, I Presume (1997) Season 5, Episode 16

Great character episode

[9/10 · 3 June 2021]

Great episode, with a potent mix of humor and pathos. I especially love the scene where Bashir and his parents argue over why he was genetically enhanced. I somewhat wish that Zimmerman had more time at DS9, the best character (well, creator of the best character) from Voyager shines in this different environment. The way that this episode tackles a sci-fi issue from such a human angle is powerful as well.

Star Trek: Voyager: Fury (2000) Season 6, Episode 23

An old character brings back some old writing flaws for Voyager

[4/10 · 2 June 2021]

I like time travel stories. I like infiltration, "who is the imposter and how do they get outed" type of stories. So the episode starts out pretty interesting, but all of its interesting questions do not have satisfying answers. Old Kes' character is vastly different than the Kes we knew for 3 seasons, before she changes back at the very end of this episode - but those dramatic changes occur or are explained in the span of one conversation. Very rushed ending, poor writing. And the timeline change introduced as the means to save the day - that opens up a can of worms about temporal causality and time loops that also have terrible implications. It means that Tuvok and Janeway spent 3 years knowing that they and Voyager would survive any encounter they came across - because old Kes hadn't invaded the ship yet! Cheapens other episodes in the process.

Maybe because Kes is involved, but this feels like an early season Voyager episode, because the plot implications and motivations for characters don't seem very thought-out. It's a stumble for a pretty good Season 6. Just skip. I'll pretend it didn't happen.

Star Trek: Voyager: One Small Step (1999) Season 6, Episode 8

An incredibly strong 2nd half makes this an essential watch for Star Trek fans

[9/10 · 13 May 2021]

The premise of the episode seems like a basic one for Voyager - "A space anomoly! It has old stuff in it!" - coupled with a noticeably irritable and sassy Seven Of Nine who seems to have forgotten some of her character development. Still fine but nothing to get too excited about.

Then they find the old Mars mission command module, which was swept up in the anomoly some 300 years prior. Then Seven Of Nine goes aboard and discovers a treasure trove of logs and data that the lone astronaut aboard recorded as he struggled to escape and ultimately perished. It's incredibly touching and a great embodiment of the ethos that Star Trek is all about. Honestly, if the first half of the story was a little tighter, and if it had occurred earlier in Seven's character development (like Season 4) - this episode would be Voyager's answer to The Inner Light and The Visitor.

It's not quite at that level, but it still moved me considerably. Highly recommend. One of my new favorite episodes on my first watch through of this show.

Star Trek: Voyager: Retrospect (1998) Season 4, Episode 17

Plot-induced stupidity unravels the whole episode

[2/10 · 29 March 2021]

The big thing I noticed with this episode is how poorly the investigation is handled. As another reviewer mentioned, why were there no attempts to find the alleged lab assistant? What I mainly noticed, why wasn't the weapons dealer scanned for Thoron radiation? There's a line in the episode that goes something like "we scanned Seven and she showed high exposure to Thoron radiation, indicating she was hit with a blast from the weapon." Well...can't you do the same for the weapons dealer? An important diversion point of the conflicting stories is whether there was an overload of the weapon (both got exposed to radiation) or whether the weapon was used on Seven (only she is exposed to the radiation).

That simple check would have saved a lot of headaches. Without it, the episode turns into a waste of time. The Voyager crew incompetently investigates an assault allegation, and the message of the story is...don't always believe assault victims? That can't possibly be the intended message, but it comes close to saying that.

I mean, I get that assault and rape allegations aren't always true, but it's the kind of grey subject matter that Voyager (and most other shows) does not have the writing smarts to pull off. There are several directions this episode could have taken to make it work - I would have suggested focusing more on the "impartial investigator turns partial" angle a la The Drumhead, and to turn away from focusing on a traumatic not-a-crime like Seven's false memory of her own violation. But, this episode took the wrong turn at nearly every inflection point, leading to an installment with decent acting but a plot that falls apart midway through and just feels skeevy and uncomfortable to watch. A catastrophic misstep in what has otherwise been a stellar Season 4.

Star Trek: Voyager: The Swarm (1996) Season 3, Episode 4

Funny episode, and now one of my Voyager favorites

[9/10 · 6 February 2021]

The Doctor starts losing his memory, meanwhile Voyager must deal with crossing a hostile alien race's border without triggering their overwhelming defense force.

This episode does a great job of balancing humor and pathos. There are genuine moments of emotional intensity - the fear of the swarm going after Voyager, the sadness of The Doctor forgetting Kes and later experiencing holographic Alzehiemer's. Then there are also light-hearted and some outright funny scenes such as the holographic Dr. Zimmerman, the Doctor's opera experimenting on the holodeck, and some flirtatious banter between Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres. This is the funniest episode of Voyager so far in my watch-through.

I find all the main characters here to be clicking with each other, in a story that has emotional nuance. Just a great mix of sci-fi concepts, action, philosophy, and character interactions. My only grumble is the intense technobabble that fixes The Swarm issue went over my head, that could have been a little tighter. The tech fix for The Doctor is a good example of how technical issues on the ship should be fixed and explained to the audience - that one felt genuine, earned, and clever.

Star Trek: Voyager: Death Wish (1996) Season 2, Episode 18

Ok, Voyager is a worthy Trek show

[9/10 · 25 January 2021]

Voyager has been a spotty affair so far on my first watch-through. Some good episodes so far but it's required a lot of wading through some straight-up dumb stories.

This episode gives me hope for the rest of the series, which will almost assuredly improve around Season 3 as all Golden Age Trek Shows I've seen so far do. This is my favorite episode so far of Voyager. It's got alien life, courtroom drama that hashes out heavy philosophical material, and a story with a thought-provoking and character-driven emotional core. In other words, classic Trek. In particular, the scene where they visit the Q continuum was superbly written, performed, and directed. Spellbinding stuff. It feels like the writing, dialog, acting, and emotional stakes all took a major step up from the typical Voyager episode so far.

Star Trek: Voyager: Persistence of Vision (1995) Season 2, Episode 8

Mixed bag of an episode

[6/10 · 14 January 2021]

There's elements I like in this episode, but they are mainly undone by elements that I do not like - resulting in a somewhat average and confusing episode.

The overall concept, I really like. An unknown presence is causing catatonic hallucinations across the ship. This lends itself to some truly terrifying scenes, as when Janeway is attacked by one of her hallucinations, various shots of crew members standing around glassy-eyed, when Kes is the last person who can stop it but is succumbing. The reveal of an alien causing it all, as well as the mystery of why and how, also hints at an intriguing villain that, I'm guessing, unfortunately won't actually show up again.

The execution of the concept leaves a lot to be desired. The escalation of the condition that is afflicting the crew goes from 0 to 100 too quickly. Seems like it's just Janeway and then out of nowhere, everyone gets affected.

The use of technobabble in critical sequences also deflates the episode quality. I, for one, felt like the explanation of Kes' power is rushed and therefore, confusing. When The Doctor goes "use the mirror!" in the climax, I'm left wondering what the hell he's talking about. Oh, she can mirror her hallucination onto the alien! Sorry, that was not intuitive given the information the episode gives.

I give it a slightly positive score overall, mainly because it pulls off some genuinely creepy scenes that may be the most unsettling that Star Trek has done yet.

Star Trek: Voyager: Projections (1995) Season 2, Episode 3

My favorite episode of Voyager so far

[9/10 · 4 January 2021]

In true "Star Trek Golden Age" fashion, Voyager has been a spotty affair so far in seasons 1 and 2, but it has shown sparks of inspiration. This is the best one I've seen so far. The Doctor has been my favorite character since the start, so it's always great when he gets top billing in an episode.

This episode functions as Voyager's "The Measure Of A Man" - although not nearly as serious and thought-provoking, it has similar themes of this show's almost-but-not human figure trying to define who he is. Befitting the show's usual style so far, Voyager tackles things in a much less character-driven way, using action and conceptual development to lead the plot along. This time around, that method works wonderfully. And, there are important dimensions added to The Doctor's character that makes him even more of my favorite. So, while I can't say the episode is that deep or affecting, it's highly entertaining.

Also, props to Jonathan Frakes for his directing work on here. His creative choices in regards to shots and cuts brought some extra pop to this episode.