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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Strange Bedfellows (1999)
Sleeper Hit with Peak Characterization
On the surface this seems like a pretty typical late DS9 episode - it's fantastic, but it's not extraordinary in any way, and more of the midpoint for most (but not all) of the stories it tells rather than the incitement or the conclusion.
But as you watch you realize everything about it is executed perfectly. The dialogue, the drama, the acting, the occasional comic relief, the cinematography - the episode is excellently directed, written, performed and shot.
What really gets me is how perfectly every character is handled. Damar's arc didn't start here but he's treated so right by the episode. In normal times, his Cardassian First approach is hardly ideal, but this episode really makes you feel for the Cardassian people and understand his character.
Kai Winn has one of her brief moments of brilliance when she realizes her mistake with the pah-wraiths and seeks redemption, but in classic Kai Winn fashion can't completely let go of power and it all comes crumbling back down. Kai Winn's characterization has always been impressively complex, and it's done right here.
And this pattern continues for basically every character. Worf and Ezri are great as usual (Ezri also has several pleasantly suprising jokes in this episode, which they pull off tonally as gallows humor) and even the characters with only brief appearances reinforce the idea that the writers are on top of their game - the scene in Quarks where Julian, O'Brien, and Quark talk about missing Ezri is just perfect.
And the cinematography. Part of me wants to say it's a bit over the top or cheesy, but I just love it. The shot of Damar throwing his drink on the mirror, Dax and Worf upside down, even "Oh, there you are Damar," it's all great.
In short, I really can't imagine much you could change to make this episode any more effective - certainly not on a contemporary broadcast TV budget and schedule! DS9 does it again. My thanks to everyone who helped bring the episode to screen.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Subspace Rhapsody (2023)
Perfect Musical Episode
Buffy made the musical episode a classic TV trope in the amazing Once More With Feeling, and the crew of SNW clearly did their homework bringing it to life here. There was a great homage (bunnies!), and the musical element was granted as much technobabble as they could muster. I've always mourned the fact that 90s trek almost completely predated OMWF and the subsequent rise in popularity of the musical episode trope (a voyager musical episode would've been unbeatable) but this mends the Star Trek musical shaped hole in my heart. Bravo.
(Obviously there are some compromises in logical cohesion, but eh, whatcha gonna do)
Apparently a bunch of people are butthurt about them doing a musical episode, but lighten up. Hell, half of the negative reviews admit that they skipped all the songs anyways, which are the core of the plot and character moments of the episode - it's no wonder they didn't like it.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Life Support (1995)
Ultimate Quality Yin-Yang
This episode exhibits the single largest contrast in quality between two plotlines in a single episode of the show I can recall seeing. You almost get whiplash when viewed without commercials, and them being completely unrelated in topic and tone doesn't help. Apparently some of the people working on the show expressed dissatisfaction with these two plots being in the same episode, and would've preferred they each be paired with different A and B plots, and I certainly agree - though really, the B plot needed some major rewrites before it went anywhere.
The A-plot of this episode is really impeccable. It a great story about what was a topical issue at the time, and it was handled beautifully. Every character has their own take on the issue, informed by their spiritual, scientific, and ethical beliefs, as well as their own motives. It's 90s trek at it's best, and something any television program would do well to study. It examines a complex issue with an equally complex depiction of something similar (*too* similar for me to call it a metaphor, I think), and it doesn't over simplify the problem to guide you to the author's perspective - it presents the problem in a relatable format with familiar characters to make the viewer really feel all sides of the issue. It's a rich text, one that I feel could support lengthy debate about it's interpretation and moral dilemmas themselves, and I feel like I'm a better person for having seen it. There is one line that's phrased in a way that felt super dated and took me out of the episode, but, well, the show came out nearly 30 years ago - & the phase I would've replaced it with was coined (as far as I can tell) only the year before this episode came out - so I think I can cut them some slack.
The B plot is some of the hardest Star Trek I've had to watch (and that's saying something). To the credit of the actors and the production crew, they did about as much as they could with it, and by 90's TV standards the child acting could've been a lot worse. But the entire plot is a moral lesson about how you shouldn't judge a person just because they treat women like slaves, and 'reasonable people disagree' about how much respect should be extended to women. I think the most charitable read I can offer is that it's use of the kids to play out this storyline means it was actually intended to be about how we shouldn't blame children who are indoctrinated into harmful ideologies, but there's never any lip service paid to that interpretation by the script, and it's certainly framed in the far more problematic way described above by even the adult characters attempting to impart this lesson on the children. In fact, they seem to imply that this difference in attitudes towards women is - to some extent - an inherent racial trait, meaning this plot manages to stray into racism as well. I think I recall later episodes attempt explore how the race aspect was actually have been reflective of the prejudices of these characters, but that still leaves the sexism.
Really I think you could argue that this B-plot is so flawed it should be invalidating for this episode getting anything higher than a 2, but the A-plot is so well written I couldn't bring myself to go that low. The plots have basically nothing to do with each other so I wish they'd replaced it with something else. I generally am not a Jake/Nog plot hater but this time, for the ideal viewing experience I'd recommend just skipping to the next scene whenever Jake or Nog show up and you could very well have a 9/10 episode on your hands.
Werewolf by Night (2022)
The Best Thing Marvel Has Done in a Long Time
And I say this as someone who tends to enjoy MCU outings. Werewolf By Night was an excellent viewing experience, and demonstrates the most effective use of Black and White I've seen recently. The lighting is fascinating, and more than anything makes me want to see what Giacchino does next. I've long enjoyed his work on film scores including his Marvel work, but I genuinely think that he might be even better at directing in this debut. His experience in audio also means it's integrated into the film perfectly.
I honestly tend to agree with the famous complaints directed at Marvel films by Martin Scorsese. I think 'not cinema' goes a bit far (or is, at least, unnecessarily combative) but the way I enjoy most Marvel movies tends to be on some level different from the way I tend to enjoy what I'll call more classical film-making, the types of thing you'd see in a film class. WBN obviously goes out of it's way to adopt the aesthetic of classic horror but what surprised me is just how much of their homework is done in making this feel authentic and excellent. WBN is, beyond a doubt, "real cinema."
That's not to say WBN is perfect. It's hardly the most original work I've seen, but it kept on my toes. The CGI, as has become unfortunately typical of Marvel these days, left something to be desired. But despite that, WBN is something special amongst Marvel's vast catalog, and I hope to see more of it's kind in the future.
Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils (2022)
Shockingly Bad
I've always tried to not be too negative about the Chibnall era of Doctor Who but this episode is something else. The special was apparently planned for series 13 but they had to delay it due to issues in production, meaning they had to rewrite the script to remove references to the Flux story arc, meaning they were filming without a full script. Honestly, given all that it's nothing short of a miracle they were able to put this together at all, but having an excuse doesn't make the episode watchable unfortunately. All told this episode falls short of the standards of not only Doctor Who as a whole or the current era, but of modern television. Most of the CGI is abysmal, they reuse shots, sometimes like a few seconds apart. Several plot points are introduced to no resolution or relevance. Character arcs and relationships seem completely unearned to the point of being out of character. Early in the episode the Doctor and Yaz seem to randomly appear wherever the plot demands they be at random, with no continuity or reason for them to go there. Even just some of the artistic decisions that could've been easily changed are bizarre - I mean, green text for establishing shots?! And not even a nice green. I genuinely believe this might be the worst episode of New Who.
The one redeeming quality is a really beautiful sequence of the TARDIS underwater. The one thing the Chibnall era of the show has consistently nailed is bringing back the wonder of seeing the TARDIS in alien locales that has been a not-insignificant part of the show since the very beginning in the 1960's, and this episode is no different. Even seeing it on the Rocky beach at the start of the episode was simply beautiful - the new prop for these past 3 seasons is excellent. Unfortunately, one pretty sequence isn't enough to save this episode from shocking boredom.
Doctor Who: Rosa (2018)
Glimpsing Perfection
While many had concerns about the very serious matters being addressed in this episode, Rosa handled them perfectly. From the tension and aggressiveness of the American south in the 50's, to the discussion had by Yaz and Ryan about the present, to Graham's discomfort at the Idea of being complacent in Rosa Parks' arrest. The episode was extremely well done, and was simultaneously extremely entertaining.
The only reason it looses the last star is because the villain could've used a bit more specific motivation. In the episode, he was released from prison and came back in time to prevent the civil rights movement simply because he's also a racist. This could be improved upon is if he had a bit more specific motivation. Perhaps he was arrested by a black officer, and broke out of prison to go back in time to prevent the civil rights movement so he wouldn't have been caught? And is still racist? Just an example, but a minor change in the backstory along those lines would've made the villain far more interesting from a narrative perspective. Overall, excellent episode that makes me more excited for the rest of the season.