Enterprise Seasons 3-4
Kelvin trilogy
Discovery Seasons 1-3
Short Treks Seasons 1-2
Picard Season 1
Note: These are from brief, unedited comments posted on Facebook. Some of the grammar may be a little clunky – I hadn’t intended on archiving these anywhere, but I’ve popped them here as some people enjoyed them!
Episode 700: The Forgotten
The Xindi council schism (which still feels deus ex machina to me) becomes more central to the plot, and the crew memorialise their fallen comrades. Wonderful stuff for Trip here struggling to write a letter to a dead crewmate’s parents. A good solid episode.
Episode 701: E2
We’re back to early season 3 territory here as this seems like any old episode, crowbarred into the Xindi storyline. Plus the “crew flung elsewhere in time, now we meet their descendants” has been done before in DS9. It’s good though, and Blalock once again proves she’s a much better actress than the sexy publicity material gives her credit for.
Episode 702: The Council
The closest we get to a talky episode towards the end of this season, as Archer tries to reason with the Xindi as the stage is set for the big final two episodes. On its own nothing special, but necessary to move pieces into place.
Episode 703: Countdown
Big battle stuff, end of season excitement, and Hayes’s death (I never much cared for him but he has a poignant ending, thanks mostly to Reed).
Episode 704: Zero Hour
Episode 705: Storm Front
Episode 706: Storm Front, Part II
I find this a bit of a weird mish mash, trying to wrap up the Xindi plotline and the temporal Cold War all in one go. It’s got a lot of good elements – always fun to see Nazis in Trek, plus the cool battle with the planes – but after years of “hey, the temporal Cold War is a lot of time travel shenanigans of course it doesn’t make sense but it will”, suddenly the ending seems equally messy.
Episode 707: Home
Marvellous episode, with so much going on. Archer’s falling out with the Admirals and Final Frontier-esque rock climbing, the rise of xenophobia (and that wonderful scene with Phlox in the bar, epic performance from Billingsley) and the absolutely awesome stuff on Vulcan. I found myself screaming at Trip at the end of the episode – what he did wasn’t out of respect or a desire to be a martyr to love, it was purely out of the fear of her rejecting him, and that’s something he’ll regret when it hits him (don’t spoil me, I honestly can’t remember if/how this comes back). How is this all in one episode?!
Episode 708: Borderland
Episode 709: Cold Station 12
Episode 710: The Augments
Marvellously fun trilogy. Brent Spiner playing yet another Soong, and having fun playing it a bit dark but not full on Lore-evil. Augments ripped straight out of Wrath of Khan. A frankly uncomfortable performance from Richard Riehle as he’s forced to watch his colleague die. Yep, this is a real highlight for me, and it’s great to see us back to the “episodic” approach after the experimental Xindi arc (which was ok but never quite gelled for me) but making use of the budget saving multi-episode format to its fullest.
Episode 711: The Forge
Episode 712: Awakening
Episode 713: Kir’Shara
I’m not massively interested in Vulcan but there’s some cool stuff here. Gary Graham gets to finally get his teeth into Soval, Bakula gets a bit of range, and that T’Pol/Trip relationship-ender I was so worried about a few days ago seems to have taken a turn. Plus Shran and some cool battles. Solid if not outstanding.
Episode 714: Daedalus
Nice to see some early transporter problems, and more importantly a strong story about the desperate measures a father will go to to save his son. Good solid Trek.
Episode 715: Observer Effect
This didn’t need to be the Organians specifically but why not. All the actors play the possessed versions of themselves really well, and flipping creepy when they’re looking in on Hoshi and Trip. Exciting for a bottle show.
Episode 716: Babel One
Episode 717: United
Episode 718: The Aenar
Such a tease – this is a fabulous trilogy of a battle leading up to all out war with the Romulans that you just know would have come with season five. Sigh. Everyone on form, great effects, beefy Brian Thompson is always a joy to watch, and the cliffhanger to episode one zooming out of the window and across Romulus is epic.
Episode 719: Affliction
Episode 720: Divergence
Such fanwank! The episodes we never needed, all there just to explain the ridge issue… and yet they do SUCH a good job of making a fabulous story around it, I love it! Plus Eric Pierpoint is one of my favourite guest actors in anything, and he does the Section 31 stuff well. Even the subplot ripped off from Speed (“There’s a bomb on this bus! If the bus goes above warp 5 it’s armed! If it drops below warp 5 it explodes! Now we have to drive another ship really fast next to it so our hero can get from to the other”) is entertaining.
Episode 721: Bound
Bit of a silly one, maybe leading into the TOS/Gene-trope of sexy powerful women as Enterprise draws to a close. It’s still quite fun, just very odd for 21st century TV. The Trip/T’Pol stuff moves along OK here too.
Episode 722: In a Mirror, Darkly
Episode 723: In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II
I remember when I first downloaded a torrent of this series a year or so after the show finished, these had been removed because fans apparently had decided they weren’t part of the series. Fans are, of course, idiots. These are so much fun, and after my patience had worn thin with DS9’s annual return to the mirror universe, this is back up there with Mirror, Mirror, Crossover and the other early ones, as an absolute classic, with everyone hamming it up. Plus the TOS bridge set, Linda Park’s midriff, Bakula’s awful black hair – it’s just all marvellous stuff from beginning to end!
Episode 724: Demons
Episode 725: Terror Prime
A really neat end to Enterprise (we’ll come onto These are the Voyages in a moment). This pair of episodes ties up quite a lot of the ongoing plotline very well, and does essentially form a solid series finale, with fab guest turns from Harry Groener and Peter Weller. If I’m ever fortunate enough to meet Connor Trinner, the one thing I do not want to know from him is what pain he had to pull from his own life for that final scene – when he tells T’Pol that humans and Vulcans can have kids, the ugly-crying he manages is more raw and emotional than literally anything else Trek has done before or since. Absolute gut-punch.
Episode 726: These are the Voyages…
Right, here’s the thing. I like this. Let’s park the framing device for a moment – this tells a good story of the years following the main body of the Enterprise stories, covering off all the sort of things we would have seen if the show had continued. It’s no different to the way TNG and Voyager ended, with their looks into the future, except they didn’t use the time travel cheat – this is actually what happened (probably). Literally the only disappointing part of the main story for me is that Trip’s death is very ‘Yar’. It’s so low key and pointless. Which is fine for a mid-season shock – but for a lead character in the series finale, damnit he should have had something bigger.
As for the framing device? I actually don’t mind it. It wraps up 17 years of onscreen Trek, and it’s something different from the time travel stuff TNG and Voyager did. I get why the actors were rightly upset, as it feels like it takes something away from them, but just looking at it as a dramatic device, I have no issue with it. No issue except that… it’s kinda pointless. They didn’t need any kind of device at all – they could have done a B5: Sleeping in Light and just jumped six years via a caption. I don’t dislike the Frakes/Sirtis stuff like others do, I just have no feelings for it one way or the other.
And with that, Star Trek came to an end. I remember at the time it seemed like it was over forever, and it really felt like that for a while. Looking back, I’m quite baffled that the finale aired May 2005, the Abrams film was confirmed April 2006 and the poster released July 2006. I remember April 2006 very well, thinking “I can’t believe Trek is coming back after all this time!”. It hadn’t even been a year. Barmy. Of course, it was a five year break overall in terms of the time it took to get the movie actually to the screen, but after 17 years of non-stop Trek, a five year break was very much needed…
“Episode” 727: Star Trek [2009]
I’ve seen this a bunch of times; first time in 4K though. And with such amazing visual effects it’s really lifted to another level on UHD. I have a lot of time for this film – in many ways it’s not Star Trek, with Kirk and Spock’s decision to let Nero die at the end being the most uncharacteristic part, but not the only one. But it is a really fun film, with some great ideas and some wonderful performances from all the actors, making their own marks on classic characters, Karl Urban in particular. I still wish JJ had just gone with a brand new crew, but if we were going to reboot with a re-cast, this was a solid way of going about it.
“Episode” 728: Star Trek Into Darkness
This is the second time I’ve seen this, and the first time in (upscaled) 4K. It’s a very pretty film, sure, and even better on UHD, but oh god what a misfire. Even the title pisses me off (ooh look, we’re so DARK, Trek’s gone DARK in a DARK way it’s never gone before so we put DARK in the name so you know it’s DARK). Peter Weller is fun (and I just saw him three episodes ago in another role!) and the rest of the main cast are still fab, especially Urban and Pegg, but that’s the best I can say about it. Benedict was woefully miscast with some terrible dialogue and hams his way through it like he thinks he’s playing Voldemort. The idea of replaying Wrath of Khan is just a big mistake in itself – create a new story please, unless you’re absolutely confident you’re going to be at least as good as the original in every possible way. You’re going to have Kirk sacrifice himself? Sure, but do it in a way that doesn’t have 90% of the audience immediately making comparisons to Nimoy performing the same damn lines. Even if Pine were better than Nimoy (he’s not) it’s a complete distraction from what could be a fine moment drawing us all completely out of the action. It’s even more frustrating because just yesterday I was sobbing at George Kirk’s sacrifice at the start of ST09 which is better written and acted. Argh. Just ARGH. This is seriously Trek at its worst. And I’ve seen Shades of Gray. “Data something’s got meeeeee!”
“Episode” 729: Star Trek Beyond
Too little too late, after the diabolical middle part of this trilogy. A shame, as this one has a lot going for it – Pegg and Urban get some great material, it’s visually stunning (especially in 4K; this is the second time I’m watching this film, and the first in 4K), and Idris Elba and Sofia Boutella are both great. It’s still not an outstanding movie and I’m left feeling like these films are a bit of a wasted opportunity. The middle one was unforgivable and while the others have plenty of redeeming features, they don’t really gel fully, and have some silly bits just for the sake of some action (Kirk riding the space bike thing for… reasons I guess?). I really want to like them, as they’re basically a side step in the way that some of my favourites are, like Yesterday’s Enterprise but, no… I find myself less excited than I should be about the constant rumours of a fourth.
Onto Discovery. I’ve seen these once only, and in the case of the recent fourth season not at all, as I’d already started my current marathon when it began, and (unlike with Picard and Lower Decks) I was able to hold back. In my reviews I won’t tackle episode-by-episode the supposed inconsistencies in the timeline. As far as I’m concerned the tech appears aesthetically more advanced than TOS, but who’s to say what design standards exist in the future, and the weird looking Klingons are probably a tribe that experimented with getting over the augment virus. I can handwave both of these away and enjoy (or not) the show based on the drama.
BTW, watching these a bit slower as I’m including After Trek/Ready Room but obv not reviewing them.
Episode 730: The Vulcan Hello
A brave series opener, avoiding almost all the standard things we expect from a pilot. The ship and most of the main cast are all missing, giving this a “prequel” feel, and in a sense a more epic scope to Discovery. It’s very interesting all round, and provides some good setup and fine performances from Martin-Green, Jones and Yeoh. The huge misfire here is so damn much Klingon speech, which may be “accurate” (moreso than all the aliens speaking English even when no humans are around) but make these scenes “tiring” viewing – I didn’t even follow the Klingon plotline properly the first time around because my attention waned.
Episode 731: Battle at the Binary Stars
Still loving the epic feeling that this two-part “prelude” gives. One of the best battles we’ve ever seen on screen in Trek (highlight the Klingon ship decloaking while ramming), and it has some good gritty war stuff rather than the usual “people dying offscreen very cleanly”. Georgiou’s death well handled. Burnham’s space flight awesome and pretty.
Episode 732: Context is for Kings
Starts with a time jump (another new thing for Trek). Lorca seems intentionally unsubtly “unsafe” but Isaacs rises above some clunky dialogue. Tilly and Stamets are immediately awesome and jump off the screen. The aftermath onboard the Glenn is creepy as anything. Good solid episode.
Episode 733: The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for the Lamb’s Cry
The poor Tardigrade 🙁 Some classic Trek moralising here, except with the unusual take that it’s the captain taking things too far. Interesting relationship going on between L’Rell and Voq (that Javid Iqbal guy isn’t half bad ;)). Hugh Culber introduced and seems like someone we want to see more of.
Episode 734: Choose Your Pain
Love this one. The Klingon torture method of the title is brutal, Ash Tyler and Harry Mudd are both fascinating (although I’m not sure why it needed to be Mudd, also why not). Good Tilly/Burnham moments. I finally GET Saru. I found him a bit of a wasted character before this episode but seeing him thrust into command and frankly not doing a great job was interesting. And for me most importantly – I LOVE the way they introduce Stamets and Culber’s relationship. There’s nothing obvious in the script until viewing with hindsight – just all of a sudden these two guys are cleaning their teeth together. It’s 100% natural and I remember high-fiving the screen when I first saw this.
Episode 735: Lethe
Lengthy tedious mind meldy flashback to Michael’s past. Honestly could gladly skip this one except it’s saved by the stuff with Lorca and Cornwell, and the brilliant WTF moment when Lorca’s clearly showing a real lack of urgency to get her rescued.
Episode 736: Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Love it! Great dip into an episodic type plotline, almost standalone from the rest of the season. The Burnham/Tyler relationship contributes, Mudd is fabulous, the whole thing has all the best elements of Cause & Effect and ANTHONY RAPP. I love spore-Stamets being all trippy at the best of times but there’s one specific moment here – when Michael whispers her secret to him. We don’t hear what she says but his reaction gave me a chill. I remember going online 2 seconds after that and claiming Rapp was one of the best things to happen to Trek. I stand by that.
Episode 737: Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
I didn’t like this one the first time around. It felt a bit dreary and uneventful and somehow Voyager-esque. I liked it more this time, with Saru’s personality change well handled.
Episode 738: Into the Forest I Go
Wow! Lots of amazing stuff! In particular, Tyler’s PTSD (which of course takes a whole different twist when you know what’s coming, especially the flashbacks of L’Rell seeming to rape him). Shazad Latif really shines here, particularly when he falls to his knees in front of L’Rell and she promises him “soon”. Wilson Cruz’s concern over Stamets wellbeing is touching and beautiful. Also awesome cliffhanger although on reflection I’m really surprised they didn’t just end with the discovery of where they are.
Episode 739: Despite Yourself
Wow. This episode has everything! Firstly, after thinking this season is all about a Klingon war suddenly we find out there’s a mirror universe arc that’s been brewing (and later we find it’s been there since episode 3!). Shazad is FANTASTIC with his sheer terror and confusion, and his interplay with Cheiffo, and then his evilness when it’s needed. Culber’s death sad. Evil Tilly AWESOME and gives some great comic stuff for both Wiseman and Isaacs, who apparently can do a fine impression of Scotty. Easily my favourite episode so far and puts Discovery very much on the map of the franchise as its own awesome thing.
Episode 740: The Wolf Inside
Mirror arc continues. More cool stuff for Tyler/Voq fighting for control over his body. Lorca seeming oddly at home here. Mirror Georgiou appears (c’mon, she was bound to!). Definitely a “middle episode”, still enjoying this but it exists mostly to move pieces of the plot along, although Latif is a real highlight.
Episode 741: Vaulting Ambition
Stamets explores a wobbly wibbly dreamscape and T’Rell explains what she did to Voq. Revelation that the reason Lorca is such a dick is that he’s Mirror Lorca OMG! Yeah, I remember this being jaw dropping at the time!
Episode 742: What’s Past is Prologue
Lorca has totally come out as a kick as a character rather than just some slightly edgy dude – I’m glad about this as before he was just typical “oooh aren’t we dark” modern storytelling crap. Shame that’s it got him now. Amazing ending I wasn’t expecting, as they return home 9 months in the future. As with the previous time jump, this gives Disco an epic feel that no previous episodic Trek managed. Loving it!
Episode 743: The War Without, The War Within
I feel like we could do without Sarek here. Nice twist for the Federation to get so desperate to take Georgiou’s help. Tilly sitting down in the mess hall with Tyler makes her the bravest damn character we’ve ever seen on Trek and I love her for it. Some tough Tyler/Burnham stuff.
Episode 744: Will You Take My Hand?
Mostly a very strong climax, pulling together so many plot points from a season that obviously had a great many cooks throwing ingredients in. The Qo’noS stuff overall is very slick with some great visuals and direction. Tyler getting boisterous with the Klingons while Michael watches is heartbreaking. Tilly getting stoned is absolutely hilarious. And OMG that cliffhanger. I remember my heart racing seeing NCC-17… and then the reveal, and the end theme! Joy!
Episode 745: Runaway
Nice to be justified in my feeling that Tilly was one of the highlights in Disco 1, as she leads the first Short Treks. It’s not a great episode and there’s something about it that screams “we did this in 10 mins after everyone had gone home” but Tilly is always worthy.
Episode 746: Calypso
Brave of them to establish Discovery has a long future ahead of it, and a very cool mini sci-fi story of the type they wouldn’t really do in a regular Trek episode and certainly not in the more arc driven Disco. Nice.
Episode 747: The Brightest Star
I blow hot and cold with Saru. He had some good moments in season 1 but I didn’t need an origin story for him.
Episode 748: The Escape Artist
Fabulous to see Mudd back, and a very funny segment. Love it!
Episode 749: Brother
Quiet start to the new season, setting up pieces with only some action coming in toward the end. I didn’t immediately warm to Pike, mainly annoyed that the producers were “fixing” the lack of ties to the past (I’ve since seen the error of my ways). Some wonderful personal stuff between Tilly and Stamets, and Reno is immediately brilliant.
Episode 750: New Eden
Ethical pickle on the planet of the pre-warp humans. Very standalone-TNG, which further made me worry that the previous arc style was being brushed away. With hindsight, a pretty good episode.
Episode 751: Point of Light
Oh, I honestly thought the L’Rell/Voq stuff had been forgotten about. I’m glad it’s back, and with some interesting new depth for them both. Tilly going slowly nuts is also entertaining.
Episode 752: An Obol for Charon
Meh, could take or leave this one. Mushroomy stuff, sick Saru, Tilly’s short insanity arc now replaced by “ok, there’s actually an alien entity and here she is”. It’s an OK episode just not the strongest this year. Reno a highlight as always.
Episode 753: Saints of Imperfection
The whole Mycelial Network thing is getting very confusing and doesn’t even seem to know what it is or what it can do… but what the hell, its great to see Culber again and promising new stuff for Stamets. The Section 31 stuff has no interest for me… yet.
Episode 754: The Sound of Thunder
Having not been that fussed about Saru, he’s finally getting some material here that I love, as he goes back to his planet and has to deal with all kinds of Prime Directivey things as he secretly knows his people have been screwed over by another race since forever. I feel like the Red Angel stuff so far is just a way to take the team from one totally unrelated story to the next – like the writers are trying to go back to episodic storytelling but faking an ‘arc’ to pull them together. Good solid episode though.
Episode 755: Light and Shadows
At LAST we meet Spock. It feels like this has been teased for so long. Love the time travel stuff in the shuttle and the interplay between Pike and Tyler, and also Georgiou turning on Leland. A lot of this episode though is set up for the back seven because OH GOD WHAT A CLIFFHANGER! TALOS IV!
Episode 756: If Memory Serves
Back to the beginning, guys! I can’t believe this episode even happened. I’m so happy! I love The Cage, and I love that they used actual footage in a ‘Previously On’… Still settling into the new Spock – not entirely sold at this point. But the tie in to Pike’s back story is fab, and the rest of the arc moves along a little bit in the background too.
Episode 757: Project Daedalus
Interesting episode, in that Airiam had very much been a background character (to me, anyway) and suddenly we’re supposed to care about her emotional death scene. It worked well though and brought a tear to my eye. We start to get to know this version of Spock a little better, and he’s an intriguing character for sure.
Episode 758: The Red Angel
Rather terrifying stuff here with Burnham’s near-self-sacrifice. The scene early in the episode where Spock has no filters whatsoever, leading to much amusement, is proper classic TOS humour (and very much welcome). The takeover of Leland at the end is a brilliant twist that sets up the final episodes nicely, and then immediately followed by a double-whammy of the reveal of Michael’s mom. Finally the Red Angel storyline gets interesting.
Episode 759: Perpetual Infinity
Bit of a quieter episode, focusing on the Burnham reunion. A welcome change of pace but now the Red Angel plot has finally moved up a notch I sorta want it to keep going. Fortunately the last 10 minutes make up for this with the apparent shock death of Tyler, and some awesome fighting on Esoff.
Episode 760: Through the Valley of Shadows
Totally the set-up for Such Sweet Sorrow, moving all the pieces into place. Of course the highlight here is Pike seeing his own future (terrifying) but mostly this episode just serves to get us ready for the finale.
Episode 761: Such Sweet Sorrow
Episode 762: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2
…and what a finale! These episodes have it all! Multiple gut-punches (Tyler and Michael’s goodbye really gets me), some amazing battle sequences, with genuine tension about who (aside from Spock and Pike for obvious reasons) might make it out alive, smart direction, a brilliant performance by Rebecca Romjin, some continuity ‘deck clearing’ sorta-handwaving away the inconsistencies between Disco and TOS as best as possible, the fun return of Po, and rather wonderfully Jett Reno appears to be sticking around for another season!
Episode 763: Q&A
Feels like an obvious promo to test the waters for what would become Strange New Worlds, but I don’t mind. Rebecca and Ethan are brilliant (especially the singing). Love the little callback to the JJ movie score, and giving Spock a nice huge Cage-era grin. Leaves me wanting more.
Episode 764: The Trouble With Edward
I love the Tribbles and who knew they needed an origin story? And such a fabulous one too! This guy is like a dick version of Barclay. Absolutely love it. And when I first saw this I stopped during the end credits, so this is the first time I’ve seen the commercial, which is adorable!
Episode 765: Ask Not
Unrealistic – what, does Pike do this for every new recruit – but suspending disbelief for a moment, it’s a great character piece with fine performances. Very enjoyable.
Episode 766: Ephraim and Dot
Oh my god this is just amazing! What a genius idea, and so well animated. Adorable, quirky, nerdy. Yes!
Episode 767: The Girl Who Made the Stars
This one doesn’t grab me personally, although objectively I appreciate the quality of the art, and the importance of the story in terms of role models for young females. Definitely one of those ones that I’m glad exists but not a personal favourite of mine.
Episode 768: Children of Mars
Oh wow. Wow wow wow. I was uncertain about Picard until this hit, and it promoted it SO well. From the opening cover of Heroes, through the totally believable rivalry between the young girls, and then the whole thing turning on its head half way through – just as real life often does, with things out of our control suddenly stamping all over the things that are. This is frankly an amazing 8 minutes of Trek and I think it’s the only Short Trek that I immediately went back and rewatched once it was finished the first time around.
Episode 769: Remembrance
So much going on here. A little too much, to be honest. It’s mostly good, just a little fast paced. Some very cool effects (except Data, WTF?), technology, cinematography (this is the best Trek has ever looked) and battle scenes, lovely stuff with Picard of course (especially showing how he’s now lost a little control of things in his senior years), and a totally unexpected cliffhanger. I was shocked to see ‘the artefact’! Also impressed to see how they tied everything in with the Kelvinverse movies because why not!
Episode 770: Maps and Legends
Sheer. Fucking. Hubris. More great stuff of Picard being rather a broken old man (sad as it is for someone like me who thought of Picard as a hero in my childhood), fun stuff at the artefact, especially Narek and Soji, and the gang starts to form as we briefly meet Raffi. This is a bit slower paced than episode one – arguably these first two could have stood to have some evening out, but overall great stuff across them both.
Episode 771: The End is the Beginning
And now we meet Rios (and his crew – what a genius idea that should have been explored before!). And Hugh is back too – I hope not just for fan-pleasing reasons (spoiler alert, I’m fairly sure I remember he doesn’t actually do much and could be any old friendly xB). At last the adventure begins!
Episode 772: Absolute Candor
Enjoying the Soji/Narek stuff (they’re both sexy, it’s all good). Jurati/Rios has something going on here (which sadly goes nowhere but it’s cute while it lasts). The Elnor backstory was interesting enough I guess, although even on first viewing it was all a bit of a contrived way to build towards some easy jokes later in the season). And Seven of Nine arrives at the end – cool!
Episode 773: Stardust City Rag
Speaking of easy jokes: Rios dressed as a pimp and Picard with the craziest French accent ever. Wow. OK, this episode has some good bits such as the horrific opening sequence with Icheb and the twist at the end that Jurati is some kind of cold killer. And the rescue of Maddox is some classic light-hearted Trek heist stuff which we’ve seen before – it just seems a bit out of place in what so far has been quite a gritty season.
Episode 774: The Impossible Box
Moving the plot along here with minimal substance. Love the shot of Picard overlayed with an old photo of Locutus, and there’s some action here and some small character pieces, but this is mostly at the exposition-type part of the story arc where we’re just kicking into gear for the final run.
Episode 775: Nepenthe
When I heard about this episode I was disappointed. Can’t Star Trek look to the future? I love TNG but we don’t need a sequel to it, damnit. Give Picard something new to do. I was very wrong. Sirtis and Frakes both put their best performances ever in here – so touching, and with some powerful stuff especially in terms of their characters new relationships with an ageing Picard. Soji’s head tilt made me cry immediately even though I knew it was coming. The stuff with Jurati on La Sirena, eating cake, is just fabulous.
Episode 776: Broken Pieces
Great analysis of Rios, and more opportunities for Cabrera to put on different accents (to varying quality). Some cool action stuff throughout, but the highlight here has to be the scene with Raffi and all the Cristobals.
Episode 777: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1
Episode 778: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2
Mixed feelings. Wow, so much good stuff here. Brent is brilliant as always, and overall the plot is satisfying and exciting. The last 30 minutes are a letdown though. Killing Picard to immediately resurrect him seems pointless. And for a 10-episode arc all about Picard, we’re now suddenly meant to pivot to care about Data (the whole thing of which seems to be the writers saying “Nemesis sucked, so we decided Data didn’t die and now we’ll do it better). The saving grace is that Data’s death *is* better here, and Briones’ rendition of Blue Skies is amazing. From a pure entertainment perspective the Data stuff is all good. From a structural point of view it, and Picard’s “death”, seem very tacked on to an otherwise well-built arc.
Episode 779: Second Contact
Immediately clear that Lower Decks is that kind of SHOUTING EVERYTHING VERY FAST animation that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (and usually isn’t mine), but this show has so much wit and genuinely smart humour amongst the silliness, plus plenty of fan-service, I LOVE it. This episode introduces all the characters efficiently – not much room for plot in 24 minutes what with the usual scene-setting but it’s a strong start nonetheless.
Episode 780: Envoys
A slightly weaker episode, although it shows a kinder side to Mariner, and builds on the Tendi/Rutherford relationship.
Episode 781: Temporal Edict
Making the most of the ‘lower rank’ setting, as “buffer time” comes under threat. A fun episode, great cameo from Miles O’Brien (sort of), and good to see Boimler saving the day.
Episode 782: Moist Vessel
Love the mother/daughter relationship that comes to the fore in this one, as Freeman promotes Mariner out of punishment. Some amazing visuals with the crazy terraforming. The guy that’s been trying to ‘ascend’ is also a nice plotline as it shows us just how relatable Tendi is as someone who ultimately just wants everyone to like her. Also: Sense-OARs.
Episode 783: Cupid’s Errant Arrow
OK, things are definitely picking up a pace now. It feels like the writers room has settled in. There’s plenty of laughs here as Mariner tries to prove Barb is an alien, and with Boimler’s jealousy of Barb’s friendship with Jet. The Tendi/Rutherford sub-plot where they try and get some T88s and accidentally nearly get transfered to another ship is a little fillery but still fun.
Episode 784: Terminal Provocations
This is where I decided I loved Lower Decks. Properly loved. Badgey is such a brilliant creation, brought to life by Jack McBrayer so well (as a huge 30 Rock fan, this excited me!). So many awesome holodeck references, and the Chu Chu dance stuff is all pretty funny too.
Episode 785: Much Ado About Boimler
And straight after the “holodeck malfunction” trope, we get the “transporter malfunction” trope. Another great comic twist on a Trek classic. The actual plot about The Farm is some pretty serious and standard Trek stuff, and the glowing jellyfish thing at the end is very beautiful (although I was disappointed at the time, as it had showed up in the teasers and I really thought it was a Farpoint sequel!)
Episode 786: Veritas
Who doesn’t love an “unreliable narrator” plotline, with multiple people offering the same take on events? This somehow feels very TNG (maybe I’m thinking A Matter of Perspective). The actual plotline is OK, not one of the strongest but saved by the humorous structure. AND OMG ITS Q! OK, it’s the cameoist of cameos but I had such a huge grin hearing John!
Episode 787: Crisis Point
OK, you want some cool references to old Trek? This is THE place to be. Every awesome (and every cringy) moment from the first four Trek films is RIGHT here and every single joke lands. As soon as the shuttle started approaching the Cerritos you just know a lengthy flyby is on the way. Hell they even got a Xon reference in! There’s so much to pick apart here, but basically as a child of the 80s, every single movie reference made me so happy. I can’t even remember what the plot was now – which doesn’t sound like a great advert for it, and it probably isn’t. It might be a crappy episode full of fan service, but it serviced this fine excellently. Particular shout out to the musician – the score is amazingly Horner-esque.
Episode 788: No Small Parts
Can we just focus for a moment on the amazing return of Landru, and the retconned explanation of Those Old Scientists? Hah! The rest of the episode is a great climax, and has some good throwbacks to the previous nine – I never expected Badgey to return! And an Exocomp too! Amazing! And Riker and Troi! Good solid season-ender, leaving me hungry for more.
Episode 789: That Hope is You, Part 1
Nice way to introduce a completely seismic shift in the Discovery world, by separating Burnham off and giving us the time to just focus on her and what new things await us in the future. Some humorous moments and some great action all add up to this feeling very Star Trek, and the location shoot is beautiful, although I fear that shifting 700 years beyond the furthest point we’ve seen (occasional Enterprise scenes notwithstanding) will make this season a bit unrecognisable.
Episode 790: Far from Home
…and now the other side of that story, as we see the Discovery crew’s arrival and their experience. Honestly, I found this one a little harder to get to grips with than the previous episode, and I’m not even sure why. I just didn’t care much for the Federationless outback world that’s being created (even though Burnham was in a similar location last week).
Episode 791: People of Earth
Reunited with the Federation (or at least what remains of it) so we can start getting on with some plot! We’re introduced to Adira Tal – Blu is a fine actor but I’m not immediately sold on the character.
Episode 792: Forget Me Not
I struggle with this episode. Look, I find it hugely important that non-binary people have representation, and if this episode speaks to some people out there in the audience that’s fantastic – I’m so happy Trek can do that and I wouldn’t take this hour away from them. For me, personally, just trying to enjoy this as a piece of drama – I think it’s messy. And it’s a shame as the Trill thing has always edged around gender identity/fluidity quite nicely, and there’s an opportunity here to really dive into it in a way that would have spoken to NBs and also given the rest of us something to think about. I think the problem here is in having an NB host with an imaginary friend who’s trans – there’s three interesting stories there that are fighting for attention and none of them being served well. A shame. The stuff on the Discovery though, with the dinner party, the haikus and people starting to really come to terms with being stuck adrift in the future is fantastic.
Episode 793: Die Trying
Brilliant, powerful, moving, exciting episode that essentially comes down to being about a father refusing to let go of his deceased family. A highlight of the season for me and a great exit for Nhan.
Episode 794: Scavengers
The season arc seems to be coming together a bit, I guess? I don’t know, this whole season just doesn’t gel for me, so when we get an arc heavy episode like this one, I drift a bit.
Episode 795: Unification III
On the flipside, this just seems stuck in the middle to be a random cool sequel to a TNG two-parter. But it’s awesome, and fun, and what a genius idea so why not!
Episode 796: The Sanctuary
More arc stuff, more shrugs. The Georgiou stuff with her clearly getting sick is kinda cool.
Episode 797: Terra Firma, Part 1
Episode 798: Terra Firma, Part 2
David Cronenberg is great in this, and the reveal of the Guardian of Forever is awesome. Unfortunately the mirror universe stuff all feels a bit self-indulgent, and for some reason even though I loved the Enterprise two-parter that was entirely set there, this entry that’s heavily set there just leaves me a bit cold, and as with Unification III seems like a pause from an arc I’m not invested in. It doesn’t help particularly that for the most part we’re meant to care about Georgiou mostly because Michelle freaking Yeoh is so undeniably cool… but that Michelle Yeoh. Georgiou, eh. Didn’t need a two-parter all about her.
Episode 799: Su’Kal
I forgot to mention this at the time, but why is Ensign Tilly suddenly second in command? Seriously? Love the character, love the actress, but ENSIGN Tilly? Makes no sense. This episode itself (in which she steps up to command, which is why I thought to note it) is a little weird, and serves up some interesting revelations about the cause of the burn. Fun to see Doug Jones sans makeup.