#Star Trek The Next Generation season 6 episode 15

[lightningarmour]

I have several thoughts I want to try to articulate about an episode of Star Trek

Revisiting Star Trek: The Next Generation Season6 Episode 15: Tapestry

I've only ever watched TNG all the way through once, a few years ago at this point, so I don't have a precise recollection of every episode. Going back and revisiting it is interesting because I'm able to sort of absorb more of it than I did the first time. Since the sort of awe has worn off, I can look at it somewhat more analytically this time around, and that results from time to time in being let down by an episode that I remember liking quite a lot originally.

In specific, today I rewatched Season 6 episode 15, Tapestry, which more or less is Star Trek doing It's a Wonderful Life. I remember really liking this episode the first time I watched it but this time it just didn’t sit well with me and I’m going to try and explain why. 

The episode starts quite boldly with Captain Picard fucking dying. I'm pretty sure this is the first time it's ever mentioned that he has an artificial heart, so it's kind of jarring to hear them talk about it like it's totally normal. But yeah, his artificial heart shorted out or something and he dies on the operating table. He then appears in like, limbo or heaven or whatever with Q belittling him for dying. Picard explains that when he was a young man he got into a fight with some aliens and was stabbed in the heart, so they had to replace it with a fake heart, and he laments that if it weren't for him being so foolish and getting into that bar fight, he might not be dead now if he had a real heart instead.

So Q sends him back in time to relive the day he was stabbed, giving him the opportunity to prevent his eventual death by changing the moment that would domino effect to his fake heart malfunctioning. Long story short, Picard changes the past so he never gets into that fight, and Q then brings him back to the present, except that the ripple effects have changed the course of his life and he is not the captain of the Enterprise in this timeline.

It's all a pretty solid set-up and I for the most part quite like the episode, but this here is where I take umbrage. So Picard comes to and in this version of his life, he is just a random crewmember aboard the Enterprise. They mention specifically what his rank and position are but I don't remember exactly. He's a junior science officer who has had an "unremarkable career." He goes to ask Troi and Riker to like, give him an on the spot evaluation and they both tell him that he's like, a reliable officer, but has never had any real ambition to move up or whatever. He just like, does his job adequately. Picard asks if they think he would ever make for like, command material and they're both like, eh, probably not my man. You just don't really seem like the kind of guy who has the gumption to be in charge.

And with that, Picard beseeches Q to send him back again so he can make things right. Like, he effectively says "I would rather die" than be an average person. So he goes back, ensures that the events play out as they originally did and wakes back up on the medical table, having survived his heart malfunctioning and wondering if any of it was real, or if Q had just kind of been fucking with him.

The whole kind of "moral" to the story ends up being "don't be a boring person" or whatever. Both Q and Riker tell Picard that basically not being stabbed when he was 20 made him a loser because he never experienced what it was like to take risks and live dangerously, so he wound up being just some guy who doesn't stand out and, kind of most revolting to Picard, isn't important. And the thing is, I can totally believe that for that character. Like, Jean-Luc Picard is a tremendous leader, he's devoted to his work and clearly finds fulfilment in the challenges and the demands required of being in charge of a starship. It's not an easy thing to do. So having a humble life would seem lame to him, but the problem I really have with the episode is that he doesn't really even try to live this new life. They spend so much time doing the flashback sequence that his time as "some dude" is incredibly glossed over and it all ends up feeling very like, dismissive and contemptuous of the sort of "little people" aboard the ship. I feel like there should have been something where instead of the lesson of the episode being "oh you should put yourself in mortal danger more often if you want to be cool and have a big boy job," Picard kind of instead learns the value that other people have on board the ship.

Like, he effectively sees that he is wearing a blue shirt and says "I'd rather be fucking dead" than not be the guy in charge. He doesn't try at all to even like, do a day in the life of Lieutenant Picard, learn about like, what this version of his life might be like, or anything. Like, who knows, he could have been fucking married? Had kids? Had friends? Like, if you are going to imagine a version of his life where he is not a total hard ass who has isolated himself from others and has like, no life outside of being the ship's captain, then I dunno, it's possible that in this version of his life he has like, actual meaningful relationships with others, or that like, maybe the job he has as a junior science officer is like, actually something this version of him enjoys doing, or if he's not like even an exceptional worker, then like, oh well, he's dedicated to his job, and like, we could get a whole sort of sequence where he comes to realize that even if the work he is doing is not glamorous, in some way or other, it IS important to the continued function of the ship or accomplishment of research or whatever. Like, the moral of the story should have almost been Picard gaining a newfound sort of respect for all the extras in the show. All the people who may not be big important members of the command structure, but who nonetheless contribute to the mission.

But instead the episode just seems like, kind of cruel. Like the fact that Picard finds death a more welcoming proposition than doing what he sees as work that is beneath him. It feels just very insulting towards anybody who isn't a big special important person, which I think is kind of antithetical to the whole egalitarian future thing. Like, belittling people who are doing necessary work. It just resembles a bit too much of the kind of contempt people in the modern day have for like "minimum wage workers." The idea that oh if people don't want to work at Mcdonalds they should just try harder to get a better job, but also acknowledging that some people have to be doing that work.

It also feels somewhat inconsistent with what the show will later do with the Lower Decks episode, and has previously done with that same kind of theme in the character of Reginald Barclay. Barclay is basically supposed to be the biggest wiener on the ship. He's just a total loser dork. He's nervous, he's unsociable, he's weird, and he doesn't excel at his job. And yet the kind of entire arc he gets when he's first introduced is that the main cast are all trying to help him out. Geordie and Troi are like, trying to encourage him to succeed, and to make friends and show him that like, just because he's kind of a dork doesn't mean he's not a useful member of the crew, and like, he becomes a semi-regular reoccurring character, and I kind of love him.

So in Tapestry, Picard basically rewrites his life so that he's effectively Barclay and he's like okay I'm going to kill myself. Which feels just kind of shitty. Again, if he had actually tried even a bit to understand what kind of life he was living and then still decided he couldn't give up the life he had I might be more amenable to the situation, but he doesn't even give it a chance, and that feels wrong. He should have like, learned something from the experience beyond "being a regular person is fucking lame."

Which, brings me to Miles O’Brien. I love O’Brien. He’s great, he’s fun, he’s charming. And he started out as a bit character. He was, for 6 seasons of TNG, one of those “little people” (this is not a leprechaun joke) who are just there to do a seemingly mundane job in the background, but then he gets moved up to being a lead character in DS9, but it’s not like he even gets a promotion or anything. He doesn’t become Lieutenant Commander or whatever, he’s still the same rank as he ever was and I really really like him as a depiction of a fairly like, working class member of Starfleet. He’s just a regular guy doing his job and he’s important for doing it.

[wormnamedwax]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 6 Episode 15 - Tapestry

listen do i even need to say anything at this point

[fast-moon]

I'm 30 years late, but...

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine originally aired when I was 10 years old. I loved Next Generation when I was a kid, so I gave DS9 a try back then... and immediately grew bored of it. They weren't going to new planets or having space battles, they were just sitting around in one place discussing space politics, and there wasn't even anyone funny like Data to hold my attention. So, I stopped watching after a couple episodes.

But, since I keep hearing it ended up being the best Trek seres, I've decided to go ahead and give it a full watch-through. Maybe now that I'm 40 and have more life experience under my belt, I can appreciate it more.

Turns out I do! I've finished the first season, so I'll give a run-down of what I thought of the S1 episodes below the cut:

1-2. Emissary: All right, I actually understand the premise this time which completely went over my head as a kid. The Bajorans were under Cardassian occupation for decades, the Federation showed up and drove them out, now the Federation is in control of the Cardassian space station DS9 to help the Bajorans rebuild and return to self-governance. But wait! Turns out there's a wormhole that goes to the other side of the galaxy here and it's suddenly become prime space real-estate! And the wormhole is inhabited by... mysterious non-temporal entities that spit out a magic orbs from time to time and the Bajorans worship them as prophets.

3. Past Prologue: Garak is queer-coded like whoa and gives Bashir a taste of his own medicine about not respecting boundaries. Is also possibly like a quadruple-agent. And tailors a fine suit. Also, Kira got a haircut. There's rats on spaceships?! Oh, that's just Odo. Okay. Still, the fact that he considered that a convincing disguise means there's rats on spaceships?!

4. A Man Alone: A guy backstabs himself and blames Odo for it.

5. Babel: Poor overworked O'Brien gets so stressed out he starts speaking in tongues. Then it turns out it's contagious. And it turns out that it's because someone sabotaged the station decades ago with a dyslexia virus and then just kind of forgot about it.

6. Captive Pursuit: This actually touches on a moral question I'd been wondering about if we ever end up with sentient AI: If something is bred/programmed to like being oppressed, is it more moral to remove it from its oppression even if that makes it miserable, or to return it to its oppression if that's what makes it happy? This episode chose the latter.

7. Q-Less: A surprisingly boring Q-centric episode whose only shenanigans involved a space stingray Vash was trying to sell off. Q really does miss Picard.

8. Dax: Oh, another philosophical thought-experiment: If you committed a crime and then get reincarnated in a traceable manner and retain all the memories of your previous incarnation, can your current incarnation be held liable for your previous incarnation's actions? This episode decides it doesn't want to answer this because she's not guilty, anyway.

9. The Passenger: Bashir becomes even more insufferable and nobody notices.

10. Move Along Home: Samurai hippies come through the wormhole and demand everyone LARP with them whether they like it or not.

11. The Nagus: Quark falls victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is "Never get involved in a land war with Asia". But only slightly less well-known is this: "Never get involved with a Ferengi when profit is on the line".

12. Vortex: So... Odo just lets a guy get away with murder because he has a sob story and claimed he knew others of his kind? Just because he was wanted unjustly on his home planet does not change the fact that he murdered a guy for hire. Also, Odo can get knocked out by a rock?

13. Battle Lines: Remember that "Great Divide" episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender that everyone hated? No reason.

14. The Storyteller: O'Brien goes down to Bajor to fix the pipes, becomes God.

15. Progress: Kira has to go convince a Boomer to leave his land because they need the resources to rebuild the planet, but he's all "I got mine, screw them." She humors his sexist behavior all episode, then burns his house down.

16. If Wishes Were Horses: Bashir wishes for his own personal side-piece Dax, and real Dax is weirdly okay with this because "boys will be boys". The conflict in this episode is literally solved by thinking happy thoughts.

17. The Forsaken: Odo gets sexually harassed so reports it to HR who just laughs him off because they think it would be good for him to get laid. Then he gets stuck in an elevator with his stalker and it's revealed just how physically strenuous it is for him to maintain his human form all day, and yet he has never been afforded any accommodations beyond a bucket to sleep in. This poor space slime, no wonder he's always so grumpy. #JusticeForOdo

18. Dramatis Personae: TNG's "The Inner Light", but stupid. Once again Odo has to save the day because he's immune to the humanoid crazypox that seems to infect the station every half-dozen episodes, and yet they still just can't find it in their effects budget to adjust station operations enough to allow him the minimal comfort of not having to contort himself into human form every day until he collapses just to do his job.

19. Duet: I am a sucker for "Did the janitors on the Death Star deserve to die?" sorts of moral discussions, and this episode delivered that very well. Also, I'm in lesbians with Kira.

20. In the Hands of the Prophets: Lady who doesn't even have kids at the school nevertheless takes issue that the children aren't being taught in accordance to her religious beliefs. It's been 30 years since this came out and nothing changes.

All in all, a decent season 1. It does show its age in places, especially in its treatment of female characters, and being written before the internet and smartphones caused seismic cultural shifts that its vision of the future failed to take into account. But still, I'm liking it now that I actually understand what's going on. On to season 2!

[goodwhump-temp]

William Riker Whump | Star Trek: The Next Generation

His rizz is too good for his own good

SEASON 1 1x01 Encounter at Farpoint pt2 - Briefly unconscious, evaporated 1x02 The Naked Now - Knees buckle, becoming infected with the silly virus 1x04 The Last Outpost - Stunned, electrocuted unconscious, punched, threatened 1x06 Lonely AMONGUS - Betrayed, stunned/blinded 1x08 The Battle - Worried for Picard 1x09 Hide and Q - Forced to play Qs game, tempted, makes Picard worry 1x14 11001001 - Seduced/distracted, heartbroken 1x18 Coming of Age - Interrogated 1x20 The Arsenal of Freedom - Trapped in stasis, weak 1x21 Symbiosis - Electrocuted hostage, collapses 1x22 The Skin of Evil - Dragged, drowning 1x24 Conspiracy - Restrained, pain, pushed, kicked to the ground, punched multiple times, falls on glass table, unconscious, held, mind controlled, nerve pinched

SEASON 2 2x02 Where Silence Has Lease - Being hunted, trapped, aggravated 2x08 A Matter of Honor - Bullied by Klingon crewmates, bitch slapped/trips 2x12 The Royale - Trapped 2x13 Time Squared - Talks about depressing childhood 2x14 The Icarus Factor - Sees dad for the first time in 15 years, depressed, avoiding, fighting his dad, knocked down multiple times 2x18 Up the Long Ladder - Injected, memory loss, missing cells, cloned 2x21 Peak Performance - Badass, battle simulation turned into a real attack 2x22 Shades of Gray - Calf punctured, nervous system being attacked, passes out, brain stabbed/stimulated, induced sadness and pain (all in one whump episode)

SEASON 3 3x01 Evolution - Inhales toxic nitrogen oxide 3x03 The Survivors - Caught in a trap, hanging upside-down 3x09 The Vengeance Factor - Rizzler, heartbroken/sad 3x14 A Matter of Perspective - Thought dead, acting strange, arrested, guilty until proved innocent, punched multiple times 3x16 The Offspring - Sexually harassed/flustered 3x17 Sins of the Father - Confrontation, annoyed 3x18 Allegiance - Worried, confrontation, gaslighted 3x20 Tin Man - Annoyed 3x21 Hollow Pursuits - Confronts Mad Murdock (🤓), choked, feels insulted 3x23 Sarek - Punched, intense argument 3x24 Menage a Troi - Captured, unconscious, imprisoned, held at gunpoint 3x26 The Best of Both Worlds pt.1 - Annoyed (same), undermined/insulted, knocked down, unconscious

SEASON 4 4x01 The Best of Both Worlds Pt.2 - Sad the whole episode 4x03 Brothers - Trapped 4x08 Future Imperfect - Inhaling toxic fumes, coughing/choking, passes out, wakes from coma, aggravated, captured, imprisoned 4x10 The Loss - Worried 4x14 Clues - Stunned unconscious twice 4x15 First Contact - Hospitalized, severely injured, unconscious, punched multiple times/beaten unconscious, internal bleeding, injected dangerous drugs, weak, forced to kill, passes out, dying 4x17 Night Terrors - Aggravated, paranoid, tired/insomnia, scary hallucination 4x23 The Host - Shuttle shot at, awake during symbiote implantation surgery, erratic vital signs/blood pressure, slowly passing out, dizzy/stumbles/caught, weak, lightheaded, overwhelming pain, symbiote being rejected, sickness/pain worsening, collapses

SEASON 5 5x04 Silicon Avatar - Caught in storm, watches friend die, glum 5x06 The Game - Mind controlled 5x10 New Ground - Smoke inhalation, coughing 5x12 Violations - Paralyzed, traumatic flashback, passes out, noticed missing, comatose 5x14 Conundrum - Amnesia/identity erased, rizzler at maximum potential 5x15 Power Play - Shuttle crash landed, struck by lightning, unconscious, pain, broken arm, punched, shot/stunned 5x16 Ethics - Emotional 5x17 The Outcast - RIZZ ALL DAY ALL NIGHT BROTHER, emotional, brutally heartbroken 5x18 Cause and Effect - Falls to the ground, dies multiple times 5x20 Cost of Living - Life support failing, difficulty breathing, sweating profusely, passes out 5x21 The Perfect Mate - Rizz noticed, victim of rizz 5x24 The Next Phase - Thinks friends are dead 5x25 The Inner Light - Worried

SEASON 6 6x01 Time's Arrow Pt.2 - Worried 6x03 Man of the people - Forced on, scratched/pain, bleeding, worried 6x05 Schisms - Insomnia, agitated, dazed, felt trapped, abducted, restrained 6x07 Rascals - Held at fazerpoint, held hostage, threatened 6x09 The Quality of Life - Beard insulted 6x10 Chain of Command, Pt.1 - Stressed 6x11 Chain of Command, Pt.2 - Angry, confronts commanding officer twice 6x15 Tapestry - Forehead laceration 6x18 Starship Mine - Hostage, punched to the ground, almost passes out, mouth and nose bleeding, knocked out from loud noise 6x19 Lessons - Weak 6x21 Frame of Mind - Forehead sliced, (some of these are repeated multiple times), shaking, anxious, reoccuring head pain, paranoid, hallucinating, memory loss, stitutionalized, injection, increasingly agitated, intense stress/fatigue, scared, captured, parietal lobe damaged, 'neuroshock,' reoccuring bleeding, 'shoots' himself, surgery 6x24 Second Chances - Nervous, copied, twin heartbroken, hanging 6x25 Timescape - Clawed forehead, knocked down, frozen 6x26 Descent - Shot at

SEASON 7 7x03 Interface - Talks about mothers death 7x04 Gambit Pt.1 - Close friend dies, denial/avoidant, angry, emotional pain, physically aggressive, knocked down, captured, nervous system painfully electrocuted multiple times, slapped, kicked 7x05 Gambit Pt.2 - Shot unconscious, presumed dead 7x06 Phantasms - Tube sticking out of head (datas nightmare), attacked, infected 7x12 The Pegasus - Worsening guilt, stressed, broken rib, badly bruised, past revealed, confronted, part of large conspiracy, job threatened, confrontation, arrested 7x15 Lower Decks - Tired 7x18 Eye of the Beholder - Watches somebody die, guilt 7x19 Genesis - Spikes stabbed on his back, pain, worsening memory loss, transformed to beast, agitated, shot unconscious 7x24 Preemptive Strike - Held at fazerpoint, betrayed

[uozlulu]

20 questions for fic writers!

I was tagged by @firebatvillain :D!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 148 works on AO3

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

I have 740,203 words in total. I added 59,061 words this year

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Supernatural (TV 2005) (32) Naruto (16) Doctor Who (12) Interview with the Vampire (TV 2022) (11) Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga) (10) The Avengers (Marvel Movies) (8) Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies) (8) Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms (8) Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis (7) Banana Fish (Anime & Manga) (7) Sherlock (TV) (7) Teen Wolf (TV) (5) My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) (5) Spider-Man (Movies - Raimi) (4) Hawaii Five-0 (2010) (3) Death Note (Anime & Manga) (3) X-Men (Movieverse) (3) xxxHoLic (2) Whitechapel (TV) (2) Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle (2) Star Trek (2) Captain America (Movies) (2) Hannibal (TV) (2) Pacific Rim (Movies) (2) One Piece (Anime & Manga) (1) CSI: NY (1) Spider-Man - All Media Types (1) The Venture Bros (1) Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga) (1) Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits (Anime) (1) Suite Life on Deck (1) My Life in Film (TV) (1) Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (1) Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (1) Daredevil (TV) (1) Gundam 00 (1) Vampire Chronicles Series - Anne Rice (1) Star Trek: The Next Generation (1)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Our Soulmate Academia (BnHA (MHA)) - 355

Pain (Banana Fish (manga!verse)) - 280

Crush (SuperWolf (SPN/Teen Wolf (MTV))) - 256

A Gift (Avengers (MCU)/Daredevil (Netflix)) - 219

Best Laid Plans (Banana Fish (manga!verse)) - 203

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always respond because it seems like the polite thing to do especially now that people don't leave as many comments as they used to back the 00's on ff.net

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

You Can't Stay Blind - (SuperWho (SPN/Doctor Who)) - the Eleventh Doctor runs into Crowley who's wearing a too familiar face

In the Pasture of a Vale (Supernatural) - Dean runs into Adam and Ben five years post-season 5 (written back in 2010)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

 I think I always end up with a kind of mixed emotion ending like Best Laid Plans or Our Soulmate Academia, so it's difficult to remember the truly happy ones. The most recent happy ending would be The Mystery in the Fog (ACD!Holmes) where Holmes and Watson end up at the same secret wedding of an underground queer club they're both members of unbeknownst to each other and have some revelations

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Sometimes I do. The most infamous incident was the time I wrote a fic speculating on who Castiel's vessel might have been before I got to Jimmy's episode in my binge watch back in the day. The reviewer went into gruesome detail on how I was going to burn in Hell for my fic. It was unreal. I just deleted the fic and then went on to write several more SPN fics as you do.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've written smut a handful of times for fics and more often than that for RP since that's part of the RP culture I fell into in university. Most of my smut fics have been orphaned now, but the one that remains is Swallow My Fang at Night Island (Interview with the Vampire (AMC)) I approach smut like I approach fight scenes so I can keep track of the flow of action. I keep my own personal kinks out of it and try to write a scene I think the audience would look for instead

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've written 15 crossovers. I enjoy them tbh. In terms of plot, the craziest one I wrote was Distortion (BBC Sherlock/My Life in Film) where Jones was hired to play Moriarty and things get way too real. In terms of titles crossed over, the craziest one is probably The Hokage (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle/Naruto)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, ages ago. It's why I'm my own beta reader or Kitty Britpicks me because I can trust her

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I had some requests but I've never been alerted to the final products

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

My brother and I regularly cowrote fics together when I was in high school and he was in middle school. If you ever read a Trigun script-based crack fic in the 00's with the phrase "Love and peace! Doves and geese! Change the world!" or "Another carnival ride with cotton candy," that was us.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I don't think I actually have one because I'm a multi-shipper and I have so many favorites. That said, it might be inuyasha/Kagome since I always had an Inuyasha fic in rotation (usually more than one though) from 2001 - 2007 or so. Unfortunately they've all been lost to time. According to my AO3 relationship toggle in the filters sidebar, it's Destiel (7) and Devil's Minion (7)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a BnHA fic from before we learned what Hagukure's powers were where she sent Class-A and Aizawa back in time to Yagi's high school years to do a kind of Tenchi in Love (1996) type of plot where they had to stop a time traveler from murdering Yagi. I wrote quite a bit of it but it stalled on me when Midoriy and Nana interacted and I wasn't completely sure how to get that to work

16. What are your writing strengths?

The most consistent thing I get complimented on are my fight sequences, which is why it's sad I lost all my IY fics because I wrote so many fights for them

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

My memory is a sieve and some of the holes are too big

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've done it before because I was a weeb and it was a trend in the 00's. Not sure I'd do it again now that I've matured past that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically fairytales. I retold Cinderella when I was so little my mom had to write it down for me because I couldn't write yet. I drew pictures to go with the narration

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

The Land Across the Sea (Black Clover/Boruto) - Boruto ride a tsunami to Clover Kingdom and the knights have to take him back home, which is also Yami's homeland.

I got the idea for this fic when a friend and I were talking about what we'd want the Black Clover movie to be about when it was first announced. Then I took my idea of Yami getting to return to his homeland and made it a crossover because I like the idea of Yami and Naruto knowing each other from back in the day.

[jonfucius]

Great Star Trek Rewatch - Short Treks S2

Originally posted on Twitter 15 October 2020 - 16 October 2020

Star Trek: Short Treks Season 2 is up next in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. As with ENT, DSC, and STX Season 1, mini-reviews will document my progress.

Q&A: Chabon’s one-room, one-act, two-actor play is a wonderful tease for the coming Star Trek: Strange New Worlds series. Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck are pitch-perfect in their roles as Number One and Spock. Great continuity having Samora Smallwood’s Amin make an appearance. 9/10

The Trouble with Edward: The weakest of the Short Treks. Mean-spirited in parts, but it hints at something explored with Star Trek: Lower Decks’s Ens. Fletcher: not everyone is cut out for Starfleet. Johnny Appleseed and the tribble vacuum/cereal ad are highlights. 6/10

Ask Not: A deeeeep cut callback to Star Trek: The Next Generation gives Amrit Kaur the spotlight to shine as Pike’s jailer. Her beaming smile at the wonders of the Enterprise and the career ahead of her is inspiring. 8/10

Ephraim and Dot: a zany Looney Tunes homage and love letter to Star Trek: The Original Series and the original 1701, this is a home run in every department. 10/10

The Girl Who Made the Stars: The story told in Burnham’s DSC S2 opening monologue is gorgeously brought to life. This is the kind of representation Star Trek excels at, and needs more of. 10/10

Children of Mars: A haunting prelude to Star Trek: Picard. Kima and Lil are every child affected by horrific tragedy, which makes the futuristic setting surprisingly timeless. 10/10

And with that, Season 2 of STX comes to an end in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. Final score: 8.83/10. Highest score(s): “Ephraim and Dot,” “The Girl Who Made the Stars,” “Children of Mars.” Lowest score(s): “The Trouble with Edward.”

STX overall score across 2 seasons and 10 episodes: 8.67/10

[rjdavies]

Celebrating Black History Month: Mae Carol Jemison

We are still celebrating Black History Month with amazing and inspirational people but from today here on out and continuing into March we are shifting gears and focusing on Black Women in honour of March 8th next month International Woman’s Day.

Born October 17, 1956 (66 years old) in Decatur, Alabama

Dr. Mae Carol Jemison is an engineer and NASA Astronaut. In 1992, she became the first African American woman to travel in space. As a child she was inspired by Nichelle Nichols who played Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek the Original Series. She also appeared on The Next Generation Season 6 Episode 24 “Second Chances” as Lt. Palmer.

Dr. Jemison graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in African and African-American studies, from there she attended Cornell Medical School and graduated in 1981 with a Doctorate in Medicine. She is fluent in Russian, Japanese and Swahili. She worked with the Peace Corp, opened a private medical practice and applied to NASA in 1985 (they  stop accepting new applications after Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986), she applied again in 1987 and was one of the 15 people chosen out of over 2,000 applications. On September 28, 1989 she received her first mission, selected to join the STS-47 crew as a Mission Specialist. On September 12, 1992 Jemison and six other astronauts went to space on the Endeavor Space Shuttle, where the made 127 orbits around the Earth and returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

After 6 years with NASA, she left them and started The Jemison Group, a consulting company that encourages science, technology and social change. She’s a teacher at Dartmouth College, until 2002.  in 2012 she made a winning bid for the DARPA 100 Year Starship project through the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence. Its’ a project working towards making sure human space travel to another star is possible within the next 100 years. She’s also written a couple of books. 

R. J. Davies

A Riveting Jacked-In Dreamy Mind-Bender

RJ Davies - Science Fiction Author, Maddox Files, Novels

[crowleysgirl56]

It has been doing my absolute fucking head the way streaming services seem to still have “height of the pandemic” mentality. We are not stuck in our homes anymore with the ability to binge watch series the way we were back in 2020! My god, the world went back to normal (mostly), and everyone left the houses and started living their lives again! And maybe some of us want to like, sit with an episode of a show for five minutes and think about it and absorb and digest it, without having to quickly more onto the next bit because we’re afraid that if we don’t literally eat it up within the first two weeks of it dropping that’ll somehow prove to the executives that we don’t want it!

Parks and Recreation is one of the most beloved comedies of the last 15 years. Its first season SUCKED. And I know that had to do with the 2008 writers strike, but can you imagine if they tried to write it today? Hell, let’s say it was being written last year and the actors and writers strike of 2023 caused the same issues its first season had. It would be gone and we would never have gotten the other 6 amazing seasons of that show that brought me so much laughter and joy. Can you imagine that there is probably a show that literally had that happen to it right now? A comedy with a small following that got cancelled because it didn’t so well this year, but had issues because of the strikes last year? What amazing show have we completely missed out on because execs decided it wasn’t worth the financial risk?

Other wildly popular shows that had shitty first seasons: all of the Star Trek franchises come to mind! (Well not Strange New Worlds or Lower Decks, they’re badass from the beginning). Next Gen and Deep Space 9 were abysmal, but get to season 2 and they were fantastic! Even The Good Place had a kind of boring first season, until you get to the season 1 finale and that twist pulls you in. It’s where the popularity of that show started and you don’t get how amazing that show is until season 2. Can you imagine if that was cancelled?!

The one small thing I will say in defence of production companies (and I’m being really generous here), is that the way television is produced has completely changed in the last decade. Production costs have skyrocketed because companies realised that they could create television on the same level as a big blockbuster movie. We have Game of Thrones to thank for that, which completely changed not only how we view television (started the binging culture), but how television could be produced. But unfortunately when you make a blockbuster level TV series, you need blockbuster level audiences to watch them to recoup the amount spent. I don’t think that’s feasible for television. 20 years ago most television series would be set in the relatively same studio location and not contain huge amounts of effects. Now we need dragons and multiple locations and magic powers and spaceships and lightsaber battles in space. And I want those things. But how is it all paid for if there isn’t viewership?

And the worst part is this whole thing causes a catch 22: we assume a streaming service is going to cancel a show, so we don’t invest, we don’t watch it, because we don’t want to be disappointed when it’s inevitably cancelled. So they cancel it because their numbers show not enough people watched it. It honestly sucks.

I’m still however putting the blame square on the production and streaming companies though. It’s bullshit we get 57 seasons of the Khardashians and Love Island, but they can’t give us well produced drama or fun action packed adventures anymore.

So I haven't even gotten over the loss of My Lady Jane and The Acolyte and now I learn that Dead Boy Detectives has also been cancelled. The rage I am feeling is indescribable. Either 1st seasons have to be as popular as Season 4 of Game of Thrones or shows get immediely cancelled, how is that realistic, how is that sustainable, how am I supposed to be convinced of paying for these subscriptions and giving new shows a chance if they all get cancelled before reaching their potential. All the long iconic shows had weak first seasons there I said it and I mean it. Tvd's best season was s3. How I met your mother's first season was weak it only got better after s2. Charmed's first season was so corny but it became iconic after s2. Supernatural's first season is immaculate tbh I'll hear no slander of it but it was not the most popular while it was first airing the show built a cult following over the years. These three shows that I mentioned at the beginning of this post all had solid, decent, even excellent first seasons and could have become so popular if given the chance to find their footing and build an audience. But no. We can cancel everything within a month now. We have the technology to be at the Golden age of TV. Instead we get 6 episodes and a fuck you. I'm so tired. And I'm tired of getting invested in these characters and their stories and then being forced to abandon them. Especially when I'm autistic and they then live rent free in my head forever even if I try to throw them out.

[punken316]

Oh everything is back to the way it was, good

[herochron]

Star Trek Chronological Timeline

2151-2152

Enterprise Season 1, Episodes 1-26

2152-2153

Enterprise Season 2, Episodes 1-26

2153-2154

Enterprise Season 3, Episodes 1-24

2154-2155

Enterprise Season 4, Episodes 1-22

2256-2257

Discovery Season 1, Episodes 1-15

2258-2259

Discovery Season 2, Episodes 1-14

Star Trek

2259

Strange New Worlds Season 1, Episodes 1-10

2259-2260

Star Trek Into Darkness

2262

Star Trek Beyond

2266-2267

Star Trek Season 1, Episodes 1-29

2267-2268

Star Trek Season 2, Episodes 1-26

2268-2269

Star Trek Season 3, Episodes 1-24

2269-2270

The Animated Series Season 1, Episodes 1-16

2270

The Animated Series Season 2, Episodes 1-6

2273

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

2285

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

2286

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

2287

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

2293

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

2364

The Next Generation Season 1, Episodes 1-26

2365

The Next Generation Season 2, Episodes 1-22

2366

The Next Generation Season 3, Episodes 1-26

2367

The Next Generation Season 4, Episodes 1-26

2368

The Next Generation Season 5, Episodes 1-26

2369

The Next Generation Season 6, Episodes 1-26

Deep Space Nine Season 1, Episodes 1-20

2370

The Next Generation Season 7, Episodes 1-26

Deep Space Nine Season 2, Episodes 1-26

2371

Star Trek: Generations

Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episodes 1-26

Voyager Season 1, Episodes 1-16

2372

Deep Space Nine Season 4, Episodes 1-26

Voyager Season 2, Episodes 1-26

2373

Star Trek: First Contact

Deep Space Nine Season 5, Episodes 1-26

Voyager Season 3, Episodes 1-26

2374

Deep Space Nine Season 6, Episodes 1-26

Voyager Season 4, Episodes 1-26

2375

Star Trek: Insurrection

Deep Space Nine Season 7, Episodes 1-26

Voyager Season 5, Episodes 1-26

2376

Voyager Season 6, Episodes 1-26

2377-2378

Voyager Season 7, Episodes 1-26

2379

Star Trek: Nemesis

2380

Lower Decks Season 1, Episodes 1-10

2381

Lower Decks Season 2, Episodes 1-10

Lower Decks Season 3, Episodes 1-10

2383-2384

Prodigy Season 1, Episodes 1-13

2399

Picard Season 1, Episodes 1-10

2401

Picard Season 2, Episodes 1-10

3188-3189

Discovery Season 3, Episodes 1-13

3190

Discovery Season 4, Episodes 1-13

[thespamman24]

What's ur fave food

It's a 24 way tie:

1. Ice cream

2. Grapes

3. Statues made of butter

4. Grapes made of butter

5. Statues of grapes made of butter

6. Statues of Alexander the grape made of butter

7. Alexander the grape.

8. Gilbert grape

9. Fried Grapes

10.Fried Gilbert grape

11. Gilbert Gottfried

12. A manatee named Charles

13. Crackers

14. Really, really, good tuna

15. The terrified screams of horrified mortals

16. The horrified screams of terrified mortals

17. The screaming terrors of mortal horrors

18. The screaming horrors of mortal terrors

19. The screaming horse of mortal tears

20. Star Trek the Next Generation Season 7 Episode 6

21. A world where water is gravy, and gravy is water and I am a fish that is also a goat

22. All the stars that breathe and pulse

23. Shepherds Pie

24. Like, a danish, but where is the bread is also meat, you know?

[more-than-a-princess]

@xdcwntherabbithole​ asked:  What was your favorite TV show growing up? Do you still watch it? How many languages do you speak?

Munday meme full of random questions for the mun - Accepting!

What was your favorite TV show growing up? Do you still watch it?

I feel like I should preface this by saying the following: I didn’t have cable TV in my house until I was 14 or 15 years old. So that may alter what I can comment on this, at least in terms of what I watched routinely.

Mostly though, what I had access to as a kid was PBS and Disney’s One Saturday Morning (and a few WB cartoons, like Animaniacs). What I remember watching most often though? Wishbone, Reading Rainbow, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, The Simpsons, Star Trek: The Next Generation, ER, and Masterpiece Theatre (Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy? chef’s kiss). Wishbone was entirely due to the literary focus and I liked to challenge myself to beat the kid contestant kids on the geography questions on Carmen Sandiego. The other three were either out of coincidence, that they happened to always be on, or the fact that my parents were really into Star Trek and ER. 

Cable was a treat though, mostly when I went to relatives’ or friends’ houses, or on vacation. It was then I could see the Holy Grail (at the time): Nickelodeon. Sure, you had your Cartoon Network Cartoon Cartoons, with your Dexter’s Lab and Powerpuff Girls (this may have been a little later than my childhood, actually) and Johnny Bravo...but Nickelodeon?

Nick was gold. It was the coolest channel on TV for elementary school-aged me.

Doug, Rugrats, Rocko’s Modern Life, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, All That, Legends of the Hidden Temple, GUTS...yeah. I loved all of those when I was able to watch them. AYAotD, Doug, and Legends were my favorites, though. And I managed to visit Universal while the Nickelodeon Studios were still open and the slime geyser was still going. It was beautiful.

Anyone else remember the time capsule?

As a teen, I finally went back and rewatched stuff I missed, like Daria, but I was mostly watching anime at that point. By the time I got to college though, I finally got into The O.C., Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gossip Girl, Supernatural, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, etc. in my late teens/early 20s. I’m not sure how Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, and Vampire Diaries passed me by, but they did. 

As for a selection of my lineup of must-watch TV:

- So. Many. Historical. Dramas: Downton Abbey, The Great, Bridgerton, Sanditon, Victoria, Poldark, Endeavour, Grantchester, Outlander, A Discovery of Witches, Mad Men, The Gilded Age, Miss Scarlet and the Duke...etc.

- Actually just a lot of British TV in general. Just...just throw Britcoms, mysteries, and dramas at me. And while not strictly a British-made show, can E!’s The Royals come back? That final season cliffhanger was BS. Despite the creator being full of shit, The IT Crowd was great. Also: The Inbetweeners, Skins. 

- Netflix selections like: Stranger Things, Lupin, Big Mouth, Elite, Squid Game, most things by Mike Flanagan that don’t have dead cats in them (I’m looking at you, Hill House. Screw you, Hill House). I still need to watch Money Heist.

- Anime like: Lupin III Part 6, Spy x Family (alongside a whole list of favorites)

- Disney+ like: Ms. Marvel, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and soon....SHE-HULK. I’ve been waiting for MCU She-Hulk since the first Avengers movie, pretty much. She’s my favorite superhero. I am VERY EXCITE.

- Others: American Horror Story, Riverdale (though I stopped watching this season), Pretty Little Liars, Dollface, Shrill, Sex and the City (some episodes are better than others), Peacemaker, and I’m rewatching The Sopranos. Still need to start the TV version of The Time-Traveler’s Wife (the book is a favorite of mine. The movie was terrible) and finish up Succession and Euphoria.

How many languages do you speak?

Fluently? One. English, of course. But I’ve got a decent grasp on French, at least enough to get around: I studied the language between ages 8 and 22, though if I don’t use it frequently it’s harder to keep up with it. I also studied some Latin and Japanese.

Fiancé is fluent in English and Italian, and knows some Spanish and German. This makes our planned trips to Europe much easier!

[marymoss1971]

21 answers for a fanfic 2021

1. fandoms you wrote for this year

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: TNG movies

Bones

Whiskey Cavalier

2. favorite fic you wrote this year

The Secret (Star Trek: VOY/ST: TNG) where I developed a backstory for Nick Locarno and wrote how I imagined his life turned out after "The First Duty"

3. favorite fic you read this year

I loved Curator's Autobiography of Kirsten Clancy & her story Finding Home: A Gretchen Janeway and Owen Paris Love Story. I also loved The Ranger series by Treadstone17, however that's been unfinished for a year.

4. favorite opening line/scene you wrote this year

"Ray was in his office with his sister when it happened. Ray’s older sister, Sandy, had arrived from Maryland with her family for a weeklong visit. As they sat there discussing plans for their mother’s surprise birthday party it came—Hurricane Frankie."

-- First Impression (Whiskey Cavalier)

5. favorite ending line/scene you wrote this year

"Ray nodded. “Apparently, the Niagara Falls mission isn’t an isolated incident. Leaks have been happening, within the Bureau, for months. So, from now on, this team has a new mission—find the mole in the FBI.”

-- Bots in the Blood (Whiskey Cavalier). The story was just a rewrite of MacGyver's series finale but this ending sets up my hypothetical Season 4 story for Whiskey Cavalier The Year of the Mole

6. a trope you wrote this year

The estranged father regretting how he treated his son. I used that trope in my The Great Prince series (Whiskey Cavalier) However, I don't think there was a lot of interest in backstory for Ray Prince. But that got me thinking about Tom Paris and his father.

7. pairings you wrote this year

Will Chase/Frankie Trowbridge (Whiskey Cavalier) Ray Prince/Susan Sampson (Whiskey Cavalier) Carol Freeman & Beckett Mariner (Star Trek: Lower Decks) Owen Paris & Tom Paris (Star Trek: Voyager)

8. a fic regret from this year

I get more disappointed when some of my fics don't get many hits. However, I guess I do regret rewriting a Bones episode to make it fit Jai Datta in Whiskey Cavalier. Personally, I think it theoretically would've made a good episode but I guess it was too similar to an episode we already saw on the show.

9. a song that helped you write

I don't really use songs. However, Man on the Run (Whiskey Cavalier) was influenced by two songs: "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson and "Billy, don't you lose my number." by Phil Collins.

10. total number of fics you posted

30

11. total number of words you posted

75.041

12. most popular fic written this year

That would be Dopplegangers. However, that fic is spread over multiple Star Trek fandoms. Single fandom fic would be Doubt (Bones)

13. least popular fic written this year

It's a close tie between The Ends Justify the Means (I guess no one wants to read Adm. Dougherty justification of his actions in Star Trek: Insurrection) and Becoming Dax (ST: DS9)

14. longest completed fic you posted this year

The Secret (ST: VOY) at 7,114

15. shortest completed fic you posted this year

The Apple and the Tree (ST: LD) at 520

16. favorite character to write about this year

Owen Paris

17. a fic you didn’t expect to write

Well, I always think "this'll be my last fic" but then I get another idea. However, I never expected to write Defeating Janeway as part of the Captain JaneDrunk Collection. I just don't really write corny stuff like that.

18. most memorable comment/review

I love getting comments. However, I really love it when writers whose work I admire comment on my work. It's such an honor. Oh, my first Star Trek: Voyager story The Hero of Starbase 74 --someone commented that I did Cole Paris justice, and I was glad of that. I always thought that character (who was created for the Stargazer novels twenty years ago) would've met a tragic fate.

19. trends you noticed in your writing this year

I don't know if I had any trends. However, three stories on AO3 inspired me to write something. I've been inspired by TV episodes, but this is the first time I've been inspired by something I read.

20. fics you wanted to write but didn’t

For almost two years, I'd been sporadically writing stories I would've liked to have seen on Whiskey Cavalier which was cancelled after one season. A part of me wanted to write two hypothetical season 5 eps (one Christmas and one w/Sadie Prince). However, interest in WC is waning and people tend to care more about light Will/Frankie stories so I just dropped them.

I also had a few more Doppleganger ideas but dropped them because I didn't know if I should add more chapters or treat them as a separate story.

21. something you want to write next year

I don't know about next year but I do have this small idea of Jellico visiting Ben Maxwell shortly after his arrest in The Wounded. I thought about doing an Orville story with Ed/Kelly but I don't know if I will.

[aion-rsa]

New on Netflix: July 2021 Releases

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

By the power of Grayskull, Netflix’s list of new releases for July 2021 is here!

As you may have been able to tell by that clever opening, July is the month that Masters of the Universe: Revelation arrives on Netflix. This animated series from Kevin Smith continues the classic stories of He-Man and his buff friends. If nostalgia not be what ye seek, Netflix has plenty other original series this month as well. The amazingly hilarious sketch series I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson returns for season 2 on July 6. Also returning for a second season are Beastars, Never Have I Ever (both on July 15), and Outer Banks (July 30).

Netflix’s movie offerings are pretty thick this month since July marks the real beginning of the summer blockbuster season. The streamer is bringing not one, but three Fear Street films based on R.L. Stine’s classic book series. They arrive on July 1, July 9, and July 16 respectively. Also of note are Gundpowder Milkshake (July 14), Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (July 21), and The Last Letter From Your Lover (July 23).

And if that weren’t enough, July sees a big influx of TV properties on Netflix. The Walking Dead season 10 (July 26), Wynonna Earp season 4 (July 26), and The Flash season 7 (July 28) all arrive at month’s end. These library titles will be complemented by The Twilight Saga (July 16) and the usual bevy of July 1 releases.

New on Netflix: July 2021

Coming Soon Cheech & Chong’s Still Smokin Feels Like Ishq — NETFLIX SERIES  How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast): Season 3 — NETFLIX SERIES 

July 1 Audible — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY Dynasty Warriors — NETFLIX FILM  Generation 56k — NETFLIX SERIES  Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway — NETFLIX ANIME FILM  Young Royals — NETFLIX SERIES  Air Force One Austin Powers in Goldmember Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me The Best of Enemies Boogie Nights Born to Play Bureau of Magical Things: Season 1 Charlie’s Angels Congo Dennis the Menace The Game Hampstead The Karate Kid The Karate Kid Part II The Karate Kid Part III Kung Fu Panda Kung Fu Panda 2 Life as We Know It Love Actually Mary Magdalene Memoirs of a Geisha Midnight Run Mortal Kombat (1995) No Strings Attached Not Another Teen Movie Ophelia Sailor Moon Crystal: Seasons 1-3 She’s Out of My League Spanglish Star Trek The Strangers Stuart Little Supermarket Sweep: Season 1 Sword of Trust Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Terminator 2: Judgment Day Underworld Underworld: Awakening Underworld: Rise of the Lycans What Dreams May Come Why Do Fools Fall in Love ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE

July 2 The 8th Night — NETFLIX FILM  Big Timber — NETFLIX SERIES  Fear Street Part 1: 1994 — NETFLIX FILM Haseen Dillruba — NETFLIX FILM  Mortel: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES Snowpiercer

July 3 Grey’s Anatomy: Season 17

July 4 We The People — NETFLIX FAMILY

July 5 You Are My Spring — NETFLIX SERIES 

July 6 I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson: Season 2 — NETFLIX COMEDY SPECIAL

July 7 Brick Mansions Cat People — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY Dogs: Season 2 — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY The Mire: ’97 — NETFLIX SERIES  The War Next-door — NETFLIX SERIES  Major Grom: Plague Doctor — NETFLIX FILM  This Little Love of Mine

July 8 Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY  Home Again Midnight Sun RESIDENT EVIL: Infinite Darkness — NETFLIX ANIME

July 9 Atypical: Season 4 — NETFLIX SERIES Biohackers: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES  The Cook of Castamar — NETFLIX SERIES  Fear Street Part 2: 1978 — NETFLIX FILM How I Became a Superhero — NETFLIX FILM  Last Summer — NETFLIX FILM  Lee Su-geun: The Sense Coach — NETFLIX COMEDY SPECIAL  Virgin River: Season 3 — NETFLIX SERIES

July 10 American Ultra

July 13 Ridley Jones — NETFLIX FAMILY

July 14 A Classic Horror Story — NETFLIX FILM  The Guide to the Perfect Family — NETFLIX FILM  Gunpowder Milkshake — NETFLIX FILM Heist — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY My Unorthodox Life — NETFLIX SERIES Private Network: Who Killed Manuel Buendía? — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

July 15 A Perfect Fit — NETFLIX FILM  BEASTARS: Season 2 — NETFLIX ANIME  Emicida: AmarElo – Live in São Paulo — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY  My Amanda — NETFLIX FILM  Never Have I Ever: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES

July 16 The Beguiled Deep — NETFLIX FILM  Explained: Season 3 — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY (NEW EPISODES WEEKLY) Fear Street Part 3: 1666 — NETFLIX FILM Johnny Test — NETFLIX FAMILY Twilight The Twilight Saga: New Moon The Twilight Saga: Eclipse The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2

July 17 Cosmic Sin

July 20 milkwater

July 21 Chernobyl 1986 — NETFLIX FILM  The Movies That Made Us: Season 2 — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY One on One with Kirk Cameron: Season 1 Sexy Beasts — NETFLIX SERIES  Too Hot to Handle: Brazil — NETFLIX SERIES Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans — NETFLIX FAMILY

July 22 Still Working 9 to 5  Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop — NETFLIX ANIME 

July 23 A Second Chance: Rivals! — NETFLIX FAMILY Bankrolled — NETFLIX FILM  Blood Red Sky — NETFLIX FILM  Kingdom: Ashin of the North — NETFLIX FILM  The Last Letter From Your Lover — NETFLIX FILM Masters of the Universe: Revelation — NETFLIX SERIES Sky Rojo: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES 

July 24 Charmed: Season 3 Django Unchained

July 26 The Walking Dead: Season 10 Wynonna Earp: Season 4

July 27 All American: Season 3 Mighty Express: Season 4 — NETFLIX FAMILY The Operative

July 28 Bartkowiak — NETFLIX FILM   Fantastic Fungi  The Flash: Season 7 The Snitch Cartel: Origins — NETFLIX SERIES  Tattoo Redo — NETFLIX SERIES Too Hot to Handle: Brazil — NETFLIX SERIES

July 29 Resort to Love — NETFLIX FILM Transformers: War for Cybertron: Kingdom — NETFLIX ANIME

July 30 Centaurworld — NETFLIX FAMILY Glow Up: Season 3 — NETFLIX SERIES  The Last Mercenary — NETFLIX FILM Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY Outer Banks: Season 2 — NETFLIX SERIES

July 31 The Vault

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Leaving Netflix: July 2021

July 5 The Iron Lady

July 7 The Invitation

July 14 Holidays

July 15 The Princess and the Frog

July 19 Love Sick: The Series: Season 1

July 22 Oh My Ghost Oh My Ghost 2 Oh My Ghost 3 Oh My Ghost 4

July 28 The Croods

July 30 Spotlight

July 31 A Clockwork Orange  Bride of Chucky Child’s Play 2 Child’s Play 3  Eat Pray Love  Four Christmases  Freak Show  Fred Claus  Friends with Benefits G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Grand Designs: Season 10  Grand Designs: Season 15  Hardcore Henry  Hinterland: Seasons 1-3 Hook Horns Jupiter Ascending King Arthur  Little Baby Bum: Nursery Rhyme Friends: S1 The Little Rascals Mad Max My Best Friend’s Wedding Nacho Libre  Nights in Rodanthe The Patriot  Remember Me Seed of Chucky Step Up: Revolution Your Highness  Zombieland 

The post New on Netflix: July 2021 Releases appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3dxU7H0

[recentanimenews]

IN-DEPTH: How Did Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Become Japan’s Hottest Domestic Franchise?

  At this point, it’s safe to say that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is one of the biggest franchises this decade. The manga series sold more than double what One Piece did at its peak in 2020, the Mugen Train anime film has outgrossed Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-winning Spirited Away to become the king of the Japanese box office, and the franchise is estimated to bring in 270 billion yen to the Japanese economy by itself this year. 

  Looking at all of that, there is no question that Demon Slayer is the hottest domestic property in Japan right now. But how did it get here? Let’s examine how the little manga series from new author Koyoharu Gotouge became a cultural phenomenon in Japan.

  Demon Slayer’s History with Jump

  Before the Demon Slayer anime started, the series was running in Weekly Shonen Jump, one of Japan’s top manga magazines. The series started in Jump on February 15, 2016, and had modest success, with around 3.5 million copies of the manga series printed and sold as of February 2019, just a few months before the anime premiered in April 2019.

  During Jump Festa 2017 — an annual exhibition for series being released by Shueisha in Weekly Shonen Jump and their other manga magazines — the first chapter of Demon Slayer was given out in a sample booklet alongside other new series that had started in 2016, such as THE PROMISED NEVERLAND. Outside that sample booklet though, Demon Slayer barely existed in the mind’s eyes of attendees, with gazes glued to NEVERLAND and BORUTO as the new hot series.

  It wasn’t until Jump Festa 2020 (held in December 2019) that Demon Slayer got some time in the spotlight, with the Aniplex booth doing its best at showing off the series that had become such a hit over the previous summer. 

  Demon Slayer at the Aniplex booth during Jump Festa 2020 (photo: Daryl Harding)

  Even though the collected manga volumes weren’t selling as much as one might expect from the now behemoth of a series, Demon Slayer was slowly gaining traction among fans, but wouldn’t really break out until just before the first episode of the TV anime aired on television in Japan.

  The Outside Influences Brought into Demon Slayer

  When the Demon Slayer TV anime was announced in June 2018, it was revealed that the studio Ufotable would be adapting the series. The Aniplex-affiliated studio is widely praised for their work on the Fate franchise, which has culminated with the Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] film series. Ufotable-produced works are known to already be event-type series, and with Demon Slayer being their first Weekly Shonen Jump adaptation, it was a series to look forward to on that point alone.

  First Demon Slayer TV anime key visual (source: Anime Eiga)

  Just before the series premiered in April 2019, it was also revealed that popular singer LiSA — who was then mostly known for her work on the Sword Art Online openings, including the wildly popular theme to the Ordinal Scale anime film “Catch the Moment” — would be singing the opening theme for the series, with the first preview of the song at Anime Japan that year. LiSA went on to have a solo concert at the Yokohama Arena on the last days of the Heisei era in April 2019, selling out the 17,000 capacity hall.

  AnimeJapan 2019 Trailer

  Music can be a huge element in propelling the popularity of a series in Japan. Some of the biggest anime over the last decade was supported by their opening and ending themes, which kept the anime in people's minds. Demon Slayer’s opening theme “Gurenge” became such a hit in its own right that it dragged the rest of the series along with it. This formula worked to bring Your Name to the forefront of Japanese pop culture in 2016 — you couldn’t go anywhere in Tokyo without hearing Radwimps. And the double whammy of “Gurenge” and “Homura” (the theme for Demon Slayer: Mugen Train) has helped the series achieve even more success.

  Rounding out the series was the star-studded voice cast who all have their own fan bases. Voicing Tanjiro is Natsuki Hanae, who was best known at the time for Ken Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul; Zenitsu is voiced by Hiro Shimono, who voices Connie in Attack on Titan, and the boar himself Inosuke is voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, who voices Kirito in Sword Art Online. Nezuko's voice actor Akari Kito, who largely played side characters up until her casting in Demon Slayer, would become a well-known name and go on to play many more lead roles after the series became popular. 

  On paper, the breadth of talent involved in Demon Slayer far exceeded that of just any TV anime series. The production committee, led by Aniplex, was banking hard on people giving the series a try before the first episode had even aired. And it worked.

  Topping the Film Charts before the First Episode Even Aired

  Demon Slayer: Mugen Train has topped the film charts since it first premiered on October 18, 2020, but it’s not the first time the series has been in theaters. Prior to the TV airing of the first episode on April 6, 2019, the first five episodes were shown in eleven theaters across Japan starting on March 29. The screenings were dubbed “The Bonds Between Brother and Sister” and topped the mini-theater rankings, with over 10,000 people going in just the first three days.

  Ironically the press release from Aniplex announcing that the screenings were being extended in early 2019 said the “excitement for Demon Slayer is at its peak!” If those screenings were anything on the mountain of the popularity of Demon Slayer, they’d be right near the start of the trek.

  “The Bonds Between Brother and Sister” Visual

  Due to the immense popularity, the two-week special screenings were then extended for another week at all eleven cinemas, which were coming in at Number 1 on the mini-theater rankings (for screenings in less than 30) for the two weeks it was originally scheduled for.

  It’s no surprise then that just after these screenings had finished, and during the early broadcast of the anime on TV, that the production committee ordered the Mugen Train arc — which directly follows after the ending of the first season — to be produced as a film, according to industry sources.

  Demon Slayer’s Evolving Popularity Throughout Its Airing

  Hiroyuki Nakano, the editor-in-chief of Weekly Shonen Jump, spoke to Nikkei Entertainment in the March 2020 issue of the magazine on the slow success of the manga series, explaining that “normally the number of sales of a series increases gradually during the broadcast, but the number of copies sold of Demon Slayer exploded when the broadcast ended.” Nakano alluded to streaming services helping the anime series escalate the popularity of the original series by giving people the accessibility of being able to catch up on the show the next day via services like Amazon Prime and Netflix, who streamed the show weekly in Japan.

    Gone are the days where an anime fan would have to record an episode of a late-night anime series because it aired early in the morning. With streaming services on the rise within Japan, that night’s episode of Demon Slayer could be watched the next day on the way to work or school, on the train, or on the toilet.

  “I felt that the way people interacted with anime had changed and that we had entered a new phase,” Nakano explained, discussing how Demon Slayer’s rise in popularity was due to the evolving ways of media consumption.

  This helped the series when the famous Episode 19 aired, blowing away all expectations of what an anime could do in animation. If Demon Slayer wasn’t already part of the modern anime zeitgeist, that one episode — which trended worldwide on Twitter after airing — propelled the series to the forefront by word-of-mouth. Inside Japan, people couldn’t help but talk about the latest episode of the series, treating it like prime-time event television in the same vein as Game of Thrones would have been in the west.

    Demon Slayer’s success has also been well documented since the anime finished airing on September 28, 2019. The manga series has broken all records to become the most-sold series for a year, the Mugen Train sequel film is now the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, and has given Japan the honor of being the third country to have a film reach US $300 million in a single market during its initial run.

  Why Does Demon Slayer Resonate With Japanese Audiences?

  How Demon Slayer became popular is one thing, but why did this one series, when many others have the same level of talent behind them, become the cultural phenomenon it is today? In December, Oricon released the results of a survey given to Japanese people on how well they know the series, and if so, why did they like it so much.

    An astonishing 97.6 percent of the 3,848 respondents, who ranged from teens to the elderly, said they knew of the series, with 40.5 percent of people saying they knew it well. Of those who knew the series, they described how they liked the world setting and had sympathy for the characters. A male teenager said that he “was fascinated by the story of the main character growing up while struggling with various difficulties,” while a woman in her sixties enjoyed “the storytelling and LiSA's powerful voice.” A woman in her thirties remarked that she “never thought I'd be talking about anime at my age with my 60-something mother.”

  All through the responses, Demon Slayer is bridging the divide between generations, with each generation taking something out of the story that Gotouge has crafted. 

  The top-notch action scenes and relatable characters draw in the younger crowd, while more middle-aged people get a kick out of the family bonds that weave throughout the story, and the aesthetic of the entire series gives older people a sense of nostalgia, also known as “Taisho romance,” but without it being overly melodramatic about the era. Even kids are going to the schoolyard to reproduce the breathing techniques seen in the series. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga joined them when he made a cheeky reference to Demon Slayer’s breathing techniques while speaking to the DIET in November. 

    The accumulation of these points has made Demon Slayer a cultural touchstone, one that could only be born out of Japan. Even if the world wasn’t in the current state it is in, the Shonen Jump series would be just as big in its homeland, if not bigger, with more people going to the theaters and traveling to the areas that influenced the series. 

  Living in Japan at the moment means living in a world surrounded by Demon Slayer. From billboards promoting the film to masks people wear, you can’t go outside (not that people should be!) without having the series in your eyesight. And with how good the series is, and how many people are enjoying it, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba deserves its time in the sun.

  Demon Slayer masks being sold in Harajuku in December 2020 (photo: Daryl Harding)

      Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram. 

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daryl Harding

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (2 of 6)

Again, this is bit later in being posted than I’d planned, but here’s my second round of episode reviews for season 4 of Stark Trek: The Next Generation.

Episode 6: Legacy

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise, responds to a distress call from the Federation freighter Arcos, which has suffered engine failure and taken emergency orbit around the planet Turkana IV, the birthplace of the Enterprise's late chief of security, Tasha Yar. The Enterprise arrives just as the Arcos explodes, and finds a trail left behind by the freighter's escape pod leading to the colony. Turkana IV's government collapsed 15 years before; and the last Federation ship to visit, six years earlier, was warned by the colony's warring factions that trespassers to the planet would be executed. Because the freighter crew's lives are in danger, Captain Picard decides to attempt a rescue.

 Commander Riker leads an away team to the surface, where they find the colonists initially unperturbed by their presence, but soon end up in a standoff with one of the colony's two remaining warring factions, the Coalition. Their leader, Hayne, reveals that the other faction, the Alliance, holds the Arcos survivors hostage, and offers the Enterprise the Coalition's support in exchange for Federation weapons, a proposal that Riker rejects. Hayne, however, after learning of Tasha Yar's service aboard the Enterprise, instead offers as a liaison Ishara Yar, claiming she is Tasha's sister. Picard accepts Ishara aboard; although the crew is initially skeptical, DNA tests support her claim, and she gradually gains their trust. Commander Data, who was especially close to Tasha, becomes friends with Ishara, who seems ready to leave behind her life in the colony.

 To find the hostages, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge suggests using the crashed escape pod's instruments; Ishara recommends that she beam separately to a nearby location as a distraction, because her implanted proximity device will set off the Alliance's alarms. The crew executes the plan, but Ishara is wounded in the attempt. Riker rescues her, and is impressed by her bravery. Later, Ishara privately tells Hayne "It's working."

 When the Enterprise receives a message from the Alliance announcing that they are preparing to kill the Arcos crew, Picard's crew decides to execute Ishara's proposed rescue plan: Dr Crusher removes Ishara's proximity device, which she gives to Data as a memento. Riker leads an away team to the planet, where they rescue the hostages, but Ishara disappears in the confusion. Data finds her trying to disable the Alliance security grid; Ishara reveals that a large Coalition force is just outside the Alliance perimeter waiting to attack. Data concludes that all her interaction with the crew was a ploy. Riker arrives to distract Ishara just as she fires at Data, who dodges and then stuns her and reverses her attempted sabotage. Riker notes that her phaser was set to kill.

 With the away team and Ishara back aboard the Enterprise, Hayne demands that Picard return Ishara and challenges his jurisdiction. While Riker argues that they have cause to hold her for firing on two Starfleet officers, Picard decides to allow her to leave. As Data escorts her to the transporter room, Ishara claims he was the closest thing she had to a friend. Data considers his relationships with both Ishara and Tasha, as the Enterprise departs. Data then discusses the recent events with Riker; while Riker states that trust always carries the risk of betrayal, and that that risk has be taken to have friendships, Data suggests he is lucky to be spared the emotional effects of betrayal.  However, as Data leaves Riker’s quarters, he finds himself still carrying Ishara’s proximity device.

Review:

When it comes to get posthumous mileage out of the late Tasha Yar, I think this is the best effort TNG has offered us so far. Discounting minor allusions in episodes like ‘The Measure of a Man’ and ‘The Most Toys’, the only other episode prior to this to really try and utilise Tasha again was the over-rated ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’, and that was just trying to re-do her death a bit better. This time, however, we get to see something of where Tasha came from and explore her in a more interesting way by having her crew-mates interact with her former home-world and her sister.  There is also some allegory to gang violence and gang culture in the episode, but with Tasha’s sister Ishara being involved and having a connection of sorts with Data, that allegory is largely missed behind an inadvertent plot point that the episode brings up.

 As I’ve noted in the previous TNG reviews I’ve posted, Data is often a metaphor for many aspects of autism, and the way he above all others is deceived by Ishara in the episode is an inadvertent, ahead-of-its-time allegory of mate crime.  For anyone unfamiliar with that term, mate crime involves the offender pretending to be someone’s friend in order to set up that friend to be injured in some way. This can vary from being lured into a physical ambush to being set up to take the blame for something the victim hasn’t actually done.  It often depends on the victim of this mate crime not having a full grasp of friendship and/or deceit, so people on the autistic spectrum and with other mental frameworks that make this difficult are heavily affected by it.

 This being the case, one can easily see in Ishara Yar the exact kind of person who would commit such an offence in real life; selfish, ruthless and with no real regard for others.  What she does to Data is every bit as heinous as any mate crime committed against an autistic person in the real world.  It is inexcusable, and frankly I think Picard should have locked her up instead of letting her go.  Nothing justifies her being let go at the end of the episode; not being Tasha’s sister, not the crew wanting to see something of Tasha in her, nothing. Honestly, I was hoping for a transporter accident to kill her when she was beamed back down at the end.  Overall score for this episode, 9 out of 10; a transporter death some other suitable retribution on Ishara would have netted this episode top marks.

Episode 7: Reunion

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is met by a Klingon Vor'cha class battlecruiser, and Ambassador K'Ehleyr requests to speak to Captain Picard on an "urgent matter". When she beams aboard, she brings a young Klingon boy; based on his previous romantic experience with K'Ehleyr, Lt. Worf suspects the child is his son. K'Ehleyr warns the senior staff of a power struggle occurring within the Klingon Empire and implores Picard to meet Chancellor K'mpec aboard the battlecruiser. On the Klingon ship, K'mpec acknowledges that he has been poisoned and is slowly dying, and insists that Picard become the Arbiter of Succession and identify his assassin. K'mpec dies shortly afterward. In a private moment, K'Ehleyr confirms to Worf that the Klingon boy is his son, Alexander, and she did not tell Worf for fear he would try to have a deeper relationship with her; Worf, already burdened by his discommendation, fears for Alexander's future, given the stigma of his family name.

 The two challengers for leadership of the council, Gowron and Duras, arrive for the Rites of Succession. Worf still harbors hatred for Duras, who had (falsely) revealed Worf's father, Mogh, as a traitor in the Khitomer massacre and stained Worf's family name. Both Gowron and Duras attempt to quickly end the proceeding, but a small explosion erupts in the assembly hall. Picard and K'Ehleyr are safe but decide to draw out the Rites using an archaic ceremony while the Enterprise crew perform a forensic analysis on the explosion. Though both resent the longer form, Gowron and Duras have little choice but to agree to continue the Rites.

 The Enterprise crew discover that the explosion came from a Romulan bomb implanted in the arm of one of Duras's guards. K'Ehleyr, aboard the Enterprise, has become intrigued and tries to find out why Worf was discommended. She accesses the Klingon records, and comes across evidence of Duras's father being the true traitor in the Khitomer massacre. Duras, notified of K'Ehleyr's access to the records and already aboard the Enterprise, goes to K’Ehley’s quarters and mortally wounds her. Worf soon discovers K'Ehleyr, dying, just in time for her to reveal that Duras is her killer; then she has Worf promise to look after Alexander. Returning to his quarters, Worf grabs a bat'leth, leaves his combadge behind, and transports to Duras's ship. There he challenges Duras to the Right of Vengeance. Initially, Duras rebuffs Worf, claiming that his traitor status denies him any rights, but Worf declares K'Ehleyr was his mate; since even discommendated Klingons may claim vengeance for a loved one's death, Duras accepts Worf's challenge. Worf easily gains the upper hand, but Duras taunts him; if Worf kills Duras, Worf can never regain his honor. Worf nonetheless strikes the killing blow. With Duras dead and no other challengers present, Gowron is presumably named Chancellor of the Empire.

 After the Klingons leave, Picard takes Worf to task for killing Duras. Though Worf defends his actions as valid under Klingon law (as does the Klingon government), Picard reminds him he is first of all a Starfleet officer and places a formal reprimand on Worf's record. Worf and Alexander mourn their loss, and Worf places the boy in the care of his own adoptive parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko, finally admitting to Alexander himself that they are related.

Review:

The first appearances of the Vor’cha class Klingon battleship, the Bat’leth, Gowron and Alexander, plus a combined follow-up on both ‘The Emissary’ and ‘Sins of the Father’.  This episode has not only huge impact on this series and the wider Trek franchise with all that it does, but it’s also very well-performed and, unlike the previous episode, the villain of the piece gets immediate comeuppance. There are numerous occasions up to now where Trek has been a bit too willing to let their villains off a little too easily, so it was good to see Duras finally go down, and to do so in proper Klingon style.

 Now I know some fans were disappointed, upset, even out-raged that K’Ehlyer gets killed off because they all loved the character so much, and some even thought it was a bit sexist of the show to kill such a strong, independent female character on only her second time out. However, let’s put this in a bit of context; first, K’Ehlyer is one of three named characters to die in this episode, the other two of whom are Klingon blokes.  This means that actually it’s not all that sexist because the episode’s body-count, and I believe that of TNG in general up to this point, favours male guest characters for croaking in tried-and-true red-shirt tradition.

 Second, if K’Ehlyer doesn’t die, Worf has no reason to go blade-to-blade with Duras and ultimately bury his Bat’leth in the petaQ’s chest.  K’mpec’s death is hardly going to justify Worf going to such lengths, and I don’t think violent child death would ever be acceptable within the world of Trek. Third, you’re supposed to be upset and out-raged over K’Ehyler’s death, and you’re supposed to direct those emotions the same way Worf does; at Duras.  The idea is to be rooting for Worf, to cast aside the normally high, often too liberal sensibility of the Federation ideology and be rooting for Duras to get slaughtered.  It’s fine to have a visceral reaction this time round; just focus it on the guest character where it belongs.

 My one issue with this episode is Picard’s speech to Worf in reprimanding him for acting against Star Fleet’s code of conduct, or more specifically the line “If anyone cannot perform his or her duty because of the demands of their society, they should resign.” Taken out of the context and applied to real-life military organisations in societies that are highly backwards in their standards of tolerance, this line seems to imply a condoning of societal demands that impede inclusion.  After all, if a society frowns upon certain groups of people serving in a military organisation and makes the life of anyone from those groups who tries to serve harder, Picard’s line could be used to justify forcing that person out of the military.  Frankly, the idea that people have to ‘leave their culture at the door’ seems totally anti-Star Trek.  What’s next, asking Deanna to leave her empathic powers in her quarters? Overall, this episode nets 9 out of 10 for me; Picard’s backwards line robs the episode of top marks.

Episode 8: Future Imperfect

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Commander Riker's birthday celebration is interrupted as he, Geordi La Forge, and Worf are sent down to a huge cavern on Alpha Onias III, an uninhabited Class M planet, to investigate unusual readings. After their arrival, the cavern suddenly fills with toxic gases, and the three officers fall unconscious.

 Riker awakens in sick bay to find that sixteen years have passed. He is now Captain of the Enterprise with Data as his first officer, and Picard has been promoted to admiral, with Deanna Troi serving as his aide. Riker cannot remember any event after the Alpha Onias III mission, which Doctor Crusher explains is a side effect of a viral infection he contracted on the planet, and his memories of the intervening events may or may not return in time.

 Riker learns that he was married, is now widowed, and has a son named Jean-Luc (named after Picard). He is further startled when Tomalak, a Romulan commander who was formerly an archenemy of the Enterprise but is now an ambassador, beams onto the ship to negotiate a peace treaty with the Federation. Despite Picard's reassurances, Riker is hesitant to reveal sensitive Starfleet information in negotiating the treaty.

 As Riker struggles to adjust to his new life, numerous inconsistencies arise. The Enterprise computer is uncharacteristically slow, numerous systems experience minor technical glitches, and Geordi is unable to correct the problems. Finally, Riker discovers that his late wife "Min" is Minuet, a fictional holodeck character he fell in love with (in the first season episode "11001001"). Riker realizes that the entire "future" he has been experiencing is a charade and confronts Picard and Tomalak on the Enterprise bridge, with more inconsistencies arising as he does so, proving his suspicions. Suddenly, the false future fades away, revealing a Romulan holodeck. Commander Tomalak is revealed to be behind the simulation, the object of which was to trick Riker into giving away the location of a key Federation outpost. The Romulans, Tomalak explains, were fooled by the intensity of Riker's memories of Minuet and had incorporated her into their fantasy on the assumption that she was real.

 Riker is put in a holding area, where he meets the boy whose image the Romulans had used to create his "son". The boy identifies himself as "Ethan". Together, they manage to escape and briefly elude their Romulan guards. However, as the two are hiding from their pursuers, Ethan inadvertently refers to Tomalak as "Ambassador", instead of "Commander". Riker realizes that he is still in a simulation; confronting Ethan over it, he demands that the game end immediately and that he be allowed to leave.

 Everything disappears once more, leaving only Riker and Ethan back in the cavern on Alpha Onias III. Riker is then able to contact the ship and learns that Worf and La Forge had beamed up without incident, but the Enterprise was unable to locate him. After Riker advises the captain that he will presently report back after learning more about his situation, Ethan confesses that he had created the simulations, using sophisticated scanners to read his mind and create the "reality" they experienced. Ethan's planet had been attacked and his people killed; his mother had hidden him in the cavern for his own safety, with all the simulation equipment, before she died; and Ethan, all alone, had been yearning for real companionship. Realizing Ethan's intentions were not hostile, Riker offers him refuge on the Enterprise. Ethan accepts Riker's offer and after Ethan reveals his true form as a grey alien named Barash, the two beam up to the ship.

Review:

This episode is interesting to start off with; alternate timelines/futures can often be quite fun, and according to Memory Alpha’s page on this episode we also get some uncanny prescience in many of the predictions this episode makes, which would become apparent in later episodes, films and series within the world of Trek.  It also very cleverly distinguishes itself from ‘Remember Me’ earlier in this season by having the alternate realities that Riker experiences nested within each other, as opposed to Beverly’s scenario where it was just the one alternate reality.  However, once the second layer of deception gets revealed, I became a little disappointed.

 Why is this?  Well to be honest, I don’t like episodes that try to play on a character’s sense of reality part-way through a TV show that has long since established what its reality is.  It can work by implying an alternate future and memory loss as this episode initially does, but the number of illusions need to be left at one and not keep going. I’d rather the rest of the episode been a straight-up action-adventure where Riker has to escape the Romulans with the aid of the Enterprise crew, possibly with some interrogation room dialogue between Riker and Tomalak beforehand as a means for Riker to play his captor, stall for time, whatever.

 As it is, the ending ends up feeling like a cliché of Star Trek rather than anything truly Trek-oriented.  Certainly there’s no deeper issue exploration or major character development in Riker himself.  Overall, it’s really just a bit of a filler episode when taken on balance. I give it about 7 out of 10.

Episode 9: Final Mission

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise has travelled to the Pentarus system where Captain Picard must mediate a dispute among some miners on the fifth planet. Wesley Crusher receives word that he has been accepted to Starfleet Academy and, for his final mission on the Enterprise, he will accompany Picard on his shuttle trip to Pentarus V. A distress call comes in from Gamilon V, where an unidentified vessel has entered orbit and is giving off lethal doses of radiation. Picard orders Commander Riker to take the Enterprise to resolve that situation while he and Wesley travel in a shuttle sent by the miners, commanded by Captain Dirgo.

 En route, Dirgo's shuttle malfunctions and they are forced to crash-land on the surface of a harsh, desert-like moon. Though they are unharmed, the shuttle is beyond repair, and its communication systems and food replicators are disabled. Dirgo admits he has no emergency supplies on board, so they are forced to search for shelter and water. With his tricorder, Wesley identifies some caves and a potential source of water some distance away, and the three set out across the desert. Reaching a cave, they find a fountain-like water source, but it is protected by a crystalline force field. Dirgo attempts to use a phaser to destroy the field, but this activates a burst of energy from the fountain which encases the phaser in an impenetrable shell and causes a rock slide; Picard pushes Wesley out of the way but is severely injured in doing so.

 Meanwhile, the Enterprise has arrived at Gamilon V, finding the unidentified ship is an abandoned garbage scow filled with radioactive waste. Their initial attempt to attach thrusters to the barge to propel it remotely through an asteroid belt into the Gamilon sun fails, and Riker is forced to attempt to tow the barge themselves using the tractor beam, exposing the crew to the lethal radiation.

 As Wesley continues to analyse the forcefield, Dirgo becomes impatient and attempts to breach the field again, but this time the energy burst encases him as well, killing him. Picard, weak from his injuries, gives Wesley advice about the academy, and tells him he is proud of him. Wesley refuses to give up. Meanwhile, the Enterprise, despite the rising radiation levels on board, manages to get the barge through the asteroid belt and on course into the sun. The Enterprise then speeds off to help in the search for the shuttle.

 Wesley continues to study the fountain, and devises a plan to disable the force field. He fires his phaser at the fountain to attract the energy defence mechanism, then uses his tricorder to disable the mechanism and is finally able to access the water.

 Shortly thereafter, the Enterprise locates the wreckage of the mining shuttle, and Picard and Wesley are rescued. As Picard is carried from the cave, he tells Wesley that he will be missed.

Review:

It’s with this episode that Wil Wheaton finally left TNG as a main cast member in an effort to try and expand his acting career, and given how poorly his character of Wesley Crusher was written in many episodes, it’s not unreasonable or a bad idea that he did so.  After all, Wesley had to get off the Enterprise at some point if he was ever going to attend Star Fleet Academy, and you couldn’t do the show that TNG was if it was all about Star Fleet characters on Earth.  That said, a spin-off about Star Fleet Academy might have been an interesting thing to see.  In any event, this episode is better than most Wesley-centric plots and features a bit of coming-of-age narrative within the story.  However, it has a few bits of less-than-stellar dialogue-writing for Wesley in some of the earlier scenes (Wesley coming onto the bridge and the argument with Dirgo by the crashed shuttle being key examples).

 The b-plot makes for an ok diversion, but part of me wonders why it took the Enterprise so long with that waste barge.  I mean space is three-dimensional and the asteroid belt looked to only be at a certain height, relatively speaking.  I therefore fail to see why the Enterprise couldn’t have pulled the barge above the ‘top’ of the asteroid belt, while keeping it on course for the nearby sun (which, being circular and massive, the barge would easily hit even going over the asteroids and not through them).  If there’s one thing I really hate, it’s stories where people go through an obstacle instead of round when the only reason to go through is because the story is too short otherwise.  Honestly, it’s just as well Wesley gets to return as a guest character a few times after this because it’s not a great episode for him to go out on.  I give this one a score of 6 out of 10.

Episode 10: The Loss

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Traveling through deep space, the Enterprise stops to investigate an odd phenomenon of phantom sensor readings. Meanwhile, ship's counsellor Deanna Troi experiences pain and loses consciousness as her empathic abilities suddenly cease to work.

 The crew discovers they cannot resume course, as the Enterprise is caught up in a group of two-dimensional lifeforms.

 Without her powers, Troi suffers a tremendous sense of loss, and goes through several classic psychological stages, including denial, fear and anger. Ultimately, despite the reassurances of her friends, she resigns as ship's counsellor, believing that without her empathic abilities she cannot perform her duties.

 Lt. Commander Data determines that the two-dimensional creatures are heading for a cosmic string, with the Enterprise in tow, and that once they reach the string the ship will be torn apart. Noting that Troi's training makes her the most qualified to assist, Captain Picard pleads with her to try and aid Data in communicating with the strange creatures.

 After attempting to warn the creatures of the danger posed by the cosmic string, Troi posits that they are seeking out the cosmic string in much the way a moth is drawn to a flame. Working from this hypothesis, Data and Lt. Commander La Forge simulate the vibration of a cosmic string, using the deflector dish at a position well behind the Enterprise. The simulations eventually cause the creatures to briefly reverse their course, breaking their momentum long enough to allow the Enterprise to break free.

 Freed from the two-dimensional creatures' influence, Troi's empathic ability is restored. She discovers that her powers were never lost, but were instead overwhelmed by the two-dimensional creatures' strong emotions. Troi returns to her old job with a renewed confidence.

Review:

I get that this episode is Next Generation trying to identify with what people who suddenly become differently abled go through when they lose their regularly abled status, and it’s a sound idea in theory. In practice, it’s ruined because they put it across through Troi spending most of the episode being a whiney cry-baby about it.  I mean ok, granted, as someone who has been differently abled all their life and who has been aware of that from a very young age, I don’t easily empathise with those who end up differently abled later in life.  More often than not, they’ve had experiences and opportunities that someone like me has never had, and for that matter may never have.  For instance, having to go to schools away from where I lived means I’ve never been able to grow up with friends I could met outside of school or walk to school with, and being an adult now I can never have that childhood experience everyone else takes from granted.

 Moreover, in the episode ‘Tin Man’ Troi notes that Betazoids are born with their telepathic abilities inactive in the vast majority of cases and develop them during their adolescence, so having her lose her empathic powers doesn’t warrant this level of response.  She’s only been psychic since she was a teen, for crying out loud, and it’s an extra sense rather than one of the five ‘core’ senses most humans/humanoids have by default.  The level of wigging out she experiences would have been far more appropriate if she’d been blinded or deafened, and speaking of the former, why was Geordi not among those who spoke to Deanna about what she was going through?  The one time another member of the TNG main crew loses a sense and you don’t have them compare notes with the one TNG main crew member who was born one sense down on everyone else?  Talk about a ludicrously squandered opportunity.

 Frankly, this episode is a howler of such dire magnitude that it feels like we’ve stepped into a time machine back to the first season.  Frankly, I’d sooner go for any Marvel lore featuring Daredevil or the M*A*S*H episode “Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind” for a good sensory loss story than watch this shipwreck of an episode again.  3 out of 10 here, and that’s mostly for Guinan; it’s amazing how good Whoopi Goldberg can be at making even the worst episodes worth something.