Friday, December 21, 2012

Deep Space Nine, Season 2: Melora

Deep Space Nine, Season 2
"Melora"
Airdate: October 31st, 1993
25 of 173 produced
25 of 173 aired

Introduction

Ensign Melora Pazlar has been transferred to the station. As an Elaysian, she is from a low gravity world, and standard gravity renders her unable to move without a complex suit and wheelchair. How will she adjust to life on the station? How will the station adjust to her?

"OHHHH, Meh-lohhhh-tah, I've loooost most of my vi-ooooo-lah..."


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Deep Space Nine, Season 2: Cardassians

Deep Space Nine, Season 2
"Cardassians"
Airdate: October 24, 1993
24 of 173 produced
24 of 173 aired

Introduction

When Garak notices a Cardassian boy with a Bajoran caretaker, he senses an opportunity to reassert himself in Cardassian politics. His opportunity, though, threatens to upend several lives.



It is... blue-green.


Friday, December 14, 2012

Deep Space Nine, Season 2: Invasive Procedures

Deep Space Nine, Season 2
"Invasive Procedures"
Airdate: October 17, 1993
23 of 173 produced
23 of 173 aired

Introduction

The station is being manned by a skeleton crew to weather a passing ion storm. A ship, apparently in distress, comes to the station for help. The people aboard, however, quickly take control of the station and their leader reveals their real reason for coming to DS9. His name is Verad, and he is an unjoined Trill and wants Jadzia's symbiont, Dax. Separating them will kill Jadzia, but Verad threatens to kill everyone else if they don't comply. Will Sisko be able to save his friend?
Treknobabble: Your premium Internet source for hot interracial action.



Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Deep Space Nine, Season 2: The Siege



Deep Space Nine, Season 2
"The Siege"
Airdate: October 10, 1993
22 of 173 produced
22 of 173 aired

Introduction


As the human crew and their families rush to evacuate the station, a small group of Starfleet personnel remains in order to protect Starfleet equipment from being taken over by The Circle. Meanwhile, Kira and Dax rush to bring evidence of Cardassian complicity with the coup attempt to the council of ministers on Bajor.
You gotta shake what yo momma gave you, Jaro!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Star Trek Into Dumbness...



Thoughts:

Since when was Star Trek set on Earth?

WTF is with all the gray jammies people wear?

So the blond is either Carol Marcus or Dr. Dehner from "Where No Man Has Gone Before"?

Oh boy, it's Star Trek: 9/11!

The black jersey on Cumberbatch strengthens the theory that he's either Gary Mitchell or Garth of Izar. His dialogue indicates that he has "returned" for his "vengeance." This could also indicate Khan or perhaps Anton Karidian. Khan would certainly fit the established Abrams/Orci/Kurtzman/Lindelof modus operandi. However, the synopsis indicates a personal grudge between Kirk and the villain. Setting aside the question of how this could possibly be, since NuKirk has had no career or experiences, perhaps the vengeance involved has some sort of tie to the previous film, or perhaps the synopsis is misleading.

Explodey! Horror movie screams! Enterprise crash lands! Will the Transformers be helping out at any point?

The Dumbening Continues...

Season 2 at the Movies

Richard, a few of our friends, and I attended the HD TNG Season 2 event last week, and I have opinions. Like the Season 1 event, a good time was had by all and it was fun watching the show with so many people. They showed Q Who and the extended cut of Measure of a Man as well as some bonus features. Some opinions in no particular order.

Q Who looked pretty good overall. The higher detail on the Borg costumes is pretty nifty. The scene in engineering still looks really dark and grainy. I'm curious how it will look on TV. The detail on the Borg cube was great obviously, but the ship as a whole doesn't look as great. They used the plastic trees in model kits for a lot of the surface of the cube and in higher def, it makes it looks like the edges aren't quite crisp, straight lines. The effect on the saucer section were really, really cool, however.

The extended cut of Measure of a Man had some good and some bad in it. There was an extended scene of Picard wrestling with the issues and talking about them with Data. The additional dialogue also fleshes out more clearly that Maddox was only forcing Data to transfer off the Enterprise if he refused the refit. If the refit proceeded, he could have stayed on the Enterprise, and some of the dialogue seems a little more clear as a result. There was a scene of Picard in Data's quarters preparing his testimony that was interesting but not vital. We got some additional dialogue with Nakamura about Picard's early career, which was nice, but dispensable. My favorite parts were an additional scene between Geordi and Data where he gives Geordi his Holmes pipes as a goodbye gift, and some additional dialogue in the party scenes, including the party being crashed by Maddox.

On the downside of the additions is a fencing scene with Picard and Riker where it appears Riker is gunning for Picard or something. It adds an odd emotional component to what's going on and is bizarre in light of the fact an actual friend is at stake, so good cut there. Overall, the additions didn't make the episode feel too long, though the cuts they made were largely good ones. There was also an additional lines of dialogue in Louvois' summation, where she starts her speech with the now cut line "I don't know boys." It was a good cut.

The snippets of the cast reunion were awesome and sweet and funny and the blooper real was great since it had more than people cracking up at themselves, though there was plenty of that. According some review I read, the features include the Reading Rainbow episode where LeVar Burton goes on a backstage tour of the show. Like last season, as a longtime viewer, the most exciting part for me is the special features. Matt has already started reviewing the episodes themselves for the blog. I'm most excited for Contagion as between the Romulans and the Yamato, it should be a hoot.

The best part of the evening, hands down, is the promo for season 3 on Bluray. They were showing snippets of Yesterday's Enterprise and Best of Both Worlds, so that makes me think that will be the movie event, which AWESOME! The Borg cube looked much better and I cannot wait for a season in high definition that has a very high number of episodes I actually want to see again.

Deep Space Nine, Season 2: The Circle

Deep Space Nine, Season 2
"The Circle"
Airdate: October 3, 1993
21 of 173 produced
21 of 173 aired

Introduction

Kira has been arbitrarily reassigned. The Circle grows in power with no seeming way to stop them. How can Sisko keep Bajor from tumbling into civil war without violating the Prime Directive? Stayed tuned for the ongoing story of Deep Space Nine, Season 2.

We can't let him into the War Room... he'll see the big board!


Monday, December 3, 2012

The line must be drawn here.

This far and no farther.

I was sitting down to write my review of the Season 2 TNG movie event, when I stumbled across something that demanded my immediate attention. Here is the new poster for Star Trek Into Darkness. (I am never going to not dislike typing that.)


A couple of things here...

First, it is a total ripoff of the Dark Knight posters that are essentially the same idea, i.e. a burned out piece wreckage silhouetting a trademark image of the franchise.

Second, the only two colors in this poster are shades of blue-ish gray and orange, which makes me fear this will be even more like every other action movie made in the last ten years. There's a great article floating around the internet about how movies are increasingly being colored or tinted in shades of blue and orange as they appeal to people in a certain way, particularly in an action film. If I find it, I'll update with the link, but it's worth a read for any movie buffs out there.

Lastly, what does this tell us about the plot? Not much except that there will likely be big, dramatic sequences of buildings being destroyed. The twist I guess is it's London and not New York, LA, or Tokyo or any of the other cities that usually bite it in disaster flicks.

This is not to say I don't enjoy those genre of films, Dark Knight in particular is a sparkling example of what that kind of visual, high-octane story-telling is capable of. That being said, Dark Knight was anchored around two extremely well-acted and well-developed characters whose conflict made sense as a result of their positions, and the movie managed to be high-quality popcorn fare while also executing an above-average explanation of the nature of heroes and villains and good and evil and the tiny differences between them. Based on the last film, I don't think that level of detailed story craft will be in evidence here.

And again, even if they do it well, as well or better than the Nolan Batman films, it's still not a Star Trek story. I have in the past and continue to defend DS9's look at Star Trek's dark side, but as I have also previously stated, it works as part of the larger franchise because the Federation and its ideals are so well developed in TOS, TNG, and their respective films and the show absolutely needs to have that background or the moral quandaries lose their punch. Even if DS9 got away with doing things Rodenberry would not have approved, personal conflicts, a war story, multi-episiode arcs, etc., Rodenberry's vision is a vital part of DS9. It has be in order for the characters' struggle to exist. Nothing even close to that seems to be anywhere near the current film franchise. Take, for example, what many understandably consider to be one of the best DS9 episodes, The Siege of AR-558. That story focused on characters and their choices and their consequences. In the hands of Moore and Behr, we got a tight 42 minutes about the horrors of war and their effect on good people. With Abrams, I think we would have gotten 42 minutes of the Houdinis exploding.

My issues with basic design and movie-making aside, my concerns go deeper than just my original annoyance at the idea of a reboot. I liked the show's history; it was one of my favorite aspects of the shows. It's that it seems clear that Abrams and company's view of what Star Trek is limited to its trappings, which they seem to think by "modernizing" satisfy the requirement of honoring the original work. There's really nothing in the last movie, the buzz about this movie, and certainly not in this poster that indicates that any of the stories they have or will tell are about people, on either a large or small scale. More than anything, Rodenberry's original vision of the show was one where humanity was better to each other. Not only is any exploration of the nature of humanity absent here, there's no humanity period.

Just lens flares.

Deep Space Nine, Season 2: The Homecoming


Deep Space Nine, Season 2
"The Homecoming"
Airdate: September 26, 1993
20 of 173 produced
20 of 173 aired

Introduction

Kira is compelled to go on a dangerous, unsanctioned mission when she discovers that a Bajoran hero of the occupation, Li Nalas, as still alive in a Cardassian prison camp. His rescue will prove to have lasting repercussions on the powder-keg Bajoran political situation, both on the station and on the planet surface.


Maria! I'll never stop saying Maria!