17. The Galileo SevenWHY WE LIKE IT: Kirk's unwavering search for his lost crewmen.WHY WE DON'T: The funky alien apes, for starters.REVIEW: The episode starts out nicely, with some interesting effects (the quasar formation, the shuttle launch), and an engaging story - How will they survive? We might think of Apollo 13 in relation to this, for example. Survival stories are always tense and engrossing.And while that's true here, and Kirk's search for his men adds to the drama, there are so many things that let the episode down. For example, I might mention Ferris, the first of many "interferers" that can take command of the ship for no discernable reason other than to make the plot work. The first in a long Star Trek tradition, but one of the least interesting.Speaking of traditions, this is the second ending with extended forced laughter. I hope they don't make it a habit. Here, Uhura even points and laughs at Spock. Indeed, attitudes toward Spock are illogical throughout (if you'll permit the expression). It seems that any time his crew was against his ideas, I was in total agreement with them. He takes their advice and makes a show of force to the giant apes, and when it turns for the worse, they're all "what, you expected the apes to act logically?" It was THEIR idea!My frustration with the episode goes up with every such scene. Spock acts emotionally all along, being angry and shouting in places, and then the breakdown where he questions his logic (that scene doesn't work for me), yet they keep calling him a machine. At the end, the so-called act of desperation is quite logical to me (they were gonna die anyway, there obviously WAS a chance), but this is the one time they say he did something irrational. Saving graces are a couple of Spock's jabbing remarks early on and the fact the Mr. Scott is very professional and follows orders. He's not like all those nay-sayers at all.And then there are size issues, with both the apes (which might be anywhere between 8 and 20 feet tall judging from onscreen evidence) and the shuttle itself (kind of like a TARDIS, isn't it?).LESSON: Just because an alien race is using stone spears doesn't mean they don't have access to enlargement beam technology. (Sounds like something I might get spammed about soon.)REWATCHABILITY - Low: Though the episode is suspenseful, there's no reason you can't watch any number of "Spock's in command and we don't trust him" episodes in its stead.
So what have I been up to in the week leading up to Christmas? Here's the week's roundup.
Buys
Well, it seems that for every gift I got someone else, I had to get a couple for myself. It's not my faut! There were sales!
For example, how could I resist a 3-for-2 sale on Showcase Presents? How could I resist buying 9 of them? How? I ask you, how?!? And so it is that you'll probably be hearing about the following collections: Teen Titans, Justice League of America, Batman, Superman 1 & 2, Phantom Stranger, Green Arrow, Superman Family, and Metamorpho?
And that Golden Age Green Lantern action figure? Less than 10 bucks! Had to have it after I made a big fuss earlier about his creator passing away.
And then there's the Xbox I had to buy to replace the one my roomie Emili had to take back to her dad when she moved a couple days ago. I just couldn't lose a 98.40% saved game on Grand Theft Auto San Andreas! Her dad'll be fine with the one I got on sale (cheap, now that 360 has come out) as he's never even used the old one!
As for the stuff that came in the mail, well, I technically bought those the week before, so it's not like I spent that much money THIS week... And that's the Doctor Who 2007 Annual, Quantum Leap Season 5, and Super Friends Volume 2 (booya! Zan and Jayna!)
"Accomplishments"
Finally finished About Time 1, the guide to Doctor Who's first 3 seasons.
Also finally finished Batman The Animated Series vol. 2. The Paul Dini scripts are clearly the standouts, especially "Harley and Ivy" and "Almost Got 'im".
On my Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG project, currently doing 1 card per story ever aired, I promised all the stories through the Troughton era before Christmas. Happy to say I made good on that promise (happy and yet sad that that's what I was doing on Christmas eve).
RPG accomplishments: Made my good friend Pat a character for our Crusaders campaign, which has a pretty neat tie-in to the Sandman series. And yesterday morning, played the tail end of a subplot for Etienne's Absolut character, detailing his secret origin (Absolut's that is, Etienne's is still a mystery).
Oh yeah, and I converted all our DCHeroes 2nd ed. characters to Blood of Heroes 2nd ed., which pretty much means I've skipped our game ahead 3 editions.
Website findsWhile talking about the monkey comics cover phenomenon with Carolynn (I know, I know), I came across Comic Book Gorillarama. That's a pretty cool obsession with apes, I must say. (I may say "cool" because I'm afraid of this guy.)
Speaking of obessions, you might want to check out The Aquaman Shrine, a blog by a guy with a huge collection of Aquaman memorabilia. Not too many comics though, which is only strange when you consider the quality of many Aquaman comics.
And might I also interest you in Whomix, a site chockfull of remixed Doctor Who themes, all free. Personal favorite happens to be "Skaro or Bust v.2", but it's not like I've yet been able to go through the whole list.
And that's it for this week, except for a couple buys I'm keeping secret so as not to ruin any Christmas surprises. Thank you, come again.
16. Shore LeaveWHY WE LIKE IT: Filmed on glorious location, including the first ever shot of Vasquez Rocks.WHY WE DON'T: I can't STAND Finnegan!REVIEW: Though basically inoffensive, this episode is repleat with moments that annoy me. It does start off well, though, with the crew badly needing shore leave "after the last three months", which would include most episodes since the start of the series. And Kirk's hesitation while voicing his log is a good, human moment. Great location shooting, though maybe they should have limited themselves to a single environment, saving others for other worlds. The variety is nice, but we'll tend to see the same rocks each time they go on location.The creators remember Sulu's interest in botany, and add collecting weapons to his many hobbies. McCoy's death is well realized, and Kirk reacts much as the Romulan Commander did to losing his closest confidant in Balance of Terror. The Caretaker has only a brief scene, but he's immediately likeable. And Barrows, the first of many replacement yeomen suprisingly goes for McCoy.But that doesn't save the episode for me. The script is haphazard and messy. There's a huge reset button at the end. And they just try too hard to make the episode light-hearted (concluding it with extended forced laughter). I'm most annoyed by Finnegan, and his fight with Kirk goes on for way too long as the "funny" music gets more and more strident. Ugh.Other than that, everyone acts giddy and out-of-character, doing things they really shouldn't. Kirk has too much fun after McCoy's been killed, the Doctor's romance is awkward and strange (had they been seeing each other already?), Sulu gets trigger-happy, and no one, NO ONE, figures out their imaginations are coming alive until the very end.I also object to 23rd-century characters having to explain to each other about 20th-century things. Do people in the future really not know what a plane, a firearm and an amusement park are? Barrows' hat. Her amazing, self-repairing uniform. Alice as a blonde (they apparently still watch Disney films in the future). Martine referred to as Teller (yet still Angela) being all too cozy with Rodriguez after her fiancé died in the last episode. The ethical questions raised by resparking an old romance with a plastic dummy. I'll stop now before I think of something else.LESSON: Getting beat up is a great way to relieve stress. ("Sleep forever, Jimmy-boy!")REWATCHABILITY - Low: I know it's well regarded, and I don't think it's truly bad. It's not. But don't make me watch it again. Please.
15. Balance of Terror
WHY WE LIKE IT: The Romulans are cooooool.
WHY WE DON'T: A botched last appearance for Grace Lee Whitney's Yeoman Rand.REVIEW: Like The Corbomite Maneuver, this is a shipboard episode dealing with first contact with an alien species, again featuring a navigator that has problems with the Captain's orders. Despite these similarities, it all turns out very differently.
The introduction of the Romulans to the series is excellent. The basics are there: a culture based on glory, ambition and politics. The invisible ship and destruction of 4 outposts speaks to their treachery as well. The Romulan Commander, brilliantly played by Mark Lenard, is an oddity among Romulans. He's actually an honorable man. We really feel for this soldier ordered to do a duty he finds repugnant, who loses a friend during the battle and must make the ultimate sacrifice by the end.
The revelation that the Romulans are Vulcanoid makes more sense than all the humanoid species in the galaxy, since Vulcans had space travel long before humans did, and it sets up Stiles' prejudice. Kirk immediately jumps to his friend's defense in a great moment. Here, there's no room for prejudice - an interesting mirror to Kirk's later attitudes towards the Klingons.
The commitment to showing shipboard life is still in effect, with the well-remembered wedding ceremony, and thanks to the unlucky couple, the weapons room operations. Kirk's walk down the corridor as the credits start to roll after he's spoken with Martine is a strong, subtle handling of the captain dealing with casualties and the pressures of command. Sulu comes off as a respected adviser and Uhura shows she can hold the navigator's position.
Too bad that Yeoman Rand couldn't have been as effective (even Scotty gets to walk a girl down the aisle), especially since this is her last aired episode. The most she does here is give Kirk an inappropriate hug on the bridge. Where's the sharp character I actually liked and respected in Charlie X?
But that's minor, as are any problems with this tight military thriller. The physics are bizarre and often dictated by the parallels to submarine warfare (they run silent as if voices could be heard across the void, their phasers are really torpedoes to give the effect of depth charges, the Enterprise outruns a plasma blast as if it were a torpedo, etc.), the Romulans are awkwardly based on the Roman empire, and I've never really understood the title. You forget all that when you watch it. Great acting, good model shots, and a real chess game between the commanders makes you disregard the flaws.
LESSON: It's quite ok for a superior officer to hug or marry you. He's quite a catch, after all!
REWATCHABILITY - High: It's really too bad the Romulans so seldom returned in the original series and movies, but what makes them great here is their commander, a definitely atypical member of the species.
What happens when a comic book world goes for so long...
You can't be expected to like your Silver Age self.
14. The Conscience of the King
WHY WE LIKE IT: I'm a sap for Shakespeare.
WHY WE DON'T: Not sure I buy the romance.
REVIEW: I can't help but like this episode because it's the one with the strongest Shakespeare connection, but I think it stands up regardless of my personal bias. The episode doesn't just feature a troup of Shakespearean actors, it also draws parallels with Hamlet in Kirk's delaying his revenge on Kodos. Riley has shades of Laertes, Lenore of Ophilia.
Strong performances throughout, though perhaps a bit stagey. It works for characters that are essentially actors, but the term "drama queen" comes to mind at times. Lenore is a bit over-the-top at all times, but I still found the ending affecting. The same goes for Kirk's refusal to answer the doctor at the end, even if I had trouble buying into the romance side of the story.
The story has some weird stuff going on that I feel I need to point out. Uhura plays Spock's harp, for example, and I'm sorry, but I'm not a big fan of "Beyond Antares"' weirdly dissonant melody. The doctor takes a break to booze it up, and makes an untrue crack about the Vulcans having been conquered. Alexander Courage's Star Trek theme plays at the cocktail party as a "real overheard song" (I guess it's a popular jazz standard in the future).
And we see the last of Yeoman Rand as far as the production schedule goes, and it's a quick look at Lenore while coming out of the turbolift. Not so much as a line. I guess Miss Whitney was having her troubles and they were writing her out of the show. Hopefully she gets a better "goodbye" in air date schedule (in "Balance of Terror").
Glad to see Riley again, the return of which paints the picture of a real and steady crew aboard the Enterprise. Mr. Lesley here is also a recurring extra.
LESSON: So THAT'S where the name for one of the Simpsons aliens comes from! (The other one in a later season.)
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Some great scenes, but sometimes veers into the theatrical. Well, that's sort of appropriate, isn't it?
Starfleet Academy SettingTag line: Ex Astris, ScientiaMakers: Last Unicorn Games for Star Trek: The Next Generation RPGWhat is it?Everything you need to run a Starfleet Academy series (campaign) for ST: TNG. The box includes a core book, a narrator's guide with a couple of adventure scenarios, the "Cadet's Guide to Sector 001: Earth" (a rules-free sourcebook), and a couple of extras (maps of the Academy, Mars, the star system, etc., and a neat faux-diploma).Neat stuff-Last Unicorn's supplements all add a lot of depth to the Star Trek universe, interesting to Trekkies who like non-canon stuff, and this one's no different. Of particular note is the full curriculum, recruitment methods, etc.-Despite a lot of invention, some known characters do get attention: Boothby, Sandrine and T'Shanik.-The flashback series seems the most promising for players already involved in a campaign. It's the one I'd do.-Best extra: A full-color Academy diploma on textured cardboard.Bad stuff-I still can't believe this "series" came out before the Klingons boxed set (which never did because the game "died"). In fact, forget the product schedule, I can't believe it came out before anything about the Borg, Cardassians, Bajorans, Ferengi, Dominion or Voyager! Not that it's a bad change-of-pace campaign, but I can't believe playing cadets was high on anybody's list.-It's a lot to buy for information on Earth if you're interested in that more than a cadet series.-Artwork's lackluster, especially the black and white watercolor pictures of the faculty.Quote"I'm a cadet, damn it, not an ambassador."In conclusionYou sometimes hear about supplements that kill games off, well, here's an example of a dangerous one. It's not even THAT interesting to Trekkies, to tell you the truth.How I've used itI once ran a ST:TNG campaign, which was a little mishandled, so I never managed to run any kind of flashback stories using this box. But I would have. I usually like to justify my purchases in SOME way.
17. The Galileo Seven
