Tag Archives: season

Star Trek: Picard – Season 2 (TVR00024) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
April 28 2024

Overview

The authoritarian regime of Altered Earth was interesting to visit, although the trajectory from Point A to Point B is left a bit weak. Where there is actually some action, with an Emergency Combat Hologram and playing hide and seek with newbie, low-end drones, the show is decent. But many of the episodes feel like a VERY long episode that should have been a two-parter like it was on Voyager. Season 1 was way better. And don’t get me started on Picard trying to be the “old wise man” imparting great pronouncements while having NO sense of connection or chemistry with just about anyone. Even Guinan feels very forced.

List of Episodes from Season 2

S02E01The Star GazerNone of our tomorrows are guaranteed. Particularly
when large-scale anomalies appear out of nowhere,
calling your name. However, it might be better
than Q calling you.		🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E02PenanceIn an alternate Q reality, a safe galaxy is a human
galaxy. President Hanson, Rios, the Borg Queen and
others are more confused than present for
Eradication Day.		🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S02E03AssimilationLA in 2024? Wasn’t that a Voyager episode? Any
29th century tech sitting around anywhere? No?
Oh, well.		🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E04WatcherGuinan may be a listener, but only when you say
something interesting, like your name. Oh, and
ICE grabs some of the time travellers.		🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E05Fly Me to the MoonPicard’s ancestor probably isn’t helped much with
Q as her therapist. And Data with his child in a
bubble is a bit creepy.		🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E06Two of OneJean-Luc meets his ancestor, gives her a pep talk,
and there’s a bunch of gala stuff going on.		🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S02E07MonstersA trip inside Jean-Luc’s head and past is not
particularly interesting.		🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S02E08MercyGuinan and Jean-Luc are arrested, everyone else
just wanders around accomplishing nothing.
Good line from Guinan that the boy who met
a Vulcan had to have that experience in order
to grow up to be the FBI agent to arrest them.		🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E09Hide and SeekOkay, an Emergency Combat Hologram is pretty
cool. As is playing hide and seek with newbie
Borg at Chateau Picard. Hippie love moments?
Meh.		🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S02E10FarewellIn the past, double the ancestor, half the risk,
a bit easy; but that project Khan file sounds
intriguing. In the future, Agnes is Guardian of
the Gate? That sounds intriguing too. A bit
shmaltzy in places though.		🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The Bottom Line

Not as enjoyable as Season 1, needed more action or a lot of editing.

Series premiere: Star Trek Prodigy

The PolyBlog
November 2 2021

I knew there was a new show coming called ST: Prodigy and that it was animated, with a holographic Janeway to help train a misfit crew. There have been other shows in the ST universe about raw cadets who are unseasoned but manning a star ship, but not animated nor as the full premise of the show. Episodes or books, not shows.

But I figured I knew a little of what to expect, as I’ve watched Lower Decks. I assumed it was similar in concept but with the LDers running the asylum. Star Trek shows are always good for multiple seasons, so I didn’t bother trying to predict renewal, it’s almost guaranteed to run two seasons at least.

Yet the show is nothing like what I expected. The animation and tone is way more like Star Wars’ The Mandalorian than it is traditional Star Trek. If it wasn’t for Janeway showing up at the end of the premiere to say hello, it could be AnyShip Inc.

The main character, Dal, is on a prison planet. There’s no explanation of why or how he ended up there, nor any of the other people in prison. Most of them can’t speak to each other as translators are forbidden. When a special psychic prisoner called Prisoner Zero shows up, Dal gets involved, a couple of them find an abandoned Starfleet vessel hidden deep in the planetary core, they recruit some other prisoners, and they try to get off the rock. Along the way, they kidnap the warden’s daughter.

The voice work is all well done, although I don’t recognize any of them from other stuff. The only one I do recognize is the warden, called the Diviner, voiced by John Noble. He’s always great to see/hear, but hard to say if it’s simply more of a show-by-show cameo or a regular full character.

As a Star Trek show, it fails completely. It is unlike any of the other shows and doesn’t even feel like it’s in the same lexicon. As a Star Wars show, I’d accept it in a heartbeat. It’s watchable, I’m curious to see where it goes. And I know there will be cameos of other ST characters (Chakotay shows up soon too, apparently). But is it Star Trek?

Series premiere: Invasion

The PolyBlog
November 2 2021

My first reaction to Apple TV’s “Invasion” series was based on the description and the trailer. And I was completely confused by two totally different marketing approaches.

Invasion on Apple TV is about an alien invasion, but seems like it is more about how one woman copes, trying to keep her two kids and herself safe, since the father is useless. But I can’t be sure as the description going around looks like “family-during-crisis” while the trailer looks like “monsters-are-here”. Pass, predict cancellation.

I gave EP01 a go, and well, I have NO idea where the woman’s storyline went. The episode looks like simply a generic “aliens are bad” plot. With completely unconnected storylines all over the place.

The only storyline that was mildly interesting was a sheriff who investigates a simple disappearance, assumes it’s the local yokels, and finds a strange crop circle and some crows. Later, there’s a storm of locusts, I think, and it looks almost biblical.

To be honest, I have no real idea what the plan is for the show. It jumped all over, nothing was really happening, and it was slow as molasses. I didn’t care about ANYBODY in the pilot. Well, maybe the crew going to the space station, but that lasts no time at all annnnnnd they’re dead.

Yawn.

I am giving it a hard pass, maybe the writers have some amazing story arc planned, and it takes several EPs to get going. In the meantime, I’m out. And I can’t see it getting renewed, despite the high budget commitment up front.

Series premiere: Chicago Party Aunt

The PolyBlog
October 20 2021

When I read about CPA in the previews, my reaction was this:

Chicago Party Aunt…an animated show on Netflix about a drunk 40yo woman partying in Chicago. Wait, isn’t there a show about a 40yo pretending to be 20-something in New York? Pass but I predict it will make it to at least season 2.

Then I watched EP1, and I’m changing that prediction to no renewal. Maybe the later EPs are good, maybe Netflix wants to be in the animated business, but EP01 is gratingly bad.

Low-bro lower-middle class can work with comedy, including 262 EPs of the life of shoe salesman Al Bundy and his wife Peg for the show Married…With Children. Or you can go wholesome family values for something like Roseanne which has some brashness but ultimately, everything comes back to family.

This show takes the worst of Peg and the worst of Roseanne, takes away any anchoring presence like kids or partners to call them on their bullshit when they’re acting looney-tunes, and ramps up the “if you judge me, I’ll judge you back, in-your-face, brashness is a virtue” motif.

There is no part of me anywhere in the entire episode that wanted her to succeed. She’s the worst of all of us, and you just want to see her fail. Hard. To get her come-uppance that being a rude asshat doesn’t get you ahead, and if you use other people, eventually the circle of life will come back and bite your ass. Nope. Her nephew loves her and needs someplace to live for a year, so his parents put him in their condo with her.

Maybe there’s some story arc here that turns her from a disaster into a functioning human being through the time with her nephew as he figures out his life, but honestly, she’s skated through her entire life with virtually no consequences, and just as they are about to land squarely on her head, there’s a reprieve. Really? I kind of wanted to see her squashed like a bug. I had no compassion for her character as she isn’t deserving of any. She literally tries to use anyone and everyone, and laughs about it.

As I said, maybe the show will go somewhere. But I sure hope not.

Series premiere: CSI: Vegas

The PolyBlog
October 20 2021

The original CSI was awesome, and it really started a whole genre of shows where it was not about a pathologist going rogue or detectives doing their thing, it instead put forensic science front and centre. It grossed some people out, inspired others to go into science, and tricked entire populations into believing you could do a full DNA test while someone was getting coffee. If the science said you did it, the science was always right.

With a relaunch of the series, technically a spinoff of sorts and hence the “: Vegas” name to distinguish it from other CSI shows in the franchise, they start with an idea to refute that premise…what if someone misused the science to get false convictions? It is clear to the viewer and the main character that it’s obviously a frameup, but there is evidence by the end of EP01 that all of the previous show’s cases could be in jeopardy because one of their techs seems to have been fabricating evidence and then using the fake evidence to support lab results that led to convictions.

I liked the original series, but it was never “must-watch” TV for me. I suspect I could binge it all at some point, but it’s not THAT compelling to me. I’d rather read a good novel about a forensic scientist than watch their shows, although the diorama episodes were pretty cool. Anyway, I watched the first EP to get a feel for it. There’s no real need to predict, since it is clearly going to get renewed, it’s an existing fanbase and existing syndication deal. No brainer.

Original CSI stars Jorja Fox and William Petersen are back as Sara and Gil, with the first episode tied to their former cop friend, Jim Brass, played by Paul Guilfoyle. They were good in EP01, as they always were, stepping back into roles they know well.

The current head of the lab, Maxine, is played by Paula Newsome and I found her EP01 persona confusing. She’s very open to Sara being there, yet guarded in other interactions with her own staff? Weird. I have seen her in lots of shows over the years — Castle, Heroes, Flashforward, Suits, No Tomorrow, and Magnum PI — but I have no real memory / image of her in any of those EPs. I also couldn’t place her as the wife of NCIS Director Vance, and she did 4 EPs at least. Meh then, meh now.

The various crew members — Matt Lauria (Josh), Mandeep Dhillon (Allie), Mel Rodriguez (Hugo) — are all fine, but it feels like you’re stopping by mid-show, like they’ve been doing this on their own for a while and we just happened to stop by to see what they’re doing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it doesn’t scream “Welcome to meeting your new characters!”.

I feel like the producers felt “Hey we know you’re going to watch, we don’t have to sell you on the show”, and they jumped into EP05, screw any backstory. Okay, but for me? Meh. I didn’t care about any of them and I saw nothing that made me want to learn more. Well, maybe the coroner. He was creepily interesting.

Pass for me, but still expect renewal.