Tag Archives: series

Star Trek: Enterprise – Season 4 (TVR00017) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
November 11 2020

Overview

Star Trek – Enterprise

This is the best of the four seasons, as the show found its footing just in time to be cancelled. I really enjoyed the season, and while I wouldn’t say the Riker storyline from the finale was my favourite, it was still well done. A great season overall, back to regular trek storylines and getting to know different species better.

Episodes That I Liked

There were seven separate episodes that I rated 5/5, which suggests a really good season, right? Well, yes and no. First, the “yes” side. Three episodes dealt with the Vulcans (E07, 08, and 09) with an Embassy bombing, mind-melds, and ancient artifacts. A little uneven within an episode, but a great trio together. Episodes 13, 14, and 17 dealt with Romulans, Andorians, and the Orion Syndicate quite well — good, solid episodes. And then EP21, setting up the series finale with saving “Terra Prime” to save “Starfleet” was again, quite good.

I rated ten more episodes as 4/5, with alt-history time travel to WWI (E01 and 02), and time on Earth (E03). Episodes 05 and 06 focused on Augments, episodes 12/13/15 focused on Andorians and Klingons. We had the mandatory alt-universe visit for E18 that started off strong and then fizzled. And, of course, the finale, which was “okay”, but I wasn’t a big fan of the story trick of having Riker watch everything as if it was a holodeck recreation.

Episodes That Were Watchable

Despite a strong season, three were only rated 3/5, with one about transporter beam stuff (E10), genetically modified humans (E04) that turned into the Augments in E05-06, and aliens observing humans under stress (E11).

Episodes That I Didn’t Like

I already mentioned above that the alt-universe storyline fizzled? Yep, E19 was a total snoozer. So, too, was E20 about Xenophobes on the moon around Earth. Yawn.

List of Episodes from Season 4

S04E01Storm Front Pt 1Alt History 101 – Change WWII🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S04E02Storm Front Pt 2Chickens, eggs, and time travel🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S04E03HomeYou can’t go home again🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S04E04BorderlandGM humans attack a Klingon ship🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S04E05Cold Station 12Augments look for their cousins🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S04E06AugmentsParanoia often befalls the prideful🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S04E07ForgeEmbassy bombing on Vulcan? Illogical🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S04E08AwakeningA mind-meld hangover is brutal🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S04E09Kir’SharaAncient relics speak to present day🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S04E10DaedalusBeam me back from 15 years ago🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S04E11Observer EffectObserving human reactions🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S04E12Babel OneTellerites vs. Andorians…and Romulans?🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S04E13UnitedEven Romulans like drones🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S04E14AenarTelepathic Andorians…well, that’s new🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S04E15AfflictionA Klingon virus requires Phlox’s help🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S04E16DivergenceOh, so that’s what happened to ridges🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S04E17BoundOrion Syndicate makes some moves🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S04E18In A Mirror, Darkly Pt 1Alt universes kick butt🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S04E19In A Mirror, Darkly Pt 2And then I yawned🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S04E20DemonsXenophobes on the moon…shocking🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S04E21Terra PrimeSave Starfleet, save the Federation🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S04E22These Are The VoyagesHolodeck for all good things🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The Bottom Line

Solid season, the best of the four years…and then it was cancelled.

Star Trek: Enterprise – Season 3 (TVR00016) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
November 11 2020

Overview

Star Trek – Enterprise

The third season picks up a bit from the second season low. Whereas Season 2 was mostly depressing, with very few notches in the Enterprise’s “win” column, this season had not only a few more wins but also some allies. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still at war, but they aren’t generally about to die every week just from the Expanse.

Episodes That I Liked

There were four episodes that I rated 5/5 and another seven that I rated 4/4. For the top ones, they were mostly about time travel including dealing with space/time parasites (E08); the Enterprise J (E18); the Enterprise itself (E21); and the conclusion of the general Xindi storyline (E24 – finally!).

For the remaining seven, we learned more about the Xindi species (E01); dealt with an interesting moon (E02); rescued some slave girls (E04); fell in love with a clone (E10); and shouldn’t have trusted monks (E12), marauders (E19) or reptilian Xindi (E23).

Episodes That Were Watchable

I admit that I was a bit surprised to see after the fact that all of the rest of the episodes were rated 3/3, I thought there were a few stinkers in there just because so many of them were blah…but I gave them individually a boost to 3, apparently.

There are some interesting episodes throughout the season including a lot obviously about the Xindi (E07 had frenemies; Westerners in Xindi Space (E09); Xindi are time-travelling too (E11); new alliances (E20)) while they were planning for war (field tests in E13, stings in E14, and Council challenges in E22).

But I think the big difference in the season was that there were some other episodes too that were more classic ‘trek, with biochemistry/devolution (E03); lost Vulcans (E05); telepathic friends (E06); relationship jealousies (E15); and Archer focusing on some eggs (E17). There was also a classic episode where the Doctor had to deal with everyone being asleep for safety reasons (E16).

Episodes That I Didn’t Like

As I said in the previous section, I was surprised to see there were none rated 2/5 or worse. I wasn’t thrilled with everything, but there weren’t any I particularly disliked.

List of Episodes from Season 3

S03E01XindiWhy have one Xindi when you can have 5?🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S03E02AnomalyThat’s no moon!🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S03E03ExtinctionAltered biochemistry or devolution…🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E04RajiinRescued slave girls…you can’t trust ’em🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S03E05ImpulseLooking for lost Vulcans in the expanse🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E06ExileHoshi makes a telepathic friend🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E07ShipmentNot all Xindi are enemies🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E08TwilightDang space-time parasites🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S03E09North StarWestern transplants in Xindi space?🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E10SimilitudeGrow a clone, love a clone🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S03E11Carpenter StreetXindik time travellers, great🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E12Chosen RealmNever trust a monk🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S03E13Proving GroundField testing the Xindi weapon🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E14StrategemStings work on Xindi? Cool🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E15HarbingerTrip makes T’Pol jealous🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E16Doctor’s OrdersSleepy time for almost everyone🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E17HatcheryArcher imprints on some eggs🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E18Azati PrimeEven the Enterprise J can’t help🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S03E19DamageNecessity is the mother of marauders🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S03E20ForgottenA crippled ship and a new alliance🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E21E squaredGet by with a little help from yourself🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S03E22CouncilDiplomacy is not always smooth🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S03E23CountdownReptilians are like effective Klingons🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S03E24Zero HourSave Earth, save the universe🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

The Bottom Line

Classic trek plus some time travel…what’s not to like?

Star Trek: Enterprise – Season 2 (TVR00015) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
October 26 2020

Overview

The second season has hints of temporal stuff throughout, but it starts to get a little grittier with the alien races they encounter. Almost all of them are duplicitous, false friends to the naive and well-being humans.

Episodes That I Liked

The two best episodes of the season are the third and third-last. In EP03, Minefield, the ship is trapped in a Romulan minefield, and Reed has to demonstrate his leadership skills while other ships are closing in. Meanwhile, in EP24, it’s a retrospective episode back to the first ship to break the Warp 2 barrier, and the story of Archer’s chief rival, A.G. Robinson. I rated them both 5/5.

I rated six more EPs as 4/5: EP01 which is the second part of the giant temporal storyline from Season 01’s cliffhanger; EP02 which relates the story of T’Pol’s grandmother having visited Earth years before; EP04 showed that cheap repairs are not always worth their price; EP09 shows weird gravity messing with humans, reminiscent of Naked Now; EP12 has a radioactive storm driving everyone into the center of the ship onto catwalks to survive, despite intruders; and EP16 has another time travel storyline with time machines that have poor timing.

Episodes That Were Watchable

There were a lot of people complaining online about the series in Season 2, and it is not that surprising. I rated twelve episodes, almost half the season as merely good. EP05 showed Phlox’s routine for one night in sickbay; EP06 dealt with bullying marauders; EP07 shows an old job of T’Pol when she worked in security, chasing fugitive Vulcans; EP08 has first contact with a pre-warp civilization, so I guess Bones wasn’t the first to leave his communicator behind; EP10 turns Yoshi into a future Barkley fearful of the transporter; EP11 deals with a stasis pod that everyone wants; EP14 deals with the dangers of mindmelds; EP15 brings Shran back looking for a mediator; EP20 has Travis trying to go home again, without much happiness; EP23 is generously rated 3/5 with time-travelling Borg; EP25 brings bounty hunters looking for Archer; and EP26 introduces the giant storyline for Season 3 which is Earth being attacked by the Xindi for no apparent reason.

Episodes That I Didn’t Like

I really wanted to like some of the six lowest-ranked episodes of the season, all 2/5, but many are pretty derivative. EP13 has Trip bonding with a hostile alien on a planet (Enemy Mine?); EP17 has mutiny on a penal ship (SG1, ST:TOS, ST:TNG, ST:VOY, ST:DS9…?); EP18 has non-corporeal beings wanting to share bodies (ST:TNG?); EP19 has Archer on trial on Cronos (ST:TOS movies?); EP21 has them going spelunking (ST:VOY?); and EP22 deals with gender issues and traditional roles (ST:TNG?). None of the episodes seemed to have anything unique to say.

List of Episodes from Season 2

S02E01Shockwave Pt 2Temporal changes are often sweeping🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S02E02Carbon CreekT’Pol’s great GM visited Earth? Cool🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S02E03MinefieldM-class planet, mines, and Romulans🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S02E04Dead StopCheap repairs are not always worth it🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S02E05Night in SickbayPorthos becomes a star patient🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E06MaraudersPeople need to fight bullying everywhere🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E07SeventhOoh, T’Pol used to be in security🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E08CommunicatorPre-warp civilizations are touchy🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E09SingularityWeird gravity always messes with humans🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S02E10Vanishing PointYoshi and transporter interruptus🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E11Precious CargoGet up on wrong side of stasis pod?🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E12CatwalkStorms, crawlspaces and intruders…great🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S02E13Dawn80s movie plot — Enemy Mine redux🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S02E14StigmaVulcans fear the spread of mindmelds🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E15Cease FireShran wants a mediator, not all agree🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E16Future TenseTime machines have poor timing🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S02E17CanamarMutiny on the penal ship🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S02E18CrossingNon-corporeal beings want to share bodies🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S02E19JudgmentArcher on trial on Cronos? Seems familiar🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S02E20HorizonTravis finds you can’t go home again🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E21BreachFly across the galaxy and go spelunking🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S02E22CogenitorTrip helps a 3rd gender slave revolt🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S02E23RegenerationTime-travelling Borg like to travel🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E24First FlightStory of breaking the Warp 2 barrier🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S02E25BountyTellerite Boba Fett and Jonathan Solo🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S02E26ExpanseXindi attack? Let’s visit Delphic Expanse🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The Bottom Line

They have their space legs but not very interesting stories.

Star Trek: Enterprise – Season 1 (TVR00014) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
October 25 2020

Overview

Star Trek – Enterprise

Most of Season 1 is about the first Warp 5-capable Earth vessel venturing out into uncharted space. The Vulcans have been taking very cautious steps in helping humans expand, and Archer has been pushing for Earth to take a more aggressive, risky approach. The season shows early attempts, selecting a crew, venturing out, and a series of bloody noses as they meet both friendly and less-than-friendly allies. The Vulcans give them T’Pol, which helps and hurts with the Andorians, Klingons, and a host of other smaller races. But throughout it all, there is a hint that something bigger is going on, as Crewman Daniels teaches Archer about the Temporal Prime Directive.

Episodes That I Liked

The two best episodes of the season are about time travel, including EP11 Cold Front where the Time War becomes more apparent and answers a few questions while opening a host more. EP26 ShockWave Pt 1 brings time travel back to the fore as well and serves as the cliffhanger for the season.

Six other episodes are rated 4/5, including a two-parter (EP01 and 02 kick off the series with Sulibans and Klingons on Earth); E10 where you get to meet Nausicaans with predictable results given their history of attacking merchant vessels; E12 with a lot of focus on phasers; E17 with Vulcans who embrace emotions rather than suppressing them; and E20 with an old crashed ship sending out an SOS with seemingly no survivors on board, yet there is…something.

Episodes That Were Watchable

Fourteen more episodes are rated 3/5, and it is the reason why the whole season is similarly rated. E03 deals with Hoshi having trouble adjusting to being on a ship; E04 has a planet that causes hallucinations; E05 rises to okay which is surprising since the premise is that Trip gets pregnant; E06 looks at a lost colony; E07 and 15 deal with Andorian / Vulcan relations, and other than the main Andorian, they’re kind of a wash; E09 has interactions with a pre-warp society and the start of the “Prime Directive”; E14 is about rescuing a Klingon ship while E16 is about rescuing a shuttlepod; E18 has a rogue planet drifting through space; E19 and 22 show Malcolm isn’t doing a very good job with security since the Ferengi and a spider manage to take over the ship; and E25 is a trip to Risa where lots of little adventures happen for everyone. Of all of the mid-range ones, E13 deals with a week in the life of Dr. Phlox and while it was a great premise, there wasn’t enough “oomph” to get above 3/5.

Episodes That I Didn’t Like

Four episodes really weren’t that great…”thawing” relations with Vulcans (namely T’Pol, E08), an internment camp (E21), a disgraced Vulcan Ambassador (E23), and a trip through the desert (E24).

List of Episodes from Season 1

S01E01Broken Bow Pt 1Sulibans on Earth? Not a good time🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E02Broken Bow Pt 2Visiting Cronos? Priceless🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E03Fight or FlightHoshi finds her sea legs🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E04Strange New WorldCamping with hallucinations? Fun🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E05UnexpectedTrip’s blind date goes too well🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E06Terra NovaFind a lost colony, get taken hostage🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E07Andorian IncidentSomeone always breaks a treaty🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E08Breaking the IceComets, Vulcans…everything thaws🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S01E09CivilizationOooh, no Prime Directive? Cool🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E10Fortunate SonNausicaans and Boomers don’t mix🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E11Cold FrontTemporal observatories and cold wars🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S01E12Silent EnemyOh, look, target practice for phasers🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E13Dear DoctorWeek in life of Phlox and an epidemic🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E14Sleeping DogsJoke: Klingons fly into a gas giant🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E15Shadows of P’JemAn Andorian rescue op? Great🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E16Shuttlepod OneOne way ticket to cold space🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E17FusionVulcans who embrace emotion? Scary🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E18Rogue PlanetSave the wraiths, save your memory🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E19AcquisitionA Ferengi boarding party? Embarrassing🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E20OasisA crashed ship with spooky survivors🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E21DetainedInternment camps? Not that interesting🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S01E22Vox SolaA space spider spins its web on board🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E23Fallen HeroVulcan Ambassador slash criminal?🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S01E24Desert CrossingSpace captains like the desert?🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S01E25Two Days and Two NightsIt’s Risa, anything goes🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E26Shockwave Pt 1Always a bad time for time travel🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

The Bottom Line

A show still getting its space legs

Star Trek: Picard – Season 1 (TVR00013) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
September 27 2020

Overview

The new show takes place after the movies and the end of the Next Generation timeline. There has been what appeared to be an AI uprising and a catastrophic attack that led the Federation to ban all cybernetic organisms (like Data or more inferior copies) and to withdraw from helping the Romulans as their planetary system collapsed. Picard fought for both communities and lost, and he resigned from Starfleet. Now he sits in his vineyard estate and watches his body and mind slowly stagnate.

The first episode sets up the premise of the show with a bang. A young couple is hanging out, getting to know each other in an apartment, and suddenly shock troopers enter the room, kill the boy, and are targeting the girl. She goes into super combat mode, takes them out, escapes, and while she doesn’t know how she did any of it, she knows she has to find a man she has never met — Jean-Luc Picard. It doesn’t take long for them to figure out she’s actually an advanced android, a synthetic human, based on the neural pathways that Data had before he died. Making her basically Data’s daughter. One of two “twins”. She’s killed and Picard goes in search of the second daughter, Soji, before someone kills her.

Episodes That I Liked

Episodes 4 and 6 were pretty cool, with a warrior caste of nuns and some battles, plus Jean-Luc visiting a Borg cube to visit Hugh and the Romulan reclamation project. Can anyone say PTSD? I rated both episodes 5/5.

There are another 5 episodes that I gave a 4/5 rating to…Episode 2 where you learn about the reclamation project and Soji (with a great health and safety sign on the cube that says it has been 5843 days without an assimilation); EP 3 where they’re getting ready for the voyage and putting a team together; EP 5 where they meet up with Bruce Maddox again; EP 8 where they meet Noonian’s descendant; and the season finale, EP 10, with potential space battles, cubes, and androids galore.

Episodes That Were Watchable

EP 7 is a giant fan favourite because it introduces you to Riker and Troi and gives you some of their history after the movies. It has not been sunshine and roses, but they have found a way to make it work. And EP 9, the first part of the finale, shows you the life the synthetics have built, so highly watchable.

Episodes That I Didn’t Like

I described EP 1 in the Overview above, and it SHOULD have been awesome with the shock troops and the new synthetic. Instead, it was actually pretty slow. And the super genius who supposedly built her? Bruce Maddox. The same one who tried to have Data declared a toaster in Season 1 of ST:TNG and whose proposals Data found “intriguing”, yet he’s the God of Cybernetics who built the twin daughters? Yeah, right. I would have accepted his children or his protegé being the creator, but Maddox? He was fun in Season 1 but a bit of a joke.

List of Episodes from Season 1

S01E01RemembranceReally? Maddox is the new Noonian? Doubtful🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
S01E02Maps and LegendsBest line was the sign: This facility has gone
5843 days without an assimilation		🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E03The End is the BeginningCan we go already? Yes, fine. Engage.🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E04Absolute CandorWarrior nuns are cool, but Picard owes
somebody a ship		🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S01E05Stardust City RagHey, Bruce, good to see you again🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E06The Impossible BoxIf you can’t go home again, you might
as well revisit your last trip to hell		🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
S01E07NepentheWhen you need a refuge, find two old friends
and couch surf		🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E08Broken PiecesGood news, the cyberneticist won’t
kill anyone else		🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪
S01E09Et in Arcadia Ego Pt 1Well, as synths go, it’s better than
Lal and Lore		🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
S01E10Et in Arcadia Ego Pt 2One impossible thing at a time,
plus an obvious one		🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The Bottom Line

This is not your father’s next-generation show.