Reviews

...in order to appreciate it. The plot seemed kinda stupid and weak but the main roles are all well acted (save of course for the magicians: they were actually at their weakest here) and there really is a great point in the story. not just about communication, but about controlling and venting your emotions before the control you.

Voden is still playing the enigma until the end of the episode, but I think the Audience is smart enough to figure it out. communication and sport are two great ways to release pent-up emotion and this is actually a good example of that. I found it predictable 3 years ago and still do but that doesn't seem to mean as much anymore. most of them (episode endings) are things you can see coming; that's not the point of this show; it never was.

2.5 of 5 or 5 of 10. the climax is great by the way.

This show is very "down to earth" in the typical sense. it's about character interaction mixed with bits of earth history(I wonder how accurate the bits of mythology are?) and some notion of where we may be headed. this really is a *very* different show from star trek. present day earth is the home base and we don't start out with the crew having it all together. we discover their universe as they discover it, which is *really* cool.

no real special effects are used. For the most part, they rely on the actors and the writing (plot and otherwise) which is always the mark of a good sci-fi series. I like the idea of the tok'ra and the camaraderie between the characters is always fun. Jonas Quinn was a worthy successor to Daniel when he left for a season but I'm glad he came back. episodes with the three familiar faces and one stranger are just as good as anything before it. (and in my opinion better than most that were after it, but that's another story.) I'm not such a fan as to buy all the dvds but there really is plenty to see. judging the first 7 season i give it 9 out of 10.

OK, the last season was a disappointment, no arguments here. up until that point however, this was a pretty darn good show. season four was my personal favorite. with episodes like nemesis, year of hell and living witness, (the revisionist history point could have been used again)who could not like this show. it was episodes like those that made this show true, poignant star trek.

Get the season four DVD! it is awesome as has the most of the most skillfully crafted written, directed, acted, shot) episodes of this show or Ds9.

For the first two years, they couldn't seem to get the marquis thing out of their (the writers) head's, but for the most part this was OK. the episode where Paris' little act was revealed and Alliances more that made up for learning curve (Tuvoks boot camp) and parallax where Torres first became chief engineer; which actually was a necessarily rough episode, being the first one after the premiere. The characters developed gradually over time but each of them developed steadily and at their own pace; even Tuvok, who at first was so terribly stolid/stoic.

things actually started to wane plot-wise around the 6th season. most were still watchable but they lacked drive and intensity. Muse, fury and blink of an eye (was that a 6th season?) were pretty great though. who determined that every star trek set in this century needed 7 seasons anyway? that is how disappointing season 7 feels to many people: it never should have happened. I can't believe (or can hardly believe) what they did to some of the main characters during that season. (thinking mainly of author author-like episodes here.) but everyone had ample amounts of episodes in the spotlight and most had ample time in episodes that were focused on others; here is what set voyager apart:everyone got significant time on-screen

well, that's about it. save that Janeway did at times seem bi-polar and the whole thing about getting home (the restart button?) got pretty old eventually. that's one thing that set timeless apart: time-travel, good Kim episode, voyager didn't get home but ended up getting closer to home. the show had many individual episodes on all points on the rating scale. over all, 7 out of 10 points

OK another point by point. Point A: most characters are convincing in their roles no matter which they are. Explanation: I am unimpressed with Jolene Blalocks' performance during the first season or so, she just doesn't play a good vulcan, but the others are believable and everyone puts out a lot of energy so it's pretty much OK. Everyone on the show works together well and there is great interaction.

Point 2: in the first 2 seasons there were 7 main characters what happened to that? This is actually one of the things the pilot episode did so well: it introduced everyone of the characters and their skills and histories. Everyone but the main three and the doctor seem to have been almost phased out over the course of the xindi arc. Season four was a bit better at this but it was also very confusing.

Which bring my 3rd point I suppose. Season four showed the strongest acting, but by far the weirdest writing. Now when they have a continuity (break in the continuance of things) and it's a good episode, I don't mind so much. I would buy the DVD for almost everything divergence and before, but 4x17 on made NO sense and in my opinion showed some of the worse performances in the series. In a mirror darkly was both a continuity error (and it was supposed to connect the two) and a horrible episode. I'm not going into the vulcan arc (and trust me this was a season of arcs) and the Soong arc was great so I guess it just depended on the episode. Many people have commented on the temporal war so I will leave that to them. 4 out of 5 stars.

let's go point by point. There are 4 points total. A. Dar and Tao (and the actors portraying them) work together very well. There were a few episodes in the first season that made Tao look like an idiot but other than those I'd say they were equals in almost every respect throughout the series. They complimented each other well and Dar wasn't always the teacher. I especially like where they save each-others lives.

B there is a sense of cohesion to 75% of the episodes. The rest seem aimless and even contrary to the episodes in the main flow. I'm thinking of Guardian, circle of life and the role of the two Magic people; It didn't seem like the writers knew where to take them.

C. Nords rule! Nords, priests and even Iara included, season 2 enemies are great. Well Iara is more of an antagonist (pun intended) than an adversary. Season 2 episodes with Terrons weren't that great; thankfully there were not very many of those.

D.I love animals and this series shows us how wrong some of our preconceived notions about the stupidity and brutality of animals really is. When the focus is on the animals, that is when the show really shines.

Again, there are poor and contrary episodes in the show, but for the most part this is a forgotten treasure. Look it up in local listings here it's on at 4 am Saturday morning but still it's usually worth it. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

*this comment assumes you know the plot and will not be offended at giving plot points*

This is a great episode with more heart than actual humor and a topic and lesson we could all stand to learn from. at this point Sam's memory is still pretty swiss-cheesed but that does not affect his conscience or his knowledge of people. in all of his leaps, I'd say this is his first real struggle. it is his task here to conquer human nature in a way. let's face it we do tend to fear what we don't understand and sometimes would rather *not* see what's in front of our faces. here Sam has a chance to change that or at least improve it.

Personally, i think one of the main reasons that this is such a good episode is that in one slightly emotionally tense scene(soliloquy really) we learn a bit about Al's past and exactly why he is holding on to this case so hard. it seems that a case of mental retardation in his own family resulted not only in separation but in tragedy. separation in this sense is tragedy I know but there is more to this story point than that.

it would be an interesting psychology or human behavior lesson to watch this episode and try to determine the motives of each character before they are revealed. but watching it for the sheer force and exciting(as well as entertaining) events works too. the glimpse into the next leap that comes in every episode had me hooked to find out. perhaps it will have the same effect on you? 5 of 5 stars!

Spock is a bit too emotional, and more people beam down in one trip than there is space for but other than that this is a pretty solid episode. This is (to my knowledge) star treks first look at altered history or of WWII and they pull it off fabulously. Storyline is as follows: McCoy is shot with something that makes him mad (as in insane) and jumps though what turns out to be a living time machine. Of course he alters history so kirk and spock go back to the approximate date of his arrival to fix things. They arrive early, befriend Edith Keeler, who shares many of their ideals, and kirk falls in love with her. Spock meanwhile is trying to find out what McCoy changed and how to fix it. The first glimpse he gets shows that Edith is involved (and the possibility of her death) but not how. At this time neither kirk nor spock know what caused the change; they only know they need to prevent it. By the time the figure it out, Kirk doesn't think he can go through with it.

The episode is especially good because here McCoy has some very good dialog (funny and serious and some that is both) not involving spock! And although spock seems more emotional, he is as logical and dispassionate as ever. kirk on the other hand has quite the battle for values. Most of the drawback comes simply from this being an early episode. They still have some flaws to shake out. But it's all good. 4 out of 5 stars and you can skip the Guardians dialog in my opinion.

I won't say anything about individual plots, this is just the strength of the shows as a whole. In the beginning (the first 2 seasons) the characters were multi-layered, seemingly actual people that you could empathize with. It was interesting to see the chemistry work out between everyone. The writing was good and no episode (that I could see) took anything away from another. This congrats goes to both Plot writing and dialog. I hated missing even one of these episodes. My interest dropped off at season 2's last episode.

I continued watching season 3 just to see what would happen. Phoenix and Relic were really good episodes, but most of them made no sense. The show started seeming like a periodical: no real cohesion between the episodes. The only problem with that is that very few smallville episodes can stand on their own; there should be some connection. I didn't watch the last half of this season because it did not seem to be real smallville. It seemed as if they were using the name to draw people into a melodrama or something. what I saw Seasons four and five seemed almost like a soap opera or something. They lost their focus on values and their perspective or angle that had made the first 2 and one half seasons good to watch as well as worth watching. What the heck is the phantom zone doing in smallville? Is there no originality anymore?

I can't give and over all rating, just watch it till 3x06.

as a general rule, any episode of any series showing the people and world we know from an outside perspective is a above average episode; this is no exception. Here we see the crew through the eyes of a 1960's astronaut who ends up aboard the ship. The episode is not told from his perspective of course, but it does let us see it from his point of view. What would someone from our time (roughly) think of their ways. I am very much borrowing from another reviewer here, I just happen to agree.

The dialog is the main attraction here. The dialog involving captain Christopher, and kirk's infamous joking scene especially. Fans of the show, you know what I'm talking about. I won't spoil anything but I will say that they encounter a few problems trying to return to their own time; each of which they (of course) eventually overcome. 6 out of 5 stars here again mainly because of dialog and time-travel done inventively.

The first note of this episode goes to the music: very appropriate and definitely gives an intense feel and sense of foreboding. The next nod goes of course to Kate Mulgrew as this is the most forceful and driven we have seen her in a long time. I really do mean driven: the victory-at-any-cost-and-heck-with-any-other-view, type of driven we see again two seasons later, but here she pulls back and listens before the final moment as opposed to watching the reality unfold at her opponents death.

The conversation Chakotay has with the captain in sickbay and the Borg (seven) in the ready room are not exactly intense but the are central and vital to the episode, not to mention cool; don't miss them. To find the meaning of the episodes title and the code word "scorpion" you will have to watch part one, which is pretty much as good as this one.

The only problem I have with the episode is that we find out a season or so later that the "enemy" they unite against was not and is not an invading force as it is displayed and nearly flat out stated in this episode. ("'your galaxy will be purged' sound familiar?") side note this is Kes' near finest and near final hour, keep that in mind. 4 out of 5 stars.