tomsly-40015 Reviews

Star Trek: Discovery: Labyrinths (2024) Season 5, Episode 8

This series is the real mindscape: you've been looking for the exit far too long

[4/10 · 16 May 2024]

The short version: Burnham is playing a boring escape game and instead of solving puzzles to find a way out of a maze, she acts like a defiant child and melts into tearful self-pity - which ends up being exactly the solution to the puzzle! Know yourself and your weaknesses and admit your fears! Touchdown for Burnham.

The long version: Anyone who thinks that an episode called "Labyrinths" is about tricky puzzles, mind games and demanding tasks that require all sorts of technical gadgets is wrong again. And in good tradition, who if not Burnham is the center of everyone's attention in this episode? She alone has to face the challenges of this 800-year-old game of the mind, while the rest of the crew takes the position on the sidelines. Since the showrunners and writers of the series stopped giving a damn about this series a long time ago, the episode is once again a middle finger directly in the viewers' faces. There are no puzzles in the style of National Treasure, no action-packed treasure hunts like in Indiana Jones, no crazy dream worlds like in Alice in Wonderland and no nightmare horror like in The Cell. As always, it all boils down to the fact that the answer to all questions and the solution to all problems are long monologues about emotion, love, fear and self-doubt.

It's really sad. Even a complete amateur could have written an exciting story using the elements of this episode. But the writers of DIS just have a knack for turning gold into s***.

Star Trek: The Alternative Factor (1967) Season 1, Episode 27

Hey Lazarus, how about a shave?

[2/10 · 12 May 2024]

Although you can't expect breathtaking graphic effects in TOS, the effects in this episode are so bad that they are an insult to all viewers. As if the effects specialists had tried to capture a bad LSD trip on film. And then this spaceship with the round glass dome! Like watching a 1950s sci-fi film!

The story of this episode is also total nonsense. The antimatter counterpart can just walk around in our universe and, despite medical analysis, Bones doesn't notice that there's anything wrong with this person (even though the beard always looks different). And what's actually wrong with Kirk? Is he just an idiot? He should know by now that they constantly encounter strange phenomena and inexplicable events. But after Bones tells him that Lazarus' scar has suddenly disappeared, Kirk once again just thinks that Bones is kidding him! Or when Spock initially detects no life on the planet and then suddenly a life form appears on his screen - Kirk reacts irritably and incredulously. How could Spock have missed this before?!? Hello? Maybe because there was no sign of life there before?

By the way, Spock says at the beginning that the planet is hostile to life and that there is no life there. Nevertheless, the crew can beam onto the planet without protective equipment or oxygen and bushes grow on every corner.

Star Trek: Discovery: Erigah (2024) Season 5, Episode 7

Knocking on Federation headquarters' doors

[4/10 · 9 May 2024]

Once again, DIS presents us with a completely dysfunctional Federation and a Starfleet that seems more like a friendly neighborhood watch than an interplanetary, multi-species organization that stretches across thousands of planets with trillions of inhabitants. The scene when a Breen ship appears out of thin air and parks in front of the gates of the Federation headquarters somehow reminded me of the film "Red Dawn". Apparently the Federation has neither sensor grids that would detect such a spaceship days in advance, nor interceptors, orbital guns and mines. And there seems to be no need to place a few battle cruisers around the headquarters either - despite Burnham's vision of a possible future in which the Breen have destroyed the headquarters. The fact that the Breen can beam into the meeting room with their weapons and Starfleet security is once again overpowered by a single woman who can also hack into the station's systems is almost a footnote in comparison. With all the incompetence, it's a miracle that the Federation hasn't been overrun by Romulans, Cardassians, Breen, Klingons, Borg, the Dominion, or other factions from the Gamma and Delta quadrants in the last 800 years.

And the future doesn't seem to be looking bleak just because of this apparent breakdown of galactic order. Apparently there are no historians, scribes, or other intellectuals left in the 32nd century. There is NO ONE in all of Federation space who knows anything about "manuscripts" - except engineer Reno (what a coincidence). You'd think there would be thousands of scholars on Betazed who would know something about a Betazoid manuscript. There should be scholars a dime a dozen on Vulcan, too. But the best option is JETT RENO?!? So this is what our future looks like after everyone has been dumbed down by TikTok, Instagram and the internet in general: In the 32nd century, there will be no one left in the entire galaxy who knows anything about books and history. And even artificial intelligence will become useless.

By the way: Since when do memories attach to objects that an empath then can read? And what is the point of an archive space station changing its location every 50 years to protect its treasures when, on the one hand, someone already knew 800 years ago where it would be today and, on the other hand, Tilly was able to calculate and extrapolate the archive's path through the previous locations anyway? And I don't even want to start ranting about Tilly and Adira, who are once again verbally patting each other on the back and complimenting each other on how well the other is doing their job. If all of these "Good job" and "Well done" scenes were cut out of the episodes, the story would have been told by now.

Rayner is silenced once again in this episode because he does not agree with the optimistic evaluation of the situation like the others. In previous Star Trek series, it was good practice to sit down with the senior officers when making important decisions, put all the facts and opinions on the table and discuss them openly. Picard, Janeway and even Kirk encouraged their officers to speak openly and also to express concerns. The goal was always to evaluate different points of view before a decision was made. But not in the Michael Burnham Show. Opinions that do not coincide with Michael Burnham's are not welcome and first officers who violate this rule are reprimanded and thrown out of the room. After all, there's no "we" in Michael, just an "I".

I am still speechless at how extremely friendly Moll and L'ak are treated and how much Book in particular cares for Moll. Not only did the two of them kill a few Breen, in one of the last episodes they also poisoned a guy and watched him die. I don't even want to know how many more lives they wiped out while carrying out their shady courier services. They are serious criminals and murderers, but are portrayed in a romanticized way like two desperate lovers! Furthermore, there was no reason not to hand Moll and L'ak over to the Breen. It would have given the Federation a breather and a head start in the search for the next clue. After all, the Breen were primarily occupied with internal struggles for power in their Empire. In the end, this whole delaying tactic didn't work anyway.

And why is EVERYTHING on the Discovery always so dark? Sickbay should be lit like daylight so that treatments and operations can be carried out there. But Sickbay seems more like a nightclub than a medical facility. There are no nurses anywhere there either.

Star Trek: Arena (1967) Season 1, Episode 18

Lo and behold the powerful and deadly Gorn - who, however, look neither powerful nor deadly

[5/10 · 6 May 2024]

Yay, the Federation's first encounter with the Gorn. Unfortunately, this Gorn looks more like an extra from a bad Godzilla movie. The costume designers could have put a little more effort into it. The mouth doesn't even move when this creature grunts and speaks. In addition, this Gorn moved so sluggishly and slowly that Kirk could have outmaneuvered it forever and then rammed a sharpened branch into its intestines from behind to finish it off.

In any case, a lot has changed since the Gorn were portrayed in TOS, to the only slightly better portrayal in ENT, to the CGI-animated portrayal in SNW. The Gorn now look more like the aliens from the movies of the same name. Although I don't think the new interpretation is successful either. After all, the Gorn are supposed to be a superior opponent with highly developed technology. And that doesn't fit with the fact that the creatures look like monsters, move around on all fours and have claws instead of hands. How is such a beast supposed to build and operate a spaceship? Somehow the makers of Star Trek haven't really found the right form for the Gorn yet that exudes brutality and cunning but also seems authentic in the sense of a highly developed species that builds and operates intergalactic spaceships.

The motivation of this other species, which pits Kirk and this Gorn against each other in a gladiator fight, is also rather vague. As if the conflict between the Federation and the Gorn would be resolved forever through this one fight. In addition, while they seem to be against violence on the one hand, they would destroy the loser's spaceship on the other. Even when Kirk shows mercy, this alien asks whether he should now destroy the Gorn's ship. That somehow doesn't really fit together.

Star Trek: The Galileo Seven (1967) Season 1, Episode 16

Logic dictates to leave this insubordinate crew on the planet to teach them a lesson

[6/10 · 5 May 2024]

This episode is all about what makes a good leader and about decision making based on logic vs gut feeling. Spock has to prove himself as a commanding officer for the first time by taking command of an away mission that fails and results in the shuttle crashing on a planet inhabited by hostile creatures.

First of all, the lack of professionalism of the crew members and their openly displayed insubordination should have led to harsher consequences. The command structure is massively questioned, as is Spock's leadership style. His orders are constantly answered with cynical comments and even Bones, also a senior officer, joins in with this undignified behavior. Bones is not a good officer anyway and an even worse doctor. I consider him absolutely unsuitable to serve on the Federation flagship. If only his medical competence would justify his cynicism and grumpy manner - but his medical expertise leaves a lot to be desired. If you compare Bones with the holographic doctor on Voyager, who was also initially condescending and arrogant, then you have to at least acknowledge that he is an absolute expert in the field of medicine and has always given 100% for his patients - even for enemy species. That cannot be said of Bones. In any case, the junior officers should have been demoted at the very least. If not court-martialed.

The episode repeatedly plays with whether a decision is logical or whether it should have been made emotionally. With the well-being of the crew in mind. However, logic is often used completely incorrectly here. If Spock assumes that the alien creatures can be intimidated with phaser fire, then that is not logic. It is merely an assumption based on known behavior of other species. After all, one has to assume that they do not even know about energy weapons and their effects. Basically, it is just a decision with uncertainty. It would have been just as logical to assume that these creatures also react to aggression with aggression, as is known with many predators. So it was by no means "the most logical" conclusion. It is also not logical to decide to leave two crew members behind to save weight. First of all, there would have been enough unnecessary weight in the shuttle, from the chairs to the clothes they were wearing. Furthermore, it was not considered that it might be sufficient to take off with one or two crew members and make contact with Enterprise. As soon as they had been rescued, Kirk could have returned to the now known location of the crew members left behind to rescue them. They could easily have held out for several days, hunkered down somewhere with phasers at the ready.

The big problem with this episode is that Spock suggests his conclusions and decisions as the only "logical" solutions. Although he himself says that there are always alternatives. Logic is not a one-way street. In mathematics, there are often several correct ways to solve a problem. In addition, it is presumptuous to assume that one can only react to the threat of a rather underdeveloped and non-logical species with logic.

Star Trek: Balance of Terror (1966) Season 1, Episode 14

The point of this story: Even more pointy ears

[8/10 · 5 May 2024]

The first good episode of the first TOS season. Finally, you get the feeling that there are professionals on board the Enterprise. And finally, as a viewer, you feel the tension and the thrill. No wonder that this exact moment was picked out in the SNW episode "A Quality of Mercy" to show Pike what catastrophic consequences it would have for the entire galaxy if he tried to cheat his fate. The events are played out there a second time - but this time with Pike as captain, who chooses a different path to solve the problem with the Romulans on the border of the neutral zone.

But you have to ask yourself how it is possible that, despite an endless war, no one has seen a Romulan yet. There must be photos and videos, descriptions of other species that may have already come into contact with the Romulans, or may be trading with them. There must also have been bodies in all these battles during the war that could have been recovered and examined. Stiles' condescending attitude towards Spock when it becomes clear that Romulans and Vulcans apparently share a common ancestor is quite childish. As if it's Spock's fault that a Romulan ship is attacking outposts with a destructive new weapon. However, Kirk reacts to these presumptuous taunts in a very leadership manner for a change, defending Spock and putting Stiles in his place.

In any case, an exciting episode that is an important cornerstone in the Star Trek canon: the first visual contact with Romulans.

Star Trek: Shore Leave (1966) Season 1, Episode 15

A crew full of explorers who make no attempt to investigate the truth behind strange events

[1/10 · 5 May 2024]

Ridiculous and silly episode without a spark of sense or reason. There are also some crazy episodes in later episodes like YOY "The Thaw" or SNW "The Elysian Kingdom". But at least the crews tried to get to the bottom of what was going on in these episodes.

In this TOS episode, however, no one seems really worried or even curious about why people and things suddenly appear out of thin air. A ship full of explorers with the mission to discover new worlds and new life forms, but no one tries to investigate the events on the planet with scientific intuition. The fact that a medieval woman's dress suddenly hangs in the bushes doesn't bother Bones any more than the fact that a bully from Kirk's academy days 15 years ago suddenly appears and still seems as young as he did then. Instead of investigating, Kirk has nothing better to do than to resume his old feud with this guy and get into a fist fight. White rabbits, samurai, an old fighter plane, a tiger, a revolver... nobody really finds this strange. Instead, the crew seems to be having fun and Kirk, of course, immediately jumps on an old flame that appears out of nowhere. And since when has Bones been interested in a female colleague? The two seem to know each other pretty well...

And when it becomes clear at the end that this is a pleasure planet of an apparently highly developed species, the crew also makes no attempt to investigate this species and its technology more closely. A completely pointless episode that can be safely skipped.

Star Trek: Discovery: Whistlespeak (2024) Season 5, Episode 6

Whisperspeak, snoozewhistles and the BFF Directive

[1/10 · 2 May 2024]

So, anyone who at this point in the series still cares about anything that happens in the episodes and doesn't just continue to watch to tick another box on the "I've seen all the Star Trek episodes" list is really beyond help. Although there are obviously still a handful of people who open this page immediately after a new episode has come out to give it 10 stars out of principle. Every time, shortly after the start of a new episode, there are 10-15 10-star ratings. But after a while, when the real Star Trek fans have seen and rated the episodes, the result settles somewhere between 5 and 6 stars. By the way, I recently looked at the average rating of all Star Trek seasons here just for fun. DIS is in second place with season 4 (after season 2 of the Animated Series, which is in first place) and DIS is also fifth place with season 3. Besides the Animated Series (which shouldn't be a benchmark for quality anyway), DIS is the only series with two seasons that appear in the Flop Five! And yet the showrunners and writers have learned nothing from the lousy seasons 3 and 4! It just keeps getting worse. One dud after another! Make it stop finally!

What was the point of this episode anyway? Burnham is once again carrying out an away mission - as always. This time she has Tilly in tow and anyone who had at least a spark of hope when watching the episode that Burnham would pull herself together and not break the Prime Directive and Tilly would finally be good for something - namely bringing rain as a human sacrifice - will of course be disappointed once again. Burnham doesn't give a damn about the Prime Directive, because friendship is ultimately much more important than anything else. Best friends forever! And then Burnham convinces an old man, who knows nothing other than life on this planet with sacrifices and worship, with a short whisperspeak, that there are aliens and technology and that he should no longer sacrifice virgins and the like in the future. Incidentally, DIS is once again rubbing gender ideology in our faces with a three-gender civilization - probably just to make us hear "they" instead of "he" and "she" even more often. Apparently it is not enough that the stuttering Adira is constantly addressed as "they".

And this whiny Culber is really getting on my nerves now. Yes, we know, you had a spiritual experience during the Zhian'tara. Write a book about it! Or go to a monastery and take a vow of silence and spare your fellow human beings this lamentation. What a difference to Star Trek 30 years ago! In the DS9 episode "Facets" several characters also perform the Zhian'tara (with Jadzia Dax) and did we hear any whining afterwards? NO! No whining, no tears, and no sobbing self-pity three episodes later!

Oh, and it's nice that this species communicates by whistling. Apparently they only do that when Burnham and Tilly aren't around... and Tilly wins the race?!? Fitness - what's that again? Just be body positive and you can achieve anything! And what does this Carl Fredricksen character actually want to tell us with his notepad from the 21st century? This series truly has the worst of the bad characters in Star Trek history!

Digman! (2023– )

The humor is more like Dickman, but still hilarious (actually because of that)

[8/10 · 2 May 2024]

This series is simply hilarious. It's not perfect and often drifts into silly comedy. But if you like (the old) Family Guy episodes and are generally a fan of animated adult humor, you should definitely give this series a closer look. The characters and their interactions with each other are just brilliant. Rip and Saltine are particularly noteworthy. Rip seems like Nicolas Cage and his outbursts of anger are awesome. And Saltine is a lovable, nerdy character on the one hand, but on the other hand she's also quick-witted and smart. Mitra Jouhari voices Saltine almost perfectly and her voice acting never seems forced or unbelievable. The setting of the series is also fresh and different (apart from the more than obvious references to Indiana Jones or National Treasure): archaeologists are the new pop stars who are celebrated in the news and on the red carpet, and museums are the must-have for billionaires to show off their wealth.

I can't understand the many 1 ratings. Sure, the humor is often crude, there are lots of jokes about sex or masturbation, and there's constant swearing. Some scenes are also pretty questionable if you don't see them for what they are: over the top comedy. For example, when Rip gives a baby a beating, although the baby isn't actually a baby, thus putting the scene in a different moral light (which Rip also philosophizes about in detail in this scene). As an educated adult, however, you should be able to put this kind of humor into a broader context and recognize it as subtle social criticism - or just as stupid humor.

The series definitely has potential and I'm already looking forward to a second season. Maybe the creators will then iron out some of the flaws from the first season. For example, I find some of the characters rather less appealing, such as Quail Eegan, who is something between Elon Musk and Taylor Swift: multi-billionaire and archaeology pop star (in the broad sense). For me he just doesn't look authentic. And the story with the puff people was a bit too childish. The same goes for the yetis. The series initially gave the impression that it could be a normal society that just happens to celebrate archaeologists. Yetis and gnomes just don't fit into that picture.

Star Trek: The Corbomite Maneuver (1966) Season 1, Episode 10

Yeoman Rand starts with a 2-7 in a children's game of poker

[4/10 · 1 May 2024]

Yeoman Rand is once again the female punching bag that the testosterone-fueled machos of the Enterprise let off steam on. She is once again the target of the male crew's condescending remarks. Not only has she now been demoted to a cheap waitress and serves Kirk lunch and afternoon coffee. She also has to listen to Kirk say that he can't stand her presence and is angry that he has been assigned a female yeoman. After all, calling the ship "she" is enough female emancipation from his point of view. To be honest: I find it quite difficult to watch the TOS episodes these days. It feels like the series was produced by the Taliban.

The episode started out quite promisingly, but the twist made it completely ridiculous for me. The fact that Kirk's poker bluff is responded to with an equally similar bluff by the alien species is a clever move. But then a child??? And that ridiculous puppet? If this species is as technologically advanced as claimed, it would certainly be possible to send a suitably adapted image across the screen via the computer.

Star Trek: Dagger of the Mind (1966) Season 1, Episode 9

Dr. Helen Noel is extremely qualified as an expert in psychiatry: She wears a short skirt and tights

[6/10 · 29 April 2024]

This episode started surprisingly well, with Kirk uncovering dubious medical experiments in a penal colony. Unfortunately, the episode then loses its momentum due to the typical TOS facepalm moments and the portrayal of the female crew members of the Enterprise.

What normal person, let alone a starship captain, would put themselves under an unknown machine to test its effects on the human psyche? Especially after a patient who was apparently treated with this machine appears to be quite mentally disturbed and is currently being treated by Bones? The most logical consequence would have been to bring in Scotty or someone else from engineering to take this machine apart and analyze it in detail to find out what exactly its purpose is and how it works.

And then Dr. Helen Noel. Supposedly an expert in the field of psychiatric forensics. That would have been a good moment to recognize the expertise of a woman. But we all know that women in TOS don't appear in episodes because of their expertise, but because of their short skirts and pointy breasts. Of course, there is a romantic backstory between Kirk and Noel that overshadows the actual investigation of the events in the penal colony. Also, Dr. Noel has nothing else to contribute other than to point out again and again that all the instruments and all the treatments carried out there are perfectly fine and there is nothing to worry about - despite the fact that she did not carry out any examinations herself, did not even speak to the doctor or patients for five minutes, and did not look at any medical records. But at least her skirt is extra short. After all, that should be enough of a qualification for a woman to be able to take up service on this Enterprise...

Knuckles (2024)

Bowling for Wade and a bit of screentime for his sidekick Knuckles

[7/10 · 29 April 2024]

This miniseries is actually quite entertaining and funny - especially the interaction between the two agents is hilarious. The series initially seems like a typical buddy comedy, in the style of Dumb and Dumber, The Heat, Hot Fuzz or other films of this kind. Especially in episodes 1-3 you get the feeling that the duo Knuckles/Wade are coming together to pursue a common goal. Wade is the slacker and Knuckles is the tough one who tries to teach him the importance of competition and warrior honor.

But as many commentators have already noted: In a series about Knuckles, Knuckles actually has very little screen time and becomes a mere sidekick to Wade - especially in episodes 4-6. Actually, it's a series about Wade Whipple and not about Knuckles. The focus is on Wade's daddy issues and a bowling tournament with which Wade wants to prove himself to his father. In addition, a forgettable villain and his henchmen hunt Knuckles to seize his power for something he wants to sell - basically, the motivation plays no role at all. The two storylines are pretty disconnected from each other and you get the feeling that you are actually watching two series. A quite extensive one about Wade and a very short one about Knuckles. At the end, for example, Knuckles sits in his hotel room most of the time and is not seen. Maybe they wanted to save on expensive CGI animations.

I would have expected more of a student vs mentor thing from this series. Funnily enough, a scene from Karate Kid is shown in the opening credits. But that is exactly what is missing from the series. Apart from a bit of pep talk, there is no training at all. Knuckles has nothing to do with the actual bowling tournament. He does not take part in it, and Knuckles does not get Wade physically fit either. He does not even sit in the audience.

The ending is also pretty rushed. The villain is defeated and that's it. What Knuckles does after that remains unclear. Is he now part of the Whipple family? What happened to Wade? What happened to the two agents who are now stranded on the mushroom planet?

Also annoying: the omnipresent product placements. From Doritos to Lays, Spotify or ESPN... Speaking of ESPN: The two sports commentators are hilarious. "Reno, the Las Vegas for losers".

Star Trek: Miri (1966) Season 1, Episode 8

Hey, this planet is an exact duplicate of Earth - but let's forget that fact for the rest of the episode, shall we?

[5/10 · 27 April 2024]

Is it bad casting or is this leader of the kids just a late bloomer and despite being almost 30 years old, still not in puberty? And the actress who played Miri was already over 20 when the episode was filmed. I mean, people generally looked older than they were back then, but a little more realism in the portrayal of children would have been appropriate.

Yeoman Rand is once again reduced to her feminine charms ("Look at my legs"), but for a change she is not the lightning rod of male lust in this episode. Instead, Kirk hits on an underage girl, which apparently didn't ring any alarm bells at the time when the episode was aired on TV. And the only thing Kirk can think of to cheer up a GIRL and make her feel safe is to tell her how beautiful she looks. There is just so much wrong in this episode on so many levels...

And I can't help it, but Bones seems to me to be the worst doctor in the history of Star Trek. They meet a humanoid, human-like being who appears to be seriously ill and in pain. And Bones? Does nothing. Doesn't give him any medicine, no sedatives, doesn't talk to the man, doesn't examine him. And of course this person then dies. And when the crew meets Miri, who seems frightened and who could also be ill, Bones does nothing again. He doesn't talk to her in a calming way, doesn't examine her, or give her a mild sedative. As a crew member of the Enterprise, you can only hope never to get sick when Dr. Evil is on duty.

And since TOS is not short of facepalm moments, there are of course plenty of them in this episode too:

Millions of children would have to live on such a planet - if the virus has even spread globally. How many teachers and doctors does Starfleet want to send to the planet for all these children?

The kids have survived on this planet for 300 years and apparently had enough food, water and clothing (after all, everything seems to be in top condition - there isn't even garbage piling up on the streets after 300 years). But just as the Enterprise arrives, the food supplies are almost used up. What a coincidence. And what about the kids in the next town 50 miles away? What about their food supplies?

And then the scene with the communicators. All four of them leave their devices unattended on the table, knowing very well how important they are for their mission. Ouch.

Star Trek: Mudd's Women (1966) Season 1, Episode 6

Space pimping is OK, but flying without a flight plan will land you straight in prison

[2/10 · 27 April 2024]

After watching all the other Star Trek series within a year, I've now landed on TOS. And when I watch those episodes, I really wonder how this series managed to build up such a huge fan base and became what it is today. This omnipresent objectification of women, the macho behavior of the men, this ridiculous 1960s style of the sets and wardrobe and this yawning boredom in every scene. So far, I've never had the feeling in any of the TOS episodes that there is any kind of hectic activity on the ship. Everyone is always pretty relaxed and takes their time to do their jobs. In addition, new people are constantly appearing on the bridge, so you can't relate to the characters. And the uniforms are probably more of a fashion accessory than a sign of rank and section. Uhura wears a red uniform, then a yellow one, and Kirk switches between yellow and green almost every five minutes.

So, here we have him: Harry Mudd. A con artist who we will meet again in later series. In this episode, however, he is just a sleazy space pimp. And Kirk and his crew apparently have no problem with the fact that his business is about "selling" a few pretty women to lonely settlers or dilithium miners. Kirk is more concerned about Mudd flying through the vastness of space without a flight plan or license. Where is the intergalactic flight control when a flight plan is suddenly needed? Picard, Archer and Janeway never checked whether all the villains who appeared on their sensors had a flight plan.

And once again, women in TOS are portrayed as pure, cheap sex objects whose only goal is to please men, cook them food and do the dishes. The moral message of this episode is: ugly women are undesirable for men, the only thing that counts is looks and sex appeal. And the undersexed male crew of the Enterprise can't pull themselves together again when three women come on board (at least Janice Rand gets a breather in this episode and is, for a change, this time not the target of sexual harassment from the crew). Bones and Scotty react like two pubescent teenagers holding a pin-up magazine in their hands for the first time. Their hormones are surging and the sight of the women drives them so crazy that they are barely able to do their work. Just like the rest of the crew. The TOS crew may be the exact opposite of the DIS crew, but they are just as incompetent and a disgrace to Starfleet.

And the three women's only goal seems to be to throw themselves at the first dirty, old hillbilly miner they find, and then get groped and humiliated by them. And this one bald-headed grump also makes demands on his future wife. He himself looks like a total bum, but the women have to be flawless and beautiful. I was actually waiting for a moral reversal at the end. That the randy old devil realizes that looks aren't everything and that he sees the real woman behind the beautiful facade. But this would be too much to ask for in a TOS episode. Of course, he only cares about looks. Gee! And in the end, despite the placebo, the woman turns back into an irresistible vamp - giving this lecher exactly what he wants: a beautiful shell that sweetens his lonely nights on this backwater planet. Nothing else.

All the feminists of our day who still think that nothing has changed for women in western societies should really watch a few episodes of TOS. We've come a long way!

Star Trek: The Enemy Within (1966) Season 1, Episode 5

Yeoman Rand has the most thankless role in all Star Trek series

[5/10 · 25 April 2024]

The 1960s - a decade that all randy old devils look back on with great pleasure. A decade in which women were nothing more than welcome objects that men could use to make sexist remarks and that could be groped at any time.

And Janice Rand is the unfortunate female victim in nearly every episode, always the target of sexual innuendo or even sexual assault from her male colleagues. This poor woman. The fact that something like that was accepted and seen as "normal" even back then is simply incomprehensible from today's perspective. Yeoman Rand is almost raped by Kirk's doppelganger and only barely manages to free herself from his clutches, but doesn't even see herself as the victim. Since Kirk is captain, she wouldn't have even reported this behavior. Wow.

The story of split personalities isn't bad, but due to the typical dull TOS narration and over- and underacting, there is once again no tension at the end. I'm always fascinated by how relaxed everyone on this Enterprise is. Some crew members are stuck on a planet and are about to freeze to death and Scotty (who has a really greasy hairstyle this season - as if he had smeared a pound of butter in his hair) is standing ALONE in the transporter room, chilling, telling Kirk that they're doing EVERYTHING they can! Oh yeah? Him alone and who else? Scotty doesn't look very stressed or that he's giving it all he's got here.

And then those facepalm scenes in every TOS episode: Scotty clearly shows that the transporter malfunctioned and has duplicated a unicorn dog. When rumors start to circulate that an out-of-control Kirk is causing trouble on the ship, none of those involved even think that maybe something went wrong with Kirk's last transport from the planet, too! Or when the crew is supposed to track down the wrong Kirk. What if good old Kirk had said in his speech to the crew that he himself would stay on the bridge, meaning that any Kirk anywhere else on the ship would definitely be the impostor they're looking for?

Star Trek: Discovery: Mirrors (2024) Season 5, Episode 5

If love is in the air and an away mission is to spare - who ya gonna call? Michael Burnham!

[2/10 · 25 April 2024]

Imagine if your own intelligence services had tracked down an incredibly powerful alien technology. A technology that could both create and destroy life and thus be an all-powerful weapon in the wrong hands. A weapon that could turn the civilization of an entire planet to dust, perhaps push entire species to the brink of extinction and forever change the balance of power in the galaxy in favor of expansive new alliances. The United Federation of Planets could hardly do anything to counter such a new opponent, they could only watch helplessly as they would slowly but surely fall apart. Starfleet would be doomed. The long-standing peace between many species would give way to war, death and destruction. Breen, Klingons, Romulans or even the Borg... whoever manages to hold this weapon in their blood-stained hands in the end will rule the galaxy. And in all probability not with moral superiority but with the iron fist of oppression.

And what would you do if you, as the United Federation of Planets, had allies on your side, with billions and billions of living beings on countless planets? Send out an armada of warships to find the weapon? Send agents in all directions to follow the clues? Gather the best archaeologists, cryptologists, mathematicians, physicists, xenobiologists and whoever else with a lot of book knowledge to decipher all the puzzles? Of course not! You would of course only send out ONE ship. And of course it would be the loveboat of the fleet. And you wouldn't send trained soldiers after the two criminals who always seem to be one step ahead. No, you would put the fate of the galaxy in the hands of a whiny captain and her ex-lover - who isn't even a Starfleet officer!

When I watched this episode, I wondered what happened to Star Trek when the word "love" appeared more often in an episode than the words "calibrate," "scan," "warp," or "Jefferies tube." Even though the ship only has minutes left before it implodes, there seems to be enough time to talk about dead fathers, true love, and self-sacrifice for one's loved ones.

Otherwise, the episode is once again a copy of the worst aspects of DIS: People just do their damn job and are then praised in front of the whole crew (woohoo great job!). Adira stutters something that no one cares about. Stamets tries to seem smart by spouting technobabble, but again just comes across as a pompous, self-absorbed loudmouth. And Tilly drinks cocktails again and sinks into fake emotionality as she offers her fat shoulders for her gay friend to cry on.

And even a Star Trek noob could have predicted at the end of the second episode that L'ak is Breen. Surprise, surprise! And let's use some CGI on their faces, which, while pointless, at least justifies the production cost of this episode in which nothing really happens. By the way: In the last episode, our two criminal lovers cold-bloodedly poisoned a guy. But hey, everyone makes mistakes. No reason not to treat them like two lovers who just want to be together and who need a few tearful speeches from Burnham and Book for emotional support und guidance.

Star Trek: Charlie X (1966) Season 1, Episode 2

Creepy McWeirdo stalks yeoman Rand

[3/10 · 22 April 2024]

This Charlie guy really gave me the creep. Those strange piercing eyes and then the aggressive manner towards yeoman Rand. In general, it seems the only reason women exist in TOS is to sexually objectify them. One would actually have thought that Roddenberry would have wanted to portray a different image of women in a distant future. A crew on a spaceship where men and women work together as equals. But somehow in TOS you only see the typical 1960s women with towering hairstyles and short skirts who are supposed to do one thing above all: look good and give men the opportunity to throw a few sexist innuendos at them...

Even if film technology was not yet fully developed in the 1960s, they should at least have paid attention to continuity. Kirk gets into the turbolift wearing a yellow sweater, only to get out on the bridge 2 seconds later wearing a green sweater. Why does he have green sweaters anyway? Or the scene in the gym. Room bright as day but when the close-up falls on Charlie and then on Kirk everything appears dark and gloomy except for the light that is directed at their eyes. Speaking of the gym - the numerous women on board the Enterprise seem to spend their free time doing cartwheels. Or alternatively with singing and playing cards. The future hasn't really arrived at TOS yet.

Luckily, these incorporeal beings ended up taking Charlie back with them. With his "you're all so mean to me" attitude, sooner or later he would have sent everyone in the colony to Nirvana or alternatively somewhere in subspace. Although Kirk asks if there isn't another way, it doesn't occur to him to ask these aliens if they could just take Charlie's powers away. After all, they gave them to him in the first place.

By the way, Kirk seems to be pretty relaxed anyway. A crew member disappears from the gym in front of his eyes and he stands there pretty unimpressed and doesn't directly ask what Charlie did to him or whether he's still alive. Any other person would probably have been frightened and then immediately slapped Charlie and shouted at him to bring the crew member back.

Star Trek: The Cage (1966) Season 1, Episode 0

Captain Pike doesn't like women on the bridge

[3/10 · 21 April 2024]

It's always difficult to compare films and series from another era with those of today. In the 1960s, cinematic storytelling was slower, there were fewer cuts, and the dialogue and close-ups were much longer. In addition, film technology was still in its infancy and the effects look correspondingly weak. Likewise, films are always a reflection of the time in which they were made: from the costumes, to the set design or the film music, to the representation of social norms and values (which is why we are bombarded with diversity and gender ideology in DIS).

However, one should think that in a science fiction series the impossible is also imagined and things are shown that deliberately deviate from the social and technical standards of the time. Pike, on the other hand, is the typical macho man of the 1960s with a sexist image of women. He prefers not to see any women on the bridge and treats the female crew members - including his Number One - quite condescendingly. Even if this may reflect the typical image of women at the time, one could have expected more from a science fiction series. As was repeatedly emphasized in the later series, how morally elevated people are now and how prejudices and inequality no longer exist.

Likewise, one might expect from a science fiction series that the set and costume designers would be inspired by a distant future and try out new things. Instead, the furniture on the Enterprise looks 1960s, as do the uniforms and hairstyles. And one could have predicted that in the future we might no longer use paper but instead use portable computers and that no one would run around with clipboards anymore.

By the way, Number One was rejected by the TV station. She seemed too cold and emotionless. Something that didn't fit the image of women in the 1960s. These character traits were then attributed to Spock. So much for the topic of "science fiction" - where women cannot even be portrayed as emancipated and tough but still have to correspond to the traditional image of women from the post-war era. Like this submissive ensign, whose job is just to look good on screen and is constantly pushed aside in a sexist manner by Pike.

The story is also rather poor: an intelligent species that runs a menagerie with all kinds of aliens in order to feast on their dreams and fantasies. In the end, everything comes down to the fact that they now need a human man to complement the human woman they already have in their roster, so that the reproduction of the human species in their zoo is ensured. It could have been a little more science fiction than that. Even in the 1960s. No wonder this episode was rejected and Pike was sent into retirement. That Pike had the charm of a rough block of wood.

Star Trek: Enterprise: These Are the Voyages... (2005) Season 4, Episode 22

Too many chefs spoil the plomeek broth - so Riker get your ass off the NX-01!

[2/10 · 20 April 2024]

What the hell was that? What were the showrunners thinking by choosing such an episode to end the series, in which the main characters aren't even the protagonists of their own series? Basically, everything had already been told with the episode "Terra Prime" and it also marked a worthy conclusion to the series while at the same time igniting the spark of hope for a newly emerging federation of once enemy species.

Tucker's death is also completely unnecessary. The death of a main character can often be a new beginning or take the rest of the story in a new direction. But then you have to let that character die while the series is still running and not in the last episode! What impact does Tucker's death have on anything now? And then such a pointless death for such an uninteresting subplot. There were far better moments during the series where Tucker's death would have had some kind of impact - on T'Pol or generally on the direction the series could have taken afterwards. Basically, they also could have let him fall off the ladder while cleaning the house - breaking his neck - that would have been an equally meaningless death.

And this whole Shran story with his faked death, the kidnapped child... as if the writers wanted to pack as much information as possible into the last episode. Because they forgot to tell anything about Shran in the previous episode.

Also, Travis and Hoshi are still ensigns even after 10 years of service. Amazing. Mirror universe Hoshi apparently made a better cut. She seems to have been well on her way to seizing the throne as Empress. Apparently in the "good" universe you don't get another simple pip after 10 years of hardship and loyal service to Starfleet. Not even after countless life-threatening missions and after saving the Earth and with it all of humanity from total annihilation by the Xindi. "Come and see the stars. Join Starfleet! Become an ensign. And remain ensign forever!"

You can safely forget this episode and instead celebrate the previous episode as the actual conclusion of the series.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Terra Prime (2005) Season 4, Episode 21

Clap louder - that's an order!

[8/10 · 20 April 2024]

This double episode is a worthy conclusion to this rather average series. And it also marks the birth of the United Federation of Planets.

The actual events in this episode are rather lame though. The mining facility's weapon is so powerful, you have to wonder why you've never seen anything like it on Starfleet ships before. The whole story about the cloned baby hybrid of human and Vulcan DNA didn't convince me at all either. Firstly, with just one cloned baby you would hardly be able to gain supporters for your racial madness - the current "threat" to people on Earth still seems far too small to me at this point. Apparently it is not the case that Earth is overpopulated by aliens, that humans can no longer find jobs or apartments and that crime and violence have increased (all reasons for comparable arguments in our day when it comes to immigrants). Secondly, this whole exaggerated emotional attachment of Trip and T'Pol to this baby is a bit far-fetched. Yes, the baby is genetically their offspring. But it's also a test-tube baby, a pure clone. From stolen DNA. This emotional connection that they both portray in the episode doesn't seem authentic. T'Pol was neither pregnant with the baby nor was it taken from both of them at an early stage. There wasn't even an act of conception.

And also: Why did this insane human supremacy supporter need DNA from T'Pol and Trip to create a clone? He could have taken any Vulcan or human and created a clone from their DNA. Maybe even an Andorian and a human to make the result even more vivid. Ultimately, it was all about presenting an alleged abomination to his followers in order to further incite their racial madness and stir up hatred and violence.

Mayweather also proves once again in this double episode that he is a really bad actor and was just an extra in the entire series anyway. And this unsympathetic reporter/agent then added fuel to the fire and completely ruined the already boring scenes with him.

This episode also once again shows that the concept of a phaser set to stun is still not understood. With a weapon that doesn't kill or cause injury, you can basically just shoot away. So why do Archer and the others storm the command center of that mining facility and not just take out everyone they find there - no questions asked. Instead, the villain is of course spared and has time to strike back. Typical Star Trek!

And why is Hoshi still an ensign? After all these years and even saving Earth from annihilation, a promotion would have been absolutely necessary. What do you actually have to do in Starfleet to become a lieutenant or commander when apparently even preventing the destruction of Earth doesn't qualify?

Star Trek: Discovery: Face the Strange (2024) Season 5, Episode 4

Poor Rayner gets a few extra lessons in friendship, empathy and pep talks

[5/10 · 19 April 2024]

Well, at least the science part of the fiction is finally starting to take shape. Although the story of timeline-twisting spiders is pretty far-fetched and Stamet's exposition orgies still have nothing to do with the technobabble of the other Star Trek series. With Stamets, every scientific and technological problem somehow always sounds like magic (probably because he was exposed to the magic mushrooms in engineering for too long). Can't they just synchronize the transporter's annular confinement beam to the warp core frequency in order to polarize the chroniton particles in the ship's hull into a higher state of temporal flux? That would do the trick just as well. And it would sound more like Star Trek.

The episode reminds me of the VOY episode "Shattered". Here, too, various events take place on board the ship, each in a different timeline. Chakotay, like Burnham in this episode, tries to unravel the timelines with the help of his comrades in order to get back to his own time. However, I gave this VOY episode a rating of eight stars. In my opinion, "Face the Strange" doesn't deserve more than five stars, even with a lot of goodwill.

Unfortunately, this episode is also dragged down into the typical DIS sentimentality by the omnipresent "We are family" mood. In the end, our three Starfleet officers do not free themselves from this unfortunate time loop through technology, logic, professionalism, prudence and their training and experience. No, the solution to the riddle is once again the crew's unshakable friendship, the connection to each other, the long and never-ending speeches with tears in their eyes in front of the entire crew and the mutual pats on the back. However, all this talk about friendship and connection doesn't convince me. In Star Trek "The Michael Burnham Show" (aka "Discovery") everything begins and ends with Michael Burnham. While in the other series all senior officers were their own stars in individual episodes - from B'Elanna Torres to Beverly Crusher, Julian Bashir, Malcolm Reed or La'An Noonien-Singh - the Michael Burnham Show is all about Michael Burnham. Characters like Keyla Detmer, Gen Rhys or Linus (I even had to google their names) are nothing more than garnish. Where is this much-vaunted friendship when there is virtually no interaction between these extras and the main characters? They didn't even make it onto the cover shot.

And of course Rayner learns his lesson again and from now on will organize game nights in order to finally get to know the crew better. After all, his "Don't shoot, we're the good guys" persuasive speech almost fell flat due to all too superficial facts about his comrades and far too few tears in his eyes. He was barely able to stop short-haired Burnham from shooting him point blank with her phaser. After a few rounds of Truth or Dare, I'm sure he'll know Burnham a lot better. Poor Rayner. The only reason he's included in season five is to constantly show him off as a dull, emotionless loner who is then taught a lesson in friendship, companionship and feelings by Burnham, Tilly, or one of the other preachers aboard Discovery. Why Burnham made him her new Number One remains a mystery. She makes it abundantly clear that everyone has to play by the crew's rules and Rayner's way of doing things won't be accepted. He is nothing more than a useful idiot who is always reprimanded at the end with "I told you so" phrases.

Star Trek: Enterprise: In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II (2005) Season 4, Episode 19

Belly top uniforms are apparently fashionable on board the warships of the Terran Empire

[5/10 · 19 April 2024]

The first episode of this double episode started promisingly. Once again an adventure in the mirror universe and once again the characters are a vile copy of their morally exalted counterparts on the other side.

In the second episode, everyone in the crew seems to be scheming and revolting against everyone else in order to ultimately become the new Emperor - and only through ONE captured ship from the other universe, whose technology is 100 years more advanced than what the Terran Empire has to offer. Doesn't seem like a strong empire if it can be brought to its knees by a single ship.

Archer seems quite inauthentic as a domineering wannabe captain and megalomaniacal usurper of the throne. Although Hoshi makes quite a convincing impression as a concubine, the end of the episode seems rather far-fetched. By the way, whoever came up with the idea that the uniforms for women in the mirror universe should be belly tops probably has no idea what purpose a uniform should serve. Speaking of uniforms: Why does the crew dress in the uniforms of the captured ship's crew? It's one thing that Archer puts on the green sweater for fun, but why do everyone else change their uniforms? What was the point of this action, other than fan service? By the way: What was the point of this double episode in the first place? In the other series there was at least always a connection between the characters on both sides.

The Gorn in this episode - oh my goodness. They have the charm of the old Japanese Godzilla films. Although in this episode these Gorn at least look humanoid enough to believably convey that this species can build and fly spaceships. In SNW, the Gorn seem more like the creatures from the Alien films - savage beasts with claws that could barely press a button on a control panel. Let alone have a progressive social structure.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Bound (2005) Season 4, Episode 17

The women are greener on the other side

[6/10 · 18 April 2024]

Ah, the early years in the Star Trek universe. When the aliens had different colored skin. Blue like the Andorians or green like the Orions. And as always, the Orion women are particularly highlighted - as you could also see in the Kelvin timeline movies. There seems to be a certain attraction to looking at half-naked green women.

This episode shows in a way that shouldn't be taken entirely seriously who is in charge at the Orions: it's the women and not the men. With their beguiling pheromones, Orion females seem to easily wrap pretty much any male creature around their fingers. This episode shows this uncontrollable attraction better than the LD episode "Something Borrowed, Something Green". There men are just cheap pleasure slaves. In this episode, however, the men are often simply not in control of their emotions and are actually manipulated into following the Orion women's wishes. Basically it's not particularly different from the behavior that men already exhibit - after all, it's often enough for women to dress skimpily to drive men crazy.

But once again one has to doubt Archer's suitability as captain. Although he is aware of the beguiling manipulation effect of the Orion females, he has them guarded by MEN! And of course the three girls manage to get these men to release them with a snap of their fingers. Why didn't he assign female crew members? Apart from a bit of a headache, the effect of their pheromones on other women doesn't seem to have any disadvantages. There are enough women on the ship. Also among the MACOs (speaking of which, what happened to Amanda Cole, who was never seen again?). Or when Archer realizes that he too can't resist the influence of the Orion women: he basically had to hand over his command to T'Pol since she showed no signs of being manipulated. Instead, Archer risks making the wrong decisions as captain in a state of sexual delusion for no reason!

Star Trek: Enterprise: The Aenar (2005) Season 4, Episode 14

Archer and Shran once again fight for interplanetary peace

[8/10 · 16 April 2024]

This episode forms the conclusion of another trilogy as part of the fourth season - individual episodes in the style of "Alien of the week" are rather rare in the final season. As we know, it didn't help in the end. This series, unlike its predecessors from the 1990s, did not make it to seven seasons.

The Romulans try to sow discord between Andorians, Tellarites and humans with false flag actions. But Archer and Shran get on the trail of this plot and in the end we see the first steps towards building a federation of planets: the first alliances between these species as a bulwark against enemies from outside.

It has now become an unwritten law at ENT that once again Shran is not far when Andoria is involved. Apparently the Imperial Guard only consists of a handful of members. Would fit the ice planet Andoria, which doesn't exactly show many signs of a technologically advanced civilization or looks like a densely populated planet. The way alien civilizations are portrayed in Star Trek is often quite ridiculous. For example, Shran says that the Aenar subspecies was discovered on his planet only 50 years ago. That sounds pretty unimaginable. A civilization that has reached a certain level of development would not only have explored every last corner of its own planet, but would also have technologies such as satellites or sensor networks to detect any anomalies. The fact that an intelligent, humanoid and developed species that also builds its own cities (and requires resources for this) has only recently been discovered, even though the Andorians have been building warp-capable spaceships for a long time, is a typically romanticized storytelling in the Star Trek universe.

Otherwise, this episode gives you a good insight into the lives of Andorians and the Aenar. With Hemmer, an Aenar is later even part of the Enterprise crew.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Observer Effect (2005) Season 4, Episode 11

To interfere or not to interfere, that is the question

[9/10 · 14 April 2024]

A pretty clever episode about two highly developed incorporeal beings who take over the bodies of various crew members to observe how the humans aboard the Enterprise make decisions and respond to a deadly threat from an alien virus. However, the episode would have benefited from a bit of CGI to at least visualize them jumping from one body to the next.

Unfortunately, a lot of the tension is once again lost because it's clear at the end that neither Trip nor Hoshi will die from the virus. In fact, both are brought back from the dead as if nothing had happened. The actual message loses its significance through this resurrection: Just like with the Prime Directive, these incorporeal beings also act according to a protocol of not interfering in the development of other species. But they have now broken their own doctrine - even though the show is halfway through the fifth and final season. One of the two characters could have died to give the episode some meaning.

But in Happy End Star Trek the motto is: If you interfere in the development of other species with the best of intentions, then it's somehow okay.