Ageless

DVD, Smallville S4 (Ageless)

Another episode that seems half-done, not thought through, just there to make up the numbers, even if it does try and tack on a meaningful lesson about parents and children and being a parent and having a child, it's really just an excuse to see Clark and Lana play happy families and pretend to be Mum and Dad for a bit, until the obvious conclusion which was coming the moment you realise it's about a child that lives faster than normal. So all you can enjoy is the journey, but it's not a trip I wanted to go on.

And how could they blow up the windmill that's been there for years? It's not the safest place to go at the best of times, but Lana wasn't being too sensible to take a boy up there who may explode at any time, all for a weakly sentimental ending which doesn't have a quarter of the punch that Ryan's balloon trip had in a similar episode, mainly because you can't care about Evan that much as we don't know him for long enough and he has nothing to him, no history or connection, just a super fast grower. It was best that he left as with the Kents, an alien, a dog and a would-be reporter (where was Lois, incidentally?), the farm was getting crowded!

The plot thickens along with Lionel's head of hair and he's unashamedly back to his old ways, nearly killing Mrs. Teague, all for one of the 'stones' that has been a badly threaded plot meandering around, or more often, not even featuring in episodes. I liked Lionel's protectiveness of Lex, even if it's not necessarily genuine, lest we forget he tried to kill him in the past. As for Jason, Lana may have abandoned him, but so have the writers as this is another episode he doesn't appear in! I'd love to hear how Lex straightened out things with child services, seeing as the child in question turned into a teenager and then exploded, but maybe he bought them a new building or something so they brushed it under the carpet? A filler episode that has almost nothing of interest beyond Clark having to change 'diapers'. And I thought the baby was going to turn out to be Doomsday...

**

Workforce, part I

DVD, Voyager S7 (Workforce, part I)

Coming straight after 'The Void', in which the crew is trapped in an area full of diverse aliens from which they must escape, this doesn't appear very original, but the fact that Janeway and her crew don't remember their past lives, are working with these aliens and certainly don't wish to escape makes things a whole lot different. The way many of the crew come together again makes us wonder if their bond of friendship and their subconscious is bringing them together, like some sort of destiny as seen by Tom and B'Elanna's easiness with each other. Tuvok's confused ramblings or his lack of restraint in revealing his emotional state has been done better before, but adds a dash of uneasiness to the crew's situation. Janeway shows what a natural she is with people, and Seven what her true nature is: an officious pencil-pusher!

If anyone was expecting a twist in the second part to reveal why Lieutenant Baxter is posing as the alien foreman, I have to disappoint - it's just the actor playing a different character. They really should have disguised his face better, it's not like they don't expect us to remember characters that only appeared once or twice before, but have been gone for most of the series, because they brought Chell the Bolian back just a few episodes ago and went on to bring Carey in again too! On Bolians there did seem to be rather a lot of them, and assuming they all came from Voyager it's never been apparent that there are that many aboard. I also noticed some aliens that looked very much like pink versions of Benzites... Mr. Westmore having a bad day or simply a chance to use old prosthetics? They looked good anyway. And if old alien designs can be reused why not old ships, if the enemy vessel that attacks Voyager is anything to go by. It looks very much like a Breen warship.

The Emergency Command Hologram has been spoken of previously, and I was surprised that I actually enjoyed the implementation. I used to think it was a silly idea (hologramist?), but it was useful for the ship as the Doc saves it. His conversation with the computer, if you think about it, is actually him talking to himself. They got some humour out of it too, with both Kim and the ECH wanting command, and what may be a joke is a serious question and one it would be fascinating to see addressed should new adventures in the post-'Voyager' timeline ever came to pass onscreen. The episode has some good CGI work, though you can spot the difference when the CGI Voyager is used and when it's the model, but expanding sets was a worthwhile usage and we even got to see Neelix' ship again. Though the episode was state of the art at the time it also had a significant link back to the roots of 'Star Trek' - Iona Morris who plays the bartender was one of the children in the Original Series' first season episode 'Miri'. She's not the first Morris to appear in the series however, as Phil Morris was in 'One Small Step'!

Should this have been a two-parter or a feature length episode like 'Flesh and Blood'? I'm not sure, I'll have to watch part II to see whether it maintains momentum or slips in to second-episode fatigue syndrome. There have been claims that the idea of the characters working blissfully unaware of their true lives was nicked from an episode of 'Stargate SG-1'. I can't confirm or deny it as I haven't seen the episode in question, but such similar sci-fi series are bound to have similar ideas sometimes.

***

Booby Trap

DVD, TNG S3 (Booby Trap)

The only piece of interest is in Susan Gibney's portrayal of one of the designers of the Enterprise. It's the B-plot and she doesn't look her best, but the simple fact that it fills in some of the details of the Enterprise-D's origins and shows us the starship under construction scores it points. Geordi's people problems aren't terribly interesting, but it inspires a scene with Guinan which is always welcome. O'Brien is there again too - no wonder he got promoted if he sucks up to the Captain like that! "I've built little ships, Captain, I understand..."

Picard's enthusiasm for this 1,000 year old vessel shows a fresh perspective on him, but we didn't need Riker and Troi smirking at his excitement. It isn't really about old ships however, it's about problem-solving, hence the sitting around trying to solve the technical problem of getting unstuck. It doesn't make the episode stand out, and for some reason I thought the Romulans were part of it, which they turned out not to be.

The positives are that the ship and crew are all still sparkling visually in their new uniforms and excellent lighting, and the space scenes of an asteroid field and alien ship were very well achieved and must have been a huge headache at the time. Picard's solution to getting that extra bit of power is typically sensible and everything ends happily. Apart from Geordi's story - he's pre-empted Barclay and Nog by getting hooked on holograms, and although he isn't actually addicted, it does raise the ever-present questions about holo-sentience as the Leah Brahms holo-character knew what she was. There must be some law against recreating real people anyway...

**

Seth

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S3 (Seth)

Another System Lord pops up and this time he's on Earth as a stowaway. Somehow things never quite live up to that premise and it becomes a slow build up to an infiltration of Seth's house. Why he didn't have any CCTV or other technology to alert him to intruders I don't know, but in the end it's too easy for them to get in. The drain was a good set as they must have had to dig out quite a bit to get that, but the pristine 'mine-workings' studio set underneath didn't match up. A shame that Seth gets killed and there are several things that you think might lead to something, but only one does: Jacob reconciles with his estranged son. Unfortunately the plot is rather clunky using the local man whose son is trapped in the cult to activate Jacob's sense, but it doesn't feel very natural and there's no sense of progression.

Teal'c is rather muted (apart from when he tells his Goa'uld joke, funny for all the wrong reasons), and it's more white-robed action like the previous episode. I appreciate episodes occasionally being set on Earth to mix things up, and it was fun spotting 'Smallville's Sheriff Ethan (Mitchell Kosterman) as the head of the civilian authority, (though he didn't get to be Sheriff this time!), but there's a sense that the dialogue was getting a bit bogged down in continuity, something I usually enjoy, but not when it's just spoken instead of seen, and again, though I wanted to like it, it became too unsatisfying to be counted among the good episodes, despite little moments here and there. It ends very pleasantly, but definitely didn't fulfil the potential of it's idea.

**

Blank

DVD, Smallville S4 (Blank)

With Ma and Pa away Chloe becomes Clark's guide and protector. Great idea, let down a little bit, but we'll come to that. Having Chloe be the one to enlighten Clark on his abilities was priceless, as was her tricky covering for him, which becomes more overt than the mere suggestions she's been handing out as explanation for various things since she found out about him. The last thing she says, the only thing Clark did differently when he lost his memory was trust her, is the most affecting moment.

Usually I hate it when they leave out the 'adults', but this time it improved the episode, because we know how Jonathan and Martha would react - they'd be explaining things clearly to Clark and not giving any leeway for confusion. Chloe does a good job and it's a great pairing as they go about discovering the truth of what's going on. Much of it is in the vein of older episodes, with the parent of the freak-of-the-week being the true villain, Clark and friends investigating, and of course breaking and entering, followed by an impressive crowd-pleaser of a finale as Clark gets to show Lois and Sheriff Adams what they've been missing and we get to see their reactions!

The outcome was telegraphed from the beginning - with memory loss the maguffin this time it was likely that people would see Clark perform and then get it erased from their minds, or that Clark would unlock his missing memories by the end, but I was hoping for a little bit of a shaking up by Clark perhaps remembering Chloe's help and knowing he doesn't have to hide his secret from her any more, but sadly it didn't happen. Sadly is the right word as it does give them the old sadness of Chloe being on the outside as before.

Clark or other people losing their memories (whether it's from being knocked unconscious or by application of meteor powers) has been done to death, but the scenes with the mind-sapping mutant worked because he became a sympathetic character. I had less sympathy for the romantic twaddle that was spouted between Lana and Jason, and I could never believe that Lana would ever be interested in becoming Clark's girl again after all the upset of the past. Lana's usually too sensible to be affected by someone's anger and she'd never turn back to Clark. It leaves me wondering if it was she that lost her memory right back to the middle of Season Two!

Lex' turn to the dark side progresses further as he and Clark visibly don't trust each other any more, with almost no room for manoeuvre. It wasn't surprising or hard to believe in the memory zap, but it was hard to believe that everyone took it for granted that a guy could create some experiment to remove or restore memories on that scale, and for what? Was his shooting of his son an accident? And wasn't Chloe zapped at the end too, so how come she remembers babysitting Clark? And are he and Lana really going to return to the old days as if nothing had happened? It's all going a bit crazy again, but at least these things didn't quite manage to take away from what is an episode that just slips into the 'good' category. But only just.

***

The Bonding

DVD, TNG S3 (The Bonding)

There at the end was quite a sad group. Jeremy with the loss of his Mother, Wes without a Father, Worf with no parents, Picard without a family, and... perhaps Troi with a Mother? The reason the scenes in 'Star Trek: Generations' with Picard ruminating sadly about death and time came to mind, was because those themes were important to this story. The turmoil of losing someone close is played out strongly, but with the extra layers of science fiction to make the grief worse. Though it ends happily with Worf almost adopting the young lad (strange we never saw him again, but the series didn't go in for continuity much), he has to face the death of his Mother, then the confusing return of same, and then come to understand the reality and fantasy of the situation, something which would have been hard for the adults to do.

The actor who played Jeremy did a fair job, and his lack of emotion probably worked better than if he'd had to portray strong feelings. His reserve and distance worked well for the story and suited the conventions of child acting. I mentioned continuity and it's not quite true that they didn't go in for it, but it tended to be subtle and spare. In this episode we get the poignant reference back to Tasha Yar's death, still felt keenly enough to mean something two years later, making for a simple, but effective scene between Data and Riker.

I think the pinnacle of the episode is its leading towards the confrontation Wesley had never allowed to surface and subsequently seeing it come out at Captain Picard. When you see Beverly and Wes in sickbay, still suffering the loss of Jack Crusher you realise how important it was for her to return to the series, since a scene like that could not have worked otherwise. It's at this point it's obvious she wasn't brought back on a whim, but with story intentions. In what would foreshadow Worf's life he learns to talk to a child. At first his gruff, scary approaches seem over the top for humans, but gradually he learns to pull himself back a bit. His anger, directed as it was behind a wall of circuitry enhances the impression of confusion and distance from others, Troi coming into frame in a small way as her voice of reason begins to have an effect, eventually letting the camera come out from the screen.

In all aspects the episode succeeds - technically, with the non-humanoid entity sweeping through corridors and attacking poor Mr. O'Brien who was quite content tinkering around in the Transporter Room; dramatically, with the shocks and the weight of Picard's task of having to tell the boy of his Mother's death and in the way various crewmembers pull together against the fantasy; and character-wise, using the back-story's of several characters logically and usefully. Picard may not be the only one who thinks that having children aboard starships is a questionable policy, but the strength of this episode provides a good reason.

***

Who Watches The Watchers

DVD, TNG S3 (Who Watches The Watchers)

I experience mixed feelings watching this episode. It denigrates religion and gives the impression that all right thinking, advanced cultures eventually grow out of a need for an 'Overseer', and while the superstitions and fear-inspired cults of ancient times are certainly a good thing to be overcome, an honest understanding of a 'Supreme Being' is something important to come to. But the issue of religion versus humanism in 'Star Trek' would fill books and I'm hardly qualified and intelligent enough to make such arguments, it just means I get less enjoyment out of this story than I might have.

For the majority it keeps us guessing and fills in another niche of information - the practice of hidden observation of less advanced cultures. For the most part it's a sad story of a man driven by the death of his wife and grasping at the strange sights he sees upon being beamed up to create a new belief in almost-forgotten memories passed down. His error is magnified for Picard who is seen as a deity, but as thought-provoking as the concept is I found it hard to believe that this one village's experience would start up a planetwide false religion. Presumably there would still be some villages that still believed the old myths, but most wouldn't and their minds would hardly be changed by one village's conversion. If the Enterprise crew had simply waited for an appropriate moment they could have beamed Riker, Troi and the injured scientist away with minimum of fuss. There might not have been an episode then, but...

There were a lot of little inconsistencies early in the episode, but they soon get forgotten as the Enterprise crew dig deeper holes for themselves until you're left wondering if it's even possible that they can undo the damage. In the end they can't, but it's all worthwhile for Picard's noble attempts to persuade the leader, Nuria, that he is the same physical being as she is. The Mintakans were supposed to be a Vulcan-like race (perhaps some of the Romulans crashed on this planet on their flight from Vulcan?), but they were much more like Romulans, with easily defined emotions and V-shaped foreheads.

We don't often get to see infiltrators going down to planets trying to blend in by changing their appearance so it's fun that Riker and Troi are the two that get to do it, though it could have been anyone as their unique attributes aren't really explored in the situation and it's more a case of giving them something to do. Is that the longer coat Beverly's wearing now or am I just imagining it all? Her slightly arch response to Picard's request about erasing memories is a smirk-worthy moment of continuity from last season when it was Pulaski's technique that was used in 'Pen Pals'. That's probably the only time Dr. Crusher acknowledges her replacement!

The Prime Directive takes a severe beating and even shows that it can be broken without ill effects as long as aliens are open-minded and Picard is there to explain things in a proper way. Maybe Starfleet should abandon it and just get involved. Then again, the film 'Star Trek: Insurrection', which rather upstaged the modest scope of this episode, showed what could happen. One of the scientists paints a doom-and-gloom portrait in his tirade at Picard's bungling, of inquisitions and holy wars, but he never mentions aid for the poor or binding a community closer together or the other positive things that have come out of true religious conviction. I guess, unlike Kirk's ship, Picard's doesn't have a chapel...

**

Spirit

DVD, Smallville S4 (Spirit)

Haven't we seen all this before? Body-swapping, body-hopping, moany teen politics stopping our heroes from having the time of their lives. An axe into metal, flames and Clark mental, complaining and sneering, some people jeering, even a body on land of the Luthors, not even sure if there was a shooter... sorry, I got carried away there with the surreal happenings of the episode. I get the impression that the teaser in which a psychopathic Chloe smacks Mr. Kent in the mouth, runs around with an axe (seen it before, tick) and sets to blowing the school up, was thought up first and then they had to find a story which would get them to that point. That might be a good exercise for a writer to make them more inventive, but still this episode is more of a greatest hits package of recycled ideas.

Haven't we seen a teaser previously which happens later and to which events build (tick)? Dawn is the school's 'popular' student (tick), but no mention is made of the various others that have filled that bill and proved adversarial to our heroes in the past. Surely an excuse for some gratuitous name-dropping continuity if ever there was one. The teenage posturing (tick) and preparations for the prom (definitely seen it before, tick), isn't something I enjoy and is a little perplexing if you don't understand how American schools/colleges work. To me it seemed like they had had their big prom back in Season One and at the time I thought they were leaving, but is this now their completion of high school or whatever? The landrover crashing into a ravine (tick) was much more in the style of the golden years of the series, as was the protaganist developing meteor-inspired powers (tick) - why has the local council not gone round clearing up these rocks, incidentally. They've had fifteen years in which to do it! But no, that would mean no stories worth telling in the town of Smallville.

As I began to relax into a standard, expected kind of episode the brilliant performance of Annette O'Toole shook me out of my complacency! Absolutely brilliant, she had the mannerisms perfectly and my only regret was that the whole episode wasn't about Dawn stuck in her body. She was finally given a significant acting part and she took it and ran with it. It makes the writers appear criminal for not using her more in the series and reminds us of how good she can be. Once again there are a few little niggles, like why Clark and friends don't immediately realise when someone's acting out of character, but merely raise an eyebrow, ask if they're okay and then go about their business (tick). I can't imagine Lana taking a tirade of personal abuse from Mrs. Kent without at least questioning her sanity!

Despite an enemy that can switch from person to person (for a great range of escape possibilities), Mr. Kent getting up with not the slightest bruise to be seen after being knocked downstairs by a mad Chloe (and then looking vaguely bemused that Chloe's not acting normally), and even Chloe herself getting a super-punch from Dawn in Clark's body (which would surely have killed her, but again doesn't leave a bruise) it's the fact that Chloe has been nominated as Prom Queen that I found hardest to believe. She's always been the outsider and it was just one step too far from what we know. I enjoyed Jonathan Kent coming in prepared with Kryptonite, as he and Clark had expected him to be taken over by Dawn, but it was the ending that saved the show: another band which I don't know and have to assume is famous (though it again seemed unlikely Lex would be doing favours for the school these days), play out the episode and it's like a step back in time with Clark and Lana waltzing away and Chloe looking on resignedly. Even Mr. and Mrs. Kent got in on the pleasant ending, though it did stretch on a bit too long so they could fit more of the song in.

Strangely,  and probably because of the oddness of the episode I completely accepted everything at the end and it brought back the upbeat style of ending that the series used to do so well and so regularly. Lex and Jason seem to be in a completely different, much more sinister episode entirely, with supposedly Bridget Crosby's body found dead, Jason having got one of the 'stones' and Lex, well, who knows. As usual the Sheriff completely disbelieves anything a member of the public says, rather too happy to accuse him of stringing her along. Get a new sheriff is my advice: she looked almost dead herself.

***

Into The Fire

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S3 (Into The Fire)

So far I think it's fair to say the general rule is that if Hathor's in it it's going to be a poor episode. The other rule is that if Bretak is in it it's going to be a good episode. But what happens when they're both in it? Answer: you get the muddled runaround that begins Season Three. It's not really fair on old Bretak, Hathor had two episodes in succession so maybe that can be blamed for the rather mediocre result of this one.

To begin with, the recap of the previous episode doesn't inspire and gives the impression of a continuity-heavy dull-fest, with multiple slow plots waiting to be tied up. Instead of concentrating too hard on the story they instead decide to liven it up, so it becomes a shoot-em-up full of dumb soldiers shouting, diving and standing still in corridors while their enemies also stand there shooting back, and I never enjoyed the dumb soldier stuff before, so a whole episode of it isn't good. Fine for pre-teens, but Stargate can be much more than that.

The characters aren't used particularly well - Hathor, as usual, is the stereotypical villainess and it was a great relief she was chucked in the cryogenic pool, I just hope she's never coming back. Hammond apparently defies the president to come and assist SG-1 so I'll wait to see if there are repercussions from that. Judging from Teal'c's quick reunification with his teammates at the end, I think there won't be. Teal'c's resigning from the SGC was the big 'shock' for the end of Season Two, and it may continue to be part of the story, but the way they were all going off together in the equivalent of a happy ending into the sunset, everything appeared to be back to normal. I could be pre-judging that the ramifications of the previous episode aren't followed up, but this one was more about being captured, running away and being captured again than any strong plotting.

Teal'c gets to make a grand speech, but he isn't as powerful when shouting as he is when proudly being a man of few words, but his love for his people and their freedom must inspire him. Daniel is very muted this episode and no one comes up smelling of roses, but I suppose there was an element of being written into a corner which had to be resolved over considerations of being a cohesive story.

There were many inconsistencies, but I will say this: the money was definitely thrown at this one and the effects were quite good. CGI was done well whether it was the snake-like symbiont twisting and writhing before its intended victim, or full on set extension with the power source behind the false Stargate. The explosions were vivid and the huge gun towers were impressive, and clearly there were more than the usual number of extras to add scale to the action. I'd like to say this episode was a good start, but I can't. At my most generous all I can say is that it was something to build on.

**

The Void

DVD, Voyager S7 (The Void)

The crux of the story leaves me wondering: if this mini-Federation worked so well, and it did, then why has Janeway not attempted to create a permanent armada of ships travelling with Voyager? If Neelix (and originally Kes) were happy to join them on their mission to return to the other side of space, why not others? I'm trying to think back to remember other instances when they had the opportunity to gain permanent allies and nothing comes to mind, apart from the unwise attempt at unifying the Kazon sects back in Season Two. Yes, there was the Borg alliance, but it was necessarily brief, as was the Hirogen treaty.

I fear the real reason the series didn't turn into a sprawling allied flotilla was because they thought it might harm the brand - it should be Voyager, alone, one starship against the universe, and I can't deny the legendary quality with which that imbues the ship and her crew, but after several seasons of sticking to the formula, as with several episodes this season I've once again found myself questioning the writers on their decision to play it safe and secure.

In some respects this episode gave them the chance to try something different, which is why it's quite a good episode, if unspectacular. The starless void is a chance for a completely alternate visual style - no stars means no light, except that coming from the ships themselves, and an eerie, high quality depth makes the ships more alive than ever. There are welcome skirmishes, not on the 'DS9' scale, but kinetic all the same, and the story has a feelgood warpcore at its centre - Janeway rededicates herself and the crew to their Starfleet ideals, and the Doctor makes pleasing first contact with a nomadic race of telepathic mutes.

The discovery and rehabilitation of 'Phantome' as he's monickered (leading to a pertinent and amusing query from Seven asking the Doc how he can pick one so easily for someone else, but still hasn't decided on one himself!) is a less developed, though charming subplot giving 'TNG' friendly-Borg actor Jonathan Del Arco a role, but never really explaining how these creatures exist when there aren't any ships to hide around in. They're like human-sized Borrowers. The ship designs are okay, enhanced by the self-illumination, but it's some of the alien faces that stand out. 'Phantome's race is okay, but the two enemies Janeway makes are the most special: one has a ridge beginning at the back of his head, over his skull and down to his chin which is most striking seen in profile, while the other has a more Cardassian, ribbed look.

On top of that we get the potato-heads back, mention of a Vaadwaur ship and the crew interacting both professionally and familiarly (look out for Janeway almost walking into a crewman in the corridor when she's walking away from Seven!). The Captain must get tired of Chakotay or Tuvok, or, in this case, both at once coming to try and show her the error of her ways, but it's telling that this time they don't try too hard to convince her to be ruthless. It's like they know they can never win, but feel it their duty to point out the realities of the situation as they see it. Thankfully, as it has since the first episode of the series, (smoothing over any niggles like how they lost the ship that stole from them, but then picked it up, or how they were able to keep the shields together, or... well, who cares?), Captain Janeway's idealism wins out, and that's what makes you feel good.

***

The Survivors

DVD, TNG S3 (The Survivors)

One of my favourites of the early seasons, this covers the breadth of what a Star Trek episode should be - chills, adventure, alien concepts and at heart a sad tale with vast magnitude. The small and the astronomical. Beyond the marvellously puzzling events, that Captain Picard works out before anyone else, there are also inconsequential minutiae: this is the first episode to feature Troi's turqoise dress uniform, the Andorians get a rare namecheck, and Worf appears to get very confused. I'm not talking about his failure to spot the hulking great battlecruiser, as that was the powerful alien's trick. No, it was his mistake over the shields. During battle with the enemy he says the shields are down at least three times. Either Geordi was working at super speed to repair the shields in mere seconds, the battle lasted longer than it appeared to on screen, or Worf was so shaken that he'd been wrong about the alien ship's absence he was thrown off-kilter for the rest of the episode!

The production scores on every level to banish the memories of the first two episodes and show us how the series is meant to be done. We get creepiness thanks to the musical box (somehow those things are always creepy) and Troi's great distress, a spot of humour with Riker caught in a trap and left to dangle, and Worf's succinct attempt at small talk ("Good tea. Nice house"), big ideas (one small plot of land intact on a devastated planet; the destruction of an entire species in anger; an immortal who chose to live in our galaxy and found his happiness in a human), and some excitement with an exciting impression of speed chasing after the enemy ship. Kevin and Rishon both carried the episode so well, the weight of events heavy on their craggy faces. I'm surprised the Douwd have never featured again (I'm not surprised the Husnock never featured), although the actress that played Rishon Uxbridge certainly did - she was the one hundred year old Bajoran judge Renora in 'DS9's' first season courtroom drama, 'Dax'.

There is a technical fault with the DVD on one scene - when Picard visits Troi's quarters to see if she's alright the picture drops down into the frame when he's speaking in one shot.

****

The Ensigns of Command

DVD, TNG S3 (The Ensigns of Command)

The reputation 'TNG' received for being ponderous would seem to be deserved if the first two episodes of this season are perceived as the norm. It's not that there's much wrong with this story, aside from the usual difficulty of attempting to portray things on a larger scale than the budget could afford - 15,000 colonists reduced to about fifteen on screen and only one small area of this huge colony shown. No, it's probably that so many later episodes of any of the spinoffs did this simplistic tale of forced evacuation/alien pedantry much better, particularly the film 'Star Trek: Insurrection' and so this comes across as a trundling, basic version.

The characters are reasonably well used, and it features the return of Chief O'Brien (in a superb piece of continuity he's playing the cello, and in 'DS9' he explained that his Father wanted him to be a cello player), plus an attempt to put Data into hot water and see how he reacts. His solution to the impossible problem of convincing the colonists to evacuate and leave everything they know after grumpy Commander Riker gives him no other option is mildly entertaining (on the contrary, the other impossible problem, that faced by LaForge and O'Brien to make the transporters work, is clearly padding or an excuse to use the characters), but the colonists, represented by four speaking parts are pretty two-dimensional people - the girl that has a thing for computers; the surly leader; the moderate who thinks differently and his friend who's on the fence aren't very believable as people that have hacked out a living on this world.

The backstory of this colony ship that launched around Kirk's time would have been a more interesting plot to be developed. Had the woman gone back to the Enterprise and been wowed by the differences in technology like the 20th Century people that wake up there in Season One's 'The Neutral Zone', it might have been better. In fact now I think about it, this 23rd Century knowledge angle would have made for a better story. I thought I recognised the tone of the Sheliak voice, and yes, it was Mart McChesney who voiced evil Yar-murdering Armus. The costume was a little similar too, though I must praise both the exterior and interior of the alien vessel. It was suitably Trek-ish, yet different, and after all, non-humanoid, non-space dwelling beings are not a common occurrence. Mark L. Taylor who played Haritath, one of the colonists was later in 'Voyager' episode 'Displaced' as a different character.

**

Evolution

DVD, TNG S3 (Evolution)

You wouldn't get such a plodding season opener nowadays, it would be some big spectacular to pull the audience in, but this was made at a different time, and I suppose shows the maturity of the series that they felt they could start with an assured, if slow, story. Everything about the episode says this is a series that has confidence in itself, has settled down, has, if it's not too derogatory to say, become comfortable. I'm sure that wasn't the case, but after the first two seasons which were such shaky, variable affairs the calmness exuding from the cast and sets is refreshing, if a little dull.

There are a lot fewer changes than the start of Season Two displayed, but the biggest and most obvious is the happy return of Dr. Crusher (albeit with shorter, not as good labcoat and crazy hair). It's really good to see her back and the crew complete (apart from the tragic Tasha Yar), and I'm glad her reappearance is not ignored. There's no great fanfare - the series wasn't focused on her character after all, but she plays a very visual role in this first story. Guinan is also back, but in keeping with the tone of the episode she doesn't have such a great impact as her appearance heralded at the beginnning of Season Two. It was a brave decision to begin with a Wesley-centric episode and for once he's not saving the ship, but putting it in danger. He's clearly grown up a bit and become his own person a bit more after having a year of independence, and he's not the only one to experience change.

The new uniforms complete the look that most people associate with the series, the super-tight, streamlined designs have been toned down, yet look just as professional. And the late, great Michael Piller's fingerprints are obvious with the character of Dr. Stubbs being a big fan of the dead sport of baseball! The Enterprise looks great, everything is well shot, clean, crisp and clear, and you get the feeling that it's all been brushed up ready for an important event... but it hasn't quite happened yet. The nanites are mildly interesting, though reminiscent of the lifeforms of Season One's 'Home Soil', but aside from getting to know the characters again there's little to really enjoy. The unpredictability of the quality last season at least had a a sense of danger to it. You can't judge a season on its first episode, but I'm left with the impression that the series needs to step up a gear before it truly gets moving.

**

Onyx

DVD, Smallville S4 (Onyx)

The 'Smallville' cliche counter is spinning on super speed with this episode, so fast I lost track of the number of times I experienced deja vu! The biggest groan has to be directed at the split personality theme. Yeah, every sci-fi series of all time always does at least one of these, and it may be that this series has outlasted its innovative period, you could even say it peaked very early, but it shows the lack of ideas coming through when they have to fall back on such an obvious plot. Moderates will point out that it's always good to see a series' own spin on classic genres, and that's true, and you can see that Michael Rosenbaum was put through his paces and it works very well from a technical standpoint, but it isn't different enough to other interpretations of such simple fare and seems to be a rather unimpressive catalyst for parts of the continuing story, most notably in Lionel's 'reawakening' to his true nature.

The scene at the end where the grizzled old Luthor pretty much dispenses with his 'good will to all men' attitudes and congratulates Lex on being the son he wanted is so disappointing. Previously I've been left off balance about his true intentions and wondered if it was all an act to cover some devious scheme, or whether he truly had made some kind of mental leap into goodness thanks to Clark inhabiting his body. But for him to turn simply because he was humiliated in a fencing duel with Lex is unbelievable and shows the writers don't have a clue as to how to write real people anymore. Saying that, the duel, short though it was, is one of the episode's saving graces, a high point in the midst of a lot of disappointment. Lionel's enraged snarl was frightening!

Another groan-worthy moment was Lex being knocked out and tied up in a room - how many times have we seen this? And his other half just happens to have an iron mask to slap over his head so that parallels can be drawn with more intelligent fiction, in line with Lex' supposed great intellect. But let's see, does he really have a great intellect as he claimed? There doesn't seem to be a lot of evidence to support that. I would even query Rosenbaum's performance because at times I was confused about whether he was good or bad Lex.

When he's talking to Lionel and telling him how proud he is I thought it was the bad version lulling him into a false sense of security - I even leapt to the conclusion that he might be planning for Lionel and other important figures to be blown up, since he was so keen for the fundraiser to be held at the Luthorcorp Plaza, but it was in fact Rosenbaum's usual semi-sarcastic inflections even though it was the good version! At the end when Lionel comes to see him again when he's back to being the one and only Lex he sounds like the weak, good half! It must have been hard work to keep track of the two sides he was playing when they shoot scenes out of order so it wasn't really the actor's fault and I should probably keep up better.

Let me see, who guessed that at the end of it Lex would profess to have forgotten everything? Every hand goes up because it's happened time and time again stretching back to Season One: "Clark, you've got a lot of explaining to do!" I thought they should be a bit dangerous and this time let him retain memory of Clark's uncanny abilities, but I didn't really believe it would happen. Then again he could be shamming and we'll find out he does know, but that would change the series irrevocably. It was good to have a kind of vision of the future as Lex Luthor is traditionally seen when he demands Clark join him in a 'we shall rule the planet' moment. The episode never evoked 'The Man In The Iron Mask', but with this moment and the inevitable scrap at the end it's easy to draw connections with 'Star Wars' and the final battle of Luke, Vader and the Emperor.

I must confess that the solution to getting Lex back together again was satisfying, with the signposts at the beginning with the importance of heat and then when Lex fashions a Kryptonite ring. Best not to mention black Kryptonite, I can only imagine that's some kind of joke, what with the many colours we've had already. It also brings up the question as to why in the past Kryptonite hasn't made doubles when it's been blown up in explosions or subjected to extreme heat. The scientist who was working on the experiment claimed it was hard work finding the exact temperature needed, but Clark just blasts it and it changes, so consistency isn't good. And having two copies of the same person, or Lex expressing his true feelings under some external influence have been done to death on this series.

I couldn't truly believe Lex ever had any issues about Lana, but yes, apparently he does. Even that very scene where he penitently turns up at Lana's door begging forgiveness for whatever he's supposed to have done, but unfortunately can't remember, is a carbon copy of Clark's many crazy moments in which he, yes, does something or says something unpleasant to Lana and has to apologise without really knowing what's happened. See the Red Kryptonite episodes particularly. I must say Lana gives Lex a much easier time of it than she ever gave Clark. And whatever happened to Jason, he didn't even appear?

It's become embarrassingly easy to criticise episodes like this because they plug into identical moments we've been through before, but it's not all bad. The moment when Lex crushes Clark and Chloe under a huge concrete slab and then sees him smash out of it, works really well, and the fresh spin of Chloe secretly knowing that Clark saved her is very enjoyable. She's ahead of Clark for once. But so is the audience. You're always in trouble when the audience is waiting for the characters to catch up. From the start we know there are two Lex', but it takes an age for the others to work it out. Maybe it's pedantic, but couldn't we have had a bit of mystery for once? For all my complaints Rosenbaum still does well, though he must have been grimacing occasionally at the lines he had to say and Lex always worked best when he was holding back his dark side. But that isn't what this is about and maybe the series is more of a cartoon now and I should just accept it, but it's another disappointment to add to the factory-produced pile. Stylish, well-lit disappointment, but disappointment all the same.

**

Tattoo

DVD, Voyager S2 (Tattoo)

Does exactly what it says in the title. We learn much about the origins of Chakotay's people, why he wears the tattoo and what motivated him to join Starfleet and to abandon it, and what's more we get to see his Father Kolopak thanks to the device of flashbacks, although these are better described as memories ignited by the findings on an alien planet. The writers cleverly mesh ancient Indian beliefs with the science fiction setting of benevolent aliens, and although there's one slightly unpleasant moment during a discussion Janeway and her First Officer have on belief, regarding the unlikeliness of believing in the account of Adam and Eve, Janeway redresses the balance by noting that anything's possible after what they've seen so far in the Delta Quadrant.

This is a rather broad statement as I'm not sure the Voyager crew has seen that much that other Starfleet crews haven't already, in different forms, but she was probably speaking poetically, in general. The Inheritors, the group of Indians that the 'Sky Spirits' genetically bonded with sounds very much like the kind of thing the Original Series would have invented, and brings to mind episodes such as 'The Paradise Syndrome'. The idea of aliens visiting Earth in the distant past is also something that series played with, but the ones in this story were a positive force rather than the false 'gods' Apollo and his crowd proved to be (as discovered in 'Who Mourns For Adonais?').

The B-story of the Doctor being put through his paces with a holographic illness is great fun. Previously it's he who has been the put-upon one, but this time he's on the other end of the compassion stick, behaving badly to others and just as Kes helped him when he was the victim, she now helps him to see his errors with a bit of tinkering with his program (how did she do this? Who knows, but the Doc notes she's more devious than he ever realised!). The production looks good, and the outdoor sets that were mostly filmed indoors are outstanding. It's nice when everything comes together for an episode, and the visuals of the ship are another positive, as it gets sucked into a cyclone - this could be the only time Voyager attempted to land and failed.

Ensign Wildman gets a scene so we don't forget about her pregnancy, and the frostiness between Tuvok and Chakotay, which had thawed in 'Twisted' returns again through the Vulcan's multiple protests about an order Chakotay gives which is against protocol. It's not like Mr. Tuvok to procrastinate so much, but he probably felt his First Officer didn't know the protocols in this case. The young Chakotay does a pretty good approximation of what the character might have been like when he was fifteen, and the set up is informative for the character. It also makes you wonder if the Captain Sulu who sponsored him for the Academy is the same one we know. It's certainly possible as Dr. McCoy was still around at 137 and Sulu was younger than the doc!

***