Stiletto

DVD, Smallville S8 (Stiletto)

It's pretty much a comedy episode, but there aren't a lot of laughs. Maybe it's a tragic comedy? The premise is that Lois needs a story as her career's going nowhere, and inspired by the Red-Blue Blur, she winds up creating a spur of the moment superhero of her own: Stiletto! A pretty silly idea, was my first thought - everyone on the series has to be a superhero in costume, except Clark, it sometimes seems, but what was initially created through barmy logic, and seemingly just an excuse to put Lois in a leather catsuit, led to a touching end scene in which Lois finally gets the coveted interview with the untraceable hero. It's a truly great moment with Clark watching from the top of a building as he talks through a voice scrambler so she doesn't know it's him on the other end of the phone box telephone line. And for once, after all she's been through (being a superhero; having to rise to the occasion to save Clark; Clark taking a bullet for her), Lois doesn't want a story, just to offer an ear for this hero to talk to. Even in this conversation there's some fun to be had, as after Clark guesses how she's feeling, she asks "Can you read my mind?" which is obviously a direct link back to the 'Superman' film in which Lois has this (frankly rubbish), song as she's flying through the air with Superman. There's also the witty moment when she gets Jimmy to photograph her in costume for her story, and says she thought about sowing an 'S' on the front, and is that tacky?!

Jimmy's finally back in the picture, though he's a bit messed up. I must admit, I didn't realise that he and Chloe had actually divorced, as she mentions in this episode, as it's not been stated before - I assumed they were just separated and would eventually get back together, maybe Jimmy would save her from Davis, or something. But no, and he's continuing his drugs habit, has fallen in with a rough crowd, and his new job is at a mob boss' club. Oh, and what a surprise that that club happens to be the Ace of Clubs! I know, they have to save money by reusing sets, but it makes the city seem tiny when they have to go back to this same place, which is now a mob hangout! Not only that, but the bad guy for this episode is working for 'Ron Milano,' the biggest mob boss in Metropolis. Yet we've never heard of him before! The lackey who offs him is the real baddie, anyway, though he just seems like an idiot more than a serious contender for a mob empire. Maybe Metropolis doesn't have any big mob bosses in town, and so this minor one is the biggest around… It was funny when Jimmy first sees Lois in costume, but I didn't really get a handle on the line Jimmy's travelling. Did he go undercover, or was he just in need of a job, and why isn't he working for the Planet any more? If he was trying to get in on a story, he wouldn't have been so matey with the bad guy, I'd have thought, so if he was just doing a job as a barman it's ironic that he's working at the good old Ace of Clubs just when it's under mob management, ready for him to get caught up in.

It's the same thing for Lois, once again being a dozy girl: Clark gets to the alarm situation from the police radio, and she never once suspects he's the Blur (his excuse that he had to go and feed Shelby the dog at least lets us know she's still around, though it can't be much of a life for a dog to be left on a farm alone all day!). It was fortunate that the forged money was imprinted with Kryptonite ink so that when Lois stumbles upon Clark's attempt to rescue Jimmy, he's getting his face kicked in, so there's no reason for her to suspect Clark could be anything more than her intern, as she calls him. It was great when he stopped a bullet for her, despite the Kryptonite giving it the power to penetrate him, and I thought all might be up - either the medics would get there and find he's not human, or Lois would realise that no ordinary person could stop a bullet and survive without any problems. But it's skipped over again, with it supposedly being a flesh wound - if he stopped the bullet, then it couldn't just be that simple. Mind you, Lois is that simple!

Talking of things that aren't human, Chloe continues to have a monster in the basement that she refuses to tell anyone about. This time we don't actually see Davis, but he does save her from a knife man, though you can tell the situation's getting to her when, having just deposited the remains of the attacker in the bins out back, she sinks down with blood on her hands. It's a tricky situation, but she shouldn't have got into it in the first place, it's her misplaced loyalty to Davis, and belief that keeping him down there will save Clark, that keeps her going. In reality it's just a device for the writers to keep Doomsday neatly locked up for a final confrontation, I'll warrant. I suppose it would have been difficult to come up with another solution where he wasn't causing trouble but could burst into Clark's life at any moment. Logic doesn't often matter in 'Smallville' and much of it has to be contrived in order to get things to where they're needed - Chloe's car just happens to be stolen by a car-jacker who could use the names locked up in her laptop from Watchtower, for evil; Jimmy's involved in it; and it all coincides with Lois needing a story. So once again, a bit messy in writing terms, but it had enough to be fairly enjoyable, the end scene capping things nicely (and I had to smile at the joke about online message boards wanting the Red-Blue Blur and Stiletto to get together, with Clark saying something like 'who thinks up these things' - a poke into the ribs of the series' more dedicated viewers, I believe!).

**

Cold Station 12

DVD, Enterprise S4 (Cold Station 12)

Well, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey continues to look beautiful, but I can't say the same for every aspect of this episode. The lighting seemed particularly flat and bright at just about every location we see, which didn't feel right for the series. Usually there's at least a little gloom so the blinkies and other illuminations have that neon glow and provide areas of shadow, so I wasn't enamoured of the lighting style at all. Something that really let the side down was the CG set for the embryo refrigeration area - it was so obviously entirely computer-generated, with the actors locked into position, hardly daring to move, and some very basic design. I can see why they would make that particular set artificially, as it would have been expensive or time-consuming to build thanks to all the individual embryo pods, but what was put out was the worst thing about the episode. It's strange, because the other CG work in this one is very high quality: we see some excellent artificial environments, and some great ship-to-ship stuff in space amid all those asteroids, so it's a shame that corners had to be cut.

The quality of the CG or effects has never dictated the quality of a story, and while it may help to tell that story, or prevent taking the viewer out of it, the events and characters carry the can. Brent Spiner continues to be good as Arik Soong, finding his 'son' Malik starting to openly question his orders, though you can tell he's blinded by his love for the rejects of the Eugenics, and is willing to forgive them anything, even the murder of one of their number (it remains to be seen how he'll react to Smike's death). Malik grows more evil all the time, or perhaps his character becomes more emboldened as he sees his fellow Augments aren't going to question his actions. This isn't really an episode for character development, being a chase to the station of the title, somewhere which Phlox has been and which is run by his good friend and pen pal, Dr. Jeremy Lucas, but there are welcome little nods towards character included, as well as lightly flirting with the issues the background of the story dredges up.

I can't say it deals satisfactorily enough with those issues, but after all this isn't 'TNG,' and was never going to turn into a roundtable discussion on the merits of genetic engineering in the Captain's Mess (for one thing you wouldn't get all the people in there!), but we do see Archer's thinking about such things when he confides in Phlox about his Father dying from something that might have been preventable had genetic engineering been permissible on Earth. He calls back to the fact that Phlox' people, the Denobulans, mastered such sciences long ago, and have fully integrated it into their society (which would go a long way to explain all the bizarre physical facets of the race, which would seem to be reason enough to steer well clear when you think about them - aside perhaps from Phlox' excuse for a massive feast because he has to fatten up for hibernation!). It's good to be reminded of the wider galaxy, and the established facts, adding to the realism. A side note of this is that we do get to see, possibly for the first time, a Denobulan ship, a sort of rounded vessel in the mould of a kindlier-looking Kazon raider, in keeping with the people who built it. As with the Andorians last season we only get glimpses of this technology, not enough to really get a strong sense of the race's aesthetics, but it's just one more little piece of confectionery we're afforded this season, that, for instance, were less common last season due to the remote location.

Dr. Phlox gets a real role this time, which is a pleasure to see, though it's telling of the kind of Captain that Archer is when his ship's Doctor has to actually ask to be included in a Landing Party rather than being automatically assigned. Archer's more gung-ho, a risk-taker, that prefers MACOs to medics, and despite his frequent forays into dangerous situations, you feel he should be taking a diverse group with him. Once again, you have to pinch yourself and be reminded that this is pre-Kirk, pre-Federation, so these kinds of rules and ideals are yet to be ironed out, and after what Archer's been through it's no surprise he's more concerned with security than anything else. This time he even takes Malcolm (for all the good it did)! Then again, if his security was too tight, he'd not so easily end up in a fight, and it wouldn't be 'Enterprise' without the Captain having a scrap, now would it? It made me think of 'The Phantom Menace' when Reed and the others are trapped behind transparency while Archer battles it out with a superior opponent as they watch on, unable to assist.

Phlox' presence in the group actually does more to hinder the efforts, than help, since it's his friendship with Dr. Lucas that creates a pressure point which Malik has no qualms in pressing. Lucas is a tough, brave man (played by Richard Riehle, one of the Irish holograms on 'Voyager'; and featuring in one of 'TNG's high points, 'The Inner Light'), a credit to his station, willing to take any torture or see a member of his staff die in front of him rather than reveal the access code to the embryos Soong wants so badly. Or maybe he just didn't like that other Doctor? It was just too much for him to bear to see his friend meet the same grisly fate (reminded me of the agoniser booths from 'Mirror, Mirror'). We finally meet the man who's been mentioned as a pen pal of Phlox' since Season 1, though not in the healthiest of circumstances. It proves that Soong isn't as ruthless as he seems when he commands Malik not to kill the first hostage, although it's too late for him by the time Soong's got to the console, Malik having openly defied him for the first time. Malik certainly gives his people a bad name. A nice touch was seeing a flashback to eleven years prior to the episode, where Soong (whose hair is only starting to turn white), teaches his 'children' about Earth and humans, embedding the concept that they would be killed if they went back, and humans are the enemy. They went to the trouble of getting lookalike children for what appeared to be all the Augments we see, so effort had been made, though perhaps emotion was lacking in the episode.

An example would be the outcast, Smike's, death at the hands of Malik. A Klingon Disruptor should make a big impact, either a blinding burst of power, or a complete disintegration, but all we get is a little puff or buzz. It didn't help the way it was shot in such a passive way, with Smike already on the ground, and the camera watching from behind Malik, so we were well removed from any impact. The argument could be that this being an earlier time, such weapons would be less powerful, but sometimes you have to do things for dramatic impact, regardless of stringent historical accuracy. Not that it was a major moment, but it could have been turned into one - the moment the Augments realise that Malik will kill even those of his own that aren't challenging his position in the group, just an outcast, weak and practically helpless. The rights and wrongs of allowing the embryos to come to term would also have been a good debate, whether they're born evil due to their enhanced abilities and ambition, or whether that ambition and sense of entitlement has engendered their fear and opposition to all others. It's all very Khan, and when Soong says during the flashback that many more are sleeping, with regards to Augments, the Botany Bay came instantly to mind, though of course he probably wasn't thinking of that - but it's creepy to think that at this time in Trek history the sleeper ship is still out there, drifting…

It's good to revisit Trek history, even though we don't really get more information on the Eugenics Wars, aside from how many were supposed to have died, it's fascinating to see something made in the 2000s hark back to something almost forty years before that. 'Into Darkness' didn't even bother with such ephemeral details, but such facts put the situation into perspective. One small one that stuck out to me was T'Pol confirming that they need a Communicator signal for a Transporter lock, the reason they can't beam anyone out. She didn't have so much to do this time, and neither did Trip, so it was a shame their big moment on the bridge when they have to try and sacrifice their Captain and all the lives aboard the station, passed by with hardly any consequence. If this was later Trek, and a Captain had ordered the self-destruct to be activated while he was onboard, they might well have performed their duties without a hint of difficulty (though I doubt it), but in these unenlightened times did Trip really think Archer's life was worth trading to stop the Augments? No one on the bridge shows any concern at such a course of action, question's T'Pol or puts forth any alternative, which was a moment missed for me, even though we're soon to see that the plan failed. Again, when they have to shoot the station up themselves, such a momentous decision should be seen to take a toll on this still relatively inexperienced crew (in the larger scheme of things).

Missed opportunities aside, this as the middle part of a trilogy does a nice job of taking us somewhere new, both in location and for the characters. It's not quite as engaging as the first part, but this is made up for with a different angle on things, such as different characters getting the limelight, and some good action scenes. I always remembered the final part to be the weak link in the DNA strand, shall we say, so I remain to be convinced otherwise, but this is another to end with a 'To Be Continued,' and that's not a bad situation to be left in, especially when you're used to the majority of stories being concluded in one or two parts.

***

Eternal

DVD, Smallville S8 (Eternal)

Major retconning ahoy! I never really bought into the acrobatics the writers performed to try and make sense of their creation, making out that Lionel knew from the start about Clark, that he was responsible for phoney adoption papers, had even been part of a group that somehow predicted that a Traveller would land on Earth. I suppose if you can accept aliens from the planet Krypton, then these other things should be second nature, but they always felt forced, forced by a desire to create twists and turns that will make you gasp, the showmanship of style over the substance of story. Maybe that's one of the reasons the series endured, giving people the mystery and deep mythology they craved, but it was, as Chloe says about something else in this episode, difficult to swallow. So we get to travel (once again), back to the day of the meteor, back to the pilot episode, with Jonathan and Martha (we see a new bit of them walking away, though the doubles are obvious, especially the child!), Lionel and young Lex, going through those same motions (the flattened corn still looks computer-generated when Lionel stands looking down at it!), only this time we learn that it wasn't just Kal-El that made the journey… Yes, hidden inside a blob of goo that releases its slime, it turns into young Davis! Well I never. Except that, like in a cartoon, when the Kents' backs were turned there was a heated chase around the area with LutherCorp black-suited thugs in riot gear catching this child. Guess the Kents didn't think to look for any other children in the vicinity of the crater?

Lionel kept this kid locked up for a few days, realised he wasn't what he wanted and dropped him off, so the story's really a moral one, about the difference an upbringing can make - Clark had the love and affection, and strong moral teaching of the Kents ("We always have a choice, son"), and Davis had… the mean streets. I wonder if this is the 'real' origin of Doomsday, or something invented for the series? It's trying to echo the Lex/Clark dynamic of two special individuals brought up in totally different ways and makes you think back to the first season or so, when Lex was obsessed with how Clark saved his life, and came to believe he was alive for a greater purpose - how he'd so successfully fought against the evil methods of his twisted Father to make him 'strong,' and had actually turned out quite well-balanced and something of a good guy, until he allowed his obsession to take over. Lionel didn't help, of course, and in the end he came to believe Clark was a risk, a problem that had to be dealt with, as Tess appears to be moving towards at the end of this episode.

Actually she's kind of the opposite extreme: if Lex felt Clark must be destroyed, she wants to push him into his destiny, work him to his full potential in the role he 'should' be taking on, that she feels he isn't, and won't until he comes up against his Judas, his greatest challenge and betrayal. Using Judas does rather mix metaphors, as he wasn't exactly a challenge, more of a tool, but then again, maybe she sees Doomsday as a tool to make Clark face up. Not that he isn't doing that anyway - he does, after all, save people on a regular basis as the Red-Blue Blur (they should do an episode solely as a day in his life!), but maybe she's envisaged the Superman suit, and a film series, and won't be content until 'canon' is as it should be, i.e.: Clark in costume, flying around? Maybe she's right in what she thinks, but it's really none of her business. Then again, like Lex, she loves control. It's interesting to see her go from a standard bad girl, with a personal obsession to find Lex and help him, to learning what Lex knew, being betrayed by him, and becoming a fervent advocate of Clark's destiny, as if she's the one that needs to make things happen. Her pride has been turned down a different path, but one that could be equally as destructive.

What I found most interesting, a lot more than the retconning backstory, was Davis' desire to commit suicide. I assume he didn't know that a Kryptonite shower was going to make him 'immortal' (as he claims at the end - starting to sound like 'Highlander'!), but genuinely believed it was the only way to save Clark and the planet. I felt, like Clark, that it was wrong for Chloe to do the deed, even if, ultimately, she didn't kill him. She showed that she was willing to go that far: "I won't risk the safety of the world because of your code of ethics," she says, which sounds remarkably like Lex used to, doing whatever it takes to achieve the goal perceived as correct. It looks like she's willing to be close to Davis, too, if the end scene is anything to go by (I ask you, why wouldn't you turn on the light if you're hearing noises in your basement! Interesting to see that area of the Talon, though, as I don't think we'd ever been down there before), when she bolts herself and Davis down there (not that he says the most charming things: 'there's something about you that calms my inner murderer'!). I suspect she's biding time before she can find a way to stop him for good - she said before, she'd do it again, and Clark and the safety of the world are higher on her priority list than romantic entanglements despite all the bad stuff with Jimmy at the moment.

Still, I wanted them to explore Davis' desire to commit suicide, what it would mean for Clark, and whether it was right (I've already said it wasn't, and the story bears me out - it makes him even more dangerous than before), the whole episode could easily have been about this issue, but instead we get the usual filler, or 'plot' as it's called. I also thought it was too easy for Davis to die like that (aside from the ridiculousness of Dr. Groll's lab being ready to use, all set up for Kryptonite death - didn't it get seriously damaged last time they were there?), and as Clark said, it wasn't much of a fight. But of course it was too early, as Tess said - she must have realised there were a few more episodes of the season to go. Not that Davis' story has exactly unfolded organically, but I don't need to moan about things like that. It was also so throwaway, with the line that Oliver was going to sort out the details. I wonder if he sorted out the detail that Davis was missing from the tank, and will he tell Clark, or would that make things too simple?

I actually forgot that Tess knew Clark's identity, but it was nice to see them facing up to it, even though, as usual, he shrugs it off as Luthor-mania, and never openly confirms what she knows, despite that, it was still interesting. It's been so long I've forgotten the significance of the blue stone she's got, but I'm sure things will be made clear as we edge towards the big confrontation that everyone's hoping for and expecting at the end of the series. It's a job to keep expectations in check, because you always have to remember this is a TV show, not a film, and even with the best CG in the world, they weren't going to have a film's budget. Not a bad episode, but another one that flings itself around too much without sticking to the strongest elements, and relying instead on nostalgia about the pilot (I did like to see young Lex and Davis playing, though).

**

Borderland

DVD, Enterprise S4 (Borderland)

It was this, of the first four episodes of the season that first really impressed, showing the desire to explore dangling threads of 'TOS' like never before, while at the same time giving us crowd-pleasing casting that links in to 'TNG' (not to mention 'DS9' - I'd completely forgotten J.G. Hertzler's final role in Trek was as another Klingon in this episode!). It opens with one of the most exciting and dramatic teasers we've seen from the series, as apparently human captives of a ship full of Klingons take on those Klingons at their own game: brute force. And kick them into next week! It's been a convention dating back to 'TNG' when Worf was the unsuspecting victim, continuing right up to the latest Abramsverse film, 'Into Darkness': when you want to show how tough a character is, you have them beat up Klingons, as everyone knows they are the toughest race going (actually, I'd say that accolade goes to the Vulcans, but they're much more modest and less shouty about it, although, the 'Enterprise' variety, hmm…).

For one of a rare handful of times on this series ('Broken Bow,' 'Sleeping Dogs,' 'Marauders,' and 'Judgement'), the impression of strength and power in both the Klingons themselves and in the humming internal throb of their Bird of Prey (which looks to be more along the lines of what we know from the later eras, a beautiful green powerhouse, and which I don't believe we'd yet seen the like on this series), is almost back to its heydays on 'DS9.' It may have been because the Klingons took a back seat in Season 3, or that the new direction required a more recognisable run-in with the warrior race, but it was good to see. If anything, I was disappointed over their short-lived nature (we hear that the entire crew was jettisoned into space) - when I first heard the unmistakably craggy tones of Hertzler, I wondered if it was the same character he'd played in 'Judgement,' but this character looked younger, more like Martok, and wasn't even accorded the dignity of a name (credited as Klingon Captain). In a way, it's sad that such a great guest star could leave the Trek Universe with such a minor role, he deserved a recurring position like Jeffrey Combs, but that's to be ungracious, and it's better to look at it as a nice touch that they took the time to bring in such a recognisable Klingon actor for such a small role.

It isn't J.G. Hertzler that everyone cared about, though, it was the return of one of Trek's golden boys, one of its greatest sons, coming back after the end of his 'TNG' narrative. I suppose at this time it wasn't one hundred percent guaranteed that the 'TNG' cast wouldn't return for another film, but it was very unlikely seeing how badly 'Star Trek Nemesis' had performed. And out of that cast, Brent Spiner seemed the least likely to ever return to Trek, so it was an incredible coup to get him, and not simply for a cameo, not for one episode, but for a three-episode arc, the first specifically of that length since way back at 'DS9' Season 2's opening. He could have played Data, in some kind of time travel or alternate universe, or any of the myriad possibilities of sci-fi (there are always possibilities…), but I think what attracted him was playing an ancestor of Dr. Noonien Soong, Arik Soong. At last, the connection was in place, directly relating Noonien Soong, to Noonian Singh (Khan), something I'd always wondered at when seeing such similar names. The connection is that Arik was responsible for 'liberating' embryos of genetically engineered descent who were from the Eugenics Wars of the late-twentieth century, of whom Khan was the main foe.

So they singlehandedly tied 'Enterprise' with the Eugenics Wars, 'TOS' and 'TNG' simultaneously in one graceful movement: impressive! In case you're thinking this was turning into just a fan episode in which as many continuity elements and connected dots could be crammed in as possible (and it didn't stop there!), the story is as important. With three episodes to play with they have the time to explore and develop some of the characters, specifically, the Augments, as they become known (though I always felt this a dry scientific term, compared with the 'TOS' style of calling them 'supermen' - more dramatic, and maybe a little cheesy, but sounds more legendary instead of the lab experiment they were in reality), and Soong. It's sad, then, that the usual suspects, Mayweather and Hoshi, are once again left in the background. When you have three episodes it would be the ideal opportunity to make sure every character gets their dues, but perhaps it was too late in the series to change the format that had become embedded - that of three main characters and four supporting, a link back to 'TOS' that wasn't so welcome, being an old-fashioned style of cast. Maybe those characters just didn't have enough mileage when they were originally conceived, all I know is that they were well used to begin with. But this isn't the time to look back, this was a bold new attempt to keep the series going by introducing arcs of multiple episodes.

After two seasons of mainly standalone episodes (I wonder why they never embraced the big, mid-season two-parters, the stock in trade of 'Voyager,' the series that preceded them?), then a season-long story with a smattering of individual tales, they couldn't go back to 'small-scale' weekly exploration again, so they found the happy medium with these episode-spanning varieties of variable length. It began to feel much more like 'DS9,' with events that carried over, and a new urgency to proceedings. This, for example, is the first post-Xindi mission they undertake for Starfleet - an ideal time for Admiral Forrest to give Archer a best wishes message, but that's a minor omission. It feels good to see them back together, on a newly cleaned-up NX-01, heading out into space (even if I'm sure the footage of the ship leaving space dock was reused from the pilot!). They have a great actor aboard her, Spiner displaying what a great Trek actor is like, showing these young guns a thing or two - he's not quite at the sneeringly evil stage, but he's certainly got a taste of the Lore about him. He'd probably have got on rather well with Data's brother. For about five minutes, before one of them killed the other! It's almost like seeing Lore reborn as a human, his powers of advanced strength and speed stripped from him. But Soong is sneaky, just like the creation that would come after him, and it's fun to see him manipulate the crew, and even more so to see Archer prevent his escape (coupling, then uncoupling the magnetic restraints at key moments showed some intelligence, and emphasised Arik's helplessness).

It's also quite an exciting episode, with big action scenes. Not only do we get the superb Klingon-fighting of the teaser, but we have a full-scale slave revolt, a space skirmish between Enterprise and the Bird of Prey, and a phaser fight at the docking corridor between Augments and MACOs (the poor soldiers don't know what hit them, you'd think after tackling the Xindi threat they could handle a few enhanced humans!). There's also the tension of knowing how dangerous Arik Soong is, and proves to be, though I did wonder why at the end, once he's been rescued by his 'children' (what is it with Soongs and their abnormal children - why don't they just have regular kids!), they don't seize the NX-01, instead transferring back to their BoP? Are they saying the Klingon ship is better? It's the slave revolt, however, that proved to be the most impressive scene of the episode, for various reasons. As a start, it's the first, ever time we see an Orion male (who isn't disguised as another race), the green-skinned people that had been talked of so often, but only seen in the rarest of rare moments of Orion Slave Girls. It's not just Orions (who prove to be hulking giants, fronted by wrestling legend Big Show, another to make the move to Trek, after The Rock appeared on 'Voyager'), it's also the Orion Syndicate, something invented on 'DS9' (where they should have been the one to show a male Orion, or female - they even created a green-skinned race for Season 6, in 'Who Mourns For Morn?' the same season the Syndicate played a bigger part!).

That isn't everything, as we get a genuine Orion Slave Woman up for auction. Interesting, considering the revelations to come later, about females subjugating the men. Either she'd lost her power to charm, or it was all a ruse - maybe she was the real person in charge of the slave market, and her sale was all part of a plan? In the jumble of aliens in cages I thought I noticed several races, some more obscure (the full-head, flat, zip-up helmet, grey-suited aliens sometimes seen walking the Promenade on 'DS9'), and others better known (was that a Reman, and did I see some thin Nausicaans? Surely they wouldn't allow themselves to be captured?), what was apparently a Boslic male (another 'DS9' alien - the one with distinctive forehead pattern who informs on Archer, and is uncredited on Memory Alpha), and definitely a Tellarite, who buys T'Pol - not a wise investment. The ensuing chaos was very well filmed and coordinated, but I would have liked to have seen T'Pol show her martial arts skills from 'Marauders.' She doesn't even do a neck the pinch when the green giant picks her up, instead kicking him in the privates! What they've done with Vulcans is almost unforgivable, but what they did to T'Pol was worse: yet again she's overly emotional, angry at that Orion slaver, defiantly shouting as she kicks him, and looks like she's going to break down in tears when Archer gives her the compass as a gift. She seems calm when assisting Jeffrey Pierce, a slightly OTT character who displays Season 1 levels of fear, perhaps to show how seasoned T'Pol is in comparison. It is fair, since he was a raw recruit, but he came across as a terrified crybaby, although even T'Pol doesn't look calm when Archer finds her in the cage!

That's something else: why is T'Pol only now becoming a proper member of the crew, rank of Commander, and why doesn't she wear a uniform, instead having department colour and rank pips attached to her usual outfit. She'd have been a lot better in the proper Starfleet attire, and it wouldn't have seemed so strange - even in this season there were some things they were too timid to change, it seems. It is odd that she becomes a member of Starfleet without, apparently, going through the courses required of her. Unless she did, but we weren't told (that's what she was doing while holed up in her quarters during the Expanse mission - a correspondence course with Starfleet!), or it was deemed that her experience and position on the ship gave her priority. It surely wouldn't make the Vulcans any more pleased with her, but perhaps this is the final degree she's able to spite them after finding out how badly they treated her Mother? A fully fledged first officer isn't the only new addition to Archer's bridge: Trip's found time to give him a new Captain's Chair, one that is becoming closer to Kirk's, with lots of blinky buttons, etc (actually it looks like it's getting closer to Picard's with those upturned armrests, although I thought I heard some 'TOS'-style bridge beeps during that scene!). Either this was a jokey reference back to an episode that's probably best forgotten ('Singularity'), or they just felt the chair needed some work!

It's in his Ready Room that Archer needs some work, really, as this is at least the second time he's been bested in there. The first was by an overzealous Vulcan (I think that was in 'Fusion'), and now Malik, the new and more vicious leader of the Augment brethren, takes him hostage during their discussion. I don't know about Arik's jibe that Reed wasn't getting enough publicity (was this a self-referential line to point out that Dominic Keating wasn't as well known, or something?), but he certainly doesn't seem to be as useful as a Security Officer, allowing his Captain to be taken like that while he's got a weapon! Maybe Archer needs to put more trust in him - once again he goes off with Soong alone to the slave market, not bringing his trusty Security along, so perhaps Archer is too hands-on, and should be relinquishing some control to Reed?

The episode ends with a nice 'To Be Continued…' and it will be interesting to see if every multi-episode story has these words or they quickly tire of using them. As a start to the new format, this worked well, with good pacing, plenty of action, nice design (the arrowhead Orion ships were distinctive enough, as every race's technology on Trek needs to be), and quality casting. Even the younger actors, such as the one playing Malik, had that strength of character that you could believe. Perhaps there was overmuch attention on the Augments, focusing on Malik's rise at the expense of some of the main cast, and if I'm honest, it didn't have the same impact that seeing Orions, and having Spiner back did originally. Now that I have pretty much all of Trek on DVD that can be viewed at any time, the feeling of uniqueness has ebbed away a little, not helped by the fact that, to all intents and purposes, this is no longer a 'living' universe in constant production, but something that's been left behind with still no real, solid plan to return. Even if they continue to bang out Abramsverse films, we may never come back to this 'real' universe where all the characters and events have a historical meaning, and somehow that lessens what can be watched. But this isn't the episode's fault, it remains a good watch, just perhaps not the great watch I found it all those years ago.

***

Hex

DVD, Smallville S8 (Hex)

This danced a tightrope, but didn't fall, I'm pleased to say. I never like magic in superhero stories, it's just too far out of the reality that they're trying to make us believe. I know, I know, why believe in aliens and people with powers, and not accept supernatural elements? Well, they have their place ('The Lord of The Rings' is an excellent example), but it's not around superheroes, and although I know Superman has a history with magic being just about his only other downfall (aside from Kryptonite and Doomsday), it's barmy. I don't want witch spirits and vampires, and assorted monster B-film villains amid my super-heroics. And so to the tightrope: the story balances precariously over the pit of magic oblivion, only really looking unsteady when we get to the book Zatanna wants so badly, but most of the time it never falters thanks to the heart of the story being strong themes with a good dose of amusement. It's a high concept idea, pitched, no doubt, as 'Chloe wishes her life was like Lois', and wakes up just like her.' That's a good start for a story to be told. But that's just the beginning, you have to really work the, erm, magic to make it work.

I could suggest that Chloe and Lois are just too similar to make this a really good idea (and I didn't really feel this was a strong performance of one character behaving like another, though there were probably more subtleties than could be noticed in one viewing), they're cousins, they're both around the same age, both have journalism history, and they know each other very well. So this particular crossing of personality doesn't get us into the realms of Season 4's 'Transference' in which Clark and Lionel switch bodies - that had greater implications at the time, and more dramatic moments. No, though the central conceit of Chloe being granted her wish is a good start, it wasn't enough to carry the full episode (unless you really explored it more deeply, but this is more of a comedy episode), so we had to see other elements make their play: we get a Clark who's forgotten his double life and thinks he's human, another idea that's fun for a while, but it's when he has to believe in himself and his abilities that a strong message of the episode hits home.

It's not the only message, there are some ruminations on birthdays (since it's Chloe's), mildly jealous ponderings, another chance to take stock of some of the characters' lives (without getting soapy), reflecting on where they've come from with such things as Clark's gift of the book ('Tales of The Weird and Unexplained'), which I think dates back quite a long way in the series. Thinking about it, the desire to have something unattainable, is universal, but what's almost universal for the characters in this series, is that they've all lost parents or a parent, particularly Clark and Chloe, whom the story revolves around - their loss, and Clark's especially, are what they have in common with Zatanna, the good girl/bad girl mover of the plot. For once it's not a freak-of-the-week, or some wealthy businessman or a person related to LutherCorp who provides the motivation, but a 'real' character (as in one from the comics rather than made up on the series), and in fact one I'd even heard of thanks to 'Batman: The Animated Series' which even had an episode with her name as the title! Otherwise I'd have probably thought it was just another 'Smallville' creation, perhaps until the end when she practically signs up for the (not yet named), Justice League, which is shown in climax to be coordinated by Chloe (how did they manage before her - temps?).

So I liked the 'villainess,' who had a good motive, and there's a good moral about accepting loss and moving on, as well as friendship, belief, and other encouraging things (such as Clark saying that he's finally the man his Father wanted him to be, though he doesn't say which Father…), far from the all-too-common negative soapiness that can pervade the series. One of the biggest problems of said series gets flagged up by Clark when he says that "weird has become so normal it's not even weird any more." This is all too true, and I like that at the end Chloe and he reminisce a little on their days as a double-act discovering and fighting weirdness day to day. That was the part of the series, back in Seasons 1 and 2, that I loved. Now Chloe turns her back on her perceived destiny of journalism in which Lois has been so successful, and joins Oliver Queen's group to be closer to the action - as Lois, she tried to convince Clark that what he really wanted was to be helping to stop crime, not sitting in an office writing about it, and it seems she's taken her own advice to heart.

That's what makes this episode stand out from the usual fare: it has heart to it. It goes from humorous to heartfelt, there's no real villain except what people wish for themselves, and it's a happy ending that has nothing to do with the ongoing plots of Davis 'Doomsday' Bloome, or Tess Mercer's mercenariness, or Jimmy and Chloe's marriage troubles. It's pretty much a standalone episode, but sets up, as they all do, a return for this week's guest character if the need arises. Sadly, as much as I liked the character, she'll probably only be called in when her special services are required, and magic is afoot. Maybe, like Clark's time-travelling ring, this thread will be tugged sooner rather than later? The episode is far from perfect (Oliver tracks down the long-lost book with no trouble at all; and how did the old guy know so much about it? How did Clark and Chloe get off the Daily Planet's roof when he still didn't believe in his own powers?), but for this series, it was a good instalment, made me chuckle occasionally, and was well worth watching.

***

Married

DVD, The Incredible Hulk S2 (Married)

They went for it in a big way, starting Season 2 with a feature-length episode, which I was not expecting. I should have guessed - not only had they done two feature-length episodes at the start of Season 1, but with the title telegraphing the episode's plot, forty-five minutes just weren't going to be enough to see David meet someone, get married, and then get unmarried before the end. Unless it started with him settled somewhere and already married, perhaps thinking his wandering days were over. It didn't begin like that, though, Banner is still on the run, both from the authorities, and towards any hope of a cure for his big, green problem. This time he happens to choose the wrong woman to help him, as it turns out she's about to die and has given up work. Maybe it wasn't the wrong woman after all, as his discovery of her condition leads him to open up quite quickly to her in a touching moment, even showing her a newspaper clipping of Hulk from 'Terror in Times Square' - it helped she was already a follower of his work (do they never show photos of scientists? She clearly doesn't recognise him!), and there's the necessary hope that they can help each other, either through her hypnosis techniques or his sample of green giant-ness. Handy that David's inherently trustworthy and approachable nature left her unperturbed that this stranger who was so insistent she help him follows her home and breaks into her house (admittedly, in order to save her from a seizure)!

The episode itself doesn't quite get along so fine, as, due to the situation of two people spending time with each other, the episode is overly lovey-dovey (though David's bad John Wayne impression and Caroline's Elmer Fudd were most amusing!), and working on a science project wasn't the most riveting plot development so there's not much to get your teeth into compared to the usually tighter forty-five minute episodes. I think I mentioned this problem of pace in the other feature-length episodes, but it's very apparent in this one. Not to say there's nothing to enjoy: the hypnosis-induced scenes of David (Benton, as he initially calls himself this time), in a desert dune-scape, facing off against the Hulk, are fascinating merely for the fact that we're seeing him and the creature on screen together, but also for the bare landscape and dreamlike actions of trapping the creature in increasingly tough prisons (thick netting, a cage of steel bars and a metal vault), which he always breaks out of to menace again. It's an interesting metaphor for the mental and emotional struggle David always goes through and these scenes are probably the highlight of an otherwise fairly mundane episode.

I would have thought the budget fairly low on this episode, aside from those scenes, until we get to the one big action sequence where Hulk tears apart an entire floor of a house belonging to a creep whom Caroline has run off with when news of her poor test results arrive (what about patient/doctor confidentiality? David rings up the hospital after finding the discarded paperwork, and Caroline gone, says he's a friend, and is given a run down of her situation!). Thanks to the hypnosis sequences we see plenty of the Hulk, but there are only four actual Hulk-outs in an episode that's twice the size of the usual, and one of these is a repeat of his first ever metamorphosis from the pilot when trying to change a car tyre in a storm unleashes the rage inside. From this experience I feared it would become a clips episode, an excuse to save money and show by showing scenes from previous episodes, recounted by David in order to bring the audience up to speed in case they hadn't watched Season 1. I was glad that this sequence, and the one in which we see the death of his wife, were the only clips used, and they worked fine in the context of his work with Caroline.

The second Hulk-out we see, and the first new one, is in her house, thanks to the hypnosis, where he's inflamed by the memories and starts smashing up her place - I noticed that the transition stage in the makeup between Banner and Hulk appeared to have improved a little, unless it was just the lighting giving it an eerie effect, as later in the episode it didn't look any different. They still hadn't managed to get the merging right between transitions, though it didn't really matter. I thought he was actually going to change when he first breaks through her glass window and cuts himself, but that was just an illustration to show that after Hulking out his regenerative abilities greatly increase. After this encounter, Hulk takes off to the beach, once again showing his relationship to children is a gentle one - the adults at a beach party all flee at the sight of him, leaving a small boy to stare without fear, Hulk eventually moving off. Later, this same child does an impression of the creature on the beach when he smashes up his sandcastle, perhaps a comment on the susceptibility of children to copy what they see, but probably not, as this series was probably quite violent for its time (all about turning into a rage-filled giant and smashing things up!), and yet was a family programme, so it could be seen as ironic that a theme like that could be garnered from it!

Hulk also saves Caroline, which again shows his 'good' side - I've never quite understood why Hulk does these things since he's just a ball of rage and violence, but it must be David's own feelings of compassion for others that comes through, though the creature probably doesn't know what it's doing. Hulk-out three is the aforementioned party-crasher with the Hulk ripping up the bad guy's house, preventing a catastrophe for the sozzled Caroline and another girl that's been picked up by the nefarious pair for their enjoyment. This time it's the men's prevention of him trying to reach Caroline, who's going to have another fit, and throwing him over the internal balcony that sets off the time bomb in his head, resulting in major building destruction. I must say that the bad guy's bald pate, revealed under a fine head of hair in response to uncovering him as bad news, was a nice parallel, but didn't look too real! The next Hulk-out occurs thanks to a nightmare, which is problematic for poor David - even in his sleep he can't be safe from it! At least this time Caroline's able to get a skin sample from a surprised Hulk, something that could aid her own health, though sadly it's all too late as we find out in the fourth and final Hulk-out during a hurricane - David has to get her to the hospital, but her pain is so great that she leaps from the car and dashes into the rain, Banner being bumped by a car, then halted by electricity terminals that have blown down in his path. I guess Hulk's immune to electrocution since he easily tosses them away, though it's too late to save Caroline.

It's no surprise she died instead of surviving to provide David with a backup and assistant. It was a pretty safe bet for him to marry a terminally ill woman (though before it happened I was thinking it wouldn't be a real marriage because he wouldn't be able to give his real name, but you clearly see on the marriage certificate that it was 'David Banner'), in terms of the series being able to reset itself. It's ironic then that this episode doesn't end with him walking down the road, the lonely man, instead he's on the beach amid the wreckage of the storm, after the little kid has come over to say something nice. The boy needs talking about. He serves a purpose in demonstrating Hulk isn't a danger to children, and there's some tragedy from Caroline accelerating her illness through exertion to save him from drowning in the sea, but his parents need a stern talking to! The same Mother that abandons him on first impulse at fear of seeing Hulk (eventually running back to scoop her child out of the way), also lets him run around on the beach on his own all the time. And just when I was thinking it wasn't safe for the boy to be playing by the sea alone, he almost drowns. Then, to cap it all, shortly after recovering from this, and right after a hurricane, he's allowed back on the beach again under no visible supervision! I know times were different back then, but really…

Mariette Hartley was fine as Dr. Caroline Fields, but I was trying to remember where I'd heard the name before. It wasn't till after, I realised she'd been in the original 'Star Trek' a decade before this episode, playing Zarabeth in 'All Our Yesterdays'! (It was fun to see another Trek actor who was much easier to recognise playing a receptionist: a young Rosalind Chao, Keiko O'Brien on 'TNG' and 'DS9'!). She might have made a good addition to this series as a regular, but of course in those days they kept things pretty much the same from week to week, not wanting to change the format. Nowadays they wouldn't think twice about having a new character for a season which they could have killed off even more dramatically after we'd invested more into her, but you have to watch these things in the context of their time and not complain at their style. At least they had the ongoing plot of Jack McGee, always on the cusp of discovering David's identity, and this continued here. I'd wondered if they might just drop the character as he generally doesn't have a big part to play, but this time, though his appearance was as brief as ever, he comes closest to seeing David than ever before when Banner opens the door to him after the beach party Hulk-out! It was very fortunate that the reporter was facing away at the time, but he must have found it strange to hear the door open (he starts to turn round), then close, then open again! Maybe he just thought this woman was an oddball?

With no changes to cast or credit sequence, and no differentiation from Season 1 (they showed the episode title onscreen which they didn't always do), this looks to be following the same template as before, which is no bad thing, though I did wonder if this, the first 'full' season, with almost twice the episodes of the first, would do things differently, add a new character, or have more ongoing plot elements. I'm fine with the series as it is, but I hope McGee's role isn't just to provide close call after close call (although you can't get closer than he did in this episode!), and that some development occurs. It's difficult to make any major changes, of course, as the series has to follow Banner's life on the run, getting mixed up with a new group each week, solving a problem, but never able to solve his own, which makes the series so sad. So, not the best return for the series, or the most exciting start, but here's to what's coming next - I have no idea.

**